Financial Services Project Manager Recruitment
Financial Services Project Manager recruitment at PMagency focuses on organisations delivering change in highly regulated, risk sensitive environments. We work with banks, insurers, asset managers and fintech businesses across the UK where delivery assurance, regulatory compliance and stakeholder scrutiny are central to every programme.
Clients typically engage us when change initiatives stall under governance pressure, regulatory deadlines are at risk or delivery teams struggle to balance pace with control. Financial Services Project Management demands professionals who can operate confidently across compliance, technology, operations and executive stakeholders. Our insight is informed by the PMagency Annual Salary Survey, now in its 14th year, tracking long term hiring behaviour and salary movement across the sector.
Roles we recruit for and 2026 salary insight
Junior Project Manager (2026 average salary £43,800)
Salaries increased by 4.4% compared with 2025 as firms continue to build internal change capability at entry level. Junior Project Managers typically support regulatory change, reporting and stakeholder coordination. Hybrid working stands at 71%, reflecting established flexible working models across the sector.Project Manager (2026 average salary £65,900)
Up 4.9% year on year, driven by sustained demand across regulatory remediation, platform modernisation and operational resilience programmes. Project Managers are responsible for end to end delivery, risk management and senior stakeholder reporting. PRINCE2 and PMP deliver an average salary uplift of 10%, particularly on regulatory or audit facing initiatives.Senior Project Manager (2026 average salary £82,400)
A 5.1% increase on 2025, reflecting ongoing pressure on complex, multi stream change programmes. Senior Project Managers lead high impact initiatives with material regulatory and reputational risk. Hybrid working reduces to 62% due to increased governance and executive engagement.Programme Manager (2026 average salary £99,800)
Salaries rose by 5.0% year on year, particularly within large scale transformation, regulatory response and data driven change programmes. Programme Managers oversee interdependent projects aligned to strategic and regulatory outcomes.Head of Project Management (2026 average salary £115,600)
Up 4.7% on last year, with demand strongest in organisations strengthening delivery governance and assurance at enterprise level. These roles define frameworks, control models and capability development across portfolios.
Geographically, demand for Financial Services Project Managers is highest in London, the South East and key regional hubs including Manchester, Leeds and Edinburgh. London attracts a salary premium of approximately 12% above the UK average, reflecting concentration of regulated activity and programme scale. Regional hubs sit around 4–6% below London but have seen faster year on year growth of 5.3% as firms continue to decentralise change delivery.
According to PMagency Annual Salary Survey data, Financial Services Project Management salaries have increased by 30% over the past five years, outperforming the wider UK Project Management market. 72% of professionals receive employer funded training, most commonly PRINCE2, PMP and regulatory change qualifications. Certified Project Managers earn on average 11% more than non-certified peers, with the strongest uplift seen in regulatory, risk and transformation programmes. Retention is closely linked to workload management, delivery realism and organisational support, while flexible working remains a key differentiator across all levels.
