Tenure Pay Index · 2026
Every level’s pay from floor to top, split by employer calibre. 1,031 verified sources across 12 professional sectors in UAE and Saudi, built from offer letters and salary surveys. Refreshed every quarter.
Pay by sector · September 2026
Monthly total fixed pay, from the Standard-tier floor to the Exceptional-tier ceiling. Entry, mid and senior levels shown; open a sector for every level and the three employer-calibre tiers.
| Sector | Entry level | Mid level | Senior level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal & Compliance | AED 25,000 – 60,000NQ | AED 83,000 – 172,000Counsel | AED 103,000 – 254,000Partner |
| Banking & Capital Markets | AED 18,000 – 42,000Analyst | AED 45,000 – 107,000Vice President | AED 108,000 – 240,000Managing Director |
| Investment Management | AED 21,000 – 43,000Investment Analyst | AED 41,000 – 85,000Portfolio Manager | AED 108,000 – 223,000Head of Asset Management / CIO |
| Finance & Accounting | – | AED 34,000 – 69,000Audit Manager | AED 53,000 – 108,000Director |
| Technology | AED 19,000 – 37,000Junior Engineer / Data Analyst | AED 45,000 – 91,000Staff Engineer / Lead Engineer | AED 77,000 – 155,000VP Engineering / CTO |
| Risk & Cybersecurity | AED 22,000 – 55,000Security Engineer | AED 40,000 – 99,000Security Architect | AED 60,000 – 165,000CISO / Head of Security |
| Marketing & Communications | AED 15,000 – 30,000Marketing Executive | AED 30,000 – 62,000Marketing Manager | AED 85,000 – 176,000Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) |
| Human Resources | AED 27,000 – 56,000HR Manager | AED 64,000 – 132,000HR Director | AED 96,000 – 197,000Chief HR Officer (CHRO) |
| Revenue & Go-to-Market | AED 26,000 – 72,000Customer Success Manager | – | – |
| Real Estate & Construction | – | AED 64,000 – 132,000Director of Development / Design / Urban Planning | – |
| Energy | AED 24,000 – 51,000Engineer (Petroleum / Process / Drilling) | AED 28,000 – 57,000Engineering / Operations Manager | – |
| Sector | Entry level | Mid level | Senior level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal & Compliance | – | SAR 100,000 – 206,000Counsel | SAR 124,000 – 304,000Partner |
| Banking & Capital Markets | SAR 20,000 – 46,000Analyst | SAR 53,000 – 126,000Vice President | SAR 78,000 – 163,000Director / Executive Director |
| Investment Management | – | SAR 44,000 – 89,000Portfolio Manager | SAR 103,000 – 212,000Head of Asset Management / CIO |
| Finance & Accounting | – | SAR 32,000 – 64,000Audit Manager | – |
| Strategy & Consulting | SAR 26,000 – 56,000Consultant / Senior Consultant | SAR 53,000 – 113,000Manager / Engagement Manager | SAR 82,000 – 183,000Principal / Associate Director |
| Technology | SAR 25,000 – 52,000Junior Engineer / Data Analyst | SAR 38,000 – 77,000Staff Engineer / Lead Engineer | SAR 83,000 – 168,000VP Engineering / CTO |
| Risk & Cybersecurity | SAR 25,000 – 63,000Security Engineer | SAR 37,000 – 92,000Security Architect | – |
| Marketing & Communications | SAR 16,000 – 32,000Marketing Executive | SAR 32,000 – 65,000Marketing Manager | SAR 87,000 – 180,000Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) |
| Human Resources | SAR 17,000 – 35,000HR Generalist / Officer | SAR 66,000 – 136,000HR Director | SAR 102,000 – 211,000Chief HR Officer (CHRO) |
| Real Estate & Construction | – | SAR 66,000 – 137,000Director of Development / Design / Urban Planning | – |
| Energy | – | SAR 38,000 – 79,000Engineering / Operations Manager | – |
Median pay by seniority, per country: UAE · Saudi Arabia
What you’ll see inside
Every band on the Pay Index reads like this. Sourced, dated, and analysed inside the sector hub.
Open Legal & ComplianceLower · Median · Upper
Sector hubs
Why the Pay Index
Every band is anchored to a primary source we hold on file. No crowdsourcing, no self-reported numbers, no padding to fill thin sectors. Nothing publishes below three verified sources, full stop.
The Tenure Pay Index is built from primary sources, not crowdsourced information. Every row is anchored to a document we hold on file.
A professional reviews every row before it lands. Titles are normalised to a canonical role per sector so percentiles aren't distorted by title inflation.
Refreshed quarterly. Sources older than 12 months are excluded from active percentile calculations until re-verified.
Methodology
We treat methodology as a living document. If something feels off, it’s probably worth fixing publicly.
Get in touchThe Tenure Pay Index is built from primary sources, rather than crowdsourced information, and every row is verified by a professional before it lands in the dataset.
No band publishes on fewer than three verified sources. The floor is enforced in the data itself, not by a reviewer: a band that falls below it is withdrawn from every page, and it returns automatically once a new source clears it. Everything on the surface has cleared that floor. No padding.
Job titles in the Gulf vary wildly; the same person might be a Vice President at one bank, a Director at another, and a Senior Manager at a third. We normalise titles to a canonical role within each sector so percentiles aren’t distorted by title inflation.
Why only UAE and Saudi? They’re the markets where we have enough verified sources per sector to ship credible percentile distributions. Narrowing the scope is how we guarantee accuracy. Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, and Kuwait will return when we have the source depth to do them justice.
Salary trends
Sector-level movement read across comparable series, with the year-by-year history behind each sector's bands. Published only where a sector holds at least three observed years.
Find your number
Pick your sector. Get the lower, median, and upper bands, every number traced to a primary source.