Position yourself for success with a Master’s Degree in Financial Technology from UNSW

Brought to you by the University of New South Wales (UNSW)

If you’re a professional trying to get ahead in global finance, there are many compelling benefits to earning a degree from the University of New South Wales. As one of Australia’s premier regional research universities, you’ll set yourself up for success while you work and study alongside some of the top names in global finance.

In today’s global marketplace, a growing number of financial professionals feel compelled to pivot and re-evaluate their skill sets, as duties that once formed the core of their professional lives are automated. With a Master’s Degree in Financial Technology from UNSW, you’ll have the experience and the credentials to stay relevant and advance your career.

In this article, we’ve put together four roles where a Master’s Degree in Financial Technology from UNSW can help educated professionals climb the corporate ladder.

1. Compliance Specialist

Compliance specialists work in roles that require the management of complex, ever-changing legal and regulatory mechanisms. They monitor departmental and institutional performance and identify areas where there might be lapses, failures, or conflicts of interest.

If a compliance specialist pinpoints an area where the company violates the law or any other relevant regulatory framework, they step in and determine what steps to take to ensure the company is compliant with all applicable legal, ethical, and financial regulations.

Compliance specialists frequently work with executives and managers from other departments to ensure that the company resolves all compliance issues in a timely and efficient manner.

Automation makes compliance issues challenging

As more financial processes are partially or entirely automated, the regulatory burden facing companies working in global finance continues to grow. Likewise, as automation and artificial intelligence continue to gain a larger role in many financial institutions’ day-to-day operations, there will be increased demand for compliance specialists.

Against a backdrop of AI-driven financial applications and increased automation of many financial processes, today’s corporations are developing compliance roles that will require advanced knowledge of today’s financial technologies and the complex regulatory mechanisms that guide them.

2. Digital Security Analyst

In the present day, the financial sector is moving entirely online. This shift toward entirely digital operations is being felt everywhere in the financial ecosystem, from basic retail banking to venture capital to established brokerage firms. Unfortunately, hackers, repressive governments, and other malicious actors will always follow the money.

While you might see them referred to as ‘cybersecurity analysts’, digital security analysts are in high demand. There have been numerous studies from economists, government officials, and security experts showing that financial corporations are the preferred target for hackers.

Digital security analysts are in high demand

With annual e-commerce sales growing into the trillions, more and more companies across all industries report a severe shortage of digital security analysts. It’s no surprise then that digital security analysts command impressive salaries. The average salary for a digital security analyst in Australia is $104,416 (AUD).

To secure employment as a Digital Security Analyst, most companies look for advanced knowledge in risk analysis and risk management, data organisation, decision theory, and advanced statistics. Digital security analysis is one area where there’s a severe lack of trained specialists, hence the sky-high salaries.

3. Human Resource Specialist

Even HR professionals can leverage a Master’s degree in Financial Technology to take their careers to new heights. For corporations operating against a backdrop of automated financial processes and AI-driven financial applications, having qualified human resources professionals to help foster a positive work environment is necessary.

HR professionals working at the nexus of human resources and financial technology will ensure that employees function and thrive as messengers for a company’s brand. HR roles at financial technology firms involve ensuring that a given company attracts the best and brightest professionals for a given position.

HR professionals are essential to a company’s success

While many executive and management-level positions in financial technology are, by necessity, centered in the realm of math, statistics, and hard science, human resource specialists bring less tangible but crucial skills to the table.

By continually monitoring a workplace in which automation and intricate regulatory mechanisms create a complex business environment and understand the impact these forces can have on employees, HR professionals can help their company succeed by ensuring that workplaces remain friendly and inclusive.

4. Enterprise Data Analyst

Big data continues to play a large and increasingly important role in companies’ day-to-day operations in the financial services sector and beyond. It should be no surprise then that there’s an increasing need for data analysts who can parse information with enterprise-level data analysis applications.

With the ability to parse, leverage, and interpret increasingly large pools of data, companies can ensure their long-term success by having up-to-the-minute insights about their company, their customers, and their industry at large. This is especially true as companies are finding their clients and customers to be newly empowered.

Complex customer interactions require big data

Increasingly, financial service firms are dealing with customers and clients who are requiring more personalised attention and services specifically tailored to their own needs. The result of all of this is that there will be an increased need for data analysts to develop, tailor, and provide these services in the coming years.

This is yet another role on this list where there's a massive gap between supply and demand. As of 2021, data analysts in Australia can expect to earn as much as $92,000 (AUD) annually.

UNSW can give you an edge in today’s digital marketplace

When you earn a Master’s Degree in Financial Technology from the University of New South Wales, you’ll have the credentials to help you advance in your field and increase your earning power. Armed with up-to-the-minute knowledge and insights into today’s digital marketplace, you’ll position yourself to add value to some of the world’s most respected companies.

If you’re a financial professional and you’re ready to take your career to the next level, check out the Master of Financial Technology online degree. You’ll find all the information you need, including cost, degree requirements, academic calendar, and instructions on how you can connect with an admissions specialist.