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Key skills and motivation

Mark Henderson has great experience of working with senior business leaders and politicians. These include representatives of the World Bank, the OECD and the European Commission. Mark has worked with many of the Mayors of major European and UK cities including Rotterdam, Den Haag, Manchester and Lyon. Working for Newcastle City Council, Mark has written and delivered reports, presentations and speeches to international groups of up to 200. At the request of the Regional Development Agency, Mark has worked on secondment at the regional level to deliver an innovative talent attraction project in collaboration with UK Government Agencies.

Mark is currently on the recruitment database of the European Commission following successful completion of the CAST 27 recruitment concours in French. Awarded a Masters degree (with Merit) in European Union politics from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (2003), Mark has strong analytical skills, coupled with in-depth knowledge and experience of the UK, the European Union and international politics in general.

Mark is moving to Beijing, People’s Republic of China and will be ready to commence work on 1 September 2008. Mark will be living in China for a minimum of 18 months and is looking for the opportunity to add Chinese culture, politics and Mandarin to his existing knowledge and languages.

Professional Experience

International Policy Officer - Newcastle City Council – August 2005 to present time.

Responsibilities include:

-          Managing Newcastle’s membership of the Eurocities network of over 180 major European cities.

-          Developing the city’s capacity in the network to bid for election to the Executive Committee,   directing the affairs of the whole network.

-          Working directly with the Political Leader (Mayor) and Chief Executive of a major European city.

-          Representing the city during discussions and work with central UK Government, specifically around economic migration.

-          Directly managing researchers and a programme of research working with two UK universities.

-          Managing incoming and outgoing international visits involving senior politicians from the UK, Netherlands and People’s Republic of China (various Provinces).

-          Working with partners from all over the world on a daily basis to develop policy.

Previous roles:

European Funding Officer - Durham County Council, UK – October 2003-August 2005

-            Responsible for European funding for business start up and business support in County Durham.

-            Assisting private, public and voluntary sector applicants to develop complete applications and business cases to successfully apply for European Funding.

-            Working with Government Office for the North East to monitor and advise projects to comply with complicated European Funding rules.

Bar Manager – Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK – July 2002 – March 2003

Consultant on European Toolkit – North East Regional Assembly, UK – September 2002 – March 2003

Voluntary European Research Officer – Northumbria University, UK – November 2001 – April 2002

Information Officer – North East Regional Office, Brussels, Belgium – September 2000 – August 2001

Education

MA European Union Studies (with Merit) – University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK     (2002-2003)

BA (Hons) European Studies with French – Upper Second Class (2:1)  

University of Northumbria, UK (1998-2002)

Professional Training

Project Management – 2 days

Professional presentation delivery – 2 days

Plain English – 2 days

Writing for the Web – 1 day

Equality and Diversity Training – 2 days

Languages

·           English: Mother Tongue

·           French: Very good / Fluent

·           German: Beginner

·           Mandarin: Introduction

Interests

·     Writing reviews of unsigned bands for local music Website

·     Independent travel

·     Politics and current affairs

·     Reading, fiction and non-fiction

References

Professional                                                  Academic

Kevin Richardson                                                Professor Ella Ritchie

Senior Corporate Policy Manager                                    Pro Vice Chancellor

Newcastle City Council                                       University of Newcastle upon Tyne

NE1 8PR                                                      NE1 7RU

Kevin.richardson@newcastle.gov.uk                        ella.ritchie@newcastle.ac.uk

+44 (0)191 211 5675                                                  +44 (0) 191 222 6058

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