Location: UK: Leeds, Edinburgh, London
Opportunity: 9-month returnship
Start Date: January 2024
Apply by: 24 September 2023
*Applications have now closed*
The FCA will be conducting interviews from 22 September 2023, so they encourage you to get your application in early.
Are you looking for intellectually challenging, meaningful work with the possibility to work flexibly?
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is looking for a number of Senior Associates to join their Wholesale Supervision areas. This program is for professionals looking to restart their careers after two or more years absence from the workforce and/or the financial services sector. This is a paid 9-month programme offering you the opportunity to work in a role that will strengthen your technical skills, explore new career paths, and experience the vast network of resources. Whether you have taken time out for caring responsibilities, relocation or other reasons, they are keen to hear from you!
About the role
Successful applicants to this programme will join one of the FCA’s three Wholesale Supervision Directorates in the Supervision, Policy and Competition Division. The FCA regulates 60,000 firms which they have broadly categorised into 43 different sectors. The specialist departments cut across the sectors of regulated firms, supporting supervisors.
Roles are available in the following areas
- Infrastructure and Exchanges
- Wholesale Buy-Side Supervision
- Wholesale Sell-Side Supervision
Each of these directorates consists of Wholesale supervision teams (for example, Asset Management, Wholesale Banking, Capital Markets, Trading Venues, Benchmarks and Credit Rating Agencies etc.). There are also teams within each directorate that identify risks within each sector and policy development teams to support the development of FCA rules and the supervision of firms.
Senior Associates in these areas are responsible for
- You will be involved in the FCA’s supervisory relationship with firms with the view of influencing conduct behaviour
- You will lead or assist on thematic pieces of work involving multi-firm analysis aimed at identifying trends across the sector
- Role modelling the FCA values and core competencies of Judgement, Engagement, Delivery and Self-Management
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Working directly with regulated firms (i.e. dealing with queries and responding to issues) while ensuring good customer outcomes and market integrity is prioritised
- Providing coaching and support to other associates in the department
What will you get from the role?
- The role provides exciting opportunities to work on a range of issues of key importance to financial services
- To develop and implement strategies to oversee firms and to help the FCA deliver its objectives including market integrity and consumer protection
- You will be given unparalleled opportunities to engage with senior managers at firms, to work with a range of specialists at the FCA and build relationships with other national and international regulators
- This role provides excellent development and learning opportunities to develop a rewarding career at the FCA and to contribute to public service
About You
This is a great opportunity to refresh your knowledge and skills in areas including the assessment of conduct risk, financial analysis and prudential risk assessment, the assessment of client assets and financial crime. You will have the opportunity to work with a wide range of experts, gaining new experiences and building your confidence in the workplace.
Whilst the FCA cannot guarantee you a permanent position at the end of the programme, you will be invited to apply as an internal candidate to any vacancies available across the FCA.
What they are looking for
The FCA is a signatory to the Government’s Disability Confident scheme. This means that they will offer an interview to disabled candidates entering under the scheme, should they meet the minimum criteria for a role
- Experience working in either a wholesale financial service environment such as firms, legal and consultancy or other regulatory and governmental organisations
- Experience working in an analytical role
- Excellent written communication skills
- The ability to make logical and timely decisions, cutting through complexity and seeing the big picture
- Ability to interact effectively with individuals at firms whilst maintaining the integrity of messages that may need to be conveyed and ensuring consistency of outcomes
- Ability to communicate complex issues succinctly and with clarity to both internal and external audiences, orally and in writing
- Ability to prioritise effectively and deliver results on time with minimal supervision
- A good team player demonstrating respect for others and the impact and influence to generate shared goals for the department
- The ability to identify and manage key stakeholders, build rapport and constructive relationships. Ability to make strong personal impact, persuading with well-reasoned arguments and challenging where appropriate
About the FCA
At the FCA, they are creating a fair and more resilient financial system. They are establishing more transparent relationships between financial services and their customers, building trust in financial markets and protecting vulnerable consumers.
The FCA is currently on an exciting journey as they drive forward significant organisational, people, process, and technology transformation to become a more forward-thinking, proactive regulator. They will use data more effectively to drive better regulatory decisions and build greater cohesion across their broad financial services remit. Significant improvements in digital enablement, business intelligence, market data and information management maturity will maintain their position as a world leader in financial services regulation.
What’s in it for you
- Coaching support from Women Returners to help you transition successfully back into the workplace
- Mentoring – you will be assigned a buddy when you start, to support your transition and help with any questions you might have throughout the programme
- Building a new network both internally and externally, whilst boosting your confidence in the workplace
- Regular 1-2-1s with your manager and/or mentor
- The base salary range for this role is between £49,700 and £70,000 plus an additional flexible allowance. Their competitive flexible benefits scheme gives you the opportunity to create a personalised benefits package, tailored to suit your lifecycle. You can use this allowance to purchase additional benefits such as dental or cycle to work or you have the option top up your base salary by taking this as cash
Core benefits that you will receive as standard are:
- 25 days holiday per year
- Private medical for yourself
- Pension contributions of at least 8% of basic salary each month (there are several contribution levels that increase depending on your age – up to 12% a month once you reach age 35).
- Life assurance of eight times your basic salary
- Income protection
The FCA welcomes applications from candidates who are looking for flexible arrangements. Many of their staff work flexibly including working from home, staggered hours and job shares. They can’t promise to give you exactly what you want but they won’t judge you for asking.
Hybrid working
The FCA supports hybrid working which means you will be able to work from home up to 60% of the time over a month with the remainder of your time in one of their three office locations.
How to Apply
To apply please click Here
Closing date for applications is 24 September 2023
If you have any questions, please contact Linda Bradley
Please tell the FCA that you found out about the opportunity from Women Returners.