Lead Associate - Enforcement

at  Payment Systems Regulator

About the PSR
How payments work affects the society we live in; the challenges faced by the vulnerable; how likely we are to fall victim to fraud; and how easily we can manage our money. Payments underpin our economy.
Behind these payments are several important payment systems. We rely on these systems to support markets, facilitate competition and drive innovation.
This helps to deliver new products, find new ways to protect people from harm, and deliver services that give people and businesses more choice and control about how to pay and be paid.
We need the technology, the rules governing the use of these systems and the markets they support to all work well.
This is where the PSR plays an important role – we are the economic regulator of, and competition authority for, those systems.
We protect people and businesses and promote competition and innovation in these systems and the markets that they support.
To achieve this, we have set out in
our Strategy

four strategic priorities:

• Ensure users have continued access to the payment services they rely on and support a choice of payment options
• Ensure users are sufficiently protected when using the UK’s payment systems
• Promote competition between UK payment systems and the markets supported by them; protecting users where that competition is not sufficient
• Act to ensure the interbank systems provide the infrastructure, rules and incentives that foster innovation and competition in payments

Our work is high-profile and fast-moving, within a dynamic environment. The work that you’ll be involved in every day will be about helping us to deliver our strategy, helping us to be the regulator we want to be and helping the sector to deliver outcomes that protect the interests of people and businesses, and to promote competition and innovation in payments.
Our strategy sets out the need for us to continue adjusting our approach to ensure our work is directed where it will have the greatest impact.
We’re ambitious about the future and looking for people who can help us to achieve our strategic priorities.
The PSR is an independent economic regulator led by Managing Director, Chris Hemsley. We are directly accountable to Parliament and funded by the payments industry. We work closely with other regulators involved in this sector, notably the Financial Conduct Authority, the Bank of England and the Competition and Markets Authority. Operationally we are an independent subsidiary of the Financial Conduct Authority.
Why join the PSR?
There are so many reasons why the PSR is a great place to work! We have a great office and an excellent agile working environment, a great friendly team with an important role to play. So, if you are motivated by making a difference to how we all make payments, then we are for you.
In addition, we offer a wide variety of learning and development opportunities here at the PSR as well as access to the FCA Academy, which has a wealth of resource available to us.
We’re committed to building and sustaining a diverse and inclusive workplace to represent the people and organisations that we serve. We recognise the diverse community in which we operate, and we encourage applicants irrespective of ethnicity, disability, gender, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, marriage or civil partnership, sexual orientation, social background, or age.
As an inclusive employer, we support a hybrid and flexible approach to working, so, when you apply, please do indicate any requests for flexibility.
About the team
The PSR is covering larger and more complex areas of work than ever before. Through active monitoring, supervision and enforcement, we will make sure people and businesses can continue to have confidence in the payment systems they use every single day.

The Supervision and Compliance Monitoring (SCM) Division is responsible for ensuring that the PSR’s regulatory requirements are complied with and for improving outcomes for everyone that uses payments systems by challenging poor practice within firms. The SCM Division was established in June 2023 and carries out three main functions:

• Supervision: develops relationships with those we regulate to understand how they take decisions, manage risk and deliver the right outcomes for users of payments systems
• Compliance Monitoring: focuses on ensuring compliance with the PSR’s directions, requirements and regulations through the gathering of evidence, fieldwork and data analysis
• We use this knowledge to ensure that any non-compliance is quickly resolved and to decide if formal regulatory intervention is more appropriate
• Enforcement: investigates potential breaches of our directions, requirements and regulations, with the power to impose fines and publish details of identified breaches

Purpose of the role
We are recruiting for a Lead Associate to work in our Enforcement team within the SCM Division. You will play a leading role in investigations into potential breaches of PSR regulations, rules, and directions. You will manage your own cases and will be accountable for regularly reporting on progress.
You will be involved in all aspects of investigations from strategic planning, delegating tasks within the team, obtaining evidence using appropriate powers, drafting, and reviewing all forms of documents, leading interviews of subjects and witnesses, analysing evidence and making judgements and recommendations throughout the lifetime of an investigation.
You will lead your investigations to deliver case outcomes either taking cases through to settlement agreements or presenting the outcome of our investigation to the Enforcement Decisions Committee (EDC)
This will involve making decisions about how we present our case and engaging convincingly and with confidence at a senior level, both within the PSR and with the firms you are investigating.
You will be a role model within your team, always willing to share your knowledge and expertise and you will build and maintain effective working relationships with senior colleagues in other areas within the PSR and with counterparts at key external stakeholders.
You will support the Enforcement Manager and have opportunities to deputise for them.
Legally qualified candidates in this role would not be expected to provide legal advice and would be expected to work closely with the Legal division.
You may be expected to carry out legal analysis or preparation / research, take a more hands on role in issues spotting, anticipating and managing legal risk in collaboration with the Legal division, and where appropriate will take responsibility for the preparation of privileged correspondence.
For these tasks/activities of a legal nature, you will have a reporting line into a Legal Manager and the work will be quality assured from a legal perspective by the General Counsel’s Office.

What will the role involve?

• You will play a leading role in the PSR’s investigations and will be accountable for and regularly report on progress internally
• You will be responsible for managing the operational case progress, e.g. planning, managing risks, resources and external costs
• You will have direct line management and mentoring responsibility for junior colleagues
• You will contribute to the development and implementation of the PSR’s enforcement strategy
• You will be a senior member of the team and an active role model for PSR colleagues demonstrating behaviours in line with the PSR values and capabilities

About you
We’re a signatory to the Government’s Disability Confident scheme. This means that we guarantee an interview to any disabled candidates entering under the scheme, should they meet the minimum criteria for a role.

Minimum requirements

• Direct experience of managing risk from both a First Line of Defence (1LoD) and Second Line of Defence (2LoD) across an organisation or at least large divisional level
• Proven experience of providing oversight, advice and guidance as a risk and operations subject-matter expert to others within a wider organisation
• Direct experience of change management, particularly introducing new ways of working, processes and tools across a large division or small organisation
• Experience of line management

Essential criteria

• Demonstrable experience of managing and driving forward complex investigations involving analysing large amounts of information, drawing out key findings and producing formal written reports including making recommendations
• Ability to lead multi-disciplinary teams and build and maintain strong and effective relationships with colleagues and with external bodies
• Knowledge of the financial services industry including conducting investigations involving firms and consumers who are within or engage with the industry
• An ability to manage, motivate, coach and develop more junior staff to meet organisational objectives through delegation, support and coaching of case team members
• Experience of making clear, concise, logical and persuasive oral and written presentations on complex subjects
• A pro-active working style with the focus on achievement and identification of priority work
• Excellent project management and planning skills including the ability to successfully organise and prioritise work to meet expected works standards and deadlines
• Legally qualified applicants must be able to demonstrate:
• Sound knowledge of public law principles
• Mature approach to legal risk appraisal and communication of legal issues for non-lawyers
• Significant experience of providing high quality advice on public law and regulatory legal advice in a cross functional environment

Desirable criteria

• Experience of economic regulation, financial regulation, payments law, competition law
• Knowledge of the financial services industry including what you have gained from conducting investigations involving firms and consumers who are within or engage with the industry
• Experience of information gathering techniques such as use of compelled powers, interviews and/or search warrants
• Line management experience
• For legally qualified candidates:
• Knowledge of the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013, the Payment Services Regulations 2017, the Payment Card (Interchange Fee) Regulations 2015, the Financial Services and Markets Bill
• Knowledge of the law and practice in relation to information and data protection relevant to public authorities

PSR Values
All members of PSR are expected to demonstrate the PSR Values of Integrity, Unity, Engagement, Knowledge & Purpose.
In order to represent the people and organisations that we serve, we are committed to building and sustaining a diverse and inclusive workplace. Our commitment includes disability, ethnicity, LGBTQ+ and gender identity, mental health, and social mobility issues.
We are proud signatories of the
Women in Finance Charter
, we hold the
Level 2 Carer Confident
accreditation from Carers UK and we signed the
Social Mobility Pledge
in June 2020.

Useful information

• This role is graded as Lead Associate – Practicing Legal
• The role is based in London
• The role offers a competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits package
• The closing date for the role is 17th April 2024, with interviews being conducted between the 25th April and 3rd May.
• Want to know what it is like to work at the PSR? Check out this short video

PSR recruitment video 2022 - YouTube

• If you are interested in learning more about the role, please contact Melanie.Dubock@fca.org.uk
• Please note, applications must be submitted through our online portal. We are unable to accept applications sent via email

The Supervision and Compliance Monitoring (SCM) Division is responsible for ensuring that the PSR’s regulatory requirements are complied with and for improving outcomes for everyone that uses payments systems by challenging poor practice within firms. The SCM Division was established in June 2023 and carries out three main functions:

• Supervision: develops relationships with those we regulate to understand how they take decisions, manage risk and deliver the right outcomes for users of payments systems
• Compliance Monitoring: focuses on ensuring compliance with the PSR’s directions, requirements and regulations through the gathering of evidence, fieldwork and data analysis
• We use this knowledge to ensure that any non-compliance is quickly resolved and to decide if formal regulatory intervention is more appropriate
• Enforcement: investigates potential breaches of our directions, requirements and regulations, with the power to impose fines and publish details of identified breache

What will the role involve?

• You will play a leading role in the PSR’s investigations and will be accountable for and regularly report on progress internally
• You will be responsible for managing the operational case progress, e.g. planning, managing risks, resources and external costs
• You will have direct line management and mentoring responsibility for junior colleagues
• You will contribute to the development and implementation of the PSR’s enforcement strategy
• You will be a senior member of the team and an active role model for PSR colleagues demonstrating behaviours in line with the PSR values and capabilitie