Strategic Planner
Division – Operations
Department – Strategy
Salary – National – ranging from £52,400 – £65,500 and London from £57,700 – £72,000 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.
We have a permanent opportunity at Senior Associate level for a strategic thinker who wants exposure to executive level decision making and to develop a broad view of all of the FCA's work.
The Strategy department inform and drive the delivery of the FCA's Strategy and provide central oversight of delivery on behalf of our Executive Committee and the Board. We facilitate prioritisation and business planning decisions and ensure the organisation measures and reports its performance against agreed outcomes.
What will you be doing?
The FCA will shortly publish its second multi-year strategy. You will help colleagues across the organisation to understand our priorities and how they contribute to them.
You will contribute to a refresh our annual Strategic and Financial Planning process, aligning it to the new Strategy. You will then play a central role in delivering the process, working with the core planning teams and subject matter experts. You will also have the opportunity to use your knowledge of key consumer and market issues to influence our plans for the year ahead.
Your ability to engage with colleagues of all levels is crucial to success in this role. You will develop and maintain close working relationships with colleagues in Finance, Economics, Risk and Compliance Oversight. You will also develop your ability to influence stakeholders at all levels and gain exposure to executive level decision making.
What will you get from the role?
Your work will be both varied and challenging. You will make use your and further develop your strong problem solving, stakeholder management and planning skills
Your work will have a high exposure across the FCA. You will work closely with a wide range of internal colleagues, including senior FCA decision makers
You will have excellent opportunities to develop knowledge of the breadth of work across the FCA and how strategic decisions are made
You will work in a supportive and intellectually challenging environment, with a strong focus on continuous improvement
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 in strategic planning in a regulator, public organisation or in financial services
Track record of delivering high profile projects and influencing stakeholders at different levels
Proven ability to work in agile environments and operate effectively through uncertainty
Essential
Evidence of strong analytical skills, with the ability to explain complex issues succinctly and with clarity, both in writing and verbally
Ability to identify and analyse key issues facing consumers and markets, as well the factors influencing them, to provide advice on the FCA’s strategic direction
Ability to make logical and timely decisions, cutting through complexity and seeing the big picture
Capable of managing a variety of competing tasks and issues, prioritising appropriately and escalating where necessary, showing initiative and ability to bring conceptual thinking to life
Ability to work well under pressure and deliver work to agreed standard within tight deadlines
Ability to work actively with others to achieve outcomes in both formal and informal teams
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 are women.
The FCA is committed to achieving greater diversity across all levels of the organisation. Given this, we particularly welcome applications from women, minority ethnic, disabled, and neurodivergent candidates for our role.
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%
Life assurance
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 Senior Associate – Regulatory.
Advert Closing Date: 19th March
CV Review/Shortlist: 20th & 21st March
Competency Based Interview: w/c 31st 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.
Got a question?
If you are interested in learning more about the role, please contact:
For internal applicants, please contact Melanie Dubock at [email protected]
For external applicants, please contact Chhavi Bartaria at [email protected]
Applications must be submitted through our online portal. Applications sent via email will not be accepted.
The FCA regulates the conduct of 50,000 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.
Working inclusively
We work best when we work together. We encourage our people to contribute fully and feel valued, to be innovative and creative by collaborating in an inclusive culture.
We're also committed to reflecting the diverse lived experiences of the communities we work in and the consumers we protect. We have a strategy to achieve a more diverse and inclusive workplace that is free from discrimination. This includes increasing the representation of women in our senior team to 50% and minority ethnic colleagues to 25% by 2025 – representative of the UK population.
We were recently voted 'Employer of the year' at the Women in Finance awards and our commitment to LGBT+ inclusion means we're recognised as a Stonewall Top 100 employer.
Flexible Working
We believe that giving our people greater flexibility fosters an inclusive culture and a healthy work-life balance.
We currently operate a hybrid working model, working up to 40% in the office each month (50% for senior leaders). This way of working applies in our Stratford, Leeds and Edinburgh offices.
We also offer career and family leave provisions, generous annual leave so you can take time off when you need or want to, and a range of other benefits.
Programme for parents returning to work after Parental Leave? |
We don’t have a formal programme, but we have hired several Returners through the assisted hiring route (working with Women Returners) |
Leadership development programmes? |
Yes – we are launching a female progression programme |
Mentoring programmess? |
Yes |
Coaching programmes? |
No |
Employee-led diversity networks? |
Yes |
Internal women’s networking groups? |
No |
Open to discussing flexible work arrangements at interview stage? |
Yes |
No. of weeks paid maternity leave at full salary: |
52 |
Minimum weeks tenure required to be eligible for paid maternity leave: |
|
No. of weeks paid paternity leave at full salary: |
|
Minimum tenure required to be eligible for paid paternity leave: |
Gender pay gap reporting information (2023) (UK): |
|
Average pay gap: |
13.1% |
Median pay gap: |
14.3% |
Average bonus gap: |
15.2% |
Median bonus gap: |
19% |
Signatory of the UK Women in Finance Charter? |
Yes |
Targets to raise the number of women in leadership? |
Yes – 50% female target across all pipeline roles |
Targets to raise the number of BAME individuals in leadership? |
Yes |
Listed in the Bloomberg Diversity & Inclusion Index? |
No |