Executive Recruitment Lead in London

Division: Operations

Department: Resourcing & Talent

Salary: National (Edinburgh and Leeds) ranging from £49,600 to £74,400 and London from £54,500 to £81,600 (salary offered will be based on skills and experience)

This role is graded as: Lead Associate, Corporate

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 FCA is on a purposeful transformation journey - evolving how we regulate by building our culture, modernising our ways of working and investing in smarter processes and technology. At the heart of this change is our people: attracting and enabling skilled leaders is critical to delivering our purpose and maintaining trust in the UK’s financial system.

This is where Executive Resourcing plays a pivotal role. Sitting within Human Resources, the Executive Resourcing team partners closely with the wider Resourcing & Talent function - Experienced Hires, Early Careers and Talent - to build diverse, well-rounded leadership capability across the FCA. We combine market insight with thorough assessment and close stakeholder partnership to identify, engage and appoint senior leaders, while continuously improving our approach through evidence-led practice and evolving recruitment best practice.

Role responsibilities

• Oversee executive recruitment for the FCA’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT), reporting to the Talent Manager and operating as a highly visible partner across HR and the wider FCA.
• Build trusted relationships with the most senior stakeholders, including Directors, Executive Directors and the CEO’s Office, providing clear guidance throughout the hiring process.
• Partner closely with the Executive Leadership Team and Senior HR Business Partners to maintain a holistic view of leadership capability and translate this into clear role requirements.
• Manage and develop an effective team of three, setting direction, building capability and embedding consistent, high-quality executive hiring standards.
• Advise senior stakeholders on recruitment strategies, selection decisions and executive talent assessments, constructively challenging and influencing where needed to secure the best outcomes.
• Own external supplier relationships, working with executive search firms and an executive assessment provider to set expectations, improve performance and ensure effective delivery end-to-end.

Skills required

• Minimum: Significant direct executive recruitment experience either in-house or with an executive search firm.
• Experience managing teams in executive resourcing and developing future team capabilities.
• Essential: Effective personal motivation and ownership, with the ability to be accountable, run new initiatives and deliver outcomes that enhance the HR proposition.
• Solid relationship and stakeholder management skills (internal and external), with the confidence to constructively challenge at all levels, including SLT.
• Demonstrable experience delivering Director/Senior-level searches end-to-end, including candidate management, longlist and shortlist presentations and offer negotiation.
• Highly effective written and verbal communication skills, able to adjust style and messaging to a changing Senior Leadership audience.
• Positive, forward-thinking and curious approach, with the ability to consider multiple solutions, remain customer-focused and balance wider organisational needs.
• Highly organised and structured, able to manage competing priorities and perform effectively when deadlines are tight.
• Collaborative and evidence-led resourcing knowledge, including partnering across HR (Reward, Talent and HR Business Partners), managing external suppliers (e.g. executive search and assessment providers) and experience using Workday (or the ability to get up to speed quickly) to develop executive talent pools.

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.
• Hybrid model where employees work a minimum of 40% in the office each month (expectation of 50% for senior leaders). Changing from September to a minimum of 50% in the office each month (expectation of 60% for Directors and Executive Directors).
• A flexible benefits scheme designed around your lifestyle.

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: 11:59pm on Sunday 7th June 2026.
• CV Review/Shortlist: Tuesday 9th June 2026.
• 1st Stage Interview (in person): 11-12th June 2026.
• 2nd Stage Interview (in person): W/C 22nd June 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.