Senior Economic and Trade Market Opening Office

Job Description

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)

Main Purpose of Job:

• Join the dynamic Trade and Economics Team at the UK Mission to ASEAN, delivering strategic engagements with the ASEAN Economic Community.
• Support the development of ASEAN’s economic and trade agenda in line with UK principles of open, free, and fair trade.
• Boost ASEAN-UK trade ties and increase the UK’s visibility to the ASEAN Secretariat.
• Contribute to the UK Government’s growth mission by setting sector-specific strategies, with immediate focus on decarbonisation and digital agendas.
• Use a range of UK Government levers creatively, from programme funding to Ministerial-level engagements.
• Prioritize tasks based on market access opportunities, challenges faced by UK companies in Southeast Asia, and insights from market opening officers across UK embassies.
• Build relationships with UK companies and coordinate joint public-private sector engagements with the ASEAN Secretariat.
• Collaborate closely with the UK-ASEAN Business Council to deliver shared objectives.

Key Responsibilities and Expected Achievements:

• Policy Development:
• • Design, launch, and manage UK sectoral strategies with ASEAN to address UK market barriers and support ASEAN’s economic development.
  • Deliver through broad stakeholder networks, proactively including the private sector.
  • Provide regional policy insights and input for trade reviews and reporting, particularly on plurilateral agreements and dialogues.
  • Horizon-scan for opportunities and risks arising from industry, consumer, and political trends.
• Strategic Relationship Management:
  • Work with the UK-ASEAN Business Council to engage their members in UK-ASEAN activities, including sectoral roundtables.
  • Develop relationships with business, academic, regulatory, and government stakeholders in the region and the UK to support market opening and maximize impact.
• Visits and High-Level Meetings:
  • Support visits and engagements between Ministers, senior Government officials, and the UK Trade Envoy for ASEAN.
  • Shape and deliver programmes, site visits, announcements, and associated communications to global audiences.
• Delivering UK-ASEAN Collaboration:
  • Contribute to Department for Business and Trade policy and processes for market access and regulatory diplomacy, including online tools, analysis methods, and campaigning best practices.
  • Formulate and deliver small funded programmes to foster innovation, ensuring smooth project management.
• Demonstrate flexibility, as the exact coverage of the role may evolve according to team priorities.
• Be open to regional travel across Southeast Asia.

Resources Managed:

• No direct staff responsibility.
• Ad hoc budget and contract management may be required.

Essential Qualifications, Skills, and Experience:

• Knowledge of economic and trade policy areas, including market access.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English.
• Strong programme and policy management skills or equivalent experience.
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to manage multiple workstreams concurrently.
• Ability to build relationships and collaborate across government and external stakeholders.
• Proactive, focused on continuous improvement, and able to simplify processes for efficiency.
• Strong strategic planning and execution skills with measurable outcomes.
• Proficiency in MS Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams.

Desirable Qualifications, Skills, and Experience:

• Experience working with the private sector.
• Previous experience working with ASEAN or government officials in the ASEAN region.
• Awareness of UK government structures and processes.

Required Behaviours:

• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Working Together

Application Deadline: 23 November 2025