View Vacancy – Head of Trade and Project Management Office, Department for Business & Trade (DEU24.418)

Who are we? 

The UK’s Department for Business & Trade (DBT) in Germany is recruiting a Head of Trade and Project Management Office (PMO), to be based at the British Consulate in Düsseldorf. This is an excellent opportunity for someone looking for a leadership role where they can make a real impact, ensuring the smooth running of a large and international team spread across three locations, to deliver tangible commercial and policy outcomes. Working as part of a world-wide network that represents British political, economic and consular interests overseas, this is an exciting role that offers significant scope for development. We are looking for a candidate who is delivery-focussed, able to inspire and motivate a team and build positive relationships with a range of internal and external stakeholders, including at the most senior levels.

We aim to be a diverse and inclusive employer, welcoming to people of all backgrounds. The senior leadership is committed to ensuring that we are a supportive and fair place to work.

Our setting

The Department for Business and Trade’s number one objective is to promote growth. The DBT Germany team is made up of approximately 40 staff, based in the Embassy in Berlin and Consulates-General in Düsseldorf and Munich. It is the largest team in the DBT Europe Region (around 300 staff in c.30 countries) and works closely with colleagues across departments to accelerate economic growth by improving market access for business and boosting exports and investment. In Germany, DBT is made up of sector-focussed teams, with cross-cutting support from PMO, the Strategic Communications Team, and the Trade Policy and Market Access team. DBT Germany’s work is crucial to supporting the UK economy: Germany is the UK’s second largest trading partner. The UK and Germany are long-standing partners with shared interests in free and fair trade, WTO reform and in supporting multilateralism. 

The role

Working as part of DBT Germany’s Senior Management Team, you will coordinate and set functional direction on exports for the wider team, provide senior leadership oversight of one or more of DBT Germany’s key sector teams, and lead the Project Management Office (PMO). All roles and responsibilities in DBT Germany are flexible and our staff adapt their work in line with Ministerial priorities and developments in the British and German markets.  

Requirements

As a senior leader of the DBT Germany team, the jobholder will need to be creative, strategic and able to mobilise a wide network (both inside government and in the private sector). They will have exceptional relationship management the ability to work credibly at the most senior levels. The role will demand strong leadership skills to develop staff and capability and motivate a high-performing and diverse team across three Posts, as well as the ability to collaborate strategically with policy colleagues in the Germany Network and DBT teams in other markets. The role includes regular speaking engagements. 

Roles and responsibilities: 

• Provide senior oversight and strategic direction for teams focused on specific industrial sectors based at the Consulate in Düsseldorf. Guide the translation of departmental priorities and the UK’s new Industrial Strategy into clear Germany-specific strategies and narratives. Support your teams to deliver across Trade (Exports), Foreign Direct Investment-, and Market Access-related objectives, undertaking external representation, engaging senior stakeholders, and solving problems as they arise. Represent the team in DBT Germany’s Senior Management Team and across DBT Europe when necessary.
• Implement and oversee DBT Germany’s Exports Strategy in line with the UK government’s Industrial Strategy. This includes representing Germany as a member of DBT Europe’s Regional Export Steering Committee. Regularly convene trade-focused colleagues from across DBT Germany and maintain oversight of the pipeline that captures the team’s forthcoming export deals. Drive key export workstreams across all of DBT Germany to accelerate focus on high-value, market-access and key-account management-driven exports work.
• Lead and manage the PMO team made up of 3 part time colleagues based in each of the three DBT Germany locations, to inspire, guide, and motivate them to coordinate and manage projects that cut across functions and sectors. These include team strategy days, learning and development initiatives, internship recruitment, and coordination of ministerial and other senior visits to Germany.
• Actively contribute to the life of DBT Germany and the Germany Network to make it a great place to work, by taking on corporate responsibilities that contribute to the effective running of the Network. This includes a leadership role in the Consulate, providing oversight of local Corporate Services in the absence of the Consul General.

Our ideal candidate shows: 

• Full professional proficiency in German and English (written and spoken, minimum of C1 level for CEFR framework*);
• Commercial acumen, whether from experience in business or policy-making;
• Significant leadership experience and a proven track record of delivery;
• Experience of managing a team delivering against multiple priorities;
• Resilient, purposeful and empathetic leadership to drive change, maintain delivery and support morale;
• Strong strategic thinking, with the ability to shape priorities in the light of wider developments and ensure these are distilled into practical plans for action;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to work with a diverse DBT team and to represent government appropriately with external businesses and other stakeholders;
• Demonstrable people management skills, able to get the best out of people with different skillsets and backgrounds, to develop talent and to tackle performance issues when necessary;
• Ability to translate different organisational objectives into clear and coherent strategies and workstreams with tangible outputs;
• Able to engage confidently with senior stakeholders;
• Resourcefulness and strong research skills with the ability to act on your own initiative to find creative solutions to problems;
• Interest in the Germany-UK trading relationship and economic developments in both countries;
• Commitment to diversity and inclusion and staff development;
• Any other duties that may reasonably be required in support of the wider work of the Embassy.