Deputy Director for Trade Analysis, Project Delivery and Support


Company:	Government Recruitment Service
Salary:	£86,000 to £86,000 a year
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	Birmingham
Job type:	Permanent
Posting date:	3 Sept 2026
Closing date:	20 Sept 2026

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Summary

These are key leadership roles within the EU and International Trade Directorate. You will be working closely with your co-Deputy Director to lead the Trade Analysis, Project Delivery and Support team (TAPS). TAPS is a multi-disciplinary team covering the analytical, project management, business management and SCS private office diary support functions. We are looking for an experience analyst and highly visible leader, capable of leading and developing a high performing team as well as providing expert analytical advice on trade issues to Ministers and senior officials.

EUIT works to ensure that the UK’s trade policy, trade agreements and international and multilateral relationships deliver Defra’s environmental, climate change, food, farming, fisheries and biosecurity objectives. We do this in a range of ways, including representing Defra’s interests in UK trade negotiations and leading multilateral engagement at the World Trade Organization. We also lead work on exports to ensure UK producers and businesses can get the most out of these deals. This our key priorities include negotiations with the EU to secure a Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement, to enable agri-food products to move more easily between the UK and EU.

Within EUIT, the TAPS team has a multi-faceted role with responsibilities spanning the provision of high-quality advice and analysis on trade policy, providing project management expertise and support across all policy areas of the directorate and ensuring the smooth running of the directorate through its business management function. The overarching aim is to ensure that policy development is made in a structured and well evidenced manner.

You will be expected to:

Co-lead the team with your co-DD by developing a strong vision for the team which has the capabilities and skills to deliver current and future objectives.
Confidently provide expert analytical advice on Defra’s trade interests to Ministers and senior officials.
Proactively shape the ways of working across the team, Defra and across Government to ensure that policy development is made in a structured and well evidenced manner.
Directly line manage 2-3 grade 6s and provide support to all five G6s as and when needed (e.g. on occasions when your co-DD isn’t working)
Provide leadership across the whole team, but with particular focus on trade policy analysis in support of bilateral and multilateral negotiations (tariffs, rules of origin provisions), the impact of international events on global and UK commodity markets, trade modelling and trade statistics, and standards in trade.
Actively contribute to the Cross-Government trade analyst community, helping to continually improve the capability and professionalism of the UKs trade analysis profession and helping strengthen collaborative working between departments.
Be an active member of the EUIT Leadership Group, proactively contributing to the leadership of the wider directorate.

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