Policy Lead – Trading Policy

Policy Lead – Trading Policy

Division – SPC, Infrastructure & Exchanges

Salary - National (Edinburgh and Leeds) ranging from £59,100 to £73,000 and London £64,900 to £80,000 per annum (Salary offered will be based on skills and experience)

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 Market Intervention – Trading Venues department is at the heart of the FCA strategy to seek to ensure that UK market infrastructures are resilient, transparent and operate in a fair and orderly way. The department sits in the Infrastructure & Exchanges directorate. It is responsible, among other things, for supervising trading venues and for developing the policy that applies to them and to the investment firms dealing on those venues or OTC. We develop smart and early policy interventions to address emerging risks we see in the market and to influence global and UK policy. 

The Trading Policy team is responsible for shaping and implementing the policy for trading venues - such as investment exchanges – and for firms dealing in wholesale markets like broker-dealers, proprietary trading firms and commodity derivatives trading firms. We cover a broad range of issues such as the organisational and transparency requirements of trading venues, algorithmic and high frequency trading, commodity derivatives and market data.

What will you be doing?

• Working with other team members and senior management on a consultation paper on the characteristics of the UK equity tape and other policy initiatives

• Engaging with other areas of the FCA, such as Authorisation, Economics, Legal, Market Oversight and Supervision on market data and the consolidated tape

• Representing the FCA by engaging with senior external stakeholders

• Making use of market data and quantitative analysis to support cost-benefit analysis and policy advice 

What will you get from the role?

• Represent the FCA externally. You and your outputs will have a high exposure across the FCA and outside

• Develop in-depth expertise on the supervision of market infrastructures, the functioning of wholesale financial markets and their regulation

• Play a key role in developing a new concept of market infrastructure

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

• Prior experience of financial services and financial regulation

• Prior experience engaging with stakeholders internally and externally

• Prior experience with UK regulatory architecture, in particular in relation to financial markets, transparency and market data

Essential

• Experience of representing an organisation externally on technically demanding issues

• Demonstrable ability to acquire knowledge, including by sourcing, manipulating and analysing data quickly

• Ability to analyse complex issues and make judgements supported by evidence, including where only partial information is available

• Ability to explain, orally or verbally, complex issues in a clear and structured way to diverse audiences

• Strong commitment to collaborative working, including willingness to respond positively to challenge from others

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.

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% 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 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 as Lead Associate

• Advert Closing Date: 20th of July

• CV Review/Shortlist: 21st and 22nd of July

• Interviews to begin the week commencing the 28th of July

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: 

Riley Fox at [email protected]

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