Director, Wholesale and Unauthorised Business Investigations in London

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 on a journey of organisational, people, process and technology transformation to become a more forward-thinking, proactive regulator. We will use data more effectively to drive regulatory decisions and build cohesion across our remit. Significant improvements in digital enablement, business intelligence, market data and information management are 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, focusing on four priorities:

• Be a smarter regulator, with predictable, purposeful and proportionate processes; embrace technology to become more efficient and effective.
• Support sustained economic growth, by enabling investment, innovation and ensuring the UK’s competitiveness in financial services.
• Help consumers navigate their financial lives, by boosting trust, product innovation and ensuring the right information and support is available for financial decisions.
• Fight financial crime, focusing on those who seek to misuse regulation to do harm, and disrupting criminals while supporting firms as a line of defence.

Background

We are looking to appoint a Director of Wholesale and Unauthorised Business Investigations (WUBI). WUBI is a core function within our Enforcement and Market Oversight Division, focused on market misconduct, policing the perimeter, and providing investigation services. WUBI actions help to fight financial crime, protect consumers’ interests and ensure markets operate with integrity. WUBI conducts forensic investigations into regulatory breaches and criminal offences by firms and individuals operating in the wholesale arena, as well as those conducting regulated activities without authorisation. Typical cases include insider dealing, market manipulation, systems and controls failings, fraud/scams and organised crime activity linked to the financial services sector. The FCA’s Proceeds of Crime team sits within WUBI. WUBI collaborates closely with the wider FCA, other regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies, domestically and abroad, to tackle issues affecting UK markets and consumers.

The Role

Reporting to the Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight, the Director of Wholesale and Unauthorised Business Investigations will be responsible for developing and delivering the enforcement strategy for all wholesale and unauthorised business cases, and accountable for case outcomes and external engagement. The role holder will play a key part in driving FCA activity to disrupt financial crime. This is a senior leadership role requiring creative thinking and strong relationship building; you will lead from the front. You will be a member of EMO’s Director Team, responsible for leading a team of over 200 staff through Heads of Department on the WUBI leadership team.

Key responsibilities

• Managing complex portfolios of wholesale and unauthorised business investigations and resulting criminal, civil and regulatory enforcement action.
• Being the Settlement Decision Maker on Enforcement Operations.
• Role model for the FCA/EMO with a commitment to continuous improvement through delivery of the deterrence agenda.
• Developing and delivering a long-term strategy for the directorate, aligned to divisional and organisational strategies.
• Leading on performance, capability and culture within the directorate with a focus on operational excellence.
• Delivering through others by coaching, influencing and negotiating with a range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Building a strong and inclusive directorate that attracts and develops diverse talent.
• Working across organisational boundaries to achieve outcomes, particularly in relation to financial crime.
• Operational responsibility for the running of the team (and the wider Division as part of the EMO Director Team) in terms of budgeting, forecasting, resourcing and external costs.

What the candidate will get from the role

• Leading a directorate of talented and committed people through significant projects while delivering on business-as-usual objectives.
• Exposure to strategic issues and key players in the world of finance, nationally and internationally.

Skills/Experience Required

We’re a Disability Confident Employer and will consider applicants with disabilities or long-term conditions who best meet the minimum criteria; where volumes are high, we may progress applicants whose experience most closely matches the role’s key requirements.

Minimum

• Significant experience in managing and influencing key stakeholders, including senior decision makers internally and externally (domestically and internationally).
• Conducting and overseeing a wide range of complex investigations, not necessarily in financial services.
• Working across organisational boundaries with proven delivery of cross-organisational projects.
• Leading a large business area made up of multi-disciplinary teams.

Essential

• Ability to balance competing priorities and workstreams, managing immediate high-priority issues with longer-term strategic thinking.
• High personal resilience to manage challenging situations and operate across organisational boundaries.
• Strong judgement and bold forward-thinking decisions.
• Proven leadership of people, capability development, change management, and inclusive team building with engaging leadership.
• Ability to quickly develop a technical understanding of the FCA’s powers and risk-based approach to investigation and enforcement.
• Understanding of the role of intelligence in fighting serious crime.
• Good technical understanding of the UK regulatory and legal framework and the FCA’s place within it.
• Understanding of the international dimension of the FCA’s work.
• Understanding of the UK financial services market and firm operations (desirable).

The FCA’s Values & Diversity

We aim to create a diverse and inclusive workplace and welcome applications from women, disabled and minority ethnic candidates. We are open to flexible working arrangements; please inform your recruiter if you wish to apply flexibly.

Application Support

We are committed to providing reasonable adjustments to remove barriers in the recruitment process. If you have accessibility requirements, please discuss with your recruiter to arrange suitable alternatives.

Benefits

Our benefits allow you to tailor a package to your lifecycle, including options such as dental or cycle to work, or taking benefits as cash. Core benefits include: 30 days holiday per year plus...