Financial Promotions Supervisor (Projects, Strategy & Engagement)

Location

London / Leeds / Edinburgh

Salary

National ranging £49,700 - £65,000 and London £53,300 - £70,000

Role Information

The Financial Promotions & Enforcement Taskforce (FPET) is a department that straddles the FCA’s regulatory perimeter. The department has a wide remit covering both authorised and unauthorised activities in all sectors. FPET’s overarching role is to reduce harm arising from:

• Non-compliant financial promotions issued by authorised firms

• Unauthorised activity, scams, fraud and breaches of the Financial Promotions Order by unauthorised entities

• Scams and high-risk investments where authorised firms are involved in the production and distribution of products

• Other unregulated activity conducted by authorised firms that has the potential to cause significant customer harm and financial loss

HM Treasury has legislated to introduce a new regulatory gateway for all authorised firms under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA). Once this ‘Section 21 (FSMA) gateway’ opens in November 2023, all firms that want to continue to approve promotions will need to apply to the FCA for permission to do so, in order to approve financial promotions on behalf of unauthorised persons. This will significantly increase the workload of our department.

We have an opportunity for a supervisor to join our Engagement & Strategy team to support this work. This is a permanent role and once the project transitions to business as usual (c2025) the successful candidate may be transitioned across to support other priorities.

The Engagement & Strategy team has responsibility for the delivery of strategic initiatives and project work to address the drivers of harm in the financial promotions, high risk investment and scams arena. This work includes development of the crypto and Section 21 approvers supervisory strategies. We work closely with colleagues across the FCA to develop end-to-end solutions to regulatory problems. We are also responsible for the identification, tracking and mitigation of emerging risks – particularly those that cross-FCA sectors.

The team’s work has the potential to be high-profile, innovative and in the media spotlight. The successful candidate will need drive and proven organisational skills and be able to quickly build and maintain strong relationships with external stakeholders, firms, and cross-FCA internal stakeholders.

What you will be doing

This role will involve:

• Assessing notifications from s.21 permitted approvers, who approve promotions from unauthorised firms, to ensure good regulatory outcomes that further the FCA's objectives

• Delivery of supervisory projects and other initiatives, including: the development of strategies & processes; planning; methodology development; and execution

• Utilising a range of supervisory tools to ensure firms have the interests of their customers, and the integrity of the market, at the heart of how they run their business

• Building, maintaining and developing effective relationships with stakeholders both internally and externally

• Supporting more junior members of the team through coaching and mentoring

• Championing the development and maturity of our cross-firm view of potential harm across the divisions - joining the dots with the sector teams, fixed supervisors and leads of the relevant flexible firm portfolios

What you will get from the role

• The opportunity to join an innovative high-profile, fast-paced department dealing with unique issues and firms

• Be at the forefront of the development and implementation of the FCA’s intervention strategy

• Directly influence firms and sectors, and potentially impact the outcomes experienced by the consumers of these firms

• Work in a collaborative, inclusive and learning environment

As an employer, the FCA places great value on your learning, and we offer world-class development opportunities which will assist you in achieving your career aspirations. We can support professional qualifications in data science or financial analysis for a motivated individual, depending on your individual profile.

Core benefits that you will receive as standard are:

• 25 days holiday per year plus bank holidays (pro-rata)

• 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.

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.

Which skills are required?

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.

• Experience of analysing, and making decisions based on, complex information from various sources

• Strong stakeholder management experience

• Experience of either financial promotions, firm supervision, or the investment sector, gained through industry or regulatory experience

Essential

• Judgement - ability to think clearly, analytically and rigorously about how best to assess and validate risks of harm and reach robust risk-based judgements, including under pressure

• Flexibility – comfortable working in an uncertain and fluid environment where there may be minimal established process or precedent

• Good understanding of conduct risk, consumer behaviour and the drivers of potential harm and poor consumer outcomes

• Teamwork and collaboration - ability to work effectively with others as part of a team in order to achieve desired outcomes

• Engagement – excellent communication skills both written and oral: ability to build effective working relationships with key internal and external stakeholders ability to communicate key messages and explain complex issues in a clear and concise manner

• Organisational ability - ability to work under pressure, manage a variety of work streams and issues and prioritise accordingly

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 Senior Associate role.

Useful information

• This role is graded as Senior Associate level 7 - Regulatory

• Applications for this role close on Monday 27th November (midnight)

• CVs will be reviewed by the Recruiting team from Tuesday 28th November onwards

What to expect from our interview process

Stage 1: On-line application. Please submit your CV describing your skills, qualifications, and experience

Stage 2: Screening - your application will then be forwarded to the recruiting managers

Stage 3: Selection & assessment process – case study and panel 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.

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

Got a question?

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

For internal candidates: please speak to Jen Wishart on jennifer.wishart@fca.org.uk

For external applicants, please contact Aaron Ward on aaron.ward@fca.org.uk