CMA2014 Business and Financial Adviser

A unique opportunity to apply your business and financial adviser expertise for the benefit of consumers. Join us and play a key role in tackling consumer and competition problems, helping make markets work well for consumers, businesses and the UK economy

About the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)

The CMA is the UK’s world-leading body established to make sure competition works well and businesses treat their customers fairly.

The Remedies, Business and Financial Analysis professional group is the CMA’s centre of excellence for all aspects of remedies work and for providing commercial and financial expertise across the CMA’s varied casework, including market and mergers cases, competition and consumer enforcement and regulatory appeals.

As a Business and Financial Adviser, you will provide essential commercial analysis and insight across the breadth of the CMA’s case work. You will look at a wide range of markets to understand businesses and their strategies, gathering, identifying and articulating information to test whether market structure, business conduct and subsidy provision are or could be harming competition and generating bad consumer outcomes.

You will also apply appropriate analytical tools, providing key insights for CMA decision-makers to utilise in developing remedies. In this capacity, our Advisers are central, and you will play a lead role in determining and defining effective solutions to the problems we find.

Responsibilities

Business Analysis and Understanding Markets

• Looking at a wide range of markets to understand business strategies and how businesses work. We assess how the parties to our investigations fit into the market, and how the broader market works. Engagement with businesses and asking the right questions is a key part of this.

Determining information needs

• Identifying and clearly articulating information requirements to test whether market structure, business conduct and subsidy provision are or could be harming competition and generating bad consumer outcomes. This involves meeting companies and other market players to improve our understanding of businesses, drafting information requests and critically reviewing submissions.

Analysis and interpretation

• Applying the right analytical tools, while recognising the variety of performance measures used in different areas of business. Using the information received, and analysis of it, to provide clear and compelling advice for CMA decision-makers.

Developing remedies

• If harmful competitive effects are identified, we design and implement remedies to address those effects, delivering benefits to customers. You have an integral role in developing these remedies.

Communicating and briefing

• Through verbal, written and presentational skills, sharing the results of our analysis. Issues can range from predation cost tests to assessing profitability. Business processes may need to be explained or remedy solutions developed. Audiences vary so clear communication of reasoning and conclusions in a form that works for a specific audience will be important.

Quality Assurance

• Ensuring that analysis is well thought through and accurate through review and development of audit trails, including review of work by colleagues.

Team working

• You will be a proactive member of the project team. By applying your commercial expertise, you will influence the team’s assessment of financial and business performance, while also contributing to team discussions and conclusions beyond your own discipline.

• A degree and/or a postgraduate business, finance or accounting qualification (e.g. ACA, CIMA, CFA or MBA) OR equivalent experience, ideally alongside familiarity with economics and financial theory. Lead Criteria
• Relevant analytical and interpretive experience including understanding business models in different industries; generating insights from complex information and evidencing accounting knowledge and numeracy. Lead Criteria
• Well-developed communication skills (both verbal and written) which result in persuasive, well-reasoned arguments. Experience in successfully managing and developing relationships with colleagues at different levels, to achieve results through working collaboratively, sharing information and building supportive, responsive relationships, while having the confidence to challenge assumptions
• Experience in using sound judgement, evidence and knowledge to provide accurate, expert, justified and professional advice.
• Experience in effective planning, organising and managing time and activities to deliver a well-respected, timely and efficient service, while ensuring high quality and accurate outputs.

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/

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Business and Financial Analysis

As well as the interesting and varied work you’ll do to contribute to effective competition in the UK, and to ensure consumers get a good deal when buying goods and services, you’ll also benefit from: 

• An exceptionally generous pension scheme with a significant employer contribution and range of options, including a tax-free lump sum at the point of retirement and injury, ill-health and life assurance benefits
• 25 days leave (increasing to 30 days over five years), plus 8 public holidays and an additional day off for the King’s birthday. In addition, you’ll be able to access a wide range of other types of leave as and when you need it, including generous maternity, paternity, shared parental leave and adoption options, as well as paid special leave for volunteering 
• Season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, flu vaccinations and eye tests
• Access to the Civil Service Sports & Leisure, giving discounted gym membership, high street discounts, free access to UK wide attractions and a free Tastecard
• A range of wellbeing benefits, including an employee assistance programme, flexible working options and family friendly policies, regular networking events and professional learning opportunities at work  

Any move to the CMA from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/. 
 
Like many other organisations, we operate a hybrid working model with a mix of office and home working. We believe this supports us to deliver our best work while allowing the flexibility to maintain balanced and healthy lives. We work at least 40% of our time from our office locations across the UK. 

If you’re already a civil servant being appointed on level transfer, you’ll retain your existing terms, including annual leave. If you are being promoted you’ll receive either a 10% pay increase or the new grade minimum, whichever is the greater. Applicants new to the civil service can be considered for appointment at a salary higher than the starting point indicated above, but not more than the advertised mid-point, depending on skills, knowledge, experience and qualifications. 

We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We want a diverse workforce that reflects the consumers we serve. We welcome applications from under-represented groups, including ethnically diverse people, people with a disability, people with diverse gender identities and from people of different ages.  

We are an accredited Disability Confident Employer and disabled applicants meeting the minimum criteria for the job will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities at an interview.  

Our Values 

The CMA delivers impactful outcomes for people, business and the UK economy.​ We are Ambitious and Evidence-based, and always strive for Excellence.​ We treat everyone with Respect, and are Collaborative and Inclusive.​  

Everything we do is underpinned by the Civil Service values: Honesty, Integrity, Impartiality and Objectivity. 

Job contact :

• Name : Serena Connor
• Email : recruitment@cma.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@cma.gov.uk