Financial-services hiring in the UK is concentrating at the top of the skills ladder. Recent government analysis found that recruitment in the sector was generally for Regulatory Qualification Framework (RQF) 6+ roles, rather than RQF 3-5 the GOV.UK Temporary Shortage List: Stage 2 report (2026). That matters when you benchmark delegated authority, because higher-qualified roles tend to carry wider decision rights and larger sign-off thresholds.
In plain terms, RQF 6+ is degree-level and above. When most open roles sit at that level, the market is telling you that firms want people who can own decisions, not just process them. So the adverts you read for benchmarking are, increasingly, adverts for people who hold real delegated authority.
Delegated authority shows up most clearly in roles where someone signs off risk, spend or regulatory decisions: underwriting leads, credit committee members, compliance approvers and operations managers. Because sector recruitment skews to RQF 6+ roles rather than RQF 3-5 the GOV.UK Temporary Shortage List: Stage 2 report (2026), the authority language in live adverts is a reliable signal of where firms draw their decision lines.
Read a cluster of open roles and patterns emerge fast. You see approval limits by job title, the point at which a decision escalates to a committee, and which functions hold independent sign-off. Group those by seniority and regulatory level and you have a working map of market-standard scope, drawn from what firms are actually hiring for.
Start by defining the authority the role really needs. Write the approval limits, escalation points and decision rights into the brief before you advertise, so the scope is explicit rather than assumed. With sector hiring weighted towards RQF 6+ roles rather than RQF 3-5 the GOV.UK Temporary Shortage List: Stage 2 report (2026), you also need to be realistic about the qualification level your scope demands.
Done well, this turns a vague brief into a clear specification. You attract people who can hold the authority you are offering, and you can defend your scope decisions with market evidence rather than guesswork.
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