The 10 Highest-Paying Jobs in Germany

The 10 Highest-Paying Jobs in Germany: Thinking about moving to Germany for work? Find out which jobs make the most money according to Kununu’s latest rankings.

 

The 10 Highest-Paying Jobs in Germany

Germany is almost universally regarded as a great place to work. Located in the heart of Europe, Germany has one of the world’s highest standards of living, a diversified economy, and high average salaries, and is home to many leading global organizations — thus offering plenty of lucrative and progressive career opportunities.

When considering a high-paying job in Germany, you are truly spoiled for choice. If you have the right skills and abilities, there’s a job out there for you.

Here, we’ll walk you through the 20 highest-paying jobs in Germany, based on Kununu’s most recent rankings, as well as some information about these jobs and what you need to consider before making the move to work in this incredible country.

1. Portfolio manager

Average annual salary: €80,200 (£67,840 / $92,850)

Portfolio managers are tasked with advising on and carrying out investment interventions for individuals or organizations. They’re typically responsible for carefully investing huge amounts of money, and are compensated accordingly.

This role requires expert knowledge of financial markets and transactions, as well as networking skills and relationship management capability.

2. Programme manager

Average annual salary: €80,000 (£67,670 / $92,620)

Program managers are senior leaders in the field of project management, bringing together several projects (or ‘programs’) and searching for efficiencies and strategies which will, ultimately, improve the team or organizational performance.

Consequently, program managers need to be influential, knowledgeable, and well-organized people, capable of managing different workstreams simultaneously.

3. Lawyer

Average annual salary: €80,000 (£67,670 / $92,620)

Lawyers require an encyclopedic understanding of law and case practice and will act on behalf of clients in legal agreements, courts, and tribunals.

They’re highly regarded as they not only need to have expert legal knowledge but also be able to articulate this in an easy-to-understand way, such as in front of juries or to form compelling arguments to swing a case their way. It is a surprisingly complex occupation.

4. Software architect

Average annual salary: €79,000 (£66,830 / $91,460)

Software architects take the lead in strategizing and designing software that shapes an entire organization’s products or services. They oversee programmers and coders and, consequently, must have impeccable software skills of their own, as well as leadership and project management expertise.

Software architects with high credibility and experience with different computer languages are highly valuable people to an organization.

5. Legal consultant

Average annual salary: €77,100 (£65,230 / $89,270)

Legal consultants are different from lawyers in that they’re acting in an advisory capacity to a person or organization. Legal consultants cannot, therefore, represent people in a court of law but nevertheless need an expert understanding of legal frameworks in a particular industry, legal area, or jurisdiction.

Given the complexity of German law and how it is intertwined with EU law, legal consultants have a very important job to do.

6. Risk manager

Average annual salary: €76,500 (£64,720 / $88,580)

Risk managers are highly methodical and analytical people, being tasked with the identification and control of risks to an organization’s capital or investments. These risks can be external or internal to an organization.

Risk managers have a broader role than actuaries, often being requested to identify ‘positive risk’. This is a type of risk that, if managed carefully, can bring financial rewards, such as financial speculation.

7. Channel manager

Average annual salary: €75,600 (£63,960 / $87,540)

Most commonly employed in the media or travel industries (but also found in many other sectors), channel managers can be best described as facilitators of the sales process. They employ marketing techniques and relationship-building tools to ensure that a company’s product or service reaches the best (or widest) customer base possible.

The role requires in-depth knowledge of demographics, trends, marketing, and, of course, the customers themselves.

8. Pilot

Average annual salary: €75,300 (£63,700 / $87,190)

Germany is home or hub to many airlines, including Lufthansa, regularly perceived as one of the best airlines in the world.

Pilots start off as first officers and develop into captains and training captains as they amass flying hours. They generally start off by flying short-haul, but many choose to progress to long-haul flights with international carriers. In all cases, this is a job that allows you to travel the world, if only after significant training and understanding of the intricacies and concentration required in this extremely exciting job.

9. Business manager

Average annual salary: €75,100 (£63,530 / $86,960)

Business managers have a broad remit of duties, as they’re responsible for managing a whole business, from the operations and technical aspects of the sector in which it operates to personnel issues, accounting processes, sales activities, and everything else in between.

Whereas business managers in larger organizations will rarely be hands-on in these areas, they will be expected to understand how to lead teams to bring it all together.

10. Pre-sales manager

Average annual salary: €74,500 (£63,020 / $86,260)

Pre-sales managers lay the groundwork for an effective and productive sales team. They might troubleshoot or finetune products, develop pitches and presentations to showcase the product, create demonstrations, develop and communicate technical specifications, and assist marketing and production teams in getting ready for the sale process.