The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is the department for economic growth. We support businesses to invest, grow and export, creating jobs and opportunities across the country.
We are recruiting for two Policy Advisers in the Trade in Goods Policy Team within the Trade Policy, Implementation and Negotiations Group. The Trade Policy, Implementation and Negotiations Group is responsible for negotiating and implementing the UK’s trade agreements with partner countries from across the globe to support the growth of UK businesses internationally. The Group has over 700 people, expert in diverse technical areas of trade policy and negotiations, at the cutting edge of delivering the UK’s trade negotiation objectives.
The Trade in Goods Policy Team aims to be an inclusive and diverse group of people, who work on challenging and high-profile issues in a supportive and learning environment and who adopt flexible policies to accommodate a wide range of personal circumstances.
We are seeking enthusiastic and diligent policy colleagues in the Trade in Goods Team for this fast-paced, high-profile area, supporting Departmental priorities to secure and implement world class free trade agreements (FTAs). You will support work on current FTA negotiations as well as policy development, engagement and implementing the UK’s suite of FTAs. Example areas of policy you might work on include rules of origin and tariffs/goods market access.
Our team is vibrant, hardworking and collaborative. We pay special attention to providing training and support needed to allow individuals to excel. We recognise the importance of professional and personal growth and will encourage you to develop your skills and trade knowledge. There is no requirement for previous experience in trade policy.
These positions are high-profile and stretching roles for an HEO, supporting DBT to negotiate and implement FTAs. Successful individuals will be supported in doing this by their line manager, colleagues in our expert and specialised team, as well as by country, analytical, legal and sectoral experts in the wider Department.
Key responsibilities for these roles include:
1. International FTA Negotiations and Implementation - For live negotiations, you will have the opportunity to play an active role inside and outside the negotiating room, supporting development of a negotiating strategy, assessing partners’ negotiating positions and contributing to core negotiation outputs. You will support preparations for technical committees with partner countries that oversee the successful implementation of the UK’s FTAs with opportunities to take ownership of particular areas.
2. Policy Development - You will work closely with colleagues including the Negotiation Lead and Deputy Lead, as well as with Other Government Departments, to develop trade policy and UK negotiating positions (in bilateral and multilateral fora) that are consistent with the UK’s domestic and international priorities. You will support recommendations that draw on expertise from analysts, legal colleagues, Other Government Departments, Overseas Posts, other policy teams and businesses to ensure the policy positions are in the best interest for the UK. This can include contributing to, or in time leading on, briefings for senior officials and Ministers as appropriate.
3. Working with other Government departments - These roles involve significant collaboration with teams across DBT and Other Government Departments. You will develop strong working relationships both inter-departmentally and across Government to help ensure there is a clear understanding of departmental objectives and priorities, seeking to establish strong relationships and a united approach in the development of UK positions.
4. Stakeholder Engagement - You will work closely with other teams in the Department to enable effective engagement with businesses and interested persons on matters relating to Trade in Goods, ensuring that they can input into policy making and are provided with comprehensive updates on the UK’s progress in ongoing negotiations.
5. Cross-cutting responsibilities – You will influence wider HMG work-streams on Trade in Goods, tracking areas of innovation where there is a goods interest and ensuring that any future policies promote the use of existing FTAs.
The team puts a premium on learning and development and would encourage the successful candidate to be self-reflective and to regularly consider how they can develop and improve. The team helps each other in doing this and encourages innovation.
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