Deputy Director Kenya – UK Department for International Trade (SEO) at British High Commission Nairobi Full Time

DIT in Kenya is based in the British High Commission in Nairobi, one of the UKs largest and exciting missions on the continent. You will be a key part of the DIT team, reporting into the Country Director with line management responsibilities, and a member of a forward looking cross-mission Mutual Prosperity team comprising DIT and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) colleagues, all working to improve economic development, investment and trade between the UK and Kenya, and to achieve sustainable development goals.

Roles & Responsibilities:

• Providing team leadership: As part of the DIT Leadership team you will help to shape DIT and wider UK prosperity activity in Kenya, identifying and regularly reviewing priorities for trade, outward investment, trade policy and market access work streams, working across the team in order to ensure that these are fully aligned to the DIT Africa Regional Trade Plan, the DIT Kenya Country Plan, and the British High Commissions wider Mutual Prosperity Strategy.
• Lead the DIT team’s commercial work: You will have ownership for the team’s commercial pipeline of both investment and export projects, and will be responsible for devising and executing strategies to drive this pipeline forward. To help deliver upon this, you will manage the teams’ trade advisors, ensuring that they have clear objectives and activities in place to support those objectives. You will work very closely with the Trade Policy and Market Access team to ensure that we have strategies for overcoming trade and investment barriers in place, as well as by developing an understanding of wider business environment issues affecting Kenya.
• Stakeholder Management and public profile: Develop and maintain a network of high value trade and investment relationships in Kenya, including in the Government of Kenya and the local British and Kenyan business community. You will also represent DIT Kenya at public events, with significant opportunities for speaking and networking.
• Lead on commercial aspects on the team’s senior visits work: Critical to our success is that we leverage departmental ministers, Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Africa, The Prime Ministers Trade Envoy to Kenya, senior civil servants and business delegations to the cause of the team. You will design, and execute senior visits into the Kenyan market, as well as inward visits to the UK Kenyan delegations.
• Collaboration with the wider Mutual Prosperity Team and across the High Commission: You will work to develop a deep understanding of the suite of HMG programming in Kenya to ensure DIT priorities and interests are considered and aligned with HMG programme planning. As part of this you will work closely with colleagues across Government to identify synergies and opportunities for collaboration o n areas of mutual interest that will deliver the High Commissions Mutual Prosperity Strategy.
• Work with the Regional UK Export Finance (UKEF) lead: To promote, where relevant, the financing products offered by UKEF (the British government’s Export Credit Agency), to support companies win contracts.
• Day-to-day team management: You will have Line Management responsibility two of the team’s trade and investment advisors, and play an active role in the professional and personal development of the wider team.
• Deputise for the Country Director: You will deputise for the Country Director when required, ensuring that senior stakeholders are kept informed of strategic developments, and representing DIT Africa / Kenya both internally and externally.

As the successful candidate, you will be a dynamic leader with good communication skills, able to motivate the trade and investment team and wider prosperity colleagues, and engage credibly with senior people in order to represent interests of the British High Commission. You will be good at thinking strategically and planning for the future. You will be able to demonstrate the management capability to support a high performing, flexible and agile team; and have a proven ability to build good relationships with stakeholders and clients. You will also be comfortable drilling down into the detail to manage the performance.  You will use the above relationships to help HMG in Kenya to lobby for key reforms to the Kenyan business environment by identifying ‘high value investment barriers’ and will promote Kenyan export and investment opportunities to firms and international investors, raising the profile of opportunities amongst the private sector. You will also be an exceptional team player, able to work closely with colleagues across the High Commission to ensure strategic activity is joined up and well represented across the One-HMG platform, and have the confidence to represent interests of the Kenya trade team and its people externally.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience  

• Postgraduate degree and/or undergraduate degree and other relevant professional qualification
• Relevant work experience in the private sector, or within a private-sector orientated part of Government or International Organisation
• Experience of working in or with government departments, NGOs, and similar institutions
• Proven track record of cross-team collaboration
• Proven client-facing experience, for example with an investment promotion agency or professional services firm.
• Fluency in the language of business and investment
• A positive, resilient, flexible and adaptable “can-do” attitude that can see way through challenges.
• Strong interpersonal and leadership skills, ability to work successfully in multicultural teams and across boundaries, to build networks across the region
• Excellent drafting skills.

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience  

• At least 10 years professional work experience
• Experience of the following: business development, understanding issues and pursuing strategies together, investment appraisal, deal pipeline preparation, deal brokering, advisory
• Knowledge of the UK economic and business environment.
• Experience in managing budgets
• Knowledge of the investment services contract and delivery mechanisms
• Knowledge/experience of international development, or a willingness to learn
• Communication skills and fluency in Swahili