Hi, quick question: how would you relate/ compare Vice President or Senior VP level at Credit Suisse to a non-bank company lets say Novartis, Roche or Sulzer. Is it middle mgmt? Senior? I understand bank titles/levels are a bit different. What fringe benefits are offered to those at the VP level at CS? Appreciate any info.
Credit Suisse doesn't have SVP. One of its subsidiaries did, but that was integrated and the vast majority of their SVPs were made VP at CS. VP gets 27 days instead of 25 days leave at lower titles, but can't claim for overtime. They also get 8,400 tax free travel and entertainment allowance per annum in top of salary, but can't claim for small incidental expenses under 50.
Everyone at CS gets free/discounted banking services and discounts on mortgages, loans etc
No it's equivalent to Director at UBS. AD is AVP at CS
The title has nothing to do with age. It's about your benefits, working hours, share of the bonus pot and responsibilities e.g. signing the corporate register. It's possible (although rare) to be an MD in your 20s.
VP exists in the US at Novartis -- it's one of the four management levels (Associate Director; Director; Executive Director; VP). I've not seen it used in Basel, where typically someone at the same level is a 'Head' of a department.
Maybe it was the one step above making the coffee jibe? I found it quite derogatory. Btw VPs are making comfortably more than than that mythical number that gets everyone one on this forum so frothy about when it's mentioned. I'd be quite happy to be the tea boy for that money.
No one makes coffee anymore it's a chuff a time from the Nespresso machine
For sure, it's a little tongue-in-cheek. But VP is one step above Associate, and let's be frank -- regardless of how much they make, Associates fetch their fair share of coffee for the MDs and clients in a bank. Like children, they're mostly there to be seen and not heard.
VPs may not be the Excel jockeys that Associates are, but they're unlikely to be allowed near a client unsupervised.
It's easy enough to make VP in a bank by your late 20s, and in terms of seniority, the position isn't particularly senior -- particularly when you compare it to a VP in a company like Roche or Novartis, where VP is the highest level you can make without sitting at the executive level. Most VPs at the pharma companies will have 20+ years experience under their belt, and will be at least as senior as an MD in a bank.
The OP was trying to judge the relative seniority of a VP position in a bank, and my answer was correct: VP titles are handed out like candy at most banks. That info hopefully helps the OP judge whether they are being offered a role appropriate to their skill level or not.
VP titles are not handed out like candy!! Although you will find a lot more of them in the business side than the IT side.
The title is there to suggest you can operate at a certain level. You can think in a certain way, manage in a certain way and deliver in a certain way. That your skills become transferable from one area requiring an individual at a certain level - to another area.
At CS you have Associate (bands 1-6), AVP, VP, DIR and MD - then MxD - IIRC - the last one being that they sit on the executive board. Obviously within each title you have individuals who are considered "Junior" and "Senior" - normally based on the number of years they have been doing it.
VP is the last title that can be handed out by a line manager without the candidate being reviewed by a non-peer review board.
Furthermore the title has very little to do with salary - I know of Band 6 associates whose base salary is well above that of some VPs. And VPs with base salaries above those of DIRs etc. The same goes for bonuses.
To give examples of roles you would expect to find for VPs consider the following:
- Experienced Business or IT Project Managers
- Senior Business Support staff
- Business Team Leads
- Traders (with own books)
Directors will normally be more senior than that:
- Strategic Project Managers
- Group Managers
- Senior Traders
- COO of departments (50-100 people)
After saying all that, I know plenty of VPs who I wouldn't consider VPs and seem to have only been promoted due to length of service.
It should also be noted that at some point where amount of VPs and MDs is annoyingly high and when coffee making skills and bastardly smugness don't suffice anymore, the decisive factors that distinguish "fish from shark" are lineage, military service, size of the biceps and pronounced audible voice at the meetings
thank you all for kind input. Sounds nice MD/D is where things really start at CS I guess. The role I'm in talks for is VP (hiring manager mentioned Senior VP once) and it is in the IT area around strategy/process for one of the functions. Huge transformation going on and I know rows of people (management and staff) were recently released so sounds like a lot of re-adjustment for the new reality of banking world. The area I would support touches all areas and is critical to the bank.
I never worked for a bank or anything insurance or finance related so I guess good potential experience and getting foot in the door.