Senior Policy Advisor - Open Banking

Location

London / Leeds / Edinburgh

Salary

London between £56,400 - £65,000 and National between £51,200 - £60,500 per annum

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

The Team

The Open Banking team leads on the policy to design the long-term regulatory framework for open banking in the UK. The work touches the lives of everyone in the UK, making sure that access to data and payments is fast, efficient, dependable, and safe.

We want to build on the initial success of open banking in the UK to help unlock and realise further benefits for consumers, businesses, and the wider economy.

Open banking should continue to support innovation and greater competition for consumers and businesses.

Our team is shaping the future regulatory framework for open banking, and it would therefore be advantageous for candidates to have an awareness of regulatory developments in the financial or technological landscapes.

What you will be doing

• As a Senior Associate in the team, you will have the opportunity to support on policy areas conducting research, engaging with teams across the FCA, and studying information to develop policy proposals

• You will build depth and breadth of knowledge as you support the team’s wider work

• You will contribute to public consultation 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 consult with government, other regulators, industry, and other opinion formers shaping the market

• You will also provide training, 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

• This role would suit someone with a strong background in policymaking and a desire to understand and influence fintech developments in the banking and payment space. It would also suit someone with experience of open banking in industry, interested in making the move to regulatory policymaking

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

• As an employer, the FCA places value on your learning, and we offer world-class development opportunities which will assist you in achieving your career aspirations. We can support professional qualifications in data science or financial analysis for a motivated person, depending on your profile

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, should they meet the minimum criteria for a role.  

• Prior experience of payments or policy making

• Prior experience presenting key issues clearly and succinctly both orally and in writing

• Prior experience of building and managing relationships with stakeholders

Essential

• Experience of analysing information and contributing to the development of policy

• Evidence of problem solving and organisational skills with the ability to manage a variety of competing priorities and issues

• Good stakeholder management with the ability to build a network across and beyond the organisation

• 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 Senior 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 Senior Associate - Regulatory

• Applications for this role close on Tuesday 1st October 2024

• CVs will be reviewed by the recruiting team from Wednesday 2nd October onwards

• Interviews likely to be 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 one stage:

• 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.