Neon River Engineering and Product Management Salary Survey 2020
We are delighted to share with you the results of the Neon River 2020 Salary Survey for Engineering and Product Management leaders in the UK and Germany.
Hiring engineering and product management leaders in the UK, Germany and across Europe is one of the most frequent requests that we get from our clients.
Based on proprietary data from interviews with engineering and product management candidates across a number of different client assignments, this should provide a useful guide for clients and candidates alike:
Highlights
- The mean salary for Heads of Product Management (regardless of location) was £123,054
- Salaries for Heads of Product were on average 1.5% higher in the UK compared to Germany
- The mean bonus for Heads of Product was £20,487 or 16.6% of salary
- The number of Product Managers in a Head of Product’s team has a reasonable correlation with their salary
- Whether candidates had an engineering background or not had only a very minor impact on salaries
- The mean salary for Heads of Technology (regardless of location) was £129,794.60
- Salaries for Heads of Technology were on average 6.5% higher in the UK compared to Germany
- The mean bonus for Heads of Technology was £21984.50 or 16.9% of salary
- Having an MBA only increased the average salary of a Head of Technology by 0.4%
- The number of engineers in a technology leader’s team has a reasonable correlation with their salary
Methodology
- Salary and bonus data were collected from 131 product management interviews and 137 engineering interviews with candidates based in the UK and Germany across a range of client assignments
- One of the challenging aspects of any salary survey is finding a measurable metric by which the seniority of candidates can be judged. Job titles are misleading and having different meanings in different company contexts. Whilst no seniority metric is perfect, this survey suggests that team size broadly positively correlates with salary and provides a reasonable guide to the seniority of a position.
- The candidates interviewed come from a variety of backgrounds; some were Chief Technology Officers and Chief Product Officers, some were Heads of Product Management, Product Directors and VPs of Engineering, Heads of Engineering or Engineering Managers. An Engineering Manager with a team of 100 might well be paid more than a CTO with a team of 5; team size is a better indication of seniority than job title. The surveyed candidates were from the internet, software and games sectors, with some candidates working for traditional businesses undergoing digital transformation.
- All salaries are in pounds sterling for ease of comparison, based on the exchange rate on 20th August 2020
- For the product management salary survey, candidate data was collected about their salary, bonus, team size (in terms of total product managers only) reporting to them, their location (UK VS Germany) and whether they had a technology background or not.
- For the technology salary survey, candidate data was collected about their salary, bonus, team size (in terms of the total headcount reporting into them – we didn’t discriminate between sub-functions), whether they had an MBA or not, and their location (UK VS Germany)
In Detail – Head of Product Management Salary Survey
- The average salary for a Head of Product Management in the UK was £123,252
- The average bonus for a UK based Head of Product was £21,430 or 17.4% of salary
- The average salary for a Head of Product in Germany was £121,426
- The average bonus for a Head of Product in Germany was £20,113.93 or 16.5% of salary
- UK Head of Product salaries were 1.5% higher than those in Germany
- The average salary for a Head of Product regardless of location was £123,054
- The average bonus for a Head of Product regardless of location was £20,487.60 or 16.6%
- The average salary for Heads of Product with a technology background was slightly lower than those without; £123,054 compared to £122,430 – a very small difference
In Detail – Head of Technology / Engineering Salary Survey
- The average salary for a Head of Technology in the UK was £132,375
- The average bonus for a Head of Technology based in the UK was £22,954.55 or 17.7%
- The average salary for a Head of Technology in Germany was £124,256.10
- The average bonus for a Head of Technology in Germany was £19,902.44 or 16%
- UK salaries for technology leaders were 6.5% higher than in Germany on average
- The average salary for a Head of Technology regardless of location was £129,794.60
- The average bonus for a Head of Technology regardless of location was £21984.50 or 16.9%
- The average salary for a Head of Technology with an MBA was £130,254.50 compared to £129,794.60 – an increase of 0.4%
Conclusion
We hope that our survey will be of use to candidates and hiring companies alike. We found that salaries for Heads of Product Management were very similar in the UK and Germany. Having a technology background or had little impact on candidate compensation.
For Heads of Engineering, the geographical differences were more apparent, with UK based candidates earning 6.5% more on average than their German counterparts. CTOs and VPs of Engineering with MBAs were only paid slightly more than those without.
Across both surveys, team size seemed to broadly correlate positively with compensation.
About Neon River
Neon River is a next generation retained executive search firm that specialises in partnering with internet, software, games and technology companies around the world to hire their senior management teams. If we can help you, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
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