View Vacancy – Senior Trade Adviser – Financial & Professional Services, C4, Mumbai

Note : All applicants are required to mandatorily fill the complete online application form including the employment and educational details, motivational segment and the competency based questions. We will be thoroughly reviewing the application forms only for all the required details. Forms that are incomplete in any respect will not be considered while shortlisting for the next stage.

Please note that due to Covid-19 outbreak, the start date of employment mentioned in the advert is tentative, subject to normal business of British High Commission. All recruitment campaigns will remain open for applications, we will progress the recruitment process as swiftly as possible and continue to review all applications, monitor progress and developments. We will be in touch with you for the interviews/ should there be further updates on the application, however given the circumstances, kindly expect some delay in response and please reach out to [email protected] if you have any further questions.

Main purpose of job:

Background: Based in the British Deputy High Commission in Mumbai, this role is an exciting opportunity to work with business and government in an international setting, within an India-wide Financial and Professional Services (FPS) team at the UK Department for International Trade (DIT). DIT secures UK and global prosperity by promoting and financing international trade and investment, and championing free trade, and will soon start negotiating a new Free Trade Agreement with India.

The UK is a global leader in Financial, Professional and Business Services. The Financial Services sector contributed £132bn to the UK economy.

Financial and Professional Services are a vital sector for the UK-India trading relationship. The FPS team covers financial services sectors such as banking, insurance, capital markets and fintech and also related professional services sectors such as management consultancy and legal services. This is a large and challenging area to operate in but one with plenty of opportunity for India and UK collaboration. 

The incumbent will be expected to focus specifically on developing a pipeline of UK export projects and wider market development in sub-sectors such as professional services, asset management and insurance as well as supporting the sector and cluster manager with FinTech and capital markets in Mumbai.

As a Senior Trade Officer, you will be responsible for leading and effectively delivering events, strategies and activities based in  Mumbai /Western India for the FPS sector. You will also be responsible for establishing and maintaining relations with companies, trade associations, and multipliers. The job entails working closely with and supporting your colleagues in the wider team.

You will bring with you, or demonstrate how you would quickly acquire, an in-depth knowledge of the FPS sector, ideally both in the UK and India.  You will support a strategy based on this knowledge to turn the long-term potential of the sector into a pipeline of opportunities for UK business.  To do so, you will identify and build relationships within the sector and build a pipeline of validated projects for UK business, particularly large or high-value deals which would require UK government support or involvement to win.  You will then work with the DIT team in the UK and in other markets to bring UK companies to India and support them to win business, delivering towards the UK government’s commercial targets and wider trade objectives.

Your role will be high profile and with responsibility.  You will be a voice for the UK government and industry in the sector; you will be expected to gain access to the most senior levels within Indian industry and government if necessary using Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner, Deputy High Commissioners and other senior staff throughout India.  You will be a self-starter who can demonstrate a long-term objective; plan and manage a delivery model; identify, grow and make effective use of stakeholders.   You will work with colleagues within DIT in India and elsewhere, with other UK government colleagues, Indian government(s), business and other multipliers (trade associations, etc.).

The team in DIT focuses on:

• Supporting UK FPS exports to India across sectors; providing advice and assistance to UK companies looking to invest and operate in India; identifying commercial partnership opportunities, both in the UK and India.
• Key responsibilities will include supporting current and future scoping of export opportunities for UK business, including public tenders, if any, at every stage from facilitating introductions of organisations through to the winning of contracts/closing of deals and identifying trade policy and market access issues and leading on discussions to overcome these.

Roles and responsibilities:

Market development and Business opportunities (60%)

• Create, validate, plan and deliver a strategy for enhancing the bilateral trading relationship within the Financial Services sector, specifically Asset management, Insurance and Professional Services sub-sectors.
• Identify, validate and deliver a pipeline of high value projects and opportunities; plan and deliver activities to connect UK business to these opportunities and provide bespoke support to UK companies to win business. In doing so, meet DIT’s internal targets (trade policy, strategic relationship management business wins, return on investment and customer satisfaction/quality).
• With the Financial Services team, build and manage senior level relationships with companies, government departments, trade associations and multipliers in the UK and Western India.
• Research and Identify high-value export opportunities for the UK companies, support UK companies to get access to these opportunities and win significant contracts in India.
• Assist UK companies to increase exports to and invest in India, find new partners and safeguard investments; and identify new opportunities in areas such as asset management,
• Support overseas direct investments from UK companies in India;
• Work in close coordination with various stakeholders such as the wider DIT and UK network in India, DIT teams in HQ, International Trade Advisers, senior-decision makers of FPS companies in the UK and India, and various departments of Government at the State and Central levels to deliver DIT sector campaign and wider HMG objectives;

Market Access and Policy Support (10%)

• Work with trade policy and market access colleagues to overcome trade barriers being faced by UK companies;

Marketing and Communications (10%)

• Lead on marketing, press and communication activities for the sector including creating of core scripts and pitch packs for the sectors, as also work closely with the Strategic Relationship Management team to lead on sector specific relationship management.

Delegations and Ministerial Visits (20%)

• Support UK business delegations visiting India and Indian business delegations visiting the UK by organising various events and meetings;
• Support senior managers, including UK Ministers, HM Trade Commissioner and other senior management, providing them with high-quality briefing and advice with an aim to strengthen relationships with senior local contacts and further facilitate towards achieving the objectives of the team and DIT;
• Lead and effectively deliver events and activities based in Mumbai and Western India;

To be successful:

• You will have an in depth understanding of the FPS sector – knowledge of both in India and the UK context and a strong network on the ground would be preferred. You will use your good analytical skills to apply this to identifying significant market opportunities for UK business and then supporting them to turn these in to opportunities;
• You will need to be strategically aware to identify emerging opportunities in the sector, as well as relevant trends in the UK and emerging potential exports and investments into India;
• You will have strong interpersonal skills and be capable of setting the direction for yourself and those around you, gaining their trust and respect – while working within a virtual team located across India;
• You will have experience of developing productive relationships with senior decision-makers, stakeholders and partners, and of using these to deliver your objectives; and
• You will need to be collaborative and flexible, and able to manage yourself and the demands on you.
• You will have good project management skills to deliver campaigns; and excellent English written and verbal communication skills. You will be expected to produce written work in to a high standard.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure)

Counter signing officer for one staff member

Language requirements:

Language: English, Hindi, Marathi

Level of language required: Excellent spoken and written English; excellent spoken Hindi; spoken Marathi is desirable

Learning and development opportunities: 

The British High Commission in India and the Department for International Trade offer excellent training opportunities to employees. A successful candidate will be asked to complete an induction course and further training will be offered tailored to individual needs. The candidate will need to travel within India and internationally (COVID permitting), with opportunities to travel to the UK for sector related events and training courses.

Working patterns:

The British Deputy High Commission in Mumbai is currently working the majority of the time from home. Regular working from home options may be available in line with the prevalent Post policy.

Qualifications:

Graduate/post graduate, preferably in commerce or finance stream. Candidates without the required educational qualifications but with exceptional practical experience will be considered.

Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years of relevant commercial/business/government experience.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with an ability to develop a network and manage the relationship with senior decision makers in government and industry.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to search out significant opportunities for UK business.
• Tried and tested project management skills.
• Excellent interpersonal, team working and people management skills.
• Basic understanding of the FPS sector.