Set a band you can defend in the room
You are setting comp bands for a sector your company has not hired into before, or for a new geography, and the exec team will ask where the numbers came from. Your existing bands were calibrated against a different role mix. Recruiters keep saying a number is competitive, but they are also trying to close the placement, and a single coffee conversation samples fewer than ten data points you cannot reproduce. The alternatives cost more than they should: the enterprise surveys publish once a year and land 12 to 18 months stale for tens of thousands, and the annual guides are broad-band PDFs you read once and file. You need a primary-source reference, sourced and dated, that holds up when finance pushes back.
How Tenure solves it
Tenure gives you the percentile distribution for every role and level across UAE and Saudi, with the evidence attached.
The published Pay Index bands show P25, median, and P75 in total monthly cash for each role, level, country, and city. Every band carries a source count, so you see how much evidence stands behind it before you use it. Recent observations weigh above older ones, verified sources above unverified, and statistical outliers are excluded.
Each band names how much evidence stands behind it, drawn from established compensation surveys and anonymised offer-letter data. A band built on a broad mix is sturdier than one leaning on a single channel.
Every band carries its source count and refresh date, so the number and its evidence stay together when you bring it into your comp planning sheet. The methodology page documents the whole approach at a link you can hand to the exec team. No band publishes on fewer than three sources, the floor that keeps a thin row from becoming a defended number.
The workflow, step by step
Open the published Pay Index bands for your sector and market and read the P25, median, and P75 for the level you are setting, with the source count beside it. Five or more verified sources is enough to set a range. Bring the figure and its source count into your comp planning sheet next to the role. When the band reaches the next leadership meeting, you defend it with the citation already attached: Pay Index, the refresh month, and the number of verified sources behind the figure. Setting a band you can defend takes less than a working day, not a procurement cycle. Where the role mix you need sits below the publish threshold, Tenure shows the limited-data marker rather than a smoothed guess, so you know exactly where the evidence runs thin.
Sample bands
The table at the foot of this page shows representative Investment Banking bands, pulled live from the same Pay Index the dashboard serves, so the marketing-surface numbers always match what a subscriber sees. The full view covers all 12 sectors across UAE and Saudi, broken out by level and city, with the source count on every row. See the published Pay Index bands for the exact role, level, and city you are banding.
FAQs
Find Investment Banking, VP, in the UAE (Dubai) in the published Pay Index bands and read the P25, median, and P75 for total monthly cash, then check the source count before you commit. Bands with five or more verified sources are solid for setting a range; below five, Tenure flags the band as limited. The source count and refresh date travel with the figure, so the evidence lands in your comp planning sheet alongside the number.
A defensible source is one you can name, date, and reproduce. Tenure publishes the source count on every band and a public methodology page documenting where the data comes from: established Gulf compensation surveys and anonymised offer-letter data. No band publishes on fewer than three sources. That is the difference between citing Pay Index, May 2026, 14 verified sources, and citing a recruiter range you cannot reproduce in the room.
At least quarterly for stable roles, and monthly for roles where the market is moving, which in the Gulf right now includes anything touching Vision 2030 mandates. The Tenure Pay Index refreshes quarterly and timestamps every band, so you can see how fresh a number is before you anchor to it. An annual survey cannot tell you when a band last moved; a quarterly refresh with per-row dates can.
Take the band to the next planning cycle
Read the published bands for the roles you are banding, with their source counts, and bring the citations into your next comp review. The methodology behind every figure is public at the methodology page.
Sample bands
The Pay Index is still building depth for Banking & Capital Markets. Talk to us about your specific role mix and we will tell you what we have today and when we expect to publish the bands you need.