So far, 2011 has proven to be a little disheartening for those awaiting the great revival in fortunes of the Gulf financial sector jobs market. But while the overall picture is subdued, some roles remain a challenge to fill. Here are the six areas where you’re most likely to find success:

Analyst and associates within M&A

After a relatively muted couple of years, projections for M&A activity in the Gulf are looking pretty positive for 2011. The Middle East M&A Barometer published by Zawya and M: Communications is predicting a 20% uplift in activity this year – largely driven by increased activity in Qatar and consolidation in the financial sector.

In terms of hiring, this is largely manifesting itself in a need to bolster the junior ranks, suggests Richard Lett, regional director of Hudson Middle East.

“International investment banks want some new blood, and analyst and associate level positions are emerging,” he says. “Unfortunately, there were a lot of redundancies at this level, and a sizable proportion of people have left the region over the last couple of years. Banks are therefore either trying to transfer people internally, or looking to the corporate finance teams of Big Four accounting firms.”

Debt capital markets

Despite a healthy $37.1bn in Middle Eastern debt issuance in 2010 – largely down to a sharp increase in activity in the latter part of the year – most banks have been reluctant to increase their debt capital markets headcount.

This is beginning to change. Headhunters suggest that RBS and UBS are adding to their DCM teams as well as traditional Middle Eastern heavyweights HSBC and Standard Chartered.

“DCM is a growth area this year, but because most of the people in these teams are being well looked after, and there’s a limited talent pool, most banks are moving people from Western markets into these roles,” says Barney Mundell, managing director of headhunters Loxley Partners.

Arabic-speaking relationship managers

A combination of nationalisation targets a need for banks to break into new markets like Saudi or Qatar where local language skills are more integral is driving demand for Arabic speaking relationship managers within both corporate banking and wealth management. Unfortunately, they’re not in plentiful supply.

“There’s a large Asian candidate base in these roles, but banks want Arabic-speaking relationship managers who can open doors in markets where they have little coverage. Good people are hard to find,” says Jonathan Gould, manager, financial services at Morgan McKinley in Dubai.

Market and operational risk

The Middle East has been playing catch up in the governance stakes for some time now, leading to a sustained spike in demand for compliance and risk professionals in the region. Currently, the focus is on attracting more market and operational risk managers to the region.

“Predominantly the large, regional commercial banks are hiring risk professionals, and are often looking to Western markets for high quality candidates because of a shortage of talent locally,” says James Sayer, associate director – Middle East at Robert Half.

Big Four accountancy firms

The Big Four accounting firms were expanding their Middle East presence last year, which was creating a few problems with finding enough people to fill the vacancies. This could be compounded further by hiring plans in 2011.

PwC has said it intends to hire 250 people in the first half of this year, Deloitte intends to recruit for its new Bahrain corporate finance unit, and Ernst & Young is set to take on 2,000 people this year.

Sales and relationship roles within hedge funds and real estate investment

Hedge funds and real estate investment firms seem to be demanding a near impossible profile for their sales and relationship management roles in the Gulf – deep knowledge of the buy-side, at least eight years in a top investment bank, long-term relationships with key companies in the region and Arabic language skills, suggests Matt Weldon, director, co-head of investment banking at recruiters Gulf Connexions.

“Essentially it’s that combination of a deep client network and a strong deal-making history. Add in a need to understand alternative investments and, not surprisingly, these roles are challenging to recruit for,” he says.