Job Description

Job title: Senior Risk Portfolio Associate
Division: Supervision, Policy & Competition
Department: Cross-Cutting Delivery

• Salary: National (Edinburgh and Leeds) ranging from £53,800 to £62,000 and London £59,200 to £69,000 (salary offered will be based on skills and experience)

• This role is graded as: Senior Associate - Regulatory

• Your Internal recruitment contact is Louis Van Den Burg via louis.vandenburg@fca.org.uk.

• Your external recruitment contact is Tahir Khan via tahir.khan1@fca.org.uk. Applications must be submitted through our online portal. Applications sent via social media or email will not be accepted.

About the FCA and team

We regulate financial services firms in the UK, to keep financial markets fair, thriving and effective. By joining us, you’ll play a key part in protecting consumers, driving economic growth, and shaping the future of UK finance services.

SPC oversees firms and individuals (supervision), creates and reviews the rules by which they operate (policy) and identifies and remedies ineffective competition in markets (competition).

Sitting within the Payments & Digital Assets directorate (PDA), the Cross-Cutting Delivery Department supports payments and digital finance to develop sector wide strategies and support supervision and policy making through effective risk management, governance, operational efficiency and collaborative partnership with stakeholders.

The Risk team within the Cross Cutting Delivery department is responsible for delivering the first line of defence of risk management for payments firms, digital assets and payment systems.

We have an exciting opportunity for an expert in risk management of payments firms (electronic money institutions/payments institutions) and/or cryptocurrency, tokenised assets, stablecoin or other digital assets to join our team.

As the new Department is taking shape, we expect the successful applicant will be working with and supporting other teams within the department as we establish the various functions and ways of working.

Role responsibilities:

• Payments and Digital Assets: the ideal candidate will have expertise in at least one of these sectors, and will take responsibility for risk identification, monitoring and reporting activities in these areas. They will ensure risks are managed appropriately, have documented actions and controls in place, and are reported in accordance with existing governance

• Work with a wide range of stakeholders, often in situations without direct authority. Skilled at guiding others and finding mutually acceptable solutions

• The postholder will be one of the main points of contact with the risk team. It's therefore critical that the candidate can establish good working relations with others quickly and can help teams across the two directorates understand how best to engage with the risk function. You will be responsible for reporting into relevant committees and will be expected to liaise closely with subject matter experts across the business to obtain information

• Working with minimal supervision and presenting work in persuasive ways to senior audiences, conducting analysis on a wide set of risks affecting the payments and digital assets portfolios. Comfortable commissioning information, conducting your own research, synthesising large amounts of data, and presenting these in concise, compelling ways to a range of audiences

• Analysing data, possessing solid data analysis skills and an ability to analyse payments and digital assets sector risks and design ways to measure the progress of our activities and controls against risk targets

Skills required:

Minimum:

• Demonstrable expertise in risk analysis and management of payments firms and/or digital assets (such as cryptocurrencies, tokenisation, stablecoins etc)

• Demonstrable experience of effective stakeholder management and building and sustaining strong, collaborative relationships, using clear and effective communication across multiple engagement channels

• Demonstrable knowledge of UK financial services regulation

Essential:

• Solid analytical skills to analyse large volumes of data and information and draw pertinent conclusions. Experience of using data analysis tools and AI capability would be advantageous

• Experience of developing and improving how risk is managed, including how progress and success is measured against target risk scores.

• Experience working across teams and disciplines to deliver shared outcomes. This includes working with and supporting risk governance functions

• Demonstrable experience managing and engaging senior stakeholders, including at SLT and Executive level, both internally and externally, including by tailoring written messages to the audience for maximum impact. Ability to present advice in a clear, timely and focused way

• Ability to work in a collaborative and inclusive ways that build support, balance priorities and contribute to wider organisational goals, while challenging appropriately

• Sound judgement underpinned by data, evidence and insight to inform decisions and actions. Robust report writing skills

• A growth mindset, with curiosity to learn, ability to handle unexpected changes and readiness to take on new responsibilities and adjust to shifting priorities

Benefits:

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays

• Hybrid model where employees work a minimum of 40% in the office each month (expectation of 50% for senior leaders). Changing from September to a minimum of 50% in the office each month (expectation of 60% for Directors and Executive Directors)

• Non-contributory pension (8–12% depending on age) and life assurance at eight times your salary

• Private healthcare with Bupa, income protection, and 24/7 Employee Assistance

• 35 hours of paid volunteering annually

• A flexible benefits scheme designed around your lifestyle

For a full list of our benefits, and our recruitment process as a whole visit our benefits page

Our Values & Culture

Our colleagues are the key to our success as a regulator. We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive culture: one that’s free from discrimination and bias, celebrates difference, and supports colleagues to deliver at their best. 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.

If you require any adjustments due to a disability or condition, your recruiter is here to help - reach out for tailored support.

We welcome diverse working styles and aim to find flexible solutions that suit both the role and individual needs, including options like part-time and job sharing where applicable.

Disability Confident: Our Hiring Approach

We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Employer, and therefore, people or individuals with disabilities and long-term conditions who best meet the minimum criteria for a role will go through to the next stage of the recruitment process. In cases of high application volumes we may progress applicants whose experience most closely matches the role’s key requirements.

Useful Information and Timeline

• Job advert close: Tuesday 7th July

• CV Review/Shortlist: Thursday 9th July

• Possible Case Study Assessment, & Interview: w/c 20th 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.