Quality Assurance Lead Associate

Quality Assurance Lead Associate

Division – Supervision Policy & Competition (SPC)

Department – Controls, Capabilities & Frameworks (CCF)

Salary - National (Edinburgh and Leeds) ranging from £59,100 to £80,233 and London £64,900 to £88,100 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.

CCF drives change and operational excellence within the SPC Division, the FCA’s largest front-line division. The breadth of work in CCF is varied and the directorate has a range of skills and expertise to help SPC achieve its maximum potential. The directorate provides an excellent opportunity to work closely with SPC’s senior leadership and gain a deeper understanding of how one of the FCA’s largest divisions operates.

The Risk & Assurance team lead the development and delivery of SPC’s operational MI, QA framework for supervision and approach to operational risk management. The team helps us to better understand how the division is performing across a wide range of operational metrics and SLAs, and how effectively we are managing our risks. They provide a suite of regular reporting and analysis to the Directors, Executive Directors, and the FCA Board, support SPC with responding with 2LOD and 3LOD assurance review responses and coordinate the Annual Risk and Control Self-Assessment (RCSA) across the Division.

What will you be doing?

• Undertaking an end-to-end review and re-design of the QA framework within SPC to identify both tactical and strategic changes and taking ownership of the implementation of these changes

• Managing and providing oversight over the end-to-end QA approach for SPC, including working with the Risk & Assurance Manager to develop the strategy and priorities for the development of the QA approach

• Preparing and delivering regular, high-profile papers and presentations on QA, including recommending changes to key processes and / or evaluation of QA initiatives at SPC operational committees

• Act as the single point of contact or escalation across SPC for technical and/or other matters related to the SPC QA approach and provide leadership/ direction to resolve issues and drive the future direction of the QA approach in the Division

• Engage and maintain relationships with senior stakeholders and other QA functions across SPC, the FCA and externally where relevant to build an understanding of user needs, seek feedback and best practice

• Act as an Ambassador by proactively sharing technical knowledge and expertise of the Supervision Framework and QA with Supervisors, the wider FCA and other regulators through a variety of means

What will you get from the role?

• The opportunity to work in a high-profile role and engage with senior stakeholders

• The opportunity to work in a role that has a large cross-divisional impact, with a remit that spans processes across 12 Directorates within the SPC Division.

• Gain a strong, technical understanding of the FCA’s Supervision framework and SPC’s QA Framework.

• The opportunity to shape, design and implement the future QA approach across the Division

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

• Experience of outcomes-focussed Quality Assurance or recent experience of working in a FCA front-line supervision role

• Skilled in analysing data and using these to make proportionate judgements and recommendations

• Experience of communicating a strategic approach and priorities to a range of different stakeholders

Essential

• Ability to effectively build and maintain stakeholder relationships

• Strong decision making and influencing skills to achieve desired outcomes and offering constructive challenge when required

• Ability to pro-actively educate, mentor and coach others in areas of expertise to raise the capability of others

• Strong written and verbal communication skills including the ability to present information in a clear and compelling way to senior stakeholders

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 – Regulatory

• Advert Closing Date:  Thursday 16th October

• CV Review/Shortlist: Monday 20th October

• First Round Interview: W/C 27th October

• Second Round Interview: W/C 3rd November

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:  [email protected]

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