Highest-Paying Jobs in Singapore 2023—Which Industries Pay Six-Figure Salaries?

Highest-Paying Jobs in Singapore 2023—Which Industries Pay Six-Figure Salaries?
Image: Gifer / Mad Men

I firmly believe that comparing ourselves to others is a pointless endeavour. Only tiger parents engage in that kind of toxic exercise. Yet here I am, writing this article about the highest-paying jobs in Singapore, one that is sure to give you a moment of panic…unless yours appears on the list.

That said, you don’t have to give up on your dreams and force yourself to apply for one of the jobs on this list. Not, that is, if your dream is to work in artificial intelligence. According to global job site Indeed, AI is the next big thing—with job postings for AI research fellows jumping nearly 60% in five years and searches by job seekers for AI-related jobs jumping 150%.

Taking a page from Morgan McKinley’s 2023 Salary Guide, we review what employees with 5-10 years of experience are being paid while working in a permanent role. This year, the guide compiles results from 3,860 professional and 636 employer/hiring manager respondents.

A Brief Overview of the Highest-Paying Jobs in Singapore 2023

Industry Role Top Salary (5-10 years’ experience)
Accounting CFO / VP Finance $250,000
Banking & finance Managing Director (Investment Banking) $500,000
HR HR Director / Head of HR $160,000
Risk Quant $120,000
Projects & change (financial services) Programme Manager $180,000
Technology Solution Architect / Pre Sales (Figures inclusive of OTE) $150,000-$250,000
Marketing Vice-President/President/CxO (Technology) $300,000
Supply chain & procurement Procurement/Purchasing Director $120,000
Sales Director/Managing Director $200,000

 

Highest Paying Jobs in Singapore 2023 by Industry

  1. Highest-paying jobs in accounting
  2. Highest-paying jobs in banking & finance
  3. Highest-paying jobs in HR
  4. Highest-paying jobs in risk
  5. Highest-paying jobs in projects & change (financial services)
  6. Highest-paying jobs in tech
  7. Highest-paying jobs in marketing
  8. Highest-paying jobs in supply chain & procurement
  9. Highest-paying jobs in sales

ALSO READ: Is Singapore Too Expensive to Live In?—Singapore’s Cost of Living 2023

 

Highest-paying jobs in accounting

Those G2000-clad accountants might look like they’re constantly in need of a shot of espresso (maybe 2), but hey, at least they’re earning more than you.

Job Annual salary
CFO / VP Finance $250,000
Finance Director $180,000
Internal Audit Director $160,000
Tax Director $160,000
Treasury Director / Treasurer $160,000
Financial Controller $120,000
Financial Planning and Analysis Director / Business Controller $120,000
Corporate Finance Manager / Director $120,000
Financial Planning and Analysis Manager $100,000

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Highest-paying jobs in banking & finance

There’s a reason so many fresh grads are anxious to work for banks, even with degrees in biology or sociology. For the warm fuzzies when they make big companies and high net worth individuals’ lives better, of course.

Job Annual salary
Managing Director (Investment Banking) $500,000
Managing Director (Private Equity) $500,000
Management Director (Private Banking) $400,000
Director (Private Equity) $350,000
Director (Investment Banking) $300,000
Executive Director (Private Banking) $280,000
VP (Private Equity) $275,000
VP (Investment Banking) $250,000
VP (Private Banking) $160,000
Associate (Private Equity) $150,000
AVP (Investment Banking) $150,000
COO / Head of Operations $120,000
AVP / Associate Director (Private Banking) $100,000

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ALSO READ: Best Savings Accounts in Singapore with Highest Interest Rates (2023)


Highest-paying jobs in HR

Despite the good work that they do, there remain some nasty misconceptions about the folks in the HR department. C’mon, they are the reason that you get your paycheque on time, or not.

Job Annual salary
HR Director / Head of HR $160,000
Head of C&B $150,000
Head of L&D $150,000
HR Business Partner $120,000
C&B Manager $120,000
Head of Talent Acquisition $120,000
HR Associate Director $108,000
HR Business Partner $100,000

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Highest-paying job in risk

Getting carpal tunnel syndrome is probably the biggest risk these people face at work, but all the same, some in this field are paid quite well for protecting other people’s money and business interests.

Job Annual salary
Quant $120,000

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Highest-paying jobs in projects & change (financial services)

Don’t be fooled by the tech start-up-sounding lingo. The highest earners in projects and change have sold out to work in the financial services industry.

Job Annual salary
Programme Manager $180,000
Lean Six Sigma/Operational Excellence Expert $175,000
Strategy Consulting $150,000
Business Transformation $150,000
Agile Coach $120,000
Project Manager $120,000
Digital Project Management $120,000
Change Manager $120,000
Business Process Improvement Manager $120,000
Senior Business Analyst (Financial Services) $100,000
Process Analyst (Financial Services) $100,000

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Highest-paying jobs in technology

If you are over 35, tough luck—your parents who bugged you to become a doctor or lawyer could never have known that IT would become one of the highest-paying industries of the 2020s. That said, it’s never too late for a job switch. Lifelong learning, right?

Job Annual salary
Cyber Security, Governance and Audit in IT
Cyber Presales $100,000-$250,000
Technology Risk & Governance $100,000-$160,000
IT Audit $100,000-$160,000
IT Security $100,000-$160,000
Security Project / Program Manager $100,000-$160,000
Cyber Security Engineering $90,000-$130,000
Cyber Threat Intelligence $90,000-$120,000
Cyber Security Analytics $90,000-$120,000
DevSecOps $90,000-$150,000
Cyber Security Operation $80,000-$110,000
Chief Information Security Officer $80,000-$110,000
Sales, Pre-Sales – Vendor, System Integrator, FinTech, and Telecommunications
Solution Architect / Pre Sales (Figures inclusive of OTE) $150,000-$250,000
Business Development (Figures inclusive of OTE) $120,000-$250,000
PreSales (Fintech) $150,000-$180,000
Inside Sales (Figures inclusive of OTE) $120,000-$180,000
Channel Sales (Figures inclusive of OTE) $120,000-$180,000
Direct Sales (Figures inclusive of OTE) $100,000-$250,000
Account Management $90,000-$200,000
Infrastructure in Technology, Telecommunications & Fintech
Cloud $80,000-$130,000
DevOps $80,000-$130,000
Network (Data/Voice/Firewall) $80,000-$120,000
Project Management $80,000-$120,000
Servers (Unix/Linus/Wintel) $80,000-$120,000
Storage $80,000-$120,000
Network (Data/Voice/Firewall) $80,000-$120,000
Data Centre $80,000-$100,000
Database $80,000-$100,000
End-User Computing (Desktop/Messaging/Collaboration) $80,000-$100,000
Infrastructure in Banking & Financial Services
End-User computing (Desktop/Messaging/Collaboration) $80,000-$120,000
Network (Data/Voice/Firewall) $80,000-$120,000
Storage $80,000-$120,000
Database $80,000-$120,000
Middleware $80,000-$120,000
Servers (Unix/Linux/Wintel) $80,000-$120,000
Data Centre $80,000-$120,000
Cloud Engineer/Architect $100,000-$120,000
Infrastructure Project Management $100,000-$120,000
Technical Infrastructure Architecture $100,000-$120,000
DevOps $80,000-$130,000
ITIL Process Owner (Incident/Problem/Change/etc) $80,000-$100,000
Development and Testing in Banking & Financial Services
C++ Developer $65,000-$100,000
Java Developer (Server side & Front End) $65,000-$100,000
C#/.net Developer (Server Side & Front End) $65,000-$100,000
Full Stack Engineer/Developer $65,000-$100,000
Technical Lead $90,000-$120,000
Development Lead/Manager $90,000-$120,000
Application Support in Banking & Financial Services
Trader Support (FO) (Application) $75,000-$100,000
Head of Application Support (FO) $75,000-$100,000
Level 3 Technical Support $70,000-$100,000

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Highest-paying jobs in marketing

Marketing grads are thought of as the underachievers of business school, but guess what, marketing can be quite lucrative in certain industries, especially if you’re a digital marketing specialist.

Job Annual salary
Vice-President/President/CxO (Technology) $300,000
Marketing Director/Senior Director (Pharmaceutical & Medical Devices) $220,000
Marketing Director / Senior Director (Consumer Goods) $180,000
Regional Head of Marketing/Director/Executive Director (Banking & Financial Services) $180,000
Associate Director/Director (Technology) $160,000
E-Commerce VP/Director (Digital Marketing) $180,000
Marketing Director/Senior Director (Consumer Goods) $180,000
Digital Marketing Director (Digital Marketing) $160,000
Associate Marketing Director (Consumer Goods) $160,000
Associate Marketing Director (Pharmaceutical & Medical Devices) $160,000
Head of Marketing/VP/SVP (Banking & Financial Services) $150,000
Head of Marketing/Communications (Technology) $120,000
SEO Director/Lead (Digital Marketing) $120,000
Head of Content/Director (Digital Marketing) $120,000
Marketing Manager (Consumer Goods) $120,000
Trade Marketing Director (Consumer Goods) $120,000

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Highest-paying jobs in supply chain & procurement

These behind-the-scenes employees are seldom seen by consumers, but the highest-level posts actually pay quite well.

Job Annual salary
Procurement/Purchasing Director $120,000
Supply Chain Director $120,000

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Highest-paying jobs in sales

Salespeople are some of the biggest hustlers in the working world. Given the salaries and commissions involved, it’s not hard to see why.

Job Annual salary
Director/Managing Director $200,000
Account Director (Regional/Global) $200,000
Head of Strategic Partnerships $150,000
Category Director $150,000
Country General Manager/Commercial Director $180,000
Head of Sales/Business Development Director $150,000
Business Manager/Business Unit Head $120,000
Business Development Manager $100,000
National Sales Manager $100,000

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