Together with our partners, clients and good old market research we have compiled a list of the most in demand skills. FinTech startups can’t match the salaries of well capitalised businesses and often struggle to hire the talent they need. We have excluded startup data from our research and have focussed on companies series A and beyond.

Sales Directors.

Banking and Financial Services Software companies have big plans in 2019. Established banks will look to defend their position as Australia goes Neo Bank crazy. Large international players now see Australia as a major strategic play as open banking puts Australia on the map for innovation.

New banks means new clients requiring core banking systems, lending platforms, security, CRM, Analytics. An endless list!

Sadly, there is a serious lack of sales talent out there. Expect to pay $180,000 as a base salary for anyone with 5 years-experience enterprise software/SaaS sales. But don’t expect too much in return for your money. Most sales people change companies every 12 – 18 months. In an environment where deals can take anywhere from 6 -18 months to complete, even at $180,000 you won’t get a deal closer.

If you are looking to grow your FinTech business by hiring someone who can close deals with Banks and Financial Institutions, expect to fork out $220,000 plus bonus, benefits and LTI, if you want to see results. Take a look at this advert as an example.

Head of Partnerships.

FinTech’s with a B2B or B2B2C model require Account Directors who can win new business and act as the link between the tech team and client. So, they created the Head of Partnerships role.

Part Business Development, part Account Management, to secure the best people for this type of role you are looking $180,000 - $200,000 plus bonuses/benefits.

As this is a fairly new role to the Australian market, talent from advertising and media agencies can often present the best skills match. Alternatively we find talent from the US and UK are accustomed to this model and will often make the best hires.

Chief Growth Officer.

Are the days of the CMO numbered, a slow death by 1000 (job) cuts? Marketing today is all about growth - ROI and the numbers don’t lie!

Sales and Marketing, especially in B2B models is returning back to its origins, one integrated and seamless function. The revenue generating engine room of the business. The challenge lies in finding people with a broad base of experience, that encompasses Product, Sales Pipeline, Digital Marketing, PR and Brand.

$225,000 plus super and bonuses is the starting point for a capable CGO who will deliver results. Expect to pay more depending on the size and scale of the role.

Senior Product Managers

Judging by the feedback from clients and the market, it seems many FinTech’s are considering a pivot or growth into new markets. We have held a number of discussions over the last 90 days with clients looking for a similar profile. A Head of Product Development who can change Product teams focused on process ( and who seem convinced that applying Agile methodology solves everything) into product development teams shipping product that sells.

The right person typically comes from an engineering background. They break the mould by demonstrating commercial acumen/results and an ability to change the behaviours and beliefs of product teams.

Expect to pay anywhere from $180,000 plus benefits and bonus for this type of person. Our research suggests they will be in big demand 2019, no doubt the figure will rise.

Cyber Security.

As the challenger banks officially launch in 2019, the thing that keeps CEO’s awake at night (apart from trying to get a license) is security. Ironically, the best Cyber Security people I know don’t class themselves as Cyber Security specialists. They are risk experts.

If you are on the hunt for a Cyber Security specialist expect to pay big dollars. Or go to the source, Eastern Europe and hire the people who are your potential threat!

Developers and Engineers

No change there, each year it gets harder. I heard Google recently paid an engineer in London a $3m salary. Expect to pay what you have to pay to get the right person. It is extreme, but we have plans underway to help the FinTech community access top development talent on reasonable salaries!

Data Science.

AI continues to be the buzzword of 2019. Will it follow the same path as Blockchain? Business leaders are beginning to recognise the limitations of Ai and the potential business issues it can cause.

Instead of replacing humans, the buzzword of 2019 will be ‘augmentation’ as we seek to automate mundane tasks. The emphasis will be on machine learning. Hardly ground breaking, we have been doing that in the workplace since the industrial revolution!

Still, a great data scientist will cost around $150,000 in 2019. And if you want a genuine AI/ML specialist, our research team is scouring the universities and colleges around the world.