Bank for International Settlements contracts and job grades: a guide for applicants

The Bank for International Settlements is an international organization and a bank for central banks. It is not part of the United Nations, the World Bank Group or the European Union. Its employment terms and job grades belong to the BIS, so familiar labels from those institutions should not be imported.

New staff start on fixed-term contracts

The BIS what we offer page states that all new staff members are recruited on a fixed-term basis without an expectation of renewal or conversion. A contract can later be extended or converted to an open-ended appointment, but only in light of organizational needs and individual performance. Candidates should regard that as a possibility, not an implied promise.

The duration and conditions of the initial term appear in the vacancy and offer. Short programmes follow their own rules. The BIS Graduate Programme, for example, gives recent or soon-to-be graduates a non-renewable contract of up to eleven months in Basel. It includes salary, health insurance, return travel and accommodation. That programme is not an entry grade that automatically rolls into ordinary staff employment.

The BIS also works with secondees, visiting researchers, fellows and external providers in appropriate areas. These arrangements should be read under their specific announcement. Someone seconded from a central bank remains on a different footing from a directly recruited BIS staff member.

Job grades and salary

The Bank’s remuneration policy says that jobs are classified into grades linked to salary ranges. Individual salaries move within those ranges on the basis of performance, and the Bank benchmarks its structure against comparable institutions and market segments.

The BIS does not publish a complete candidate-facing table that names every grade, range and title. This is important because public titles such as economist, policy adviser, dealer, risk analyst, engineer, principal specialist and head do not support a reliable conversion to UN P levels or World Bank letter grades. Use the level and compensation information provided in the vacancy and recruitment process.

Staff have access to contributory health insurance and a contributory defined-benefit pension plan. Eligible employees recruited from outside the host country may receive expatriation support and an education allowance. Most BIS salaries in Basel and its representative offices are, as a rule, exempt from host-country income tax under the relevant agreements. Personal tax duties elsewhere may still apply.

The benefits page also describes relocation assistance, work and residence permit support, family allowances and flexible work arrangements. Eligibility differs with location, nationality and circumstances. A salary figure should therefore be considered together with pension contributions, insurance and relocation provisions rather than compared with a commercial-bank gross salary in isolation.

Nationality and locations

BIS says it is not subject to nationality quotas and can in principle recruit from anywhere in the world. Its staff represent more than sixty nationalities. This broad policy does not waive the professional requirements of a particular role. Some jobs call for central-bank, supervisory or market experience, specified languages, eligibility for permits, or the ability to handle sensitive information.

Headquarters is in Basel. The BIS has representative offices in Hong Kong SAR and Mexico City, and Innovation Hub centres in locations including Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore, London, the Nordic region, the Eurosystem area and Toronto. The legal employer can still be the BIS, but local conditions and partner arrangements can differ. Use the location in the notice, not the global footprint map, to judge relocation.

Work beyond economics

The BIS careers site groups work into economics and policy research; support for committees and hosted associations; banking and risk management; information management and technology; corporate services; and legal and internal audit.

That covers economists, statisticians and policy specialists, but also dealers, portfolio managers, settlement officers, financial and operational risk managers, cyber-security specialists, software engineers, data scientists, records professionals, lawyers, auditors, accountants, human-resources staff, communicators, event managers, procurement specialists, physical-security staff and facilities engineers. Innovation Hub vacancies add product, technology and interdisciplinary project roles.

Applying

Current opportunities are posted on the BIS vacancies page. Candidates register in the current career system, complete the form and attach an English CV. BIS accepts applications directly from candidates and no longer accepts submissions from recruitment agencies.

Shortlisted candidates are contacted for further information and interviews, which are usually virtual. Expect the discussion to test both subject expertise and the Bank’s competency framework: forward thinking, collaboration, dynamic and creative work, responsible leadership and effective use of technology.

For each vacancy, check contract length, location, business unit and stated level before comparing pay. The absence of a public grade table is not a gap to fill with guesswork. It is a signal to use the vacancy and written offer as the authoritative source.