Head of Funds Management - Market Intervention Wholesale Buy-Side

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 currently on an exciting journey as we drive forward significant organisational, people, process, and technology transformation to become a more forward-thinking, proactive regulator. We will use data more effectively to drive better regulatory decisions and build greater cohesion across our broad financial services remit.

Significant improvements in digital enablement, business intelligence, market data and information management maturity are all 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. The FCA will focus on four priorities:

• Be a smarter regulator
  ; predictable, purposeful and proportionate. The FCA will improve its processes and embrace technology to become more efficient and effective.

• Support sustained economic growth
  , by enabling investment, innovation and ensuring the continued competitiveness of the UK’s world-leading financial services.

• Help consumers navigate their financial lives by working with industry to boost trust, product innovation and ensuring the right information and support is available for people to take financial decisions.

• Fight financial crime
  , focusing on those who seek to use the fact they are regulated to do harm. It will go further to disrupt criminals and support firms to be an effective line of defence.

We’re looking for a talented and influential Head of Department to lead and play a key leadership role as we transform into a more innovative, adaptive and assertive regulator.

The Wholesale Buy-side Directorate is responsible for the regulation of the UK’s vibrant and important asset management sector, including supervision of firms managing £14.1trn and their funds, authorising new UK funds, and setting policy that leads to successful markets, provides protection to consumers, and promotes competition.

Within the directorate, this HoD will lead on the supervision of firms and their funds and the authorisation of funds, focusing on those asset managers that can serve retail investors. This will involve setting specific strategies for the largest fund manager s in the market, analysing risks and determining data-led strategies for identifying areas of harm. The department will take action to prevent harm occurring or stop harm where it has been identified, making effective use of a wide range of tools and powers.

The successful candidate will be empowered, and expected, to take strategic decisions in the interest of the market, department, and FCA, including in respect of design of supervision, strategy and risk appetite.

The role will report to Wholesale Buy-Side Director and is a key role within the wider Wholesale senior leadership team. You will work alongside the HoD Private Markets Asset Management and HoD Wholesale Buyside Policy.

• Joining the Senior Leadership Team at the FCA during an exciting and challenging time of great change in financial services and its regulation.

• Leading a department of talented and committed people through significant projects whilst also delivering on business-as-usual objectives.

• Exposure to strategic issues and key players in finance, both nationally and internationally.

• Building on and delivering a long-term supervisory strategy for the retail-facing asset management sector, including developing and demonstrating measures of success.

• Developing and delivering appropriate structures, processes and strategies for the department, aligning to broader divisional and organisational strategies, in areas such as funds, model portfolios, and firm supervision.

• Setting risk appetite, identifying connections with other areas of the asset management value chain and wholesale markets, and ensuring that supervisors have the confidence and support to intervene using…