The Hong Kong Digital Salary Benchmark 2022

Following a turbulent few years, Hong Kong looks set to reopen for good and the digital industry looks buoyant…

As the world appeared to be bouncing back from Covid, Hong Kong’s fifth wave had the biggest impact on social life, business and the international reputation of Asia’s financial hub.

It’s no secret that Hong Kong has been through a turbulent 3 years in which it saw multinationals move their HQ to different countries and young talent looking for a life elsewhere during times of social unrest. Covid-19 made life in the metropolis challenging and unpredictable, but there is reason to be optimistic for the future.

The last 12 months have been a whirlwind with Covid-restrictions going up and down, making it hard to leave the city and even harder to come in. We have witnessed a large number of professionals and families moving outside of Hong Kong, leaving a talent gap bigger than ever before. But it seems we are past the worst; restrictions are easing and the city looks set to reopen for good.

The opportunities

Entertainment, retail, B2C and consumer industries had to find new income streams with venues being shut and the flow of tourists stopped. “Some flourished with a pivot to local markets and the use of e-commerce”, Senior Consultant Mark Swinkels says. The traditional big markets of Hong Kong: the Financial Services Industry (FSI)  and logistics have showed resilience and with talent leaving, now offer plenty of opportunities. With new players in the FinTech and Cryptocurrency space, the FSI has even diversified greatly in Hong Kong in recent years.

Companies are working hard to retain and attract candidates, driven by a lower supply of new candidates and the high availability of roles in certain areas. “We see that all kinds of tech jobs are in high demand, from Data engineer to Cloud DevOps and everything in between. With a great shortage of tech talent and still lots of projects going on in FSI, a bidding war for tech talent is the norm, and in some instances clients are overbidding by 50%”, says Senior Consultant Girijanath Parida.

Salary benchmark

Our client base tends to cover global organizations that operate in HK. They are either multinational HK companies or foreign multinationals operating in HK. We get information based on our experience in the market, recruiting for these companies, which means this salary guide will show higher salaries than domestic-only companies will offer. Each environment has its own pay scale and what we are showing here is an estimation of what you could be earning, on average. This is purely a benchmark so reach out for more detailed information.

If you are hiring get in touch with us to discuss the salaries that are relevant to your industry.

Choose salary type

Commercial

HK Dollars ($), Full Time Salary (calc. Annually)

    Analytics and Business Intelligence

  • Director of Analytics

    $1.5Mil - 2.16Mil

  • Data Analytics Lead

    $816K - 1.5Mil

  • Business Analyst

    $504K - 540K

  • Data Analytics Manager

    $720K - 780K

  • Senior Data Analyst

    $456K - 660K

  • Marketing Data Analyst

    $258K - 600K

  • Data Strategist

    $348K - 468K

  • Business Intelligence Analyst

    $300K - 420K

  • Data Analyst

    $450K - 720K

  • Customer Insight Analyst

    $300K - 420K

    Product Management & Business Analytics

  • Director of Product

    $1.05Mil - 1.14Mil

  • Product Owner

    $660K - 900K

  • Senior Product Manager

    $660K - 900K

  • Product Manager

    $600K - 780K

  • Lead Business Analyst

    $540K - 660K

  • Senior Business Analyst

    $456K - 624K

  • Associate Product Manager

    $318K - 360K

  • Business Analyst

    $408K - 504K

    Marketing

  • E-commerce Director

    $1.152Mil - 1.74Mil

  • Marketing Director

    $1.2Mil - 1.62Mil

  • E-commerce Senior Manager

    $852K - 1.14Mil

  • Marketing Manager

    $660K - 864K

  • E-commerce Manager

    $660K - 840K

  • SEO Manager

    $504K - 660K

    Project & Programme Management

  • Head of Operations

    $1Mil - 2.5Mil

  • Project Director

    $1.32Mil - 1.62Mil

  • Associate Project Director

    $900K - 1.104Mil

  • Senior Project Manager

    $780K - 1.5Mil

  • Project Manager

    $420K - 780K

  • Junior Project Manager

    $300K - 420K

    Sales & Account Management

    • Managing Director

      $1.86Mil - 2.1Mil

    • Business Director

      $1.26Mil - 1.68Mil

    • Group Account Director

      $720K - 1.26Mil

    • Sales Director

      $1.15Mil - 1.32Mil

    • Senior Account Director

      $600K - 864K

    • Account Director

      $550K - 840K

    • Associate Account Director

      $420K - 600K

    • Sales Manager

      $552K - 660K

    • Senior Account Manager

      $672K - 900K

    • Account Manager

      $336K - 456K

    Strategy

    • Head of Planning/Strategy

      $1.14Mil - 1.5Mil

    • Planning/Strategy Director

      $840K - 1.14Mil

    • Research Manager

      $620K

    • Senior Planner/Strategist

      $600K - 780K

    • Planner/Strategist

      $300K - 600K

    • Research Analyst/Junior Planner

      $264K - 360K

Design

    Creative & Brand Design

    • Executive Creative Director

      $1.2Mil - 1.416Mil

    • Senior Creative Director

      $1Mil - 1.2Mil

    • Senior Art Director

      $750K - 900K

    • Creative Director

      $800K - 1Mil

    • Design Director

      $500K - 700K

    • Mid-weight Art Director

      $420K - 660K

    • Junior Art Director

      $300K - 396K

    • Senior Copywriter

      $440K - 540K

    • Senior Graphic Designer

      $440K - 540K

    • Mid-weight Copywriter

      $320K - 420K

    • Mid-weight Graphic Designer

      $320K - 420K

    • Junior Copywriter

      $240K - 288K

    • Junior Designer

      $216K - 276K

    Experience Design

    • Director of User Experience

      $936K - 1.32Mil

    • Head of Experience Design

      $816K - 1.65Mil

    • Service/Business Design Lead

      $720K - 1.35Mil

    • Lead Experience Designer/Researcher/Strategist

      $775K - 975K

    • Senior Service/Business Designer

      $600K - 720K

    • Senior Experience Designer/Researcher/Strategist

      $450K - 900K

    • Service/Business Designer

      $540K - 600K

    • Mid-weight Experience Designer/Researcher/Strategist

      $420K - 600K

    • Junior Experience Designer/Researcher/Strategist

      $300K - 420K

    Content & Production

    • Social Media Director

      $1.2Mil - 1.8Mil

    • Account Director

      $900K - 1.2Mil

    • Social Content Strategist

      $624K - 900K

    • Social Media/Community Manager

      $360K - 636K

Technology

    Software Engineering and Development

    • CTO/Director of Software

      $1.5Mil - 1.704Mil

    • Technical Director/Application Architect

      $1.008Mil

    • Technical Lead/Lead developer/Technical Manager

      $840K - 960K

    • Lead DevOps Engineer

      $840K

    • Mobile Application Lead

      $696K

    • Technical/Solution Architect

      $720K - 780K

    • Technical Project Manager

      $960K

    • Project Manager

      $660K - 750K

    • Business Analyst

      $480K - 540K

    • QA Lead

      $660K

    • Senior Back End Developer

      $720K - 804K

    • Senior Mobile Application Developer

      $660K

    • Full-stack Developer

      $540K - 600K

    • DevOps Engineer

      $540K - 600K

    • System Administrator

      $480K - 540K

    • Senior Front End Developer

      $600K - 660K

    • Mobile Application Developer

      $540K

    • QA tester

      $480K - 540K

    Data science and Engineering

    • Senior Data Scientist

      $840K - 900K

    • Mid-Level Data Scientist

      $800K - 850K

    • Data Engineer

      $540K - 600K

Commercial

HK Dollars ($), Full Time Salary (calc. Annually)

    Analytics and Business Intelligence

  • Director of Analytics

    $125K - 180K

  • Data Analytics Lead

    $68K - 125K

  • Business Analyst

    $42K - 45K

  • Data Analytics Manager

    $60K - 65K

  • Senior Data Analyst

    $38K - 50K

  • Marketing Data Analyst

    $21.5K - 50K

  • Data Strategist

    $29K - 39K

  • Business Intelligence Analyst

    $38K - 55K

  • Data Analyst

    $37.5K - 60K

  • Customer Insight Analyst

    $25K - 35K

    Product Management & Business Analytics

  • Director of Product

    $87.5K - 95K

  • Product Owner

    $55K - 75K

  • Senior Product Manager

    $55K - 75K

  • Product Manager

    $50K - 65K

  • Lead Business Analyst

    $45K - 55K

  • Senior Business Analyst

    $38K - 52K

  • Associate Product Manager

    $26.5K - 30K

  • Business Analyst

    $34K - 42K

    Marketing

  • E-commerce Director

    $96K - 145K

  • Marketing Director

    $100K - 135K

  • E-commerce Senior Manager

    $71K - 95K

  • Marketing Manager

    $55K - 72K

  • E-commerce Manager

    $55K - 70K

  • SEO Manager

    $42K - 55K

    Project & Programme Management

  • Head of Operations

    $83.3K - 208.3K

  • Project Director

    $110K - 135K

  • Associate Project Director

    $75K - 92K

  • Senior Project Manager

    $65K - 125K

  • Project Manager

    $35K - 65K

  • Junior Project Manager

    $25K - 35K

    Sales & Account Management

    • Managing Director

      $155K - 175K

    • Business Director

      $105K - 140K

    • Group Account Director

      $60K - 105K

    • Sales Director

      $95.83K - 110K

    • Senior Account Director

      $50K - 72K

    • Account Director

      $45.83K - 70K

    • Associate Account Director

      $35K - 50K

    • Sales Manager

      $46K - 55K

    • Senior Account Manager

      $56K - 75K

    • Account Manager

      $28K - 38K

    Strategy

    • Head of Planning/Strategy

      $95K - 125K

    • Planning/Strategy Director

      $70K - 95K

    • Research Manager

      $51.6K

    • Senior Planner/Strategist

      $50K - 65K

    • Planner/Strategist

      $30K - 50K

    • Research Analyst/Junior Planner

      $22K - 30K

Design

    Creative & Brand Design

    • Executive Creative Director

      $100K - 118K

    • Senior Creative Director

      $83.3K - 100K

    • Senior Art Director

      $62.5K - 75K

    • Creative Director

      $66.6K - 83.3K

    • Design Director

      $41.6K - 83.3K

    • Mid-weight Art Director

      $35K - 55K

    • Junior Art Director

      $25K - 33K

    • Senior Copywriter

      $36.6K - 45K

    • Senior Graphic Designer

      $36.6K - 45K

    • Mid-weight Copywriter

      $26.6K - 35K

    • Mid-weight Graphic Designer

      $26.6K - 35K

    • Junior Copywriter

      $20K - 24K

    • Junior Designer

      $18K - 23K

    Experience Design

    • Director of User Experience

      $78K - 110K

    • Head of Experience Design

      $68K - 137.5K

    • Service/Business Design Lead

      $60K - 112.5K

    • Lead Experience Designer/Researcher/Strategist

      $64.5K - 81.25K

    • Senior Service/Business Designer

      $50K - 60K

    • Senior Experience Designer/Researcher/Strategist

      $37.5K - 75K

    • Service/Business Designer

      $45K - 50K

    • Mid-weight Experience Designer/Researcher/Strategist

      $35K - 50K

    • Junior Experience Designer/Researcher/Strategist

      $25K - 35K

    Content & Production

    • Social Media Director

      $100K - 150K

    • Account Director

      $75K - 100K

    • Social Content Strategist

      $52K - 75K

    • Social Media/Community Manager

      $30K - 53K

Technology

    Software Engineering and Development

    • CTO/Director of Software

      $125K - 142K

    • Technical Director/Application Architect

      $84K

    • Technical Lead/Lead developer/Technical Manager

      $70K - 80K

    • Lead DevOps Engineer

      $70K

    • Mobile Application Lead

      $58K

    • Technical/Solution Architect

      $60K - 65K

    • Technical Project Manager

      $80K

    • Project Manager

      $55K - 62.5K

    • Business Analyst

      $40K - 45K

    • QA Lead

      $55K

    • Senior Back End Developer

      $60K - 67K

    • Senior Mobile Application Developer

      $55K

    • Full-stack Developer

      $45K - 50K

    • DevOps Engineer

      $45K - 50K

    • System Administrator

      $40K - 45K

    • Senior Front End Developer

      $50K - 55K

    • Mobile Application Developer

      $45K

    • QA tester

      $40K - 45K

    Data science and Engineering

    • Senior Data Scientist

      $70K - 75K

    • Mid-Level Data Scientist

      $66.6K - 70.8K

    • Data Engineer

      $45K - 50K

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