Enforcement Triage and Assessment Lead

Division – Enforcement and Market Oversight

Department – Enforcement, Triage, Intelligence and Co-ordination

Salary – National (Edinburgh and Leeds) ranging from £66,200 - £80,000 and London from £72,800 - £87,000 per annum - Salary offered will be based on skills and experience

About the FCA

The FCA regulates the conduct of 45,000 firms in the UK to ensure our financial markets are honest, fair and competitive. Follow this link to find out more About the FCA

The Enforcement Intelligence Specialist Services Directorate (EISS) sits at the heart of the Enforcement & Market Oversight Division (EMO) and provides strategic and highly specialised central support across the full range of the EMO portfolio, ensuring the Division is equipped with the tools and the strategic approach it needs, both now and looking to the future. EISS also works closely across the rest of the FCA and with a wide range of external partners, investing in high-quality and long-term relationships, to support EMO's strategy. EISS has specific responsibilities in relation to enforcement policy, the intelligence function, cyber forensics and digital evidence, finance, MI, and business planning. EISS uses its specialist skills and knowledge in a creative, collaborative, and forward-looking way with focus and efficiency to support the important work of EMO in service of the FCA's Mission.

The Enforcement, Triage, Intelligence and Co-ordination department (ETIC) works closely with colleagues from the Whistleblowing and Intelligence Teams to identify, understand, and analyse serious harm and take appropriate action.

The Enforcement Triage and Assessment Team (ETAT) is the first point of contact for FCA colleagues where they have concerns about potential serious misconduct or require enforcement input for wider strategic projects. The team plays an integral role in the FCA’s assessment of serious harm and recommending appropriate action to take, whether it be an Enforcement investigation or credible alternative means of dealing with the harm. Central to the team’s work is its relationship management activity where routine engagement with colleagues in Supervision, Market Oversight, Intelligence and Enforcement Investigation departments identifies serious harm to consumers or the wholesale markets and determines whether an Enforcement investigation may be necessary to create impactful deterrence.

What will you be doing?

• Lead ETAT’s work relating to one or more FCA strategic priorities, including case triage and relationship management.  Managing and coaching team members who will support you in delivering this work

• Provide full line management responsibility for up to two Senior Associates and, where available, a graduate on rotation, including coaching and development, appraisals, and recruitment, and ensuring optimal performance by managing poor performance or conduct in a timely manner

• Work collaboratively with the other Lead Associates within ETAT to facilitate a strategic approach to ETAT’s work and to embed the transformation of ETAT to one team with aligned and assimilated ways of working

• Support stakeholders and less experienced ETAT case officers to prepare a clear and concise paper for discussion at the Investigation Decisions Committee and to support them to present the matter to and answer questions from Committee members regarding the necessity of opening an Enforcement investigation

• Participate in regular engagements with Enforcement’s key internal stakeholders at Manager level to understand the nature of and the strategic approach to the risk of harms within their portfolios, and to discuss incidences of serious harm caused by potential misconduct by firms/individuals and advise whether an Enforcement investigation may be necessary to create impactful deterrence

• Deal with ad hoc, often time critical, requests for information or support from stakeholders to Enforcement, using judgement to decide whether ETAT can assist by itself or to call for input from other colleagues in EMO or the wider FCA

What will you get from the role?

You will benefit from working in a varied and demanding role in a small team of staff who are pivotal to the maintenance of an Enforcement investigation pipeline aligned to the FCA’s strategic priorities and the approach to Enforcement.

You will be:

• In an outward facing role, getting exposure to a wide range of colleagues across the FCA, and routinely liaise with staff at Manager, Technical Specialist, Head of Department and Director level

• Identifying, understanding, and analysing serious harm at pace, gaining input from other colleagues as necessary, and making recommendations to senior management regarding whether it is necessary for Enforcement to be investigating

• Applying the current governance framework for opening Enforcement investigations

• Implementing Enforcement’s new approach to investigations and supporting the wider work on the Integrated Regulatory Model; and connecting stakeholders across the organisation and exploring with them credible alternative means to mitigate serious harm to consumers and markets in the UK when an Enforcement investigation is not considered necessary

Which skills are required?

We are a Disability Confident Employer; therefore, disabled people or individuals with long-term conditions who best meet the minimum criteria for a role will go through to the next stage of the recruitment process. (To learn more about the Disability Confident Scheme Click Here)

Minimum

For lawyers:

• Qualified Lawyer, with a valid practising certificate issued by the Solicitors Regulation Authority for England and Wales (if a solicitor), or the General Council of the Bar for England and Wales (if a barrister) (or a similar internationally recognised qualification

For lawyers and non-lawyers:

• Post qualification litigation experience or investigation experience in any of the following areas: consumer detriment, market integrity and abuse, complex financial crime, and serious fraud

• Experience of managing and progressing a varied caseload where you have been required to identify, understand, and analyse often incomplete information and recommend appropriate action

Essential

• Understanding of the financial services sector and the regulatory framework

• Possesses effective project management and organisational skills to prioritise work, coordinate action, progress matters at pace and deal promptly with urgent matters

• Strong people management skills and the ability to lead and motivate staff

• Able to work with conflicting demands on time and remain resilient under pressure

• Skilled at analysing and synthesising often voluminous and conflicting information and drawing conclusions, developing options, and making well-reasoned recommendations that are in the public interest

• Experienced communicator, capable of presenting analysis clearly and effectively to a variety of recipients, orally and in writing

• Routinely adopts a curious mindset to a concern or issue, asks relevant questions, joins the dots, identifies risks, and proactively takes a matter forward alone or by calling for the collaboration of others

• Exhibits advanced inter-personal skills to engage, impact and influence stakeholders at all grades, including Manager and above

Our Values & Diversity

We are proud to be an inclusive employer and our ambition is to cultivate a culture 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.

Within the workplace you will have access to various employee resource groups which aim to promote and achieve a healthy work / life balance and support our diversity ambitions.

Did you know? 50% of our Executive Committee are women.

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

Benefits of working at the FCA

• 25 days holiday per year plus bank holidays

• Hybrid working (work from home up to 60% of your time)

• Private healthcare with Bupa 

• A non-contributory Pension of at least 8%

• Life assurance

• Income protection

We also have a competitive flexible benefits scheme which gives you the opportunity to create a personalised benefits package, tailored to suit your lifestyle.

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 can explore what might work best for both sides.

Follow this link to see what life is like at the FCA - Life at the FCA

Application Support

We are dedicated to removing barriers and ensuring our application process is accessible to everyone. We offer a range of adjustments to make your application experience as comfortable and straightforward as possible.

If you have an accessibility need, disability, or condition requiring changes to the recruitment process, please contact your recruiter using the details below and they will be happy to discuss this further with you.

Useful Information and Timeline

This role is graded Lead Associate – Practising Legal or Lead Associate – Regulatory.

On-line application: please submit your CV and answer the following:

(i) what prompted your interest in the Lead Associate role in ETAT? and (ii) what skills and experience could you bring to this role?

Your answer should relate to the criteria listed above, covering your relevant skills, knowledge, and experience in a maximum of 300 words. Your application will not be accepted without both your CV and your answer. Please ensure that both the CV and answer documents are uploaded.

SC Clearance is required for this role -  SC Guidance  The successful candidate will hold or will be required to obtain Security Clearance (SC) level vetting.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a competency-based interview

• Advert Closing Date: 8th December 2024

• CV Review/Shortlist: W/C 11th December 2024

• Competency Based Interview: W/C 16th December 2024  

Your Recruiter will discuss the process in detail with you during screening for the role, therefore, please make them 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 Louise Nash at [email protected]

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