Financial Services Vacancies

Financial services recruitment: the people your clients trust with their money

A client’s confidence in a financial services firm rests on a handful of people: the adviser they meet, the paraplanner who builds the report, the investment manager behind the portfolio, the compliance lead who keeps the firm safe, and the client team who answer when they ring. They are regulated, in demand and hard to replace.

Cathedral Appointments is a recruitment agency based in Exeter, with presence in Plymouth and Taunton. We have been finding financial services people for South West firms since 1988, and we take the time to understand the role first, so you meet people who fit the work and your firm.

Talk to Ellie Connor on 01392 575691.

What we recruit

Financial services teams are built in layers. Cathedral Appointments recruits across all of them.

• Advice and planning. Financial advisers, IFAs, chartered and CFP financial planners, associate planners, and mortgage, protection and retirement advisers.
• Paraplanning and technical support. Paraplanners and senior paraplanners, technical specialists, and case and research support. Usually the hardest hire to make.
• Wealth and investment. Investment managers, analysts and administrators, portfolio and discretionary managers, and dealing and trust staff.
• Client services and operations. Client services administrators and managers, relationship managers, onboarding and new business teams, and banking and platform operations.
• Compliance, risk and governance. Compliance officers and analysts, risk and financial crime specialists, and Consumer Duty and regulatory reporting staff.

Senior and leadership roles

Financial services firms need senior people too, and Cathedral Appointments recruits them. These searches are often confidential.

• Firm leadership. Practice principals and partners, and managing directors and chief executives of advice and wealth firms.
• Advice and investment leadership. Directors of financial planning, heads of advice, heads of wealth management, and chief investment officers and investment directors.
• Control and operations. Heads of compliance, MLROs, risk directors, chief operating officers and finance directors.

What’s shaping financial services hiring

Three things are changing who financial services firms need, and when.

Advice is still out of reach for most people. FCA figures, cited by A&O Shearman, show that fewer than one in ten people take regulated financial advice, leaving around 23 million under-served. Demand for advice and planning is not the constraint; capacity is.

Targeted support arrived in April 2026. The FCA’s new regime, in force from 6 April 2026, lets firms with the right permission and at least £500,000 of regulatory capital offer ready-made suggestions to groups of customers. It is early, but firms that take it up are likely to need more client servicing, compliance and operations capacity.

The market is consolidating. The FCA’s latest wealth management review, reported by Portfolio Adviser, found the ten biggest firms hold almost 90% of the market and 41% of firms plan to acquire or grow. RSM expects private-equity-backed buyers to keep acquiring smaller planning firms, and warns that poor integration can lead to advisers leaving. Moves like these create openings and unsettle teams, which is when good people become available.

Permanent, temporary or interim

Permanent. Most of our financial services work is permanent hiring, for the people you want to grow with. We search, screen and shortlist, and you only meet people we would put forward ourselves.

Temporary and fixed-term. Client support, administration, paraplanning and compliance cover for a busy period, an absence or a project, on terms agreed with you.

Who we recruit for

We work with:

• Independent financial advice and planning practices
• Wealth and investment managers
• Private and specialist banks and lenders
• Accountancy firms with a wealth or planning arm
• Mortgage, protection and insurance firms

How we understand the role

In financial services, the job title tells you very little. A paraplanner can mean case-building for a planning firm or admin for a mortgage broker; an adviser can mean taking over a client bank or building one from scratch. We find out which.

• We start with the role, not the title. What the person will do, who they will report to and how your advice process works, before we start looking.
• Cathedral Appointments knows the regulated environment. Our consultants understand who needs to be certified or approved, what qualifications a role really needs, and what that means for who you can hire.
• We screen before we share. Every candidate you meet has been interviewed by us first.
• We stay with you to the start date. We advise on the offer, manage it and keep in touch with your new starter, because good people in this sector usually have more than one option.

What moves pay

Pay in financial services varies more than most sectors. The big factors are the stage of qualification (Level 4 diploma, Chartered or CFP), whether the person brings or takes on a client bank, regulated status, the size and model of the firm, and flexibility on working from home. If you are about to advertise, ask Ellie for a benchmark for your role.

Questions we get asked

Do we need a paraplanner or an adviser? A paraplanner supports advisers by researching and writing reports; an adviser holds the client relationship and gives the advice. If advisers are spending their time on paperwork, a paraplanner often gives you capacity faster than another adviser would.

What qualifications should we ask for? It depends on the role. For advisers, a Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning (CII) is the usual starting point, with Chartered or CFP status for more senior planners; paraplanners often hold, or are working towards, the Level 4 diploma; mortgage roles typically need CeMAP. We will help you decide what to ask for and what can be learned on the job.

What does targeted support mean for our hiring? If you plan to offer it, you will need the permission and capital, and the people to run it: client servicing, operations and compliance capacity above all. If you do not, it still raises customer expectations of what firms offer. Talk to Ellie about what your team needs.

How do we keep people after an acquisition? Consolidation is when advisers and paraplanners look around. Clear roles, a plan for client banks and quick decisions on pay and progression matter most. We can help you work out what your team needs before you lose someone.

Your contact

Ellie Connor, Recruitment Consultant.

Ellie leads our financial services team and works with financial services leaders across Devon, Somerset & Cornwall.

Ellie Connor: 01392 575691 | ellie@cathedralappointments.co.uk