The hot banking job in the Middle East that pays surprisingly well
Dubai has become one of the busiest financial services recruitment markets across EMEA in the first part of 2014, but it’s the less glamorous corporate banking roles that are providing the jobs.
Salaries for senior banking professionals with expertise in cash management, trade finance, and transaction banking as well as the more traditional corporate banking relationship management roles, are on the rise across the Gulf, as international and regional banks look to add to their headcount. New research from recruiters Selby Jennings suggests that the Dubai banking recruitment market was one of the most active during Q1, largely down to a surge in jobs in these sectors.
Banks such as Standard Chartered, HSBC and BNP Paribas have all been bolstering their transaction banking teams, it says, while local institutions across Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Senior bankers with a “strong portfolio of clients” are those firms are most keen to hire, says Selby Jennings.
These roles might not exactly set pulses racing, but in the Middle East they can be very lucrative indeed - even outstripping pay offered to senior investment bankers. According to recruiters Robert Half, a head of transaction banking position in the UAE can pay up to $457.7k – a 6.2% increase on 2013, which is the largest pay rise of any role. Meanwhile, trade sales positions offer salaries of up to $278k, again one of the biggest uplifts of any position.
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