Careers

Client manager programme

Invest in a new career.

This programme will open for applications in early 2025.

Why change job, when you can change career?

Whatever your background, if you are curious about the world, enjoy building relationships, and are a great communicator, we would love to hear from you. Financial services experience isn’t necessary, just a real passion for learning new things.

What does Baillie Gifford do?

Baillie Gifford is an investment management firm that has remained an independent private partnership for over 100 years.  As long-term investors, our investment philosophy is focused on growth.

Life at Baillie Gifford

There are many reasons why we think you'll love working here, from our beautiful Edinburgh setting to our thriving, friendly community and opportunities to develop your career.

Key facts

We typically recruit three to four people to the programme each year.

At the end of the programme, you'll have earned a permanent Client Manager role in one of the Client Service teams, subject to completion of the requirements on the training programme.

Salary

£55,000 p/a

Start date

September 2025

Office location

Edinburgh

Trusted long-term partners

As a Client Manager, you'll build strong relationships with our clients to gain an in-depth understanding of their requirements, aiming to become a trusted long-term partner and adviser. We put the interests of clients ahead of our own. Clients that include well-known companies, governments, local authorities, charities, and financial institutions.

At Baillie Gifford we have separated the job roles of investment management and client service. This means that our client facing staff are responsible for working very closely with specific investment teams to be able to distil and convey what the investment teams are doing for our clients. Client managers are therefore required to build relationships with our investment teams and take the time to understand individual investment strategies. As our investment teams are undertaking the management of the investment strategies, your job is to convey that information on their behalf.

Our investment teams practice rigorous fundamental analysis and proprietary research, which allows us to capture global opportunities over periods of five years or more. As a Client Manager, you’ll be staying abreast of trends and ideas, to keep up to date with our investment strategies.

About the programme

This two-year programme offers you the chance to transfer your existing skills while learning new ones. Our aim is to develop the next generation of highly talented client contacts with a clear understanding of how Baillie Gifford differentiates itself in the investment industry. We will support you to build an understanding of fund management, its role in society and to talk confidently about our firm – our investment strategies, processes, and culture. In addition, you will learn who our clients are, their expectations and how to anticipate their future needs. During the Programme you will experience the two client facing roles of Client Relationship Manager and Investment Specialist. 

Mentorship and training

You'll be given a mentor to help guide your development, plus there's a variety of on-going training sessions, such as mock client meetings, practice pitches and presentations on the firm. As you learn, you'll start to assume responsibility for supporting clients and to participate in client meetings, with the occasional requirement to travel.

Professional qualifications

We'll provide you with the support and training to pass the Investment Management Certificate and beyond that either CISI Level 6 Fund Management module or CFA Level 1.

Placements

Upon completion of the foundational learning, you will have two nine-month placements in our client contact teams. During these placements you’ll gain exposure to a variety of clients, fund strategies and ways of working. In addition, you will have secondments within our operational areas and investment teams.  At the end of the two-year programme, the firm will aim to place you with a team where you will operate in either a relationship management or investment specialist role.

Learning and development

Attending formal courses isn’t just something that happens during the first stage of your career. We’ll encourage you to continue to develop, whether that’s attending a structured training course, signing up to a webinar or spending time in another team. If you have the ambition and talent, you could work towards becoming a director, or even a partner in the firm.

Applications

Applications will open in early 2025.

Life at Baillie Gifford

Like the look of the programme? Discover what it's like to work with us.