Risk analytics teams in London and New York do much of the same work. They build and validate credit models, run stress tests, measure market and counterparty exposure, and explain the results to boards and supervisors. The big difference sits in the frameworks that govern the nature of the job, and those same frameworks inform the kind of people a firm needs to hire.

For hiring managers building or expanding a team in either market (or across both), the regulatory backdrop is the most reliable guide to the profile that will succeed.

Two regulators, two approaches to model risk

In the UK, the Prudential Regulation Authority sets expectations for model risk through Supervisory Statement SS1/23, which took effect in May 2024. It applies to banks with internal model approval for capital and sets out five principles, from model identification through to independent validation. It also asks firms to manage risks arising from AI and machine learning techniques used in modelling.

In the US, the Federal Reserve, OCC and FDIC replaced the long-standing SR 11-7 guidance in April 2026 with SR 26-2. The new guidance is explicitly risk-based. Oversight scales with each model's materiality, and it is aimed mainly at banking organisations with more than $30 billion in assets. Generative and agentic AI sit outside its scope, although firms are still expected to govern them.

The practical result is that UK teams tend to prize depth in documentation, governance and validation against a defined set of principles. US teams increasingly need people who can tier a large model inventory by materiality and defend those judgements to examiners.

"The UK clients I speak to want model risk candidates who can do more than validate," says Declan Stark, who covers the UK market for Broadgate. "They want people who can write clearly for a committee and hold their ground with a senior model owner. Technical depth is the starting point, not the differentiator."

Capital rules are moving on both sides

The PRA has confirmed that Basel 3.1 will apply in the UK from 1 January 2027, with full implementation by 2030. US agencies issued revised Basel III proposals in March 2026, replacing the 2023 versions. For risk analytics teams, both mean recalibrated credit models, new reporting and a period of parallel running. That work arrives on top of business as usual, and it is where demand for experienced credit and capital modellers is most visible.

How the skill profile differs

The core technical toolkit is shared: statistics, Python or SAS, SQL, and a working knowledge of the relevant capital framework. The differences sit at the edges.

  • Accounting standards. UK and European banks provision under IFRS 9. US banks use CECL. The concepts overlap, but the modelling conventions and reporting differ, and candidates rarely move between them without some ramp-up time.
  • Stress testing. US candidates from larger banks will often have Federal Reserve stress testing experience. UK candidates will know the Bank of England's own exercises. Both are valuable, but they are not interchangeable on day one.
  • Scale and structure. US risk functions at large banks are often bigger and more specialised. UK teams, particularly outside the largest banks, tend to need people who can cover modelling, validation and stakeholder reporting in the same role.
  • Job titles. A "quantitative risk analyst" in New York and a "credit risk analyst" in London may be doing very similar work. Search briefs that rely on titles alone will miss strong candidates in both markets.

"US clients are prioritising people who have worked at scale," says Connor Nurse, who covers the US market for Broadgate. "Someone who has managed a large model inventory, or worked through a Federal Reserve stress testing cycle, can usually contribute from the first month."

Building across both markets

Firms hiring in both locations should decide early which work sits where. Model development is often centralised in one market, with validation or monitoring in the other, and the hiring profile should follow that split rather than mirror it.

Pay structures differ too. Base, bonus and total package expectations in London do not translate directly to New York or Boston. Our Risk Management, Risk Analytics and Decision Science UK Salary Guide sets out current UK benchmarks by role and sector.

How Broadgate can help

Broadgate recruits risk professionals for regulated firms from London and from our Boston office. If you are building a risk analytics team in the UK, the US or across both, Declan Stark (UK) and Connor Nurse (US) would be glad to talk through the market with you.