Early Careers Manager

Salary: National ranging from £54,800 to £74,000 and London from £59,800 to £80,000

Are you interested in leading our Early Careers Strategy?

The team/department

The FCA Resourcing & Talent department is passionate about recruiting and developing the best talent for the future of the FCA. This role will manage the Early Careers team (6 direct reports) who are split into two areas. Firstly, the marketing and recruitment of our graduates, interns and apprentices. Secondly the programme development for these groups including in-life management, training and development as well as role rotations and roll-off at scheme end. You will be working with a group of highly motivated and enthusiastic individuals driving the future of early careers in the organisation.

What you will be doing (the role)

• Lead on the delivery and transformation of our Early Careers offering at the FCA, building the reputation of our early talent schemes, and collaborating with colleagues to deliver a high-quality colleague experience for our scheme participants, whilst ensuring our schemes provide a robust talent pipeline for the future of the FCA

• Manage a team of 6, ensuring effective delivery of our Early Careers offering through the provision of support, coaching, and mentoring to the Early Careers team

• Provide expertise, knowledge, and insights on the Early Careers landscape, remaining up to date with key trends and external competitors, making sure we remain competitive within the Early Careers market

• Build strong working relationships with our Executive Sponsor and network of Early Careers champions to ensure effective delivery of the programme offer for all cohorts

• Work together with the wider Resourcing and Talent team, HR department, and the business building effective relationships and harnessing opportunities for collaboration

• Gain a unique insight into the operation of financial services and regulation, working across the breadth of the organisation to understand the future skills gaps across the sector

What you will get from the role

This role is a fantastic opportunity for someone who is looking to build upon their knowledge and experience within the Early Careers. You will get the opportunity to:

• Shape the future approach to Early Careers within the FCA

• Lead our Early Careers strategy, using your creativity and expertise to make impactful changes to the way we develop our future talent in the FCA

• Gain a unique insight into the operation of financial services and regulation, working across the breadth of the organisation to understand the future skills gaps across the sector

• Introduce fresh perspectives and dynamic ideas to the FCA

• Connect with a network of high potential and talented individuals, shaping the future of their professional careers

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:

• 28 days holiday per year plus bank holidays

• 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, who best meet the minimum criteria for a role.

• Previous experience managing/leading a team within Early Careers

• Demonstrable evidence of overseeing projects/programmes of work, collaborating with multiple contributors and stakeholder

• Proven evidence of effective scheme design and delivery of Early Careers programmes

Essential

• Effective project management skills with the ability to break down complex projects, identifying risks and appropriate mitigation

• Comfortable overseeing workstreams within a fast-paced environment

• Able to develop effective relationships with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders

• Strong people leadership and collaboration skills with the ability to help develop a team to achieve results through coaching

• Management of external suppliers ensuring effective service delivery

• Experience with graduate or apprenticeship scheme design or soft skills development

• Effective skills in presenting to diverse audiences

About the FCA

The FCA regulates the conduct of 50,000 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 Manager 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
Applications for this role close at 23:59 on 28th January 2024.

This role is graded as Manager – Corporate

Got a question?

If you are interested in learning more about the role please contact:

For internal applicants, please contact Sara Holland at Sara.Holland2@fca.org.uk

For external applicants, please contact Ifrah Azam at Ifrah.Azam@fca.org.uk

What to expect from our interview process

The process will involve three separate stages:

• A competency-based interview

• Psychometric Assessment

• Final Interview

Your Recruiter will discuss the process in detail with you during screening for the role.

Recruitment Timeline:

• Closing Date: 28th January 2024

• First Round interviews & Assessment: W/C 5th February and W/C 12th February

• Final Interview: W/C 19th February

Please make the recruiter aware if you are going to be unavailable for any date during this time.

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.

Please note that all applications must be submitted through our online portal, applications sent via email will not be accepted.