Enforcement and Illicit Finance Senior Manager

Enforcement and Illicit Finance Senior Manager

Closing date: 24/08/2026

Location: Manchester

Position Type: Permanent

Salary: £74,210 – £91,915 plus an 8% flexible benefit that can be taken as cash or invested into pension

The Independent Football Regulator (IFR) has been established to protect and promote the sustainability of English football, for the benefit of fans and the local communities football clubs serve.

The IFR will help improve financial sustainability of clubs, ensure resilience across the leagues, and safeguard the heritage of English football. It will operate a licensing regime; set corporate governance standards and monitor, protect, and promote financial resilience. It will also enforce compliance with requirements on financial regulation, club ownership and directors, fan engagement, and heritage protection.

The IFR also has powers to prohibit clubs from joining competitions that are not fair or meritocratic, or that threaten the heritage or sustainability of English football.

Responsibilities Include

We are looking for an Enforcement and Illicit Finance Senior Manager to join the Independent Football Regulator (IFR).

The Enforcement and Illicit Finance function will be an integral part of the Independent Football Regulator, undertaking enforcement investigations into breaches of the Football Governance Act and our rules. The function is also responsible for overseeing and co-ordinating the Regulators efforts to reduce the risk of illicit finance within the professional game. The function forms part of the wider legal and enforcement department.

The Senior Manager will work with the Head of Department to oversee enforcement activity including developing the enforcement strategy, portfolio, policies and procedures. They will also oversee investigations and lead on high profile case work. The Senior Manager will also play a leading role in establishing the IFR anti-illicit finance strategy, working with IFR supervisors and a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.

The successful candidate will therefore play a crucial role in developing the function within the new organisation, building capability and the operational processes and controls necessary to ensure successful implementation within the new regulatory framework.

They will need to ensure close working with data, policy, legal and supervision teams so that the enforcement portfolio is effective and coherent and that the IFR’s board is supported to take robust regulatory decisions.

Essential Requirements:

• Proven experience in overseeing regulatory, civil or criminal enforcement investigations.
• Experience or knowledge of illicit finance / financial crime supervision frameworks.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, supported by the ability to communicate to a wide range of technical and non-technical audiences.
• Demonstrating sound judgement and ability to reach evidence-based decisions, balancing a range of considerations and complex sources of information to ensure legally defensible outcomes.
• Strong delivery capability, successfully delivering at pace in a complex and high-risk project / programme environment.
• Ability to provide strong direction and persuasive future vision for the function, setting it up for future success.
• A collaborative approach and ability to think creatively about new and issues.

Desirable Skills:

• Understanding of the football industry, including financial regulation and familiarity with the English football pyramid.
• Expertise in financial crime supervision / policy.

Terms and Conditions of Employment

If successful, you will join a Non-Departmental Public Body and will be employed as a Public Servant.

If you are an existing Civil Servant or a DCMS employee, you will no longer have access to Civil Service benefits including the Civil Service pension. 

The terms and conditions of employment include:

• Pension 12% – An employee contribution of 5%, with an employer contribution of 7%. 
• Flexible Benefit 8% – Employees can choose to invest 8% of their base salary into their pension or take as cash (post tax).
• Reward – We will have a performance-based reward programme. 
• 31.5 days annual leave.
• Flexible and hybrid working – 40% in office attendance.
• Occupational sick pay.
• 9 months paid Maternity Leave and generous paternity and adoption leave.
• A bespoke L&D programme to help you achieve your personal CPD, including paid membership fees.
• Cycle-to-work scheme and much more!

Interested Click apply and you will be redirected to our careers site to complete your application.