Payments Policy Associate

Location

London / Leeds / Edinburgh

Salary

National from £41,800 to £52,200 and London from £46,000 to £ 57,400

Do you want to shape the future of payments in the Payments Policy team at the FCA?

The Team

The payments team leads on the policy that makes payments work. The work touches the lives of everyone in the UK, making sure that payments are fast, efficient, reliable and safe.

The payments landscape is undergoing rapid change. Increasing digitalisation, the emergence of new ways of paying, the evolution of Open banking data sharing and payment initiation services that give consumers ways to interact with their bank accounts in new ways. All of these developments are underpinned by payment services regulation.

The payments regulatory landscape is about to undergo significant change as the legislative framework is under review as part of HMG’s repeal and replacement of retained EU law. Our team is shaping the future regulatory framework that will emerge from this work.

What you will be doing

As an associate in the team, you will have ownership and responsibility of workstreams conducting research, engaging with teams across the FCA, and analysing information to develop policy proposals. You will be supported to build depth and breadth of knowledge, as well as develop your skillset.

You will contribute to drafting public consultations on changes to FCA rules or guidance, as well as work to ensure FCA priorities are reflected in changes taken forward by others. You will have opportunities to interact with government, other regulators and industry participants.

You will also contribute to advice and briefings about payments policy issues to FCA colleagues and senior leadership.

What you will get from the role

This role is an exciting opportunity to work at the heart of policy in the FCA in an evolving area of policy.

You will have the opportunity to develop in-depth knowledge of the systems and regulations that underly payments and which touch on every area of consumer and businesses financial lives.

Our 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 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
 

Minimum

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.  

• Prior experience of payments, financial services or policy making

• Prior experience in a role which has involved teamwork and collaboration with others.

Essential

• Interest in payments, financial services or policy making

• An ability to analyse information and contribute to the development of policy

• Good organisational skills

• The ability to identify problems and explore solutions, seeking perspectives from others.

• Good written and oral communication skills

• Willingness to learn and develop, taking on new responsibilities and adopting a flexible and pragmatic approach to your work

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 Associate 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

• This role is graded Associate – Regulatory

• We are recruiting for two Associates within the department

• Applications for this role close on Wednesday 16th October (midnight)

• CVs will be reviewed by the recruiting team from Thursday 17th October onwards

• Case Study to be sent out w/c 21st October

Got a question?

For internal candidates: please speak to Jen Wishart on [email protected]

For external applicants, please contact Chhavi Bartaria on [email protected]

What to expect from our interview process  

The process will likely involve 2 stages:

• A case study

• A competency based interview

Your Recruiter will discuss the process in detail with you during screening for the role.  

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.