GCC Salary Guide (November 2009)

AGENCY 

Abu Dhabi AED

• Account Executive               13k – 15k
• Account Manager                15k – 25k
• Account Director                 24k – 33k
• Associate Director                33k – 36k
• Director                             34k – 42k
• General Manager                 38k – 48k

Bahrain BHD

• Account Executive              0.8k – 1.3k
• Account Manager                1.3k – 2.3k
• Account Director                 2.2k – 2.7k
• Associate Director                2.8k – 3.5k
• Director                             3.5k – 4.3k
• General Manager                 4.0k – 6.0k

Dubai AED

• Account Executive              10k – 14k
• Account Manager               15k – 23k
• Account Director                22k – 30k
• Associate Director               28k – 34k
• Director                             34k – 38k
• General Manager                36k – 46k

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia SAR

• Account Executive            11k – 14k
• Account Manager             15k – 23k
• Account Director              22k – 25k
• Associate Director             28k – 34k
• Director                          34k – 41k
• General Manager              38k – 78k

Kuwait KWD

• Account Executive           11k – 13k
• Account Manager             16k – 22k
• Account Director              25k – 31k
• Associate Director            30k – 36k
• Director                          34k – 38k
• General Manager              35k – 44k

Qatar QAR

• Account Executive           12k – 15k
• Account Manager            15k – 24k
• Account Director             21k – 30k
• Associate Director            28k – 35k
• Director                          37k – 44k
• General Manager              38k – 49k

IN-HOUSE

It is interesting how wildly divergent the earnings of inhouse practitioners are. Whilst the table below clearly cannot point towards individual countries or nationalities, it reflects the salary brackets for the four main in-house job titles. Our figures come from speaking with candidates in every corner of the GCC and they include Arab and Western candidates.

• Director of Communications    44k – 78k
• Marketing Director                39k – 80k
• Head of PR / PR Manager       24k – 40k
• Press Officer / Executive       17k – 29k

COMMENT

Presenting a meaningful in-house and agency salary guide for the GCC is a complex and potentially misleading task. There are too many variables, most notably the economies of each Gulf country. There is a disparity in pay between Arabs and non-Arabs even if they’re doing the same job. Nationals are paid significantly more than non-nationals and the cost of living varies widely across the region. What we can see is that compared with their western counterparts, GCC agency employees are paid well. However GCC in-house salaries are higher still, which coupled with increasing demand leads to a volatile labour market.

GUIDE NOTE

The titles of ‘senior’ account executive, ‘senior’ account manager and so on are not featured in this salary survey because some consultancies do not use these job titles. However the ‘senior’ practitioners in each salary band are likely to earn toward the upper end of their relevant scale. All salaries quoted are on a per-month basis