Salary: Senior Associate - Practicing Legal

Are you interested in an opportunity to help Enforcement shape it's international strategy?

The team/department

Law & International (L&I) provides legal, strategic and policy advice on Enforcement’s international investigations and broader international engagement, and on related aspects of confidentiality, disclosure and collaboration.

What will you being doing (the role)

Working as part of a team of lawyers, you will:

• Handle incoming requests for assistance from international regulators with minimal oversight, advising on strategy, use of statutory powers and other legal issues, managing communications with firms and individuals under investigation, their legal representatives and overseas regulators

• Manage relationships with strategically important international authorities, maintaining and building collaboration with the aim that Enforcement obtains the assistance it needs to deliver its objectives

• Provide specialist legal advice to investigation teams on complex matters relating to international and domestic cooperation including cutting-edge issues

• Own specific areas of L&I know-how and guidance documents, and deliver training on legal issues to team members and across EMO, and mentor more junior associates in the team, assisting with their training and development

• Lead on specific high profile projects linked to Enforcement’s international strategy, for example, you may be responsible for: developing and delivering the FCA International Enforcement Symposium; negotiating cooperation arrangements with international authorities with minimal oversight; supporting our work at key IOSCO committees and advising on wider legal and policy issues affecting future international cooperation

• Own specific areas of L&I know-how and guidance documents, and deliver training on legal issues to team members and across EMO, and mentor more junior associates in the team, assisting with their training and development

• Lead on specific high profile projects linked to Enforcement’s international strategy, for example, you may be responsible for: developing and delivering the FCA International Enforcement Symposium; negotiating cooperation arrangements with international authorities with minimal oversight; supporting our work at key IOSCO committees and advising on wider legal and policy issues affecting future international cooperation

What you will get from the role?

• A chance to develop and enhance your legal abilities and knowledge through exposure to novel problems and excellent training

• An opportunity to engage and build strategic and collaborative relationships with a wide number of internal and external stakeholders, across the Division and the FCA including international and domestic authorities, government, industry and the legal profession

• An in-depth, cutting edge insight into regulated industries and relevant regulations and legislation

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. 

• 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

• Post qualification experience in international investigations, contentious financial services or other regulatory investigations or proceedings

• Proven experience of managing and progressing a varied caseload

Essential

• Ability to analyse complex evidence to make legal judgements and defend those judgements where necessary

• Ability to apply sound principled legal analysis to novel situations

• Ability to work independently with minimal oversight and to work well under pressure

• Proven relationship management skills to build and maintain effective working relationships with colleagues and with external counterparts

• Demonstrated interest in international work and cross-border cooperation

• Sound knowledge of FSMA and the structures, practices and responsibilities of the FCA

• Previous experience dealing with overseas counterparts

About the FCA  

The FCA regulates the conduct of nearly 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 this Senior Associate role, as well as those who are returning from a career break.  

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, this vacancy is 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 

Applications for this role close at 23.59 (UK time) on Sunday 8th September

This role is graded as Senior Associate – Practising Legal.

This role is a 12 months fixed term contract

For more details on these roles and to hear from some of our lawyers:

visit www.fca.org.uk/careers and search for LD jobs check out our LD Life page on LinkedIn #lifeatgcd #jobsatgcd

Got a question?   

If you are interested in learning more about the role please contact Katie Ayling at [email protected]

What to expect from our interview process  

The assessment process will consist of a legal case study and a competency-based interview.

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.