Assistant Private Secretary bei Fca

Assistant Private Secretary

Division – Supervision Policy and Competition (SPC)

Salary - National (Edinburgh and Leeds) ranging from £52,400 to £63,000 and London £57,700 to £70,000 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 are looking for a Senior Associate to join as an Assistant Private Secretary in the Supervision Policy and Competition (SPC) division, in the office of the Executive Director of Markets and International. The role offers an unparalleled opportunity to work closely with a senior executive at the FCA. In this role, you will gain exposure to a significant breadth of strategic, supervisory and policy issues.  You will work on high-profile and fast-paced matters that deliver the FCA’s objectives. It is a perfect role for someone looking to build up the experience to progress further in your career. The role holder will need to work autonomously to provide high quality support to the Executive Director and their Private Secretary and interact with internal and external stakeholders at all levels to ensure their priorities are effectively and efficiently delivered.

We are looking for someone with sound judgement and strong analytical, stakeholder management and communication skills, as well as the ability to exercise discretion. We welcome applications from existing Senior Associates or Associates who can demonstrate readiness for the role.

What will you be doing?

• Leading on assigned wholesale areas (for example, policy, supervisory or operational), advising the Executive Director, Supporting the Executive Director and Private Secretary as part of a dynamic team, managing a varied and interesting workload and engaging with senior internal and external stakeholders

• Ensuring that the Executive Director is well briefed ahead of meetings, taking minutes at meetings, and preparing the Executive Director for external engagements including speeches and media appearances

• Facilitating the effective and efficient running of SPC Markets and International

• Managing the flow of information between the Executive Director and colleagues across the FCA, communicating requests and steers to and from staff at all levels

• Maintaining open, productive and supportive relationships with key stakeholders. Handling correspondence from a range of external stakeholders (including C-suite of firms) and response to media queries

What will you get from the role?

• Every day is different in this role. It is a unique opportunity to stretch and challenge yourself and is a great stepping stone to progressing your career within the FCA

• You will have a rare opportunity to engage with the breadth of work undertaken by the SPC and International divisions, developing technical knowledge in Wholesale Markets and other SPC areas of your choice

• You will have the opportunity to get involved in a wide range of projects within SPC and International, depending on your interests and capacity

• You will have a privileged view and gain a good understanding of how the FCA operates, including how decisions are made at the most senior level. You will be working with the Executive Director and will learn a lot from this experience

• You will also have the opportunity to interact with senior internal and external stakeholders every day, and you’ll gain experience of how to do this professionally and with confidence. This will allow you to build your network and further develop your communication skills

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 of working within or very closely with regulatory policymakers, supervisors, investigators or compliance

• Experience of working in the Wholesale Markets

• Proven experience of managing a busy workload, prioritising effectively and delivering under pressure, including juggling multiple issues

Essential

• Sound judgement, demonstrated ability to resolve issues as they arise, knowing when to deal with a matter yourself and when to involve others and/or escalate appropriately

• Proven ability to manage work autonomously and deliver outputs efficiently

• Ability to assimilate and summarise a large amount of information, analyse proposals and evidence and consider next steps and the risks involved

• Ability to remain calm, resilient and approachable under pressure – supporting your team and acting as an example to colleagues across the Division

• Strong ability to build and maintain effective and productive stakeholder relationships to support your own delivery, and to provide constructive challenge as well as having strong verbal communication skills

• Curiosity and motivation to continually learn about and investigate issues within the financial services firms and industry whilst identifying emerging issues and seeing the bigger picture

• Willingness to learn and develop yourself and others, taking on new responsibilities and adopting a flexible and pragmatic approach to your work

• The successful candidate will hold or will be required to obtain Security Clearance (SC) level vetting

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 were the first in their family to attend university.

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% 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 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 as Senior Associate, Regulatory

• This role requires Security Clearance

• Advert Closing Date:  28th September 2025

• CV Review/Shortlist: 30th September 2025

• First Round Case Study Assessment: w/c 6th October 2025

• Competency Based Interview: W/C 13th October 2025

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: [email protected]

Applications must be submitted through our online portal. Applications sent via email will not be accepted.