Deputy Director - Investigations & Enforcement
- Independent Football Regulator
- Hybrid (Manchester M2 3AW)
- 25 Nov, 2025
Job Description
Job summary
The Independent Football Regulator
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 will also have powers to prohibit clubs from joining competitions that are not fair or meritocratic, or that threaten the heritage or sustainability of English football.
Job description
Responsibilities Include:
- Provide strategic leadership and oversight of the Investigations & Enforcement function, ensuring effective delivery of proportionate, fair, and evidence-based regulatory action.
- Lead on complex and high-profile investigations into potential breaches of regulatory requirements, ensuring robust case management and clear outcomes.
- Oversee enforcement activity, including sanctions, settlements, and referrals, ensuring decisions are legally sound and procedurally fair.
- Develop and maintain investigation and enforcement policies, processes, and frameworks, embedding best practice and continuous improvement.
- Work in conjunction with the supervision function to ensure a consistent and robust approach delivering proportionate regulatory outcomes
- Provide authoritative advice and recommendations to senior leaders, Ministers, and stakeholders on sensitive and complex enforcement issues.
- Represent the Regulator externally, including with football clubs, leagues, supporter groups, government departments, and international partners, maintaining credibility and independence.
- Lead, motivate, and develop a diverse and high-performing team, fostering an inclusive and collaborative culture.
- Contribute to the senior leadership of the Football Regulator, playing a key role in corporate strategy, governance, and organisational development.
Person specification
Essential Requirements
- Proven track record of leading enforcement activity within a regulatory, legal, or compliance environment, delivering fair, proportionate, and robust outcomes.
- Strong understanding of legal and regulatory frameworks, with the ability to make evidence-based, defensible decisions in sensitive and high-profile contexts.
- Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence, negotiate, and build credibility with senior leaders, Ministers, external partners, and regulated entities.
- Outstanding communication and judgment, with the ability to present complex issues clearly and provide authoritative advice under scrutiny.
- Significant experience of strategic leadership, including setting direction, building capability, and driving delivery across a large and diverse team.
Desirable Skills
- Knowledge of the football sector, its governance, ownership, and integrity risks.
- Experience of designing or embedding regulatory frameworks, including enforcement and compliance strategies.
Benefits
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 + 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!
Things you need to know
Selection process details
To apply for this vacancy, you will need to submit the following documents:
- A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential and desirable criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 2 x A4 pages and you should insert your CV into the "Job History" section on Civil Service Jobs on the Civil Service Jobs application form.
- A Statement of Suitability (max 750 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential requirements highlighted. You may also choose to reference the desirable skills listed however these will not be considered in the assessment of your application except in circumstances where there are a high number and calibre of candidates.
For the shortlist, we will select applicants demonstrating the best fit for the role by considering the evidence provided in your application.
In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial sift will be conducted on the statement of suitability. Those who are successful in the initial sift will then be scored on all elements of the application.
The Interview
The interview process will assess experience through competency questions and a presentation. Full details of this, including the topic, length of time, and whether or not you will need to use visual aids, will be sent to you prior to your interview.
Prior to the interview you will be sent the competency questions in advance.
Your interview will take place in person at our Manchester office.
Further Information
A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.
The IFR has a location neutral pay scale. For more information on this, please see the ‘Candidate Information Pack’ attached.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
See our vetting charter .
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Working for the Civil Service
Diversity and Inclusion
Apply and further information
