Crisis Management Exercising Lead

fca; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 68,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days annual leave + bank holidays

Non-contributory pension (8-12%) and 8

Private healthcare

Private healthcare with Bupa

35 hours of paid volunteering annually

Job summary

The Financial Conduct Authority is recruiting for a Crisis Management Exercising Lead within the Cyber & Operational Resilience domain. The role focuses on overseeing the crisis management exercising programme and delivering risk-based simulations to test governance and response capabilities across multiple command levels.

You will work with senior stakeholders, translate lessons into actionable improvements, and drive organisational readiness with a focus on resilience and continuous

Qualifications

• Minimum: Extensive experience in crisis management, operational resilience and exercising programmes with a solid understanding of Bronze, Silver and Gold command structures and crisis response frameworks.
• Essential: Experience leading lessons learned and continuous improvement activities, translating findings into measurable improvements.

Responsibilities

• Oversee and continuously enhance the FCA's crisis management exercising programme, aligned to organisational risks and resilience priorities.
• Design and deliver realistic, risk-based crisis management exercises across Silver and Gold command levels, testing governance and response plans.
• Work with senior stakeholders to offer practical guidance, coordinate exercises and enhance organizational readiness.
• Identify, analyse and embed lessons learned from exercises and incidents, translating insights into measurable improvements.
• Build partnerships across the organisation, supporting Business Continuity leads and subject matter experts while promoting a culture of resilience.

Skills

Crisis management

Operational resilience

Crisis exercises design

Stakeholder engagement

Facilitation

Analytical thinking

Cross-team collaboration

Coaching/mentoring

Job description

Job title: Crisis Management Exercising Lead

Division: Operations

Department: Cyber & Operational Resilience

Salary: National (Edinburgh and Leeds) ranging from £49,600 to £61,900 and London from £54,500 to £68,000 (salary offered will be based on skills and experience)

This role is graded as: Lead Associate, Corporate

Your external recruitment contact is Raimonda via [e-mail]

Your internal recruitment contact is Patrycja via [e-mail]

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.

Cyber and Information Resilience (C&IR) is responsible for the management of cyber security at the FCA. 'Cyber security' means the protection of the FCA's data and systems from malicious and/or accidental activity, including theft, damage and disruption, in order that the FCA can deliver its key business functions. C&IR is part of a Directorate lead by our CISO, Director of Cyber & Operational Resilience Division.

The Crisis Management team is responsible for developing and maintaining the internal Crisis Management Framework, planning and tools, ensuring effective response to disruptive events.

Role responsibilities

• Oversee and continuously enhance the FCA's crisis management exercising programme, ensuring activities are aligned to organisational risks, resilience priorities and strategic objectives
• Design and deliver realistic, risk-based crisis management exercises across Silver and Gold command levels, testing decision-making, governance, communications, escalation processes and response plans
• Work with senior stakeholders, including Executive Committee members, to offer practical guidance, coordinate exercises and enhance organizational readiness
• Identify, analyse and embed lessons learned from exercises and incidents, translating insights into measurable improvements that improve crisis response capabilities
• Build effective partnerships across the organisation, supporting Business Continuity leads and subject matter experts while promoting a culture of resilience, readiness and continuous improvement

Skills required

Minimum:

• Extensive experience in crisis management, operational resilience and exercising programmes, with a solid understanding of Bronze, Silver and Gold command structures and crisis response frameworks
• Significant experience designing, facilitating and evaluating crisis management exercises, including strategic exercises involving senior leaders and executive stakeholders
• Solid stakeholder engagement, influencing and facilitation skills, with the ability to secure commitment, lead complex discussions and present clear recommendations to senior audiences

Essential:

• Experience leading lessons learned and continuous improvement activities, translating findings from exercises and incidents into measurable organisational improvements
• Well-developed analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to evaluate information from multiple sources, apply sound judgement and identify practical solutions
• Experience working collaboratively across multiple teams, functions and business areas to deliver strategic resilience objectives
• Ability to build and maintain effective relationships with senior stakeholders, subject matter experts and delivery partners across a complex organisation
• Experience providing specialised advice, challenge and guidance on crisis preparedness, exercising standards and resilience activities
• Understanding of the interaction between organisational crisis management arrangements and wider external response frameworks
• Experience developing capability in others through coaching, knowledge sharing and guiding without direct line management

SC Clearance is required for this role ( SC Guidance ) - you will hold or will be required to obtain Security Check (SC) level vetting

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 annuallyColleagues spend a minimum of 50% of their working time in the office each month (60% for Directors and Executive Directors) across our London, Leeds and Edinburgh offices