JOB DESCRIPTION

View Vacancy – Commercial Officer- Peru

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer. We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow. The FCDO operates an agile workforce and to facilitate this, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time, as we may reasonably require.

Job Category

Department for Business and Trade roles (DBT)

Job Subcategory

Department for Business and Trade (DBT)

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities)

Main purpose of job:

This is an exciting position for an exceptional individual to lead as Head of Defence and Security Exports for the British Embassy in Peru. The high profile role will initially be for 3 months – working to the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) – with the possibility that this role could be extended further.

We are looking for a talented officer with the drive and people skills to help British businesses increase high value exports to Peru, bring new companies to the region, and deepen our export-led defence collaboration.

Based at the British Embassy, you will work with both the public and private sectors to build and deliver a strategic pipeline of exports in the defence space that harnesses UK expertise and capabilities, and helps build a deep co-operation with the Peruvian defence sector – including its industrial base. That means identifying local needs, matching those to UK solutions in line with the UK Industrial, Trade and Defence Industrial Strategies.

You will lead high-profile, long-term campaigns for exports worth billions of pounds, alongside smaller more immediate opportunities – and link those into how to generate strategic partnership with the Peruvian Government, Armed Forces and Defence and Security sector – working closely with SEMAN, SIMA, SNI and others to drive co-operation with the UK centred in mutual benefit.

You should have the ability to build and sustain relationships, and take the initiative to build and deliver innovative campaigns – focused on impact and results. You will be expected to work closely with:

• Teams across the Embassy and regional colleagues (particularly the non-resident Defence Attaché in Colombia);
• Senior Peruvian officials and member of the Armed Forces – and should, ideally, have an established knowledge of defence and existing network in Peru;
• British companies – both those that know Peru well, and new market entrants. You will also be required to seek out new UK companies and alert them to opportunity. Familiarity of procurement processes in Peru and advice on entering the market and overcoming barriers will be integral to success.

Alongside delivering an existing pipeline of opportunities you will develop what comes next. As part of this work you will lead on visits, events and trade missions in the defence space – aligned with relationship management and strategic communication. Strong budget management and experience of line management are important.

Roles and responsibilities:

1. The Commercial Officer will be responsible for the following sector(s) (subject to change): Defence and Security.
2. The Commercial Officer will (subject to reasonable change) be responsible for:
3. Leading work that supports defence and security exports from the UK to Peru, through well-planned interventions (meetings, introductions, events, marketing, partnerships, government engagement, events, inward and outward missions, visits etc.), resulting in the delivery of a highly ambitious export value target across the sector(s) for which the officer is responsible;
4. Developing close professional relationships with senior contacts across the Peruvian military, government and private security sector, to ensure the UK offer is properly understood and that British exporters fully understand Peruvian needs.
5. Advising UK companies on the Peruvian market, helping them understand local market entry requirements, assisting with local connections, supporting with in-country meetings, events and visits where required.
6. Work closely with colleagues in other Latin American and Caribbean countries to identify opportunities for British defence and security exports beyond Peru.
7. Project manage a diverse “pipeline” of trade-related projects, with UK and regional sector team colleagues to support future UK exports, moving quickly from identification of major opportunities to commercial wins;
9. Develop a robust understanding of market access barriers affecting the sector(s), a prioritised assessment of these and plan of action to address these via appropriate levers;
10. Work closely with the regional defence team to facilitate strategic partnership with the Peruvian Defence sector– alongside information concerning export licenses, Peruvian defence procurement strategies and any other issue impacting UK defence and security exports;
11. Manage budgetary resources. The officer is responsible for monthly forecasting of the budget allocated to the sector to ensure that all delegated funds are between 99 and 100% spent by the end of the financial year;
12. Line management of 1 intern, directing and supporting their work, maintaining performance management, and encouraging personal development.
13. Support the wider work of the Embassy sections (when required), including regional engagement, internal coordination and planning, events, analysis and briefing;
14. Identifying and taking-up L&D opportunities to improve existing skills and/or develop new ones;

Perform other reasonable tasks as requested by the Director of DBT or wider embassy leadership.

Essential qualifications, skills and experience

• Five or more years relevant professional experience
• Strong track record of interpersonal and relationship building with senior business leaders and/or public officials.
• A strong interest in the defence and security sector and understanding of the Peruvian military/Ministry of Defence – ideally with an established knoweldge of defence and existing network in Peru.
• Evidence of excellent written and oral communication (English and Spanish).
• Good judgement, ability to take initiative and prioritise effectively.

Language requirements: Spanish / English

Level of language required: High level/Working level English and Spanish (At least C1 level under CEFR).

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience

• Experience working in the defence and security sector, either public or private
• Experience working with foreign exporters selling to Peru.
• Track record of results delivery, event organisation, and effective decision making
• Knowledge of the public sector functions in Peru.
• Experience of both the UK and Peruvian business environments and cultures.
• Understanding of geopolitics in Latin America beyond Peru.
• Understanding of key drivers of public and private sector decision-making.
• Budget mangement experience
• Line management experience

Required behaviours

Communicating and Influencing, Making Effective Decisions, Seeing the Big Picture, Working Together

Application deadline

1 December 2025

Grade

Executive Officer (EO)

Type of Position

Fixed term, with possibility of renewal

Working hours per week

37

Region

Latin America and Spanish speaking Caribbean

Country/Territory

Peru

Location (City)

Lima

Type of Post

British Embassy

Number of vacancies

1

Salary Currency

PEN

Salary

9488.74

Type of Salary

monthly

Start Date

5 January 2026

End Date

31 March 2026

Other benefits and conditions of employment

Applicants must be eligible to live and work in Peru in their own right at the time of application.

The successful candidate will be subject to a security clearance and professional reference checks

Employees who are not liable to pay local income tax on their Mission salary, e.g. some non-local national staff and some spouses or partners of UK diplomatic staff, will have their salaries abated by an equivalent amount.

Appointable candidates who were unsuccessful may be placed on a ‘reserve list. If during the reserve period of 12 months the same or largely similar role becomes available, that role may be offered to the second or subsequent candidate.

The British Embassy in Peru and the DBT LATAC network offer a wide range of learning and development opportunities throughout the year.

Successful candidate will have access to some internal training and job shadowing, as well as the opportunity (depending on interest and availability) to work on cross-embassy teams or projects.

The FCDO operates an agile workforce. To facilitate this, you may be required to undertake other duties from time to time as we may reasonably require.

Additional information

Closing date of receiving applications is before 23:55 (Local Time) on 1st December 2025

All applicants must fully complete the online application form, including the sections for employment and educational details, experience, and behaviour-based questions. Only those applications that contain all required information will be considered. To ensure the sift process remains anonymous, please do not include any personally identifiable information in your application form.

Standard working hours from Monday to Friday. Monday to Thursday: 8:00 a.m – 5:00 p.m and Friday: 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Applicants should be aware that the role might require occasional evening or weekend work, including as part of emergency or crisis response. The Embassy has core hours during which staff are expected to work from the office, but it is normally possible to accommodate some remote working in coordination with the line manager.

Please be aware that you will only be able to apply to vacancies for Country Based Staff roles with the British Government through this official tal.net site (operated by Oleeo). Jobs may be advertised on third party websites, however our adverts will always link back to the official tal.net site. If you complete and send an application through any other site, we will not receive it.

Level of Education: Bachelor Degree

Work Hours: 8

Experience in Months: No requirements