The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) are currently recruiting for a Financial Analyst (Technical Specialist).

This is an exciting time to join the PSR as we examine issues such as Authorised Push Payment Fraud, the New Payments Architecture, cryptocurrencies, and a broad programme aimed at increasing competition between payment systems in the longer run.

This role will be key to the PSR’s work examining the competitive constraints on card schemes and the fees that they set. You will work closely with both the Policy and Strategy, Analysis and Monitoring divisions. It will report into the Chief Economist.

The payment systems we regulate have a particular set of characteristics that create interesting regulatory challenges, often in the form of quite complex market failures. These range from economies of scale and scope to network effects and associated free rider and cross subsidy concerns. There are also structural challenges in the sector including vertical and horizontal competition issues in some markets. The sector has a number of large incumbents, and as technological and social innovation attracts new, smaller entrants, this also gives rise to access and competition issues. Your work will tackle these important and critical issues.

As a financial analyst you will provide financial analysis across a range of activities in a diverse, multi-disciplinary environment. You will focus on analysis of firms’ financial performance, providing regulatory financial analysis to support competition and regulatory work in relation to card fees. This will include assessing the impact of such fees through analysis of costs, revenues and margins. You will work across the PSR’s multi-disciplinary teams as well as alongside other economists, and you will be comfortable presenting ideas to non-specialists and senior staff, up to and including Board level.

Your role will be to design and carry out regulatory financial analysis, including identifying the data needed and articulating analytical results. You will need to demonstrate a thorough and diligent approach, initiative and good judgement. Above all you will need to demonstrate a track record of using regulatory financial analysis to provide key insights and solve problems.

What does the role involve? What are the key responsibilities?

* Leading the financial analysis on projects such as market reviews, calls for views, consultations and other exploratory work, requiring you to be part of multi-disciplinary project teams of policy, economist, legal and communications colleagues, delivering high quality work
* Working with a wide variety of external stakeholders, including firms, government, other regulators and consumer groups, to gather evidence, test policy options and explain our approach
* Providing robust financial analysis and sound evidence to underpin decisions and recommendations
* Commissioning robust financial analysis and evidence to support our work and being responsible for managing the development of policy. You’ll also need to draft briefings and papers to explain complex issues, often within tight timeframes
* Sharing your knowledge and best practice with more junior colleagues
* Presenting recommendations to the PSR Board and Executive Committee

Skills/Experience Required

We’re 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. A minimum criterion needs to be measurable from reviewing a candidate’s CV. Exceptions may apply if due to the volume of applications we are not able to interview all eligible candidates who qualify under the scheme.

Minimum

* An undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline
* Experience (as analyst or accountant) of working with corporate financial data and applying it to competition or regulatory questions for example in relevant government departments or regulators, regulated firms or consultancies
* Proven knowledge of competition policy and/or regulatory approaches in regulated network industries

Essential

* Experience of providing regulatory and/or competition financial/accounting advice and analysis, for example in relevant government departments or regulators, regulated firms or consultancies
* Experience of applying and explaining regulatory financial concepts to a wide range of stakeholders with experience developing cost and revenue drivers in complex, high fixed cost, platform industries against a public policy background
* Experience of providing financial analysis on competition and/or regulatory projects such as market studies, price control processes, regulatory accounting frameworks, investigations, regulatory actions, CA98 cases and appeals or similar
* Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills. Must be able to challenge the analysis performed by technical experts and be a credible expert internally and externally
* Excellent stakeholder management skills: able to work collaboratively at all levels across organisation and across disciplines, as well as having gravitas to influence external stakeholders
* Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to distil complex issues into succinct messages and present confidently to a variety of internal and external stakeholders at all levels
* An understanding of the wider impact of regulation on consumers and businesses, and the ability to look at issues from the perspective of the consumer

Desirable

* ACA or CFA qualified (or other relevant professional qualification)
* Experience of other economic regulated sectors and familiarity with UK economic regulation (with a good network across the UK regulatory community)
* Experience working with quantitative and qualitative evidence
* Knowledge of payment systems, payment markets or, more generally, financial services
* Familiarity with the key stakeholders in the UK payments landscape
* Experience of cross organisational regulatory initiatives