Salary survey: Operations staff get creative in job search

Outsourcing and cost-cutting have led to big redundancies in London the back and middle office in the past two years. But amid the gloom there are still pockets of hiring.

There is a particular shortage of expertise in derivatives settlement, recruitment firms say. Bruce Wheelan, a consultant at Andersons, said prime brokerage stood out as an area where operations hiring was relatively buoyant.

Banks were looking for people with experience in stock lending roles, said Wheelan.

Michele Blomfield, head of banking recruitment at Joslin Rowe, said there was strong demand for staff in credit derivatives. The global credit derivatives market doubled in size last year and operations teams were now being built to cope with the increased volume.

Banks were struggling to find people experienced in ISDA (International Swaps and Derivatives Association) documentation, the paperwork that governs swaps and derivatives transactions.

These roles require highly specialist knowledge; few have it, and those that do command a premium, said Wheelan.

A pay survey by Robert Walters, a middle and back office recruitment specialist, shows salaries for senior ISDA documentation experts in London at between 40,000 (€59,300) and 50,000.

Prime brokerage settlements and clearing staff, as well as over-the-counter derivatives operations settlements staff, are earning between 32,000 and 40,000. This compares to 28,000 to 32,000 for UK equities settlements roles.

The outlook is not promising for the hundreds of out of work operations staff with an equities background.

Recruiters agreed there were few equities positions available, while making the transition to the more buoyant fixed income sector was becoming harder. Banks had become very fussy, said Blomfield; they were only hiring people with highly relevant experience.

Wheelan said: 'It's a buyers market. There are a lot of people out there and banks are willing to wait for the right people with the right product knowledge.'

But job seekers are being creative. One option for people with expertise in equities clearing and settlements is to move into a support role in a hedge fund, said Wheelan. 'Where the underlying product in a hedge fund is stock, the processes are similar.'

But hedge funds are tiny compared to investment banks and openings are few.

Alternatively, senior equities specialists can emphasise their managerial and commercial skills and broaden their product knowledge.

Joe Thomas, a recruitment consultant at Wheat, said banks were increasingly looking for commercially minded individuals who could run a line function as well as engineer change.

At the same time, Thomas said, there was demand for multi-product specialists. Banks such as Deutsche were combining divisional operational support teams and systems to form a common platform.

The cost advantages mean other banks could follow suit.