If you hold, or are ready to hold, an FCA Senior Manager Function — Chair, Chief Risk Officer, Compliance Oversight, MLRO, or any other executive or non-executive designation — register with us directly. Most of the appointments we handle are never publicly advertised, so being in our network is genuinely the best way to hear about a live search before it reaches a wider market.
Who We Work With
We work with candidates across the full range of SMF designations and career stages: sitting and former Chairs and committee chairs, Chief Executives and Chief Risk Officers, experienced compliance and financial crime specialists, and strong candidates stepping up into their first SMF-designated role for the first time. Whatever stage you’re at, we’ll give you an honest, specific view of where you genuinely fit — not a generic assessment against seniority alone.
Why Register Directly With SMF Capital
Confidentiality as standard
Board and senior executive SMF searches are almost always run confidentially. We never submit your details to a client without your explicit agreement first, and we won’t disclose that you’re looking unless and until you tell us to proceed.
Founder-led, every time
Every registration is read personally by Adrian Lawrence FCA, and every search you’re put forward for is led by him directly — not handed to a junior consultant partway through.
A genuinely thorough, specific process
We assess candidates against the exact fit and proper standard the FCA will eventually apply, and against designation-specific, sector-relevant experience rather than general seniority. That means a more substantive conversation than a standard senior recruitment process, and a better match once you’re actually in front of a client.
Engagement Types We Cover
- Permanent — full-time board or executive SMF appointments
- Interim — defined-period cover, including bridging an unplanned vacancy under the FCA’s 12-week rule
- Fractional — portfolio arrangements, particularly for SMF16 and SMF17, split proportionately across a small number of firms
Register Your Interest
Tell us the designation you hold or are targeting, your sector experience, and your preferred engagement type. We recommend the form capture:
- Name, email and phone number
- CV upload
- Current or target SMF designation(s)
- Sector experience
- Preferred engagement type — permanent, interim or fractional
- Whether you’re actively looking or open to the right opportunity
Prefer to speak directly? Call 0203 137 2496 or email recruitment@smfcapital.co.uk with your CV attached.
What Happens After You Register
Adrian reads every registration personally and will typically respond within one working day. Where we have a live search that’s a genuine fit, we’ll come back to you directly and confidentially to discuss it. Where nothing live matches right now, you’re in our network for when a relevant search does land — which, given how far ahead of a public search our SMF appointments often run, is a genuinely useful position to be in.
Before You Register
Understand the designation and the market before you apply.
All 13 Designations
What the FCA actually expects from every SMF role we recruit for.
What SMF Roles Pay in 2026
Current compensation benchmarks across the board and executive designations.
Adrian Lawrence FCA — Founder, SMF Capital
Adrian is a Fellow of the ICAEW and holds an ICAEW practising certificate in his own name. He founded FD Capital in 2018 and has since built out Exec Capital, NED Capital and Accountancy Capital alongside SMF Capital. Every candidate registration is read personally by Adrian. View Adrian’s ICAEW profile.