Prosperity Officer

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The British Consulate General in Istanbul is part of a world-wide network representing British political, economic and consular interests overseas as is now looking to hire a Prosperity Officer.

Work as part of the Economic and Prosperity Team in the Turkey network to deliver the UK’s prosperity agenda for Turkey, including promoting the conditions for growth in Turkey, and delivering commercial benefits to the UK. The UK’s prosperity agenda for 2016 focuses on trade, health and anti-corruption, as well as continuing action to tackle growth barriers and global economic problems. The job holder will work in close collaboration with the Department for International Trade (DIT), British Council and Visit Britain. The Economic and Prosperity Team aims to encourage economic reforms in Turkey to deliver sustainable growth, strong economic governance and remove barriers to growth. We also work towards boosting free trade, tackle global economic challenges and strengthen the rules based international economic system, all issues which have become increasingly more important post-Brexit.

In November 2015 the British Government announced the Prosperity Fund, a £1.3 billion programme to support growth in a group of high performing emerging economies, including Turkey and identify opportunities for UK business. The programme will run from 2016 – 2020. The job holder will be involved in some aspects of the cross-Government Prosperity Fund in Turkey (worth approx. £1,25M for 2016-2017). The priority areas include Financial Services, Health and Health care, Future Cities, Low Carbon Economy and Business Environment (which includes work on trade, anti-corruption and transparency).

Main Duties and Responsibilities

1. Support the UK’s prosperity agenda by:

• Working with Britain’s National Tourism Agency Visit Britain in Turkey by creating network opportunities and partnerships to fulfil prosperity objectives. This would involve stakeholder engagement and managing meeting and events;
• Implementing the visa communication strategy, with the support of internal stakeholders, to integrate the communication of visa policy in all work carried out by UK Government in Turkey. You would be working in close partnership with all sections in the Embassy/consulate including UK Visas, DIT and British Council;
• Enhance and implement the "UK Alumni in Turkey Strategy" to introduce UK alumni to the Prosperity agenda. Work in close collaboration with British Council to deliver on the strategy and enhance UK alumni involvement in roundtables, workshops or seminars arranged by the Turkey Network.

2. Liaise with the Prosperity Fund Programme Manager to contribute to the delivery of the Prosperity Fund in Turkey, including:

• Assisting project partners (NGOs or other applicant organisations) to design project bids in line with the Embassy’s and wider Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) objectives;
• Assessing proposals and potential implementing organisations. Producing recommendations for the Turkey-wide Programme Board;
• Co-ordinating, monitoring and evaluation of projects and implementing agencies to ensure activities are being conducted in accordance with agreed plans and objectives.

3. Line management of a Prosperity Support Officer.

Essential qualifications and experience:

• A university or equivalent degree;
• Strong communication skills with excellent spoken and written Turkish and English;
• Project management and events management experience;
• Demonstrate appropriate (written and oral) skills developed from experience in researching, managing and delivering successful projects and campaigns in relevant areas such as marketing & communications;
• Demonstrate a proven record of understanding business drivers and the international commercial environment;
• A strong understanding of customer service and have experience in dealing with VIP customers, senior officials and customers;
• Ability to manage own work with minimal supervision and work effectively under tight deadlines;
• Ability to manage others;
• Experience in Microsoft Office applications, in particular Word, PowerPoint and Excel;
• Excellent team and people skills, and be comfortable engaging with people of all levels of seniority and (potentially) handling sensitive relationships;
• Excellent organisational skills, attention to detail and good follow-up discipline;
• Have the ability to communicate effectively and build relationships with internal and external customers, stakeholders and partners and undertake outward facing representational work;
• Availability for travelling around Turkey and to United Kingdom.

• Seeing the Big Picture, Making Effective Decisions, Leading and Communicating, Collaborating and Partnering, Delivering at Pace

Other benefits and conditions of employment: