Data Engineer – Market Oversight Data & Intelligence
Division – Enforcement Market Oversight
Department – Market Oversight Data & Intelligence (MODI)

Salary - National (Edinburgh and Leeds) ranging from £51,200  to £65,000  and London £56,400 to £70,000 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 Market Oversight Directorate is responsible for overseeing the conduct of participants in the primary and secondary markets through the listing, prospectus, and market abuse regimes. The mission of the Division is to promote the conduct that supports trusted, orderly, and efficient primary and secondary markets in the UK which work in the interests of all participants and stakeholders.

Market Oversight Business Intelligence (MOBI) comprises a team of specialists in software engineering, data science, project management and big data. The purpose of MOBI can be summarised as follows:

• Deliver insight to Market Oversight (MO) & the wider FCA through exploitation of MO Datasets

• Continue to be a leading Data Engineering and Science Team

What will you be doing?
As a Senior Associate in the Market Oversight Business Intelligence (MOBI), you will be working with one of the largest, most comprehensive wholesale market datasets in Europe. Using latest cloud and big-data technologies, you will use data engineering and science techniques to deliver insights to market surveillance analysts where you own the process from reshaping the data, all the way to analysis output or dashboard production. Your work will enhance Market Oversight’s (MO) ability to understand and proactively monitor the UK’s Wholesale Markets through the following core activities of this role:

• Develop and maintain MO’s ecosystem so that data is received, processed, and stored to enable innovative solutions to be developed

• Develop investigative tooling to enhance MO’s Market Monitoring capabilities in a range of systemically important asset classes

• Undertaking systematic and ad-hoc investigations to identify prospective cases of market abuse (e.g., insider dealing and market manipulation)

• Working with surveillance analysts to enhance MO's surveillance and analytics platforms

• Using Data Engineering and Data Science techniques to reveal insights into Market Participants behaviours

• Work flexibility within the directorate to support overall objectives

What will you get from the role?

• The opportunity work in a supportive team with a proven delivery track record and strong reputation within the FCA

• Be supported by a team of experienced data practitioners with many years of experience

• Influence how the FCA uses data engineering and science methods to enhance how it operates and evaluates markets - this will help the organisation be more effective which benefits UK consumers

• Work with Market experts to understand and explore significant market events and supporting ongoing investigations into potential misconduct

• Various training opportunities to upskill in data science and enhance knowledge of financial markets

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

• Experience of financial markets and products (e.g., Equities, Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities)

• Experience in at least two of the following languages: Scala, Python, SQL

• Demonstrable experience applying data science techniques, or deploying data engineering solutions, in the Financial Services industry especially with trading and market data

Essential

• Demonstrate strong organisational skills by managing multiple workstreams effectively, prioritising, and resolving issues promptly

• Show a willingness to quickly learn and apply new tools and techniques as required

• Work flexibly and collaboratively across teams, providing clear communication and guidance to support shared goals

• Present highly technical information and conclusions in a straightforward and relatable manner through clear storytelling

• Exhibit critical thinking and autonomy, with the ability to self-teach and solve problems independently

• Communicate new ideas and outcomes clearly to both internal and external stakeholders, across all levels of seniority

• Possess experience with big-data technologies (e.g., AWS Redshift, Apache Spark, Elastic Map Reduce) and visualisation tools like Tableau and Spotfire

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 were the first in their family to attend university.

The FCA is committed to achieving greater diversity across all levels of the organisation. Given this, we particularly welcome applications from women, minority ethnic, disabled, and neurodivergent candidates for our senior 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 as: Senior Associate – Regulatory

• Advert Closing Date: 28th January 2025

• First Round Case Study Assessment: W/C 10th February

• Competency Based Interview: From 18th February

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: 

• For internal applicants, please contact Sara Holland at [email protected]  

• For external applicants, please contact Aaron Ward at [email protected]  

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