Lead Retail Banking Firm Supervisor

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.

SPC oversees firms and individuals (supervision), creates and reviews the rules by which they operate (policy) and identifies and remedies ineffective competition in markets (competition). In the Retail Banking Directorate, we supervise the largest retail banks and work alongside an extensive network of internal and external stakeholders to protect consumers and drive forward better outcomes for them. The teams across the Directorate work collaboratively on a variety of high-profile issues spanning Financial Crime & Fraud, Operational Resilience, Consumer Duty and Access and more.

Role responsibilities

• Working in partnership with the Manager to plan, prioritise and allocate work across the team; take a proactive role in coaching and mentoring junior team members and overseeing their work to ensure timely progress is made to achieve supervisory outcomes; depute for the Manager during periods of absence.
• Analysing firms’ business models and strategies and identifying the key risks of harm, dealing with complex problems, and finding solutions that contribute to the development, implementation and oversight of effective, assertive supervisory strategies to address key risks of harm.
• Escalating issues and effectively communicating supervisory assessments and proposed mitigating actions to senior management.
• Using data to identify trends, outliers and provide insights to support the Division's work.
• Working on event-driven (reactive) work in response to firm issues and industry developments and forming sound judgement on a variety of regulatory topics and communicating this clearly and succinctly to internal and external stakeholders.
• Working collaboratively and inclusively, building strong relationships with stakeholders across the Directorate, the wider FCA and key external stakeholders such as the Prudential Regulation Authority and trade bodies, contributing to an environment where all opinions are listened to and respected and engaging with the FCA Diversity and Inclusion agenda.
• Contributing to the wider Department and Division, including making recommendations for continuous improvement of our processes, supporting colleagues and identification of sector-wide risks and issues.

Skills required

Minimum:

• Experience identifying harm and developing/implementing supervisory strategies to mitigate risks.
• Demonstrable experience building and managing relationships with internal and external stakeholders at all levels.
• Prior experience managing, coaching, and developing other team members and effectively delivering work through others.

Essential:

• Effective communication skills including oral, written and presentation skills.
• Strong focus on operational effectiveness as demonstrated by an ability to help organise, plan, and manage conflicting priorities and allocate work within the team.
• Ability to manage complex and large pieces of work with minimal oversight.
• Ability to think critically about the strengths and weaknesses of firms' business models and strategies to identify relevant risks, issues and themes and arrive at appropriate judgements.
• Willingness to learn and develop yourself and others, taking on new responsibilities and adopting a flexible and pragmatic approach to your work.
• An understanding of FCA supervision including use of interventions/tools, risk management and prioritisation approaches.
• Flexible approach to change and an ability to adapt working styles accordingly. The ability to act on your own initiative, to make informed and timely decisions, cutting through complexity and identifying the key issues.

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

• Job advert closing: 14th June 2026 at 23:59.
• CV Review/Shortlist: 16th June 2026.
• Case Study/Assessment: w/c 22nd June.
• First Interview: w/c 29th June.

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.