Capital Investment Officer -
San Francisco -
Foreign and Commonwealth Office -
Closing Date : 2 Apr 2017
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Background:
The Department for International Trade (DIT) is the United Kingdom Government’s international business development agency. DIT in the USA has two roles. The first is to ensure UK-based businesses are successful in the US market. The second is to assist/advise US companies with a successful market entry/expansion plan into the UK market. (See www.gov.uk/DIT for further information.)
DIT USA works closely with DIT Headquarters in London, together with representatives of the three Devolved Administrations of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, and other departmental agencies in the UK.
DIT USA is run from headquarters in New York and is supported by a network of regional teams made up of 135 members of staff spread across 9 different offices. This is a dynamic team that focuses on various sectors including financial & professional services, life sciences, tech, digital and creative media, advanced engineering, security, consumer goods, and clean technology.
The advertised post is Capital Investment officer based in San Francisco. This new role will be a part of the 17 person DIT team and will report directly to the head of trade and investment. This is a fast moving environment that requires an individual to be flexible, organised, efficient and the ability to operate at pace. The role will concentrate regional efforts on the Western United States including California, Washington, Utah, Arizonia, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Hawaii and Alaska.
Role Description:
A key priority for DIT is to attract financial investment into UK infrastructure, real estate and venture capital from key countries. DIT is offering an exciting and challenging opportunity for an experienced, commercially focused person to help identify, develop and deliver investment in the UK. This will involve developing relationships and securing deals with major companies and institutions seeking to invest in the UK.
You will be part of a virtual team of three and leverage the US wider resources of the British Government including DIT sector teams, Consuls General, Government Office teams and senior leadership in DIT and the Embassy.
There is strong potential for investments to the UK in infrastructure, real estate and venture capital. US institutional investors have indicated existing and growing appetite to invest in European infrastructure and real estate – survey in 2015 have found 4 in 5 North American institutional investors actively investing in European infrastructure are planning to increase their allocations to the region, and 35% of North American investors targeting real estate investments in Europe over the next year.
US real estate and infrastructure developers and corporates can also play a key role in providing capital investment from the US. Additionally, this role will work with US-based high value individuals, family offices, pension funds, private equity, venture capital groups, and privately-owned businesses to encourage investment in the UK across different sectors or supporting UK companies to enter the US.
US is the largest Venture Capital market with $58.8bn in venture capital invested across U.S. in 2015. While, the UK has established itself as the leader in attracting VC investment, estimates are we have secured less than 10% of the US total.