The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is seeking a leader for the life-science area at the Danish embassy in Beijing, China

Tasks and responsibilities

You will lead the Foreign Ministry's/The Trade Council’s advisory services and problem-solving for Danish health and pharmaceutical companies across China. You will be responsible for a growth area with close relations to the sector’s leading Danish companies as well as SMEs in the industry. The sector is rapidly developing and is the single largest export sector to China.

The appointment is at the Danish embassy in Beijing. From here you will maintain a trusted collaboration with Chinese health authorities in Beijing and other central cities/provinces in China.

You will lead a team of ten capable and sector-competent employees. Your team members are distributed at the embassy in Beijing and the Danish representations in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Taipei. In this role you will have close collaboration with all representations to position Danish competencies in effective prevention, diagnostics and treatment in line with the Chinese health reform.

Your primary goal is to pave the way for Danish companies’ activities on the Chinese market within:

• Pharmaceuticals
• Medical devices
• Digital health
• Rehabilitation
• Health services
• Organization of the health system

This includes market research, business development, strategic partnerships and public affairs. The tasks will also include handling, for example, complex procurement cases, product registration, guidance on new sales channels, and protection of intellectual property, networking with both national, provincial authorities and other important Chinese stakeholders.

Your task will thus be to support the Danish Life Science sector’s position, framework conditions and continued growth in China by building bridges between Danish companies, their Chinese partners, organizations and authorities in Denmark and China.

You can look forward to a challenging job where you will have freedom to identify new market opportunities and translate them into concrete advice to benefit Danish businesses.

The Trade Council provides paid advisory services. The position includes a number of performance targets, including an activity target and a target for value creation for the companies. Travel activity in China and in Denmark should be expected.

Competencies

Who are you?

We imagine that you are/have

• Commercially oriented with solid knowledge of Danish business
• Relevant health professional background or experience that provides you with the basis to work strategically in the life-science area
• Several years of sales and export experience, preferably with a China background
• Intercultural understanding and documented management experience from China with measurable results
• Network within the life-science sector in Denmark
• Good communication skills in Danish and English; Chinese is an advantage
• Engaged, outgoing and result-oriented
• Ability to build and maintain systematic relationships from sales to delivery
• Active in identifying new opportunities and translating them into concrete advisory
• Independent with solid collaboration skills with customers, partners and colleagues
• Focus on conceptualizing strategic initiatives and executing them
• Planning-oriented and able to prioritise resources to achieve set KPIs

Language skills

• C1 in English
• C2 in Danish

Reference is made to the official EU overview: Assessment grid - Danish

Organizational placement

The position is located at the Danish embassy in Beijing, China

Salary and terms of employment

This is a fixed-term appointment for a 2-3-year period with the possibility of a further 1-2 year extension.

Salary and terms of employment will be as a chief consultant under the current agreement between the state and the relevant professional organization.

It is a prerequisite for deployment that you are tax-resident in Denmark and your salary will be taxed in Denmark.

During the deployment you will receive a tax-free foreign allowance determined according to the cost of living at the post. The foreign allowance is calculated based on your personal circumstances, including family composition. A government housing is provided according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ rules. In addition, costs related to relocation travel, moving, health insurance, school etc. are covered according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ rules.

It is a condition of employment that you can be security cleared, and that you can maintain your security clearance throughout the employment.

Start date

August 1, 2027 or as soon as possible thereafter, subject to security clearance.

Application deadline and contact

The application deadline is Monday, November 16, 2026 . We expect to hold interviews in weeks 48 and 49. Before the interview, an oral language test in English will be conducted online. You apply under “Job” at www.um.dk . You must submit a targeted and motivated application of maximum 1 page and a CV containing information about education, previous work and other qualifications, level of language skills, references, etc. Please attach your certificate. Attaching a CV alone is not considered an application.

If you have questions about the position that are not answered in the advertisement or that cannot be found at www.um.dk , you are very welcome to contact the Trade Chief Jonas Bruntse, at the Beijing embassy, [email protected] +8615600100295 and if you have questions about salary and terms you can contact HR consultant Mette Brink, [email protected] , +45 33920288.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs regards diversity as a strength and wishes to employ staff with different backgrounds. We therefore encourage all qualified candidates, regardless of personal background, to apply for a position at MFA.

See here how we handle your personal data when you apply for a position at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

About us

The mission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to work for Denmark’s interests and values in relation to the outside world in a way that promotes Danes’ freedom, security and prosperity, as well as a more peaceful and just world with development and economic growth for all.

In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ vision, we should be broadly respected as a competent, effective, outward-looking and service-oriented organization, and we should be an attractive and idea-generating workplace that ensures high employee satisfaction and targeted competence development. Our common values are that, as individuals and as an organization, we work on the basis of musicality, openness, professionalism, decisiveness and job satisfaction.

All available positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can be found at www.um.dk .

The Trade Council (TC), which is an integrated part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, opens doors for Danish business to markets worldwide. As an employee of TC you have an international daily life at the crossroads of business and diplomacy. By doing so you create added value for Denmark and pave the way for international growth in Danish businesses. TC has, among other things, more than 250 export assistants who work at Denmark’s embassies, general consulates, trade offices in over 70 countries, together with 7 innovation centers.