Strategic Projects and Relationships Manager (DEU23.619) in Berlin bei Forei & Commonwealth Office

The British Government in Germany is based at the British Embassy in Berlin and our consulates in Dusseldorf and Munich. We are part of a worldwide network, representing British political, economic and consular interests overseas.

The UK’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is recruiting a new Strategic Projects and Relationships Manager in Germany. The role can be based in any of the three Posts in Germany (Consulates in Düsseldorf and Munich and the Embassy in Berlin) but with a preference for Berlin. This is an excellent opportunity for someone looking to pursue a career in trade, in a delivery role that offers significant scope for development. We are looking for a candidate who is proactive, highly collaborative and delivery focussed, able to build positive relationships across the team and bring structure and focus to strategic projects and stakeholder engagement.

The DBT Germany team is made up of approximately 38 staff, based in the Embassy in Berlin and Consulates-General in Düsseldorf and Munich. It is one of the largest teams in the DBT Europe Region (approximately 340 staff in 34 countries in total) and works closely with colleagues in London and across the UK to improve market access and boost exports and investment. In Germany, DBT is made up of sector focussed staff with cross-cutting support from a Core Office, Strategic Communications team and the Trade Policy and Market Access team.

DBT Germany’s work is important: Germany is the UK’s second largest trading partner, with bilateral trade accounting for more than £132bn in 2022 – 8% of total UK trade. The UK and Germany are long-standing trade and investment partners and there is enormous potential to develop the trading relationship further to meet the global challenges of the future, in particular in DBT Germany’s priority areas of clean growth, technology, future mobility and life sciences.

As Strategic Projects & Relationships Manager, you will play a crucial role in delivering this work, working closely with the Deputy Country Director & Chief Operating Office (COO) as part of DBT Germany’s Core Office to support the wider DBT Germany team.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Line-management of the Berlin-based Assistant to the Country Director and DBT Project Support Officer:

• Providing structure and learning and development support for both members of staff;
• Ensuring general assistant and office management tasks are allocated and carried out for the smooth running of the Berlin office and wider DBT Germany team;
• Supervising Core Office projects and functions, for example organisation of VIP visits, briefings, milestone events or corporate projects such as implementing actions from the annual People Survey or implementing learning and development plans for the team.

Strategic Relationship Management (SRM):

• Develop and maintain a long-term plan for strategic relationship management with companies and stakeholders in Germany. Working with the Germany Senior Management Team (SMT) and sector focussed colleagues, you will play a crucial role ensuring that Senior relationship Management (SRM) priorities are embedded across our team and cross-cutting work on exports, investment, market access and strategic communications.
• Coordinate and streamline strategic engagement with companies and stakeholders, including Ministerial and Ambassador visit programmes and DBT Germany SMT external engagement.
• Research and analysis to support decision-making on strategic prioritisation for the team.

Project Management:

• Lead on specific projects, commissions and briefings as they arise, with guidance from the Deputy Country Director and support of the Project Support Officer;
• As part of this, you will have the opportunity to work with different teams at DBT in the UK as well as in Europe.
• Support Deputy Director and COO with budget functions.

Performance & Knowledge Management:

• Ensure business intelligence and feedback from SRM engagement is being captured and shared through relevant reporting activities (Datahub, account plans, reporting to senior leadership in Germany/Europe/London).
• Keep track of key pipeline projects and recent successes as they relate to SRM accounts and broader exports and investment work, to track outputs and success across the whole DIT Germany team;
• Own the DBT Germany top projects and successes list – informed by SRM work and business intelligence – to be used in briefing, reporting and to respond to commissions.

The Germany Network and DBT are a rewarding and exciting place to work, offering:

• Much scop