Wondering what’s your worth within the digital space? Perhaps, it’s time to check out what’s the market rate around your scope as we discovered from conversations with a variety of professionals and practitioners over the past year. Here’s a recap of the salary benchmarking done for 2015/2016 that would hopefully guide you in assessing your net worth across Singapore:
If you want to compare 2015/2016 salaries to 2016/2017 click here:
Client Servicing/ Project Management/Strategy
With a restricted availability of digital talent and its demand across Singapore ranging from brands, agencies, consultancies and start-ups, it has resulted in a competitive salary range for the digital arena.
Adding to the equation, is a heightened demand within service design-led digital agencies and consultancies working with digital transformation and start-ups, for those with agile product development experience, which leads to increased salaries for professionals with specialist skills.
| Client Servicing | Salary per month in SGD | |
| Managing Director | $20,000 – $30,000 | |
| Business Director | $16,000 – $20,000 | |
| Group Account Director | $12,000 – $15,000 | |
| Senior Account Director | $7,000 – $10,000 | |
| Account Director | $6,000 – $10,000 | |
| Associate Account Director | $5,000 – $7,000 | |
| Senior Account Manager | $4,000 – $6,000 | |
| Account Manager | $3,500 – $5,000 | |
| Senior Account Executive | $2,500 – $3,500 | |
| Account Executive/Fresh Grad | $2,500 – $3,000 | |
| Digital Project Management | ||
| Head of Operations | $15,000 – $20,000 | |
| Project Director | $10,000 – $15,000 | |
| Associate Project Director | $7,000 – $9,000 | |
| Senior Project Manager | $5,000 – $8,000 | |
| Project Manager | $4,000 – $6,000 | |
| Senior Project Executive | $2,800 – $3,500 | |
| Project Executive/Fresh Grad | $2,400 – $2,800 |
| Digital Strategy/ Planning | ||
| Strategy Director | $20,000 – $30,000 | |
| Head of Digital Strategy | $12,000 – $16,000 | |
| Senior Strategist | $8,000 – $12,000 | |
| Strategist | $5,000 – $8,000 | |
| Junior Strategist | $4,000 – $5,000 |
The hunger for digital-led creatives of a senior level capacity as agencies are more aware of brand and marketing expectations with local and regional clients. Hence they require the capability in taking their business to next level which leads to the eventual merger of “traditional” and “digital” advertising. The need for both are and copy based creatives that can design, write and produce for multiple channels at a high level is a great one.
With all the buzz around User Experience, Interaction Design and Experience design, companies in Singapore have varying degrees in seeing the role of UX out here. The seniority is not just based on the amount of years clocked in but most importantly the in-depth extensive application and understanding of UX with prolific projects to boot.
| Creative | ||
| Executive Creative Director | $15,000 – $20,000 | |
| Creative Director | $10,000 – $16,000 | |
| Associate Creative Director (Art) | $8,000 – $13,000 | |
| Associate Creative Director (Copy) | $9,000 -$13,000 | |
| Design Director | $8,000 – $12,000 | |
| Art Director | $5,000 – $9,000 | |
| Senior Designer | $3,500 – $6,500 | |
| Mid-Weight Designer | $3,000 – $4,000 | |
| Head of Copy | $7,000 – $9,000 | |
| Senior Copywriter | $5,000 – $7,500 | |
| Mid Weight Copywriter | $4,000 – $5,000 | |
| Junior Creative Team | $2,400 – $3,500 | |
| Fresh Grad | $2,200 – $3,000 |
| User Experience | ||
| Director/Head of UX | $10,000 – $15,000 | |
| Senior/Lead UX Architect | $8,000 – $12,000 | |
| Mid-Weight UX Architect | $5,000 – $8,000 | |
| UX Manager | $8,000 – $10,000 | |
| Senior UI Designer | $5,000 – $8,000 | |
| Junior – Mid Weight UI Designer | $3,500 – $5,500 | |
| Senior User Researcher | $4,000 – $6,000 | |
| Junior – Mid Weight User Researcher | $3,500 – $5,500 |
Overall, the technical skill required here is similar to the global needs and demands. Mobile developers and those with JavaScript proficiency would be highly sought after in conjunction with the demand in serious technical architecting with AEM.
Burgeoning growth and investment with start-ups have resulted in their hunt for full stack technologists (Java, Python, node.js with a mix of JavaScript and related frameworks such as AngularJS, backbone.js, ember.js, react.js, require.js). On the agency front, Creative technologists who can do the tech talk and translate with creatives as well will be in a great advantage.
| Technology | Salary per month in SGD | |
| Chief Technology Officer | $15,000 – $20,000 | |
| Technical Director | $10,000 – $15,000 | |
| Technical Manager | $8,000 – $10,000 | |
| Technical Lead | $5,000 – $7,000 | |
| Creative Technologist | $6,000 – $10,000 | |
| Senior Front-End Developer | $5,000 – $7,000 | |
| Mid-Weight Front-End Developer | $4,000 – $5,000 | |
| Junior Developer | $3,000 – $4,000 | |
| Mobile Developer (iOs/Android) | $5,000 – $8,000 | |
| Principle/Senior Solutions Architect (e.g. AEM) | $8,000 – $15,000 | |
| Solutions Architect (AEM) | $6,000 – $8,000 | |
| Senior Java Developer/Engineer | $6,000 – $8,000 | |
| Senior Back-End Developer (Ruby, Python, PHP) | $5,000 – $7,000 | |
| Mid-Weight Back-End Developer | $4,000 – $5,000 | |
| Junior Back-End Developer | $3,000 – $4,000 | |
| Lead QA Tester/Engineer | $6,000 – $8,000 | |
| QA Tester/Analyst | $4,000 – $5,000 |
Things to note:
All of the above are based on our own experience and research where it serves as an indication of the average salaries paid. It is also dependent on the following factors:
Type and size of company –MNCs, locally owned or global network owned
Experience – years in total and also on time spent working in Singapore
Scope of the role – local, regional or global.
For further consultation and queries on salaries across the fields mention, please kindly contact zid.ilias@cogsagency.com. In the meanwhile, please check out new opportunities in Singapore here.