Location: London or Edinburgh (hybrid)
Commitment: Part-time, 1–2 days per week initially
Engagement: Fractional / interim, day rate
Sector: FCA-authorised MiFID investment firm, institutional broking
Role
Exec Capital is retained to find an experienced compliance professional for a part-time role with an established FCA-authorised investment firm. The firm serves institutional clients and has offices in Edinburgh and London. It has a long track record and a lean, experienced team, and now wants senior compliance support that combines hands-on delivery with regulatory accountability.
The role starts at one to two days a week. You will be the firm's senior compliance adviser, working closely with the CEO and leadership team. You will give day-to-day advice, run the compliance monitoring programme, own the financial crime framework, and manage the relationship with the FCA, including regulatory submissions. The firm would like the successful candidate to take on the SMF16 (Compliance Oversight) and SMF17 (Money Laundering Reporting Officer) functions, subject to FCA approval. We are therefore looking for someone who has held, or is ready to hold, senior manager accountability at a MiFID firm.
This role suits a seasoned compliance practitioner who is comfortable working independently and knows how a wholesale broking business operates in practice. You should be able to add value quickly without needing a large supporting team.
- Provide practical day-to-day compliance advice to the CEO, front office and operations, covering MiFID II conduct of business, client categorisation, conflicts of interest and inducements.
- Design, maintain and deliver a risk-based compliance monitoring programme, report findings to senior management, and track remediation through to completion.
- Oversee best execution and order handling arrangements, including periodic reviews of execution quality and policy.
- Maintain oversight of MiFIR transaction reporting, identify and resolve reporting errors, and notify the FCA where required.
- Own market abuse controls, including trade and communications surveillance, review of alerts, and preparation and submission of Suspicious Transaction and Order Reports (STORs).
- Act as MLRO: maintain the firm's AML, counter-terrorist financing and sanctions framework, review the business-wide risk assessment, oversee client due diligence standards, handle internal suspicious activity reporting and National Crime Agency SARs, and produce the MLRO annual report.
- Prepare and submit regulatory returns and notifications through RegData and FCA Connect, working with finance on MIFIDPRU reporting and the ICARA process as needed.
- Maintain the firm's SM&CR framework, including responsibilities maps, statements of responsibilities, the certification regime, fitness and propriety assessments, and conduct rules training and breach reporting.
- Keep compliance policies, procedures and the compliance manual up to date as regulation changes, and brief the leadership team on developments that affect the business.
- Deliver compliance training to staff across both offices.
- Be the firm's primary point of contact with the FCA, managing correspondence, supervisory requests and any thematic reviews.
- Substantial compliance experience within FCA-regulated investment firms, ideally including brokers, dealers or other wholesale markets businesses.
- A strong working knowledge of MiFID II/MiFIR, the Market Abuse Regulation, the Money Laundering Regulations, SYSC and the SM&CR.
- Current or previous approval as SMF16 and/or SMF17 is strongly preferred. You must be able to pass the FCA's fitness and propriety assessment and show you have enough time for the role alongside any other appointments.
- Hands-on experience of transaction reporting oversight, trade surveillance and STOR processes.
- A proven record of building and running compliance monitoring programmes and reporting to boards or senior management.
- Experience with RegData submissions and direct FCA engagement.
- A recognised compliance or AML qualification, such as the ICA International Diploma in Compliance or AML, or CISI qualifications, is desirable.
- Familiarity with fixed income or other OTC markets is a significant advantage.
- Sound judgement, clear communication, and the confidence to challenge constructively at senior level.
- Able to work from Edinburgh or London, with occasional travel between the two offices as required.
- A senior, high-impact role with direct access to the CEO and real influence over the firm's compliance culture and framework.
- Flexible part-time commitment of one to two days a week, with potential for this to grow alongside the business.
- A competitive day rate reflecting the experience required and the senior manager accountability involved.
- Hybrid working across Edinburgh and London, with autonomy over how you structure your time.
- An established, well-regarded firm with a long operating history and an experienced team.
- A long-term fractional engagement suited to an independent practitioner building a portfolio of senior compliance appointments.
This search is led personally by Adrian Lawrence FCA, Managing Director of Exec Capital. To apply in confidence, send your CV to recruitment@execcapital.co.uk and mention your current SMF approvals and day rate expectations. You can also call 0203 834 9616 for an informal conversation.
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