Senior Policy Advisors - Global Services Strategy

Location

Salford, Greater Manchester | United Kingdom

Job description

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) negotiates and implements trade agreements for the UK and promotes UK Trade and Investment around the world.

The Global Services Strategy team sits within the Trade in Services team. Our team aims to open up markets for UK suppliers, improve rules on services trade and support the growth and success of the UK’s services sector, including through the implementation of trade agreements.

We are recruiting two Trade in Services Senior Policy Advisors; one role will work primarily on resolving services market access barriers and implementing services commitments agreed in Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). With the other role focusing on the Departments trade in services strategy and engaging UK services businesses on their priorities and interests within the trade programme.

The first role will involve monitoring policy developments in partner countries around the world and subsequently developing and actioning strategies for tackling market access barriers as they arise.

Alongside this, the successful candidate will be responsible for effectively implementing the services commitments negotiated under the FTA programme. This will involve monitoring the partner countries compliance and developing our approach to the various sub-committees typically agreed within the services chapter.

The second role will focus on developing and delivering our trade in services strategy, this will involve reviewing and assessing the wider-teams approach to trade negotiations and subsequently making recommendations on issues such as prioritisation, trade-offs, and inter-linkages with other relevant policy areas.

In parallel, the successful candidate will be responsible for the teams ongoing engagement with relevant UK services business. This will involve maintaining relationships with key stakeholders, developing our engagement approach, and representing the team at various external events as required.

We place a strong emphasis on learning and development. The successful applicants will receive a tailored induction programme, taking into account knowledge and experience.

We are a hybrid team with current team members based in Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Darlington, Edinburgh, London and Salford and welcome applications from candidates for any office location.

The successful candidate for the market access and implementation role will be responsible for:

• Line management of one HEO.
• Identifying UK services interests and priority areas across an array of different countries.
• Formulate and deliver strategies for engaging and resolving market access barriers with priority countries and cooperating with relevant teams, UK embassies and other Departments in developing proposals (action plans) for their removal.
• Ensuring UK’s compliance with provisions of the relevant chapter in the implemented trade agreements and monitoring partner countries’ compliance.
• Contributing to strategic dialogues with partner countries, including in dedicated policy area meetings, as well as participation in meetings, when needed.
• Contributing to creating new opportunities for businesses, either through resolving market access barriers or implementing new commitments from trade agreements.
• Participating in trade negotiations.
• Developing and maintaining collaborative relationships with DBT teams, other Departments and Posts related to trade agreement implementation and market access.
• Drafting briefings, replies to Parliamentary Questions and other materials related to the respective policy areas in the context of trade agreement implementation and market access.

The successful candidate for the strategy and engagement role will be responsible for:

• Line management of one HEO.
• Support in the development and implementation of the team’s strategic approach, including reviewing negotiation priorities and utilisation of alternative policy tools to deliver against the teams’ wider objectives.
• Contributing to the Department-wide discussions on services policy, including the interplay between international and domestic policy.
• Supporting the development of the wider-teams evidence base, including engaging directly with analytical colleagues and academics.
• Oversee the trade in services engagement programme with business, devolved administration, academic and cross-Whitehall stakeholders.
• Building effective working relationships with key external services stakeholders, ensuring that the wider teams work is reflective of stakeholder feedback and evidence.
• Drafting briefings, replies to Parliamentary Questions and other materials related to the respective policy areas in the context of the team’s strategy and engagement approach.

Job tags

Salary

£39.38k - £46.72k per annum