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.

As a directorate of the PRA, the Supervisory Risk Specialists (SRS) provides deep technical expertise and applies judgement in specific risk disciplines in order to identify, analyse and mitigate material risks to the safety and soundness of PRA regulated firms. SRS supports the wider Bank through providing risk specialist expertise to a range of functions including policy development and implementation, the Bank's concurrent stress tests and the supervision of central counterparties.

SRS is organised in four main divisions:

• Credit Risk
• Operational Risk & Resilience
• Risk Analytics, Liquidity and Capital
• Traded Risk

Department Overview

Within the Credit Risk Division of SRS, the Corporate and Financial Institutions (“C&FI”) team comprises a group of wholesale credit industry specialists and practitioners, who are a centre of expertise across the Bank and the PRA. We are focused on supporting the Bank’s supervisory objectives.

Job description

An opportunity has arisen for a Senior Risk Specialist to join the C&FI team, leading its participation in concurrent stress testing.

The successful candidate will:

• Lead and co-ordinate the team’s future concurrent stress testing related work. This can include:
  • Reviewing the underlying performance of firm’s wholesale portfolios (primarily commercial real estate, large & mid-corporate, SME, sovereign and FI exposures), assessing and comparing such things as relative asset quality, appropriateness of PD and LGD applied by the firm, risk segmentation and loss expectations.
  • Supporting validation of data submitted by firms and dealing with difficulties in collecting the appropriate data from firms, as well as collaborating closely with Supervision to scope out the coverage of the stress test.
  • Acting as the team focal point for liaison with other teams across the wider Bank on all matters relating to concurrent stress testing including working with partners to continually improve the process.
• Take an active part in the Asset Quality Reviews which generally involve assessing a firm’s governance, strategy, risk appetite, underwriting standards, credit risk control framework, impairment forecasting / provisioning practices, and individual loan documents relating to exposures covering a range of industries/products, etc. This will involve working with colleagues in the C&FI specialists and, depending upon other duties, the job holder will lead pieces of firm facing work.
• Conduct and participate in cross-firm / market reviews to assess firms' comparative portfolio performance and risk concentrations.
• Provide technical guidance and thought leadership, operating with a high level of autonomy to make decisions, plan and manage work within the framework of Supervisory Risk Specialist’s engagement model with other Supervisory colleagues.
• Review a significant amount of information including financial, regulatory and management information. The role holder will be expected to challenge a firm’s interpretation of its credit metrics, provide meaningful insight and specify, over time, the links to policy and financial stability/resilience.

Key Benefits of the Role:

• Provides a high profile within the UK’s wholesale credit stress testing community and the chance to make a significant contribution to the development and implementation of enhanced stress testing capability in the PRA.
• We offer the opportunity to make a difference in the financial services industry in order to improve the soundness and stability of the UK financial system. You will gain insight into a wide range of risk management practices followed by regulated financial institutions, providing the opportunity to develop deep technical knowledge and expertise in a wholesale credit asset class or sector.
• We offer an intellectually stimulating environment, in a well-regarded and high-profile Division, which makes significant contributions to the delivery of the PRA objectives.

Role Requirements

Minimum Criteria

• Being familiar with the concepts of PD, LGD, EAD etc. as they relate to wholesale banking book exposures.
• Being a subject matter expert on one or more wholesale credit portfolios, industry sectors, products, collateral, governance and policies; together with related analytics.
• Evidencing gained above through proven experience in a leading corporate or investment bank or similar financial services institution.

Essential Criteria

• Comfortable analysing data and MI, and fully understanding policies and procedures which apply in wholesale banking and credit risk environments.
• Having extensive experience of writing and delivering reports and presentations about complex issues in a way that can be easily understood by senior managers.

Desirable Criteria

• Good communication skills and comfortable interacting with senior managers and partners within the organisation and externally.

Reward Package

As a unique institution, we have a reward package which sets us apart from other organisations. It includes a competitive salary, but also a much wider offering, including a defined benefit pension and comprehensive flexible benefits. We also offer a working environment which fully supports individuals through flexible working, wellbeing initiatives including an on-site medical and dental unit.

The salary range for this vacancy is approximately £59,400 - £82,800, dependent on relevant skills and experience. In addition, the total reward package also includes: 

• 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.
• 25 days annual leave with option to buy up to 13 additional days through flexible benefits.
• Private medical insurance and income protection.

Closing Date: 16 July 2021

To find out more and apply, please click Apply now.