The big banks are HIRING: These are the 6-figure roles they need to fill

Australia's big four banks are hiring. (Photos: Getty, AAP)

The big four banks have been slashing head count in bank branches and customer-facing departments – but at the same time, they’re shoring up their tech departments.

“What we are seeing is banks and telcos hiring for positions that will streamline their operations, especially when it comes to the customer experience,” said Raife Watson, the CEO of job ad search engine Adzuna.

“Jobs such as software engineers are in high demand because a well-designed customer experience means the requirement for face-to-face contact is diminished.”

Big banks aren’t the only major companies cutting jobs: Telstra also recently announced 1,000 job cuts, on top of the 8,000 announced last year, Watson pointed out, as it pivots to a more digital strategy.

“Both Telstra and the banks are attempting to claw back profits following periods of turmoil. In the banking sector, positions such as bank tellers, small business managers, and home lenders are being phased out, while Telstra will significantly decrease retail and call-center staff.

“Both industries will focus on using technology to minimise unnecessary activity and streamline their operations.”

According to Adzuna, these are the four in-demand jobs at the big banks that will pay a cool six-figure salary:

Software engineer

Average salary: $119,067

This role, focused on improving customer experience on mobile devices, is being “hired in bulk” across the big four.

These are the skills you’ll need:

• Experience in modern development practices and languages such as JavaScript/React, Java, Go, Kotlin, and NodeJS

• Writing unit tests, performing code reviews, and being involved in design discussions about architecture, data models and business logic

• Working with operations and architecture groups to develop scalable and supportable applications

Cloud engineer

Average salary: $122,762

NAB in particular is undergoing a customer relationship manager transformation, which will see a financial services cloud platform roll out across the bank, according to Adzuna.

If you’ve got these skills as an Australian cloud engineer in the banking industry, you’re in high demand:

• Experience with Azure automation - Python, Powershell, Json template generators

• Experience with Azure DevOps, Jenkins, GIT. ARM templates, Powershell and Terraform

• Experience writing infrastructure as code - routing, DNS, ACLs, VPN

• Experience in fine-tuning virtualisation, storage configuration, and replication for specific workloads

Data analyst

Average salary: $115,297

Data analysts in the banking industry will gather data from various sources and identify patterns and trends that contribute to better business decisions.

Banks are after data analysts with these skills:

• The ability to understand the data flow of all enterprise systems

• Programming languages such as SQL, Oracle and Python

• The ability to analyse, model and interpret data

• Reviewing business requirements & high-level designs and solutions to ensure they remain consistent with existing enterprise information management functionality

• Secure an appropriate understanding of the data flow of all enterprise systems through core use of data

Digital business analyst

Average salary: $125,835

This position will require both technical know-how as well as business strategy nous. With many face-to-face services being taken online, digital business analysts are in high demand.

The skills needed in this role are:

• eCommerce or financial project management

• Ability to convert business requirements into technical solutions

• Experience with forecasting and financial analysis

• The implementation of new digital products and services

• Delivering initiatives for digital banking, internet and mobile platforms

Jobs in the finance sector fell – but are on the rise again

The workforce of the Big Four banks is looking decidedly slimmer after the banking Royal Commission.

ANZ had cut down its workforce by nearly 5,000 by October 2018, while NAB earmarked a 4,000 reduction in its workforce across 2017 to 2020.

Westpac is spinning off its financial arm which will see an estimated 900 full-time jobs become redundant, while CommBank has had to fight off rumours of job cuts of up to 10,000.

And those at the upper echelons of the big companies have also paid a personal price, with paypackets for company executives, board directors, CEOs and chairpersons alike copping haircuts.

Sunsuper’s January Job Index report showed job growth in the finance sector had fallen by 9.6 per cent in 2018.

But this trend reversed in the March quarter, where job growth in the same sector rose by 10 per cent, primarily in IT roles.

According to Seek, risk and compliance roles in the banking sector grew 48 per cent in 2018.

Financial services recruitment firm Robert Walters earmarked market risk professionals, business intelligence analysts, operational risk and credit professionals, compliance and audit professionals and technology specialists and experienced developers as jobs in the finance sector that would be in demand this year.

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