About the job

Job summary

Are you a competition lawyer, project delivery professional, or economist, with a proven track record in leading work and cases related to merger control?

Do you want to use your skills and expertise to make a real and positive impact on the UK economy and society?

Join the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and play a key role ensuring mergers bring benefits to the economy and help businesses and markets grow.

About the CMA

We help people, businesses, and the UK economy by promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair behaviour. Our work is wide ranging, ambitious and often new and challenging.

The CMA’s merger control regime helps to ensure that mergers do not substantially lessen competition and lead to worse market outcomes for UK consumers, for example, through higher prices, lower quality and reduced choice.

The CMA’s role in reviewing mergers has grown significantly following the UK’s exit from the EU, and the CMA is now responsible for scrutinising complex global mergers alongside other international competition authorities.

Job description

You will support the Mergers Directors in leading several merger control cases and will be responsible for reviewing mergers and setting the direction and strategy for merger cases, ensuring that decisions are robust and delivered in a timely and efficient way.

In addition to casework, as part of the Mergers management team, you will be involved in shaping the CMA’s mergers policy and practice. You will help to address the challenges raised by novel substantive and procedural issues in UK merger control, including those raised by mergers in digital markets and multi-jurisdictional cases.

Responsibilities:

Delivery

To support the Mergers Directors in leading several merger control cases at any one time, and to ensure that they are managed and delivered in a timely and effective way and to a high quality.

To promote the robustness of the merger control process and ensure that all decisions are clear, accurate, well-reasoned and evidence-based.

To identify and proactively manage legal and other risks, taking action where necessary and escalating as appropriate.

To support Mergers Directors in leading corporate and policy projects; and

To lead, motivate and manage multi-disciplinary professional teams, including setting stretching but achievable deadlines and priorities and fostering effective and collaborative team working. 

Analysis

To oversee and advise case teams on how to assess and analyse critically the body of legal, economic and other evidence necessary to assess the procedural and substantive issues on a merger case.

Leading and managing

To be a staff manager, supporting colleagues to develop their careers and fostering talent and carrying out performance reviews and other related tasks.

To manage multi-disciplinary teams, supporting the Mergers Directors in setting priorities, reviewing work and fostering a positive team culture to ensure the delivery of timely, high quality merger control work.

To participate in a collegiate, open and transparent manner in the Mergers management team and to contribute to the overall leadership and management of the Mergers Group, including:

o   on corporate and policy projects.

o   by supporting and developing our people and building capacity within the CMA through coaching, learning, development, mentoring and performance management; and

o   by capturing and sharing best practice across the Mergers team and the CMA.

Stakeholder management

To develop and maintain fair, open, professional and proactive engagement with parties and other external stakeholders, including national and international partners, often at very senior levels.

Person specification

• A proven track record of undertaking and leading work and cases related to merger control, as a competition lawyer, project delivery professional, or economist. (Lead Criteria)
• Significant experience of leading and developing staff and motivating professional teams in the delivery of successful projects (or work streams within projects). (Lead Criteria)
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including an ability to draft a range of documents including technical reports and documents, for a wide variety of audiences. (Lead Criteria)
• Significant experience of making decisions, using sound analysis and judgement and managing risk, taking account of the wider context.
• Strong experience of working collaboratively and building relationships internally and externally, including with senior decision-makers and stakeholders.

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 via Microsoft Teams, to include a presentation based on the written paper.

An initial sift based on criteria 1,2 and 3 (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 candidate pack) will then be considered.

The sift will take place week commencing 26 February 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 19 March 2024 onwards.

The first part of the interview will comprise of a verbal 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.