Consumer Lending Associate

Job title: Consumer Lending Associate
Division: Supervision, Policy & Competition
Department: Market Intervention - Consumer Lending

• Salary: National (Edinburgh and Leeds) ranging £43,100 to £50,266.67 and London from £47,300 to £55,166.66 (salary offered will be based on skills and experience)

• This role is graded as: Associate, Regulatory

• Your recruitment contact is Shafika via [email protected]. 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.  

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). Within the Consumer Finance directorate, we are recruiting Supervisors for our Consumer Lending Department - specifically in the High-Cost Lenders and Mainstream Lenders teams. These roles work collaboratively to address market harms through frontline supervision, informed by diverse regulatory and industry knowledge.

Role responsibilities

• Review and analyse data and information from mainstream lenders and high-cost credit firms to assess their business models, identifying and mitigating risks that could harm UK consumers

• Support work to address problems identified within firms and across the consumer credit market, ensuring compliance and fair treatment of customers

• Draft clear and concise correspondence to firms and stakeholders

• Develop constructive relationships with senior stakeholders to communicate progress on supervisory actions and secure positive outcomes

• Contribute ideas to improve internal processes and encourage wider divisional improvements for more effective supervision

• Oversee continuous improvement and monitoring of Consumer Duty within mainstream lending and high-cost credit firms, ensuring good customer outcomes

• Challenge practices that risk poor consumer outcomes, focusing on affordability and treatment of customers in financial difficulty, ensuring firms take corrective action where necessary

Skills required

Minimum:

• Prior experience of retail lending, consumer finance and financial services regulatory framework

• Demonstrable experience of assessing and analysing information and presenting work to others

Essential:

• A demonstrated ability to prioritise your workload, manage your time effectively, and apply acumen to navigate challenges in a demanding setting

• Effective communication skills: you will need to demonstrate an ability to communicate effectively with a diverse audience, including working collaboratively with stakeholders

• Demonstrated sense of accountability: you should be able to show that you initiate pragmatic action-based solutions to problems

• Ability to prepare documents and briefing notes ahead of firm meetings, engaging effectively with firms in writing to support delivery of good consumer outcomes

• Experience of identifying the business model, financial or regulatory risks posed by firms, the consumer harms which might result from these risks and appropriate tools for mitigation

• An understanding and experience in dealing with issues impacting consumers in vulnerable circumstances

• An extensive understanding of regulatory finance and consumer protection, including an understanding of the regulatory framework including handbook rules and guidance

Benefits

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays

• Hybrid model where employees work a minimum of 40% in the office each month (expectation of 50% for senior leaders). Changing from September to a minimum of 50% in the office each month (expectation of 60% for Directors and Executive Directors)

• 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 timeline

• Job advert close: 2nd February 2026, 11:59pm

• CV Review/Shortlist: 4th February 2026

• First Interview: from 12th February 2026

• We are recruiting for a headcount of 2 Associates

• 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.