Consumer Credit Applications Manager

Department
– Authorisations Credit and Lending

Team
- Debt, Mortgage and Validation Order

Salary
- National (Edinburgh and Leeds) ranging from £72,100 to £87,100 and London £79,300 to £95,800 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 Manager to lead our Debt, Mortgage and Validation Order Team in the Authorisations Credit and Lending Department. The team is responsible for the assessment of new applications for FCA authorisation and variations of permissions, as well as validation orders.

Our Managers are responsible for: the day-to-day delivery of the Credit and Lending Authorisations strategy; ensuring our risk appetite and control framework are effective; and managing the work of our teams to achieve this. This role involves extensive collaboration with the SLT and Managers across the division to collectively deliver our supervisory priorities through effective planning and flexible use of resource.

The specific team's role involves the assessment of mainly complex applications across the Debt, Non-Bank Mortgage Lending sectors and validation orders. The team is responsible for assessing and mitigating key risks across these areas. The work is varied, interesting and can be high-profile and market sensitive.

What will you be doing?

• Playing an intrinsic part in the division's leadership and management team developing and contributing to Authorisations strategies for relevant portfolios and sub-sectors
• Leading and motivating the team to understand firms' business strategies and activities, and the implications they have for conduct risks whilst embedding the FCA strategy, values and the authorisations approach within the team
• Developing and executing robust portfolio strategies and ensuring strong decision making for the teams' portfolios working in collaboration with Supervision counterparts, including members of Supervision's SLT on highly complex or significant cases (Non-Bank Lenders, Lifetime Providers, Debt Advice, Debt Collectors, Purchasers and Administrators) and Validation Orders
• Direct line management for team members, including setting, challenging and stretching objectives and managing performance whilst ensuring the team's support for activity led by the wider FCA, is effectively and appropriately managed
• Representing the FCA to senior external stakeholders, including firms, the PRA, FSCS and Trade Associations, and working collaboratively with internal stakeholders and travelling within the UK to visit firms' head offices and operations throughout the country
• Working together with divisional management to deliver effective resource planning; knowledge sharing; coaching and mentoring others; operational effectiveness, staff development and support

What will you get from the role?

• Be part of a collegiate and friendly management team
• Contribute to the delivery of the FCA's mission through the department's work
• Help to achieve the right regulatory outcomes on complex cases
• Opportunity to contribute to and shape Authorisations' ongoing strategic programme
• Opportunity to develop further stakeholder management skills
• Develop and enhance people leadership skills, including coaching and mentoring

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

• Prior knowledge/experience of some or all of the Debt and Non-Bank Mortgage Lending sectors, as well as some awareness of validation orders, and the FCA's policy in these areas
• Prior experience of people management within a supervision, case progression or project management environment
• Prior experience of building and maintaining relationships with stakeholders at all levels

Essential

• Excellent oral and written communications skills, with the ability to influence senior internal and external stakeholders, and draft reports to a high standard suitable for external publication
• Proven ability to build and maintain high performing teams and get the best out of people whilst contributing to the strategy of a department and wider division whilst respecting the diversity of cultural, social and academic backgrounds found in the organisation
• Strong project management skills, including the ability to perform quality control and ensure high standards of delivery
• Strong analytical skills: using a good understanding of the regulatory framework, the FCA's approach to authorisation and supervision to think clearly and rigorously about how best to assess and validate conduct risks and reach robust judgements, including under pressure with an understanding of conduct risk, consumer behaviour and the drivers of poor consumer outcomes
• Motivated by challenges, responding positively to them. Flexible approach to change and an ability to adapt working styles accordingly
• Ability to identify and manage key stakeholders, to build and maintain constructive relationships, and win the support of firms and trade bodies for our conduct agenda whilst also making a strong personal impact, persuading with well-reasoned arguments and challenging where appropriate
• Good organisational skills: ability to manage competing priorities, and a challenging workload at times, in a resource-constrained environment showing tenacity, resilience and flexibility
• Commercial awareness: understanding of business models and the impact of the wider economic climate on firm behaviour

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

• 28 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 Manager - Regulatory
• Advert Closing Date: Tuesday 4th November (midnight)
• CV Review/Shortlist: Thursday 6th November
• First Round Competency Based Interview: W/C 10th November onwards
• Psychometric Assessment: W/C 24th November
• Final Interview: End November

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:

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