The 2015 Salary Benchmark for London

In a year that has seen Wearable Technology become a reality with the launch of the Apple Watch, the continued rise of Digital Transformation and Crow…

In a year that has seen Wearable Technology become a reality with the launch of the Apple Watch, the continued rise of Digital Transformation and Crowdfunding hitting its stride, we look at the market for Talent within the digital sector.

To achieve commercial and creativity in a sector where demand outweighs Talent we are realising the need to draw from a broader and more diverse Talent Pool.  With offices in London, Berlin, Hong Kong & Singapore, Cogs Agency is able to represent Talent from across the globe from junior to board level.  Sectors include creative & design, user experience, technology, project management & production, client services, strategy, planning & analytics, content & community management, marketing and client side.

Technology & Development, the drive of digital advancement sees an ongoing demand for Front End developers with solid JavaScript experience, with the frameworks Angular and Backbone being very popular. From a Backend Development perspective, we’re seeing continuing demand for Python / Django, Node.js and there has been a resurgence of Java. We’ve also seen QA’s become more widely used and the role of DevOps becoming more mainstream. Niche skills such as Unity and WebGL have increased in demand as clients continue to look at emerging technologies.  Year on year this sector continues to see salaries and day rates rise as the demand for new and emerging skills rises.

Creative & Design has seen a rise in agencies hiring full time over freelance yet a real patience for getting the right talent and skill for the right money.  Designers remain competitive and a growing market for freelance both short and longer-term bookings with more work and attractive projects being done in house. Rates and salaries have seen little fluctuation in 2015.

User Experience continues to see growth where Talent can drive price. With Brands trying to break down silos and getting systems to better integrate around one holistic customer focussed experience we have seen a huge blend in UX and Design skills as well as UX and Planning skills with clients asking us to find people that can really mix these abilities. As a result some of the best people are getting rates that exceed the normal and are always in high demand.

Brands & Client Side continue to bring digital skills to the forefront of their businesses particularly as marketing success is about making data driven decisions with a clear and attributable ROI forcing marketing to leverage technology in ways it has previously never needed to.

Client Services remains competitive in an ever changing agency environment where Talent needs to embrace change.  Fast paced campaigns, product development, prototyping and a far greater involvement from planning, creatives, technology and project management with clients have been changing this discipline.  Salaries and day rates have seen little fluctuation but remain competitive in 2015.

Project Management & Production has seen the demand for permanent Talent growing in a market where contract / freelance Talent is more prevalent meaning permanent salaries have increased since 2014.  It seems agencies are embracing the need for either specialist producers with either Tech skills or Video Production for example as well as seeing the rise of the ever allusive Integrated Producers who have both digital and traditional skills.

Strategy, Planning & Analytics has remained consistent but there has been growth in analytics from agencies and brands, it is less about Big Data but more about Insights and Predictive and Prescriptive Analytics.

Content has seen meteoric growth in the last year with businesses spending more time and money than ever generating content with skillsets merging.  Whether that be SEO, Community Management, Editorial or Copywriting you are in demand and rates and salary uplift demonstrates this.

To compare the London salaries to 2016/2017 click here:

CREATIVE & DESIGN

Title Full Time Salary Freelance Day Rate
Executive Creative Director £100k to £160k+ £500 to £700+
Creative Director £75k to £110k £350 to £500
Associate Creative Director £65k to £85k £350 to £500
Design Director £60k to £85k £300 to £400
Creative Director Team £75k to £110k £500 to £700
Creative Group Head Team £55k to £70k £400 to £550
Senior Team £45k to £60k £350 to £450
Mid-weight Team £28k to £38k £225 to £300
Junior Team £18k to £25k £150 to £200
Senior Art Director £55k to £65k £250 to £350
Mid-weight Art Director £30k to £40k £200 to £250
Junior Art Director £18k to £25k £150 to £200
Head of Copy £50k to £85k £350 to £400
Senior Copywriter £45k to £55k £250 to £350
Mid-weight Copywriter £25k to £35k £200 to £300
Junior Copywriter £18k to £22k £150 to £200
Senior Designer £40k to £55k £250 to £330
Motion Designer £25k to £45k £200 to £300
Mid-weight Designer £28k to £40k £200 to £275
Junior Designer £18k to £25k £100 to £200

TECHNOLOGY

Title Full Time Freelance
Chief Technology Officer £130k+ n/a
Head of Development £80k to £100k £500 to £800
Technical Director £70k to £90k £400 to £600
Head of Creative Technology £70k to £85k £400 to £500
Senior Creative Technologist £50k to £60k £400 to £450
Mid-weight Creative Technologist £35k to £45k £300 to £350
Junior Creative Technologist £25k to £35k £150 to £250
Technical Lead £55k to £65k £350 to £500
Development Consultant £45k to £60k £400 to £550
Technical Project Manager £40k to £65k £250 to £450
Mobile Developer (iOS / Android) £30k to £65k £300 to £600
Java Technical Architect £50k to £75k £400 to £600
Senior Java Developer £55k to £70k £375 to £500
Java Developer £45k to £55k £300 to £450
Lead Technical Architect (Big Data) £85k to £100k £700 to £850
Senior Developer (Big Data) £75k to £85k £500 to £650
Senior Front End Developer £45k to £60k £350 to £450
Mid-weight Front End Developer £35k to £40k £300 to £350
Junior Front End Developer £20k to £30k £150 to £250
Senior Back End Developer £45k to £55k £350 to £400
Mid-weight Back End Developer £35k to £45k £300 to £350
Junior Back End Developer £20k to £30k £150 to £250
Lead QA Tester £50k to £55k £350 to £400
QA Analyst £30k to £40k £300 to £350

 

CLIENT SERVICES

Title Full Time Freelance
Managing Director £140k+ n/a
Client Services Director/Head of digital £100k to £160k+ £500+
Client Partner/Business Director £80k to £120k+ £500+
Group Account Director £70k to £90k £350 to £500
Senior Account Director £60k to £75k £320 to £400
Account Director £45k to £60k £260 to £350
Senior Account Manager £35k to £45k £200 to £260
Account Manager £24k to £35k £150 to £200
Account Executive £20k to £28k £100 to £150

 

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Title Full Time Freelance
Operations Director £100k + £450+
Head of Project Management £70k to £120k+ £400 to £700
Project Director £60k to £80k £350 to £500
Senior Project Manager £45k to £65k £300 to £375
Project Manager £30k to £45k £225 to £275
Junior Project Manager £22k to £35k £150 to £200
Senior Resource/Traffic Manager / Director £45k to £65k £250 to £350
Resource / Traffic Manager £24k to £45k £120 to £250

STRATEGY, PLANNING & ANALYTICS

Title Full Time Freelance
Head of Planning / Strategy £90k to £150k+ £600 to £1,000+
Planning / Strategy Director £70k to £100k £400 to £750
Senior Planner / Strategist £50k to £80k £350 to £500
Planner / Strategist £30k to £50k £250 to £350
Research Analyst / Junior Planner £25k to £35k £150 to £220

USER EXPERIENCE

Title Full Time Freelance
Head of User Experience £80k to £90k £500 to £600
Senior User Experience Architect £50k to £60k £350 to £450
Mid-weight User Experience Architect £30k to £45k £300 to £350
Junior User Experience Architect £20k to £30k £200 to £275
Senior User Researcher £48k to £60k £350 to £450
Mid-weight User Researcher £30k to £45k £300 to £350

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