Cryptoassets Policy Specialist

Location

London / Leeds / Edinburgh

Salary

National ranging from £67,100 up to £90,000 per annum and London £73,300 to £95,000

Are you looking for a chance to work at the heart of the fast-moving world of Digital Assets – and to play a key role in shaping the future UK regulatory environment, and sector?

The Team

We are looking for a talented individual to join the Cryptoasset Policy team in our Payments and Digital Assets Directorate.

The Crypto Policy team plays a critical role in scoping, designing and leading the FCA's policy work in relation to cryptoassets. This sector continues to grow at great pace, creating both opportunities for consumers and regulated participants, but also new risks that we must stay ahead of.

Regulation of the cryptoassets sector is already underway and Her Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) has proposed bringing much more into the remit of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). It is the Crypto Policy team’s role to devise and drive this work forward, liaising with multiple internal stakeholders, HMT, Bank of England, industry and international regulators to propose a future regulatory framework.

What you will be doing

• Providing specialist technical advice to shape, support and challenge the development of the team’s policy solutions for further regulating the sector

• Ensuring proposals are robust, evidenced and benchmarked against traditional finance and international comparisons

• Over time, advising key internal and front line colleagues on the application of the existing regulation that applies to firms in the UK (and potentially other jurisdictions, where relevant)

• Driving forward your own proposals, displaying judgement while managing stakeholders

You will have the opportunity to help shape the long-term vision and strategy of how we further regulate this sector.  This will involve working others across the FCA to harness expertise and knowledge from internal departments, including wholesale crypto policy, Risk & Compliance Legal, International, Supervision and Enforcement. You will also gain exposure to working with external stakeholders such as HMT, the Bank of England and it is expected that you create and build create and build relationships with a diverse range of industry stakeholders.

What you will get from the role?

You will be utilising your previous consumer lending / payments / e-money / trading / consumer investing knowledge to work at the heart of policy in the FCA in an evolving department.

You will have the opportunity to build further on existing in-depth knowledge of the market dynamics, and also design and deliver the regulatory framework and requirements that will shape the future shape of the UK cryptoasset sector.

You will gain exposure to FCA Senior Management and work closely with government bodies, other regulators and market participants.

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

Core benefits that you will receive as standard are:

• 28 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

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 complex technical policy development, or the application of regulatory rules in practice

• Prior experience developing policy solutions, using creative ways to overcome policy dilemmas, including details around their application and implementation

Essential

• Understanding of what makes markets work well for consumers and the impact of regulation on consumers, including unintended outcomes

• Excellent oral and written communication skills, particularly communicating complex concepts to non-technical colleagues

• Ability to demonstrate personal impact and influence and persuade stakeholders of your point of view

• Experience of engaging with a diverse range of stakeholders

• A collaborative and flexible approach, with the ability to think strategically about future regulatory approaches and join up with wider FCA or Government policy initiatives

• Some knowledge and/or experience of the cryptoassets sector

• Comfortable with responsibility and managing ambiguity

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. 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 Technical Specialist 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 Technical Specialist – Regulatory

• Applications for this role close on Monday 2nd December (midnight)

• CVs will be reviewed by the Recruiting Team from Tuesday 3rd December onwards

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 two stages:

• A competency based / technical interview

• A final round 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.