Assistant Director, Cartels

This is an exciting opportunity to use your competition enforcement/legal expertise to make a positive impact on the UK economy and society.

Join the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and play a pivotal role at the forefront of tackling businesses participating in cartels.

About the CMA

We help people, businesses, and the UK economy by promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair behaviour. Our work is wide ranging, ambitious and often new and challenging.

The role

You will play a key role working in tackling illegal anti-competitive agreements. You will play a leading role in the investigation of one or more suspected cartels, helping ensure the team delivers high quality outcomes, on time, within budget and achieves the aims set out for the project.

You will achieve this by:

• Helping set the direction and strategy for investigations, taking into account the bigger picture
• Analysing and co-ordinating the analysis of factual, economic and legal evidence
• Co-ordinating and participating in key investigatory steps (including inspections, witness interviews and written requests for information)
• Leading on drafting the investigation decision documents (such as Statements of Objections) and ensuring they are well reasoned and analytically robust
• Communicating with internal and external stakeholders, including the parties under investigation and their advisers, as well as coordinating with other agencies in the UK and internationally
• Ensuring cases are robustly planned

Our end-to-end approach to cartel enforcement means that, in addition to progressing a major investigation, you may help to develop intelligence leads, apply for a search warrant for an on-site inspection, or devise a media campaign to amplify the CMA’s deterrence message.

You will also have the opportunity to get involved in the development of cartel policy at a national and international level and to represent the CMA externally.

What you will need

A proven track record of working as a competition lawyer or enforcer, or as a lawyer, litigator or adviser with experience of complex contentious, enforcement or regulatory cases is essential.

You will need the ability to draft a range of documents, including technical reports and documents for publication, for a wide variety of audiences. You will also need a proven track record of undertaking complex analytical work, including experience of gathering, analysing and managing evidence.

Excellent interpersonal skills, with an ability to lead, influence and motivate people and build rapport with senior decision makers and key internal and external stakeholders is equally important.

What we can offer you

The CMA is a hugely diverse, rewarding and stimulating place to work – an opportunity to work for the public good and to stretch and develop yourself in doing so while also having considerable flexibility when it comes to how and when you work. We offer generous benefits, including an excellent pension scheme with an average employer contribution of 27%, at least 25 days leave (increasing to 30 over five years), and generous maternity/paternity leave provision. You can also take advantage of interest-free season ticket loans, a cycle to work scheme.

To find out more about this opportunity and about working for the CMA, please click on the APPLY button.

Closing date for applications: 11:55 pm on Monday 29th January 2024.

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.

The CMA are an accredited Disability Confident Employer, and we are an equal opportunities employer, welcoming suitably qualified applicants from all backgrounds. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles.