Market Operations Analyst in MO Pricing Policy & Valuation

Bank of England; Leeds; On-site; GBP 36,000 - 41,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a proactive Market Operations Analyst to join their Pricing Policy & Valuation team. This exciting role involves applying coding and analytical skills to enhance market operations, focusing on pricing fixed income and derivative positions. The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of financial products and coding experience in R and Python, with opportunities to propose enhancements to valuation methodologies. Join a dynamic team dedicated to continuous improvement and operational excellence in a supportive environment that values diversity and innovation.

Benefits

Non-contributory pension

Discretionary performance award

8% benefits allowance

26 days annual leave

Private medical insurance

Income protection

Qualifications

• Good understanding of financial products including bonds and swaps.
• Experience in using R and Python for automation.

Responsibilities

• Manage pricing of fixed income and derivative positions.
• Investigate and implement process improvements for efficiency.

Skills

R

Python

VBA

Analytical Skills

Attention to Detail

Education

Relevant Work Experience

Financial Qualifications

Tools

MATLAB

Job description

Location: Leeds

Department Overview

Markets, Banking and Resolution “MBR” is one of four Deputy Governorships in the Bank and plays a critical role in the Bank’s mission to promote monetary policy and financial stability. It leads the Bank’s sterling market operations, manages the UK’s foreign exchange reserves on behalf of HM Treasury, and acts as the ‘bank’ within the Bank of England. It uses its presence, expertise and influence in financial markets to inform and shape the Bank’s policy decisions and priorities and is home to the FinTech Hub to prepare the Bank for developments in financial technology. It is responsible for both the execution of resolutions when necessary and developing policy to make banks more resolvable both within the UK and internationally and to implement the resolution part of the post financial crisis agenda.

The Strategic Change & Operations (SCO) directorate is central to the success of MBR. With around 250 staff, it works to devise and implement the operational strategy of the area and takes the lead on cross-divisional issues relating to: operational resilience; change delivery; business planning and oversight; challenge and mitigation of operational risk; people strategy including promoting diversity and inclusion; management and control of end-to-end business process and data flows in relation to market operations.

Middle Office works across Markets & Banking and is responsible for managing and controlling end-to-end business process and data flows in relation to all Markets & Banking operations.One of its core activities relates to pricing and valuing, which is led by the Pricing Policy & Valuation (PPV) team.

Job Description

This is an exciting opportunity for someone with a keen interest in applying coding and analytical skills to the Bank’s market operations, to join the Pricing Policy & Valuation team in Middle Office as a Market Operations Analyst. This is an operational role that will focus on the “business as usual” work that supports the team’s processes. The role holder will be responsible for the pricing of all on and off-balance sheet fixed income and derivative positions, through an end of day pricing process, completed on a rota basis.

The role holder will become familiar with the Bank’s derivative deals, gaining a strong understanding of the calculations used to determine the values of payments, and will be responsible for updating daily inputs, including resets rates. The role holder will also be responsible for regularly updating key inputs to the team’s bond pricing model. The role holder will complete regular reconciliations of mark-to-market values against counterparties to ensure the team’s methodologies align with that of the market, and make suggestions for methodological enhancements where appropriate. The role also presents a great opportunity to liaise with Front Office and Bank Office teams to investigate ad-hoc queries. The role holder will be expected to use sound knowledge of derivative valuations to provide timely advice and solutions to payment discrepancy queries.

The role presents an opportunity to work on an on-going process improvement initiative across the team, building a culture of continuous improvement. The role holder will be expected to proactively investigate, design, test and implement enhancements to the team’s “business as usual” operations to promote increased efficiency, with a focus on automation. Experience of, and willingness to learn coding in R, Python and/or VBA would be a particular advantage for this aspect of the role.

In addition to operational work, there will be opportunities for analytical work, where the role holder will research and propose enhancements to the team’s valuation methodologies through papers and presentations to a review committee for consideration.

The role suits a proactive individual with an interest in the Bank’s fixed income and derivative pricing operations, coding, and willingness to learn new skills.

Role Requirements

Minimum Criteria

• A good understanding of a range of financial products, including but not limited to the valuation of bonds, vanilla swap trades and asset-backed securities.
• Strong experience of using code (R and Python) for automation as part of process improvement projects. Experience of upskilling others in coding would be an advantage.

Essential Criteria

• Experience of working accurately to tight deadlines with a high attention to detail, consistently ensuring outputs reach the highest standard.
• A proven team player, willing to help others to achieve results, with strong interpersonal skills to interact confidently with other teams and directorates, but also the ability to work independently and a willingness to work on your own initiative.

Desirable

• Relevant work experience or qualifications would be an advantage.
• Coding experience with VBA and MATLAB would be desirable, but not essential for the role.

Our Approach to Inclusion

The Bank values diversity, equity and inclusion. We play a key role in maintaining monetary and financial stability, and to do that effectively, we believe we need a workforce that reflects the society we serve.

At the Bank of England, we want all colleagues to feel valued and respected, so we're working hard to build an inclusive culture which supports people from all backgrounds and communities to be at their best at work. We celebrate all forms of diversity, including (but not limited to) age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. We believe that it’s by drawing on different perspectives and experiences that we’ll continue to make the best decisions for the public.

We welcome applications from individuals who work flexibly, including job shares and part time working patterns. We've also partnered with external organisations to support us in making adjustments for candidates and employees in the recruitment process where they're needed.

For most roles where work can be carried out at home, we aim for colleagues to spend half of their time in the office, with a minimum of 40% per month. Subject to that minimum requirement, individuals and managers should work together to find what works best for them, their team and stakeholders.

Finally, we're proud to be a member of theDisability Confident Scheme. If you wish to apply under this scheme, you should check the box in the ‘Candidate Personal Information’ under the ‘Disability Confident Scheme’ section of the application.

Salary and Benefits Information

We encourage flexible working, part time working and job share arrangements. Part time salary and benefits will be on a pro-rated basis as appropriate.

Location: Leeds salary ranging from £36,000 to £40,500 (depending on skills and experience).

In addition, we also offer a comprehensive benefits package as detailed below:

• Currently a non-contributory, career average pension giving you a guaranteed retirement benefit of 1/80th of your annual salary for every year worked. There is the option to increase your pension (to 1/65th) or decrease (to 1/105th) in exchange for salary through our flexible benefits programme each year. The Bank has the discretion to vary standard accrual rates and dial up and dial down rates at any time and to withdraw dial up and dial down options at any time.
• A discretionary performance award based on a current award pool.
• An 8% benefits allowance with the option to take as salary or purchase a wide range of flexible benefits.
• 26 days’ annual leave with option to buy up to 12 additional days through flexible benefits.
• Private medical insurance and income protection.

National Security Vetting Process

Employment in this role will be subject to the National Security Vetting clearance process (and typically can take between 6 to 12 weeks post offer) and the passing of additional Bank security checks in accordance with the Bank policy. Further information regarding the vetting and security clearance requirements for the role will be provided to the successful applicant, and information about how the Bank processes personal data for these purposes, is set out in theBank's Privacy Notice.

The Bank of England welcomes applications from all candidates, but as a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) approved sponsor, we have a responsibility to comply with the Immigration Rules and guidance. As such, our ability to employ individuals who require sponsorship for immigration purposes is limited. The Bank cannot guarantee that you and / or the role you are applying for will be eligible for sponsorship and that any application made to UKVI will be successful. Eligibility will therefore be considered on a case by case basis.

The Application Process

Important: Please ensure that you complete the ‘work history’ section and answer ALL the application questions fully.All candidate applications are anonymised to ensure that our hiring managers will not be able to see your personal information, including your CV, when reviewing your application details at the screening stage. It’s therefore really important that you fill out the work history and application form questions, as your answers will form a critical part of the initial selection process.

The assessment process will comprise of two stages.

This role closes for applications on 19 May 2025.

Please apply online, ensuring that you complete your work history and answer ALL the application questions fully and in detail as your application will not be considered if all mandatory questions are not fully completed.