View Vacancy – DBT ESS-IM Advisor

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer. We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow. The FCDO operates an agile workforce and to facilitate this, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time, as we may reasonably require.

Job Category

Department for Business and Trade roles (DBT)

Job Subcategory

Department for Business and Trade (DBT)

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)

Main purpose of job:

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is responsible for promoting UK trade and investment with the rest of the world. We are the department for economic growth. We support businesses to invest, grow and export, creating jobs and opportunities across the UK.

The overseas network is a vital asset in delivering the UK’s trade and investment ambitions. Embedded within British embassies and high commissions, our trade teams—led by HM Trade Commissioners—work in close coordination with diplomatic staff to promote UK exports, attract investment, and improve market access. Through commercial diplomacy, they build strategic relationships, provide expert market insight, and support UK businesses to navigate local conditions and seize opportunities. This integrated approach ensures our efforts align with broader UK priorities, including sectoral growth, supply chain resilience, and clean energy transition.

The DBT team across Latin America and the Caribbean (LATAC) is led by Jonathan Knott CMG, The HM Trade Commissioner for Latin America and the Caribbean, and his team is responsible for:

• growing the overall trade and investment relationship between the UK and LATAC markets
• improving market access for British companies, including small and medium sized businesses (SMEs)
• developing trade policy.

Information About the Role

This Higher Executive Officer (HEO) role will be part of our regional exports and trade promotion team – which aims to connect UK businesses with international export opportunities—helping UK businesses, and the economy, to grow.

This HEO role will be an Advisor within our Export Support Service (ESS) – International Market (IM) team and the role will be based in Colombia. The ESS is designed for eligible UK businesses (particularly Small & Medium sized Enterprises – SMEs- with high export potential) to access trade expertise and knowledge on exporting to specific countries from the Department for Business and Trade’s (DBT) global network of international market hubs. Businesses referred to a regional hub can expect to receive:

• access to a wide range of sector reports, market intelligence, and guides related to things to consider on exporting to those markets
• introductions to a network of private sector service providers to help businesses with issues on a commercial basis, including local accountants, legal experts, and sector specialists

Our ESS-IM team in Latin America and the Caribbean currently will have 5 advisors spread out across the region. This role will be based in Colombia, and the incoming advisor can expect to support UK businesses looking to enter and grow into LATAC markets, with a focus in the Andean sub-region, across a range of sectors.

This role will connect teams in the UK and colleagues across LATAC with the core aim to help UK firms win and expand their business in the region, with a particular emphasis on the Andean countries. This individual will be experienced, high performing, delivery focused that can hit the ground running.

Roles and responsibilities:

• Actively contribute to the day-to-day operations of DBT LATAC’s ESS-IM, adopting an effective relationship management and a consultative approach to working with UK businesses.
• Support UK companies looking to enter or expand across the region: anticipating opportunities and challenges.
• Build and maintain pipelines of export opportunities, through developing relationships with key public and private sector stakeholders across markets in LATAC.
• Conduct market research and maintain up-to-date intelligence on LATAC markets, identifying trends, opportunities, and barriers to trade.
• Foster relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including trade associations, sector experts, and regional partners, to promote UK capabilities in the region.
• Collaborate with trade and economic policy colleagues in DBT and the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) both in the UK and in our Missions to address market access barriers and unlock commercial benefits for UK exporters.
• Champion the UK’s Small & Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and support their growth and export ambitions, as set out in the UK government’s plan for small and medium-sized businesses.

Resources managed (staff and expenditure):

• This role will likely manage 1 intern

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

Essential on arrival:

• Fluent Spanish and English (both written and spoken);
• Excellent presentation and communication skills
• Proven ability to form professional relationships and build trust with a wide range of contacts from different backgrounds including at senior levels
• More than 5 years of experience of business and trade experience, particularly in business development: building client relationships, growing market share or developing accounts
• Experience of account and/or project management

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience:

• A relevant degree
• Experience using project management or CRM tools to track progress against sales or commercial targets/KPIs
• Experience of working effectively with the public sector and/or multilateral organisations, especially governments or organisations in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LATAC) region
• Existing network of stakeholder (private and public sector) contacts within the LATAC region
• Previous experience of managing staff, including to implement and monitor strategic workplans

Language requirements:

• Language: English (essential), Spanish (essential), Portuguese (desirable)
• Level of language required: Fluent written and spoken (CEFR C1 essential; C2 in at least one language preferable)

Required behaviours

Communicating and Influencing, Managing a Quality Service, Working Together

Application deadline

16 January 2026

Grade

Higher Executive Officer (HEO)

Type of Position

Fixed term, with possibility of renewal

Working hours per week

35

Region

Latin America and Spanish speaking Caribbean

Country/Territory

Colombia

Location (City)

Bogota

Type of Post

British Embassy

Number of vacancies

1

Salary Currency

COP

Salary

COP $ 12,884,078

Type of Salary

monthly

Start Date

2 March 2026

Other benefits and conditions of employment

Applicants must have the legal status to live and work in Colombia

Employees who are not liable to pay local income tax on their Mission salary, eg some non-local national staff and some spouses or partners of UK diplomatic staff, will have their salaries abated by an equivalent amount.

Appointable candidates who were unsuccessful may be placed on a ‘reserve list. If during the reserve period of 12 months the same or a largely similar role becomes available, that role may be offered to the second or subsequent candidate.

The British Embassy Network offers a strong benefits package. This package includes generous vacation and leave time, flexible working patterns, and enriching learning and development opportunities.

The successful candidate will have to go through a background check process, according to Embassy policies.

Additional information

Closing date of receiving applications is before 23:55 (Local Time) on 16 January 2026

All applicants must fully complete the online application form, including the sections for employment and educational details, experience, and behaviour-based questions. Only those applications that contain all required information will be considered. To ensure the sift process remains anonymous, please do not include any personally identifiable information in your application form.

Please be aware that you will only be able to apply to vacancies for Country Based Staff roles with the British Government through this official tal.net site (operated by Oleeo). Jobs may be advertised on third party websites, however our adverts will always link back to the official tal.net site. If you complete and send an application through any other site, we will not receive it.