Lawyer

Posted:
1/14/2025, 3:45:25 AM

Location(s):
Scotland, United Kingdom ⋅ London, England, United Kingdom ⋅ England, United Kingdom ⋅ City of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom ⋅ Leeds, England, United Kingdom

Experience Level(s):
Junior ⋅ Mid Level ⋅ Senior

Field(s):
Legal & Compliance

Lawyer

Division - Legal Division

Department - Wholesale & Perimeter

Salary - National (Edinburgh and Leeds) ranging from £59,900 to £89,900 and London £65,800 to £98,700 per annum

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 Wholesale and Perimeter team is one of two teams in the Funds & Wholesale Department of the Regulatory and Corporate Legal Directorate, Legal Division. The team advises on the regulatory perimeter, cryptoassets, wholesale firm supervision and wholesale conduct issues, benchmarks, ESG matters including the sustainable disclosures regime, operational resilience, the critical third parties regime, and the senior managers and certification regime.

What you will be doing?

  • Advising on the regulation of benchmarks and benchmark administrators, in particular working with the FCA’s Benchmark Policy and Supervision Teams in reviewing the Benchmarks Regulation and passing the requirements of the Benchmarks Regulation over into the FCA’s Handbook of rules and guidance

  • Advising on the regulatory perimeter

  • Providing legal support in respect of the supervision of wholesale firms supervised by the FCA, including investment banks, wholesale intermediaries, asset managers, benchmark administrators and commodity firms

  • Advising FCA Policy and Supervision on the senior managers and certification regime

 

What you will get from the role?

  • Work at the forefront of financial regulation on a range of matters including those that involve difficult, complex and often high-profile legal issues

  • Advise on the application and effect of regulatory requirements and powers in practice, and work with colleagues to ensure firms comply with all applicable rules, legislation and law

  • Devise and implement creative and pragmatic solutions

  • Acquire broader experience of financial services regulation, of how a regulator works and of how law and regulation is made

  • Be fully involved in the FCA’s policy development, and draft rules and guidance in the FCA Handbook

  • Develop problem-solving and project management skills

  • Have a high level of ownership and responsibility for your actions

  • Interact with colleagues across the FCA and with government departments and bodies and other organisations engaged in financial services such as the Bank of England and HM Treasury on exciting and pioneering projects

  • Work in a diverse, inclusive and supportive environment

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 

  • Applicants must be a qualified lawyer (solicitor, barrister or Chartered Legal Executive) or foreign qualified, who has at least 3 years’ relevant PQE

  • Direct experience of in house, public sector or private practice

  • Experience of advising on public law or financial services law, including financial services regulation

 

Essential

  • You will have an understanding of the overarching legislative framework for the regulation of financial services, and experience of advising on financial services matters

  • You must be able to demonstrate an ability, or evidence your potential, to perform the skills and behaviours described below in a way that is in accordance with FCA values

  • Strong analytical skills and the ability to deliver good and clear analysis of issues

  • Ability to pick up and work independently on novel and complex legal issues quickly and with enthusiasm

  • Ability to create solutions and deliver pragmatic outcome-focused judgments

  • Ability to advise in a confident and reasoned manner both in writing and orally, and to challenge appropriately

  • Ability to work effectively in a team, and to build and sustain positive relationships across the Legal Division and wider FCA, and with any relevant external stakeholders

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 Senior Associate - Practicing Legal

  • Advert Closing Date:  27th January 

  • CV Review/Shortlist: 29th January

  • First Round Case Study Assessment: W/C 3rd 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 candidates - Katie Ayling at [email protected]

For external candidates - Chhavi Bartaria at [email protected]

 

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