Senior Associate – Market Research specialist

The FCA regulates the conduct of approximately 35,500 firms in the UK to ensure our financial markets are honest, fair and competitive. The FCA’s Market Research team provides vital consumer insights that support regulatory decisions. The team conducts bespoke surveys and qualitative research for other areas of the FCA, collaborates with third-party data providers and ensures consumer insights are embedded across the organisation. They also deliver the Financial Lives survey (FLS) – a key, nationally representative study tracking UK consumers’ attitudes, behaviours and financial experiences. Their work informs policy, identifies emerging issues and measures regulatory impact – helping to keep the consumer voice central to financial oversight.

The role will be around 75% on bespoke research and around 25% on FLS. You will work closely with the team leads (Lead Associates) for FLS and for Bespoke research. You will work with our internal clients, to write excellent Statements of Requirements (SoRs) for new bespoke research, assess/evaluate agency bids, and work with appointed suppliers to ensure research projects are delivered on time and within budget. You will be responsible for ensuring that projects use optimal data collection, data is robust, and findings are analysed and reported well. For quantitative bespoke projects you will ensure that sampling, screening and weighting are addressed as early as needed in the project timeline, and that outputs will meet client needs. For qualitative research you will ensure projects meet client needs, whether they are standalone projects, or intended to help design a survey or to fill the gaps quantitative research cannot fill, or to inform behavioural testing research run by our colleagues in Economics. For some projects, your role may be to design the survey or the qualitative research, and/or to provide in a SoR a clear research design for agencies to refine. Sometimes you will produce a first draft of the questionnaire or discussion guide. You will be responsible for two or three of the retail financial sectors or topics covered by the FLS, meaning you deliver the questionnaire, the tabspec and the slides-based report for these sections of the survey.

Skills Required Minimum

• Prior experience managing market research projects within a market research agency, regulator or government department, including devising and overseeing workstreams and detailed timelines as well as overseeing suppliers.
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to work autonomously and deliver on your own initiative, to manage competing priorities, to work collaboratively to achieve wider team goals, and to keep delivery on track.
• High attention to detail, with the ability to implement and maintain processes that ensure the quality and rigour of the team’s work.
• Experience of designing and conducting research for, or on behalf of, a financial services organisation or a public sector organisation.
• Very good knowledge of a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, with the ability to analyse results effectively.
• Experience of writing reports to publication standard, in PowerPoint and in Word.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Broad understanding of the different retail sectors within the financial services industry and the regulatory environment in which it operates.
• Experience of designing and conducting research in one or more financial services sectors (or an ability to demonstrate you will get up to speed quickly).

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 currently work a minimum of 50% in the office each month
• A flexible benefits scheme designed around your lifestyle

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. 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.

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 Timeline

• Advert Closing Date: Tuesday 8th September 2026 at 23:59
• CV Review/Shortlist: Wednesday 9th – Friday 11th September 2026
• Shortlisted Candidates to be informed – Friday 11th September 2026
• First Round Interviews, over Teams: Monday 21st September – Thursday 1st October 2026
• Second Round shortlist: Thursday 1st October 2026
• Shortlisted Candidates to be informed – Friday 2nd October 2026
• Second Round Interviews, in person ideally, and including a case study task: Thursday 15th October and Friday 16th October 2026

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