Data Scientist — Thunes Salary Negotiation Guide

Negotiation DNA: This guide decodes Thunes' Interoperability mandate, translating the Feb 2026 Swift Direct Global Network link into a data science compensation framework spanning Singapore, London, and New York markets.

---

Compensation Benchmarks (2025-2026)

Region	Base Salary	Options (4yr)	Total Comp
:singapore: Singapore (SGD)	S$120,000 – S$175,000	S$60,000 – S$120,000	S$180,000 – S$295,000
:gb: London (GBP)	£75,000 – £110,000	£40,000 – £75,000	£115,000 – £185,000
:us: New York (USD)	$140,000 – $200,000	$75,000 – $145,000	$215,000 – $345,000

Negotiation DNA: Data Scientists at Thunes operate on uniquely rich datasets — billions of cross-border transactions flowing across heterogeneous payment networks, from SWIFT correspondent banking to mobile money systems. The Feb 2026 Swift Direct Global Network link will flood the platform with new data streams (SWIFT transaction metadata, correspondent banking patterns, settlement timing data). Thunes is the critical interoperability layer between old-world SWIFT and new-world instant payments, and your ability to build models that optimize routing across both legacy and real-time rails directly impacts Thunes' economics across 130+ countries and 4B+ mobile wallets. Better routing means lower costs, faster settlement, and higher partner satisfaction. This is data science with direct P&L impact.

---

Level Mapping & Internal Benchmarking

Thunes Level	Equivalent at TerraPay	Equivalent at Nium	Equivalent at Wise
Data Scientist	Data Scientist	Data Scientist	Data Scientist
Senior DS	Senior DS	Senior / Lead DS	Senior Data Scientist

Thunes Data Scientists work with transaction data at a scale and diversity that few fintech companies can match. While Wise has larger absolute transaction volume, Thunes' data spans more heterogeneous payment systems (mobile wallets, bank transfers, cash-in/cash-out) across more countries. This data complexity premium should factor into your compensation expectations.

---

:link: Thunes Interoperability & Standards-Bearer Lever

The Swift Direct Global Network link (Feb 2026) creates a data goldmine for Thunes' data science team. By connecting to Swift's infrastructure, Thunes gains access to transaction metadata from the legacy banking world — settlement patterns, correspondent banking chains, FX conversion points — that can be combined with its existing real-time payment data to build the most comprehensive cross-border routing intelligence in the industry.

As a Standards-Bearer Data Scientist, you are building the intelligence layer of the legacy-to-real-time bridge:

• Routing optimization models that select the fastest, cheapest path across both SWIFT and real-time rails
• Fraud detection systems that identify anomalies across protocol boundaries (legacy and modern patterns differ)
• Settlement prediction models that estimate completion times for hybrid-protocol transactions
• Pricing intelligence that optimizes Thunes' take rate across the interoperability layer

The critical interoperability layer between old-world SWIFT and new-world instant payments generates unique data patterns that no other company can access. Your models will be trained on both legacy banking transaction data and real-time settlement data — this dual-protocol data fluency is the Standards-Bearer premium. With real-time settlement across 130+ countries and 4B+ mobile wallets, the dataset is unparalleled.

---

Global Levers

Lever 1: Unique Dataset Access

"Thunes' cross-border transaction data — spanning 130+ countries, multiple payment protocols, and both legacy and real-time rails — is one of the most unique datasets in fintech. The models I build here cannot be replicated at companies with narrower data. This unique data access makes the role exceptionally valuable for my career, but it also means my output will be exceptionally valuable for Thunes."

Lever 2: Direct P&L Impact Through Routing Optimization

"Every basis point improvement in routing optimization across Thunes' network translates directly to revenue. My models will optimize which rails to use — SWIFT vs. real-time — for each transaction corridor. This is data science with direct, measurable commercial impact, and I expect my compensation to reflect that linkage."

Lever 3: Interoperability Data Science

"The Swift integration creates a new category of data science problems — cross-protocol anomaly detection, hybrid-routing optimization, and multi-rail settlement prediction. I bring expertise in building models across heterogeneous data sources, which is exactly what Thunes needs as the interoperability layer between banking and fintech data streams."

Lever 4: Pre-Liquidity Equity with Data Moat

"The models and data infrastructure I build will become a durable competitive moat for Thunes. This data advantage compounds over time, making the pre-IPO equity especially valuable. I would like an options package that reflects my contribution to building this long-term data moat."

---

Negotiate Up Strategy: In Singapore, start at S$170,000 base with S$110,000 in options (4yr vesting) and accept no lower than S$135,000 base with S$70,000 in options. In London, start at £105,000 base with £70,000 in options and accept no lower than £82,000 base with £45,000 in options. In New York, start at $195,000 base with $135,000 in options and accept no lower than $155,000 base with $85,000 in options. Lead with the unique dataset and direct P&L impact arguments — you are not building dashboards, you are optimizing a multi-billion-dollar payment network.

---

Evidence & Sources

• Thunes company profile, network statistics, and transaction data scale (thunes.com)
• Swift Direct Global Network data integration specifications (Feb 2026)
• Glassdoor and Levels.fyi Data Scientist compensation data for Singapore, London, NYC fintech (2025)
• Wise, Nium, and TerraPay data science team structures and compensation
• McKinsey Global Payments Report 2025 — cross-border payments data landscape
• Academic research on cross-border payment routing optimization and fraud detection