Executive Director, Markets

Financial Conduct Authority; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 150,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading UK financial regulator is seeking an Executive Director, Markets to oversee supervision, policy, and competition within financial services. This role involves leading a major team and delivering strategic objectives while ensuring compliance and integrity in financial markets. The successful candidate will shape regulatory strategy while engaging with various stakeholders. This is an opportunity to work at a prestigious organisation focused on improving market performance and consumer trust.

Benefits

30 days holiday plus bank holidays

Private healthcare

Non-contributory pension scheme

Life assurance

Income protection

Qualifications

• Extensive experience of leadership and people management.
• In-depth knowledge of markets regulation and the UK regulatory framework.
• Proven capabilities in creating a vision and shaping strategy.

Responsibilities

• Lead the combined Supervision, Policy and Competition Division.
• Oversee directorates responsible for consumer and wholesale investments.
• Ensure compliance with regulations to mitigate consumer detriment.

Job description

Executive Director, Markets

About the FCA

At the FCA, we’re creating a fair and more resilient financial system. We’re establishing more transparent relationships between financial services and customers, building trust in financial markets and protecting vulnerable consumers.

We’re currently on an exciting journey as we drive forward significant organisational, people, process, and technology transformation to become a more forward-thinking, proactive regulator. We will use data more effectively to drive better regulatory decisions and build greater cohesion across our broad financial services remit.

Significant improvements in digital enablement, business intelligence, market data and information management maturity are all being pursued to maintain our position as a world leader in financial services regulation.

In March 2025, the FCA launched a new 5-year strategy to deepen trust, rebalance risk, support growth and improve lives. The FCA will focus on four priorities:

• Be a smarter regulator; predictable, purposeful and proportionate. The FCA will improve its processes and embrace technology to become more efficient and effective.
• Support sustained economic growth, by enabling investment, innovation and ensuring the continued competitiveness of the UK’s world-leading financial services.
• Help consumers navigate their financial lives by working with industry to boost trust, product innovation and ensuring the right information and support is available for people to take financial decisions.
• Fight financial crime, focusing on those who seek to use the fact they are regulated to do harm. It will go further to disrupt criminals and support firms to be an effective line of defence.

The Role

The Executive Director, Markets is an Executive Committee role, reporting to the CEO. The ED, Markets will be required to lead the combined Supervision, Policy and Competition Division (c1800) working in partnership with the other SPC EDs to co‑lead the Division as one, and to ensure a consistent approach to supervision, policy and competition across the FCA.

The ED markets has specific responsibility for wholesale markets and consumer investments. This role is particularly central to our work on market integrity, competitiveness and growth.

The ED, Markets will directly oversee the following directorates:

• Consumer investments
• Infrastructure & exchanges
• Wholesale buy‑side
• Wholesale sell‑side
• Controls, capabilities and frameworks
• Specialists

Key responsibilities

The Division is responsible for implementing the FCA strategy across all markets that the FCA regulates – setting the policy agenda through regulatory reform, identifying and managing risks through supervision, and supporting the growth and innovation of the sectors in a way that delivers well for consumers.

The role carries a large operational responsibility ensuring effective supervision and translation of policy goals into operational delivery by the FCA. Given the global nature of the UK’s financial markets, the role will also involve close engagement with senior counterparts in non‑UK regulatory authorities as well as a range of other UK authorities, particularly the Bank of England/PRA and HM Treasury.

Additional responsibilities include:

• Effective supervision of wholesale and consumer investments markets. This will include developing policy insights and delivering effective policy change, integrating policy with competition and supervisory insights, assessing business models and anticipating change to ensure markets function well.
• Engaging with firms to ensure interests of consumers and integrity of markets is at the heart of their business. Exploring and analysing identified risks within firms in our sectors through firm‑specific and cross‑sector work.
• Ensuring firms comply with regulation, including on redress, to mitigate consumer detriment.
• Prudential supervision of all firms not regulated by the PRA.
• Working with trade bodies, advisers and other third parties to identify and communicate trends and gauge the trends in risks in the market.
• Oversee critical third parties designated by the Treasury.
• Working with colleagues across the FCA, using their specialist expertise where appropriate and sharing expertise as required.

The successful candidate will

• be an Executive Committee member with collective leadership responsibility for the success of the organisation as a whole and for contributing to and delivering the FCA strategy
• be a role model for desired behaviours and culture within the FCA, including driving forward adoption of new technology to reshape the way we work, including artificial intelligence and other data tools
• work collaboratively with the Executive Committee and senior leadership across the FCA to ensure maximum efficiency of the organisation
• be accountable for regulating and engaging with leadership of financial services firms ensuring that the FCA statutory objectives are met
• personally lead key aspects of engagement for significant firms and sectors
• develop and then implement the FCA’s supervision strategy, competition agenda, policy, risk appetite and control framework and to specifically facilitate that in this division
• be an ambassador for the FCA policy and supervision, leading engagement with media on supervision and FCA policy issues and with key national and international opinion makers
• influence and build the FCA’s credibility
• be the lead decision maker, often as part of a committee, on major events or strategically significant issues in all firms within the aligned divisional sectors.

What will the candidate get from the role?

A unique opportunity to work at an internationally respected financial services regulator at a critically important time in the organisation’s development and to lead and influence its delivery of Strategy 25. This is an opportunity to play a significant strategic role in the division and the wider FCA Senior Leadership.

You will be responsible for shaping the configuration of this role, managing the shared vision for the division and ensuring the function continues to deliver organisational objectives. You will need to work with all senior leaders of the FCA to ensure a consistent organisational view and process, influencing and gaining buy‑in of peers, the executive team and the Board.

Skills/Experience Required

We are a Disability Confident Employer; therefore, disabled people or individuals with long‑term conditions who best meet the minimum criteria for a role will go through to the next stage of the recruitment process. (To learn more about the Disability Confident Scheme).

Minimum

• Extensive experience of leadership and people management, with the ability to inspire and motivate teams through a growth mindset.
• In depth knowledge and experience of markets regulation, the UK regulatory framework and the FCA’s role in its operations; understanding conduct risk, and business model risk gained in the context of financial services in the UK and/or in another major financial centre.
• Proven capabilities in creating a vision and shaping strategy, with evidence of successful operational impact.
• Role model strong leadership behaviours in line with the FCA values and capabilities.

Essential

• Highly collaborative approach as part of a leadership team and ability to motivate and carry a large organisation through a period of significant change.
• Significant regulatory or industry‑based experience including complex strategic and wholesale market risk issues.
• Ability to understand highly complex and technical issues quickly.
• Openness to innovation, new ways of working and adopting new technologies.
• Ability to develop long‑term strategic plans, positioning and anticipating opportunities, trends and risks.
• Significant stakeholder management skills, ability to negotiate with and influence senior people in private and public sectors, including UK government.
• Ability to influence and build credibility with national and international stakeholders.
• An understanding of the UK legislative framework and international standards.
• Excellent analytical skills, the ability to make difficult and complex judgements, taking the legal, political and economic environment into account.
• The ability to deal with significant and high‑profile challenges to the work of the Division and the FCA.
• The ability to make quick and effective decisions.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to articulate complex decisions and concepts to a range of different stakeholders with competing agendas.
• The drive and tenacity to maintain focus and performance in the face of public criticism.
• Strong people leadership, ability to lead clearly and decisively through periods of change, and role‑model cultural characteristics.
• Strong personal resilience in the face of challenge.
• Growth mindset, seeking out continuous development and learning, particularly in areas where function subject matter is not a strength of the successful candidate.

The FCA’s Values & Diversity

Our ambition is to create a diverse and inclusive workplace that reflects the society we serve, helping us to be a better regulator. We serve the public and our decisions directly affect the wellbeing of people, businesses and the UK economy. So, our values matter. They represent the culture we aspire to every day, guiding our judgements, building trust and helping us to be ‘At our best .’

The FCA is committed to achieving greater diversity across all levels of our organisation. Given this, we particularly welcome applications from women, disabled, and minority ethnic candidates, as under‑represented groups.

As an inclusive employer, we are open to considering flexible working arrangements, including job shares. Please inform your recruiter if you wish to apply for this role on a flexible basis.

As part of the FCA’s on‑going commitment to develop our national presence, most of our vacancies are now open to working in our Edinburgh, Leeds or London offices. This means that as part of the application process you will be able to select your preference of which office location you would like to work from.

Application Support

We want to remove any possible barriers and are committed to providing a wide range of reasonable adjustments so that you can keep the focus on your conversations and be at your best.

If you have an accessibility requirement, disability, or condition that means you might require changes to the recruitment process, please contact your recruiter to discuss this further. Our aim is to make your application as easy as possible, and your recruiter will be happy to work with you to make any necessary arrangements where possible.

Benefits

Our competitive benefits scheme gives you the opportunity to create a personalised benefits package, tailored to suit your lifecycle. You can use this allowance to purchase additional benefits such as dental or cycle to work, or you have the option to top up your base salary by taking this as cash.

Core benefits that you will receive as standard are:

• 30 days holiday per year plus bank holidays
• Private healthcare with Bupa
• A non‑contributory Pension of at least 8% of basic salary each month (there are several contribution levels that increase depending on your age – up to 12% a month once you reach age 35)
• Life assurance of eight times your basic salary
• Income protection

Conflicts of interest

All applicants to the FCA are required to demonstrate that they do not have other interests likely to conflict with their responsibilities as an employee of the FCA. You should declare any potential conflict of interest as early as possible in the selection process, and also disclose information or personal connections that, if appointed, might be open to misperception.

Any potential conflicts of interest will not prevent candidates going forward to interview but may, if appropriate, be explored during the interview to establish how the candidate would address the issue(s) should they be successful in their application.

Useful information

• The closing date for this role is 23:55 on Sunday 18 th January 2026.
• Selection will be via a two‑stage interview and psychometric assessment.
• If successful, you will be required to obtain and retain DV Clearance.
• We operate a hybrid working policy with an expectation that senior leaders spend a minimum of 50% of their working time each month in the office.
• To apply please submit your CV and cover letter.

The FCA has retained Odgers to advise on this appointment.

To apply please submit your CV and cover letter using this link - www.odgers.com/95172

For a conversation in confidence, please contact: Anne Murphy [e-mail]

If you are unable to apply online please email: [e-mail]