PSC Payments System Operator - Banking Operations London, England
Job description
PSC Payments System Operator - Banking Operations
- (008364)
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.
Banking, Payments and Innovation Directorate (BPI - formerly Banking, Payments and Financial Resilience) supports the Bank’s mission to maintain monetary and financial stability by using and sharing its expertise to: develop and operate resilient and efficient banking, payment and custody services; set and influence policy; and to promote innovation.
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. BPI has a lead role in one and a significant role in four of the Bank’s 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, operating the UK's high value payments system (the Real Time Gross Settlement System and CHAPS), maintaining the Bank’s readiness to provide Emergency Liquidity Assistance to banks and other financial institutions, and acting as the 'bank' within the Bank of England for government, UK CCPs and other central banks.
Department Overview
The Payment Systems and Communications team within the Markets Services Division provides operational services to internal and external stakeholders to support the Bank’s core purposes through developing and operating the RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) system. The RTGS service supports accounts for banks, building societies, financial market infrastructures, and most recently, non-bank payment service providers, and provides sterling settlement services for Bacs, CHAPS, ICS (cheque clearing), CREST, Faster Payments (FPS), LINK, and Visa.
We have a dynamic team operating both remotely and when onsite, across two locations in the City of London and Essex. Our team’s primary responsibility is running RTGS which lies at the heart of UK payment and settlement infrastructure. The role of the team is very high profile since the reliability and resilience of RTGS is essential for the monetary and financial stability of the UK. There is a good mix of operational work providing opportunities for you to handle a variety of responsibilities, attending internal and external meetings and collaborating closely with diverse stakeholders. This is an excellent chance to experience these opportunities in a critical team with the potential for long term career prospects.
Job description
Your Role:
- Operate RTGS and other associated systems
- Participate in (and at times lead) varied and interesting project work such as automation initiatives, technical upgrades and new participant on-boarding
- Be fully conversant with all aspects of the area's contingency and standby arrangements for both system and environmental failures
- Build working relationships with external parties, CHAPS direct participants, reserve account holders, CREST and the retail payment schemes etc.
- Provide crucial communications to partners; external users, senior management, other areas within the Bank such as Technology, Testing Services, Customer Banking Division etc.
Role Requirements
People who are successful in this role have the following proficiencies:
Essential Criteria:
- Ability to work accurately and to set deadlines
- Experience working in lively operational environments
- Good problem-solving skills
- Ability to communicate clearly and concisely to a variety of audiences at all levels
- A proven team player, willing to help others to achieve results
- Must be able to work all shift patterns across both sites
Desirable, but not essential skills/ proficiencies:
- You do not need to demonstrate all of the desirable criteria and it is not expected that the successful candidate will do so
- Good IT skills and proficiency in MS office packages
- Previous experience working in payments
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
What we offer:
- Full, structured, on-the-job training in RTGS and all its supporting systems
- A deep understanding of RTGS and associated systems
- A good work life balance
Additional Information
Further information can be found on the following link:
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/payment-and-settlement
Shift Hours/Pattern:
Early: 04:30-11:30, Middle: 09:00-17:00, Late: 10:00-18:00, Close: 12:00-20:00
Due to the business-critical nature of the role and split site working, successful applicants will need to be able to commute to one of our London sites (Debden Essex /London Threadneedle Street) within 90 minutes.
Successful applicants will be required to work five (seven-hour) days out of seven in a normal working week. This will be mostly weekdays but can incorporate some weekend working. Where you work a day at the weekend, a day off will be taken in the week either prior to, or following, that weekend. If this cannot be accommodated, you will receive an overtime payment instead.
Shifts are worked out on a rota basis and are arranged approximately two months in advance. Travel to work in anti-social hours is arranged via a taxi service which is paid for by the Bank. Inconvenience payments will be paid for earlier starts, on Bank Holidays and for any early shifts where these numbers are more than 25 in a 3-month period.
In recognition of the anti-social working hours (e.g., very early onsite shifts and regular weekend working) that this role demands, and the increased work expected during the transition period to the implementation of the new RTGS system, we are introducing an RTGS Operators Allowance.
The RTGS Operators Allowance is being offered to all new and existing RTGS Operators at scale H-J. The allowance is a non-pensionable cash amount equivalent to £12,000 per annum for full time employees (pro-rated accordingly for part-time working patterns). The RTGS Operators Allowance is being offered to all new and existing RTGS Operators at scale H-J. The allowance is a non-pensionable cash amount equivalent to £12,000 per annum for full time employees (pro-rated accordingly for part-time working patterns). It will be paid as a non-pensionable monthly amount of £1,000 (for full time equivalent staff, pro-rated for part-time staff in accordance with their working pattern), and will be subject to tax and national insurance. It is paid in addition to your base salary and will not affect the value of your benefits, performance award or pension contribution
The RTGS Operators Allowance is attached to the role, not you as a person, which means it will continue whilst you are in a scale H Technical Specialist or scale I Payments System Operator in RTGS Operations. If you leave the role in RTGS Operations or are promoted to scale G and above, the allowance will cease with immediate effect.
In signing our T&Cs you are committing to take your fair share of early shifts and weekend working days. If, as part of your performance reviews, it is determined that you are not fulfilling your fair share of early shifts and weekend working, the Bank retains the right to withdraw RTGS Operators Allowance.
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, which are summarised here.
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 range of £31,200 per annum (depending on skills and experience) on a full-time basis.
In addition we also offer a comprehensive benefits package as detailed below.
- 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. (Note that from April 2023 and for the Benefits year 2023/24, this will increase to 8%)
• Private medical insurance and income protection.
Employment in this role will be subject to National Security Vetting clearance and the passing of additional Bank security checks in accordance with Bank policy from time to time. Further information of vetting and security clearance requirements for the role will be provided to the successful applicant. Further information about how the Bank processes personal data for these purposes, is set out in the Bank’s Privacy Notice at Privacy and the Bank of England | Bank of England.
The closing date for applications is 20 February 2023.
Please apply online, ensuring that you answer the application questions, complete the work history and submit your CV.
