Academy Selection Manager

St. James's Place; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave 28 days

Private Medical Insurance

Pension scheme 10-15%

Parental leave 26 weeks

Protection benefits

EV salary sacrifice

Job summary

St. James's Place is seeking an Academy Selection Manager to shape the future talent pipeline for Financial Advisers.

You will run structured assessments, conduct interviews and work with stakeholders across the Academy, Regulatory Authorisations and wider Partnership to enable evidence-based decisions and clear candidate understanding of opportunities. You will identify potential and performance, balancing commercial awareness with objective judgments, while guiding candidates through important

Qualifications

• Experience delivering structured assessment and selection processes.
• Proven ability to interview, assess, and identify talent and potential.
• Strong judgement with objective, evidence-based decisions.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Commercial awareness in the Financial Services sector.

Responsibilities

• Deliver the Academy Selection and Assessment process.
• Conduct structured interviews and assessments for candidates.
• Build relationships with internal stakeholders and transition candidates.
• Provide insights to improve adviser appointments.
• Manage the Transfers process and advise readiness for roles.
• Maintain management information and reporting for decisions.
• Identify opportunities to improve selection processes and candidate experience.

Skills

Structured assessment experience

Interviewing

Stakeholder management

Commercial awareness

Evidence-based decision making

Effective communication

Job description

Are you ready to chart your own career path? With our refreshed strategy, we’re building on our rich heritage and transforming our business to be more scalable and efficient, unlocking the capabilities needed for future success. This includes significantly investing in technology, streamlining the way we work and creating an environment where colleagues feel engaged, empowered and accountable; where they can show up, speak up and perform - because we believe in the difference our work makes.

At a glance

• Location: Any SJP UK based Location
• Workplace Type: Hybrid - 2 days in office and 3 days remote
• Employment Type: Permanent
• Seniority: Mid-Senior Level

About The Role

At St. James's Place, we're committed to helping people achieve financial wellbeing with confidence. To support that ambition, we continue to invest in attracting and developing exceptional talent through our Financial Adviser Academy, creating the next generation of successful advisers across our Partnership.

As an Academy Selection Manager, you'll play a key role in shaping that future. You'll assess and select individuals with the potential to succeed as Financial Advisers, helping us build a strong and sustainable pipeline of talent. This is an opportunity to influence the long-term success of the Partnership by identifying people with the mindset, resilience and ambition required to thrive in a professional advice career.

Working closely with colleagues across the Academy, Business Partnering, Regulatory Authorisations and the wider Partnership, you'll deliver a structured and engaging assessment experience that enables informed, evidence-based decisions while ensuring candidates have a clear understanding of the opportunities available to them.

What You'll Be Doing

• Delivering the Academy Selection and Assessment process, identifying individuals with the aptitude and potential to build successful careers as Financial Advisers.
• Conducting structured interviews and assessments that evaluate candidates against the behaviours, capabilities and attributes needed to succeed within the Partnership.
• Building strong relationships with internal stakeholders to ensure candidates are appropriately assessed, selected and transitioned into the Academy.
• Supporting recruitment and growth ambitions by providing insights and recommendations that contribute to the quality of future Adviser appointments.
• Managing and facilitating the Transfers process, assessing readiness for Adviser and Business Owner roles and providing objective recommendations.
• Maintaining accurate management information and reporting to support effective decision-making and stakeholder engagement.
• Promoting continuous improvement by identifying opportunities to enhance selection processes and candidate experience.

About You

You’ll be a confident and credible assessment or selection professional with experience gained within Financial Services. You understand how to identify potential as well as performance, and you’re skilled at balancing commercial awareness with objective decision-making. You’ll enjoy building relationships with a range of stakeholders, guiding candidates through important career decisions and contributing to the development of future talent. With excellent communication skills and strong professional judgement, you’ll be comfortable making evidence-based recommendations that support positive outcomes for both candidates and the business.

Essential Criteria

• Experience delivering structured assessment and selection processes.
• Proven ability to interview, assess and identify talent and potential.
• Strong judgement with the ability to make objective, evidence-based decisions.
• Excellent stakeholder management, communication and influencing skills.
• Commercial awareness and understanding of the Financial Services sector.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience within a Financial Adviser, Wealth Management or wider regulated Financial Services environment.
• Knowledge of Adviser recruitment, development or Academy-style programmes.
• Experience of psychometric assessment tools or willingness to gain psychometric accreditation, including Hogan.
• Experience supporting process improvement initiatives.

What's in it for you?

Whatever stage of life you're in, our benefits are designed to provide the support, flexibility, and peace of mind you need to thrive both at work and beyond.

In addition to our discretionary annual bonus scheme, which reflects both individual and company performance, you'll benefit from a market-leading benefits package tailored to support your wellbeing, financial security, and family life.

Our benefits include:

• 28 days' annual leave plus bank holidays, with the option to purchase up to 5 additional days.
• Private Medical Insurance – company-funded cover for you and your immediate family
• Generous Pension Scheme – a non-contributory employer contribution of 10%, increasing with length of service up to 15%, plus the opportunity to increase this through salary sacrifice
• Enhanced Parental Leave – up to 26 weeks' full pay to support growing families.
• Protection Benefits – company-funded critical illness cover, income protection, and life assurance
• EV salary sacrifice scheme through Tusker

Reasonable Adjustments

We're an equal opportunities employer and want to ensure our recruitment process is accessible and inclusive for all, if you require reasonable adjustment(s) at any stage please let us know by emailing us at [e-mail]

Research tells us that applicants (especially those from underrepresented groups) can be put off from applying for a role if they do not meet all the criteria or have been on an extended career-break. If you think you would be a good match for this role and can demonstrate some transferable experience please apply, regardless of whether you tick every box.

As a business regulated by the FCA we would advise you to familiarise yourself with the conduct regulations and in particular consumer duty obligations prior to an interview with SJP.