Market Access and Trade Policy Officer – Department for International Trade (18/20 ADD) Africa Uplift at British Embassy

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Market Access and Trade Policy Officer – Department for International Trade (18/20 ADD) Africa Uplift

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Employer: British Embassy

Employment: Full-Time | Contract

Place of Work: Addis Ababa - Ethiopia

Posted date: 4 years ago

Deadline: Submission date is over

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The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.  We value difference, promote equality, and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organizational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.

The main purpose of the job:

You will work with the DIT Country Director as an integral part of the British Embassy economic team in Addis in the pursuit of the objectives set out in DIT’s Trade Plan for Africa and the Country Plan for Ethiopia. As Market Access and Trade Policy Officer, you will lead the team’s work to identify market access barriers, analyzing and prioritizing these issues, and then developing and executing influencing strategies in order to remove them. You will also work on campaigns to support the improvement of Ethiopia’s broader business environment, working to create more conducive conditions in which trade and investment can flourish.

Context:

The Department for International Trade (DIT) is the Trade Promotion and Negotiation organization for the UK. We promote UK businesses overseas and attract foreign investment to our shores. We have 3,000 staff across the globe in over 100 countries. Our aspiration is to address some of the challenges facing the UK, by helping British businesses to internationalize and grow overseas and as well as helping African businesses better engage with the UK and the world.

DIT Africa is one of the nine DIT global networks and is led by Emma Wade-Smith, HM Trade Commissioner (HMTC) for Africa. The Africa Region is exciting and energizing and UK firms have a strong presence here, making the UK one of the largest investors in the continent. With some of the strongest growing economies in the world and booming population growth there are numerous more opportunities for UK firms; from tech start-ups in the West to infrastructure in the East. The Network’s role is to promote these opportunities and position the UK as the continent’s number one trading partner and investor.

DIT in Ethiopia is based at the British Embassy in Addis Ababa. We are a core part of the wider economic-focused Prosperity Team comprising DIT, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Department for International Development (DFID), all working to alleviate poverty, improve economic development, and enhance investment and trade between the UK and Ethiopia.

Roles and responsibilities :

• Market access analysis and prioritization; you will be responsible for identifying and prioritizing policy and regulatory trade barriers (cross-cutting and sector-specific) that are/likely to impact UK-Ethiopia business investment and international trade growth, including monitoring and analyzing changes in the Ethiopian Investment Law.

• Policy analysis and horizon scanning: you will engage in assessment of the impact of macroeconomic, microeconomic and fiscal policy changes on trade and investment in consultation with multilateral organizations and Ethiopian Government Agencies (DFID / WB / AfDB / IFC / Trade Mark East Africa / EIC). You will also monitor and analyze changes in Ethiopian Investment Law.

• Policy risk communication; you will develop briefings for UK Government officials, existing and incoming business stakeholders, cross-embassy teams, as well as updating the information on the Department's internal monitoring systems. In doing so, you will ensure that issues are clearly prioritized and incorporated into the UK government trade and investment strategy.

• Support business development projects: you will work with commercial leads within the team to provide solutions to specific market access issues impacting the UK’s priority sectors in Ethiopia. This will involve understanding the UK’s priority sectors, liaising with companies who are looking to enter into the Ethiopian markets, and developing solutions in order to improve the ease of investment in these sectors.

The role will require strong interpersonal and organizational skills, with the ability to influence and build relationships; the confidence to negotiate between senior internal and external government stakeholders will be of particular benefit. It will require close teamwork, supporting the UK Embassy's prosperity strategy.

The jobholder will be a confident self-starter, a team player with excellent communication skills, and the ability to network with a wide range of contacts at senior levels in government, international agencies, and the private sector. In addition, s/he will be expected to provide high-quality analysis and advice on sector-specific developments.

Essential qualifications, skills, and experience

• Degree in business, economics, management, finance or related field

• At least 5 years’ experience in investment or government services and/or supporting private sector companies/organizations in doing business

• Current knowledge of Ethiopia’s economy and business environment

• Great communication and presentation skills and ability to work in a virtual team

• Excellent drafting skills

• Fluency in the language of business and investment

Language: English 

Desirable qualifications, skills, and experience 

• Knowledge of the UK economic and business environment.

• An understanding of, or keen interest in, sustainable development (additional training in this area will be provided).

Language: Amharic

Required competencies: Seeing the Big Picture, Leading and Communicating, Collaborating and Partnering, Building Capability for All

Application Deadline: 17 September 2020

Grade: C4 (L)

Type of Position: Fixed Term, with the possibility of renewal

Working hours per Week: 36

Number of Vacancies: 1

Starting Monthly Salary: ETB 43,026.73 - ETB 53,783.42 dependent upon experience

Start Date: 2, November 2020 

 

Other Benefits and Conditions of Employment

Learning and development opportunities (and any specific training courses to be completed):

This role provides enormous opportunities to grow and develop. You will have access to the full suite of DIT and FCO learning and development opportunities including the FCO’s Diplomatic Academy, training in the UK, and will be encouraged to join DIT’s trade profession. We also provide regular in-house learning opportunities and are committed to supporting further academic opportunities. Our staff who demonstrate great leadership potential are encouraged to apply for the FCO’s pan-African Emerging Leadership Programme. The British Embassy has a strong commitment to learning and development and all staff is required to agree on a learning and development plan with their line manager.

Working patterns:

Flexible working requests will be considered favorably, but please note the following:

• You may be required to work a few evenings each month.

• You may be expected to travel to other cities in Ethiopia, and there may be occasional travel to the UK, and possibly other countries within Africa.

Additional information

Locally engaged staff of all grades will be entitled to paid annual leave as follows:

Up to 2 years 22 days
After 2 years services 25 days
After 5 years services 30 days

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