Recruitment
Recruitment Services
Recruitment for regulated roles is not a volume exercise. It’s a risk decision.
STJ Talent exists to help regulated financial services firms hire critical people with confidence.
We specialise in recruiting into roles where the cost of getting it wrong is high commercially, operationally, and regulatorily. These are positions that require judgement, credibility, and the ability to operate under scrutiny, not just a good CV.
Our work spans permanent, interim, and contract recruitment across Compliance, Risk, Financial Crime, Data Protection, and Board-level leadership.
Whether you’re appointing a senior function head, strengthening a stretched team, or securing short-term expertise during a period of change, we deliver recruitment support that is precise, credible, and commercially sensible.
This is recruitment built for regulated environments, not adapted to them.
Why STJ Talent
Built by people who’ve done the job, and hired for it.
STJ Talent is led by a team with nearly three decades of experience working inside regulated financial services businesses.
We’ve held senior roles.
We’ve built and led teams.
We’ve hired for SMF positions, board appointments, and specialist functions, and
We’ve carried accountability for regulatory outcomes.
That experience shapes everything we do.
We understand the pressure that comes with hiring into regulated roles, the scrutiny, the timelines, the consequences of a poor decision. That’s why our approach is deliberate, focused, and grounded in real-world understanding.
We don’t operate as generalist recruiters.
We don’t chase volume, and
We don’t outsource judgement.
Instead, we combine operator-level insight with a lean, modern recruitment model designed to deliver better outcomes without unnecessary cost or complexity.
Our Specialisms
Focused by design. Specialist by necessity.
We recruit permanent, interim, and contract professionals into roles where experience, credibility, and decision-making matter.
Our specialisms reflect the areas where hiring mistakes create the greatest risk.
Business & Boardroom Leadership
We support firms through growth, transformation, remediation, and stabilisation by recruiting senior leaders who can operate confidently in regulated environments.
This includes:
CEOs, Managing Directors and COOs
Board members and Non-Executive Directors
Senior executives trusted to lead through complexity and scrutiny
These are leaders who understand governance, accountability, and the realities of regulated decision-making.
Compliance
We recruit across first and second line Compliance functions, from senior leadership to specialist SMEs.
This includes:
SMF16s and SMF17s
Heads of Compliance
Advisory, monitoring, policy, and regulatory change professionals
Every candidate is assessed with a practical understanding of regulatory expectations and delivery, not just technical knowledge.
Risk Management
We source strategic and operational risk professionals who can identify, assess, and manage risk across complex organisations.
This includes experience across:
Enterprise and operational risk
Conduct risk
Governance, controls, and frameworks
We focus on individuals who can turn risk frameworks into meaningful, actionable outcomes.
Financial Crime Prevention
We recruit professionals responsible for protecting firms from evolving financial crime threats.
This includes:
MLROs and Deputy MLROs
AML, CTF and sanctions specialists
Fraud investigators and financial crime SMEs
Our approach reflects the reality of financial crime risk — dynamic, fast-moving, and unforgiving of weak oversight.
Data Protection
We help firms secure experienced privacy and data professionals who understand both regulation and operational delivery.
This includes:
Data Protection Officers
Privacy leaders and data governance specialists
With experience across UK GDPR, UAE data laws, and international standards, we recruit individuals who can protect data while enabling the business to operate effectively.