Senior Researcher - Financial Live Survey

Job Title: Financial Lives Survey Senior Research Manager & Analyst

Division: Cross-Cutting Policy & Strategy

Department: Cross-Cutting Response, Research & Contracts

Salary: National (Edinburgh and Leeds) ranging from £52,400 to £71,200 and London from £57,700 to £78,300 (salary offered will be based on skills and experience)

This role is graded as: Senior Associate – Regulatory

Your recruitment contact is Sartaj Deol via . Applications must be submitted through our online portal. Applications sent via social media or email will not be accepted.

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.

Strategy, Policy and Competition (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).

Sitting in Cross-Cutting Policy & Strategy (CCPS) directorate, the FCA’s Market Research team provides vital consumer, firm and stakeholder insights that support regulatory decisions. They deliver the Financial Lives survey – a key, nationally representative study tracking UK consumer attitudes, behaviours and financial experiences.

The team also conducts bespoke surveys for other areas of the FCA, collaborates with third-party data providers and ensures research insights are embedded across the organisation. Their work informs policy, identifies emerging issues and measures regulatory impact – this includes helping to keep the consumer voice and the views of financial services firms central to financial oversight. We play a key role in shaping the FCA’s regulatory approach by providing data-driven insights

Role responsibilities

Working across multiple workstreams for the Financial Lives survey (FLS) within a high-performing team, i.e. questionnaire development, survey script testing, sampling and recruitment, data tables specification, weighting, analysis and reporting

Producing slide deck reports for some of the retail financial sectors and cross-sector topics covered by the survey, including through engagement with subject matter experts across the FCA

Responsibility for working closely with a supplier to co-author the FLS main report and shorter topic-specific reports

Support the team’s wider work on ad hoc surveys and qualitative research, including through use of your knowledge of FLS. You will manage some smaller, ad hoc projects.

Skills required

Minimum:

Prior experience in market research, at the FCA or with another a regulator, a government body, academia, or a market research agency

Demonstratable knowledge of a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, with the ability to analyse and present survey results effectively

Prior experience writing research reports to publication standard utilising excellent communication skills

Essential:

Broad understanding of the retail sectors within the financial services industry and the regulatory environment in which it operates

Experience of research in specific retail financial sectors, or a demonstrable ability to upskill quickly. Sector experience of particular interest to us relates to pensions, consumer investments and/ or financial advice

High attention to detail, with the ability and willingness to follow processes that ensure the quality and consistency of work across the team

Effective at planning and prioritisation, to deliver high quality outputs to deadlines

Benefits

25 days annual leave plus bank holidays

Hybrid model with up to 60% remote work

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

A flexible benefits scheme designed around your lifestyle

For a full list of our benefits, and our recruitment process as a whole visit our benefits page.

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 close: 11th November at 23:59pm

CV Review/Shortlist: 13th November

First Interview: Commencing 20th November

Second round shortlist: 27th November

Second Interview + 20-minute presentation: Commencing 5th December

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.

JR0019790