Assistant Director, Merger Remedies

Job summary

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the UK’s principal competition and consumer protection authority. We promote competition and protect consumers with a clear end goal in mind: to drive economic growth and improve household prosperity. The CMA has a range of powers, which it uses to undertake a wide variety of cutting-edge, high profile and complex work, spanning merger and market inquiries, competition and consumer law enforcement, our role in the digital markets competition regime, subsidy advice, and internal market advice.

You can read more about the CMA in our candidate pack.

The Merger Remedies and Financial Analysis (MRFA) team sits within the wider CMA Mergers directorate and provides CMA decision-makers with business and financial analysis across a range of issues arising in our merger investigations, including undertaking assessments of complex counterfactual scenarios; leading on the development, implementation, monitoring, enforcement and reviews of the remedies we impose; and imposing and monitoring the CMA’s interim measures during our merger investigations.

MRFA team responsibilities

Working closely together with CMA colleagues in multi-disciplinary project teams, you will investigate, analyse and advise upon financial and/or business issues across a range of CMA mergers cases. You will be responsible for delivering and explaining analysis that informs the CMA’s understanding of how businesses and markets are operating, and in the event that it is necessary to intervene, you will play a central role in finding and implementing effective, real-world solutions to the problems we find.

In addition to casework, as part of the Mergers management team you will be involved in shaping the CMA’s mergers policy and practice. You will help to address the challenges raised by novel substantive and procedural issues in UK merger control, including those raised by mergers in digital markets and multi-jurisdictional cases.

Job description

As the lead MRFA adviser across a range of cases, you will be responsible for providing high quality and timely commercial and financial analysis to support key decisions on the CMA’s merger cases.

Your exact responsibilities will vary depending on the specifics of the case, but will typically include:

• Developing merger remedies: Where we find that a merger the CMA is investigating gives rise to competition concerns, you will lead the identification and development of effective and proportionate remedies that will address the competition concerns, improving consumer outcomes. You will also often be responsible for implementing these interventions in practice, for example negotiating undertakings with firms or working with legal colleagues to draft orders.
• Leading and managing: When implementing remedies, monitoring remedies or taking enforcement action, you will lead, motivate, and manage multi-disciplinary professional teams, including setting stretching but achievable deadlines and priorities and fostering effective and collaborative team working. You will support MRFA Directors in leading those cases (often several at any one time), and to ensure that they are managed and delivered in a timely and effective way and to a high quality. You will promote the robustness of the merger control process and ensure that all decisions are clear, accurate, well-reasoned and evidence based.
• Commercial and financial analysis: You will be responsible for identifying the key commercial and financial issues for assessment. You will gather relevant information, analyse and advise upon the implications of a broad range of commercial issues as they relate to the firms we investigate. This may include: assessing a firm’s financial performance; analysing a firm’s corporate finance decisions and options; or looking at a firm’s strategic business choices such as entering or exiting a market. Where we commission external consultants and advisers on technical and business issues, you will supervise this process, ensuring that their input contributes effectively to your case and is delivered within agreed timelines.
• Supporting case teams with interim measures: You will help advise case teams on the steps required to “hold separate” the merger parties while our merger investigation is ongoing and where necessary, to prevent or unwind “pre-emptive action” to protect against actions that may prejudice the outcome of the CMA’s merger investigation or impede the taking of any appropriate remedial action (e.g. where the merger parties change the pre-merger competitive structure of the market during the CMA’s investigation).
• Remedies monitoring and enforcement: Once a merger remedy has been implemented, we monitor merger parties’ compliance with them and take enforcement action where there has been a breach. You will play a leading role in ensuring compliance with the CMA’s merger remedies, analysing potential breaches or compliance issues, and making recommendations for potential enforcement actions where a breach has been identified.
• Remedy reviews and evaluations: The CMA has a statutory duty to keep under review merger remedy undertakings and orders. In discharging this duty, you will help the MRFA team consider whether, by reason of any change of circumstances, undertakings are no longer appropriate and need to be varied, superseded or released; and an order is no longer appropriate and needs to be varied or revoked. You will also seek to support the evaluation of past remedies and feed lessons into future design.
• Communicating: Through presentations and written reports, communicating the work that you have undertaken, your findings and the implications for the wider case. Audiences will include senior decision makers, other colleagues, and a wide range of external stakeholders.
• Stakeholder management: You will develop and maintain open, professional, and proactive engagement with internal stakeholders and merger parties and other external stakeholders, often at very senior levels.
• Team working: You will be a committed member of the multi-disciplinary case team, working collaboratively and contributing to wider work and discussions in order to help inform conclusions beyond your own workstreams.
• Quality assurance: You will ensure that analysis is well thought through and accurate through review and development of audit trails, including review of work by junior colleagues.

You are likely to have management responsibilities which involve overseeing and guiding less experienced team members on cases, as well as providing feedback and coaching to support their personal and professional development. While the role initially may have no direct line management responsibilities there will be opportunities over time to line manage colleagues at more junior levels.

You will also be involved in corporate contributions such as providing advice and input to projects that seek to improve the CMA’s impact as a whole (e.g. risk monitoring, improving processes, promoting inclusion and diversity).

Person specification

It is essential that you can provide evidence and examples for each of the following selection criteria in your application. For tips on how to make the most your application, please have a look at our guidance document.

• Postgraduate business, finance, or accounting qualification (e.g. ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CFA, MSc, or MBA) OR equivalent professional experience (Lead criteria).
• Significant relevant commercial and/or financial analytical and/or interpretive experience including understanding business models in different industries; generating insights from complex information and evidencing accounting knowledge and numeracy (Lead criteria).
• Strong oral and written communication skills which result in persuasive, objective, well-reasoned arguments. Communicating issues, often complex, to a variety of audiences, demonstrating experience of influencing based on sound analytical judgements.
• The ability to build and sustain constructive working relationships with colleagues to achieve results through working collaboratively, sharing information and building supportive, responsive relationships, whilst having the confidence to challenge assumptions.
• Learning & development of yourself, others, and the organisation, contributing to a culture of continuous improvement. Being open to developing one’s own knowledge and skill set, as well as investing in the capabilities of others by giving clear, honest feedback and supporting teams to succeed.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Developing Self and Others

Technical skills

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

• Remedy Design - Presentation Topic
• Financial Knowledge

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £84,800, Competition & Markets Authority contributes £24,566 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

You’ll also get:

• 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

You can read more about our benefits in our candidate pack.

Our Values

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.

You can read more about life at the CMA in our candidate pack

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Application and sift stage

• As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV, personal statement, and an online application form. Further details about application requirements are listed on the application form.
• The selection process is noted below and will comprise of the sift (CV & application review), presentation and interview. Arrangements for the presentation and interview will be enclosed in the invitation.
• Please note that it is essential that your personal statement is aligned to provide evidence that you have the knowledge and experience for each of the essential criteria (as included on the role profile attached and listed above under 'Person Specification') in your application. Your personal statement should be no more than 1250 words. You will first be sifted on the first two criteria points (Lead Criteria). If your application progresses to a full sift, all elements of the essential criteria listed under Person Specification will then be considered.
• We may raise the score required at sift stage to progress to interview if we receive a high number of applications and take through the highest performing candidates to the interview stage.
• Successful candidates at sift will be invited to an interview.

Interview stage

• At the CMA we apply a blended interview technique, allowing us to find out more about you and we use the Success Profiles framework assessing the Behaviours, Technical skills and Experience (essential criteria) listed in the advert and attached role profile.
• The first part of the interview you will be asked to prepare and discuss a short presentation based on the technical skill outlined, details of which will be sent with your interview invitation. You are not required to prepare any slides.
• The second part of the interview will be a 45 minute - one hour panel interview in which you will be asked questions based on Behaviours, Technical and Experience outlined in the role profile.
• A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles.

Timeline (the dates outlined below are indicative and may be subject to change)

• The advert closing date is 29 June (23:55). We are not able to accept late applications.
• The sift is scheduled to take place between 30 June and 10 July 2026.
• Interviews will be held from the week commencing 27 July 2026.
• Interviews will be held either in our London Office or MS Teams.

Reasonable adjustments

Our recruitment process is fully inclusive and we can make adjustments to provide you with the opportunity and support to bring your best self to the recruitment process. This could include having an interview buddy, extra time at interviews/assessments, or receiving interview questions in advance. We will be happy to discuss any person-centred adjustments you’d like us to make to the process and you can contact us by emailing our dedicated mailbox at adjustments@cma.gov.uk

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Vidya Krishnamoorthy
• Email : recruitment@cma.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@cma.gov.uk

Further information

If your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact Recruitment@cma.gov.uk in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk.

Attachments

Role Profile_Assistant Director_Merger Remedies Opens in new window (pdf, 319kB)