Strategic Policy Lead

London £63,300 - £75,000, depending on experience
National £57,600 - £68,000, depending on experience

Are you interested in joining a team that will help shape and deliver the future of regulatory framework policy at the FCA?

We have an exciting new opportunity for a motivated and talented individual to help lead the Regulatory Framework Policy team which sits in the Cross-Cutting Policy department.

The Cross-Cutting Policy department is responsible for the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA’s) cross-cutting policy initiatives – these being topics that impact all of the sectors we regulate – and provides technical support to colleagues supervising firms’ compliance with these requirements. The department’s goal is to maintain a regulatory framework that sets clear standards we expect of all firms and individuals in UK financial services, to prevent harm to consumers and markets.

The FCA’s Regulatory Framework Policy team contribute towards this goal by overseeing and co-ordinating the FCA’s input and approach to key aspects of the UK’s regulatory framework for financial services. We:

• Oversee the delivery of the enhanced accountability measures arising from the Financial Services & Markets Act (FSMA) 2023 and HM Treasury’s (HMT’s) Smarter Regulatory Framework (SRF)
• Are responsible for emerging policy areas arising from implementing the SRF
• Co-ordinate the repeal and replacement of assimilated law for financial services
• Deliver the Regulatory Initiatives Grid, the FCA’s new Rule Review Framework and the FCA’s perimeter report

Our work is high-profile and our deliverables are central to the FCA’s commitment on ‘Preparing financial services for the future’. Internally, we collaborate with colleagues from a wide range of teams, in particular: Legal, Regulatory Reform, Economics, Competition, Risk, Communications, Strategy, Supervision, Authorisations, Enforcement, Change Directorate, DTI and across Policy. We also work closely with key external stakeholders including the Bank of England/Prudential Regulation Authority, the Payment Systems Regulator, HMT, and other regulators, as well as trade and consumer bodies.

We are looking for a driven, adaptive individual to help lead the team and deliver key projects, acting as a bridge between the team and other departments across the FCA. The ideal candidate will have strong leadership skills and the ability to work both on their own initiative and within the wider team.

What you will be doing

This is a dynamic role which calls for a flexible and proactive approach. Key responsibilities will include leading on a number of key strategic initiatives:

• The analysis and delivery of the Regulatory Initiatives Grid and Perimeter Reports, and overseeing the embedding of the Rule Review Framework
• Monitoring the implementation of new accountability obligations introduced by FSMA 2023
• Coordinating a cross-FCA list of potential legislative changes for seniors to consider if a legislative vehicle came available

This will involve:

• Leading and overseeing development high-quality policy papers and proposals for senior management and Board approval, and for external communication
• Supporting the Manager, and working with the team’s Technical Specialist, in overseeing the activity of the team – for example, influencing and developing the team and department’s strategy, helping to define priority outcomes and measures of success, allocating tasks and tracking deliverables
• Working with and line managing colleagues, helping to motivate, set direction, provide advice, coaching and feedback to help ensure team members can work effectively and deliver high-quality outputs, while championing an environment of continuous improvement
• Working independently to spot emerging issues and make informed judgements to resolve them and act as an escalation point for the wider team with regard to complex issues
• Developing excellent working relationships with key stakeholders, both externally and across the FCA
• Championing the work of the Regulatory Framework Policy team

What will you get from the role?

As a key member of the team’s leadership, you will contribute to setting priorities and lead on complex and high-profile projects. You will enjoy the opportunity to:

• Lead on an interesting and varied portfolio of work, and on a wide range of issues including policy development and wider regulatory and organisational strategy
• Develop and use analytical, leadership, mentoring and coaching skills to help to ensure the team delivers against the FCA’s strategy and business plan commitments
• Work with colleagues across the FCA as well as exposure to other regulators and wider stakeholders
• Gain wide experience supporting your career as a leader as well as in regulation or financial services
• Join a friendly, enthusiastic team where you can share your knowledge within an environment of excellence and continuous learning

Our competitive flexible benefits scheme gives you the opportunity to create a personalised benefits package, tailored to suit your lifestyle. 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 plus bank holidays
• Private healthcare with Bupa
• A non-contributory Pension 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

We support 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 our three office locations.

The skills and experience you will have

We are a signatory to the Government’s Disability Confident scheme. This means that we will offer an interview to disabled candidates entering under the scheme, who best meet the minimum criteria for a role.

Minimum

• Proven policy with strategy projects experience that includes leading and coordinating key projects or large programmes and managing multiple complex issues, to challenging timescales
• Proven experience of building rapport and constructive working relationships with internal and external stakeholders at all levels
• Proven experience in leading and delivering through others

Essential

• Ability to lead projects and take responsibility for decisions and actions
• Ability to cut through complexity, see the big picture and form sound judgements based on large quantities of different types of information in order to shape and drive forward next steps
• Ability to line manage, motivate and develop others, including reviewing the work of team members and providing high-quality feedback
• Evidence of excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability to communicate complex information in a way that is accessible to a range of recipients
• Ability to identify and work effectively with a variety of stakeholders, ensuring collaborative working, seeking input and providing constructive challenge to influence others as appropriate
• A self-starter with the ability to get up to speed on new issues quickly and work independently to deliver key initiatives, identify potential issues and suggest solutions, with limited oversight
• A team player, with a positive approach and outlook to their work, able to achieve shared goals and to support and assist others in delivering
• Willingness to learn and develop, take on new responsibilities, get involved in a broad range of issues and workstreams and adopt a flexible approach to the way you work and what you work on

About the FCA

The FCA regulates the conduct of 50,000 firms in the UK to ensure our financial markets are honest, fair and competitive. We do this to make sure markets work well for individuals, businesses and the economy as a whole. For more information on what we do, our three-year strategy can be found here.

The FCA's Values & Diversity
Our ambition is to cultivate a culture of inclusion for all employees that respects their individual strengths, views, and experiences. We believe that our differences and similarities enable us to be a better organisation – one that makes better decisions, drives innovation, and delivers better regulation.

The FCA is committed to achieving greater diversity across all levels of the organisations. Given this, we particularly welcome applications from women, disabled and minority ethnic candidates for our Lead Associate - Regulatory role.

Flexible working

We welcome applications from candidates who are looking for flexible arrangements. Many of our staff work flexibly including working part-time, staggered hours, and job shares. We can’t promise to give you exactly what you want but we won’t judge you for asking.

Multi-location

As part of the FCA’s on-going commitment to develop our national presence, most of our vacancies are now open to working in our Edinburgh, Leeds, or London offices. This means that as part of the application process you will be able to select your preference of which office location you would like to work from.

Useful information

Applications for this role close at 23:59 on Sunday 22ndSeptember 2024

This role is graded as Lead Associate – Regulatory

What to expect from our interview process

All applications will be reviewed once the advert has closed.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to complete a case study first. If you are successful at the case study stage, you will be invited for a 60-min competency-based interview.

Recruitment Timeline

Closing date: 22nd September

Case study: w/c 30th September

Interview: w/c 7th October

Please make the recruiter aware if you are going to be unavailable for any date during this time.

Got a question?

If you are interested in learning more about the role please contact:

For Internal applicants, please contact Cheryl Cheung at cheryl.cheung@fca.org.uk

For External applicants, please contact Chhavi Bartaria at chhavi.bartaria@fca.org.uk

Application support

We want to remove any possible barriers and are committed to providing a wide range of reasonable adjustments so that you can keep the focus on your conversations and be at your best.

If you have an accessibility requirement, disability, or condition that means you might require changes to the recruitment process, please contact your recruiter to discuss this further. Our aim is to make your application as easy and comfortable as possible, and your recruiter will be happy to work with you to make any necessary arrangements where possible.

Please note – Applications must be submitted through our online portal. Applications sent via email will not be accepted.