The successful candidate will be part of a Regional Cities/ Outreach team of “roving Consuls-General” in Northern China. This role will be specifically based in Shandong, China’s 3rd largest provincial economy, a critical commercial partner for the UK, and a province of great political and cultural significance. And this is an exciting time to work in Shandong: SOEs based there are growing rapidly, private enterprise is playing an increasing role in the economy, major infrastructure projects are opening the region to the rest of China and other markets and the government is focused on improving its service industries in line with UK strengths. Shandong is an ideal partner for the UK.

The jobholder will be required to live in Shandong. The exact city is to be decided based on what works best for the applicants, but will be either Qingdao or Jinan (provincial capital). The successful candidate will spend their first week of induction in Beijing and will travel back to Beijing on a monthly basis.

The jobholder will act as the UK lead on and in Shandong, owning and driving forward a wide range of activities to expand and deepen UK government and business engagement. It is about increasing our knowledge of Shandong, liaising with government and businesses so that we can better understand the local picture and how the UK can work with this important province in mutual support of UK and China prosperity objectives. You will lead on delivering UK-Shandong Dialogues on healthcare and environment protection. You will have a wide range of tools at your disposal. This year, the jobholder is overseeing programmes as part of the Global Britain Fund and other public diplomacy initiatives. You will also take the lead on designing and implementing high level visits from UK Ministers.

An outstanding network of high-level government and business contacts is already in place in Shandong, and the jobholder will be required to manage and build on these relationships, as well as maintain strong links with key UK stakeholders such as the Department for International Trade (DIT), the Embassy’s Prosperity and Communications Teams, British and Chinese businesses, and many others. You will be involved in supporting inward/outward visits both from UK officials and Chinese provincial leaders. Therefore, some general administrative duties - setting up meetings, planning trip logistics, coordinating visits – will be necessary.

The successful candidate will need to be comfortable working autonomously, though there will be regular lines of communication, supportive line management, and monthly trips to Beijing. They will need to have plenty of initiative, strong interpersonal and team-working skills, and the drive necessary to deliver results. They will also line manage a member of staff (B3L). Fluency and confidence in verbal and written Mandarin is essential.
In return, they can expect to: be a part of a truly innovative diplomatic network across China; become the UK Government’s expert on Shandong; and have the chance to build a wide range of skills and experience, such as strategic communications, project management and economic reporting.

This position is advertised on a fixed-term basis for one (1) year.

Political – 30%
Build an understanding of the local business and political environment in the region. Develop closer links with the authorities and other relevant organisations in Northern China. Building networks, identifying and developing opportunities for engagement across the range of Embassy activity areas of work. Reporting achievements such that they gain traction with internal stakeholders.

Commercial Diplomacy/Prosperity – 30%
Working with DIT colleagues and other Embassy colleagues identify and develop opportunities for UK business, organisations, government agencies, educational and research institutes, and other sources of UK expertise. Exploit synergies between commercial opportunities and other teams’ objectives (for example, low carbon policy).

Project/programme management – 20%
Each Outreach Officer is expected to identify potential policy or commercial projects in the region s/he covers. Engaging project boards on designs for projects, identifying how to resource and run the projects, and then successfully delivering and reporting them.

Line management – 10%
Line manage a B3(L) officer, conducting appraisals, performance reviews, and ensuring their development needs are met.

Public Diplomacy – 10%
Engage in public diplomacy activities in the region in order to raise the profile of the UK among a specified target audience. Explain and promote HMG’s policies on a range of subjects to a wide range of stakeholders. This includes engagement with the Chevening programme by attracting candidates and maintaining connections with alumni.

• Understanding of the UK and core government policy
• Stakeholder management experience
• Fluent in Mandarin

• Knowledge of and interest in Shandong
• Line management experience
• Knowledge in helathcare and environmental protection

This job requires regular travel to the region which can sometimes be outside normal working hours. As a rule the team aims to ensure that all staff are either able to take TOIL very quickly or can claim for overtime. This requires some flexibility on the part of the post holder.

Although the work location of this position is Shandong, the successful candidate needs to pay social insurance and public housing fund in Beijing. The supplemental medical insurance could be relocated from Beijing to Shandong.

We offer a competitive package, which includes basic salary, good leave entitlement, and insurance plan, etc. The gross starting salary (before all deductions) for this position is CNY 27,596 / month for Chinese Nationals.

We also offer excellent development opportunities and a 22-day annual leave entitlement in pro rata. For more details on our Total Rewards Package, please visit our website http://www.gov.uk/government/world/china.

Staff recruited locally by the British Embassy Beijing is subject to Terms and Conditions of Service according to local Chinese employment law.

All applications must be received before 11:55PM (China Standard Time) on 19 August 2019.

Incomplete application forms will not be taken into consideration, so please ensure you provide the information requested. We regret to advise that we will only be contacting short-listed candidates. Applicants called for an interview will be assessed on the core competencies listed above.

To those applicants not short-listed, we extend our appreciation for considering the British Government as a potential employer.