About the job

Job summary

UK Export Finance has recently undergone an internal consultation to review the current structure of its Business Group (BG) and a decision has been made to create two new distinct directorates:

• Large Corporates & International
• Small & Medium Enterprises and Trade Finance

This will enable us to fully focus on specific customer requirements and to aid product delivery for the respective markets in which UKEF provides support. Typically, our support can help UK exporters win, fulfil and get paid for contracts in all sectors. The main activities of the advertised roles are listed below. We are looking for highly motivated individuals who are process driven with demonstrable interpersonal skills who can organise themselves with little or no supervision.

Job description

Sitting within the Large Corporates & International directorate the Business Manager’s overall role is to lead and have overall responsibility for evaluating and progressing enquiries and applications from exporters, banks and other institutions seeking UKEF support.

The role will be in the Infrastructure and Construction Branch.

The role involves the management of cases (directly or by delegating to the relevant team member) to: 1) obtain the necessary approvals, e.g. by Credit Committee; 2) work on creative solutions regarding financial structuring and documentation; 3) underwrite and issue commitments; and 4) negotiate and issue documents to enable support to be made available by any UKEF insurance product or loan guarantees to banks or via a direct lending solution.

The post holder must ensure that any support which is provided meets the needs of the customer and complies with UKEF’s governing Act of Parliament, the Consent to operate by HM Treasury, International Agreements applying to Export Credit transactions as well as in compliance with our policies and practices.

The post holder will normally be UKEF’s lead negotiator on individual cases and take lead responsibility on managing a portfolio of potentially high profile, high value and complex transactions. They will work on multiple cases, simultaneously, in a highly pressurised, commercially driven, technical, international environment. The ability to respond within commercial timescales is particularly important.

The role often involves significant analysis of complex and non-standard issues to ensure timely decision making, seeking advice as necessary from professional advisers and colleagues; being able to interpret and act on advice; knowing when to refer upwards and ensuring the proper recording of decisions.

The post holder will undertake senior marketing representation and build/maintain important commercial relationships e.g. by delivering presentations at commercial and government conferences and seminars as well as by being a credible chair or senior participant at meetings with UKEF stakeholders.

It also often involves advising senior staff, wider-Whitehall colleagues and ministers on and directly managing contentious issues and balancing the needs of multiple stakeholders with different viewpoints (e.g. commercial, legal and national/strategic). The Business Manager is expected to  be politically and commercially aware.

The successful candidates for these roles will have responsibility for managing,  leading, mentoring and coaching of a small team comprised of SEOs, HEOs or EOs, to bring out the best in the team, as well as a lead role on development of products, policies and processes to improve UKEF’s support.

Person specification

• Managing complex and novel casework across a varied portfolio to commercial deadlines, working within a statutory framework. Ensuring that cases meet the relevant international agreements, UKEF’s underwriting policies / the needs of reinsurance partners.
• Having overall responsibility for taking cases through the risk approval and underwriting processes working with other parts of the Department and advisers, seeking advice from colleagues and others as required. This involves strong advocacy (up to Ministerial level on occasion) in discussion and in writing, with clear persuasive arguments being made.
• Leading a team drawn from UKEF and external law firms/advisers, banks, exporters and other Export Credit Agencies to project manage cases; setting deadlines and objectives, anticipating and mitigating risks and monitoring and reviewing progress.
• Chairing and participating in meetings, conference calls, and negotiations with key stakeholders’ exporters, overseas buyers, banks, legal advisers, project developers and other government departments (e.g. cross-Whitehall committees on international trade).
• Negotiating key documentation for UKEF’s suite of facilities and ancillary products with stakeholders (exporters, banks, and buyers) and developing creative solutions to issues arising in negotiations, often within very tight timescales.
• Analysing issues arising during underwriting and deal execution processes and producing specific and detailed authoritative advice for senior decision makers, obtaining relevant legal and other advice as required, to fully meet the needs of senior decision makers and exercising their own autonomy as appropriate. Seeing the bigger picture in the context of decisions being made or recommended in the context of UKEF and the wider world.
• Managing and expanding a variety of important relationships with key exporters and customers to understand their markets and business needs to ensure that they obtain the maximum benefit from the support UKEF provides.
• Representing UKEF and the UK government more widely at conferences, presenting at seminars, explaining clearly UKEF’s policies, processes and products.
• Developing and maintaining a detailed technical knowledge of international financing mechanisms, structures, UKEF products, OECD terms and Whitehall objectives.
• Managing staff across a range of levels; setting objectives, delegating work, training and development and managing performance, appraisal and discipline. Coaching team members and providing guidance to develop their technical, project management and negotiating skills as well as their wider skill set Ensuring resources are deployed effectively.
• Contributing to wider UKEF policies and management issues. To identify, initiate and/ or develop new approaches to products, processes or policy, managing any change effectively, adapting where necessary to operational requirements.

This list is not exhaustive; you may be required to carry out additional duties according to business need.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £56,430, UK Export Finance contributes £15,236 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

You will be invited to complete the online application form. The application form must be completed by 23.55 on the day of the closing date
for it to be accepted.

All applications will be sifted against our minimum selection criteria outlined in the personal specification.

You will be asked in the relevant sections of the application form to provide examples of evidence against a range of the success profiles (refer
to appendix 1). Where applicants are asked to apply with a personal statement, you should fully articulate in 750 words how you meet the
essential criteria outlined in the person specification within the Information Pack.

For the initial sift your application will be evaluated against:
1. Experience
2. Ability
3. Technical
4. Behaviours

If you are successful following the sift stage, you will be invited to an initial interview; this will include the following assessment:

1. Behaviours/Technical/Experience - a formal panel interview where you will be interviewed across all four behaviours highlighted and
your technical ability to successfully carry out the role.

2. Technical - Prior to the interview candidates will be given a case study to review. At the interview the candidate will give a presentation
on the case study to the panel, followed by Q+A. More details will be provided to those who are invited to interview.

Depending on the number of candidates there may be a need for a second-round interview, should this be required details will provided to
the relevant candidates.

Details of interview panel members will be e-mailed to all successful candidates who are invited for interview.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.