Lawyer

Division: Legal

Department: Funds & Wholesale Department

Salary: National (Edinburgh and Leeds) ranging from £47,200 to £70,800 and London from £49,700 to £74,500 (salary offered will be based on skills and experience)

This role is graded as: Associate - level 8 - Practising legal

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. The Wholesale and Perimeter team is one of two teams within the Funds & Wholesale Department, part of the Regulatory and Corporate Legal Directorate in the Legal Division. The team advises on the regulatory perimeter, cryptoassets, wholesale firm supervision and wholesale conduct issues, benchmarks, ESG matters including the sustainable disclosures regime, operational resilience, the critical third parties regime, and the senior managers and certification regime.

Role responsibilities

• The development of the UK’s regulatory regime for cryptoassets
• The development and implementation of the new regulatory regime for critical third parties
• The FCA’s disclosure requirements relating to ESG matters, including the new sustainable disclosures regime
• Advising on the regulatory perimeter
• Providing legal support in respect of the supervision of wholesale firms supervised by the FCA, including investment banks, wholesale intermediaries, asset managers, benchmark administrators and commodity firms
• Advising FCA Policy and Supervision on the senior managers and certification regime

Skills required

Minimum:

• Applicants must be a qualified lawyer (solicitor, barrister or Chartered Legal Executive) or foreign qualified, who is newly qualified to 3 years’ PQE
• Direct experience of in house, public sector or private practice (financial services regulatory experience, including issues related to cryptoassets, is desirable, but not essential)

Essential:

• Strong analytical skills and the ability to deliver good and clear analysis of issues
• Ability to learn about new or novel legal issues quickly and with enthusiasm, with the necessary oversight and support of colleagues
• Ability to create solutions and deliver pragmatic outcome-focused judgments
• Ability to advise in a confident and reasoned manner, and to challenge appropriately
• Ability to build and sustain positive relationships and good communication skills

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

Our values and 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 timelines

Timeline:

• Job advert closes: midnight on 9th March
• CV Review/Shortlist: 11th March
• Interview: w/c 16th March

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.