About the job

Job summary

An exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role within our Remedies, Business and Financial Analysis (RBFA) professional group, providing high-quality commercial and financial analysis to support key decisions on the Competition and Market's Authority’s (CMA) cases.

About the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)

The CMA is the UK’s world-leading body established to make sure competition works well and businesses treat their customers fairly.

The Remedies, Business and Financial Analysis professional group is the CMA’s centre of excellence for all aspects of remedies work and for providing commercial and financial expertise across the CMA’s varied casework, including market and mergers cases, competition and consumer enforcement and regulatory appeals.

Job description

You will investigate, analyse and advise upon financial and/or business issues across a range of CMA cases, informing our understanding of how businesses and markets are operating. This will involve gathering essential information and offering key insights into a range of commercial issues relating to the firms we investigate.

In the event that it is necessary for us to intervene, you will play a central role in finding and implementing effective, real-world solutions to the problems we find, developing remedies that make markets work better and improve consumer outcomes.

In addition to this, you will assume management responsibilities which will involve overseeing and supporting team members, providing essential feedback and guidance that will facilitate their personal and professional development.

Responsibilities

• Commercial and financial analysis: Identifying the key commercial and financial issues for assessment. You will gather relevant information, analyse and advise upon the implications of a broad range of commercial issues as they relate to the firms we investigate. This may include: assessing firms’ financial performance; analysing firms’ corporate finance decisions and options; assessing appropriate rates of return for regulated utilities; or looking at firms’ strategic business choices such as entering or exiting a market.
• Developing remedies: Where we find competition or consumer problems, you will lead the identification and development of effective and proportionate remedies that will make markets work better, improving consumer outcomes. You will also often be responsible for implementing these interventions in practice, for example negotiating undertakings with firms or working with legal colleagues to draft orders.
• Communicating: Through presentations and written reports, communicating the work that you have undertaken, your findings and the implications for the wider case. Audiences will include senior decision makers, other colleagues and a wide range of external stakeholders.
• Team working: You will be a committed member of the multi-disciplinary case team, working collaboratively and contributing to wider work and discussions in order to help inform conclusions beyond your own workstreams.

Person specification

• Postgraduate business, finance or accounting qualification (e.g. ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CFA, MSc or MBA) OR equivalent professional experience (Lead criteria).
• Significant relevant commercial and financial analytical and interpretive experience including understanding business models in different industries; generating insights from complex information and evidencing accounting knowledge and numeracy (Lead criteria).
• Strong oral and written communication skills which result in persuasive, objective, well-reasoned arguments. Communicating issues, often complex, to a variety of audiences, demonstrating experience of influencing based on sound analytical judgements
• The ability to build and sustain constructive working relationships with colleagues to achieve results through working collaboratively; sharing information and building supportive, responsive relationships, whilst having the confidence to challenge assumptions.
• Learning & development of yourself, others and the organisation, contributing to a culture of continuous improvement. Being open to developing one’s own knowledge and skill set, as well as investing in the capabilities of others by giving clear, honest feedback and supporting teams to succeed.

To find out more about the CMA please click below:

CMA – Working for the CMA , Civil Service Careers (civil-service-careers.gov.uk)

Or our LinkedIn page:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/competition-and-markets-authority/

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £73,512, Competition & Markets Authority contributes £19,848 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV, personal statement and an online application form. Further details about application requirements are listed on the application form.

The selection process will comprise of the sift (CV & application review) a case study/task with written paper submission and an interview in the London CMA office or via Microsoft Teams, to include a presentation based on the written paper.

An initial sift based on criteria 1 and 2 (Lead Criteria) may be held if a large number of applications are received. If your application progresses to a full sift, all elements of the essential criteria listed under Person Specification (above and in the attached role profile) will then be considered.

The sift will take place between 09 and 16 January 2024.

If your application is successful you will be invited to attend an interview. You will be notified via email to log-in to your Civil Service Account and book your interview slot. You will be sent an email with full details of your arrangements for interview. 

Interviews will be held from week commencing 19 February 2024.

The first part of the interview will comprise of a presentation (based on your written paper) with follow up questions. Details will be forwarded to you with your invitation to interview. The second part of the interview will be a 45 minute -1 hour panel interview where you will be asked questions based on the Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills outlined in the role profile.

Reasonable adjustments

We want to make sure no one is at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate. 
 
If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process.  

For example, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you are deaf, a Language Service Professional. You might also require additional time to complete a timed assessment or a sign language interpreter to support with the relaying of information. 

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.