Boom in six-figure-salary Brexit jobs predicted

One of the UK’s recruitment firms has predicted a boom in heavy hitting ‘Chief Brexit Officer’ roles as big business prepares for the aftermath of the referendum.

Phillip Piper, Head of Leadership Practice at Search Consultancy, believes this is just the beginning of a growing trend that will sweep across all industries. He thinks the landmark vote to leave the European Union will see the creation of a raft of new six-figure specialist jobs to manage the switch. The commentary comes as PM Theresa May appointed David Davis to the role of Cabinet Secretary for Brexit and top-four consultancy firm KPMG assigned a senior partner to role of Head of Brexit.

Phillip elaborated: “Theresa May has already created a position within her cabinet to deal specifically with Brexit and now is not the time for big business to dither either. Those who act immediately and take action to deal with the fall-out from Brexit will be the ones that stay ahead of their competitors. The weeks before the result were very challenging for the recruitment sector and big business as a whole. There was a drastic difference in the number of companies hiring before and after the vote – many simply didn’t want to hire until they knew the state of play. This was evidenced by the fact the week following the referendum was Search’s most successful week this year.

“Knowing the outcome has given organisations a better platform for planning, and in turn has created demand for a brand new type of specialist role. This will be especially important for those with vested interests in mainland Europe, whether as a main market for business or with EU offices and headquarters – they will need to hire staff to deal specifically with the aftermath and logistics of managing the transitional period following the Brexit vote.”

Phillip believes that candidates stepping into this role could possibly come from a HR or financial services background, but that anyone undertaking such a position also needs to have the gravitas, commerciality and strong negotiating skills to own the process. “This needs to be carried out by highly capable operatives with the experience to manage a programme of work to move operations – I believe many senior teams will be incomplete without the inclusion of a ‘Chief Brexit Officer’ to fulfil that function. Theresa May has already created a role within her cabinet and big business will undoubtedly follow.”