Over the past six months, median salaries for experienced professionals in product design, marketing, branding and communications, sales and marketing, HR and recruiting have increased, while salaries for beginners in many specializations have tended to decrease.
Over the past six months, median salaries for experienced professionals in product design, marketing, branding and communications, sales and marketing, HR and recruiting have increased, while salaries for beginners in many specializations have tended to decrease.
As reported in the traditional salary survey from DOU, the highest level of compensation in IT, naturally, is for company leaders — CEO/CTO/Director of Engineering/VP. The median for Tech Leadership (CTO/Head/VP/Director of Engineering, etc.) is $7,000, for General Leadership (CEO/founder/COO/CAO, etc.) is $4,500.
«The difference is primarily due to the difference in the experience of specialists in these categories. Tech Leadership has an average of 15 years of experience in IT, General Leadership — 12 years. Specialists with 10 or more years of experience have almost the same salaries — $7,000 in Tech Leadership and $6,800 in General Leadership,» the material notes.
High salaries, on par with developers, are recorded for IT consultants — about $3,400, because these are some of the most experienced IT specialists: on average, they have nine years of experience in this field.
The median salary for Product designers is $2,955, while UI/UX specialists earn significantly less — $2,000.
Among non-technical professionals, the highest median is for lawyers ($2,300), slightly lower for finance, accounting, and auditing specialists ($2,100), HR, and marketing specialists ($2,000).
Branding and communications specialists, recruiting, training, and technical writers receive $1,500-1,700 (excluding cash bonuses).
The lowest salaries are in Customer Success ($1350), other designers (Graphic/Web/Motion/Generalist — $1300), support specialists ($1150), and office staff ($900).
At the same time, specialists in some areas receive cash bonuses, which can significantly affect their salary. Bonuses have the most significant impact on the income of sales and business development specialists: 57% have them, and the median salary including bonuses is $1,875 (+$398 to the monthly rate).
Bonuses are also received by 53% of recruiters (median salary including bonuses $1675, +$175 to the rate), about 40% of Leadership and 30% of IT consultants (approximately +$500 per month in addition).
As for salary dynamics, Tech Leadership (CTO/Head/VP/Director of Engineering, etc.) amounts are mostly stable (-$100 per half year). The median for General Leadership (CEO/founder/COO/CAO, etc.) has increased by $400 to $4,500.
Salaries in marketing continue to grow (+$164 over the past six months, +$300 per year) — primarily in Marketing Managers, User Acquisition Managers, SEO. The median salary in UI/UX increased by $350, to $2,000. Salaries of product design specialists are almost unchanged ($2,955). The median salary of HR specialists is unchanged ($2,000), and salaries of L&D specialists and recruiters are growing. The median in recruiting increased by $200, to $1,500, L&D — by $150, to $1,650.
Salaries for branding and communications specialists have recovered after falling six months ago (+$200, up to $1,700).
As for salaries by company type, product companies currently offer higher salaries than service companies for most IT specializations. Exceptions include sales/bizdev and UI/UX.
«Service companies are willing to pay more than product companies for Sales professionals with over five years of experience (median $2,900 versus $2,475). And there are no differences in the salaries of UI/UX specialists with such experience between service and product companies,» the study notes.
As we previously reported, the median salary of Ukrainian game developers has increased by $200 since February 2025, and by $400 compared to last year.
