UK FinTech Risk & Regulatory Leadership Executive Search
FCA Focused Executive Search for Regulated & Risk Critical Organisations
MastarRec partners with UK regulated FinTech firms requiring senior leadership across risk, regulatory and compliance functions under the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) supervisory framework.
In today’s environment, governance failure is no longer operational, it is personal.
Under the Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SMCR), named individuals carry direct accountability. Consumer Duty has intensified supervisory scrutiny. Operational Resilience is actively tested. Enforcement risk is real and visible.
This is not a transactional hiring cycle.
It is a regulatory maturity recalibration.
We operate selectively within environments where leadership must withstand regulator facing challenge and board level interrogation.
The Current UK Regulatory Climate
Across the UK FinTech ecosystem, we are observing:
• Increased FCA supervisory engagement across Consumer Duty implementation
• Heightened scrutiny on SMF16 / SMF17 accountability and MLRO frameworks
• Strengthened expectations around SMF4 Chief Risk Officer oversight
• Formal escalation of Skilled Person Review (s166) risk
• Board level interrogation of second line independence
• Operational Resilience testing under evolving PRA and FCA guidance
• Greater enforcement visibility across financial crime, conduct and complaints handling
The regulatory intensity is structural, not cyclical.
Boards are responding accordingly.
Leadership Mandates We Cover
We specialise in retained executive search for:
• Chief Compliance Officer (SMF16)
• MLRO / Head of Financial Crime (SMF17)
• Chief Risk Officer (SMF4)
• Director of Regulatory Affairs
• Head of Conduct Risk
• Head of Compliance Monitoring & Assurance
• Operational Resilience Leadership
• Regulatory Reporting Directors
Each mandate is assessed against regulator facing ownership, enterprise accountability and structural governance maturity, not simply title alignment.
Our Approach
We do not operate on volume.
We focus on:
• Leaders with demonstrable FCA supervisory interaction
• Executives who have led MRA / thematic review responses
• Named SMF accountability holders
• Governance architects, not control operators
• Enterprise wide framework designers
• Board facing regulatory presenters
We assess leadership altitude, regulator credibility and structural decision authority.
Precision matters.
FCA-Facing & Board-Aligned
We understand that regulatory exposure ultimately translates into board accountability.
Our work sits at the intersection of:
• FCA supervision
• SMCR personal liability
• Consumer Duty compliance
• Operational resilience governance
• Enterprise risk recalibration
We partner with boards, CEOs, NEDs and executive committees navigating regulatory intensity at scale.
Why MastarRec
Founded by Tariq Masood, MastarRec operates across UK and US markets, specialising exclusively in regulated and risk critical environments.
We combine:
• Structural regulatory insight
• SMCR-aware leadership calibration
• Discreet retained search execution
• Institutional level candidate evaluation
• Governance maturity assessment
We understand the distinction between operational compliance and enterprise level regulatory architecture.
Our clients value precision, discretion and regulatory clarity.
For Boards & Executive Teams
If your organisation is experiencing:
• Increased FCA supervisory engagement
• Consumer Duty implementation pressure
• Expansion into new regulated activities
• Sponsor bank dependency
• SMCR restructuring
• Second-line independence recalibration
• Heightened enforcement visibility
We operate selectively and confidentially.
MastarRec
Executive Search for Regulated & Risk Critical Organisations
UK & US Focus
