Saule Zhakayeva began her career in 1992 at Kazcredsocbank (subsequently merged with Bank Centercredit). Between 1995 - 2001 she served as Head of International Accounts and Trade Finance at Halyk Bank.
Saule Zhakayeva joined Citi in 2001 as Head of the Operations Department, becoming Deputy Chair of Citibank Kazakhstan in 2004. In November 2007 she became Head of the Banking Products Development, and in August 2012 she was appointed Head of Corporate Banking.
Saule graduated from Kazakh Management Academy majoring in Finance and Credit. She holds a Master’s degree from HEC Business School (Paris) and International Academy of Business (Almaty). In 2018, she received a Distinguished Financier award from the Kazakhstan Financiers Association.