How to join Goldman Sachs on a £500k ($663k) salary before Christmas

It's late November and Goldman Sachs is adding managing directors (MDs).  Despite the lateness of the season, despite the fact that Goldman only just promoted its own biggest ever class of MDs, it's bringing in more outsiders.  If you want your bonus bought out by Goldman Sachs, now's the time.

Goldman's latest MD-level recruits are both in areas relating to trading technology, the two of which account for the bulk of the firm's lateral trading hires this year.  They are: Dave Clarke, the former head of electronic FX trading at Deutsche Bank and Michael Steliaros, the former global head of quantitative execution services at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Both men have just joined GS as MDs. Clarke's new title is unclear. He left Deutsche after nearly six years in July 2015 and has spent the past two years working for Mporium Group, a company which provides "digital marketing solutions" to mobile phones using analytics to manage the pricing, timing and selection of digital advertising campaigns. Steliaros's title at Goldman is global head of quantitative execution services. He left BAML in October, suggesting Goldman has fully compensated him for walking away from this year's bonus.

Both Clarke and Steliaros are based in London where, thanks to the European Union's bonus cap, Goldman has a reputation for paying very generous salaries. Headhunters say managing directors at the firm are typically on salaries of  £500k plus.

Needless to say, stepping into a £500k job at Goldman Sachs isn't easy. Nor is it instant. - Steliaros actually resigned from BAML in August, so his arrival at GS now is the culmination of a long process.

Getting a new job at Goldman before Christmas may therefore be wishful thinking, although the firm could possibly make an exception for exceptional people. Quants, trading technologists, experts in artificial intelligence and relationship managers who can sell its trading capabilities to corporates are top of the Goldman shopping list. If this is you, and you want a big salary before the festive season, you might want to get in touch. The firm is clearly gearing up for 2018 before it begins.

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Photo credit: parking across from Goldman Sachs by Nesster is licensed under CC BY 2.0.