Project Director - Actuarial

Financial Reporting Council; Birmingham; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Staff Employee Assistance Programme

Cycle to work scheme

Disability Confident Employer

Job summary

The Financial Reporting Council in Birmingham seeks a Project Director to join the Actuarial Regulation Team. You will work with the Director of Actuarial Regulation and other senior directors to deliver the annual strategy, developing technical actuarial standards and pension illustrations.

Candidates will be Fellows of the IFoA with substantial post-qualification experience, strong regulation background, and the ability to engage senior stakeholders with clear written and oral communication.

Qualifications

• Fellow of the IFoA with significant post-qualification experience.
• Experience in regulation, supervision and/or a former practitioner.
• Senior level in consulting, in-house, management or regulatory role.
• Deep technical knowledge of the pensions industry, preferably DC pensions.

Responsibilities

• Deliver objectives in the annual strategy and plan.
• Develop technical actuarial standards and pension illustrations in the UK.
• Assess effectiveness of actuarial standards through monitoring.
• Provide actuarial expertise to the wider FRC, including disciplinary cases.
• Oversee IFoA and actuarial aspects of audit quality review inspections.
• Engage with senior actuarial practitioners and stakeholders.

Skills

Actuarial Regulation

Pensions

Analytical skills

Oral & written communication

Presentation skills

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Fellow of the IFoA

Job description

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) mission is to serve the public interest and support UK economic growth by upholding high standards of corporate governance, corporate reporting, audit and actuarial work. We are the UK Competent Authority for audit. We also set the UK Corporate Governance and Stewardship Codes as well as UK standards for accounting, auditing and actuarial work, and monitor and take action to promote the quality of corporate reporting and operate independent enforcement arrangements for accountants and actuaries. Further information about our role can be found at www.frc.org.uk.

Regulatory Standards: The FRC’s Regulatory Standards Division is responsible for public and technical policy covering accountancy, audit, actuarial work and corporate governance and stewardship, for which we set regulatory codes and standards and develop guidance to drive high quality work in the public interest.

The Role:

We are seeking a Project Director to join the FRC’s Actuarial Regulation Team.

The successful candidates will work with the Director of Actuarial Regulation, Senior Project Directors and other Project Directors in the team to deliver the objectives in our annual strategy and plan. This includes

• developing the technical actuarial standards and pension illustrations in the UK
• assessing the effectiveness of the technical actuarial standards through our monitoring programme
• providing actuarial expertise to the wider FRC such as disciplinary cases, and the oversight of the IFoA and actuarial aspects of audit quality review inspections.

The pensions industry is changing at pace and it is an exciting time to join the FRC to help shape the actuarial regulation in relation to the new initiatives from Government’s Pensions Reform agenda.

The People:

The candidates are likely to be Fellow of the IFoA with significant post qualification experience, with some experience of regulation, supervision and/or a former practitioner, and are likely to have operated at a senior level in a consulting, in house, management or regulatory role. A strong understanding of what drives high quality actuarial work is key to this role.

The Project Director should have deep technical knowledge of the pensions industry, preferably someone who has significant experience in DC pensions.

The Project Director will also

• possess strategic knowledge of developments and issues affecting their sector;
• have externally acknowledged technical expertise in their field who can engage credibly with senior actuarial practitioners and other senior stakeholders
• have strong quantitative analytical and modelling skills
• have strong oral and written communications, including strong presentation skills and experience of speaking to large and challenging audiences
• have strong analytical skills both in assessing issues to include in actuarial standards and in interpretation and synthesis of a wide range of responses to consultation documents
• possess knowledge of the standards and guidance issued by the IFoA to its members, and of the IFoA’s education, CPD, competence and disciplinary regimes.
• be able to learn from colleagues in other practice areas, or work with colleagues from other operating units providing specialist input to cross-unit projects
• be able to take ownership and responsibility for timely delivery to high quality of projects
• be able to work collaboratively in a team environment and also to work independently when required.

Rewards and benefits

• The FRC offers remuneration packages, including 30 days annual leave, ability to buy extra leave.
• Generous employer pension contribution of 10%.
• Staff Employee Assistance Programme including confidential counselling and work life services.
• The FRC offers staff the opportunity to save at least 25% on the purchase of a new bike through the Cycle to work scheme.
• The FRC has a strong work/life balance ethos.

The FRC believes that equality of opportunity and diversity is important in the work that we do and we are strongly committed to being an inclusive employer. Our values of being fair and independent supports this commitment. Equal opportunities monitoring is an important means of demonstrating and implementing our commitment to promoting equality of opportunity and diversity. Completing our diversity form will assist the FRC to identify any barriers that prevent access to employment and career development for certain groups of people, and to develop solutions, such as action plans, new policies and practices. The FRC operates a hybrid working arrangement, with a expectation that 40% per month of a person's working time will be located at one of our offices, with precise arrangements to be agreed between the employee and the line manager

The FRC is a Disability Confident Employer, and therefore, people or individuals with disabilities and long-term conditions, as defined by the Equality Act 2010, who 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.

The role is based in our central Birmingham office. The post holder should be able to work flexibly to support the team’s activities and also provide cover within the FRC as necessary. The FRC operates a hybrid working arrangement with its workforce. The FRC operates a hybrid working arrangement, with a expectation that 40% per month of a person's working time will be located at one of our offices per week, with precise arrangements to be agreed between the employee and the line manager.