Head of Department, Open Banking, Open Finance – Payments & Digital Assets

Financial Conduct Authority; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 130,000 - 165,000; Full time

Job summary

A regulatory authority is seeking a Head for its new Open Banking and Open Finance department in London. This role will guide regulatory frameworks for innovative financial services, coordinate with various departments, and contribute to strategic leadership across the organization. The successful candidate will possess strong leadership skills, stakeholder management experience, and a robust understanding of Open Banking. Competitive salary and benefits are offered, along with hybrid working conditions.

Benefits

30 days holiday per year plus bank holidays

Private healthcare with Bupa

Non-contributory pension of at least 8%

Life assurance of eight times salary

Income protection

Qualifications

• Proven ability to lead, motivate, and inspire teams.
• Experience influencing stakeholders both internally and externally.
• Knowledge of regulatory and political environments.

Responsibilities

• Set strategic direction for the Open Banking and Open Finance department.
• Lead departmental projects and support business-as-usual objectives.
• Ensure coordination across various directorates.

Skills

Strong people management

Excellent stakeholder management

Understanding of Open Banking and Open Finance

Negotiation skills

Relationship building

Education

Relevant experience in the financial sector

Budget management experience

Job description

About the FCA

At the FCA we were creating a fair and more resilient financial system. We were establishing more transparent relationships between financial services and customers, building trust in financial markets and protecting vulnerable consumers.

We’re currently on an exciting journey as we drive forward significant organisational people process and technology transformation to become a more forward‑thinking proactive regulator. We will use data more effectively to drive better regulatory decisions and build greater cohesion across our broad financial services remit.

Significant improvements in digital enablement, business intelligence, market data and information management maturity are all being pursued to maintain our position as a world leader in financial services regulation.

The Role

To enable us to realise the enormous opportunities for Open Banking and Open Finance we are delighted to advertise a role to head up a brand new Department. The Open Banking and Open Finance department will oversee the FCA’s work on Open Banking and Open Finance and will sit within the Payments and Digital Assets Directorate.

This is an exciting opportunity to be at the heart of driving transformational change across a wide range of financial markets. The government recently published the National Payments Vision where Open Banking is at the heart of their ambition to enhance innovation and competition whilst empowering consumers.

The successful candidate will play a key role in driving open banking forward ensuring that there is a regulatory framework in place that is sustainable, equitable and agile to accommodate a wide range of innovative services. We are seeking a motivated candidate to work closely with other regulators, government and industry to shape a new commercial model for data sharing and payments and to provide technical expertise and support to the teams delivering on these workstreams.

Furthermore the new Head of Department will significantly contribute to the FCA’s work on Open Finance bringing together expertise across the organisation to develop a roadmap that signals our clear intent to introduce new Smart Data schemes across financial markets.

The role sits within SPC division and will directly work with a number of other directorates including Innovation, Competition and Economics. The new Head of Department will also work closely with the existing policy, strategy and supervision departments ensuring that there is coordination and join‑up across existing payments and crypto regimes.

As well as leading a Department the successful candidate will be a member of the Division’s senior team. They will be expected to take a full role in supporting and challenging others to deliver the full range of the Division’s responsibilities in ensuring that the Division offers its staff a challenging and high‑performance place to work and that we are constantly focussed on improving efficiency and innovation in our work and contributing to the leadership and strategy of the FCA as a whole.

What will the candidate get from the role

• Joining the SLT at the FCA during an exciting and challenging time of great change in financial services and its regulation.
• Leading a department of talented and committed people through significant projects whilst also delivering on business‑as‑usual objectives.
• Exposure to strategic issues and key players in the world of finance both nationally and internationally.
• Contributing to both Payments & Digital Finance and the wider FCA’s SLT helping to shape and influence the organisation’s strategy.

Key responsibilities

• Setting the strategic direction of the department (and with other senior management contributing to the strategic direction of the Division).
• Developing and delivering a long‑term strategy for the department aligning to broader divisional and organisational strategies.
• Build and lead a strong and inclusive department that attracts and develops diverse talent in support of the FCA’s diversity, equality and inclusion commitments.
• Active programme leadership driving a delivery‑focused outcome.
• Quality‑assure departmental work offering feedback and coaching for continuous improvement.
• Act collaboratively with other Heads of Departments to support the Directorate in the delivery of Open Banking and Open Finance.
• Be accountable for divisional budget and resource management decisions as part of the senior divisional leadership team.
• Drive a culture of high performance relying on coaching, influencing and negotiating skills with a range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Contribute to the strategic development of the FCA including through participation on programme and project boards across the organisation.
• Lead performance capability and culture within the department with a strong focus on operational excellence.
• Deliver through others by relying on coaching, influencing and negotiating skills with a range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Build a strong and inclusive directorate that attracts and develops diverse talent.

Skills / Experience Required

The FCA is a signatory to the Government’s Disability Confident scheme. This means that the FCA guarantees an interview to any disabled candidates entering under the scheme should they meet the minimum criteria for a role. A minimum criterion needs to be measurable from reviewing a candidate’s CV.

Minimum

• Strong people management and leadership experience – proven ability to lead, motivate and inspire teams as well as experience in tackling performance issues to build high‑performing teams.
• Excellent stakeholder‑management skills with evidenced experience influencing internally & externally.
• Strong understanding and good knowledge of both Open Banking and Open Finance.
• Demonstrates an understanding of the regulatory and political environment in which the FCA operates.
• Negotiation and influencing skills – to deploy internally and externally.
• Ability to form strong working relationships across different business areas and to set joint goals for delivery.
• Skills to support delivery of a new strategy and plans working with consultants, lawyers and industry whilst navigating the political landscape.

Essential

• Good technical understanding of the overall regulatory framework in the UK and the FCA’s place within it.
• Budget management experience and experience of managing external resources and multi‑disciplinary teams.
• Robustness in the face of challenge – ability to make decisions in a rapid and balanced way.
• High level of personal resilience with a track record in delivering results against business priorities.
• Innovative thinking open to utilising the benefits of technology to improve processes and decision‑making across the function.
• An open and flexible management style and the ability to communicate effectively to a wide‑ranging audience with different skills and perspectives.
• Ability to demonstrate significant industry working or exposure.

Desirable

• Excellent organisational skills with a capability to manage a variety of priorities and issues.
• Able to prepare and deliver complex strategic written technical communications and deliver sensitive messages.
• Understanding of UK and international FinTech ecosystems and financial markets.
• Strong public‑speaking skills and ability to engage and enthuse diverse audiences on technical matters, representing the organisation credibly in high‑profile settings.

The FCA Values & Diversity

Our ambition is to create a diverse and inclusive workplace that reflects the society we serve, helping us to be a better regulator. We serve the public and our decisions directly affect the wellbeing of people, businesses and the UK economy. Our values represent the culture we aspire to every day, guiding our judgements, building trust and helping us to be at our best.

The FCA is committed to achieving greater diversity across all levels of our organisation. We particularly welcome applications from women, disabled and minority ethnic candidates as under‑represented groups.

As an inclusive employer we are open to considering flexible working arrangements including job shares. Please inform your recruiter if you wish to apply for this role on a flexible basis.

As part of the FCA’s ongoing 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.

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 as possible and your recruiter will be happy to work with you to make any necessary arrangements where possible.

Benefits

Our competitive benefits scheme gives you the opportunity to create a personalised benefits package tailored to suit your lifecycle. You can use this allowance to purchase additional benefits such as dental or cycle‑to‑work, or you have the option to top up your base salary by taking this as cash.

Core benefits that you will receive as standard are:

• 30 days holiday per year plus bank holidays.
• Private healthcare with Bupa.
• 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).
• Life assurance of eight times your basic salary.
• Income protection.

Conflicts of Interest

All applicants to the FCA are required to demonstrate that they do not have other interests likely to conflict with their responsibilities as an employee of the FCA. You should declare any potential conflict of interest as early as possible in the selection process and also disclose information or personal connections that, if appointed, might be open to misperception.

Any potential conflicts of interest will not prevent candidates from progressing to interview but may, if appropriate, be explored during the interview to establish how the candidate would address the issue(s) should they be successful in their application.

Useful Information

• The closing date for this role is midnight on Mon d ay 17 November.
• Selection will be via a two‑stage interview and psychometric assessment.
• If successful you will be required to obtain and retain SC Clearance.
• We operate a hybrid working policy with an expectation that senior leaders spend a minimum of 50% of their working time each month in the office.
• The base salary range for this role is London – £130,000 to £165,000 or National – £118,000 to £148,500.
• This role can be based in London, Leeds or Edinburgh.

To apply please submit your CV and cover letter via the FCA careers page (Workday). Please note we are unable to accept applications by email.

For further information about the role please contact the Recruitment team.