Role:
Regulatory M&A Advisory Lead
Location:
London/Belfast (Hybrid). Regular collaboration with Belfast HQ; periodic travel required.
About fscom
fscom Compliance Maturity SpecialistsTM provide governance, risk and compliance solutions to the payments, FX and digital asset sectors across UK and Europe as well as the asset management and capital markets and banking sectors.
Over the last fifteen years, we have built a reputation for providing high quality, commercially focused advice to our clients, and are widely recognised as the premier compliance consulting firm to the financial services sector. Our value proposition is simple: we help our clients navigate their compliance maturity journey, delivering expertise that makes a real difference.
Following our strategic partnership with Bridgepoint in 2022, we are on an exciting growth trajectory with huge opportunities ahead. We are looking for driven, ambitious professionals who want to be part of this journey, make their mark, and help us continue to be the best at what we do.
The opportunity
This is a build role. We are looking for a driven, entrepreneurial consultant to establish and scale fscom’s dedicated Regulatory M&A advisory practice from the ground up. You will define the proposition, win the work, deliver it, and build the team around you.
The practice will focus on regulatory due diligence and transaction advisory across payments, fintech, and capital markets, leveraging fscom’s deep regulatory expertise and market reputation to carve out a differentiated position in a space currently underserved by specialist firms.
What you will do
Build the Practice
- Define the regulatory M&A advisory proposition, scope, methodology, delivery frameworks, and go-to-market positioning.
- Develop repeatable tools, templates, and playbooks that enable efficient delivery under transaction timelines.
- Set the quality standard for regulatory due diligence and embed it across the team as it grows.
Win Work and Build Relationships
- Originate opportunities through your network of law firms, PE houses, corporate finance advisors, and investor clients.
- Position fscom as a credible regulatory M&A advisor in competitive and time-pressured transaction processes.
- Work with the BD and Marketing Director to develop the pipeline and convert opportunities into mandates.
- Leverage fscom’s existing client base to identify and cross-sell M&A advisory into live relationships.
Lead and Deliver Engagements
- Act as the senior regulatory authority on transactions, providing technical judgement, challenge, and client-facing leadership.
- Lead complex engagements including buy-side and sell-side regulatory due diligence, transaction readiness assessments, and regulatory risk analysis.
- Support SPA negotiations and regulatory risk allocation with commercial, practical advice.
- Manage engagement economics — scoping, pricing, staffing, budget monitoring, and margin delivery.
Develop the Team
- Recruit, train, and mentor a delivery team as the practice scales.
- Build a sustainable model that balances senior client oversight with leveraged execution by junior team members.
- Embed fscom’s standards for regulatory M&A work and ensure consistent quality across engagements.
What we are looking for
A driven individual who has led M&A regulatory engagements end-to-end and are ready to step into a practice-building role.
Essential
- Hands-on experience leading regulatory due diligence and transaction advisory engagements in financial services.
- Strong technical knowledge of payments, e-money, fintech, and/or capital markets regulatory frameworks.
- Demonstrable ability to deliver high-quality work under tight transaction timelines with precision and commercial judgement.
- Experience developing methodologies, frameworks, or delivery standards for specialist advisory work.
- An established network across law firms, PE/investor clients, or corporate finance advisors with the ability to originate opportunities.
- Experience managing, coaching, and developing junior consultants in a technical advisory environment.
Desirable
- Experience building or scaling a specialist practice or service line within a consulting firm.
- Familiarity with cross-border regulatory considerations in European financial services transactions.
- Exposure to regulatory change programmes arising from M&A integration (e.g. permissions variations, change in control applications).
Attributes
- Entrepreneurial and self-starting — comfortable building in ambiguity without waiting for permission.
- Commercially sharp, understands how regulatory events create advisory opportunities and can price work accordingly.
- Credible and authoritative with senior clients, lawyers, and investors in high-pressure transaction environments.
- Energetic, driven, and hands-on, willing to do the work as well as lead it.
What will I get from the role?
- Ownership: a rare opportunity to build a practice from scratch within an established, well-regarded platform with the backing and brand to make it work.
- Growth: PE-backed firm on an accelerated trajectory, with genuine investment in new capabilities and service lines.
- Profile: establish yourself as a recognised market authority in regulatory M&A advisory, with fscom’s reputation behind you.
- Culture: collaborative, expert-led, and values-driven environment. Great Place to Work accredited, Diversity Mark Silver.
- Reward: competitive package with performance-linked incentives aligned to practice growth.
We are an equal opportunities employer, committed to Diversity & Inclusion and being a Great Place to Work (GPTW) for all and currently hold the Silver standard in Diversity Mark NI and the GPTW accreditation.
To apply
If you are interested in this role, please forward your CV to careers@fscom.co or contact Jill Michael, Head of People, for a confidential conversation.
