Job vacancy: Exotic interest rates trader

Anyone with three years experience of dealing with Bermudans, index amortising swaps and knock-out corridors may be eligible for an annual package of more than 200,000 at a leading bank, according to an advert placed by the headhunter Huxley Financial.

Asif Salam, a consultant at Huxley, said the recruitment market has cooled in recent months but remains fairly healthy.

'Exotics is where the action is in interest rates,' he said. 'There is demand for people with unusual kinds of experience, and the pay is far higher pay than in vanilla trading because the products are more complicated.'

Anyone with knowledge of hybrid trading (ie trading products that combine interest rates with another asset class, such as equity derivatives) is in particular demand, Salam said. 'It's important to stay at the forefront of developments. Bermudans may be exotic now, but one day they will be vanilla.'

The advert says the job will be based either in London or at the recruiting bank's headquarters, somewhere else in Europe. Salam said the bank had decided not to specify where in order to retain anonymity.

'Not many banks are active in this field at a serious level, so it could give the game away,' he said. 'This bank recently hired a big hitter in the field and is planning to increase its activity.'

The advert demands an 'outstanding quantitative education with a PhD or MSc from a top institution', as well as a proven trading track record.

Salam says there has been no shortage of interest, as staff with that kind of experience know what they are worth and are prepared to move to get it. He said such jobs could pay a salary of 100,000-150,000 plus a bonus of more than 100,000.

Job Vacancy looks at advertisements from both eFinancialCareers.com and other sources.