REGIONAL FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT SPECIALIST - EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA

State of Illinois•Chicago, IL

8d•$8,571 - $9,000•Onsite

About The Position

This position serves as the Europe, Middle East and Africa Regional Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Specialist (PSA Option 1) for the Illinois Department of Commerce’s Office of Trade and Investment (OTI). The Regional FDI Specialist for Europe, Middle East and Africa will develop programs to promote Illinois within the region, and support inbound investment through close company and stakeholder engagement. Key responsibilities include coordinating and executing FDI activities in the region, promoting Illinois’ value proposition to potential investors, associations, and government audiences, and supporting inbound investment projects. We invite motivated individuals to apply.

Requirements

Requires knowledge, skill and mental development equivalent to completion of four (4) years of college, with courses in business, marketing or international studies.
Requires prior experience equivalent to three (3) years of progressively responsible administrative experience in a public or business organization, and experience working with international business either in the public or private sector.

Nice To Haves

Prefers three (3) years or more experience working on international trade performing duties such as market research or business lead generation.
Prefers three (3) years or more experience in sales, marketing, business development or business counseling with a focus on international markets.
Prefers three (3) years or more experience with end-to-end accountability (owning, managing, and delivering) for multiple projects simultaneously.
Prefers two (2) years or more experience in public facing role that includes presenting or promoting both in domestic and international settings.
Prefers two (2) years or more experience collecting and analyzing data, developing recommendations, and presenting to executive leadership.
Prefers two (2) years or more experience developing or managing a budget.
Prefer intermediate experience using client management and project management systems,including independently building workflows, tracking pipelines, and resolving routine data sync or communication bottlenecks across platforms like Salesforce, HubSpot, Monday.com, Asana, or ClickUp.
Prefers intermediate level experience in the utilization of spreadsheet software, document creation. email and cloud-based platforms, including data analysis, dynamic formatting, workflow tracking, and file collaboration.

Responsibilities

Develops the Office of Trade & Investment’s (OTI) foreign direct investment (FDI) program for Europe, Middle East and Africa regions, including implementing and directing activities to attract out-of-country clients to establish, maintain or expand their facilities and or operations in Illinois.
Collaborates with various public and private economic development entities and Illinois service providers in the development and implementation of a statewide foreign direct investment strategy and serves as primary point person state-side for the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions.
Serves as project manager for business expansion and relocation opportunities from the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions.
Develops and implements program goals, objectives, performance measures and management plans for the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions function of the Office of Trade and Investment.
Conducts and oversees complex research and analysis and keeps abreast of foreign direct investment markets, economic trends and international trade policies for Europe, Middle East and Africa, in order to develop and advise long term strategies and goals for marketing and promoting Illinois company’s products and services.
Performs other duties as required or assigned which are reasonably within the scope of the duties enumerated above.