The recruitment pendulum remains firmly in favour of employers and there is not much movement in senior treasury talent in Europe or the US today.
In marked contrast to the post-Covid employees’ market, treasury recruitment specialists reflect that talented, senior treasury professionals are finding it harder to take the next step up the career ladder in the current market, especially given the number of large corporates with international treasury roles is finite.
“We are seeing a shortage of roles not a shortage of talent,” says Rachael Crocker, Managing Director, Europe at Brewer Morris. “It’s nice for companies because we see excellent senior talent and are spoilt for choice. There is a long list of people I can pick up the phone to.”
Positively, treasury tends to be recession proof – the role of managing risk and liquidity becomes even more essential in a downturn. Moreover, treasury is also a specialist occupation and businesses that hire non-treasury people to the function often struggle.
Crocker says treasury salaries as stagnant although they have levelled up compared to other compensation in corporate finance like tax. In another trend, she says team structures have changed so that treasurers increasingly report to the CFO.
Treasurers are also finding new opportunities even if the way ahead is congested. For example, treasury’s plug into different parts of the business and the profession’s coveted forecasting and modelling skills, means people are moving into financial planning and analysis roles, corporate finance, M&A or working across hedging and derivatives in roles that require a strategic and analytical mindset.
In another trend, treasury professionals are jumping ship to new opportunities in private equity spin-offs and SMEs that are setting up new treasury functions from scratch. “A move into private equity is one of the most common trends we see in the US,” reflects Daniel Clark, based in Brewer Morris’ Orlando office where he specialises in senior level accounting, finance and treasury searches.
He says those moving into private equity will find treasury fast and furious with a keen focus on cash management and forecasting. Treasury in private equity is usually more manual and with less complexity – the company may not have a TMS, for example – although the use of leverage usually makes debt scenarios more interesting and dynamic.
The skill set remains the same
Recruitment specialists say employers are looking for street smart, old-school skills; people au fait with ensuring day-to-day processes have been implemented correctly just as much as data analytical skills.
Hard and soft skills in equal measure are as important as ever. Hard skills span the ability to read financial statements, cash analysis and risk management; technical prowess around TMS and, increasingly, regulatory compliance. “Businesses are having to adjust their reporting to ensure it adheres to regulations. The hard skills are a challenge,” says Marios Georgiou, Business Director specialising in treasury recruitment at Hays.
Communication skills are also essential. Employers want people with the power to persuade others and think strategically. In many ways, it is these soft skills that distinguish the front office team from mid and back office and recruiters say they are harder to find. Moreover, the interpersonal piece has grown even more important because of technology: relationships can’t be automated. “Everything is so automated that as long as treasury is running smoothly it often comes back to the interpersonal skills,” reflects Clark.
“Emotional intelligence is important,” adds Georgiou who measures candidates’ people skills in interviews by role-playing how they would handle situations. “Recruiters can delve into the real and personal, unearth motivations and encourage people to be open rather than have applicants say what they think others want to hear,” he says.
Communication and networking skills also equip treasury professionals to seek advice and find solutions to problems, adds Ifan Daniel, recently recruited into the CFO role at Towards, a pioneering mental health organisation following a six-year stint at Mann Group where he was Group Treasurer. “Different firms have different ways of drawing a line on risk factors,” he says, reflecting how a conversation with a friend in banking or investment can offer a quick solution and valuable insights on, say, the technicalities of repo and reverse repo and bring comfort with new instruments.
The ability to think strategically is also cited as one reason why there is often a bottleneck bringing treasury professionals up through an organisation organically: it’s one thing being able to execute processes, but another having the ability to think critically about what would work better; take responsibility across broader areas and fully grasp the role of treasury as a controls-oriented risk function. One way people can garner missing experience is to move around and expose themselves to new ways of doing things, he suggests. “I recommend more jostling to find the right next step over linear progression.”
Emotional intelligence is important. Recruiters can delve into the real and personal, unearth motivations and encourage people to be open rather than have applicants say what they think others want to hear.
Marios Georgiou, Business Director specialising in treasury recruitment, Hays
Rise of the bots
Advances in technology have changed recruiting practices. Recruiters are inundated with applications making it difficult for candidates to stand out while candidates say they are at the whim of bots. But Treasury Today interviewees reflect that recruitment in treasury remains a people process. “Our generic registration process, getting to know applications and their aspirations, still lies at the heart of my job,” says Georgiou. “With AI it’s easy to think you’ve hired the best person, but it turns out you haven’t.”
Recruitment in treasury remains relationship focused, agree Crocker and Clark. They say their clients in Europe and the US depend on them having a relationship with candidates, understanding up-and-coming talent and the nuances of different sectors. “There is usually a big gap between the quality of shortlists drawn from AI or LinkedIn-filtered CVs and a specialist recruiter. We have a candidate network and can identify the right people.”
Preparedness to train
According to a recent survey by Hays, employers are increasingly embracing skills-based hiring in junior finance and treasury roles, happy to employ people prepared to learn even if they lack qualifications or an academic background. “Employers are becoming more flexible in terms of the skill set they require and are increasingly viewing prospective staff for their potential,” says Georgiou.
Still, Treasury Today interviewees also flag that providing training in treasury roles is getting harder. Many junior roles are now automated and in shared services. It means the traditional path littered with valuable learnings that saw juniors work up via roles in back office and payments has gone.
Entry level opportunities have become much more analytical, and people move into treasury at a later stage in their career. It is leaving a knowledge gap around back office basics – albeit replaced by an understanding of systems and what they can do.
Do people need to know the inner workings of back office and settlements to run a successful treasury? Brewer Morris’ Crocker says the jury remains out. “Candidates don’t have the same depth of knowledge or real nuts and bolts of back office because they don’t come through the same route. The impact of this change remains to be seen,” she reflects.
And despite firms’ preparedness to train staff, recruiters say formal treasury qualifications shoot candidates straight to the top of the list. The Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) designation provides a solid foundation and a launchpad into other accounting or more analytical roles within banking or investment management, says Georgiou. “CTP designations are very desirable in the US too,” says Clark.
In contrast, European treasury teams are less particular about exams, but Crocker does note that candidates wanting to tap the best opportunities in Europe must be prepared to travel. “People are really mobile and typically open to working in most European countries.”
And she concludes that of course, the most senior roles don’t come with training.
“A CFO doesn’t have time to invest in training; they want someone who has been there and done that and is able to train up those below,” she concludes.
