Average iGaming Salaries in Malta
The minimum wage in Malta is a measly €777 per month, which, with rising rent and cost of food and amenities is not enough to live on any more. So more and more people are turning to one of the highest paid industries on the island: iGaming. Whether you are just exploring and have no experience or are an industry veteran, it’s always good to keep on top of salary trends and see what’s available to you.
Some of the latest resources for average salaries in iGaming in Malta include:
Boston Link Salary Survey 2020 (you HAVE to opt-in to them being able to contact you to download this)
According to the Pentasia survey, many departments saw a slight decrease in salary levels from 2019 to 2020, most likely as companies became wary of how the pandemic may affect the industry. And the impact has been a mixed bag. It really depends what the companies focus was so I’ve seen many companies all but crumble, whilst others have thrived. How this affects the market in 2021 will be tough to say but I think for those still standing, salaries will be on the rise once again.
Customer service salaries in Malta
Estimated 10% increase in salaries from 2019
Salary range: €22k - €75k
Positions:
Support agent: €22k+
Support team leader: €28k+
Support manager: €35k+
Head of customer support: €50k+
VIP account manager: €32k+
Head of VIP: €40k+
Customer support roles can vary widely depending on the languages you speak (how many and how in demand they are), your years of experience and level within the team.
There are a number of steps to climb in this area, and it’s a great one to do a few years in as working in support you deal with queries that touch many areas of the business. You can touch on compliance and KYC, AML questions, payment support issues, responsible gambling, dealing with VIP players, where the relationship is very different and the odd technical issue. This really helps you get a good understanding of many areas of the business and get to learn what areas you might want to move into.
Risk, payments + fraud iGaming roles in Malta
Salary range: €25k - €80k+
Positions:
Risk, payments + fraud officer: €25k+
Team leader: €32k+
Manager: €35k +
Head of risk, payments and fraud: €55k+
Personally I think risk, payments and fraud should be if not 3, then at least 2 distinct departments that work closely together, but have experts in each field to make sure issues and risks are being tackled well, but many operators will shove them all into one position.
The good thing about risk and fraud is that it’s likely in demand across all areas of iGaming, whether that be operators directly or suppliers such as payment providers, affiliates, game providers, CRM companies and more.
Sales, account management + affiliate managers
Estimated 15% decrease in salaries from 2019
Salary range: €30k - €120k
Positions:
Affiliate manager: €30k+
Head of affiliates: €55k+
Business Development: €60k+
Head of acquisition: €65k+
Account managers + key account managers: €35k +
Head of affiliate account management: €80k+
Sales exec: €50k+
Commercial director: €75k+
Sales, account management and affiliate management roles are available at basically all companies. Operators (more likely to have affiliate managers), payment providers, game developers, technology providers- they’ll all need a team who sell their product to new clients and keep those clients happy once they are live.
Here is where the money can start getting really good. If you negotiate a good package with a decent salary and nice commission structure then providing you put the time and work in to network and sell well, your paycheck can reflect that.
Tech and Product iGaming salaries
Estimated 15% decrease in salaries from 2019
Salary range: €20k - €110k+
Positions
Product owner: €45k +
Game design + production: €35k+
Developer team lead: €50k+
Head of development: €70k+
Front end dev: €40k+
NOC positions: €28k - €65k
IT project manager: €45k+
Data science: €60k+
CISO: €85k+
Game mathematician: €70k+
This is where salaries get crazy. Developers are in such high demand, across all industries, that many can just name their price. And iGaming is definitely not often their first choice of industries to work in, so if you are an experienced developer, don’t be shy to push the boundaries of these numbers.
Design salaries in Malta
Estimated 5% increase in salaries from 2019
Salary range: €25k - €50k
Positions
Graphic design roles in iGaming: €25k+
UX / UI design: €35k+
Art director: €45k+
2D/3D artists: €25k+
In my experience, design jobs are not so easy to come by in iGaming. Many operators just don’t see the benefit in hiring a strong, in-house design team (their mistake!) and use a lot of templates and very basic content. Suppliers tend to have more design focused roles such as game developers, but there is a lot of competition for these jobs.
You can tell the lack of understanding of the design world by the fact that different areas of design are mixed into one category and at the lack of salary info for more senior roles such as Head of Design and so on. A real shame as the industry could really use a lot more work in this field.
Compliance roles in iGaming
Estimated 2% decrease in salaries from 2019
Salary range: €30k - €150k
Positions:
Compliance + AML officer: €30k+
Compliance manager: €45k+
Head of AML: €65k+
Legal council: €40k+
Responsible gaming: €30k - €80k+
General council: €150k
Compliance and AML are hot topics in iGaming with so much regulation to adhere to. It can get complex, as regulation is notoriously vague and with an air of self regulation but fines if that self regulation isn’t up to scratch. It’s a department with a lot of responsibility and from what I see, the salary does not really reflect that.
Finance and accounting positions and salaries in iGaming
Estimated 2% increase in salaries from 2019
Salary range: €28k - €90k
Positions:
Accountant: €38k
Finance manager: €50k
Financial controller: €65k
In many iGaming companies I worked at, Finance was the largest department by far. It’s a popular area of expertise in Malta though, with large amounts of locals with top qualifications in accounting. So the competition is high and the salaries are not the best of all departments.
HR + TA jobs in Malta
Salary range: €30k - €100k
Positions:
TA: €30k
Head of TA: €45k
Business partner: €45k
Director: €60k
HR was a once neglected department in iGaming but is quickly becoming one of the larger areas of focus. As recruitment gets harder (people just don’t want to move to Malta these days) and attracting and retaining talent becomes an obsession, opportunities in HR and TA grow each day.
Marketing roles in iGaming
Estimated 7% decrease in salaries from 2019
Salary range: €28k - €80k
Positions:
CRM: €28k+
CRM manager: €38k+
Head of CRM: €65k+
PPC: €35k+
SoMe: €35k+
Head of SoMe: €50k+
PR manager: €40k+
Head of marketing: €80k+
iGaming C-level salaries in Malta
Estimated 1% increase in salaries from 2019 to 2020.
CEO: €150k - €300k +
CFO: €120k - €200k +
COO: €100k - €150k +
CMO: €120k - €175k +
CCO (commercial): €100k - €175k+
CTO: €120k - €175k +
Chief People Officer: €90k - €150k +
Chief Product Officer: €100k - €150k +
Chief Legal Officer: €120k - €175k +
Other iGaming jobs in Malta
This is not a comprehensive list, there are so many more roles available in iGaming and in Malta. Things I couldn’t fit into the other categories such as:
Trading positions: €20k - €45k
Country managers: €50k+
SEO: €28k - €100k
Copywriter: €25k+
Best Paid Positions in Malta
According to the 2020 data, the best paid C-level positions focus around marketing, finance and sales:
CEO: up to €300k
CFO: up to €200k
CMO + CCO: up to €175k
According to the survey, the best paid starting positions are those in:
Sales + account management: approx €30k for entry level
Compliance: approx €30k for entry level
HR + TA: approx €30k for entry level
The best paid team leader positions are those in tech + product: starting from €50k.
The best paid manager positions are those in:
VIP: €40k
SEO manager: €45k
Country manager: €50k
And the best paid head of positions can be found:
Operations: €60k
Risk, payments + fraud: €55k
SEO: €65k
Product: €70k
More than Just the Money
But don't make your decisions based solely on money. Think about yourself and your life and what makes you happy. If you love people you can still make great money as an account manager. If you love the chase, you can make a great salary (and bonus!) in sales. If you want every day to be different, never dull, always changing, then head into customer support.
In the end, you'll be spending 8 hours a day, 5 days a week at work, at least. So make it something you love, somewhere you're happy, with people you enjoy being around.
The questions I get asked most by people who are looking to move to Malta are job related questions. Generally people want to know:
what jobs are there in Malta?
can I get a job in iGaming?
how much do iGaming jobs pay?
What Jobs are there in Malta?
In Malta there are jobs in all industries but iGaming, finance and tourism are probably the most prevalent with iGaming and IT probably being the best paid. You'll find a lot of service or tourism-focused jobs such as restaurant staff, hotel staff and bar staff but for the most part, especially for entry-level roles, they will be quite low paid, sometimes as low as the minimum wage (€4.50 per hour). With tourism and restaurants opening up again now after the pandemic there are likely more available jobs than ever but probably with a lot of applicants waiting to get back to work.
Can I get a job in iGaming?
This question really varies case to case. You can't just guarantee to turn up here and get a job in iGaming. Like any industry it depends on your background and experience.
There are 'entry-level' positions that might not require previous iGaming experience, such as Customer Service roles but then it depends on what languages you speak. Some languages are more sought after than others. If you’re only language is English then whilst getting a customer support role isn’t impossible, you’ll be much less in demand than someone who speaks Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, German, Japanese etc.
If you have employment history, even not within iGaming, then you may have some skills that can be translated into the industry. Things like account management, finance and accounting positions, IT and HR. So just because you don’t have experience in iGaming doesn’t mean you always have to start from scratch. You can put your previous experience to good use.
If you are totally new to the job market, or don’t have any translatable skills you can try to start in a customer service role and work your way into other departments depending on your interest. The good part of a customer service role is that you deal with all aspects of the business and face all kinds of questions so you'll soon learn a little bit about everything and can then see where your skills and passion lie.
If you have previous experience in iGaming, or translatable skills then there will likely be a lot of doors open to you. There are often roles open for:
Finance + accounting positions
HR + talent acquisition roles in Malta
Sales + account management
Legal, compliance + AML focused jobs in Malta