Job Title: Senior Market Abuse Case Officer
Division: Enforcement & Market Oversight (EMO)
Department: Secondary Market Oversight (SMO)
1. Salary: National (Edinburgh and Leeds) ranging from £52,400 to £67,000 and London £57,700 to £74,000 (salary offered will be based on skills and experience)
2. This role is graded as: Senior Associate – Regulatory
3. Your recruitment contact is Steve Christopher via k. Applications must be submitted through our online portal. Applications sent via social media or email will not be accepted.
About the FCA and team
We regulate financial services firms in the UK, to keep financial markets fair, thriving and effective. By joining us, you’ll play a key part in protecting consumers, driving economic growth and shaping the future of UK finance services.
Enforcement & Market Oversight (EMO) 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.
Sitting within the Market Oversight Directorate, the Secondary Market Oversight (SMO) Department addresses all aspects of market abuse in secondary markets through data analysis, detection, investigation and supervision, following the FCA’s four Ps approach- prepare, prevent, protect and pursue- to maintain clean and transparent markets.
Role responsibilities
4. Lead ongoing trade surveillance, reviewing alerts, STORs and other signals to uncover behaviours that could undermine market integrity
5. Conduct complex investigations into potential market manipulation by analysing trading patterns and engaging constructively with market participants
6. Enhance the FCA’s surveillance capability by partnering with developers and tech teams to evolve systems in line with emerging market abuse risks
7. Provide market support to support evidence gathering across triage and enforcement activities, helping ensure fair, transparent markets
8. Shape the FCA’s approach to detecting equity manipulation, contributing to regulatory outcomes that protect millions of UK consumers
9. Develop specialist technical and investigative skills using advanced tools, data sources and analytics
10. Work on diverse, high impact cases, offering opportunities to provide strategic insight and help shape decisions
11. Act as an investigator in formal enforcement work, helping to hold firms and individuals to account and build public confidence in financial markets
Skills required
Minimum:
12. Demonstrable experience of market abuse monitoring, surveillance or investigations within financial services, a regulator, or through professional exposure to financial markets particularly equities markets and equity derivatives
13. Prior experience using big data tools such as Microsoft Excel and other internal data analysis applications
14. Proven experience working with trade surveillance systems
Essential:
15. Solid knowledge of the market abuse legislative framework and its application in financial markets
16. Ability to apply critical thinking and sound judgement to reach logical, consistent decisions using the information available
17. A collaborative approach, with the ability to work constructively with colleagues and contribute positively to team goals
18. Ability to explain complex trading analysis and market concepts to a wide range of audiences
19. Willingness to adjust to planned and unplanned changes and drive, acting as a self motivated professional able to organize their time and deliver high quality outcomes
20. Deep understanding of how equity markets operate and the specific ways they can be vulnerable to manipulation
21. Familiarity with programming or data-analytics tools, with Python and visualisation tools such as Tableau
Benefits
22. 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
23. Hybrid model where employees work a minimum of 40% in the office each month (expectation of 50% for senior leaders). Changing from September to a minimum of 50% in the office each month (expectation of 60% for Directors and Executive Directors)
24. Non-contributory pension (8–12% depending on age) and life assurance at eight times your salary
25. Private healthcare with Bupa, income protection and 24/7 Employee Assistance
26. 35 hours of paid volunteering annually
27. A flexible benefits scheme designed around your lifestyle
For a full list of our benefits and our recruitment process as a whole visit our benefits page.
Our values and culture
Our colleagues are the key to our success as a regulator. We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive culture: one that’s free from discrimination and bias, celebrates difference and supports colleagues to deliver at their best. 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.
If you require any adjustments due to a disability or condition, your recruiter is here to help - reach out for tailored support.
We welcome diverse working styles and aim to find flexible solutions that suit both the role and individual needs, including options like part-time and job sharing where applicable.
Disability confident: our hiring approach
We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Employer and therefore, people or individuals with disabilities and long-term conditions who best meet the minimum criteria for a role will go through to the next stage of the recruitment process. In cases of high application volumes we may progress applicants whose experience most closely matches the role’s key requirements.
Useful information and timelines
Timeline:
28. Job advert close: 27th February 2026 at 11:59pm
29. CV Review/Shortlist: 3rd March 2026
30. Interviews: w/c 9th March 2026
31. 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
32. SC Clearance is required for this role (SC Guidance) - you will hold or will be required to obtain Security Check (SC) level vetting