View Vacancy – Assistant Policy Officer (Economics and Trade Team)

Main purpose of job:

The British High Commission is inviting applications for the Assistant Policy Officer position within the Economics and Trade Team. The successful candidate will provide policy support on a variety of trade files, conducting research, analysis, monitoring and reporting on the UK-Canada trade relationship and future trade agreements.

The jobholder will play a leading role liaising with the Canadian government and Canadian stakeholders on the UK’s accession to the CPTPP. They will also coordinate with UK departments to support their understanding of the political landscape in Canada and provide updates, as they relate to CPTPP accession.

The successful candidate will be required to contribute to policy development and delivery as well as to participate in external representation to deliver organisational objectives. They will need to be adaptable to emerging organisation priorities and will be called upon to assist in other portfolios as required.

The role is Ottawa-based due to the importance of interaction with the Canadian federal government. However, the job holder will be able to follow Covid-19 public health guidelines for as long as they are in place and work remotely to protect their personal health and the health of others.

Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?:

The UK-Canada relationship is among the closest enjoyed by any two countries in the world: we’re both members of the 5-Eyes, NATO, the Commonwealth, the G7, the G20 and the OECD. We share a similar outlook on the world, driven by the pursuit of open, values-based democracy through rules-based international institutions.

After leaving the EU, new opportunities have arisen to strengthen these ties, in particular, through our trading relationship. The UK and Canada currently enjoy the preferential trading terms of the UK-Canada Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA). We are soon to begin the process of negotiating a permanent bilateral FTA as well as the UK’s accession to the CPTPP plurilateral agreement.

The Assistant Policy Officer will assist with several elements of our UK-Canada trade relationship;

CPTPP accession: The job holder will lead our in-country coordination to support the UK’s accession to CPTPP, including coordinating engagement at the federal level with Canada and providing country-specific advice and analysis to support the negotiation process with Canada.

Bilateral FTA support: The job holder will work with the lead trade analyst on stakeholder engagement, analysis and reporting in support of bilateral FTA negotiations and TCA implementation work.

Trade communications support: The successful candidate will work with bilateral trade leads and internal and external communications teams to coordinate trade-related communications on behalf of the Economics and Trade Team. This will involve developing and confirming up-to-date lines on key UK trade objectives, developments and timelines, and assisting with a trade communications strategy that builds support around upcoming key milestones across the UK-Canada trade agenda (i.e. in our bilateral FTA, TCA implementation, CPTPP accession, WTO, G7 work etc.)

Other policy work, as needed: Given the many pieces at play in the current UK-Canada trade relationship, the successful candidate will be agile and able to cover trade policy work (research, analysis, reporting) in other emerging priority sectors, if needed.

In order to successfully carry out this role, the job holder will need to build relationships with a variety of Canadian government contacts and stakeholders with particular trade interests. To do this effectively, the successful applicant should be a self-starter with excellent networking and communications skills. The applicant will also need to deliver a service for all parts of the UK Government and be able to build strong working relationships with other UK Government departments, including dealing with Parliamentary interest. The right person for this job will have a background in trade, policy or economics, and an interest in international affairs. 

Essential on arrival:

·       An undergraduate degree in economics, trade policy, public administration/policy or related discipline (or appropriate work experience).

·       Knowledge of current trends in Canadian trade policy and political dynamics.

·       Understanding of the Canadian federal and provincial system, and machinery of the federal government.

·       Ability to write clearly for range of audiences in varying degrees of detail.

·       Proven ability to work within changing circumstances and willingness to be adaptable to new priorities.