Job Profiles
With so many job opportunities on The Cayman Islands, here's a run-down of some of the most popular positions:
Auditor
With all of the world's Big Four audit firms having a presence of the island, qualified auditors are in great demand.
An auditor will review and verify a company's financial records and accounts.
Auditors can be internal or external with the latter being most prevalent on the island. An internal auditor works within a business to ensure good accounting practices and correct accounting. External auditors usually work for large audit companies such as KPMG or Ernst & Young and they are sent into companies to verify their accounts.
Corporate Recovery Accountant
The insolvency sector is a growth industry globally and accountants who have passed the Joint Insolvency Board examination are in great demand.
An accountant in corporate recovery will deal with distressed companies and help to find ways of avoiding insolvency or dealing with insolvency if it should happen.
This can lead to dealing with administration, receivership, or insolvency and they can be called upon to assist with any regulatory implications of such a course of action.
The traditional insolvency roles of administration and receivership appointments are now supplemented by a greater focus on recovery of both the business operations and the business model. Financial restructuring and reorganization, corporate investigations, and business reviews now form a greater part of insolvency work.
Mutual & Hedge Fund Accountant
As a Hedge Fund Accountant on Cayman you will deal with some of the biggest players in today's financial services arena. More than US $1 trillion is invested in 
mutual and hedge funds globally and this figure is rise sharply in the coming years. The Cayman Islands plays host to more hedge funds than anywhere else in the world.
In a mutual fund, investment managers raise capital from investors and invest it in a portfolio of equities, fixed income and derivative securities with the aim of exploiting inequalities in the market to deliver positive returns while limiting market volatility.
Hedge funds are essentially mutual funds with broader investment guidelines and, often, the capacity for leverage. Recent high growth in the sector has led to a high demand for qualified accountants who are able to communicate effectively with investors and investment managers on a daily basis.
At the entry level, the accountant is responsible for a portfolio of funds for which they will calculate periodic Net Asset Values, prepare monthly financial reports and perform daily fund administration duties. More experienced accountants with previous funds experience are highly sought after for managerial and directorship roles.
Financial Controller / Finance Manager
These senior accounting jobs are generally well paid and as a consequence, competition can be strong when positions arise. IT experience can be an advantage as many smaller companies look to their Financial Controller to maintain their critical information systems. Many accountants who are interested in a career in financial control start out initially in financial services until a suitable role arises.
Trust Accountants
Trust accountants monitor and record the financial transactions of trusts and report periodically to the trustees, beneficiaries and/or the trustor.
Trusts can be complex entities and accountants will be expected to deal with transactions and clients as well as trust accounting. Trust accounting can incorporate elements of both structured finance and fund accounting.
Trusts and trust structures are very common in the Cayman Islands as one of their main uses is for tax, estate planning and asset protection.
Assistant Trust Accountant jobs are also available. The ideal profile of candidate should be a part qualified ACCA or CIMA with a minimum of 3 years experience within a role having exposure to month and year end.
Temporary Accounting Contracts
With Cayman having so many accounting jobs, many people choose to move to Grand Cayman to get a feel for the country and its employers before committing to a lengthy full-time contract. Recruitment agencies offer temporary contracts with accountancy firms on Grand Cayman.
Although a temping contract may seem to imply that you will move around between companies, in practice you will generally be placed with a company who will retain your services for a period of time. Many temporary positions lead to full-time employment opportunities.
Corporate Lawyer
Corporate lawyers are the most common position for qualified solicitors on the islands. A corporate lawyer will advise their employer about their legal rights and obligations. They assist with many areas of the companies' business from ensuring compliance with business laws and regulations to employee contracts, and helping to circumvent problems.
Most corporate lawyers in Grand Cayman work for a law firm and are not in-house with businesses. In this was lawyers will deal with a portfolio of clients, both onshore and offshore, advising on a wide range of issues - mainly financial.
Insolvency Lawyer
There are always jobs for insolvency lawyers on the islands. Their job is to deal with contentious and non-contentious issues on a multi-jurisdictional basis.
Employers usually look for candidates with experience in fund and bank insolvency, acting for and against court-appointed liquidators. These candidates will have also represented court-appointed controllers and administrators.
Lawyers will advise on all aspects relating to complex transactions and structures. Most of the insolvency work is international and involves cross-border aspects.
Law Office Manager
Law Office Managers are pivotal in the running of an efficient law firm. They are tasked with a number of roles to ensure the smooth running of the office. These might include:
· Supervising Staff
· Ensuring regulatory compliance within the office
· Maintaining legal reference resources
Legal Secretary
Legal secretaries are an important part of a successful legal firm. They provide administrative support to the lawyers and legal executives and help with the day-to-day running of the firm.
They assist lawyers in a large variety of areas from typing up legal documents , attending court with solicitors, preparing court forms and statements and liaising with clients as well as more usual secretarial duties.
UK secretarial courses include:
· Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX)/City & Guilds Level 2 Certificate for Legal Secretaries
· ILEX/City & Guilds Level 3 Diploma for Legal Secretaries
· Institute of Legal Secretaries and PA’s Legal Secretaries Diploma.
Working as a legal secretary you will build up a good understanding of the law, and many legal secretaries in larges firms are specialists in one or two areas.
Paralegal / Legal Assistant
Paralegals are not fully qualified lawyers or solicitors but carry out a wide variety of work within Cayman's law firms.
Paralegals provide information to clients, prepare legal documents and conduct research along with some administrative duties.
Many firms expect their paralegals to hold a law degree but may also consider:
· a foundation degree, or equivalent, in law or legal studies
· a paralegal qualification from the Institute of Legal Executives (ILEX) Paralegal Programmes, the National Association of Licensed Paralegals or the Institute of Paralegals.
· the solicitor's Legal Practice Course (LPC)
· the barrister's Bar Vocational Course (BVC)
Like most Caribbean islands, the tourism industry continues to go from strength to strength. The improvements in the global air travel network has opened up remote countries to more people than ever before. The Cayman Islands' principal tourist client is the American market because of its proximity, but tourists from from all over the globe to tread the coral sands of Seven Mile Beach and sample its luxury hotels.
Diving
All three of the Cayman Islands offer great diving, with much of the best being on the Sister Islands of Grand Cayman and Little Cayman. However, most of the job opportunities are on Grand Cayman where the tourism industry is more highly developed.
Qualified diving instructors should have few problems in finding a position on Grand Cayman with plenty of employers to choose from. If you are more keen on the Sister Islands you are restricted to a handful of dive operators.
Instructors will be expected to offer a full range of courses for their clients from basic PADI dive courses to specialist dive disciplines.
Dive operators have job opportunities in other areas of their business too, from backroom staff to help with the boats. Free diving is a great perk of the job.
Hotels
The Cayman Islands have succeeded in attracting luxury tourism in recent years with many international hotel chains present on Seven Mile Beach. Hotels have vacancies for the full range of front-of-house and support staff. Many of these vacancies go to expats on work permits as there are not enough Caymanians to fill the positions.
Beach & Watersports
Many beach and watersports jobs are likely to be within the hotels themselves of with franchises which operate within the hotels, such as Red Sail Sports. Seven Mile Beach offers a full range of watersports from paragliding to jetskiing.
Jobs in this area tend to be low paid but offer a good lifestyle for young people. There is a high turnover of staff so vacancies are always available.
