Crisis Management Exercising Lead

Financial Conduct Authority; Leeds; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 68,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave 25 days

Pension and life assurance

Private healthcare

Job summary

Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom is seeking a Crisis Management Exercising Lead to manage and continually improve the FCA’s crisis management exercising capability. You will ensure crisis response structures, plans and leadership teams are regularly tested across Bronze, Silver and Gold levels, enhancing preparedness and decision-making.

The role requires extensive crisis management and resilience experience, with a focus on designing and evaluating exercises involving senior

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in crisis management, operational resilience and exercising programmes.
• Experience designing, facilitating and evaluating crisis management exercises including senior leadership.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and ability to influence and present recommendations to executives.

Responsibilities

• Oversee and enhance the crisis management exercising programme aligned to risks and objectives.
• Design and deliver realistic, risk-based crisis management exercises across Silver and Gold levels.
• Collaborate with Executive Committee and senior stakeholders to improve organisational readiness.
• Capture lessons learned and translate insights into measurable improvements.
• Build partnerships across the organisation to promote resilience and continuous improvement.

Skills

Crisis management

Operational resilience

Exercise design

Senior stakeholder engagement

SC clearance

Job description

Job title: Crisis Management Exercising Lead

Division: Operations
Department: Cyber & Operational Resilience

• Salary: National (Edinburgh and Leeds) ranging from £49,600 to £61,900 and London from £54,500 to £68,000 (salary offered will be based on skills and experience)

• This role is graded as: Lead Associate, Corporate

• Your external recruitment contact is Raimonda via [e-mail]

• Your internal recruitment contact is Patrycja via [e-mail]

About the FCA and team

We regulate financial services firms in the UK, to keep financial markets fair, thriving and effective. By joining us, you’ll play a key part in protecting consumers, driving economic growth and shaping the future of UK finance services.

Cyber and Information Resilience (C&IR) is responsible for the management of cyber security at the FCA.‘Cyber security’ means the protection of the FCA’s data and systems from malicious and/or accidental activity, including theft, damage and disruption, in order that the FCA can deliver its key business functions.C&IR is part of a Directorate lead by our CISO, Director of Cyber & Operational Resilience Division.

The Crisis Management team is responsible for developing and maintaining the internal Crisis Management Framework, planning and tools, ensuring effective response to disruptive events.

The Crisis Management Exercising Lead is responsible for developing, coordinating and continuously improving the FCA’s crisis management exercising capability. The role ensures that crisis response structures, plans, processes and leadership teams are regularly tested through realistic and challenging exercises at Bronze, Silver and Gold levels, improving organisational preparedness, resilience and decision-making.

Role responsibilities

• Oversee and continuously enhance the FCA’s crisis management exercising programme, ensuring activities are aligned to organisational risks, resilience priorities and strategic objectives

• Design and deliver realistic, risk-based crisis management exercises across Silver and Gold command levels, testing decision-making, governance, communications, escalation processes and response plans

• Work with senior stakeholders, including Executive Committee members, to offer practical guidance, coordinate exercises and enhance organizational readiness

• Identify, analyse and embed lessons learned from exercises and incidents, translating insights into measurable improvements that improve crisis response capabilities

• Build effective partnerships across the organisation, supporting Business Continuity leads and subject matter experts while promoting a culture of resilience, readiness and continuous improvement

Skills required

Minimum:

• Extensive experience in crisis management, operational resilience and exercising programmes, with a solid understanding of Bronze, Silver and Gold command structures and crisis response frameworks

• Significant experience designing, facilitating and evaluating crisis management exercises, including strategic exercises involving senior leaders and executive stakeholders

• Solid stakeholder engagement, influencing and facilitation skills, with the ability to secure commitment, lead complex discussions and present clear recommendations to senior audiences

Essential:

• Experience leading lessons learned and continuous improvement activities, translating findings from exercises and incidents into measurable organisational improvements
• Well-developed analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to evaluate information from multiple sources, apply sound judgement and identify practical solutions
• Experience working collaboratively across multiple teams, functions and business areas to deliver strategic resilience objectives
• Ability to build and maintain effective relationships with senior stakeholders, subject matter experts and delivery partners across a complex organisation
• Experience providing specialised advice, challenge and guidance on crisis preparedness, exercising standards and resilience activities
• Understanding of the interaction between organisational crisis management arrangements and wider external response frameworks
• Experience developing capability in others through coaching, knowledge sharing and guiding without direct line management
• SC Clearance is required for this role (SC Guidance) - you will hold or willbe requiredto obtain Security Check (SC) level vetting

Benefits

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays

• Non-contributory pension (8-12% depending on age) and life assurance at eight times your salary

• Private healthcare with Bupa, income protection and 24/7 Employee Assistance

• 35 hours of paid volunteering annually

• Colleagues spend a minimum of 50% of their working time in the office each month (60% for Directors and Executive Directors) across our London, Leeds and Edinburgh offices.

Our values and culture

Our colleagues are the key to our success as a regulator. We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive culture: one that’s free from discrimination and bias, celebrates difference and supports colleagues to deliver at their best. We believe that our differences and similarities enable us to be a better organisation – one that makes better decisions, drives innovation and delivers better regulation.

If you require any adjustments due to a disability or condition, your recruiter is here to help - reach out for tailored support.

We welcome diverse working styles and aim to find flexible solutions that suit both the role and individual needs, including options like part-time and job sharing where applicable.

Disability confident: our hiring approach

We’re proud to be Disability Confident Employer and therefore, people or individuals with disabilities and long-term conditions who best meet the minimum criteria for a role will go through to the next stage of the recruitment process. In cases of high application volumes we may progress applicants whose experience most closely matches the role’s key requirements.

Useful information and timelines

Timeline:

• Job advert closes: 18 October 2026 at 11:59pm

• CV Review/Shortlist: 20 October 2026

• Interview: w/c 26 October 2026

• SC Clearance is required for this role (SC Guidance) - you will hold or willbe requiredto obtain Security Check (SC) level vetting

• Your Recruiter will discuss the process in detail with you during screening for the role, therefore, please make them aware if you are going to be unavailable for any date during this time.