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, made up of approximately 4,000 people – each committed to public service and dedicated to promoting the good of the people of the United Kingdom by maintaining monetary and financial stability.

Risk management in its broadest sense is at the core of the Bank's mission and is central to everything we do. As well as the diverse policy risks managed by the Bank's three policymaking committees, the Bank is also exposed to a wide array of financial and non-financial risks.

The Risk Directorate was created following the 2018 internal Risk Governance Review and houses the second line of defence risk and compliance functions charged with providing effective oversight of the Bank’s financial and non-financial risks and ensuring compliance with its policies. The Directorate brought together various second line functions – Bankwide Risk, Financial Risk & Resilience, and the Bank’s central Compliance Division, including Privacy. The Risk Directorate also includes Business Continuity Management. 

Internal Audit forms the third line of Defence for the bank and is part of the Risk Directorate for administration purposes but operates independently

Department Overview

The Bank operates a three lines of defence model for the management of risk.  Enterprise Risk and Resilience Division sits within the Risk Directorate (the second line of defence).  Risk Directorate is led by the Executive Director, Risk who reports to the Governor. 

Enterprise Risk and Resilience Division is responsible for:

• making sure that – through oversight and challenge – non-financial risks are managed and mitigated by the First Line of defence, within the Bank’s risk tolerance, and that the Bank’s Executives are aware of material risks to the Bank, and how they are being managed;
• enabling the Bank to have strong operating procedures, that are resilient to shocks, with an ability to respond to recovery quickly and effectively; and
• the development and implementation of the Bank’s Risk Management Framework, risk management systems and tools.

The division comprises three teams: Operational Risk and Resilience Team; Framework, Systems and Analytics Team; and the Security Risk Team.

The roles advertised sit within the Operational Risk and Resilience team. Working in the team provides an excellent opportunity to develop an understanding of, and interact with, all areas of the Bank – including senior leaders.  Risk Directorate is committed to ensuring diversity within the Directorate: including diversity of skills, perspectives and background.  We operate a flexible working environment.

Candidates meeting the standard for the roles will also be considered for other similar roles which may arise in the near future.

Job description

The Enterprise Risk and Resilience Division is recruiting for several analysts to work across the Bank’s operational risks work streams, including those focussed on the operational risk management of the Bank’s Real Time Gross Settlement system (RTGS) and RTGS Renewal Programme.  All roles are focussed on undertaking second line oversight through: 

• • Leading / contributing to risk analysis to support Risk Reports for governance forums and committees e.g. Executive Risk Committee (ERC); Executive Operational Coordination Committee (EOCC); Audit & Risk Committee (ARCo), Court, RTGS/CHAPS Risk Committee, Programme Board and others as relevant.
  • Communicating risk analysis outcomes effectively, enabling colleagues and senior leaders to make risk-based decisions.
  • Leading / contributing to a wide range of high-profile operational risk "deep dive" thematic and scenario analysis.
  • Leading / supporting the delivery of key risk management tools and processes such as Critical Risk Metrics, Risk Registers and Incident analysis.
  • Embedding effective risk management culture across the Bank.

Role Requirements

You do not need to have prior knowledge of operational risk.  However, you will be able to explain how your experience is relevant to risk management and demonstrate your ability to pick up and apply new areas of knowledge quickly.

Minimum Essential Criteria

• Stakeholder management skills: the job holder should have experience of engaging with senior staff either within the Bank or elsewhere, and supporting management in ensuring stakeholders of all levels are kept informed of key risk matters.
• Written and verbal communication skills: the job holder should have the confidence and ability to communicate at forums and committees - both verbally and in writing - to ensure relevant risks are being effectively managed.
• Analytical skills: the job holder should be able to interpret a broad range of risk data from varied sources and tools in order to identify key themes, provide evidence-based judgement and present this in a compelling way.
• A keen interest in the Bank as an institution: the job holder should be able to take a broad and forward-looking view of the Bank’s varied responsibilities and objectives, and the risks it faces in delivery of them; and with an enquiring mind look beyond the immediate operational environment, to horizon scan for emerging risks.

Desirable Criteria

 Technical knowledge in operational risk or prior experience of working in an operational risk and/or operational resilience environment would be advantageous but not essential, for example, gained from:

• working in one of the Bank’s first- or second-line operational risk functions; and/or
• a regulatory or audit background; and/or
• working in an operational risk and resilience related function in the commercial sector.

• Experience of analytical tools such as Tableau or R that can be applied to risk analysis.
• Experience working in major change delivery projects within financial services.
• Understanding of Critical National Infrastructure, Payment Systems (or Payment Systems Operators). Understanding of RTGS Service; and / or the RTGS Renewal Programme.

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.

Where a role can be carried out from home, we are working towards colleagues spending at least half of their time in the office, so that we can all benefit from working together in person, while maintaining the flexibility offered by home working. From 6 June 2022, we expect colleagues to spend a minimum of 40% of their working time in the office per month.  Subject to that minimum requirement, individuals and managers should work together to find what works best for them and their team.

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 £35,700 - £59,040 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.