Strategic Planner

Financial Conduct Authority; Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 53,000 - 73,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days annual leave

Non-contributory pension (8–12%)

Private healthcare

Volunteer time (35 hours)

Flexible office pattern

Job summary

Financial Conduct Authority in the UK is seeking a Strategic Planner at Senior Associate, Regulatory level. The role sits in the Strategy Department, reporting to Operations/Strategy leadership, with responsibilities spanning design and delivery of strategic plans and governance across workstreams.

The position offers a national salary band with Leeds/Edinburgh levels (£53k–£67k) and London (£59k–£73k), with pay based on skills and experience.

Qualifications

• Strategy development and planning skills applied to complex issues; translate priorities into clear options and delivery plans.
• Experience building cross‑team alignment and stakeholder commitment.
• Ability to operate through ambiguity with structure and momentum.

Responsibilities

• Support design and delivery of strategic and business planning processes aligned to outcomes.
• Apply strategy development, problem solving and analytical skills to turn evolving issues into clear options and plans.
• Bring structure, pace and analytical rigour to ambiguous work while priorities change.
• Coordinate planning, governance and delivery across workstreams using project disciplines.
• Communicate effectively to build relationships and stakeholder buy‑in.

Skills

Strategy development

Strategic planning

Cross‑team collaboration

Ambiguity management

Analytical thinking

Problem solving

Decision making

Judgement

Job description

Strategic Planner

Division: Operations
Department: Strategy

• Salary: National (Edinburgh and Leeds) ranging from £53,000 to £67,000 and London from £59,000 to £73,000 (salary offered will be based on skills and experience)
• This role is graded as: Senior Associate, Regulatory

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.

The Strategy Department sits at the centre of the FCA and is responsible for informing the FCA’s strategic thinking, supporting corporate prioritisation and helping ensure the successful delivery of the FCA’s strategic objectives and outcomes.

The FCA’s Strategy Division sets the regulators long term direction, focusing on deepening trust, rebalancing risk, supporting Economic growth, and fighting financial crime through smarter, more efficient regulation.

We have a permanent opportunity at Senior Associate level for a strategic thinker with well-developed problem solving, analytical and delivery skills. This role will suit someone who can bring structure to ambiguous issues, contribute to the development of practical strategy recommendations and maintain momentum when priorities or direction change.

Role responsibilities

• Support the design and delivery of robust strategic and business planning processes that translate the FCA’s strategy into clear, coherent and deliverable plans aligned to strategic outcomes
• Apply strategy development, problem solving and analytical skills, helping turn complex and evolving issues into clear choices, plans and recommendations
• Bring structure, pace and analytical rigour to ambiguous or evolving pieces of work, taking a pragmatic approach where priorities or direction change
• Support coordination of planning, governance and delivery activity across workstreams, using project disciplines to keep momentum going
• Communicate effectively to build effective relationships, support collaboration and stakeholder buy-in

Skills required

Minimum:

• Experience applying strategy development, strategic planning or business planning skills to complex organisational issues, including translating strategic priorities into clear options, plans and recommendations and supporting the planning and delivery of complex projects or workstreams
• Experience establishing effective connections and working across formal and informal teams to promote alignment, cooperation, stakeholder commitment and delivery of results
• Experience operating effectively through ambiguity, uncertainty and changing direction, bringing structure and momentum while adjusting approach as needed

Essential:

• Well-developed analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to structure complex issues, draw out implications, trade-offs and dependencies and explain conclusions clearly in writing and orally
• Ability to use insights and analysis to help shape decisions on priorities and trade-offs
• Ability to make logical and timely judgements, cutting through complexity, seeing the bigger picture and identifying practical next steps
• Ability to work well when deadlines are tight and deliver work to agreed standard

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.A flexible benefits scheme designed around your lifestyle

For a full list of our benefits and our recruitment process as a whole visit our benefits page.

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 a 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: 20 October 2026 at 11:59pm
• CV Review/Shortlist: 22 October 2026
• Interview: w/c 2 November 2026
• 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.