Strategic Relationship Manager – UK Defence and Security Exports

UK Defence and Security Exports (UKDSE) is the part of the Department for Business and Trade responsible for maximising defence, security & cyber security and maritime exports and foreign direct investment into the UK economy.  

We support companies to export their products, by maintaining relationships with overseas governments to promote British defence and security products and services, working in partnership with the MOD and industry to ensure defence and security products and services have export potential as well as providing UK defence and security companies with specialist support to sell their goods overseas. We work with overseas owned companies to maximise their investment and presence in the UK, as well as attracting the world’s leading investors and businesses to invest and grow in the UK’s dynamic domestic business environment.  

UKDSE is part of the DBT’s Business Sectors group. The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is the department for economic growth. We support businesses to invest, grow and export, creating jobs and opportunities across the country.  

Your role is to build and maintain the critical deep and credible relationships with those key industry players and other parts of government, that are vital to making that vision a reality, to deliver investment, exports, and wider UKDSE, DBT and HMG objectives.   

You will manage a portfolio of company accounts to coordinate support for their further growth in and from the UK. You will build close, productive relationships and develop a rich knowledge of each company. You will work with teams across DBT to deliver strategic objectives, including working closely with colleagues across UKDSE, other sector team colleagues, DBT’s global network, senior officials, Ministers, and other government departments to provide a more joined up conversation between the department, HMG, and the company.  
 
Your management of these accounts will drive trade (export) and investment wins, support engagement at major set piece events, and also provide a strategic overview of the company, their priorities, and how HMG, and DBT in particular, can effectively engage with them across a number of HMG objectives – primarily, but not exclusively, economic growth and job creation. 

Beyond your work with the companies, you will also promote effective account management within UKDSE. Primarily this comprises: 

1. Supporting the UKDSE’s work to prioritise our company engagement to ensure we are developing the most productive relationships whilst also working on our one-to-many communication with smaller UK companies and global investors. 

1. Be a centre of expertise on account management, sharing your skills, knowledge and tools generously with directorate colleagues to drive up standards of account management and company engagement across the directorate. 

You will achieve all this in partnership with the rest of the UKDSE Strategic Relationship Management (SRM) team. 

You will: 

• Manage a portfolio of high-profile defence and security businesses, helping to maximise impact against UKDSE- DBT priorities.  

• Build and maintain strong relationships at different levels within each account, developing in-depth understanding of their objectives and concerns, and how these align to UKDSE-DBT and government priorities.  

• Maintain strategic account/engagement plans to support DSE’s investment, export, and policy objectives in collaboration with colleagues in other parts of the department.  

• Develop and manage a strong network across DBT, including the overseas network, MOD and other relevant departments, building and developing a ‘virtual team’ approach to delivering objectives.  

• Maintain a strong understanding of defence priorities, industry developments, and DBT priorities.  

• Contributing to the wider team (Policy, Ecosystems, Programmes and Strategy) and UKDSE objectives, helping to make both great places to work. 

Skills required:

• Strong written and verbal communication skills.  

• Stakeholder management and influencing skills. Collegiate in nature, advocating a ‘one team’ approach.  

• Strong customer focus.  

• Able to engage credibly with business and cross-Whitehall colleagues.  

• Outcome focused.  

• Able to work at pace, flexibly and under pressure.  

• Well organised, effective ability to develop, maintain and deliver company engagement plans. 

Essential Criteria:

• Experience of managing relationships with companies or other bodies to deliver on departmental objectives.   

• Able to build effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders and work collaboratively across government.  

• Strong communication and influencing ability, able to influence policy making and speak credibly to businesses. 

Desirable Criteria:

• An understanding of the UK defence and security sector and priorities. This could be via experience in the private sector, an academic institution, Government or the wider public sector. Equally you may have a demonstrable interest in a specific subsector or cluster via your own personal interests.  

• Experience of working effectively with Ministers and senior officials  

• Experience of working with international businesses on commercial projects or public policy.  

• Collaborative working style able to operate across directorate, departmental and organisation boundaries to deliver results. 

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service
• Working Together

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities

Please refer to the attached candidate pack for further information on our benefits.

Job contact :

• Name : Denise Kaye
• Email : denise.kaye@businessandtrade.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : dbtrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk