Are Board expectations making the CRO role harder to hire for than ever?

Sam Burt, Amy Coulstock, Philip Moulson 20 May 2026

incoming train/ tube

Explore the growing gap between CRO hiring ambition and market reality

 

  • Expectations of the CRO role in financial services have significantly expanded beyond traditional risk management

  • Organisations now want CROs who combine regulatory expertise, commercial insight, strategic influence, and transformation leadership
  • The market for senior risk talent has tightened, making these profiles increasingly difficult to secure
  • Many firms are struggling to balance their ambitions with the realities of the available talent pool

 

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Image of Leathwaite employee Sam Burt

Sam Burt

Sam is a Partner based in our London office and leads Leathwaite’s Global Risk, Control and Security practice delivering for clients across both the first and second lines of defence, across a breadth of highly regulated sectors including Financial Services, Energy, Telecoms…

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Amy Colstock

Amy Coulstock

Amy is a Consultant in our Global Legal, Risk and Compliance and HR practices based in London. She specialises in partnering with financial services clients and has a strong track record of placing senior risk and compliance talent across both…

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Philip Moulson

Philip Moulson

Philip is a Senior Associate within the Legal, Risk & Compliance practice for the EMEA region. He joined Leathwaite in 2021 as part of the graduate programme and has spent time working across the Technology, HR, Finance and Interim functions.…

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