Job Title: Country Head (Commonwealth Caribbean)

Department: UKEF (UK Export Finance)

Location: BHC Bridgetown, or BHC Kingston, or BHC Port of Spain, or BHC Nassau

Main purpose of job:

UK Export Finance (UKEF) is seeking a dynamic Country Head to lead its business origination work within the Commonwealth Caribbean. The postholder will be based in the British High Commission in Bridgetown, Kingston, Port of Spain, or Nassau (depending on the successful candidate’s current location), however they will need to undertake significant travel throughout the region.

The UK Government is focused on growing UK trade with the Latin America and Caribbean (LATAC) region, delivering the UK’s Industrial and Trade Strategies. Finance is a critical ingredient in promoting more trade between the UK and our overseas partners and securing long-term economic development. UKEF’s Country Head will shape long-term partnerships for prosperity between the UK and the Caribbean.

UKEF’s Country Head will join a regional team across UKEF, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). 

UKEF’s Country Head will be responsible for promoting UKEF’s export finance offer and developing new business opportunities in the Commonwealth Caribbean region.

The role of the UKEF Country Head, working closely with the UK’s wider diplomatic and commercial team in the region, is to promote UKEF’s overseas finance offer to potential buyers in the Caribbean and generate a pipeline of business opportunities for UK exporters. This will involve building and maintaining relationships with overseas governments (frequently at very senior level), UK-based and international EPC contractors, and commercial banks active in the region. They will identify areas of opportunity with partner governments, generate and filter potential leads, and be responsible for delivering high-impact projects which support both local economic development and the UK supply chain.

The Country Head will have five priority markets (Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, The Bahamas, and Guyana) and additional responsibility for other countries in the region, including the OECS member states and certain British Overseas Territories (BOTs). UKEF’s focus within this region is on sovereign-backed transactions in the infrastructure sector, but the postholder will need to be adaptive and able to work across all sectors and a range of project structures.

As the sole UKEF representative in the relevant British Embassy, the jobholder will work as part of a wider team across British Government Departments, including local DBT and FCDO leads. They will be required to play a leadership role in the DBT Caribbean team, ensuring both teams leverage the UK Government’s overseas finance offer to secure business opportunities for UK exporters. They will play a key role in delivering the UK’s diplomatic and development objectives across a range of important, long-standing bilateral relationships.

The Country Head will report into UKEF’s London headquarters and will join UKEF’s strong cross-Americas network of Country Heads. The Country Head will have a dual reporting structure, reporting to both UKEF in London and the DBT/FCDO in Latin America and the Caribbean (LATAC).

Roles and responsibilities:

The Country Head’s key responsibility is to build UKEF’s business and profile overseas, helping to grow UKEF-supported exports by focussing on five areas of activity.   

In performing these objectives, the Country Head will form part of the wider High Commission team and will contribute to the UK Government’s trade and investment objectives.

1) Build, expand, and progress new business opportunities for UKEF 

• Build a diversified pipeline of bankable deal opportunities for UKEF in the Caribbean.
• Manage early-stage structuring and bankability assessments of new transactions, working in close coordination with UKEF’s London team to enhance the prospects of UKEF involvement in overseas projects.
• Support due diligence work on more advanced opportunities, building the right connections to support exporters through the Application process and unblock transactions where required.
• Build a strong command of the UK supply chain in key areas such as infrastructure, healthcare, and renewable energy.

 2) Develop and execute UKEF’s growth strategy in the Caribbean

• Working with UKEF’s team in London and with DBT, develop tailored strategies to expand UKEF’s track record and future business pipeline in the region.
• Monitor local political developments, including government infrastructure priorities and fiscal policy, to identify opportunity areas for UKEF financing and reprioritise resource accordingly.
• Integrate first hand market insights into UKEF’s strategic plans for the Caribbean, sharing local market knowledge with the UKEF, DBT and FCDO teams.
• Support DBT’s local strategic planning, ensuring alignment with UKEF’s strategy and embedding UKEF financing into DBT export campaigns.

3) Establish and maintain stakeholder relationships 

• Raise UKEF’s profile in the region through engagement with high-profile government representatives, UK exporters, and senior leaders within regional and international banks.
• Work closely with UKEF’s client coverage leads, who oversee relationships with key multilateral development banks and UK industrial clients.
• Integrate DBT campaign leads in core UKEF outreach activities in the Caribbean, creating cohesive business development strategies involving DBT and FCDO at a local and regional level. 

4) Build awareness of UKEF support capabilities 

• Develop tailored presentations to enhance awareness of UKEF’s products and capabilities with partner governments and across the local business community.
• Act as the lead source of UKEF advice to local DBT teams, including integration of UKEF objectives in DBT’s exports campaigns in the Caribbean region.
• Enhance DBT team members’ command of UKEF’s financing products.

5) Play a leadership role for UKEF in the Caribbean

• Represent UKEF at high-profile speaker engagements, industry events and conferences locally and across the Caribbean.
• Represent the Caribbean region within UKEF, providing a local voice of expertise to departmental seniors and UKEF’s credit committee.
• Coordinate and support visits from UKEF management and support visits from ministers and senior officials from the UK government.
• Make a wider corporate contribution to working life in the High Commission, as applicable.

This list is not exhaustive; the Country Head may be required to carry out additional duties according to business needs.  

About UK Export Finance:

UKEF is the UK’s export credit agency (ECA) and operates in partnership with DBT. 

UKEF’s mission is to advance prosperity by ensuring that no viable UK export fails for lack of finance and insurance, doing that sustainably and at no net cost to the taxpayer. In 2024/25, UKEF provided £14.5 billion worth of support for UK exports contracts to nearly 100 countries.

UKEF works closely with partners within government, most notably DBT and the FCDO. In the private sector our principal partners include trade associations and financial institutions. 

Our work is varied and complex, spanning all business sectors and all corners of the world. UKEF is delighted to have been named best Export Credit Agency by Global Trade Review and Trade Finance Global. This is a recognition of our innovative approach to supporting exporters, comprehensive product offering and substantial appetite to take on new business. 

UKEF Business Plan 

UKEF five-year business plan has 5 delivery objectives, which set out what we need to achieve to realise our mission, and five strategic enablers, which define the resources, skills and operational capabilities we will need to do that. 

You can read our Business Plan in full here, and find out more about the Department’s work in the latest UK Export Finance Annual Report and Accounts.

About the Department for Business and Trade:

DBT is the UK Government department that helps foster UK exports and inward investment. DBT officers at overseas Embassies, Consulates General and High Commissions liaise with the UK headquarters and other departments across the UK Government to generate commercial, policy and institutional collaborations. 

About the Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office:

FCDO leads the UK’s diplomatic and development work around the world driving HMG’s growth agenda through partnerships to promote prosperity and security.  

Essential on arrival:

• Degree and/or equivalent professional financial or accounting experience
• At least ten years’ professional experience in a banking, finance, or export credit agency/project finance advisory role
• Proven commercial diplomacy skills, particularly in working with government stakeholders
• Detailed knowledge of macroeconomic, political, and regulatory trends in the Caribbean
• Network of senior contacts in the Caribbean and ability to build trusted relationships with stakeholders on all sides
• Prior experience of business origination / business development
• Proven experience of structured finance or trade finance
• Extensive experience of conducting preliminary credit and bankability analysis, and analysing accounts / balance sheets
• Experience working with exporters and project developers
• Strong team player, with an ability to contribute to a regional team across various UK Government departments, in a fast-paced environment
• Confident public speaking and networking skills
• Proven ability to take initiative, pursuing the objectives in the job description
• Competence in leading strategy development and business planning
• Proven advisory and negotiation skills at senior levels, with an ability to express ideas and messages clearly and concisely, both orally and in written communication
• Competent in Microsoft Office applications and appetite to embrace data-driven pipeline management tools
• Able to fulfil the travel requirements of the role and work outside normal office hours as required

Language requirements: English – Fluent both written and oral