Lead Equity Manipulation Specialist

Lead Equity Manipulation Specialist

Division - Enforcement and Market Oversight

Department - Secondary Market Oversight

Salary - National (Leeds) ranging from £57,600 to £72,000 and London from £63,300 to £80,000 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.

The Enforcement and Market Oversight (EMO) division is responsible for the FCA’s responsibilities for market monitoring, delivery of the functions of the UK Listing Authority (UKLA) and the investigation and prosecution of misconduct using the whole spectrum of criminal, civil and administrative sanctions and remedies against firms and individuals.

Secondary Market Oversight leads the FCA's work to detect, investigate, and prevent market abuse and the Equity Manipulation Team (EMT) specialises in pursuing cases of market manipulation, both criminal and civil, primarily in equity and equity related products. The EMT team has a vital role in helping the FCA achieve its objectives in ensuring the integrity of markets and protecting those who use them. We have a vacancy for a Lead Associate to join the team.

What you will be doing?

We are looking for someone who can help contribute to our work. The team’s core focus is on identifying instances of equity market manipulation and choosing the right course of action in response. Candidates should have experience of equity market abuse surveillance, particularly orderbook analysis.

Responsibilities include:

• Undertaking daily trade surveillance activities to address and investigate alerts, suspicious transaction and order reports (STORs), and other sources of potential market manipulation and improper activity

• Taking responsibility for more in-depth reviews of potential manipulation: conducting analysis of trading patterns, gathering information from market participants, and providing recommendations in respect of potential escalation of serious misconduct

• Contributing to the enhancement of our systems and processes for identifying market manipulation. In particular, you can expect to work with developers and in-house tech teams to enhance our surveillance capabilities to ensure they remain aligned to market abuse risks

• Providing expertise in relation to financial markets and gathering and analysing evidence to support either initial triage work or Enforcement investigations

• Supporting management in decision-making, prioritisation, and delegation of notifications of market abuse (through day-to-day management and oversight of triage process/notifications of suspicious trading)

• Using experience and expertise to support junior staff, and contribute to the Department’s wider objectives

What will you get from the role?

• This role offers a unique opportunity to shape the FCA’s work in relation to equity market manipulation, contributing to the material enhancement of market integrity

• Use and develop technical & investigative skills in relation to complex matters using a wide range of software and systems

• Exposure to a wide range of equity manipulation case work, with the opportunity to provide significant technical and strategic input

• You will be able to analyse potentially suspicious behaviours using our consolidated orderbook data and transaction reporting data, significant datasets which are vital to identifying and assessing potentially suspicious activity

• Opportunity to develop and share professional expertise and knowledge through exposure to a wide range of complex situations

• Opportunity to work as an investigator on market manipulation enforcement investigations

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

• Demonstrable professional experience of market abuse monitoring and surveillance within financial services or with a regulator and/or professional exposure to financial markets - in particular, equities markets and equity derivatives

• Strong experience in using trade surveillance systems (in particular OneTick) with exposure to system and alert testing

• Experience of using big data tools such as Microsoft Excel and other internal big data applications

Essential

• Programming knowledge is a plus with knowledge and experience of python-based applications and visualisation tools such as tableau

• Knowledge of the market abuse legislative framework

• A strong sense of the value of teamwork with an ability to engage effectively and constructively with colleagues

• Ability to communicate complex trading analysis and concepts to a variety of audiences

• Flexibility and drive: being a self-starter with the ability to act on their own initiative and deliver excellent outcomes

• Detailed understanding of the specific vulnerabilities of equity markets to market abuse

• Proven mentoring/coaching skills

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 ExCo are women (4 in 8)

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 Lead Associate Regulatory 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 as Lead Associate Regulatory.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a competency-based interview and case study

• Advert Closing Date: 4th December 2024

• CV Review/Shortlist: 9th December 2024

• Competency Based Interview: Week beginning 16th December 2024

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 Louise Nash at [email protected]

• For external applicants, please contact Aaron Ward at [email protected]

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