Senior Policy Technical Specialist - Competition & Quantitative Impact (Prudential Policy Directorate)

Senior Policy Technical Specialist - Competition & Quantitative Impact (Prudential Policy Directorate)

The Bank of England is the UK’s central bank. Our mission is to deliver monetary and financial stability for the British people.

The Bank of England is a diverse organisation. Each of its 4,000 plus people are committed to public service and dedicated to promoting the good of the people of the United Kingdom by maintaining monetary and financial stability.

Prudential Policy Directorate are responsible for designing, negotiating internationally and implementing effective prudential regulation in order to remove or reduce systemic risks, promote the safety and soundness of PRA-regulated firms and ensure appropriate protection for insurance policyholders. PPD supports both the Prudential Regulation Committee and Financial Policy Committee in fulfilling their objectives.

Division Overview

The Strategy and Policy Approach Division (SPAD) is one of five divisions in PPD.

SPAD sets the overall strategy and approach for prudential policymaking in line with our vision for accountable, dynamic and accessible regulation. The division also supports PPD on the identification, selection and sending policy priorities, ensuring a credible future regulatory framework and that policy is appropriately grounded in economic analysis.

In July 2022, the Government introduced the new UK Financial Services and Markets (FSM) Bill to implement the outcomes of the Future Regulatory Framework Review. As a result, the PRA will take on increased responsibility for setting regulatory requirements that apply to firms. Accordingly, the PRA will be under greater scrutiny for its actions. This will require the PRA, more than ever, to set out clearly its policymaking rationales, analyses related to its primary and secondary objectives, and cost benefit analysis (CBA).

As part of SPAD, the Competition and Quantitative Impact Team (CQI) is an experienced group of economists that leads on the implementation of the PRA’s secondary competition objective and the provision of CBA guidance to policymakers. The team’s competition work includes ensuring that consideration of competition issues is embedded in PRA decision-making, producing the PRA’s Annual Competition Report, analysing strategic policy issues and delivering competition-focused policy-relevant economic research. The team provides economic advice to policy makers across the PRA at all stages of the policy-making cycle, including evaluation. It uses a variety of analytical modelling tools to help with policy calibrations and the PRA’s understanding of the ways in which the policies interact.

Job description

The CQI team is advertising for a Senior Policy Technical Specialist (Scale D) to act as the senior technical expert on CBA across all areas of policy.

CBA is an integral part of the PRA’s policy approach, and the results shape our policymaking. As the PRA takes on wider policy-making responsibilities in the context of the Future Regulatory Framework, we will improve our approach to CBA. We will establish a CBA Panel, which will be implemented by the FSM Bill, and we will publish a framework setting out how we will conduct future CBA and how we will engage with the CBA Panel. The CBA Panel’s role is to provide advice in relations to cost benefit analysis and we will seek input from the CBA Panel and other stakeholders as we develop our framework.

You will provide specialist advice, and deliver analytical excellence, to support policy colleagues with the development of CBA and their interactions with the CBA Panel. The work will be high-profile and exciting and there will be lots of opportunity for senior engagement and building your network.

As a senior expert in CBA, you will be actively encouraged to take a leading role in improving the PRA’s approach to CBA. You will have the opportunity to work on projects developed and led by CQI and influence the PRA’s work through detailed and robust analysis of the impacts of the PRA’s activities.

Key responsibilities include:

• Providing specialist economic advice on a range of issues relevant to the PRA. The focus will be on banking and insurance, but you may also provide economic advice on other areas of relevance to the PRA and Bank of England.
• Drawing on a mixture of quantitative and qualitative techniques, you will be responsible for scoping, leading and delivering analysis to ensure the PRA’s evidence base for strategy-setting, policymaking and evaluation is robust and rigorous. You will also have access to data-sets available to the PRA, as a financial services regulator, to conduct analyses.

The precise roles and responsibilities will be determined by your experience and skills but are likely to include a range of:

• Interacting with the CBA Panel to respond to questions and feedback and to solicit advice on issues related to CBA. This includes supporting policy teams in PPD in their interactions with the CBA Panel.
• Using both theory and empirical evidence to advise PPD teams on the likely impact of their proposed interventions. This includes being responsible for agreeing the analytical approach to CBA of future policies with the relevant policy team and communicating clearly to internal and external audiences (including non-technical senior stakeholders)
• Devising methodologies and approaches to evaluate previous PRA interventions and contribute to improving the PRA’s efficiency and effectiveness
• Designing and carrying out analysis of large complex datasets using econometric and/or data science methods to answer policy questions
• Mentoring more junior colleagues to develop technical expertise in CBA, impact assessment and the economics of financial regulation.
• Supporting team members in delivering high quality CBA assessment on major policy initiatives, including Basel 3.1, Strong and Simple, bank capital and liquidity adequacy, Solvency II and Diversity and Inclusion (where appropriate).
• Liaising with other regulatory authorities including the FCA on CBA matters where there is cross agency work.

The successful candidate will join a diverse and inclusive team of experienced researchers, economists, and econometricians, with opportunities to attend academic and industry conferences. The team works closely with a number of the Bank’s senior advisors, such as Professor Paul Grout, and other leading academics.

Role Requirements

Minimum Criteria

• Experience developing and/or working with responsibility for oversight or sign-off of cost-benefit analysis or similar analysis. This could also include impact evaluation, competition analysis, market inquiry analysis, or market impact assessments.
  • The above requirement could be fulfilled from associated experience gained in public sector organisations, consultancies, or financial institutions.
• Strong and proven understanding in the economics of regulation and/or financial services regulation, gained through working level experience.

Essential Criteria

• Have a keen interest in contributing to the Bank’s policy work.
• Experience of delivering high quality, clear and well drafted written work for external and senior internal audiences.
• Ability to present information (verbal and written) clearly and effectively across seniority levels and to adapt communication to the appropriate audience.
• Evidence of building and maintaining effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including the ability to handle conflicting views, build consensus and challenge where necessary.
• Strong organisational and time management skills.

Desirable Criteria

• Post-graduate or similar level qualification in economics, finance, or public policy.
• Familiarity with regulatory frameworks for financial services, and a broad understanding of prudential regulatory requirements.
• Familiarity with policymaking processes, either within the Bank or externally.

The Bank values diversity and inclusion – we want to reflect the society we serve better, we want the best people to work for us and we want our workplace to be inclusive. We value all forms of diversity, including but not limited to age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion and sexual orientation. One way we support diversity and inclusion is through our staff-run networks, which are summarised here.

We are fully committed to having a diverse and inclusive working environment, and are open to considering how the role might be carried out with flexible working. This role is therefore open to flexible working patterns.

We are also committed to making workplace adjustments for all of our employees as needed, and also for candidates throughout all stages of the selection process. We are a member of the Disability Confident scheme, summarised here, and people who wish to apply under this scheme should check the box in the ‘Candidate Personal Information’ under the ‘Disability Confident Scheme’ section of the application.

We anonymise applications so hiring managers will not be able to see your personal information when reviewing your submission, including your CV. Please fully complete the application form questions as requested, as any incomplete submissions may not be reviewed.

The closing date for applications is 19 February 2023.

Reward Package

The Bank of England is a distinctive institution and our rewards are one of the things that set us apart. As well as enjoying a competitive salary you will work in a collaborative, inclusive environment, with a subsidised restaurant, flexible working opportunities and plenty of wellbeing initiatives.

This specific role offers a base salary ofup to £101,250per annum (depending on skills and experience) on a full-time basis.

In addition we also offer a comprehensive benefits package as detailed below. We encourage flexible working & part time working, therefore both salary and associated benefits will be adjusted on a pro-rata basis for part-time colleagues

• A non-contributory, career average pension giving you a guaranteed retirement benefit of 1/95th of your annual salary for every year worked. There is the option to increase your pension (to 1/50th) or decrease (to 1/120th) in exchange for salary through our flexible benefits programme each year.
• A discretionary performance award based on a current award pool.
• A 7% benefits allowance with the option to take as salary or purchase a wide range of flexible benefits. (Note that from April 2023 and for the Benefits year 2023/24, this will increase to 8%)
• 26 days annual leave with option to buy up to 12 additional days through flexible benefits. (Note: effective from April 2023)
• Private medical insurance and income protection.

Employment in this role will be subject to National Security Vetting clearance and the passing of additional Bank security checks in accordance with Bank policy from time to time. Further information of vetting and security clearance requirements for the role will be provided to the successful applicant. Further information about how the Bank processes personal data for these purposes, is set out in the Bank’s Privacy Notice at Privacy and the Bank of England | Bank of England.

Please apply online, ensuring that you answer the application questions, complete the work history and submit your CV.