1
applicant
Company Secretarial Assistant (Fixed Term Contract)
at Financial Conduct Authority London in London (Published at 26-10-2023)
Company Secretarial Assistant (Fixed Term Contract)
Salary: National – ranging from £38,300 – £42,000 and London from £40,700 – £45,000 per annum
The team/department
The Central Secretariat sits at the heart of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR). It is part of the FCA’s Corporate Governance Division, led by the Company Secretary.
The Division
Corporate Governance Division comprises the following functions:
Central Secretariat (including the Conflict of Interests Policy Team and oversight of the FCA’s Senior Manager Regime process)
Consumer Panel Secretariat
Decision-Making Committees Secretariat (DMCS)
Practitioner Panels Secretariat
Corporate Governance Division’s Mission
For the benefit of consumers, regulated firms and individuals, and staff of Corporate Governance Division:
Facilitates informed, efficient and transparent decision-making and effective challenge
Assures compliance with good practice and the law; and
Builds external confidence in the FCA and PSR
Our stakeholders include the FCA Chief Executive and Chair, executive directors, FCA and PSR staff, Boards and committees, and the independent panels.
The Team
The Central Secretariat supports both the executive committees of the FCA and the FCA and PSR Boards and their respective committees. It is a fast-paced, energising environment that provides an excellent insight into the day-to-day operation of the FCA and an overview of the FCA and PSR and affords the opportunity to facilitate effective and efficient decision-making that will shape the future of the FCA and PSR. The team is made up of associates and senior professional support staff.
What you will be doing (the role)
The role will suit a talented and ambitious individual who wants to develop their company secretarial and governance skills and experience.
They will be secretary to one or more of the FCA’s executive committees, and/or the FCA or PSR Board, or committees and will work closely with team members and the Executive and Non-Executive Directors to prepare for meetings and ensure that the committees are able to make reasonable, risk-based and outcome-focused decisions. In addition, they will be involved on a rotational basis in broader governance and compliance tasks within the secretariat and division, managing changing priorities and working collaboratively with team members and stakeholders.
The key responsibilities of the post-holder will be:
Committee secretariat:
Compilation of agendas
Review of papers, providing expert advice on drafting and approach
Circulation of meeting packs
Preparation of minutes
Maintenance of forward agendas, and
Ensuring meetings run effectively
Preparing sections of the Annual Reports (including parts of the Directors’ Report and the Corporate Governance Statement) and ensuring that these are compliant with the Companies Act, Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, and other legal and governance requirements
Reviewing and keeping up to date the governance documents of the FCA and the PSR
Management of the FCA’s executive committees and FCA and PSR Boards and committees, including carrying out event driven filings and maintaining company records in line with law and regulation. (Company Statutory Register, Companies House Filing, Director Training Records and Corporate Governance annual calendar)
Training and induction of new directors and senior staff, including timetabling training and ensuring all relevant requirements of the UK Corporate Governance Code and other relevant regulations are fulfilled
Deputising for the Assistant Company Secretaries/Lead Associates, as required
What you will get from the role
Exposure to Executive Directors, FCA/PSR Board members, senior management, leadership and decision-making processes. You will quickly learn about how decisions are made that affect the full range of our stakeholders
Insight into the most important, high profile and topical issues for the FCA
Interesting and varied work covering a wide range of projects and topics that span the whole of the FCA, developing a wide range of transferrable skills
Autonomy to lead on the one or more committees/Boards (supported by senior associates), having the opportunity to use your judgement daily
Core benefits that you will receive as standard are:
25 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
We support hybrid working which means you will be able to work from home up to 60% of the time over a month with the remainder of your time in one of our three office locations.
The skills and experience you will have
Minimum
We are a signatory to the Government’s Disability Confident scheme. This means that we will offer an interview to disabled candidates entering under the scheme, should they meet the minimum criteria for a role.
Minute taking skills/experience
Previous experience of working with executive committees, Boards, or senior management
Essential
Previous experience working in a role that required use of judgement to make decisions autonomously, knowing when to escalate
Strong communication skills, both orally and in writing
Ability to work flexibly and collaboratively as part of a team
Excellent stakeholder management skills
Proven ability to work calmly under pressure to tight deadlines and to juggle competing priorities
Ability to follow agreed processes, identifying improvements and escalating appropriately to ensure a cycle of continuous improvement
Strong organisational skills
Sound attention to detail, ensuring work is of the highest standard
Excellent IT skills, particularly in Excel, Microsoft Teams, PowerPoint and OneNote
An understanding of requirements to maintain security of sensitive and confidential material and experience in applying data and information security policies strictly
About the FCA
The FCA regulates the conduct of 50,000 firms in the UK to ensure our financial markets are honest, fair and competitive. We do this to make sure markets work well for individual businesses and the economy as a whole. For more information on what we do, our three-year strategy can be found
here.
The FCA's Values & Diversity
Our ambition is to cultivate a culture of inclusion for all employees that respects their individual strengths, views, and experiences. We believe that our differences and similarities enable us to be a better organisation – one that makes better decisions, drives innovation, and delivers better regulation.
The FCA is committed to achieving greater diversity across all levels of the organisations. Given this, we particularly welcome applications from women, disabled and minority ethnic candidates for our role.
Flexible working
We welcome applications from candidates who are looking for flexible arrangements. Many of our staff work flexibly including working part-time, staggered hours, and job shares. We can’t promise to give you exactly what you want but we won’t judge you for asking.
Multi-location
As part of the FCA’s on-going 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.
Useful information
Applications for this role close at midnight on Sunday 5th November 2023.
This role is graded as Associate Level 8 – Corporate.
This role is a 6-Month Fixed Term Contract
Got a question?
If you are interested in learning more about the role, please contact:
For internal applicants, please contact Melanie Dubock at Melanie.Dubock@fca.org.uk
For external applicants, please contact Beth Haydon at Beth.Haydon@fca.org.uk
What to expect from our interview process
The interview process will comprise of a case study/ exercise and competency-based questions interview.
Please note that all applications must be submitted through our online portal, applications sent via email will not be accepted.
