Salary & Position
Lead Associate - Regulatory
Salary: National (Edinburgh and Leeds) £60,700 to £75,600; London £66,600 to £83,100 (salary offered based on skills and experience)
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. Economics is at the heart of the FCA’s work and underpins our regulatory decisions across wholesale and retail markets.
Role Responsibilities
Using your economic knowledge and experience, you will deliver high-quality policy advice and analysis across a range of live policy issues, with a particular focus on wholesale markets, including capital markets. You will produce careful analysis to tight deadlines and undertake in-depth research on complex policy questions. As a Lead Economist you will manage multiple workstreams, design and manage projects, lead cost-benefit analysis for proposed interventions, and ensure outputs are robust. You will also provide line management and day-to-day oversight of junior colleagues, support senior management in planning and prioritising work, and act as an escalation point for complex issues.
Minimum Requirements
- Solid academic foundation in Economics, with a graduate level degree or higher in economics or a closely related field and relevant professional experience.
- Solid knowledge of wholesale financial markets, gained through professional experience or academic study.
- Demonstrable experience delivering cost-benefit analysis in a high-volume or policy-driven environment.
Essential Skills and Experience
- High-quality economic advice on regulatory and/or public policy issues.
- Extensive experience conducting robust economic policy analysis.
- Ability to work in ambiguous environments, identify key policy questions, and structure complex problems to produce clear, actionable insights.
- Well-developed stakeholder management skills, building trust-based relationships with internal and external partners.
- Effective communication skills, translating complex concepts into clear, accessible messages for non-technical audiences.
- Experience leading multidisciplinary analytical projects, planning, prioritising, coordinating team activities, and maintaining quality under pressure.
- Commitment to continuous learning, self-awareness and resilience.
Benefits
- 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays.
- Non-contributory pension (8-12% depending on age) and life assurance at eight times your salary.
- Private healthcare with Bupa, income protection and 24/7 Employee Assistance.
- 35 hours of paid volunteering annually.
- Hybrid model: minimum 40% office attendance per month (50% for senior leaders, 60% for Directors and Executive Directors). Beginning September, 50% office attendance for all employees.
- A flexible benefits scheme designed around your lifestyle.
