What's your job about?
Negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs) and providing new opportunities and a level playing field for NZ exporters is an important part of MFAT’s work. I work in the Trade Policy and Negotiations Division, in a unit that focuses on services, investment and digital trade. My mahi is mostly within the services trade, and by services, we mean things like tourism, education, and a range of commercial services – like IT – which are all important areas of our trade. I am involved with leading and supporting others in the services aspects of trade negotiations as well as looking into what might impact New Zealand services exporters and their interests. The work can get pretty technical but generally speaking, I need to understand (by consulting domestic agencies) and communicate NZ’s positions during negotiations and work creatively to achieve outcomes that benefit Aotearoa NZ.
What's your background?
I was born in South Korea and my family immigrated to Christchurch just before I turned four. I moved to Tāmaki Makaurau to study at the University of Auckland where I completed degrees in Health Sciences and Commerce and then continued on to study public health, focusing on global health. After completing my Master’s degree, I worked at an NGO that ran conflict resolution training and disarmament education programmes in schools. I then naturally gravitated to working in the public health sector, where I went from coordinating outpatient clinics to supporting project management at the District Health Board (now called Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand). I then made the unexpected move to leave the public health world and move to Te Whanganui-a-Tara to join MFAT as a Foreign Policy Officer.
What attracted me to join MFAT was the opportunity to get involved in Aotearoa New Zealand’s mahi on the international stage, and to better understand the relationship between domestic policies and international rules and institutions (something I started gaining an interest in when I was researching the human right to health and obligations on governments to provide sufficient health systems and policies).
Could someone with a different background do your job?
For sure. I never thought a degree in public health would lead to a career in foreign policy, but here I am. I know there’s a belief that MFAT only hires people with legal backgrounds but that is absolutely not true. From my experience so far, MFAT is really keen on finding people with diverse personal, education and work backgrounds. We benefit so much from diversity of thought, so whatever your background is, it is valuable.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
The coolest part of my job so far has to be travelling overseas to represent Aotearoa New Zealand during trade negotiations. As daunting and stressful as it is when you’re sitting at the negotiating table, it is certainly a position I feel incredibly privileged to be in.
What are the limitations of your job?
Being a Policy Officer at MFAT requires a lot of hard work and occasionally less-than-ideal hours. Working with people based in different countries means sometimes you’re working to their time zone – so you could be online very early in the mornings or late in the evenings. The workload can also get pretty heavy at times, which can be stressful – especially when you’re still feeling quite new to the organisation.
3 pieces of advice for your university-self?