Main purpose of job:

This job offers the successful candidate an opportunity to work in the high-performing Department of Business & Trade (DBT) team at the British Office in Taipei. 

The UK has a thriving technology sector with many promising companies in areas such as AI, IoT, Compound Semiconductors and Fintech, and the highest number of high-growth companies, unicorns and VC investment in Europe. At the same time, there is increasing interest from Taiwanese companies in innovating and partnering with overseas technology companies to solve global challenges. Our aim is to raise awareness of the UK tech sector in Taiwan, identify business / export / partnership & funding opportunities and match UK and Taiwanese companies. 

DBT’s role is to promote UK’s business interests worldwide, and the job holder will contribute to the UK’s prosperity by assisting UK businesses wishing to a.) export to Taiwan; or b.) establish a presence in the market; or c.) seeking to match Taiwanese VC funding with UK companies. 

Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?

The successful candidate will be responsible for the promotion of UK business interests in the Technology sector (please note that this is defined broadly and will cover everything from semiconductors to cyber) and identifying and resolving market access issues in these areas.  Specific duties and responsibilities include:

Account management: Developing and maintaining strategic relationships through proactive and confident interaction with selected UK companies to understand their business strategies and where they need UK Government support, including assisting them in overcoming any barriers to doing business in Taiwan.

Customer Engagement: Building important strategic relationships with potential Taiwanese customers, innovators and connectors to increase our understanding of market demand and to facilitate the entry of UK companies into Taiwan.

• • Building out important strategic relationships with Taiwanese venture investors.

Marketing activities: Working with Marketing team and sector colleagues based in London to promote the UK as a source of high-quality goods and services, and supporting (and in some cases leading on) VIP visits from the UK; and

• • Collaboration across local and regional teams, especially Northeast Asia and the office of Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner (HMTC) in Singapore, to deliver wider British Office and DIT objectives.
  • This role will be responsible for looking to build out a new workstream supporting and understanding strategic finance, with particular reference to how that can support investments into UK companies and capturing diversifying capital from Taiwan for UK funds. 

This role will also involve some administrative support for the Country Director, the Deputy Director and from time to time the Head of Mission. This will constitute no more than 20% of the role.

The jobholder will be expected to:

• Provide advice to UK technology companies on entering and growing in the Taiwanese market and collaborating with Taiwanese corporates. Pursue business opportunities on behalf of the UK tech innovation and value chain and facilitate market entry, including providing market intelligence and arranging B2B and B2G meetings.
• Build up relationships with Taiwanese companies to understand their technology and business needs and identify opportunities for UK technology companies to meet these needs.
• Be the contact point for UK companies across the technology sector looking to do business in Taiwan.
• Build up relationships with VCs to understand what they’re looking for in a UK company and to help match them to UK companies.
• Establish and maintain relationships with Taiwanese stakeholders (private and public) on market access issues with a view to ensuring the best possible business environment for UK companies.  
• Develop a strong understanding of key technology sector trends and issues in the UK and Taiwan, including through gathering sector knowledge/market intelligence and developing a network of useful contacts in Taiwan and in the UK. You will be expected to become a subject matter expert over time.
• Plan and implement trade promotion activities to raise the profile of UK companies (e.g. trade shows, seminars, workshops etc.).
• Carry out regular administration tasks, for example leading the team’s customer relationship management (CRM) system, and maintaining databases of projects, procurement and handling of payments, team’s information management etc.
• Be flexible and contribute to wider corporate objectives through active participation in working groups, committees etc, and to work on ministerial and senior level visits as required. 
• Work collaboratively with other teams in the Network and in the UK to achieve shared goals. 

• BA/BS degree or higher.
• A proven track record of successful relationship management with internal and external stakeholders, including those at senior level.
• Self-motivated and hardworking individual who is willing to go above and beyond to deliver high quality outputs.
•  Ability to identify relevant market opportunities.
• Ability to adapt in a fast-paced and constantly changing environment.
• Ability to prioritise against competing, challenging tasks.
• Confident in business communication & negotiation, with a focus on customer needs.
• Ability to work with contacts and colleagues at all levels and understand how work fits into broader strategic context.
• Strong organisational, analytical and time management skills, with good attention to detail and an ability to self-administer.
• Flexible, resilient under pressure and enthusiastic.
• Proactive, goal oriented and outgoing personality with strong commercial acumen.
• Good communicator at all levels, spoken and written.
• Strong IT skills in MS Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel and PowerPoint.