By its own admission, the Middle East risk management survey by recruiters GRS is meant as a rough guide rather than an absolute authority, but it seems there are massive discrepancies between the levels of pay you can bring in at different organisations.

As the table below shows, the minimum salary for a head of risk in the Middle East is $80k, whereas it’s $365k at the top end. GRS says that the region is incredibly difficult to quantify due to the variations between countries and individual organisations.

It’s not even as simple as being able to earn more at an international bank than a local bank, or vice versa, suggests the report.

"A local commercial bank in Dubai may decide to pay a head of credit risk significantly more than its neighbour because it is trying to achieve a rating, has a commitment to stakeholders to fulfil, or simply because it finds difficulty in attracting talent on non-monetary terms."

"A multinational bank may decide to pay a greater salary than a local bank because of the size of the team / task / regional scope but it may just as easily decide to pay less because it feels that working for the brand or internal opportunities represent a significant non-cash incentive."

Source: GRS