Contractors' Questions: How much do digital transformation roles in financial services pay?

Contractor’s Question: If I wanted to move deeper into Financial Services but take my Digital Transformation (DT) expertise with me, as this article indicates is possible, what sort of role or expectations would I be looking at? I hear demand in FS for DT skills is stronger than it is in the technology sector at present. Oh, and how much might a DT role pay, daily?

Expert’s Answer: The finance industry is undergoing a profound digital transformation, driven by advancements in technology and the increasing importance of data analytics.

Blockchain, and fintech sought-after too

Finance professionals with expertise in fintech, blockchain, and data analytics are indeed in high demand.

As businesses strive to leverage technology to improve efficiency and gain a competitive edge, the need for senior finance hires who can lead these initiatives has surged.  

Not to be sniffed at

For your reference, I’ve put some extracts from a recent Digital Transformation role we recruited for, below.

Please note that although this role, ‘Senior Finance / Transformation Consultant’, was with a charity, the rate is competitive and even comparable to some financial DT roles at commercial organisations.

An FS digital transformation role be like this

Location: Fully Remote

Day rate: DOE £500 to £750 per day

Main purpose of role: This is an interim role to support our head of finance during a period of finance transformation; including new system implementation, business process change and team development.

Areas of focus: This role will support the head of finance with a wide range of work, which may include leading ‘sprint’ projects to complete data deep-dive and the design and build of improved processes, identifying roles and responsibilities around key areas, including analysis of current funds balance, and design of new end-to-end process to manage and maximise efficiency.

The successful candidate will support our finance transformation programme, and will assist in a data cleanse ‘project’ in advance of migration to new system.

Requirements, qualifications, and the successful/ideal candidate

Potentially excluding yourself from this role (that said, your qualifications are not disclosed in your question, so I don’t know for sure), the ideal candidate is described as “an experienced finance professional,” who “holds relevant accounting professional qualifications; ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent.”

The charity also specified that the successful candidate would have “up-to-date knowledge of financial accounting standards, year-end audit requirements, financial policies, process and controls.”

Experience of the charity sector was “highly preferable.”

A broader church...

Should these financial sector-specific requirements including the qualifications, make you ineligible for this charity Digital Transformation role, don’t be deterred and keep looking. The rise of ‘Remote Work’ -- which has become as distinct a job-search category in FS as ‘Digital Transformation’ -- means companies are increasingly open to hiring remote professionals who can contribute effectively from anywhere in the world. This shift means organisations are willing to tap into a broader and more diverse talent pool. Good luck!

The expert was Nick Singh, a director at finance recruitment agency Alexander Daniels.