Highest paying

IT jobs in New Zealand

We’ve put together information on the highest paying IT jobs in New Zealand based on the findings from the latest Hays Salary Guide FY25/26. With over 12,000 respondents – many from the world of technology – it is the authority for employers and employees on what salaries to expect in which roles.

While Auckland can be home to the highest average salaries across many sectors, the top earners in IT are not all located in Auckland but in Wellington and Christchurch as well. We've listed the highest reported salaries for each role across a range of New Zealand's IT industry verticals.

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) remains the highest paying job in the IT sector in New Zealand, with salaries up to $300k in Auckland and Wellington, and $280k in Christchurch, although it has been joined by chief information security officers (CISO) as cyber security becomes ever more important.

Currently, Chief Data Officer and Chief Information Security officer follow closely behind CIO as the second highest paying IT jobs in New Zealand, earning up to $280k in Auckland and $250k in Wellington and Christchurch.

In contrast to CIOs, CTOs focus mainly on the technical aspects of their organisation's digital transformation strategy and play a key role in driving innovation. Chief Technical Officers can earn up to $260k in New Zealand’s three major cities.

There is a drop in salary then to a standard IT Manager, who has an upper limit of $200k in Auckland and Wellington.

Cyber security salaries have grown significantly in the past 12 months. Along with the CISO Managers mentioned previously (up to $300k), there are a number of other roles in the world of cyber security that have become valuable as the need for digital protection increases. Operational Technology Cyber Managers can earn up to $240k in NZ states, as can the Head of Information Security.

Cyber Security Architects can earn up to $220k, and there are a whole range of roles with an upper limit past the $200k mark, these include: Application Security Engineer, Cloud Security Engineer, Threat Intelligence Manager, and Operational Technology Analyst.

The constant demands of digital transformation have created the need for robust project management capabilities within organisations. Within the discipline of projects and change management, Project and Transformation Directors have emerged as vital in ensuring the successful planning and execution of complex digital transformation projects, many of which involve multiple stakeholders and large budgets.

In recognition of their importance, Project Directors are the highest paid professionals in projects and change management, earning up to $240k in all three major New Zealand cities, with Program Managers also able to earn $240k as an upper limit.

Other high paying roles include Product Managers (Up to $220k) and PMO Managers (up to $200k).

The 'cloud' has been one of the most transformative technologies of the past decade and is only set to grow in the years ahead. This is reflected in the growing salaries of dedicated cloud architects, now one of the highest paying IT jobs in New Zealand, earning up to $230k in Auckland.

A strong IT infrastructure is the backbone of many organisations and as such, various architect roles, who can design, implement and manage complex networks earn high salaries as a result. There are a number of roles that can earn up to $220k in all three of New Zealand’s major cities, these include: Business Architect, Cyber Security Architect, Enterprise Architect, IAM Architect, and Integration Architect. In Auckland, demand for Cloud architects means that the salary can reach up to $230k.

It can pay to stick with a particular operating system, with plenty of roles paying up to $200k in the state capital cities. These roles tend to be for Architects, Consultants and Functional Consultants. For a ServiceNow architect, this can even reach $220k.

Big data is here to stay, and it's been driving plenty of growth in the tech industry over the past few years. Not surprisingly, data-related roles are some of the highest paying in New Zealand. Artificial Intelligence Engineers and Machine Learning Engineers can earn up to $200k in Auckland and Wellington, and up to $180k in Christchurch.

The last few years of digital transformation have not just pushed organisations onto existing platforms but necessitated the creation of new software to support business needs. Software development teams are in overdrive as they attempt to meet these demands. Development Managers can earn up to $200k in Auckland and Wellington, and up to $180k in Christchurch.

For more information on the highest paying IT jobs inNew Zealand, download our Hays Salary Guide FY25/26.