Tenure Pay Index
How the Pay Index is built
Every salary band on Tenure is sourced, triangulated, rated for confidence, and stamped with a refresh date. This page explains the rules in full, including where the data is thinner than we would like.
Where the data comes from
We do not rely on a single source. Each band in the Pay Index is built from a combination of the following, prioritised by reliability:
- 1.Regulatory filings and disclosures. DIFC, ADGM, and QFC entity filings and public regulatory disclosures where compensation bands are disclosed — partner accounts, executive comp in listed entities, sovereign wealth fund annual reports, and equivalents.
- 2.Firm-disclosed ranges. Pay bands we source directly from employers, including posted job ranges that carry a named salary, and ranges shared with us under confidentiality for benchmarking.
- 3.Recruiter and executive-search pay surveys. Annual and semi-annual surveys from GCC-focused recruiters, cross-checked against what we see in live inventory and contributor data.
- 4.Anonymous contributions. Self-reported comp from professionals on the platform. Aggregated, stripped of any identifying detail before it reaches a band, and used as a sanity check against the other three source classes rather than as the primary signal.
Confidence ratings
Every band carries one of three confidence ratings. We show them so you can judge the weight a number deserves before you use it in a negotiation.
High
Three or more independent sources, agreeing within 15%. Usually means recent inventory, a recruiter survey, and at least one contributor or regulatory disclosure line up.
Medium
Two sources, or three with moderate disagreement. Still defensible; slightly wider range on the display band to reflect the residual uncertainty.
Low
Minimum three sources but significant disagreement, or a thin cohort where confidence cannot be higher. Use as a directional read, not a negotiation anchor.
For example.
Our Legal DIFC Senior Associate band is built from 47 sources across 11 firms — rated high. The Dubai Tech Senior Engineer band is built from 89 sources across 23 firms — also rated high. By contrast, the Muscat Real Estate Director band rests on 6 sources across 4 firms and carries a medium rating.
Refresh cadence
The Pay Index is refreshed every quarter. Bands not updated in the current quarter retain their previous figures but lose one tier of confidence until a new triangulation is run. Bands that go two quarters without refresh are flagged on the sector page.
Current refresh. Q1 2026 — live.
Next refresh. Q2 2026 — scheduled for 15 July 2026.
Where the data is thinner
Some parts of the GCC market are genuinely hard to triangulate. We would rather say so than pretend the Pay Index is uniform across every sector, city, and level.
- •Oman. Coverage is lighter than our UAE and Saudi data. Muscat bands typically rest on fewer sources; most carry a medium or low confidence rating. We are actively expanding Oman coverage and expect the Q3 2026 refresh to close most of the gap.
- •Certain C-suite bands. Executive compensation at unlisted regional groups, family offices, and parts of the sovereign wealth fund direct- investment programme is sourced from disclosures, regulatory filings, and a small number of contributors. Carry ranges and long-term-incentive-plan economics in particular should be treated as directional.
- •Equity and carry. Where a role's compensation is materially shaped by carry, co-invest, or equity grants (PE, VC, scaling tech), the published base and bonus figures understate total compensation. We expose deferred and equity components where we have them; the rest is captured qualitatively in the band notes.
- •Housing and benefits. Housing allowances, schooling, and flights are captured separately on each band where the data supports it. Not every row has them populated yet — the refresh cadence is gradually closing this.
Contribute to the Pay Index
The Pay Index gets sharper every time a practitioner in a thin segment shares a verified data point. Contributions are anonymous, never resold, and never attributed to a named person or firm. If you want to contribute a band we currently lack or flag a figure you think is off, email pay-index@tenurecareers.io or reach us via the contact form.