Senior Associate – Market Research Manager

Job Title: Senior Associate – Market Research Manager 

Division: Supervision, Policy and Competition   

Directorate: Cross Cutting Policy & Strategy  

Department: Cross-Cutting Response, Research & Contracts  

• Salary: National (Edinburgh and Leeds) ranging from £53,800 to £67,199 and London £59,200 to £73,799 per annum (Salary offered will be based on skills and experience)  

• This role is graded as: Senior Associate – Regulatory  

• Your recruitment contact is: Louis Van den Burg via [email protected]  

• Your External Recruitment contact is: Tahir Kahn via [email protected] 

• Application must be submitted through our online portal. Applications sent via social media or email will not be accepted.  

• You will need a CV and a supporting statement no longer than 500 words. The supporting statement is mandatory. Applications without a covering letter may not be accepted. 

• We are also advertising for a Research Specialist (JR0022287). You can apply for both roles through one application. Please indicate in your supporting statement if you are interested in, and why you are suitable for, both roles.  

About the FCA and the team  

The FCA regulates the conduct of c 35,500 firms in the UK to ensure our financial markets are honest, fair and competitive. Follow this link to find out more About the FCA.  

The FCA’s Market Research team provides vital consumer insights that support regulatory decisions. They deliver the Financial Lives survey (FLS) – a key, nationally representative study tracking UK consumers’ attitudes, behaviours and financial experiences.   

The team also 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.  

Their work informs policy, identifies emerging issues and measures regulatory impact – helping to keep the consumer voice central to financial oversight.  

The team also manages a smaller amount of firm research, including research about the perceptions firms and other stakeholders have of the FCA and how firms experience regulation.   

Role responsibilities 

• The role will be around 50% on FLS, and around 50% on bespoke research, focused on research management. You will work closely with the team leads (Lead Associates) for FLS and for Bespoke research. 

• You will ensure FLS is delivered to time and budget through excellent timetabling, coordinating dependencies across workstreams and suppliers, resource allocation, progress monitoring, supplier management and stakeholder engagement. This will include working with the team to manage responses to the many queries we receive for FLS analysis in FCA papers and publications. It will also include managing the MI (management information) we collect on the types of queries we receive and from which parts of the business. You will also manage the internal governance processes to sign off FLS publications.  

• Contracts are in place with 4 agencies for FLS up till wave 7 ending in 2031. You will manage the FLS budget spreadsheet, liaise with suppliers monthly to agree invoice amounts and produce a monthly summary for Finance. You will also produce forecasts as required by Finance.   

• FLS runs on a 2 year cycle, meaning that every 2 years you will manage the process of reagreeing scope and costs with suppliers for the upcoming wave. Within each 2-year wave, you will manage contract variations, as needed.   

• You will also provide project management support for the procurement and delivery of bespoke market research projects, through excellent timetabling, resource allocation, progress monitoring, supplier management and stakeholder engagement.  An important task will be to help build and maintain the pipeline of work coming into the team.  We have a Market Research Framework in place, to source suppliers – this will be renewed in 2028, and you will have a substantial role in planning this renewal from around mid 2027.   

• There is an option for you to run smaller bespoke projects, ie working on the research itself (eg design, analysis and reporting), subject to your availability and interests.  

• You will also support stakeholder engagement and communications planning to maximise the value of all the Market Research Team’s outputs, helping to ensure they are embedded in publications, speeches, policy development, supervision work and strategic decision-making. 

• Finally, you will contribute to wider team management, including recruitment coordination, managing the agendas for team meetings and heredays, updating FCA systems about the data we hold and any risks we own, and continuous improvement of Market Research Team processes and record-keeping. 

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. 

Essential 

• Good knowledge of a broad range of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, with experience in survey design, questionnaire development, and analysis and reporting. With these skills, you will be able to help the team create and keep to workable projects and project timelines.  

• Ability to manage complex timelines and capacity plans (eg using Gantt charts and Excel), adapting delivery to changing priorities, resource constraints and competing demands.   

• Excellent team-working skills to support the team and help them to manage their own resource and priorities. 

• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to engage senior colleagues, subject matter experts, operational teams and suppliers. 

• Experience of managing research budgets, with a high level of ability in Excel for this. 

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. 

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 

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 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  

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.