Trade Commissioner Saudi Arabia

Business Sweden is now looking for a Trade Commissioner to head up the office in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and to be part of growing the footprint and presence in Middle East. Business Sweden has been present in Saudi Arabia for over a decade and the team offers strategic advice and operational support that help Swedish companies expand and grow their business in the region. Together with Business Sweden's office in Dubai, the Riyadh office offers support to Swedish companies in 14 countries in the Middle East region.

The Middle East is a heterogeneous region and is undergoing major economic and social reforms that will offer unique growth opportunities and will be increasingly important for Swedish trade the coming years. The region is characterized by thriving economic growth and a drive for a green transition and social reforms, but it is also facing humanitarian crises and political instability. The region's ongoing demographic shift, in which an already large young population is expected to continue to grow rapidly will have further substantial implications including an increased demand for education, healthcare and jobs.

Saudi Arabia is the largest economy in the Arab world and Sweden's largest export partner in the region. Under the Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is transforming both economically and socially with the aim to reduce the dependency from Oil and Gas. Business Sweden offers strategic advice, practical support, market insights and an extensive business network to address the growth opportunities and turn every challenge into a solution. The local team helps companies navigate and has a wide contact network in both the private and public sectors. Business Sweden also supports companies from the Middle East that plan to extend their business in Sweden.

What is expected from you

As a Trade Commissioner, you will have responsibility for sales and delivery and for developing the Business Sweden operation and team (three employees) in Saudi Arabia. You will be based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Representing interests of Swedish enterprises and Business Sweden in the market.
• Selling and marketing Business Sweden's services to existing and potential clients in both Sweden and in Middle East, including add-on sales in on-going projects.
• Developing and deepening contact with existing and potential client enterprises and stakeholders.
• Managing, planning and delivering consulting/ internationalisation assignments.
• Full Profit & Loss responsibility, with expectation to grow.
• Management of the office and employees, inspiring and developing the team.
• Developing business processes and organisation.
• Operating from a global perspective to promote Swedish industry and companies.
• Work in a Team Sweden context and coordinating export promotion initiatives with development cooperation (Team Sweden consists of Embassy, Swedish Chamber of Commerce and other actors working with promotion of Swedish business).
• Collaboration with trade promotion organisations in the other Nordic countries around events and programmes.
• You will have very close relations to the Swedish representations in the market. This means that you will be an official representative for Sweden, acting in close collaboration with the Swedish Foreign Service and other organisations.
• In this role you have a diplomatic status and therefore it is a requirement to be a Swedish citizen. I.e. we only accept applicants with a Swedish citizenship.

SKILLS & REQUIREMENTS

• You have a relevant academic degree preferably within Business Administration and/or Engineering.
• You have at least 10 years of relevant working experience from e.g. management consulting and/or business development.
• You are a strong and appreciated leader and have experience of management of employees and developing talent.
• You have performed successful strategic sales and have a proven track record of developing customers, deep customer insight and strong negotiation and closing skills.
• You have in depth experience from multi stakeholder projects, including government clients (Swedish and non-Swedish).
• A high level of proficiency in both written and spoken English and Swedish is a requirement. Additional language, such as Arabic, is a plus.
• Experience from living/working in Saudi Arabia or other parts of the Middle East is meriting.

As a person you are analytical, reflective, focused and action oriented. We believe you have a business-oriented mind-set with a positive can do attitude and strong self-motivation. You are perceived as a strong leader and have an outstanding ability to build personal relations, empathy and trust. You believe in diversity as a key success enabler when working in teams. You have a vision and a strong drive to develop Business Sweden's operations in Saudi Arabia even further. You furthermore have excellent organisation, communication and problem-solving skills as well as an ability to handle multiple priorities.

Does this describe youIn this recruitment process Business Sweden is collaborating with Novare Executive Search. For more information about the position or the process, please contact Anna Malmstrm, [Confidential Information]. Please note that we do not accept applications through e-mail. Please apply with your CV and a personal cover letter no later than 9th June. Note that we do not accept applications via email.