36 TG SalaryReport v14

2023/24
Australian Tech
Salary Guide
Brought to you by
In partnership with
We are thrilled to be
supported by the Australian
tech community for the
creation of the 23/24
Australian Tech Salary Guide.
A huge thank you to all who contributed
their data, time for interviews, and
efforts in the guide’s creation. In partnership with:
2023 / 2024
Australian Tech Salary Guide 2
Contents
01 02 03
Foreword, key Year-on-year salary Gender Pay Gaps
findings, interpreting comparison, average
the data salaries by stage,
region and level
04 05 06
Salary based on Benefits Conclusion and
function methodology
07
We are Think & Grow
2023 / 2024
01
Foreword, key
findings and
interpreting the data
2023 / 2024
Foreword by Think & Grow Co-Founders, Anthony Sochan & JJ
Since Elon Musk strolled into HQ Twitter (or should

we say ‘X’ now?) carrying a kitchen sink, the pain
and unease felt by the technology sector began to
grow. With global layoffs and a scarcity of funding,
2023 was set up to be demanding, gruelling, and a
whirlwind of a year.
While market buoyancy decreased, many of us by a multiyear pre-product R&D cycle, attracting
long-time industry survivors welcomed the regained former technologists exploring areas like space,
‘sanity’. Venture capitalists protected portfolios but green tech, and sustainable proteins.
also actively invested in Seed and Series A stages,
embracing renewed ‘value’. Private equity firms With start-ups ‘doing more with less’, the past 12
started deploying capital but without a widespread months have seen more people wishing to find
blood bath. Just the listed space experienced a meaning in their work along with the realisation
shortage of new listings due to low valuations. that base salary isn’t their be all or end all. This
sentiment shift will play well for businesses that
Here is our positive spin: Australia’s tech ecosystem give back, invest in forward-thinking culture and
showcased resilience. The crazy times of 2021 have a North Star that speaks to their purpose
and early 2022 where capital was invested at high and vision.
valuations was in fact just a ‘blip’. What we believe
has been the reason for growth to prevail despite From a functional point of view, sales and
funding constraints is the great principles that our operations were a key focus for many to grow
ecosystem was built upon: good unit economics, a revenue. AI engineering has come into its own
healthy CAC/LTV, and a true understanding of what valuable role to assist companies in capitalising on
it means to obtain product market fit. market interest. The use of brand marketing and
customer success has risen as growth marketing
We began to see Australian companies take heed (particularly paid) has fallen in a bid to organically
of the lessons of old as they continued to scale win and retain loyal customers for the long stretch.
internationally; prioritising locations where key
customers were, cities like Denver being favoured So, 2023 has been quite the year so far!
over San Francisco, and not sticking with tradition
by looking to regions such as South-East-Asia for It’s been a pleasure to welcome Compete as a
expansion. Overseas companies continued to enter partner to the Australian Tech Salary Guide this
the Australian market, with the bias shifting from year. We look forward to a fruitful partnership as
US headquarters to Europe, Israel and Asia-based together, we strive to create more transparency
businesses. in the space. Continuing to make this guide as
the leading source in Australia free for all the
Local R&D teams remained stable, often expanding community to use!
headcount through offshore engineering sites.
“Deep Tech” finally came into the spotlight, defined
2023 / 2024
Foreword by 2023 was a year of disruptions that About Compete
have redefined the parameters of talent
Amit Rapaport
engagement and compensation strategies. Compete is Australia’s first real-time
compensation and benefits benchmarking
Fortunately, we’re seeing companies platform, enabling P&Cs, CEOs and
establishing fresh cornerstones for their Finance leaders to plan their people
Co-Founder & CEO approach to their most valuable asset: budget and effectively hire and retain top
of Compete Their people. talent. The platform provides data and
advanced filter capabilities on any role
This transformation includes integrations of in tech, including immediate insights into
pay transparency and internal equity policies, complete compensation package data,
alongside the execution of strategies to such as parental leave, work from home
bridge gender pay disparities. policies and health benefits.
Cheers to that! Built by P&C professionals, Compete

is trusted by hundreds of global tech
companies, including Uber, Deputy, Apps
Flyer, Flipkart, PetCircle, Harrison AI
and more.
2023 / 2024
Why we do this? Deeper pockets at later stages
This is to support fast-growth tech founders,
executives, hiring managers, and employees
navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities Later stage companies tend to have higher
that await them year-on-year to propel growth and compensation. With Series C companies having
avoid costly pitfalls.
We produce this guide

between offering 7-25% higher salaries on average.
We advise you to take the following into
consideration whilst reading through this guide: Shrinking the gap between talent
every year to provide total • A company’s valuation and capital raised are very
different. This can cause salaries to be much
higher for businesses at exactly the same stage,
Compared to the previous year, the gap between
the median and the 75th percentile salaries have
shrunk. Median salaries across all roles grew an
transparency, trusted salary

just with different funded models for growth (for average of 9.16% while compared to 5.68% at the
example, bootstrapped vs VC capital). 75th percentile.
• The data collected for this year’s guide

Tech leadership lags in
data, and expertise on the
reflects the breadth of the ecosystem, from
bootstrapped, VC funded, listed and PE-backed compensation, while tech roles
companies of all sizes. Previous guides collected
make a recovery overall
current tech landscape

data solely from start-ups.
• To secure top talent in the market, employers While Median Independent Contributor salaries in
should be budgeting around 20% of the average Software Engineering, Data and Sales grew 17.08%
in Australia.
salary shown for each role. on average, Leadership/Managerial roles for these
functions stagnated at -0.91%.
Hybrid & remote work

remains strong
78.40% of firms surveyed offer arrangements that
include 3+ days WFH.
Glass ceiling remains, but gender

pay gap narrowing
Women still only account for 22.58% of executive
leadership roles surveyed, but the wage gap for
women in executive leadership has closed to 7.22%.
2023 / 2024
Demographic Data
Women are and overrepresented in
corporate function:
Big Stats
Strong median wage growth in Data, Product & Software
Engineering functions with 13.93% growth in median salaries
across the role in the last 2 years. Software Engineers
remain in core demand, with 20-26% median wage growth
across 2 years.
Weakest median wage growth was in Marketing & Sales

functions, with only 4.13% growth in median salaries across
these roles in the last 2 years. Business Development
managers and Content Managers remain in high demand
however, with 11.25% and 28.05% growth in
median wages respectively across 2 years.
Demographic Data Benefits

Women are still under-represented in
Report
technical roles Training & Coaching are shifting into focus and 64.8%
of companies offer at least $500 annual for training &
19%
educational reimbursement. 35% of companies offer internal
Software coaches as well.
Engineering
Flexibility remains a selling point in this market. With 53.1% of
At A Glance
companies offering an unlimited vacation policy and 98.3%
26% Cyber
Security
of companies offering some form of WFH arrangement.
Mental health and wellbeing are also in focus, but with

preference towards doing so via programs. 60% of
34%
companies offer mental health support or services, while
only 28% of them offer mental health days as an
Product
additional benefit.
Data collected this year with Compete
differentiated data points by seniority and
role description - instead of just self-reported 25% Data
job titles, allowing more accurate reporting of

market conditions.
2023 / 2024
02
Year-on-year salary
comparison, average
salaries by stage,
region and level
2023 / 2024
The distribution of YoY changes
in remuneration has significantly 01 Year-on-year
salary comparison
(p=0.003) changed for the better
from 2022 to 2023. Tech 2021 2022 2023 (Real Data) 2021-2022 Change 2022-2023 Change Sales (Basic)
2021 2022 2023 (Real Data) 2021-2022 Change 2022-2023 Change
CTO $210,198.37 $215,129.03 $218,800.00 2.35% 1.71% CCO/CRO $209,409.28 $228,000.00 $193,100.00 8.88% -15.31%
In 2022, the median salary increase was 2.8% VP Eng $203,061.30 $217,793.10 $220,900.00 7.25% 1.43% Head of Sales $195,199.39 $189,111.11 $189,900.00 -3.12% 0.42%
and 67% of role titles did moderately well with Eng Mng $156,801.86 $176,642.86 $176,800.00 12.65% 0.09% BDM $110,497.63 $115,354.17 $125,100.00 4.40% 8.45%
remuneration increases. Senior Engineer $145,113.29 $154,003.55 $182,500.00 6.13% 18.50% CSM $93,418.32 $94,654.32 $95,300.00 1.32% 0.68%
Mid Eng $112,079.27 $115,185.71 $138,300.00 2.77% 20.07%
jnr engineer $80,056.03 $82,907.69 $94,600.00 3.56% 14.10%

In 2023, however, the median salary increase
jumped more than threefold (cf 2022) to 9.1% Product Sales (OTE)
with a whopping 87% of role titles experiencing CPO $272,285.71 $236,200.00 $254,800.00 -13.25% 7.87% CCO/CRO $265,093.31 $263,100.00 $223,700.00 -0.75% -14.98%
remuneration increases. VP of Product $194,684.19 $196,636.36 $200,200.00 1.00% 1.81% Head of Sales $246,101.37 $221,964.81 $199,400.00 -9.81% -10.17%
Senior Product mg $156,346.54 $167,433.33 $180,700.00 7.09% 7.92% BDM $126,651.53 $134,760.00 $131,300.00 6.40% -2.57%
Product Mng $125,938.31 $129,954.55 $142,500.00 3.19% 9.65% CSM $104,851.80 $99,815.80 $96,100.00 -4.80% -3.72%
jnr product mg $86,123.08 $94,142.86 $97,500.00 9.31% 3.57%
Data Marketing
Head of Data $226,012.85 $218,428.57 $198,100.00 -3.36% -9.31% CMO $256,000.00 $224,083.33 $285,000.00 -12.47% 27.18%
Senior DS $146,381.78 $163,631.58 $181,100.00 11.78% 10.68% VPmarketing $174,141.51 $161,892.86 $183,700.00 -7.03% 13.47%
DS $130,417.17 $112,526.32 $140,800.00 -13.72% 25.13% Marketing mg $103,712.29 $106,549.02 $108,800.00 2.74% 2.11%
DE $115,513.02 $96,937.50 $127,300.00 -16.08% 31.32% Head of Growth $165,095.06 $158,914.29 $184,200.00 -3.74% 15.91%
DA $99,295.62 $102,363.64 $126,500.00 3.09% 23.58% CONSM $85,599.17 $92,464.29 $105,300.00 8.02% 13.88%
Design Operations
Head of Design $175,013.07 $180,454.55 $203,800.00 3.11% 12.94% CoS $169,714.29 $141,666.67 $169,900.00 -16.53% 19.93%
Senior UX Design $130,164.45 $139,040.00 $157,600.00 6.82% 13.35% COO $216,849.95 $235,761.90 $228,900.00 8.72% -2.91%
Sn Product Design $135,745.24 $139,444.44 $157,600.00 2.73% 13.02% HoO $163,674.17 $167,842.11 $199,800.00 2.55% 19.04%
UX Design $115,133.74 $101,241.38 $127,700.00 -12.07% 26.13% OPM $116,436.87 $115,870.97 $147,100.00 -0.49% 26.95%
UI Design $83,620.75 $100,277.78 $105,400.00 19.92% 5.11% CEO $234,696.25 $252,500.00 $256,100.00 7.59% 1.43%
Product Design $94,048.89 $121,718.75 $127,700.00 29.42% 4.91%

For more benchmarks, join Compete for free here
2023 / 2024
The salary landscape across
regions continues to showcase 02 Average salary
by location
a prevailing trend where New
South Wales (NSW) tends to
New South Wales Queensland Victoria
Business Strategy 133,256 109,833 125,581

offer higher compensation
Customer Service 95,713 91,442 94,310
compared to Victoria (VIC) and
Cyber & Security 136,055 - -
Queensland (QLD).
Data 137,995 96,827 135,143
While historical data pointed to substantial differences of over 10% in Design 133,598 118,300 124,600
favour of NSW, the gap has notably narrowed among these three major
states. With the industry adapting to remote, hybrid, and in-office work Executive Management 214,164 202,810 200,624
arrangements, and heightened competition for talent, we anticipate Finance 121,481 113,708 105,381
potential salary spikes in specific regions. Particularly intriguing is the
emerging trend in industries like hardware, where we are vigilantly General & Administrative 92,310 - -
monitoring whether a concentration of talent will lead to salary surges in
particular roles and regions.
Hardware 97,700 125,744 129,979
Information Technology 133,658 98,716 -
It’s worth noting that not all role types could be uniformly collected across
all locations, suggesting a tendency to either outsource certain functions or Legal 161,027 - -
establish multiple business sites.
Manufacturing 84,322 84,500 -
Within this analysis of average salaries across various job roles by location, Marketing 124,820 113,807 121,320
distinct patterns emerge. Roles like Customer Service and Product-
related positions exhibit minimal regional salary differences, indicating Mechanical 94,430 - -
consistent compensation regardless of geography. Conversely, roles
Operations 115,625 109,029 108,353
in Finance and People & Culture display significant regional disparities,
highlighting the impact of location on remuneration. However, exceptions People & Culture 127,037 130,353 114,512
challenge these overarching trends. For instance, in Project Management,
employees in Queensland earn more than their NSW counterparts, defying Product 150,438 140,696 148,914
the conventional belief that NSW workers receive higher pay. Likewise, in
Project Management 126,614 134,950 114,100
System Operations, Victoria outpaces NSW in terms of salaries. Notably,
within the Hardware and Software sectors, NSW offers the lowest salaries, Sales 115,127 106,534 111,778
while Victoria provides slightly higher compensation for Software-related
roles. These findings provide valuable insights into the intricate dynamics Software 135,811 126,514 140,733
of regional salary variations across diverse job roles in our analysis.
System Operations 157,017 141,102 170,905
2023 / 2024
03 Core roles by
funding stage
In our analysis, we’ve undertaken
a comprehensive breakdown of
key roles across various funding
stages (seed, series A, and
SEED ROUND A ROUND B PRIVATE
Company Stage with
the highest pay
Company Stage
with Lowest Pay
Difference between
Highest and Lowest series B).
Additionally, we found it intriguing to draw comparisons with “private*
Customer Service / companies,” defined as businesses that are self-funded without external
104,925.96 102,090.48 97,060.72 85,023.29 SEED PRIVATE 23.41% investment.
Customer Success
It’s notable that companies securing funding tend to allocate more

substantial resources to their customer service and success departments,
Customer Service / ROUND B / reflected in higher salaries compared to their bootstrapped counterparts.
171,605.08 232,383.90 266,690.00 302,138.81 SEED 76.07%
Customer Success PRIVATE As companies progress through additional funding stages, there’s a gradual
decline in customer service salaries. This trend likely underscores the more
dynamic and growth-oriented nature of venture-backed businesses, with
a shift towards formalised incentive structures such as bonuses and sales
Executive Management / ROUND B / commissions.
210,687.50 217,994.88 218,810.80 244,000.00 SEED 15.81%
Technology PRIVATE
CEO compensation exhibits significant growth as a company advances from
the seed stage to series A and series B, with private firm CEOs receiving
the highest base salaries. This difference may be attributed to the allure of
Executive Management /
156,005.63 146,105.06 149,550.38 165,646.20 SEED / PRIVATE ROUND A 13.37% equity in venture-backed enterprises, where the need for a well-defined
Technology
exit strategy within a specific timeframe is often more pronounced. Similar
observations can be made for CTO and technology leadership positions.
Sales / Sales Interestingly, the Product function boasts the highest salary among
Representative / Inside 104,950.00 134,090.91 112,811.69 106,880.95 ROUND A SEED 27.77% venture-funded firms at the seed stage, experiences a decline in series A,
Sales and stabilises in series B. In contrast, private firms consistently offer higher
salaries than their venture-backed counterparts. This anomaly may be
explained by the pivotal role played by the initial “product hire” in venture-
Software / Software funded start-ups, often replacing the founder who initially held that critical
149,905.00 157,932.26 137,386.11 132,041.55 ROUND A PRIVATE 19.61% product role. Thus, the need to attract top talent at an early stage becomes
Development / Backend
apparent.
Examining engineering roles, we notice a similar salary trend with high

Software / Software compensation at the seed and series A stages, followed by a slight decline
154,585.91 134,184.48 135,624.44 121,512.18 SEED PRIVATE 27.22%
Development / Frontend in later rounds. Private companies, on the other hand, generally offer
lower salaries than their venture-backed peers. This pattern could be
attributed to the implementation of more robust incentive and retention
plans in later funding rounds, enabling companies to reduce base salaries.
Software / Software Another possibility is that early-stage businesses tend to avoid hiring
137,765.60 141,163.27 129,805.00 122,040.59 ROUND A PRIVATE 15.67%
Development / Full Stack junior engineers due to the high management overhead, unless they have
experienced CTOs, VP of Engineering, or Engineering Managers on board.
Consequently, the inclination is to hire more seasoned professionals.
* Private companies are those that have not taken on external capital and are self-funded.
2023 / 2024
03
Gender pay gaps
& ratio
2023 / 2024
Despite ongoing efforts, both
representation and remuneration
remain a challenge across
various functions. Overall,
33% 105% 50% 93% 26% 104% 25% 87% 49% 93% 22% 92% females represent 35.9% of
Business Strategy Customer Service Cyber & Security Data Design Executive Management respondents and average 84.6%
of remuneration of males. It’s clear
there’s more work to do to bridge
these gaps.
Notably, the Legal and General & Administrative
are seemingly pioneers in closing both the
remuneration and representation gaps!
52% 80% 67% 112% 18% 108% 66% 110% 66% 83% 45% 86% Tech-related functions including IT, Cyber,
Finance General & Administrative Information Technology Legal Marketing Operations Software and Data, still grapple with achieving a
balanced gender mix in their ranks.
Marketing and People & Culture functions

see a higher representation of women but lag
significantly behind in pay parity. The journey
toward bridging these gaps continues, these
insights point to areas that warrant increased
attention and action!
76% 91% 34% 91% 40% 88% 36% 104% 19% 88% 10% 93%
For more data on pay gaps, join
People & Culture Product Project Management Sales Software System Operations
Key:
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Women Ratio
Salary Gap
Join for free
2023 / 2024
An outlook on
the current
gender pay gap
By Emma Jones,
CEO & Founder of Project F
The tech sector has been hiring or promoting women. Salary growth YOY in software to be seen in the office which is in tech companies may be seen Project F advises tech start-ups
When considering the salaries engineering: where relationships are formed as more attractive than traditional and scale-ups to address the GPG
male-dominated since the for new hires, we tend to ask for and informal sponsorships take pathways (e.g. solicitor) where in several ways; 1) Create a simple
late 1960s and the gender candidates’ expectations, which
becomes the “anchor” for our final
$13k place, resulting in higher rates of
promotion for men.
the GPG consistently favours men.
In B2B sales, women reportedly
skills level table and apply salary
ranges using the Think & Grow
pay gap (GPG) has been
offer. This is problematic because outperform men, but add to this Salary Survey as a guide. Use the
problematic for decades. YOY growth rates of men’s and That even in non-tech areas of the shift to remote selling, using table for hiring; 2) Communicate
It’s a complex issue and a

women’s salary expectations in $9k tech companies, where the gender video and digital channels, which defined ranges to candidates
software engineering differ. Men’s balance is equal or female-heavy aligns with women’s strengths in up front rather than asking for
persistent challenge that’s tricky grow on average by around $13k like People & Culture, Marketing, connecting and collaborating (HBR) expectations - ie. be transparent
for all companies to address, but per year, women’s by just $9k Finance and Customer Service, it makes sense that their value has and pay based on market, skills
especially in the early stages when (USD). men still out-earn women! This increased. and impact instead of what they
the structure of people operations suggests that men are more say they expect; 3) Be intentional
is still forming, hiring is done in low The compounding effects on the frequently occupying senior in hiring a gender diverse team as
numbers and salaries are decided GPG following the pandemic and positions with higher pay in these More broadly the GPG in the diversity brings proven benefits
case by case. the subsequent move to remote- fields. Where GPGs actually favour technology disciplines (AU) sits at that include improved creativity,
first and hybrid ways of working women, however, like Legal and around 15% (STEM Equity Monitor) better problem solving and
As the longstanding dominant have led to issues of presenteeism. Sales, it seems tech is proving (women earn 85c to men’s $1). reaching innovating faster.
archetype in technology is male, Women still undertake more unpaid more attractive than other sectors Consider though that women make
we (unconsciously) assume men domestic work and family care to these professionals. Women are up just 28% of the sector, 18% of
have higher levels of ability and than men (1 hour 19 mins per day entering legal professions in higher CEOs in the sector and receive a
we look for more “proof” when more), and they are less likely numbers than men and legal roles paltry 0.7% of VC funding (Deloitte
2022).
2023 / 2024
04
Salary based on
function
2023 / 2024
As technology continues to The top 5 challenges that
reshape business landscapes, CEO & continue to keep Founders
Founders and CEOs are compelled Founder and CEOs awake at night:
to evolve with it, adopting By JJ

• Ensuring growth under new
conditions continues.
agile strategies and forward-
thinking visions. Year after year, • International expansion, timing,
we witness profound shifts in location/s.
leadership styles emphasising • Bandwidth.

an understanding of emerging
• Preparation for change in
technologies and how to innovate conditions, strategy and plan for
to consumers. the next event (M&A, IPO, raising in
new conditions).
• War for talent.
2023 / 2024
Executive
Management
Role Min Median Max Mean Role Min Median Max Mean
CEO 69 250 500 256.5 VP of Finance 100 179 300 184.8
VP of Customer
In 2023, Execs received less of the uplift Service
85 160 215 161 CFO 150 250 400 256.9
with a median salary increase of 1.8% Chief Customer

100 240 310 232.5 VP of Sales 81 200 296.8 193.1
(contrarily, non-Execs received an uplift Officer
of 10.7%). VP of Product 96 200 300 200.6 VP of Data 140 200 275 199.5
With the broad breadth of companies surveyed (Seed

Chief Product
to early IPO) the data should be seen as a guide Officer
120 250 400 225 VP of Marketing 100 182.4 275 177.3
but Founders should expect the pricepoint of talent
that has “done it before” or can “get shit done” as VP of Information
120 200 250 192.8 CMO 200 275 350 282.5
Technology
sometimes coming in higher than what is reflected
here. These base salaries do not reflect bonus or equity VP of Business
- elements that are critical and standard for most VP VP Legal 190 195 200 195 120 200 300 200.3
Development
and C-Suite positions.
VP of Operations 50 130 225 140 VP of People 119 183.9 235 178.1
COO 125 225 381.4 229.9 CHRO 160 253 350 251.1
VP of Development 72 190 330 191.9
VP of Engineering 200 231.3 275 235
CTO 69 220 362.5 218.7
Chief of Staff
109.1 165 230 171.9
(C-suite)
2023 / 2024
Product
Cost reduction methods like decreasing headcount The Australian tech industry’s ever-increasing emphasis on product
have seen many product teams scale down their excellence has spurred demand for specialised talent, creating a
‘non-core’ and ‘experimental’ teams to focus on the competitive landscape where salary growth serves as a retention
core business. The less common and more radical and recruitment tool.
change has involved businesses removing the By Anthony Sochan
product function altogether. Product Management continues to reward top talent with key
individual contributors paid very well. Lead Product roles continue to
The businesses with well organised product functions be rare in an organisational structure and this is reflected in a mean
are enjoying the benefits and continuing to invest salary that is lower than a Senior Product Manager.
in true cross-functional product development with
an equal consideration of business, technical and
commercial needs. Role Level Min Median Max Mean
The name of the game is cost effective impact, Junior Product Owner Developing 84 100 130 103.7
attribution, and improvement of key metrics. This
includes the abandonment of strict delivery methods Product Owner Career 125 150 165 146.3
in favour of a more practical way of working that is
Product Analyst Career 90 125 180 125.8
supportive to the business’ needs.
Junior Product Manager Developing 70 99 140 98.5
Data remains crucial for decision-making, but
not at the expense of the customer. Realigning Product Manager Career 80 145 190 142.4
product strategy and vision with business goals
has been an ongoing theme and necessity. This Senior Product Manager Expert 120.6 180 240 179.1
stems from the disruptive impact of the ‘growth at

Product Management Lead Lower Management 131 175.3 200 170.7
all costs’ environment, causing companies to juggle
numerous initiatives in order to prioritise top-line over Head of Product Management Middle Management 163.6 200 273.1 213.8
sustainable and meaningful growth.
Release Manager Developing 70 88 80 75
Everybody in Product except for the Junior Project Manager Developing 55 75 101 74
CPO has seen consecutive years of Project Manager Career 69 126.3 180 124.6
salary growth. The median increase Senior Project Manager Expert 125 160 200 164.4
for this group is 7.9% with every role
title moving ahead in 2023. Project Management Lead Lower Management 113.3 157 217.2 -
Program Manager Career 120 150 200 153.5
Program Management Lead Lower Management 105 166.4 220 -
2023 / 2024
Role Level Min Median Max Mean
Junior Mobile Developer Developing 70 85 125 94.2
Mobile Developer Career 90 150.6 200 152.9
Software Developer Career 90 145 200 147.5
Software and All Engineering roles are winning,

seeing consecutive years of
Engineering Manager Lower Management 140 180 205 176.9
Engineering salary growth and 2023 median Senior Engineering Manager Middle Management 159.1 225 275 221.1
By Kate Harris-Slade
salary growth was 7.9%.
Real Time / Embedded Developer Career 73.6 91.9 164.7 108.6
Engineering practitioners are killing it with
Australia’s growing number of flourishing software a median increase of 18.5% compared to Software Architect Expert 160.8 209.1 240 203.4
companies have nurtured a new generation of talented leaders with a median increase of 1.4%.
software engineers. The shift to remote work during QA Analyst/Tester Developing 50 85 115 86.4
Covid was seamless for them and quickly became Engineering continues to surprise us with
the new norm, which is why we predict they will be last year’s trend of early career Engineering / QA Engineer Career 62.5 12 195 116.8
impacted the most by companies urging more time in Dev Managers paid on par or sometimes less
the office and less time working remotely. than Senior or Lead individual contributor
Senior QA Engineer Expert 142 160 173 160
positions.
Encouragingly, Australia is experiencing a rise in
QA Lead Lower Management 95 120 175 130
engineering-centric sectors beyond software, termed
as ‘Deep Tech’ this sector is broadly covering Space,
Hardware, AI, Foodtech and parts of Healthtech. Junior Backend Developer Developing 50 81 130 91.8
7.9%
Characterised by extended multi-year R&D cycles
preceding launch these capital intensive businesses Backend Developer Career 80 140 200 140.4
are beginning to flourish. This has typically been the
core market for specialist investors such as the CSIRO Senior Backend Developer Expert 140 177.5 221 178.9
and Main Sequence Ventures but we are seeing a
broader appeal with many other investors playing in Lead Backend Developer Lower Management 130 175 230 176.5
this space.
Algorithm Engineer Career 90 143.4 190 140.4
The complex nature of the problems these businesses
are solving require a blend of engineering disciplines
Median salary growth
Junior Full Stack Developer Developing 59 90 145 94.5
including software, hardware, electrical, chemical, AI,
and aeronautical engineering. Australia is delving into
new territories that demand fresh talent from overseas 2023 in Engineering Full Stack Developer Career 75 140 196.2 138.5
or training from other skill areas. While software

Senior Full Stack Developer Expert 120 180 240 180.6
engineering will persist for some time to come, we
can’t help but feel excited about the possibilities and
Lead Full Stack Developer Lower Management 81 165 232 161.2
the skilled talent that will emerge!
2023 / 2024
Automation Engineer All Levels 92.5 130 170 -
QA Manager Lower Management 110 150 194 149.5
Junior Frontend Developer Developing 65 89.5 135 91.7
Frontend Developer Career 90 137.3 170 135.3
Senior Frontend Developer Expert 150 171.5 205 175.2
Site Reliability Engineer Career 127 165.8 200 163.7
Systems Engineer Career 100 133.3 170 133.2
Solutions Engineer Career 90 135.2 165 137.6
Solutions Architect Expert 150 195 250 191.7
Junior Dev Ops Engineer Developing 75 100 123 97.6
Dev Ops Engineer Career 78 145 205 143.9
Senior Dev Ops Engineer Expert 150 190 221 192.4
Junior Mechanical Engineer Developing 68 75 95 77.4
Mechanical Engineer Career 84 95 148 106.6
Manufacturing Engineer All Levels 68 80 115 -
Junior Hardware Engineer Developing 65 75 90 77
Hardware Engineer Career 75 120 180 120.1
Production Technician Introductory 55 65 80 64.9
Production Specialist Specialist 65 65.5 80 69.3
2023 / 2024
An insight
What are some of the key How can Founders/CEOs
trends and challenges in determine whether they need
Engineering right now? a CTO or a CPO?
into There’s a lingering belief that it has become

somewhat easy to hire software engineers
It depends on the natural skills and
capabilities of the founder. You’ll often
Engineering
as a result of the downturn. This is not have a founder who is product-minded and
necessarily true. There is an expectation commercially-strong, possibly less at home
that the difficult funding environment and in the engineering or the people space, for
redundancies we’ve seen put many more folks example.
within reach but the reality, in many cases the
opposite has happened. Key team members, On the other hand, the founder could have an
Kevin McHugh, or those with niche skills have actually
become harder to access with individuals
engineering background, is technically-skilled
but commercials aren’t their strength due to
VP of Engineering at Immutable hunkering down out of fear and businesses their lack of experience and time spent in that
willing to move mountains to retain their key space.
people.
My advice here is similar to the advice I’d give
This’ll sound cliche but it’s very true. In this in looking to build out any capable, diverse
environment it’s necessary to ruthlessly and high performing team - Seek balance of
prioritise, ensuring we’re focusing only on capabilities and range of experience, ensuring
those initiatives that will move the needle. It’s that each of the individuals are complemented
important to be ready and willing to rethink by their counterparts.
plans and priorities given new realities. For
example, you may have expected continued What do you think is going to
headcount growth through the period and are
now confronted with a freeze or reduction. continue to grow in terms of
CTOs and VPs need to be brutally honest with trends for the future?
themselves and their stakeholders in crafting
a path forward in this new reality. AI is obviously a big topic. I think next year
there will be a period of useless applications
and underwhelming hype as people fumble to
find interesting things to do with it. However,
out of that experimentation phase, we’ll see
some great things and hopefully powerful,
positive life-changing products.
2023 / 2024
Expectations
As our world becomes more deeply connected, analysed
and measured, data is becoming a valuable (and arguably an
essential) currency. The tools are more innovative, efficient
and accessible; who hasn’t used ChatGPT? And with this, the
Coupled with an ever increasing consumer expectation of
“doing better with data”, these organisations are poised to
experience material uplift through their data efforts. 20%
of a Chief
roles that are becoming in demand from companies are also In the meantime, cloud computing and storage can continue data-related salaries saw a
median increase of over 20%
shifting and evolving. to take advantage of data in organisations previously too
in 2023
small to afford the big sticker prices of ye olde data platform
Data Officer
AI Engineering was previously a niche role that existed providers, and new and emerging start-ups are now only
within games companies, seldom in the world of software. mostly confined by imagination with regards to solving the
Nowadays Data Scientists with strong machine learning problems that need to be solved with data. All of this adds up
capabilities are being repurposed into AI Engineers to build to an inevitable new war for data talent.
and develop the tools that will monetise this new currency.
Whilst data roles are certainly the ‘in thing’ right now,
companies that are experts in leveraging this capability are
By Anthony Ugoni, still few and far between but given how rapidly this function Junior Data Engineer Developing 51 71 94.5 71.4
Data Advisor is growing in demand, we expect this to change over the next
few years.
Data Engineer Career 68 130.3 180 126.1
The Chief Data Officer is still a relatively new role in many From the start of 2020 to the end of 2022, we saw a steady
businesses, so its definition is still evolving as data continues increase in job vacancies in Australia and the data community Senior Data Engineer Expert 150 185 225 183.2
to offer more value, opportunities and efficiency. To touch thrived from this trend. However, vacancies in 2023 is
on the capabilities that data (and an individual to lead it) can currently on a decline. Economic headwinds are partially to
bring to the table: blame leading to various levels of contraction from businesses Data Engineering Lead Lower Management 174.4 180 187.8 179.5
away from innovation and transformation, with more focus on
• It allows companies to provide amazing customer core business, sales and supporting product platforms.
experiences and value whilst ensuring they are compliant
Data Lead Lower Management 160.5 182.1 220 184.9
and protected. Responses to these challenges have included reducing some
“innovation” roles, even though there’s an influx of available Junior Data Scientist Developing 69 80 97 83
• Some companies are using data as a strategic advantage; a talent, creating a perception that supply exceeds demand.
USP against competition. Surprisingly, this hasn’t been reflected in data-related salaries,
Data Scientist Career 100 141.5 170 139.1
which saw a median increase of over 20% in 2023. Multiple
• Deep dive strategies that can be aligned to focus customer factors would have contributed to this, including exponential
demographics. growth in data generation (94 zettabytes by the end of 2022), Senior Data Scientist Expert 158 180 200 181.2
consumers’ expectations for personalised experiences, the
An experienced and knowledgable CDO can propel business proliferation of IoT devices, and the sheer volume of data and
growth and efficiency by automating anything manual where problem-solving potential they offer. Additionally, modern Big Data Engineering Career 110 128.3 180 137.2
data is collected, probability predictions, transparency boards now ask probing questions about data’s value creation,
which produces accountability, scaling knowledge, and all of which collectively contribute to sustained compensation Junior Data Analyst Developing 55 75 100 76.2
insight beyond surface level into the realm of undiscovered levels for data professionals.
opportunities.
Data programs are typically “months” of work (the data is Data Analyst Career 75 130 166 125.2
never fit for purpose, the models need to be retrained, the
need to iterate until a good “fit” emerges) which means Data Analytics Manager Lower Management 125 160 180 156.2
that those businesses who recognised the importance of
retaining their talent and have even doubled down on their
data investments are in prime position to leap ahead when we For more benchmarks, join Compete for free here
inevitably emerge through this natural cycle of conservatism.
2023 / 2024
How can a Chief Data Officer
Current trends fast-track business growth and
By Coert du Plessis, CEO of MaxMine & Data Expert what skills do they need to have?
The first trend is that the CDO title is still struggling for
legitimacy in the tech space and business space, but it does By Coert du Plessis, CEO of MaxMine & Data Expert
seem to have a greater degree for being recognised as a
generally speaking - and more recently - business role. The Some scale-up and start-up businesses really struggle with their operating discipline.
CDO previously reported to the CIO or CTO because they It’s not that they don’t work hard, it’s that there are so many new needs and changes to
understood data the best, but it was a c-suite title that often navigate. So, you need someone who will stick to the heart of what the business is and
used to justify the salaries. However, businesses are now develop a management operating or reporting system around it to provide operational
taking greater ownership of their data, so this role is now data. This is so you are taking the team on a journey with iterative reports that brings
reporting to the CEO or CFO. The ones with the biggest transparency in how the business is doing, as well as enhancing the data analytics and the
impact report to the operations space. 1/10 is truly on the data services to the business.
executive side, and 9/10 are not in the c-suite level.
The second trend is the changing role of translating data.

Current trends By Kathryn Gulifa, GM Data Analytics at HBF Health
Quite often the CDO had to explain how data could solve a
By Kathryn Gulifa, GM Data Analytics at HBF Health
business problem in a new way. But, with the introduction of
AI a lot of executives have needed to become data proficient Having a CDO in a fast growth start-up can • Commercial acumen: Able to translate
in order to lead, so have levelled up on their knowledge of The first trend is the economic pressures forcing D&A teams embed solid data management processes business goals to analytics priorities and
what data can do which is pushing out the ones who are to downsize. It’s more important as leaders to sell the value early, make key technology choices that will keep razor sharp focus on those priorities
leading in data and analytics. As a result, the CDO role has of our teams and more important for businesses to invest enable scale and minimise future migration against the distractions.
moved back to being a senior leader who can code. Not that in capabilities like AI & automation as operational business efforts, and highlight the key performance
you have to code today in that role, but you can code and roles are reduced. drivers of the business and opportunities to • Communication skills: As essentially the
have coded before. maximise these metrics. Skills I would advise salesperson for the analytics function,
The second is skills: Data engineers are still highly sought looking for include: they need to be able to share the insights
after and marketed competitively while market value of other and value their team is creating, and build
data and analytics roles has corrected. Data security and the brand of their function both internally
privacy are still hot topics for most organisations and there is and externally.
still a gap in market for data governance skills.
The third trend is that simple user interfaces for capabilities • Data and Analytics domain knowledge:
like generative AI are enabling non-technical Able to make trade-offs between work
employees to access powerful analytics. that produces commercial outcomes
and building and solidifying data
foundations, and that only comes with
an understanding of how the data and
analytics environment and value chain
hangs together.
2023 / 2024
Design Lead Lower Management 120 160 200 162.4

Most of Design has experienced a similar
strong 2 year performance compared with
Technology, with a median salary increase of Head of Design Middle Management 150 215 250 205.5
13.0% in 2023.
It’s evident that the demand for design expertise is Designer (Marketing) Career 70 100 130 102.3
Design & UX soaring. This surge can be attributed to the pivotal

role design plays in crafting
exceptional user experiences, Creative Designer Career 84 101.5 130 102.9
By Christophe Hovette
which has become a non-
negotiable aspect for tech
In previous years, the evidence that suggested companies aiming to stay Creative Design Lead Lower Management 120 150 190
design was becoming on par with product and relevant and competitive.
engineering as its own function seemed promising.
However, for many tech businesses, this hasn’t As user-centricity takes centre Junior Product Designer Developing 51.6 80.5 120 82.3
played out, with design often reporting into product stage in product development,
design professionals are at the
and a small team reporting into marketing for brand
forefront of shaping products
and creative. Product Designer Career 80 126 180 128.1
and services that resonate
with today’s consumers.
Unlike the corporate sector, tech companies haven’t This reflects the increasing
widely embraced sizable teams of UX Researchers recognition of design,
Senior Product Designer Expert 140 172.5 225 173
and Service Designers for customer engagement. despite often still reporting
The debate over this continues and we anticipate it to into Marketing.
continue for some time. Product Design Lead Lower Management 120 160 180 157.1
While consumerising enterprise software

dominated recent years, now consumer tools are Head of Product Design Middle Management 180 199.5 229.3 200.5
becoming more sophisticated, merging device and
software for powerful experiences to help us make
better decisions around health and finance solutions. Junior Graphic Designer Developing 64 78 85 76.5
As features expand, design will craft these

‘magical experiences’.
Graphic Designer Career 60 100 162 105.4
2023 / 2024
Revenue generating teams have been placed under Role Level Min Median Max Mean
increased pressure as companies drive towards

profitability or proving out their thesis for high Revenue Operations Specialist Career 80 115 155.3 110.5
growth. We are continuing to see teams split down
the funnel into subject matter experts - one role for
customer acquisition and lead qualification, another Revenue Operations Manager Lower Management 130 180 240 -
for needs identification and negotiation and another
for customer retention and onboarding. With the Sales Development
Introductory 53 60 80 65.4
continual focus on revenue this market is likely Representative
to produce new structures, metrics and naming
conventions as companies think and rethink their Senior Sales
Specialist 70 80 120 85.3
Development Representative
approach to Sales.
Inversely with the continuing rise of product-led- Pre Sales Consultant Career 100 115 165 121.1
growth companies Sales teams are now armed
with more insights and data than ever before. Most Business Development
importantly a captivated audience exists to be Representative
Introductory 60 70 90 70.3
nudged across the line.
Senior Business
Development Representative
Specialist 80 100 144 105.4
The marginal median salary increase of -1.1% for
sales could be attributed to a blend of internal and
external factors within the Australian tech industry. Partnerships Manager Career 60 120 180 120.2
Externally, factors beyond the control of revenue-
generating teams, such as economic fluctuations and
businesses’ concerned efforts to reduce costs and Head of Partnerships Lower Management 133.9 160 200 -
enhance profitability have played a role.
Sales Manager Career 53 91.3 135 92.7
Internally, the sales landscape has evolved with shifts
in strategies and more pressure piled onto sales
teams. Unfortunately, the salary changes from 2022 Sales Lead Lower Management 63 100 190 111.1
does not reflect the added demand that is being
placed upon this function.
Head of Sales Middle Management 110 180 270 189.9
Account Executive Developing 55 80 120 85.2

Sales
Senior Account Executive Career 68 117.5 160 113.4
By Simon Robinson
2023 / 2024
Lots of interesting trends in the marketing world Our advice to marketers? Trends come and go,
emerging as a result of the downward pressure but a versatile and flexible skillset will allow you
on budgets, cost reductions, and a move away to add value no matter what the environment or
Marketing
from ‘growth at all costs’ approach. market space.
Many companies are reporting that scaling Contrary to their counterparts in

back their performance marketing has not had
Sales, Marketing has seen a strong
an impact on key metrics. Our belief is that the By Vicky Klonaridis
rise of AI-powered marketing tools are creating bounce from the doldrums of 2022
better attribution models. Interestingly, this is with a median salary increase of
leading to tools that also claim to do this for 13.9%.
above the line spend.
This is potentially correlating with the rise in
The advocation of brand loyalty and marketing organic marketing and growth strategies, such
we are seeing in both B2B and B2C companies as content, organic SEO, and brand marketing
could partly be in recompense for cutting over paid marketing strategies like PPC in a bid
performance budgets, but we also believe to reduce costs.
it is companies tuning into long-term loyalty
strategies since their short-term ‘growth hack’ SEO, social media marketing, and content
route led to a lack of emotional attachment have always been highly desirable skills in the
to their product or service. This doesn’t mean marketing world - but especially now.
‘data-decision marketing’ has left the marketing
world, in fact - we’ve seen a doubling down on With increasing demand to get more results
it, but also a reframing with key metics such as with less cash and their recognised impact as
CAC/LTV being prioritisied over vanity metrics part of international scaling strategies, CMOs
like user growth. continue to be extremely valuable to businesses
of all sizes.
Organic growth has also been a key topic
of discussion recently with businesses
overindexing on other channels; more ‘classic’
strategies such as SEO and content marketing
are being recycled and renewed. Will this last?
It’s yet to be seen as the payback period tends
to be far longer.
2023 / 2024
Junior Digital Marketing Specialist Developing 59.7 85 105 80.6
Digital Marketing Specialist Career 78 112.8 142 110.4
Digital Marketing Manager Lower Manager 103 131.3 160 134.6
Campaign Manager Developing 65 85 110 85
Branding Specialist Career 82.9 125 155 121.3
Junior Marketing Specialist Developing 50 75 90 74.4
Marketing Specialist Career 64 104.5 180 108.4
Marketing Manager Lower Management 130 153 195 153.6
Head of Marketing Middle Management 145.5 185 220 184.2
Communications Specialist Career 90 131.5 175 132.9
Product Marketing Specialist Career 80 112 150 116.4
Junior Content Writer Developing 72 80 90 81.2
Content Writer Career 74.5 110 135.2 105.9
Community Manager Career 72 95 116.3 95.8
2023 / 2024
A spotlight on Marketing
and the CMO role
with Noelle Kim, CMO at Envato and
Jen Dickson, CMO at OpenCorp
What’s the most common your team? Is your team up-to-date on

the latest tools and technologies so they
challenge for you and for don’t get left behind? For example, we’re
CMOs in general right now? using a lot of tools for SEO content,
generative AI for creative and if your
NK: The biggest challenge is that market team is not experimenting today, then
conditions means CMOs are pushed to they are going to get left behind.
Jen Dickson, prioritise short-term returns over long-
CMO at OpenCorp term ones. Therefore channels and JD: Balancing Performance and Brand
Noelle Kim, Marketing: Finding the right balance
tactics that can easily be attributed to
CMO at Envato between performance marketing, which
growth win which may not be the right
thing for the business longer term. drives immediate leads and sales and
brand marketing, which is essential
We have seen brands like Airbnb invest for building the brand proposition and
in brand vs performance and have a loyalty.
lot of success but that takes courage
and trust in the team as it is not easy to Resource Constraints: Limited resources
track. Performance is easy to track, but both people and budgets, as mentioned
it’s quite short-term focused without the above, to do more with less. Leveraging
layering of benefits. AI tools can certainly assist marketers
and improve productivity.
Secondly, ensuring teams stay curious
and up to date. Everyone is throwing What are the current trends in
around ‘AI’ and the impact it will have the market for marketing?
but what does that mean for you and
2023 / 2024
JD: Artificial Intelligence in Marketing: How can the marketing
The integration of AI technology is
reshaping the marketing landscape.
function impact talent,
Marketers need to understand how AI attraction and retention?
tools can help meet KPIs and enhance
NK: When it’s a brand you use or know
productivity. There are so many AI tools,
yourself you are more likely to consider
it’s important to start with your use cases
it as a place to work. We call it the “BBQ
- what problem/s you are trying to solve
effect” which is when at a BBQ someone
and then implement a test and learn
asks you where you work and you get
approach.
a positive reaction. It can definitely
work to your advantage when attracting
Efficiency and Productivity: The mantra
talent. Whereas there are businesses
in marketing today is to do more with
out there that are much more successful
less. Looking at ways to drive efficient
and stronger but aren’t able to attract
growth, enhance productivity and
the same high level of talent because
generate cost savings is a big focus.
people don’t actually know who they are
or what they do. You need to make it
Total Experience (TX): Companies
clear for people what the value is, their
are increasingly focused on the total
use case and the impact they can have
experience model (TX) as a means
by delivering that message to potential
of improving the journeys of both
employees.
customers and employees, with the
brand promise and values at the centre
JD: There is a growing focus on employer
of both. This will create superior shared
branding. Marketing plays a pivotal role
experiences and drive additional
ensuring that the brand promise aligns
business value.
seamlessly with the internal culture
and values that underpin the business.
Content Challenges: The demand for
When employees believe in what the
high-quality content has never been
brand stands for, they are more engaged
higher. Generating content and cadence
and motivated, making it attractive for
of content continues to be a challenge
potential employees as a great place to
– we need to publish more and publish
work.
better every time. Therefore using AI
tools is critical from identifying the right
content, writing and republishing.
2023 / 2024
Customer success, customer support, and into the tech ecosystem, these key skills
account management may look similar, include empathy, active listening, problem
Customer but they each have their focus. It’s usually

up to the customer success leader to
solving, patience and connecting the dots.
Success
work with business leaders to decide how When managing these roles, it’s essential to
customer success should work in their establish clear Key Performance Indicators
company. (KPIs), separate or merged. Align these
KPIs with the broader strategic, growth and
By Andree Maragfoou We’ve noticed a rising importance of financial objectives of the organisation, and
customer success (CS) within the tech work with leaders on what a successful
ecosystem, as it plays a crucial role customer success function is to your
in creating positive experiences and organisation.
turning customers into advocates, which
significantly impacts revenue and brand This year we have defined the
loyalty.
customer “area” as post sales and/
Some of the ways we have seen or implementation. With every
customer success delivered include business working hard to retain,
helping customers maximise the value of upsell and cross-sell this post sales
the product. This involves onboarding,
continuous support, sharing insights,
area will continue to see salary
and unearthing new revenue streams, growth with a particular emphasis
benefiting both customers and the on Customer Success - a role type
entire organisation by enabling constant we have only recently begun to
improvement, innovation, and effective
marketing of the product or service. In nurture in Australia.
smaller organisations, we’ve observed a
trend of merging these three roles into
customer success, making it a pivotal link
between product/tech creators and end-
users or buyers.
We are also seeing CS as a pathway for

people with great customer service skills
from different industries to transition
2023 / 2024
Junior Customer Success Manager Developing 55 69 95 71.9

Junior Account Manager Developing 60 79 100 81
Customer Success Manager Career 60 94.1 149.3 95.6

Account Manager Career 72 100 140 99.8
Senior Customer Success Manager Expert 130 143 150 140.5

Senior Account Manager Expert 110 122 174 134.1
Customer Sucess Lead Lower Management 75 116.1 195 120.4

Account Management Lead Lower Management 100 140 165 138.3
Head of Customer Success Middle Management 128 165 210 167

Head of Customer Service Middle Management 150 172.4 190 172.5
Technical Customer Customer Support Lead Lower Management 67 95.5 165 105.1
All Professional 78.8 117.5 150
Success Specialist
T1/T2 Customer Service Specialist Introductory 60 65 75 66.3
Senior T1/T2 Customer

Specialist 61.2 75 92 75.6
Service Specialist
Junior T3/4 Support

Developing 57.3 77 85 75..8
Engineer
T3/4 Support Enginner Career 71.5 110 130 105.7
Customer Training Specialist Career 88.7 93.9 106 95.9
Customer Onboarding Specialist Introductory 57 70 82 68.3
Customer Onboarding Manager Lower Management 70 105.5 149.3 104.7
Junior Professional Service Engineer Developing 80 85 90 84.3
Professional Service Engineer Career 90 120 130 114.4
2023 / 2024
Operations Role Level Min Median Max Mean
continues to be Warehouse Technician Introductory 60 65 80 67.2
Operations, Chief of a mixed bag!

Staff, and administrative This function has
Junior Business Operations Specialist Developing 60 75 94 76.5
By Amyee Cornish had a Median Business Operations Specialist Career 70 85 130 90.8
salary increase Business Operations Manager

Lower
Management
107 150 170.1 147.5
As more traditional companies look with envy at the
scalability and reach that technology companies of 19.0% Middle
can provide we are witnessing a growing number of Head of Business Operations
Management
130 185 275 199.8
companies that ‘resemble’ a tech business but at their

core is a more traditional focus. For example, healthy Junior Logistics Specialist Developing 58 70 87 71.1
pet food that is delivered to your door.
Consequently, operational roles are expanding to Logistics Specialist Career 65 92.3 135 93.8
encompass a wide array of key areas that contribute We suspect the Chief of Staff role to be
to not just keeping the business running and Lower
unpredictable for at least the next few years Logistics Manager
Management
65 110 168 110.9
organised, but also expansion strategy, and growth
opportunities. as it’s still not a fully scoped or recognised role
Middle
and spanning across several functions and Senior Logistics Manager
Management
140 167.5 250 176.2
The size and scope of these functions can be CEO- responsibiltiies across the business, therefore
like in nature and so it’s not unusual to find CEOs or benchmarking salary is tricky. Workplace Resource Specialist Career 76 86 95 -
MDs running them. For example, in an e-commerce
business, supply chain, logistics and physical product
Officer Manager Introductory 50 70 91 71.4
can all fall under the remit of this function.
Nothing could encapsulate this better than the Senior Office Manager Specialist 62.5 95 125 93.5
growing adoption of the Chief of Staff role. The glue
that holds the business together by being in touch
Personal Assistant Introductory 65 96 122.5 93.6
with every function, navigating projects that should
be prioritised in order to drive growth and achieve the
business’ goals and objectives. If the COO is coined Senior Personal Assistant Specialist 80 115 130 110.5
‘the CEOs right-hand person’, then the Chief of Staff
is their ‘second brain’.
2023 / 2024
Expectations of a
Growth-Focused COO
By Dan Spencer
The real advantage of a growth-

focused COO is to take a significant
We’ve seen a strong surge in the past 18-24
months of start-ups and scale-ups hiring The role of the COO
burden off the founder/CEO by growth-focused COOs earlier on in their
growth stage. We believe this to be true
itself is evolving within
controlling the day-to-day and
harnessing data and analytics to drive for a few reasons. The first is seasoned scale-ups - pivoting
more evidence-based decisions. founders are aware they need operations
principles paired with an excellent leader towards expansion
Key areas of ownership for this type of
COO include:
ahead of executing a growth strategy.
Boards and investors similarly understand
and commercials.
that the earlier a business gets their engine
• Looking for the next key markets to humming, the better the results. Lastly,
expand into the role of the COO itself is evolving within
scale-ups - pivoting towards expansion and
• Knowing the growth opportunities for commercials.
the current product set
A strong COO who can lead in a scaling
• How the business will hit profitability scenario acts as scar tissue, providing
this year much-needed experience, knowledge
and connections. They will do due diligence,
assess the competition,
consider the risks and opportunities
before landing in a new market.
2023 / 2024
People & Culture Junior Talent Acquistion Specialist Developing 70 82.5 125 89.8
By Jules Holland
Talent Acquistion Specialist Career 80 123 160 123.6
Increasing wages (2021-22), a decline in funding (2022-23),

HR Business Partner Career 100 130 180 132.6
working from home, pay transparency, redundancies, and
now the performance piece thrown in - the people function
is under enormous pressure to spearhead significant Junior HR Specialist Developing 51 70 93.6 73.8
initiatives. Whilst the technology industry has often prided
itself on exceptional organisational culture combined with HR Specialist Career 70 115 150 118.1
the provision of meaningful work, we wonder if some
of these elements will bend or break agains the current
backdrop we’re living through. HR Manager Lower Management 104 146 179 146.6
Over the next few years we believe companies will be forced Senior Manager Middle Management 120 170 220 169.5
to make a critical decision for their future: Is remote, hybrid
or office-based the best way for us to work together? The
answer is of course dependant upon the company and For more benchmarks, join Compete for free here
their underlying culture, but what we advise is to be truly
purposeful and deliberate in whatever decision you make.
People teams will be at the forefront of this process.
Our message to any founders or CEOs reading this is make

sure you are consistently checking in on your people team.
The rest of the team have the people team, but the people With many companies
team don’t have anyone but themselves and you. trimming operational
costs talent acquisition
is a function that was
most adversely affected.
Almost no change has
occurred in the data from
around 2 years ago which
suggests that significant
cutting that occurred in
this function.
2023 / 2024
70 82.5 100 82.8
Finance
Procurement Specialist Career
Finance Controller Developing 63 127 140 112.3
By Dan Spencer
Senior Finance Controller Career 130 160 190 157.3
Financial Controls Manager Lower Management 147 165 225 -
Junior Accountant Developing 56 73.5 95 72.7
Due to high inflation followed by low liquidity,

the finance function is having to run a tight Accountant Career 75 95 145 98.4
ship on choppy waters from charting a path
to profitability and raising capital in an ever-
changing market, to finding transparency through Accounting Manager Lower Management 111 148 200 148.3
the somewhat opaque exit pathways.
We’re seeing a growing number of functions Financial Analyst Career 80 125 190 130.1
developed from a blend of industry experience,
deal-making, consulting, and operational
expertise in order to equip teams with the tools Collections Specialist Developing 65 68.5 80 -
they need to confront the challenges ahead.
Against this is a backdrop of public scrutiny on
the ‘big four’ accounting firms - the impact of Finance Specialist Career 118 127.8 140 127.8
which we predict will come about in the next few
years.
Finance Manager Lower Management 115 145.1 168 145
Unlike disciplines like Software Engineering
and Product Management where
“Managers” were sometimes paid less than Senior Finance Manager Middle Management 162 184 240 192.2
the team, Finance roles have generally
followed a more traditional salary ladder.
Book Keeper Developing 54 73 110 69.3
This suggests that this area was not as
acutely effected by the 2021/2022 skills
shortage crunch. For more benchmarks, join Compete for free here
2023 / 2024
The evolving CFO
role in today’s market
By Gavin Dennis,
CFO at Cover Genius
What are the challenges CFOs High-growth focused CFO which tends to be For high-growth businesses that are looking
people with private equity and/or investment at capital raises in different stages, those
are dealing with today versus 12 banking experience and they are more aligned indicators and what impact they’ll have on
months ago? with the business that’s going through M&A, the equity markets is also important. You
capital raising or getting the business ready for need to know the best time to raise capital,
The talent retention piece is a focus. Depending public markets - being more balanced on taking how you position the business and whether
on the stage of the business and where they are risks.
you want to go to the public markets. As a
in their growth cycle, you really need to make growth-focused CFO, you need to consider all
sure that you’ve got folks in your team that can This high-growth CFO has a responsibility to
the ways you can raise capital and look at all
have a similar mindset to your growth-orientated manage the risk from a financial perspective,
but also push the envelope on taking risks in your options. It always depends on the stage
CFO. So that the team can help the business get
the right way. They need to balance those two of the business, but it’s good to know what’s
through these periods where they have to be
thoughtfully considering managing capital and different aspects. It really does depend on the available to you at that time.
extending runway. business in terms of which type of CFO they
need, but there is demand for both of them in
the market right now.
How have you seen the CFO shift
in the past couple of years in What are the economic
terms of what they do and the indicators that CFOs should look
backgrounds they come from? at in scale-ups?
There seems to be two types of CFOs people
It’s been a pretty volatile environment and
are looking for either:
period over the last 18 months - inflation,
Highly technical expertise, been a CFO for years, interest rates, political unrest. It’s important,
has experience in running businesses maybe at and what I like to consider is the economic
a relatively lower growth without going through indicators that will impact my business.
M&A, etc.
2023 / 2024
05
Benefits
2023 / 2024
Benefits insights
and trends
By Vinisha Rathod
It’s common knowledge that many aspirations (e.g. professional sports)? stage start-ups offer many learning and
companies have adapted (or are still development opportunities and experiences
Covid-19 did accelerate the digital agenda simply from being an employee.
adapting) to hybrid ways of working
so we’re now connected more than ever,
post-Covid. resulting in more companies broadening their Only 10.8% of companies offer more than
talent-catching net to overseas. However, 20+ weeks for primary care with less
In the past 12 months we’ve seen an the impacts of the lack of non-digital for secondary’s. This will close doors for
embracing of more benefits to compete connectivity are still here. We’re hearing of certain people. With many fractional and
for and retain talent, like flexible work leaders grappling with this dilemma; digital other creative services available, we always
arrangements and learning and development. connection can’t always replace in-person encourage companies, if they’re able, to
Simply because hybrid working isn’t so much connection and simply sharing an office consider these sorts of policies especially as
of a benefit as a normalised way of working in doesn’t necessarily mean instant engagement a larger company.
2023. or collaboration.
The bottom line is, talent retention is a lot
53.1% of companies are offering unlimited Mental health and wellbeing support more sustainable than attrition. While one size
vacation policy. continues to rise as benefits in tech; doesn’t fit all, having the ability to secure and
Compared to last year, there is an increase keep top talent (especially right now) is going
97.3% of companies are providing flexible of mental health services from 46% to 60%, to be essential for business growth over the
work arrangements with at least one day and significant rise in investing in wellbeing next 12+ months. Think of benefits as an
remote (a 4.3% increase from last year). programs from 30% to 76.2%.being programs. investment towards your business’ future
This now highlights a shift towards employers and a key cog in the machine that’s going
Nearly half (48.6%) are offering fully remote taking a more active role in the support of to transport you towards that next growth
(no expectation of coming into an office). their employees. phase.
With stats like these, we must ask whether Learning & Development continues to prove
flexible working arrangements really its worth in attracting and retaining talent;
is a benefit now or simply expected? 64.7% of companies budget a minimum of
Does this way of working open doors for $500 per person, compared to just 37% last
untapped talent within regional or rural, year. Much of this rise could be attributed to
working parents, neurodivergents, people the size of the companies that contributed
with disabilities, and people with outside this year, however – we often believe early-
2023 / 2024
Access How many weeks of company sponsored
No 2+ to Internal 35% maternity/paternity leave do you offer?
Coaches
Do you have
1
How many Yes No 65% 0
weeks 60%
83%
an unlimited days does your

Vaction Policy 1-2 6%
vaction days weeks

policy? increase each 27%
year?
64%
3-4 3%
0 weeks 8%
5+ 8%
Yes weeks 5% Maternity Paternity
Monthly
Phone
Do you offer holiday eves as company vaction? Allowance
27% Work from home policy
Full Partial None
(days)
27% 33% 39%
2% 5% 2% 7% 6%
31% 27% 24%

What is your carry forward policy?
0 1 - 99 100 - 200 200+
12%
0 days 1 days 2 days 3 days 4 days Unlimited
48%
Unlimited 4%
Fixed
36%
Multiplier
None
32%
What is your carry forward policy? 45% Salary Volunteering

Sacrifice 55% program
6% 68%
32% 27%
0-9 days
15-19 days
31%
20+ days
10-14 days
Offered Not Offered
2023 / 2024
Companies Annual cost per
that offer.... employee for wellbeing
29%
Private
Mental
Health programs
Healthcare 8% Days
Offered?
Plan
92% 71%
38%
Yes No
Dental
Insurance 5%
95%
Offered Not Offered
Yes No
23% 23%
Gym / Health
Club Access 42%
Free Access Discounted Access
58%
Wellbeing
63%
Programs
9%
37%
(such as EAP)
Yes No
4%
Mental Health
Support or 65%
Services
Yes No
35% 0 1 - 200 200 - 600 600 - 1000 1000+
2023 / 2024
06
Conclusion &
Methodology
2023 / 2024
Executive
Summary
By Anthony Sochan and JJ
With unemployment low, many Factors to take into consideration:

functional areas are in short supply;
migration over the Covid years hasn’t • We still have a limited pool of executive
helped. Especially those with the “scar talent that has relevant experience and
tissue” to operate at scale and drive knowledge to drive global execution from
change at a level that Founders and Australia.
shareholders alike are happy with.
• Stock and Equity play often need to be
Whilst Australia remains an attractive place higher in the first c-suites than founders
to live and work, beginning a business and expect or want to pay.
enabling it to truly scale remains a more
than challenging situation. We’ve seen huge • Hold back from loading your executive
shifts in VC, PE, HNW and FO quantity and roles with everything you don’t want to
activity in the space over the last decade. do. Instead, consider what is achievable
The previous five years being even more in one human and one role.
significant.
• Set realistic and achievable outcomes
As we shift towards a new global outlook, it in the first 12 months. No one will know
remains to be seen how Australian company your business or product better than you,
leaders will get the support, right access and so you must be the starting point.
talent to scale.
• Open up your eyes to the broader
network. You will be surprised.
2023 / 2024
Methodology
By Compete
Data Collection: Analysis:
The data collection process began in early May To pace with the rapidly evolving employment
2023 and concluded at the end of August 2023. landscape, it’s important to be flexible and
7,000 data points (employee salary data) were improve our data methodologies so relevant and
uploaded to Compete’s platform via tech companies’ useful insights can be derived. These cross-
HRIS systems. sectional improvements naturally cause biases
in the longitudinal data due to the differences in
Rather than relying solely on job titles, which differ data collection methods.
widely across organisations, data collection for
this Salary Guide with Compete groups data points We adopted a reflexive approach and accounting
according to: for methodological biases wherever possible,
pulling in qualitative insights and reporting only
• Seniority aspects we are confident are a good reflection
of realities in the market today.
• Description of job responsibility
Compete followed the data collection period
• Support staff, professional staff, and managers with data mapping, anonymization, sanitation,
and analysis.
This prevents job title inflation from influencing
our reports and allows us to make better use of Make data-driven decisions with industry salary,
an industry sample that covers companies from benefits and equity benchmarks for any role in
different stages, from start-ups to enterprise. We tech using Compete’s platform.
are also able to group scattered job titles that share
similar responsibilities together, providing a robust Join Compete
sample. This is key as roles are only reported on
when sufficient data is collected for them.
2023 / 2024
07
We Are
Think & Grow
2023 / 2024
We are Think & Grow,
your global growth
partners
We empower founders, leaders and executives
across the globe to develop their businesses and
people to build legacies. We’ve worked with some
of the most exciting tech companies in Australia,
New Zealand, Singapore, Israel, the UK, the US
and Europe!
Our method and expertise covers the people,

processes and technology needed to make
international scaling a success. Our team are
former founders, executives and advisors of
leading local and global tech business of all
stages.
2023 / 2024
Our services covers
the people, processes Scale
and technology needed Global / Local
to make exponential
Expansion Execution
growth a success.
Sales as a Service
Growth Advisory
Growth Consulting &
Alignment Salary Benchmarking
New Market Entry for People &

Founders Performance Strategy
Workshops Leadership &

Team Alignment
Founder Alignment Hire & Retain
Talent Reviews
Market Entry Strategy & Strategy Executive Search
Health Check Fractional Expertise

& Team Reviews
Bespoke Talent Solutions
Global Expansion
Strategy Board Search
2023 / 2024
We’ve had the
opportunity to help grow
and launch some of the
most innovative and
exciting companies to
come out of Australia.
2023 / 2024
How we’ve helped How a Founder Our process:
fast-growth tech Alignment Workshop • Ran a Founder Alignment workshop
companies grow evolved into a sales • Conducted a team review

• Ran a Growth Advisory workshop on Sales &
and scale strategy and pathway Investment
• Reduced headcount post-review
Growth is unique to each business and a lot to profitability • Relieved the Founders of their day-to-day
of the time, the challenges that are present responsibilities
end up being more complex than Founders • Hired interim functional experts and advisors
expected, and so our services are flexible to clear a pathway for the next growth phase
and our approach is fluid. For this reason, The challenge:
we’re not a one trick pony and we cultivate Founders were at loggerheads, so the
long-standing relationships with our clients business wasn’t achieving the growth it
and candidates. The results
was expecting to.
• The business is now set on a pathway to
profitability and sustainable growth
The objectives for Think & Grow: • Implemented an effective sales strategy led
Perform a diagnostic review of all the by a focused CEO
internal issues and apply a quick and • Clarity on growth outcomes and milestones
effective restructure. • Secured growth program with AWS
2023 / 2024
How we scaled an Our process:
Australian Fintech • Ran a global search for key executive hires.
across segments and • Worked closely with the leadership team to

align for the UK launch on hiring, customers,
regions legal, and partnership building.
• Strategised initial actions for an effective
market entry into the UK.
The challenge: The results

Originally an Australian B2C business, • Sourced an Australian in an overseas fintech
that was looking to expand into B2B and that ran his own B2B vertical providing
into the UK market, but wasn’t sure how to lending solutions. Facilitated his relocation to
do it. Australia as General Manager B2B, where he
built a new $30m annual revenue stream.
The objectives for Think & Grow: • Hired a Chief Product Technology Officer,
Build a profitable B2B function, strategise Managing Director ANZ, and Managing
and execute a launch into the UK, and Director, UK.
• Assisted rapid scale by making another +14
scale out the global leadership team.
hires across Technology, Sales, Marketing,
Finance and Legal across 2 months.
• Connected the Founders to key members
of the UK Fintech community to lock in key
partnerships ahead of the expansion.
2023 / 2024
Future-proofing and
optimising for global
scale
Our process:
• Ran an Executive Team workshop to
The challenge: align leadership
Underachieving against their financial • Reviewed Customer Success and Sales teams
• Created a sustainable growth plan
year goals and a misunderstanding of the
Sales function.
The results
The objectives for Think & Grow: • Aligned Founders and executive team on
Review the existing structure to pinpoint business goals and strategy
why the goals weren’t being achieved, • Created a clear 3 year growth plan
create a sales framework including team • Designed an effective org structure and
structure, goals and commission. Hire the responsibilities against the business goals
humans! • Delivered a phased approach to talent
planning
• Hired a Director of Sales and 6 key sales staff
• Redefined customer support pathways and
hired 6 key staff
• Aligned the growth goals with the entire team,
with sales on track to deliver
2023 / 2024
Think & Grow quickly understood our business and
aspirations, so were able to work with us to build a
simple, compelling candidate pack. I love the way
that Think & Grow are always looking to connect the
humans and businesses you work with. I would gladly
recommend them to others in my network looking for
support in scaling businesses.
Pranav Sood, VP & GM of International Expansion,

Canngea was in the painful growth stage where
GoCardless
we’re still trying to do everything by ourselves and
we’re stretched just trying to keep it together. Think
& Grow has allowed us to shake up our thinking and
spur on the work needed to get us back on track.
Startups need outside eyes and ears to see their
Think & Grow’s Founder Alignment workshop, was truly
blindspots and to guide them through the venture
transformative. Through their expert guidance, I was able to
capital world. Think and Grow have been more
achieve organisational alignment, focus, and gain a valuable
impactful and generated more value for Canngea
sounding board for my ideas, while also engaging in deep
in this short amount of time than any of the other
self-reflection that has helped me grow both personally and
‘consultants’ we have engaged and spent far too
professionally.
much money on!
Steve Taitoko, CEO of Eratos

Ryan Ballantyne, Managing Director | Canngea
2023 / 2024
Join our Candidate
Think of this community as your career
compass; Our expert coaches can help you “The job market is cut throat, especially right now. One of
the hardest things to navigate is the painfully slow paced
Community
develop confidence in interviews and understand
how to apply your skillset to roles that would be application process and lack of communication from the
perfect for you and that align with your values. employer. Vicky placed me in my perfect role and made sure
that the company’s values and culture aligned with what I was
The epicentre of opportunity for Australian tech We utilise our global network of fast-growth tech looking for. Think & Grow genuinely cares about their clients
professionals at every stage of their careers from companies to your advantage; Being leaders in
and candidates and they are the perfect partner for innovative
Executive Search and tech talent, we will forward
junior enthusiasts to seasoned executives! any roles we believe will match your skills, values,
tech companies looking for great talent.”
and ambitions.
Brittany Mauran, Head of Marketing
“At times, I’ve had mixed feelings towards recruiters due to the
conflict of interest that is ever present in their line of work - as
commission-based roles, they tend to have a strong financial
Join
incentive to fill as many roles as possible. Think & Grow
however, set the bar for recruitment, hands down. Whether
you’re looking to hire or be hired - they’ve got your back.”
for free
Che Fisher, Quality Assurance Engineer
2023 / 2024

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2023/24

Since Elon Musk strolled into HQ Twitter (or should

Cheers to that! Built by P&C professionals, Compete

We produce this guide

transparency, trusted salary

• The data collected for this year’s guide

current tech landscape

Hybrid & remote work

Glass ceiling remains, but gender

Weakest median wage growth was in Marketing & Sales

Demographic Data Benefits

Mental health and wellbeing are also in focus, but with

job titles, allowing more accurate reporting of

Mid Eng $112,079.27 $115,185.71 $138,300.00 2.77% 20.07%

jnr engineer $80,056.03 $82,907.69 $94,600.00 3.56% 14.10%

jnr product mg $86,123.08 $94,142.86 $97,500.00 9.31% 3.57%

Product Design $94,048.89 $121,718.75 $127,700.00 29.42% 4.91%

Business Strategy 133,256 109,833 125,581

It’s notable that companies securing funding tend to allocate more

Examining engineering roles, we notice a similar salary trend with high

Marketing and People & Culture functions

It’s a complex issue and a

to evolve with it, adopting By JJ

leadership styles emphasising • Bandwidth.

• War for talent.

CEO 69 250 500 256.5 VP of Finance 100 179 300 184.8

with a median salary increase of 1.8% Chief Customer

With the broad breadth of companies surveyed (Seed

VP of Development 72 190 330 191.9

VP of Engineering 200 231.3 275 235

CTO 69 220 362.5 218.7

For more benchmarks, join Compete for free here

stems from the disruptive impact of the ‘growth at

Program Manager Career 120 150 200 153.5

Program Management Lead Lower Management 105 166.4 220 -

For more benchmarks, join Compete for free here

Junior Mobile Developer Developing 70 85 125 94.2

Mobile Developer Career 90 150.6 200 152.9

Software Developer Career 90 145 200 147.5

Software and All Engineering roles are winning,

or training from other skill areas. While software

For more benchmarks, join Compete for free here

Automation Engineer All Levels 92.5 130 170 -

QA Manager Lower Management 110 150 194 149.5

Junior Frontend Developer Developing 65 89.5 135 91.7

Frontend Developer Career 90 137.3 170 135.3

Senior Frontend Developer Expert 150 171.5 205 175.2

Site Reliability Engineer Career 127 165.8 200 163.7

Systems Engineer Career 100 133.3 170 133.2

Solutions Engineer Career 90 135.2 165 137.6

Solutions Architect Expert 150 195 250 191.7

Junior Dev Ops Engineer Developing 75 100 123 97.6

Dev Ops Engineer Career 78 145 205 143.9

Senior Dev Ops Engineer Expert 150 190 221 192.4

Junior Mechanical Engineer Developing 68 75 95 77.4

Mechanical Engineer Career 84 95 148 106.6

Manufacturing Engineer All Levels 68 80 115 -

Junior Hardware Engineer Developing 65 75 90 77

Hardware Engineer Career 75 120 180 120.1

Production Technician Introductory 55 65 80 64.9

Production Specialist Specialist 65 65.5 80 69.3

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into There’s a lingering belief that it has become

The second trend is the changing role of translating data.