The Singapore Digital Salary Benchmark 2022

Singapore’s job market recovery continues to pick up pace

Over the past few years, Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has put more guidelines in place for getting Employment Passes (EP) for foreign talent. Singapore saw EP applications drop by about 17% from December 2019 to December 2021 due to stricter requirements.

Nevertheless, total employment in the city went up to almost 48,000 in the fourth quarter of 2021. In the same period, the number of non-resident workers grew for the first time in two years.

These factors are part of the transition ‘post-pandemic’ and have created a “candidates’ market”, where companies struggle to attract talent as there are more roles than candidates in specific sectors. Since Singapore wants to remain a leading hub in the region, the government plan to attract foreign investments and talent.

“While the city is transitioning away from the pandemic, I see we are in a candidate’s market” says Senior Consultant April Hoon. “There is a candidate scarcity, and they are in better positions to ask for benefits like a higher pay raise and a working from home agreement. More and more candidates reject roles if working from home is not an option. This might become a permanent requirement from candidates. It seems that 70% of companies have gone back to working in their office. It’s not yet clear how this is going to change their approach to working from home. It could offer advantages for companies with a clear WFH policy in place.”

“Certain positions have taken a dramatic increase in salary ranges, impacting the market rate for certain sectors as companies are in bidding wars for top talent. We are seeing Engineers, Developers and XD (experience design) candidates being offered over 50% salary increases to move jobs.” Says Lisa Campbell APAC Partner & Director

The Singapore market has also showed resilience and innovation. Regional Technology Consultant Shuyan Huang says: “I notice that the Fintech industry is still expanding. The headcount in Fintech did not shrink, it actually kept growing, especially in the blockchain field”. She also sees a lot of Chinese companies and investors moving to the Singapore market, setting up their international business headquarters in our city.

Getting hold of great talent

When candidates are actively looking to switch jobs they can receive multiple offers but money isn’t the only reason to move. “Candidates I have spoken to accept a job with the right package. This often includes a strong element of mentorship. It seems almost non-negotiable for junior to mid-level candidates”, says April Hoon.

Create more chances to land that great job

Another development we have witnessed is that companies are looking for candidates with hybrid skills. Professionals that can do more than one thing. It seems we are moving towards a market where employers are building their resources broadly. They may not have the budget to hire one person for one scope, especially in emerging industries. This means they need candidates that are multi-dimensional and that makes these candidates highly sought after.

Salary benchmark

Our client base tends to cover global organizations that operate in SG. They are either multinational SG companies or foreign multinationals operating in SG. We get information based on our experience in the market, recruiting for these companies, which means this salary guide will show higher salaries than domestic-only companies will offer. Each environment has its own pay scale and what we are showing here is an estimation of what you could be earning, on average. This is purely a benchmark so reach out for more detailed information.

If you are hiring, get in touch with us to discuss the salaries that are relevant to your industry.

Choose salary type

Commercial

Singapore Dollars ($), Full Time Salary (calc. Annually)

Analytics and Business Intelligence

Data Analytics Manager

$78K - 135K
Lead Analytics

$132K - 330K
Senior Analyst

$80K - 108K
Data Analyst

$54K - 82K

Product Management & Business Analytics

Director of Product

$210K - 510K
Head of product

$198K - 264K
Lead Product Manager

$132K - 157K
Product Owner

$90K - 300K
Senior Product Manager

$120K - 300K
Product Manager

$70K - 96K
Associate Product Manager

$75K - 150K
Business Analyst

$52.8K - 96K

Marketing

E-commerce Director

$180K - 300K
Head of Digital

$150K - 210K
Marketing Director

$150K - 210K
Head of Ecommerce

$120K - 204K
E-commerce Senior Manager

$108K - 180K
Digital Marketing Manager

$84K - 120K
Digital Marketing Executive

$53K - 92K
Brand Manager

$66K - 93K
E-commerce Manager

$84K - 120K
SEO Manager

$60K - 96K
Customer Experience Manager

$60K - 120K

Project & Programme Management

Operations Director

$237K - 330K
Project Director

$132K - 198K
Associate Project Director

$93K - 144K
Senior Project Manager

$84K - 120K
Project Manager

$60K - 84K
Associate Project Manager

$42K - 66K

Sales & Account Management

Managing Director

$264K - 396K
Business Director

$180K - 240K
Group Account Director

$132K - 216K
Sales Director

$96K - 144K
Senior Account Director

$108K - 180K
Account Director

$96K - 144K
Associate Account Director

$79K - 99K
Sales Manager

$84K - 120K
Senior Account Manager

$66K - 120K
Account Manager

$54K - 96K

Strategy

Head of Planning/Strategy

$264K - 396K
Planning/Strategy Director

$156K - 240K
Strategy Lead

$132K - 180K
Senior Planner/Strategist

$93K - 132K
Planner/Strategist

$54K - 96K
Research Analyst/Junior Planner

$42K - 66K

Design

Creative & Brand Design

Executive Creative Director

$264K - 420K
Senior Creative Director

$180K - 240K
Senior Art Director

$84K - 120K
Creative Technologist

$96K - 180K
Creative Director

$120K - 198K
Associate Creative Director

$106K - 118K
Design Director

$108K - 180K
Visual Design Lead

$84K - 120K
Art Director

$66K - 96K
Junior Art Director

$42K - 66K
Senior Copywriter

$78K - 120K
Senior Digital Designer

$66K - 108K
Mid-weight Copywriter

$54K - 72K
Digital Designer

$57K - 78K
Junior Copywriter

$36K - 55.2K
Associate Visual Designer

$54K - 72K

Experience Design

Director of User Experience

$198K - 330K
Head of Experience Design

$216K - 360K
Service/Business Design Lead

$120K - 180K
Lead Experience Designer/Researcher/Strategist

$108K - 186K
Head of Research

$108K - 156K
Lead UI Designer

$84K - 132K
Senior UX/UI Designer

$84K - 120K
Senior Researcher

$72K - 108K
UX Designer, UI Designer

$72K - 90K
Mid-weight Experience Designer/Researcher/Strategist

$66K - 78K
Junior Experience Designer/Researcher/Strategist

$48K - 66K

Content & Production

Content Director

$180K - 240K
Head of Social

$96K - 132K
Executive producer

$144K - 216K
Content Manager

$72K - 120K
Social Content Strategist

$66K - 96K
Social Media Manager / Content producer

$60K - 78K
Social Media/Community Manager

$54K - 84K

Technology

Software Engineering and Development

CTO/Director of Software

$240K - 600K
Technical Director/Application Architect

$240K - 360K
Group Technology Director

$198K - 600K
Technical Lead/Lead developer/Technical Manager

$120K - 300K
Principal engineer

$240K - 570K
Senior solutions architect

$108K - 198K
Principal Big Data Engineer/Team Lead

$108K - 132K
Senior Big Data Engineer

$93K - 120K
Technical Manager

$108K - 132K
QA Lead

$84K - 120K
Senior Back-End/Full-Stack Developer (SS 2019 +10%)

$120K - 300K
Mobile Developer

$66K - 108K
Full-stack Developer

$72K - 120K
Senior web engineer

$96K - 180K
DevOps Engineer

$120K - 240K
System Administrator

$96K - 180K
Senior Front End Developer

$96K - 180K
Creative Technologist

$80K - 132K
QA tester

$72K - 180K
Mid-Weith QA Tester/Engineer (SS 2019 +10%)

$60K - 90K
Back/Front end developer

$66K - 96K
IT support specialist

$72K - 120K

Data science and Engineering

Head of Data Science

$240K - 330K
Lead Data Scientist

$120K - 198K
Senior Data Scientist

$96K - 156K
Mid-Level Data Scientist

$66K - 108K
Data Engineer

$120K - 360K
Database Management & Analytics Assistant Manager

$84K - 120K
Data Analyst

$60K - 84K