Market update · Issue 1 · Private Capital and Professional Services

October Market Pulse: vacancy and active hiring overview

Every live vacancy across the growth disciplines in Australian professional services and private capital, counted on one day. 90 roles live: 47 in firms, 43 in funds. Who is hiring, for what, where, and at what level.

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The Market Pulse: vacancy and active hiring overview. Growth roles in professional services and private capital, October 2026

Key points

  • 90 growth roles live across the market on 21 October: 47 in law, accounting, consulting and engineering firms, 43 in private equity, credit, venture, infrastructure and real assets managers.
  • Boutique law and the top tier are hiring in equal numbers, for completely different roles. One side wants marketing and lead generation, the other pricing and events.
  • International law firms are the only ones hiring BD managers in volume. Most top tier Australian firms have nothing live.
  • In private capital, credit and property are the engine. Senior capital raising seats are advertised at $250k to $450k base.
  • Sydney has 57% of everything. Brisbane is the surprise, with ten openings across property fund capital raising and engineering bids.
  • Market health score 6.0 out of 10: moderate and improving. Demand is rising and October has sped up, but the hiring is mid level, cautious and concentrated.

The Market Pulse is a monthly count of every live vacancy in the disciplines we work in: business development, client, marketing, communications, origination, investor relations and distribution. It covers two sectors, professional services and private capital, and it is a market wide count of public advertisements, not our own vacancies.

This is the first edition. The count was taken on 21 October 2026 across the major job boards, firm and fund careers pages and recruiter sites. Each month the count is repeated, so from November the numbers become a trend.

Professional services: 47 live vacancies

Law accounts for 25 of the 47, engineering 12, accounting 6 and consulting 4. The disciplines split 14 business development, 11 clients, pursuits and bids, 10 marketing, 6 events and digital, 3 pricing and 3 communications. Sydney has 22, Melbourne 14, Brisbane 6, Perth 3. By level the market is managers and senior advisers; only four of the 47 are Head of or Director seats.

By firm size, boutique law and top tier law are hiring in equal numbers, nine each, and want different things. The top tier is buying pricing, events and communications at senior adviser level. The boutiques are buying marketing, social and lead generation at $75k to $135k. International law firms are the only segment hiring BD managers in volume, at $180k to $200k. The Big 4 have two client account manager contracts and a growth director and no marketing roles at all. Engineering, global and local, is pursuits and bids.

Professional services: 47 live vacancies by discipline, firm type, city and level
Section one, professional services.
Professional services by firm size, from boutique law to the Big 4
Who is hiring by firm size, and for what.

Private capital: 43 live vacancies

Credit and alternatives managers account for 15 of the 43, real estate and real assets 12, multi asset managers 8, private equity and venture 4 and infrastructure, placement and other 4. The disciplines split 18 capital raising and distribution, 16 investor relations, 5 origination, 3 business development and partnerships and 1 investor sales. Sydney has 29 of the 43 and nearly all the senior seats. Fifteen roles are Head of or Director level, fifteen are manager or VP and thirteen are analyst or associate.

Wholesale and private wealth capital raising dominates: most of the 18 distribution roles target family offices, advisers and HNW investors rather than institutions. Director level capital raising mandates are advertised at $250k to $450k base with incentive on top, and associate investor relations seats at $80k to $120k. Classic private equity and venture investor relations is thin on public boards, and the large global platforms show no Australian advertisements at all, which says those hires are happening off market.

Private capital: 43 live vacancies by discipline, manager type, city and level
Section two, private capital.

The October signal and the health score

October has always been the tell for the year ahead. In 11 of the 12 years that the Australian job ads index rose from September to November, hiring grew the following year, by about 20% on average. The index is up 12.9% year on year after five monthly rises.

The headwinds are a cash rate of 4.60% after a third hike this year, unemployment edging up to 4.7%, and a market that is hiring mid level with contracts creeping in at senior manager level. The tailwinds are rising liquidity, which feeds transactional activity straight into professional services, five monthly rises in job ads with October accelerating, and private credit and property managers raising capital and hiring the people who bring it in.

Where we are now: job ads up 12.9% year on year, with headwinds and tailwinds
Where we are now, with the headwinds and tailwinds.

Put together, the market scores 6.0 out of 10: moderate and improving. Demand momentum scores 8, breadth of hiring 6, seniority of demand 5, employer confidence 6 and the macro backdrop 5. The score is re done each month.

Market health score: 6.0 out of 10, moderate and improving, with five component scores
The health score and its five components.

Our call for 2027

Private capital, and commercially focused BD and client development at mid to senior manager level, in Sydney and Melbourne, are set to outperform, especially in the first half, with demand concentrated in private credit. Growth concentrated in tier one legal and in accelerating accounting, audit and consulting firms. The key date is 28 November. What Victoria settles that weekend may set the landscape for 2028 and bring confidence forward into the new year.

The full slide pack covers both sectors by discipline, firm size, city and level, the October signal, where we are now, the health score and the 2027 call. Request it below, or message Charles Handley on LinkedIn to talk through what the numbers mean for your team.

Get the slide pack

More on law firm BD and marketing recruitment. More on origination, distribution and investor relations recruitment.

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