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.

The way in which we pay is changing quickly, and the Payments Directorate is at the heart of this change. Payments Directorate supports the Bank’s mission to maintain monetary and financial stability by:

• Running the live Real-time Gross Settlement (RTGS) service, which is the critical backbone of payments in the UK.

• Operating the CHAPS payments system, allowing high-value wholesale payments to settle safely. We are supervised by the Financial Market Infrastructure Directorate given the systemic nature of these operations.

• Building the renewed RTGS service – a major, multi-year transformation programme with innovation at its core.

• Horizon scanning developments in payments and leading engagement in key policy debates. This includes supporting the international G20 Roadmap to enhance cross-border payments.

We are at the heart of the Bank both in terms of our core role in Monetary and Financial Stability, and the wide range of internal stakeholders we collaborate with. Given the importance and high profile of our work, we provide regular updates to the most senior levels of the Bank including Governors and the Bank’s Court of Directors. Payments Directorate has a lead role in the Bank’s Strategic Priority 4 (the future of payments), as well as a supporting role in several other strategic priorities. The variety and immediacy of the work we do means we are one of the most outward facing and fast moving areas of the Bank, engaging with external stakeholders across the UK and around the world.

 

Department Overview

CHAPS is the UK’s high value payment system (HVPS), and transferred into the Bank in November 2017. CHAPS is used for time-critical, high value retail payments including house purchase payments, providing real time settlement and finality of payments to Financial Institutions and Non-Bank Payment Service Providers. Market Services Division (MSD) acts as CHAPS payment system operator and CHAPS end-to-end risk manager. Therefore, we are responsible for setting the rules which Direct Participants (DPs) must comply with to become and remain a member of the CHAPS System.

 

The Strategy and Policy team within the Participant Performance and Assurance (PPA) team. We conduct deeper analysis on specific topics not answered by BAU Participant Assurance work. We have overall responsibility of maintenance of content of the CHAPS rulebooks, including:

• ongoing monitoring of inherent risks faced by CHAPS Participants; and

• ongoing review of effectiveness of the rules and processes in the CHAPS rule books to mitigate these inherent risks

We also provide ready and able resource for ad-hoc reviews (e.g. in response to FMID priorities, strategic queries which arise from assurance work / participants that need deeper analysis) including:

• acting as a hub for analysis which will influence MSD and Bank-wide policy work (including on Horizon Scanning and Emerging Risk); and 

• identify of people / teams in PPA to be consulted and informed of policy work. 

 

Job Description

An important part of the role is to work with the PPA Strategy and Policy manager to perform analysis that provides the strategy and direction for the participant risk management of the CHAPS system! On a day-to-day basis, you will be responsible for conducting analysis, on subjects related to CHAPS Participants assigned to you, ensuring that work is delivered to time and the Bank’s standards. Also engaging on initiatives outside of MSD which are relevant to the CHAPS participants. 
 

In return, we offer the chance to build expertise in a wide variety of areas within MSD; to collaborate with other teams across the Bank; training and experience in how CHAPS operates, and technical insight into policies and initiatives MSD is taking forward; the opportunity to work in an intellectually stimulating, collaborative environment, and make an important contribution to the delivery of the Bank's objectives; and to develop your project-based skills. 

The overall responsibilities of the successful applicant would include:

• working to develop and get agreement on CHAPS participant policy;

• cultivating strong working relationships with colleagues across the Bank, including senior management and key external individuals;

• drafting of documents for committees and meetings; and

• ensuring that the Bank's reputation is protected at all times.

 

Role Requirements

Minimum Criteria

• An interest in understanding payment systems and their operation. Prior knowledge is a plus, but equally, the role provides a fantastic opportunity to learn about how payment systems work.

• Decisive and calm under pressure, being able to weigh up the risks versus benefits of different options.

 

Essential Criteria

• Have a keen interest in contributing to the Bank’s policy work.

• Be able to present information (verbal and written) clearly and effectively.

• Be comfortable analyzing data and information.

• Ability to build and maintain relationships with internal colleagues and external stakeholders.

• Ability to represent the Bank credibly and expertly in meetings.

 

Desirable Criteria

• A knowledge of regulatory policy making;

• Familiarity with semi-advanced MS excel analytical tools such as vlookups, and pivot tables and/or other statistical tools.

• Ability to lead change and improvement in accepted practices, and champion ideas and potential solutions.