Senior Specialist – Office of International Affairs

The Senior Specialist in the Office of International Affairs (OIA) is responsible for facilitating engagement with foreign regulators to develop and promote cross-border collaboration, cooperation, and information sharing. The specialist also will monitor and analyze global regulatory developments to inform internal and external stakeholders and will prepare response letters and briefing memos. The specialist will serve as a trusted member of the OIA team and support key international engagements. The specialist will work under the general direction of the OIA leadership team.

Essential Job Functions:

• Manage, develop, and facilitate bilateral relationships and engagement with foreign regulators. Analyze foreign regulatory requests, conduct research, and collaborate with internal departments in order to make recommendations and draft responses. Organize and lead engagement meetings with foreign regulators.
• Collaborate with FINRA departments to respond to internal requests for cross-border information or assistance. Analyze department requests, make recommendations, draft responsive information, and facilitate coordination with foreign regulators, including engagement meetings.
• Conduct research and analysis of international developments covering a wide range of financial regulatory topics and jurisdictions with minimal supervision in order to inform and advise FINRA departments and senior management. Draft and contribute to foreign regulator requests for assistance, senior management briefing memoranda, and other written product.  
• Collaborate with senior management and internal departments to ensure appropriate representation across FINRA’s business units in FINRA’s international events and senior management engagement meetings with foreign regulators. Contribute to the strategic direction of these meetings and lead in the development of the meeting programs.  Prepare agendas, related research, briefing memoranda, follow-up summaries, and other materials to execute these meetings and ensure they yield learnings that are valuable for internal participants that can be considered and applied in FINRA’s program development and decision making as well as to increase FINRA’s reputation globally.
• Interact and facilitate engagement with both FINRA and external stakeholders, including foreign regulators, multilateral organizations, the SEC, CFTC, State Department, international bodies and interest groups. This will include the strategy, analysis and organizational work involved in senior management bilateral meetings with foreign regulators.
• Deliver oral presentations to foreign regulators to build external relations and keep international stakeholders informed about FINRA and its regulatory programs, and to internal audiences to inform FINRA senior management and staff about international regulatory developments that may have implications for FINRA members or programs.
• Ensure that the transmission of confidential information follows procedures for information-sharing with foreign regulators including applicable Memoranda of Understanding and work to identify and resolve any questions that may arise.
• Lead and provide support for other special projects.

Education/Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor’s Degree required; graduate degree (JD or Masters) preferred.

• Minimum 5 to 7 years in financial services regulation or the financial services industry or related experience. 

• Strong  knowledge of financial services and broker-dealer regulation.

• Strong knowledge of international business, international finance, international regulatory cooperation or foreign securities laws is preferred. 

• Demonstrated organizational, external relations and analytical skills and experience.

• Advanced written skills, verbal communication, and presentation skills.

• Strong research skills.

• Intellectual flexibility to work on widely disparate topics concurrently.

• Ability to engage and work effectively with senior management, across departments, and with staff in multiple locations, including partnering and collaborating with various internal departments in order to effectively respond to internal and external requests for international assistance and for the identification of key issues and trends when collaborating on multilateral initiatives.

• Self-starter with ability to administer a wide variety of assignments concurrently, including unstructured assignments that require autonomy and independent judgment.

• Advanced interpersonal skills to interact effectively with foreign regulators and senior management, across departments, and with staff in multiple locations throughout FINRA, and at various levels. 

Working Conditions:

• Washington DC (Job Posting)

• Normal office conditions.

• Occasional travel and extended hours may be required. 

• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Power Point and SharePoint.

• Experience utilizing generative AI platforms and prompt engineering best practices to support analytical tasks and enhance productivity.

For work that is performed in CO, FL, TX, IL, PA, MA, MD, VA, Washington, DC, NY and NJ, please refer to the chart below for the salary range for the corresponding location. FINRA complies with all state and local pay transparency laws and regulations requiring the disclosure of salary ranges for the position. In addition to location, actual compensation is based on various factors, including but not limited to, the candidate’s skill set, level of experience, education, and market considerations. 

 

CO/FL/TX: Minimum Salary $81,900, Maximum Salary $146,600

IL/PA: Minimum Salary $90,100, Maximum Salary $161,300

MA/MD/VA/Washington, DC: Minimum Salary $94,200, Maximum Salary $168,600
NY/NJ: Minimum Salary $94,200, Maximum Salary $176,000

#LI-Hybrid

To be considered for this position, please submit an application. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.

The information provided above has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work of the position. It is not a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required.

Please note: If the “Apply Now” button on a job board posting does not take you directly to the FINRA Careers site, enter www.finra.org/careers into your browser to reach our site directly.

Employees may be eligible for a discretionary bonus in addition to base pay. Non-exempt employees are also eligible for overtime pay in accordance with federal, state, or local law. As part of its dedication to employee wellness, FINRA provides comprehensive health, dental and vision insurance. Additional insurance includes basic life, accidental death and dismemberment, supplemental life, spouse/domestic partner and dependent life, and spouse/domestic partner and dependent accidental death and dismemberment, short- and long-term disability, long-term care, business travel accident, disability and legal. FINRA offers immediate participation and vesting in a 401(k) plan with company match and eligibility for participation in an additional FINRA-funded retirement contribution, tuition reimbursement, commuter benefits, and other benefits that support employee wellness, such as adoption assistance, backup family care, surrogacy benefits, employee assistance, and wellness programs.

Time Off and Paid Leave*

FINRA encourages its employees to focus on their health and wellness in many ways, including through a generous time-off program of 15 days of paid time off, 5 personal days and 9 sick days, unless otherwise required by law (all pro-rated in the first year). Additionally, we are proud to support our communities by providing two volunteer service days (based on full-time schedule). Other paid leave includes military leave, jury duty leave, bereavement leave, voting and election official leave for federal, state or local primary and general elections, care of a family member leave (available after 90 days of employment); and childbirth and parental leave (available after 90 days of employment). Full-time employees receive nine paid holidays.

*Based on full-time schedule

Important Information

FINRA’s Code of Conduct imposes restrictions on employees’ investments and requires financial disclosures that are uniquely related to our role as a securities regulator. FINRA employees are required to disclose to FINRA all brokerage accounts that they maintain, and those in which they control trading or have a financial interest (including any trust account of which they are a trustee or beneficiary and all accounts of a spouse, domestic partner or minor child who lives with the employee) and to authorize their broker-dealers to provide FINRA with duplicate statements for all of those accounts. All of those accounts are subject to the Code’s investment and securities account restrictions, and new employees must comply with those investment restrictions—including disposing of any security issued by a company on FINRA’s Prohibited Company List or obtaining a written waiver from their Executive Vice President—by the date they begin employment with FINRA. Employees may only maintain securities accounts that must be disclosed to FINRA at one or more securities firms that provide an electronic feed (e-feed) of data to FINRA, and must move securities accounts from other securities firms to a firm that provides an e-feed within three months of beginning employment.

You can read more about these restrictions here.

As standard practice, employees must also execute FINRA’s Employee Confidentiality and Invention Assignment Agreement without qualification or modification and comply with the company’s policy on nepotism.

Search Firm Representatives

Please be advised that FINRA is not seeking assistance or accepting unsolicited resumes from search firms for this employment opportunity. Regardless of past practice, a valid written agreement and task order must be in place before any resumes are submitted to FINRA. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at FINRA without a valid written agreement and task order in place will be deemed the sole property of FINRA and no fee will be paid in the event that person is hired by FINRA.

FINRA is an Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to any legally protected category, including race, color, age, national origin, ethnicity, religion, disability, genetic information, military or veteran status, sex, or any other status or classification protected by state or local law.

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FINRA abides by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-741.5(a). This regulation prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals on the basis of disability and requires affirmative action by covered prime contractors and subcontractors to employ and advance in employment qualified individuals with disabilities.

FINRA abides by the requirements of 41 CFR 60-300.5(a). This regulation prohibits discrimination against qualified protected veterans and requires affirmative action by covered prime contractors and subcontractors to employ and advance in employment qualified protected veterans.

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