congrads on your offer.
not much experienced, but maybe around $2000-$3000?

per month.

yep, thanks, don´t know on the salaries, searching the net for it....
getting 2900 USD at international office here in shanghai, so i think it should be the same or a bit higher...

you're gonna be seeling your soul, don't sell it short.

seeling/sealing/selling whatever...

yep, should i sell my soul higher ? have no clue

i sold my soul cheap, but i was desperate at the time and i'll get it back this summer.

yes, sell it for as much as possible.

you'll be working in a country/city where 99% of stuff skin-deep crap. you might love it, you might hate it - but the fact remains all they see is $$$.

remember, the economy there is booming and you/your skills are needed to keep it going. i would double whatever it is you're getting paid right now (or would be - google average salaries in the US).

also remember- ask for a significant relocation package. see if they'll throw in a place to live.

your salary could vary comparing with others depends on where u come from....

Not sure about architecture, but as a chef, I was routinely offered upwards of $4000USD/month with 2-3 round trip tickets back to the US as part of my package.

I never took any of the hotels up on the offers...but that's what they were for an experienced individual with previous international experience.

What's your expected position? Project Designer? Architect? CAD Jockey?

I would def' ask for more...especially if you'll be in any kind of supervisory role.

+2 what spiderdad said about the economy booming blah blah blah, but remember that just as they need people like all of us, there are lot's of us fighting for those jobs.

it's a tricky balancing act between setting yourself up well and demanding more than the next available architect.

it's a tough world these days.

mightylittle, where you serious about the chef thing...??!

so is arch a career change? or vice versa?

I was a chef for most of the past decade. I was getting pretty successful actually...Like I said, some international x-perience (paris), blah blah blah.

I worked and ran some pretty high-end kitchens...But hit a cross-roads about 2 years ago.

I realized that once I cooked in a dozen 4 star restaurants or so, it's never changing after that. It's a different house sure, a different country sure, but at the end of the day I was still putting fish in a pan, and cutting cows into steaks.

My path up and out of the brainwashed world of 4 star cooking has been wrought with challenges sure, but i landed a job working for an amzing commercial kitchen designer. Now I get to design and build the very high-end kitchens I was just cooking in...

Pretty fortuitous, eh? I found a mentor who's been very kind. In two years I've gone from filing blueprints to running the schematic design on multi-million dollar kitchens. Like I said, pretty fortuitous.

(FYI - I landed the job with a cold-call)

My dilemma now is should I go for an M.Arch and start designing whole restaurants from the inside out?

I tell you...Even now with only two years of design x-perience, I can make a better restaurant than the majority of the architects I've worked with thus far.

Very few people speak both languages.

Design and Service.

Thas' my story. I'm sticking to it.

Sorry tempo01 for hijacking the thread. That's how it goes I guess.

mighty, thats a pretty interesting story.... thanks for sharing.

its ok, the payment will be something like this...

Basic monthly Salary (5300 USD taxfree )
Transport (Taxi) or Car Allowance
Flights 2 per year on return status
Monthly Accommodation allowance
Utilities (power, water, Internet etc.)
Relocation expenses (Flight from current residency)
1 Month holiday (paid as accumulated).
Full Medical Insurance

Thats about what I was looking at when offered a similar job in Dubai. I didn't take it, but not because of the money.

In shanghai, are you currently with EDAW?
In Dubai have you been offered the job with Atkins?

One of my friends had hookers thrown into a Dubai package he was offered, they were there at the interview (in London)! He turned both them and the job down.

If you don't ask for crazy-money, then you're being ccriminal to yourself & your profession. As someone currently working as an expat, I have some thoughts that you may find relevant. You'll need to follow the list that TEMPO01 made above, with the following changes:

Basic monthly Salary (MINIMUM 150& of what you would make in the USA, USD taxfree )
You can qualify for 'tax-free' status as long as: 1) You stay OUT of the USA for 330 of 365 days in a calendar year, 2) You begin getting taxed @ around $87.5K & above)

Transport (Taxi) or Car Allowance: DEFINITELY. In some places, it is much more advisable to have a Car & Driver on-call, 24/7. After all, you don't wanna go to jail for a fender-bender, or worse in a place like, say Angola.

Flights 2 per year on return status: MAKE IT 4 per year, Business Class.
Monthly Accommodation allowance: Your company may offer a 'Staff-House' - Check it out first. It could be alright, but you will be sharing w/ many other people. Plus, if you like privacy, you may be in for a shock...especially if you're single. If you're married, make sure that your spouse can get a job, or something to occupy lots of free-time in a place that may, or may not be interesting - Dubai might not be a problem.

Note: If you get a 'Housing Allowance', or any other 'allowance', be advised that the IRS wants a big portion of that dough. As such, a Staff House, fully stocked, may be a better option because it avoids the tax issue, plus it saves you actual money - My wife tells me that our grocery bill in ATL is tiny (not to mention the beer-bill, utilities, etc) since I lef!

Utilities (power, water, Internet etc.): See 'Staff-House', above.
Relocation expenses (Flight from current residency): Don't relocate, just stay in the best & cheapest digs that you can.

1 Month holiday (paid as accumulated).: Most Expats that I work with have a better Vacation, or 'Rotation' situation than 30 days. I would go for something like what I have: 3 Months On/ 2 Weeks Off. That works out to 42 days per year. However, our onstruction project shut down over XMAS for 21 days, forcing me into taking my Rotation prematurely, for 28 days (due to my Co's lack of planning). I am not going to have the full 28 counted against my time - good.

BTW: Exxon-oids, here,are 'On-28/Off-28'...although their salaries are relatively high, they don't get paid for 12 months.

Full Medical Insurance: PLUS, Med-EVAC, Life (difficult to get in many countries)

VISA Services: Do not discount the value of a Legal Work Visa. The irony is this: Many Americans, here, in Angola are ILLEGAL because their companies don't bother to tell them that the Visa they are actually getting is only a 'Tourist' Visa. My construction site has been raided 5 TIMES, twice since I've been here & my company still has not
provided 2/3 of us w/ actual WORK VISAS. Something's gonna give. I may have to introduce an attorney into the mx.

Remember, you will encounter hardships & are going out of your way to do a job for a company. If they COULD get your services for less, they WOULD hire an Indian, European, Asian, or someone from another extreme-low wage country. Please don't forget that.

Incidentally, Dubai seems to be the latest 'hip' expat job mecca. Because of this, you will see competition growing to go there. As suc, you'll also see 'Uplift', or total salary/perks packages creeping downward.

Not to mention, Dubai is probably getting to be expensive to live in, but I'm only guessing. If it is though, you should weigh this into your 'uplift'.

It may not be as attractive, but consider other, unglamourous & quasi-scary places - they probably pay better. Plus you'll appreciate what you've got a lot more when you return to the 'First World'...or even a decent 'Third World' country.

Mystery Man - you sound like the professor in my HR Management class back in college.

It's extremely expensive for a company to expatriate an employee, but it's done because the local talent pool isn't sufficient. Generous wages and vacation packages are standard to keep the employee happy and productive in their job.

Don't sell yourself short because this employer probably is expecting you to demand a lot. Dubai may be booming, but it still isn't like working in London. Take advantage of that.

Dubai has been built on expates, even the locals aren't local. they were all nomads before the discovery of oil and gas. This place has been booming some time now, and I think it's just that Emirates Airlines aren't the only employer there now that it is getting talked about more now. My personal favourite about the emirates is the lack of crime, I mean, you can get out of your car, leave it running while you go get your groceries and come back and it's still there. I'm not saying that leving your car running is a good idea, just the fact that nobody steels is amazing to me.

Dubai is fake ... in any case ..

depending on your skin colour...

if you are caucasian or an american/european/australian .. you could ask anything from 20000 Dhs to 35000 Dhs .
Else you can quote anything from 7000 Dhs to 15000 Dhs

Ask for travel allowances and 1 or 2 round trip tickets to your home town... relax on the buisness class... lets not get too greedy.
Ask for accomodation ... the rents are escalating without any logical explanation ... and the cost of living is getting higher.
30 - 50 days paid vacation is a norm .. so ask for that

the only reason why they give a higher pay .. is because thats the only way they can attract anyone to come here !!

but all in all .. I HATE THIS PLACE !!!! I could not emphasis it more.

P.s. 1$ = 3.65 Dhs (Dirhams)

sporadic, you live in Dubai?

I think its gonna be Grand MEcca city of the century pretty soon.

"but all in all .. I HATE THIS PLACE !!!! I could not emphasis it more."

Sporadic, why do you hate Dubai. Is it it becasue of the racisim there? The materilastic attitudes of everybody? The fact that's it's one big sausage fest? The environment itself?

I myself did like it, but I was only there for a week, that just a little different to living there. The 39 Degree C Heat made it feel like Christmas time and the atmosphere was sort of like the Gold Coast here in Australia... to me anyway. I don't doubt the city has changed ALOT in the last 5 years since I was there. And I don't doubt my attitude would be very differnt if I visited there now. But it is still a place I would like to work myself for a while.

My husband and I are looking to move to Dubai from the USA. What are current salaries like in Dubai? I was looking into the large western firms, but there seems to be a lack of data on current salary expectations. I have a Master's in Architecture and LEED accreditation with 5 years of experience, but am in the process of getting licensed. Any help would be great, since the thread above is from 2006. Thanks!!

If you land a job with a respected Western Firm, you're looking at 20k-25k AED / month ($65k-$81k/year) depending on how well you negotiate (and your credentials of course).  If you are seriously planning to move here, I wouldn't accept any offer under $65k/year, and would push for $72k.  After a few years of experience in the region + attaining your license, you're looking at upwards of 30k AED/month ($98k/year).

UAE currency is pegged to the Dollar at $1=3.67 AED, so you'd effectively be getting paid in Dollars with no risk of losing value due to exchange rate changes.

Standard packages include 22 days vacation (or 30 days including weekends),1 paid-for round trip ticket to your home city per year, health benefits, and end of service benefits (payout upon leaving the company) calculated at 1 month salary per year of service. (This is all set by UAE Labor Law, so it's guaranteed).

A lot of the numbers posted by users in 2006 are a little off (it's been 9 years) since the market then was booming and the demand for Western expats was ridiculously high. Post 2008 Recession also messed up the market.  There's been a recent influx of Expat Arabs from Egypt and the Levant due to the wars/revolutions/ISIS, that have driven down the market since they usually accept much lower salaries than Westerners.  Same thing with Spaniards, Greeks, & Italians due to the Euro-zone crisis that have also recently driven down the salary market in the Gulf.  However, that being said, Americans are still in very high demand and hold pretty nice salaries here.

As far as taxes are concerned, the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion is now at $100,800 (increasing 3%/year with inflation).  You'd file your tax returns as you normally would in the States, but the only deduction you'd list is -$100,800 (effectively owing nothing to the IRS).  If you do make over that amount, you'd only owe taxes to the IRS on the amount over $100,800.  There are no income taxes of any kind in the UAE, so whatever offer you get is 100% take-home capital.

Hope this helps.

Wow! What a way to revive a mummyfied thread! However, this caught my eye as I'm also working in Dubai. There are surveys and information online regarding the salaries here I don't know why haven't you found them but it's readily available. It might not be that detailed compared to US salaries but yeah, it will give you an idea. Payscale is a good place to start.

You're an American so you'll be able to live a high-life here. Your passport is GOLD to the UAE market. Good luck!

Worth noting is that if you're a person of color, prepared to be racially profiled every time as people do that all the time here as if it's socially acceptable. 

This should give you an idea of the market as well:

https://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/uae-salary-guide-2015-being-paid-enough-085522371.html

Numbers are a result of a detailed study by Hays recruitment company.

I've copy pasted the Construction Industry Sector salaries here:

Note: Salaries are listed in Dirhams per month.  To convert to $ per year, divide the number by 3.67 then multiply by 12.     (x/3.67)*12.

CONSTRUCTION AND PROPERTY

Architecture

Senior Architect: Dh29,000 - Dh45,000

Senior Interior Design: Dh22,000 - Dh30,000

Site Architect: Dh17,000 - Dh25,000

Junior Architect: Dh10,000 - Dh14,000

Interior Designer: Dh9,500 - Dh16,000

Construction

C-Suite/Principal Level: Dh51,000 - Dh130,000

Senior Estimating Manager: Dh55,000 - Dh65,000

Commercial Manager: Dh45,000 - Dh68,000

Senior Contracts Manager: Dh40,000 - Dh55,000

Senior Project Manager: Dh25,000 - Dh65,000

HSSE Manager: Dh35,000 - Dh80,000

Senior Cost Manager: Dh37,000 - Dh42,000

Senior Quantity Surveyor: Dh28,000 - Dh46,500

Project Manager: Dh20,000 - Dh46,000

Contracts Manager: Dh24,000 - Dh40,000

Construction Manager: Dh20,000 - Dh48,000

Cost Manager: Dh17,000 - Dh35,000

Quantity Surveyor: Dh15,000 - Dh35,000