Crypto Policy Associate

Location

London / Leeds / Edinburgh

Salary

National ranging National ranging from £41,800 up to £52,000 per annum and London £46,000 to £57,000

Are you interested in helping shape and develop regulatory requirements for the cryptoasset sector?

The Team

The Crypto Policy team sits in the Payments and Digital Assets Dept and plays a critical role in leading the FCA's policy work on cryptoassets. This sector has become hugely important and continues to grow at great pace. It is innovative, creating opportunities for consumers and regulated participants but also new risks that we must stay ahead of.

Our work includes the development, consultation and implementation of crypto policy for retail and cross cutting issues. We work closely with multiple stakeholders including Wholesale Cryptoassets Policy, Supervision and our International Dept given the global nature of crypto.

Our actions are driven by the Cryptoasset Taskforce created by HMT in 2018 as well as market developments and our greatest challenge at present is to design a more comprehensive regulatory framework for crypto to help shape the future of this diverse, fast-paced and ever-changing sector.

What you will be doing

• Responsible for contributing to crypto policy projects using knowledge, analysis, and project management skills

• Developing and supporting excellent working relationships across the organisation working flexibly with them to identify, analyse and solve issues

• Taking account of business models and activities, proposing and advising on their regulatory treatment

• Writing and presenting policy proposals to decision-makers in the FCA and where necessary providing training, support and briefings about policy issues to FCA colleagues

• Working as a team to deliver public consultation on changes to FCA rules or guidance as well as supporting and advising HMT on impact of legislative changes

• Contributing and provide support to international policy discussions with stakeholders

What you will get from the role

This role is an exciting opportunity to work at the heart of policy in the FCA in a new and evolving area of policy. The role is best suited to those who are interested in working in a fast-paced, flexible environment.

As part of this role, you will have the opportunity to:

• Assess business models and market dynamics in the context of developing policy proposals

• Help assist and develop our thinking and make proposals for how the sector should be regulated

• Engage and interact with excellent colleagues across the FCA and build a wide network of contacts across the organisation

• Liaise with government, other regulators, industry and other opinion formers shaping the market

• Develop more in-depth knowledge of the cryptoasset sector

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 analytical experience in a role which has required making well informed decisions

• Prior experience of drafting written reports and documents clearly and succinctly

• Prior experience in applying analytical skills and judgement, whether gained in industry, research, economics, insight or policy work

Essential

• Some knowledge and understanding of the UK regulatory framework

• Some knowledge and understanding of the cryptoassets sector and a quick learner

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

• Ability to interpret detailed information and reach difficult decisions

• Excellent relationship building and stakeholder management skills

• Ability to work at pace and under pressure, use sound judgement and escalate issues appropriately

• Ability to balance and maintain different priorities, working alone and in a team, and manage several work streams simultaneously

• Comfortable with responsibility and dealing with 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 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 Associate – Regulatory

• Applications for this role close on Sunday 17th November

• CVs will be reviewed by the recruiting team from Monday 18th November 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 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.