Personal Assistant to Head of Department

at  Financial Conduct Authority

Personal Assistant to Head of Department
Salary banding London ranging from £31,600 to £47,400 and National from £28,800 to £43,100
We are looking for an experienced Senior Professional Support (PS) to join Enforcement (EMO) to support our senior leaders and operational running of an investigation case team. This is a combined Personal Assistant (PA) and operational support role - the successful applicant will perform 50% PA duties to the Head of Department (HoD), and 50% supporting the wider operations of the investigation department.
The team / department
Wholesale and Unauthorised Business Investigations directorate (WUBI) - Wholesale Enforcement investigates a wide range of cases covering insider dealing rings, market abuse cases, market manipulation, benchmark manipulation, Listing Rule breaches, transaction reporting breaches and issues of wholesale misconduct. The department has a varied portfolio of investigations and litigation.
The Unauthorised Business Department (UBD) takes enforcement action against firms and individuals who are not authorised or are exempt under FSMA or subsequent legislation, and who carry on regulated activities in breach of the general prohibition and/or contravene restrictions on financial promotions. UBD’s primary aim is to protect the interests of consumers by reducing the harm they suffer because of unauthorised business. UBD aims to detect, deter, disrupt, and prosecute firms and individuals conducting unauthorised business. Whilst doing so we also aim to alert, inform, and educate members of the public about the dangers of dealing with unauthorised entities.
Retail and Regulatory Investigations Department (RRI) - Retail is responsible for enforcing FSMA, our rules and other regulatory requirements. We investigate retail consumer related issues and focus on regulated firms and their management and how they engage with or affect consumers as well as firms’ systems and controls in relation to money laundering and anti-bribery and corruption. In conducting our investigations, we work closely with colleagues across the FCA and with other regulatory bodies and agencies, both within the UK and abroad. Our actions help to ensure that firms put consumers at the heart of their business and where possible consumers receive redress where they are disadvantaged.
What will you be doing (the role)
The successful candidate will need to demonstrate the ability to work to tight deadlines, effectively prioritise a demanding workload and have strong interpersonal and organisational skills and support the investigations team. At times, you may need to provide cover for other Professional Support (PS) colleagues within Enforcement providing a broad base of support for the Senior Leadership Team.

PA duties: managing the HoD including, managing workflows, and prioritising actions

• Proactive diary and inbox management, supporting the HoD preparing for meetings, creating briefing notes and producing OneNote packs, and ensuring the HoD has sufficient time to review materials and papers
• Coordinating responses/information requests to ED Office/CEO Office
• Organising travel and accommodation as required for the HoD
• Organising and co-ordinating departmental meetings, preparing papers and agendas and recording actions
• Working with the HoD to support with coordinating recruitment activates as well as onboarding new joiners

Collaboration, coordination and leading by example to the investigation department and Professional Business Support community

• Acting as a lead member of the Departmental Professional Support team you will encourage collaboration, leading by example, building relationships and fostering effective communication with other Professional Support colleagues within the department and across the wider division
• Overseeing the work of other Professional Support colleagues in the department, identifying team cover during absences, and allocating teamwork proportionally
• Providing support to the departmental business support team and managers, as required

Team support for the investigation department

• Assisting case teams including travel booking and other case related tasks, managing updates and monitoring mailboxes
• Proactively retaining accurate MI records, ensuring data is regularly shared and reviewed by relevant members within the department/leadership team
• Sending weekly reminders to ensure adherence to FCA policies
• Attending and contributing to knowledge sharing events

What you will get from the role

• An insight into senior management and leadership
• The opportunity to work in a busy, challenging, and engaging environment with a wide and varied workload
• Exposure to high-priority cases making tangible impact on the industry and consumers
• Opportunity to interact and build relationships with a range of internal and external stakeholders at all levels across the FCA

Our competitive flexible benefits scheme gives you the opportunity to create a personalised benefits package, tailored to suit your lifecycle. You can use this allowance to purchase additional benefits such as dental or cycle to work or you have the option top up your base salary by taking this as cash.

Core benefits that you will receive as standard are:

• 25 days holiday per year plus bank holidays
• 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 support hybrid working which means you will be able to work from home up to 60% of the time over a month with the remainder of your time in one of our three office locations.
The skills and experience you will have
Minimum

We are a signatory to the Government’s Disability Confident scheme. This means that we will offer an interview to disabled candidates entering under the scheme, who best meet the minimum criteria for a role.

• Experience of working in a fast-paced environment; working alongside a manager or Head of Department
• Proficient in the use of Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel
• Experience of being exposed to sensitive information and ensuring confidentiality of the information

Essential

• Strong written and oral communication skills, ability to interact with people at all levels with a professional approach, adapting to different styles accordingly
• Efficient organisational, time management and administrative skills.
• Ability to plan-ahead, prioritise, act on own initiative, and manage own workload
• Calm under pressure and can work to tight deadlines whilst maintaining quality and accuracy
• Flexibility and the willingness to get things done, supporting others, as necessary
• Able to work under pressure and to tight deadlines with a good eye for detail.
• Self-motivated and able to work without supervision using own initiative to resolve issues and progress actions and understand how the role fits into wider FCA objectives

About the FCA
The FCA regulates the conduct of nearly 45,000 firms in the UK to ensure our financial markets are honest, fair and competitive. We do this to make sure markets work well for individuals, businesses and the economy as a whole. For more information on what we do, our three-year strategy can be found
here.
The FCA’s Values & Diversity
Our ambition is to cultivate a culture of inclusion 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.
The FCA is committed to achieving greater diversity across all levels of the organisations. Given this, we particularly welcome applications from men, disabled and minority ethnic candidates for our Senior Professional Support role.
Flexible working
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 won’t judge you for asking.
Multi-location
As part of the FCA’s on-going commitment to develop our national presence, most of our vacancies are now open to working in our Edinburgh, Leeds, or London offices. This means that as part of the application process you will be able to select your preference of which office location you would like to work from.

Useful information

• Applications for this role close at 23:59 on the 2nd September 2024
• This role is graded as Senior Professional Support - Corporate

Got a question?
If you are interested in learning more about the role please contact:
For internal applicants, please contact Michael Wood,
michael.wood@fca.org.uk
For external applicants, please contact Michael Wood,
michael.wood@fca.org.uk
What to expect from our interview process
This will be a one stage technical and competency based interview.
Application support
We want to remove any possible barriers and are committed to providing a wide range of reasonable adjustments so that you can keep the focus on your conversations and be at your best.
If you have an accessibility requirement, disability, or condition that means you might require changes to the recruitment process, please contact your recruiter to discuss this further. Our aim is to make your application as easy and comfortable as possible, and your recruiter will be happy to work with you to make any necessary arrangements where possible

PA duties: managing the HoD including, managing workflows, and prioritising actions

• Proactive diary and inbox management, supporting the HoD preparing for meetings, creating briefing notes and producing OneNote packs, and ensuring the HoD has sufficient time to review materials and papers
• Coordinating responses/information requests to ED Office/CEO Office
• Organising travel and accommodation as required for the HoD
• Organising and co-ordinating departmental meetings, preparing papers and agendas and recording actions
• Working with the HoD to support with coordinating recruitment activates as well as onboarding new joiner

What you will get from the role

• An insight into senior management and leadership
• The opportunity to work in a busy, challenging, and engaging environment with a wide and varied workload
• Exposure to high-priority cases making tangible impact on the industry and consumers
• Opportunity to interact and build relationships with a range of internal and external stakeholders at all levels across the FC

We are a signatory to the Government’s Disability Confident scheme. This means that we will offer an interview to disabled candidates entering under the scheme, who best meet the minimum criteria for a role.

• Experience of working in a fast-paced environment; working alongside a manager or Head of Department
• Proficient in the use of Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel
• Experience of being exposed to sensitive information and ensuring confidentiality of the informatio