The Gambling Commission is recruiting a permanent Head of Illegal Markets as the regulator continues to expand its enforcement work against unlicensed gambling operators targeting consumers in Great Britain.
The role is based within the Commission’s enforcement department and is listed as hybrid, with regular travel to Birmingham. The advertised salary is £65,000 ($88,512) per year.
John Pierce, Gambling Commission Enforcement Director, said the position would provide “high-level operational oversight” of a multi-disciplinary enforcement team.
He added that the successful candidate would help shape the regulator’s “response to illegal gambling.”
The appointment process comes during a period of increased regulatory focus on illegal gambling, particularly online operators using offshore infrastructure, affiliates, search visibility and payment channels to reach British consumers without a Commission licence.
In October 2025, the regulator said its Illegal Markets Team had issued 3,140 cease and desist and disruption notices since April 2024. It also referred 447,778 URLs to Bing and Google, with 287,961 URLs removed.
The Commission’s approach has increasingly centred on disruption rather than traditional enforcement alone. Its work includes referrals to registrars, hosting providers, search engines and payment businesses, alongside cooperation with other regulators and law enforcement bodies.
Illegal gambling has also become a funding issue. DCMS has consulted on changes to Gambling Commission fees, stating that tackling illegal markets requires investment in technology, training, research, data analysis, international engagement and senior leadership oversight.
The regulator’s latest illegal gambling data update, published in April, said 21 months of web traffic estimates did not show consistent or sustained growth in consumer engagement with illegal gambling sites. However, it also warned that rising VPN use may make some traffic harder to measure.
The recruitment follows wider leadership changes at the regulator. In April, GGI reported that Andrew Rhodes had officially stepped down as Gambling Commission CEO, with Deputy Chief Executive Sarah Gardner taking on many of his responsibilities until a permanent successor is named.
The Commission’s latest business plan says illegal markets work will remain part of its wider digital-age regulatory strategy
