General Manager - Technical Dir: what salary should I negotiate?

Hi soqo and thanks for your comment and proposition. I've sent you an email. Just a question: is QR 45-50K a basic salary (Net without benefits and allowances)?

Qr 45 to 50 k is good salary regarding your experience and position. I am also working in the same field in R&D and Production as Manager. If you need any assistant, feel free to contact me at [email protected]

Wish You nest of Luck

Thanks for comments.

Could someone provide me with some of these online assessment tools?

Thanks

For a start don't start comparing and worrying about what others are earning - this is a common mistake made by expats , especially after they get here and it causes issues and strife.

You know what your salary is in France.

Work out what the living costs will be in Qatar

Decide what you will feel comfortable with as a salary and then go with that.

I am sure my GM gets more than 100k apart from other executive benefits and shares in the company but again oil companies are different from contracting and vendor/services. I think you should wait till your management/board get back with offer. Considering your position as GM/Director and middle east conditions 80k is quite normal for western passport.I have also came across online tools which will help you to assess yourself and what you should be earning. Try google and keep us posted.

Hope this helps !!

Cheers

Venky

Thanks again for your comments. I am not sure acchabaccha QAR 35 K could be a good salary; it's less or more equivalent to what I could get in France. Of course here I have to pay accommodation and taxes, but in Qatar we will loose many of France's benefits... It's a matter of balance... But with QAR 35 K, I am not sure the offer is well balanced. Below a sample of basic salaries of people working in Qatar:

QAR 40 k - a lebanese Operations Manager (Glass construction)

QAR 58 K - an Irish Regional Sales Manager (Lafarge Cement)

QAR 39K - a moroccan Business Development Manager (consulting company)

None has MBA or PhD degree (I really don't know if academic graduation matters in Qatar and to what extent) but they've all got good experience (7 to 14 years).

The first one told me (after he had asked a number of professionals in position/with profile similar to mine) the salary should be between QAR 75 and 85 K all in.

What do you think?

100k is a stupid suggestion. There are only a handful expats with that salary in Qatar. People here have no clue about salaries and think all westerners earn 40k and 50k easily. This is NOT true. I worked in the government and we were over 700 expats there (Arabs, some Asians and many Westerners) and we had all the same salaries (somewhere between 7k and 25k + accommodation). Not even the most talented and experienced Westerner gets more than that.

So to summarize, for your position, you will be looking at, at least, 40k if it is a big international construction company if you say. If it is like the French Bouygue for example, you should be asking for 50k upwards, but definitely not 100k. Even your manager will not be earning anywhere nearer the 100k mark.

Mallat: You are a wise and intelligent person who looks at the ground realities and does not get carried away by what other people say. While in the Middle East the western passport holder has an edge over eastern passport holder, even if the westerners are not good at their jobs, the salary demand as advised by Wild Turkey is a figure hardly any one would offer you. But then as I had stated in my earlier post, that is how western nationals look at things. A person from the east with your qualifications and experience would be happy working at your position at QR 25000. However, since you are holding a western passport, possibly the offer you may be getting should be around QR 35000. Try for a company-provided accommodation as this will save you from much hassle in finding one and then furnishing it. On the other hand, you may be able to find a two-bedroom decent apartment within QR 10000. Add another 2500 for your household expenses, 1500 for your car if you own one, 3500 for your children's schooling, and another 2000 for your miscellaneous expenses and hopefully the rest should be in your pocket. However, the above figures are a general estimate and it all depends on your own lifestyle. The figure I have stated for your apartment is for accommodation where many Doha residents live and not for an apartment in those areas where the "white elephants" reside.

Thanks acchabaccha and Wild Turkey for you comments and suggestion. You know, in France salaries are not high but taxes are. Life conditions are however very good. QAR 100 k is a huge salary compared to european ones. What would motivate my employer to give me a such salary? He can always find a cheaper local resource! I worry my employer would take the French salary range instead of taking the Qatari labor market as base.

At least QAR 100.000 per month.

As long as you hold a western passport, the sky is the limit. And even then westerners are not contented with what they get offered -- very high salaries plus furnished housing plus fees for their children's education plus company maintained car plus a choice of where they would prefer to live plus...etc. It was just yesterday when a western national in his post at QL openly stated that only a particular area in Doha was fit for the western nationals to live in, and the rest of Doha was a "SLUM." Suggest you wait for the offer and then post your question at QL on the offer you have in hand if it was worth accepting.