Consumer Credit Lawyer
Salary - National ranging from £47,200 to £70,800 and London ranging from £49,100 to £73,600
Are you looking for an opportunity to work for an organisation that makes a difference to the lives of the millions of people who use financial services? We are recruiting for a Lawyer role in the credit hub in the Legal Division.
The team/department
Consumer Credit 1 team is one of two consumer credit teams in the Payments, Credit, Competition and Claims Management Department in the Regulatory & Legal Directorate of the Legal Division.
The team provides legal advice on the perimeter of consumer credit and mortgages regulation.
The protection of borrowers who are in or at risk of financial difficulty or in vulnerable circumstances and the regulatory approach to the rising cost of living is an important theme in the work of the team.
What you will be doing (the role)
Examples of projects in which the team is involved at the moment include:
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Strengthening the rules and guidance in relation to debt advice and counselling
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Strengthening protections for borrowers in financial difficulty in the credit and mortgages sector, following initiatives that were originally borne out of the Covid pandemic and cost of living crisis
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Next steps following the credit information market study final report
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Working with FCA policy colleagues and engaging with HM Treasury on its proposed far-reaching reform of the Consumer Credit Act 1974
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Working on the design and implementation of processes to seek validation of agreements rendered unenforceable and to specify the amount of compensation owed by firms where the consumer credit perimeter is breached
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Significantly improving the depth of the data we collect from consumer credit firms
What you will get from the role
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Work at the forefront of financial regulation and consumer protection on a range of matters including those that involve difficult, complex and often high-profile legal issues
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Advise on the application and effect of regulatory requirements and powers in practice, and work with colleagues to ensure firms comply with all applicable rules, legislation and law
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Devise and implement creative and pragmatic solutions
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Acquire broader experience of financial services regulation, of how a regulator works and of how law and regulation is made
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Be fully involved in the FCA’s policy development, and draft rules and guidance in the FCA Handbook
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Develop problem-solving and project management skills
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Have a high level of ownership and responsibility for your actions
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Interact with colleagues across the FCA and with government departments and bodies and other organisations engaged in financial services such as the Bank of England and HM Treasury on exciting and pioneering projects
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Work in a diverse, inclusive and supportive environment
Our competitive flexible benefits scheme gives you the opportunity to create a personalised benefits package, tailored to suit your lifestyle. 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:
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25 days holiday per year plus bank holidays
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Private healthcare with Bupa
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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)
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Life assurance of eight times your basic salary
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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, should they meet the minimum criteria for a role.
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Applicants must be a qualified lawyer (solicitor, barrister or Chartered Legal Executive) or foreign who is newly qualified to 3 years’ PQE
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Direct experience of in house, public sector or private practice
Essential
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Strong analytical skills and the ability to deliver good and clear analysis of issues
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Ability to learn about new or novel legal issues quickly and with enthusiasm, with the necessary oversight and support of colleagues
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Ability to create solutions and deliver pragmatic outcome-focused judgments
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Ability to advise in a confident and reasoned manner, and to challenge appropriately
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Ability to build and sustain positive relationships and good communication skills
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 women, disabled and minority ethnic candidates for our Associate 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 24th November 2024
This role is graded as Associate - Practicing Legal
Got a question?
If you are interested in learning more about the role please contact:
For internal applicants, please contact Katie Ayling at [email protected]
For external applicants, please contact Chhavi Bartaria at [email protected]
What to expect from our interview process
The assessment process consists of an initial screening call with one our Recruitment Partners. If successful, you will be invited to complete a technical case study and attend a first stage 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.
Please note that all applications must be submitted through our online portal, applications sent via email will not be accepted.
What We Do
We work to ensure financial markets work well for individuals, for businesses and for the economy as a whole.
We do this by:
- regulating the conduct of approximately 50,000 businesses
- prudentially supervising 48,000 firms
- setting specific standards for around 18,000 firms
We were set up on 1 April 2013, taking over conduct and relevant prudential regulation from the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
Our Head Office is based in London, and we work across the UK, from our office in Edinburgh and via colleagues in Belfast and Cardiff.
Firms and individuals must be authorised or registered by us to carry out certain activities. Before we grant authorisation, firms must demonstrate that they meet a range of requirements. We then supervise these firms to make sure they continue to meet our standards and rules after they’re authorised. If firms and individuals fail to meet these standards, we have a range of enforcement powers we can use.
We work alongside the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), the prudential regulator of around 1,500 banks, building societies, credit unions, insurers and major investment firms.
