The British Embassy in Madrid is part of a worldwide network representing British political, economic, and consular interests overseas.  It is also part of the UK’s Spain Network (including offices in nine locations). We are looking for a Country Director to lead the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) team in Spain.  DBT Spain has offices in Madrid, Barcelona, and Bilbao. 
 
DBT promotes British trade and investment worldwide, helps build an appetite for British goods and services globally, and works to promote and support foreign investment in the UK.  DBT also brings together policy, promotion, and financial expertise to break down barriers to trade and investment and to help businesses to succeed, as well as championing a free and fair international trading system with global rules. For more information about DBT Spain please follow the link.

The successful candidate will report directly to His Majesty’s Ambassador to Spain and lead a team of 30 trade and investment professionals based in Madrid, Barcelona and Bilbao.  The Country Director will be responsible for maximising UK exports to Spain, securing high quality investment into the UK and delivering wider commercial objectives that protect the UK’s interests and economic security

Total trade in goods and services between the UK and Spain is £61 billion at current prices, where Spain accounts for 3.4 % of total UK trade and is the 7th largest trading partner. In 2021, the bilateral investment was £137 billion, of which £42 billion was the entire UK inward FDI stock.  

The Country Director will enjoy significant autonomy to set the strategic direction and priorities of the DBT Spain team, as well as forming part of the wider DBT Europe Country Director cadre, with the opportunity to contribute actively to DBT Europe at a strategic level. 

The successful candidate will also form part of the Senior Leadership Team within the British Embassy in Madrid and the Spain Network Board of Management, providing key corporate leadership to enable the delivery of UK Government policies and services across the Spain Network.

This is a challenging, varied and high-profile role and presents an exciting opportunity for an ambitious and commercially driven professional with excellent leadership skills and relevant business experience.

Main Responsibilities:

Leadership and strategic vision

•    Motivate, empower and lead one of the largest DBT teams in Europe (c.30 people, across three offices).

•    Provide clear strategic direction to DBT Spain to ensure delivery across the pillars of the Spain Country Trade Plan, which is an integral part of the broader DBT-Europe Regional Trade Plan, and the Spain Network Country Business Plan.

•    Act as a role model for other DBT Europe Country Directors, contributing proactively and constructively to regional initiatives and agenda-setting, taking the role of being a critical friend to Europe’s senior leadership where appropriate.
 
Promote and increase UK-Spain trade and investment, and shape the international trading system in the UK’s interest

•    Enhance market access for UK companies in Spain (practical assistance for UK exporters to navigate Spain/EU trade rules; prioritise plans and progress for resolving individual market access barriers).

•    Support UK firms to export to Spain through marketing promotion activities, proactive account management, enhanced sectoral focus, UKEF available tools, and the Export Support Service. 

•    Attract and retain inward investment to the UK from Spain (increase share of high-value projects, low carbon, capital investment, R&D and levelling-up, and active SRM of critical accounts).
 
•    Champion free and fair-trading systems with Spain (building constructive relations with Spanish government trade policy teams; providing insightful intelligence on Spain/European trading systems issues; advocating UK positions convincingly) and defend UK’s interests and economic security.

Cultivate relationships with key external stakeholders
 
•    Develop a broad and deep range of influential and high-level contacts among UK and Spanish companies as well as delivery partners, government and wider stakeholders.  

•    Represent DBT Spain and the UK Government externally, including at events and other external engagements.
 
Corporate leadership role and wider HM Government collaboration

•    Establish trusted relationships with DBT HQ in London, DBT Europe, including the HM Trade Commissioner, senior teams at the British Embassy in Madrid, including with fellow HMG colleagues in the Spain Network.

•    Lead timely and pertinent analysis, and provide advice and support to DBT and wider HMG Ministers and officials on UK-Spain trade issues, ministerial visits, and performance. 

•    Engage proactively with relevant teams within the British Embassy in Madrid and DBT to identify  shared objectives and work collaboratively to achieve them.

•    Play a senior leadership role within Spain Network, including as a member of the Board of Management and Senior Leadership Team. 

•    Lead on discrete projects or horizontal objectives across DBT Spain and DBT Europe, as required.

• Excellent interpersonal, team working, and people management skills. The successful candidate will be a credible senior team leader capable of setting the direction for a sizeable team of experienced colleagues.
• Strategic relationship management experience, building and implementing stakeholder engagement strategies to achieve objectives; able to show a solid track record of achieving impact with senior level decision makers (‘C-level’ executives).
• Policy skills and the ability to quickly develop a robust strategic grip on market access work. The successful candidate will be proactive and capable of absorbing a wide range of information from different sources and using that to inform and shape their thinking.
• Demonstrated project management skills. The successful candidate will be highly organized, flexible, and able to work at pace; and have a proven record in the ability to juggle multiple priorities and to take de-prioritisation decisions to retain focus on the highest impact.
• Able to demonstrate commercial judgement, with relevant experience in commerce/business development, government or trade and investment promotion.
• Full professional proficiency in English and Spanish, including excellent written skills* (C1 Level).