DATA analysis has been identified as the biggest growth area on the Scottish financial sector jobs scene by Core-Asset Consulting.

The Edinburgh-based financial services recruitment company has pinpointed five areas which are experiencing surging demand levels, along with “two reliable mainstays” where opportunities regularly outstrip the number of candidates available, using statistics and insights from its annual salary guide.

Core-Asset said: “A recurring theme is emerging technology, as the wider industry continues to evolve. Roles comprising data analysis [are] the biggest growth area…with salary growth outperforming the wider industry.”

The recruitment firm noted data analysis now accounted for 20 per cent of all of the permanent vacancies it has listed.

Core-Asset noted its findings also showed a jump in demand for roles in “user experience or user design marketing”, as analytics and software improvements enabled more tailored experiences and firms sought to “better understand client journeys and decision-making”.

It added that the third specialism identified as being in high demand covered roles linked to “agile methodology”, which Core-Asset observed continued to be “adopted at pace” by financial services firms. Core-Asset added that “product managers” and “scrum masters” with accreditations had seen a 10% salary uplift over the last five years.

Solution architects and software engineers, equipped with skills such as cloud computing, are other roles in which candidates can “enjoy their pick of the market”, Core-Asset said, noting demand for roles in this field had increased by around 25% in the past three years.

And the recruitment firm added that huge growth in the ESG (environmental, social and governance) field and “expectations placed on investment businesses by customers and employees to be more ethical and sustainable” were creating a “groundswell of unmet demand for analysts and fund managers with proven experience and accreditations”.

Core-Asset cited as two “mainstays” tax and audit accountants, and client services and relationship roles, noting “both held fast throughout the pandemic and have seen long-term job stability and opportunities”.

Louise Powrie, director of financial and professional services at Core-Asset, said: “The pandemic has accelerated changes in the sector that were already in motion. We’ve seen a widespread adoption of tech – our clients need specialists across all areas of design, architecture and testing.”

She added: “This is all having a big impact on the 'trending' skills and specialisms – and we can see clear areas where demand for candidates is growing at a rate the market can’t keep up with.

“If you’re looking to enter financial services, are mid-way through studying or have been made redundant, it pays to understand which roles are in demand and most likely to give you a raft of career opportunities.”