MyintD

Considering a job offer from PIF. The offer details are below. I'm currently earning a base of 90K GBP per annual plus around 35% bonus, with additional 12% pension paid by my current employer.
1) 52K SAR monthly inclusive of base salary, housing, transport, gym, etc. (net of 48K after deducting 4K paid to the government)
2) Bonus is typically 3 to 5 months base salary.
3) Education allowance of 25K SAR per annual per child up to 4.
4) Family return flight ticket per annual.
5) 25 days annual holiday.

Any thoughts? Do we normally target doubling the disposable income with the move? If so, the package currently largely falls short of that target.

nonthaburi

Are you going to be there on your own or with family? Makes a massive difference. Ditto on or off compound.

MyintD

Married with a toddler just over 1 year old. Wife is a qualified accountant working in a large international bank, so hopefully not to difficult for her to find a job in Riyadh too, if that's what you mean by a "massive difference" as both of us will be working.

fth

Cant comment on Riyadh, but would say that in other countries in this region, the pay, hours and cost of nursery (and juggling child care) does not make finding a well paid job for trailing spouses easy.

MyintD

Thanks. Good advice. Regardless of the fact that my wife works or not, I am targeting a doubling of disposable income. Is it realistic in these days? I understand the company also looks at your current pay, but based on my experience i could find my next job as department head elsewhere in London with at least 25% increase in base.

Anyway, if i want to negotiate the offer, would a 25% increase (from 52K to 65K) too aggressive/offensive?

nonthaburi

No. That wasn't what I meant at all. I'd forget about including any job for your wife in the equation for now. It may happen, it may not, but more than likely as a trailing spouse she'll struggle to find something well paid, and it may take a long time to find something if it does actually happen.

You're the main man here, so focus on your salary. What I meant was that having a family incurs extra costs. Not an issue for you right now but schools can be very expensive.

As can compounds. Presumably your wife will want to live on one for social contact, getting to know other women etc, children meet ups etc. A 2 bedroom apartment probably starts around 120k SAR a year, and a 3 bedroom villa from 200k. There will be cheaper options, and there will definitely be more expensive options!

Throw in a japcrap car rental and a tank of gas a week and that's another 2-3k a month probably.

So you're already down about 15-20k a month and you've not eaten anything or had any fun yet.

Maybe another 5k a month on food. You know how you live. Food costs are broadly similar to the UK I find. Niche items will be expensive.

On the plus side, social life in Riyadh is cheap. More BYOB at house parties, events, bbqs, pool parties etc, or compound parties at the bar, rather than nightclubs obviously.

MyintD

Thanks. These details help. I might have some ideas as how to negotiate. Much appreciated.

MyintD

Btw, the contract only lasts for one year, and will get renewed in one year's time. Is it a typical setup?

dfjordan

It looks like you have a decent situation in the UK, and your wife too, if she wants to work. You didnt say why you are considering the move, but if the idea is just to try and put some capital away, I think it’s shortsighted, as you need to think about how you would get back into the UK market , and what about your wife living in a compound, and no doubt missing her family ? Think carefully about what you will be giving up

MyintD

Thanks for the advice.

Money is a big incentive but also the opportunity of being part of a growing organisation.

I've seen the comments of "CV get burned or exit strategy" a couple of times on this forum. Just wondering if that also applies to PIF? To me, the fund is among the top 10 SWF and will be one of the top 3 if the strategy plays out as planned.

scot47

A spell in KSA cane make it diffiult to get a job afterwards. Do you have an Exit Strategy ? How and wqhen will you leave ? What will you do after Saudi ?

MyintD

I have the impression that the team needs a bit of upgrade/enhancement in some areas, and this is where I can bring in my experience to add value. I plan to stay for at least a few years and see how it goes. By the time i leave, say 5 years, PIF should (hopefully) have grown into a $1tn fund, which is larger than ADIA. The experience should not look too bad on my CV. No?

weasel decentral

I think the issue is that most people consider KSA to be a financial backwater not exactly at the cutting edge of all things financial - full of city boys doing monster deals etc. over lines of coke. The fund may be more the plaything of the ruler rather than anything else, the drones are there to execute his orders with whatever spreadsheet manipulation is required to make them pass muster. Generally competence and changing or upgrading things is the last expectation you should have.
Specifically PIF is hanging its hat on a few interesting local tourism strategies - if you can see yourself lying on a beach in Saudi drinking a Mai Tai in 5 years time then I guess $1tn is within the realms of possibility.
A few of my friends work for PIF

scot47

Professional competence is not required in Management in KSA. "Just do what the Boss tells you !"

MyintD

Thanks both. All good advice. It's a tough decision I have to say. Let me speak to the hiring manager again and get my expectation reasonable.