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 3,600 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.

The Financial Strategy and Risk Directorate (FSSR) is responsible for assessing risks to financial stability from across the financial system and defining the Bank’s strategy for responding to them. Key elements of this are: conducting financial stability risk assessment and research across all sectors and markets, to inform decision-making by FPC, PRA Board and MPC; providing support to microprudential supervisors; identifying appropriate policy responses including what macroprudential instruments the Bank needs, and designing the Bank’s strategy for their use; delivering and developing the Bank’s stress-testing framework; and developing public understanding and awareness of the FPC and establishing and delivering its framework for operation.
 

About FSSR  and MSSD

The Bank’s Financial Stability Strategy and Risk (FSSR) Directorate works towards a financial system that serves households and businesses.  We are responsible for helping the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) identify cross-cutting risks to UK financial stability, assess the resilience of the UK financial sector and develop policy solutions to ensure UK financial stability. To find examples of our past work and what we are currently focused on, have a look at the most recent Financial Stability Reports.

Sitting within FSSR, the Macroprudential Strategy and Support Division (MSSD) supports the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) in making and communicating its decisions. 

MSSD’s work is structured into three areas: developing the macroprudential framework and providing advice on policy strategy to the FPC; providing Secretariat support to the FPC, and advising external FPC members; and authoring the FPC’s flagship quarterly publications, including the Financial Stability Report.  Our work therefore is at the heart of helping the FPC to maintain financial stability in the UK.

Job description
 

Want a mixture of near-term policy analysis, longer-term think pieces on macroprudential strategy and policy-focussed research? Want to work in a friendly, collaborative environment which is trying to make the FPC a more inclusive forum?  Want to have an impact on the FPC?   Like explaining complex information in an easily-digestible manner?  This might be for you.

We are recruiting an economist for the Macroprudential Framework and Strategy Team in MSSD.  This team lies at the heart of macroprudential policymaking within the Bank. 

This role will provide you with a great opportunity to both shape policy outcomes and deepen your analytical toolkit.  The macroprudential framework is evolving – recent events such as the pandemic together with the rise of non-bank finance have exposed the need to expand a lot of the framework.  It needs research and policy advice to ensure it is well-founded. As well as technical skills you’ll really develop your communication and drafting skills by working on notes directly for the FPC.

You will work with really friendly people in FSSR’s Macroprudential Strategy and Support Division – who do a really wide range of jobs – very useful for thinking about developing a career in the bank! You will also work closely with other teams in FSSR and sometimes throughout the Bank so you’ll be exposed to a lot of different things.  

There will be lots of advice, guidance and on-the-job training for the successful candidate from the managers of the team but also the other economists and analysts in this division. 

What will you be doing?

The role can be tailored depending on your experience, working pattern and preferences, but there are some key elements.

• You will support the team on assessing the main risks to UK financial stability and summarising the overall risk level to the FPC and setting the CCyB each quarter.
• Your role will contain a mixture of near-term policy analysis, longer-term think pieces on macroprudential strategy and policy-focussed research.  Depending on your experience, appetite and working pattern the split between these three deliverables can be flexed. 
• You may contribute to the research agenda of the team, including via secondments to the Bank’s central research department (the “research hub”).  Your research projects – including collaborations with more experienced researchers on the team and beyond - will have policy impact internally and influence the macroprudential policy debate externally. 
• Your day to day tasks will involve lots of analysis and synthesis of material from elsewhere. Work will often involve close collaboration with other parts of the financial stability directorate and wider Bank. You will also collaborate closely with the FPC secretariat to ensure the work of the team ‘lands’ effectively with FPC.
• Active involvement in directorate-wide initiatives to improve diversity and depth of experience of staff, as well as the way we work. This could take many forms, such as knowledge sharing on topics where you have expertise or helping with early careers recruitment

Essential skills for the role

• An interest in a wide range of topics related to financial stability;
• Strong background or proven aptitude in macroeconomics, financial economics or an ability to apply statistical methods to answer policy questions;
• Strong analytical and quantitative skills;
• Team-working, interpersonal skills and ability to work under pressure;
• An ability to interact collaboratively and effectively with staff across the Bank, to challenge in a constructive way and to influence others.

We may have additional roles and opportunities arising across the directorate and in other parts of the Bank over coming months, for which applicants may also be considered.

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.

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. (Delete if operationally this may not be feasible)

We are also committed to making adjustments for candidates and employees where possible, and have partnered with external expert organisations to support us in this.  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 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 of £35700 per annum, along with our comprehensive benefits package as follows:

•    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.