Europe Financial Services - Trading Technology Compensation Guide
Compensation Guide
Europe Financial Services - Trading Technology Compensation Guide
Competition for specialist technology talent remains high across financial services. For firms hiring software engineers, infrastructure specialists, data professionals and AI talent, current compensation intelligence can help inform hiring plans, offers and retention strategies.
Download the Financial Services - Trading Technology Europe Compensation Guide from Selby Jennings for indicative base salary and total compensation benchmarks across key European markets.
Benchmark financial technology compensation with confidence
Compare compensation across financial services trading technology roles, seniority levels, and key locations.
The guide includes salary data for:
- Software Engineering
- Infrastructure
- Data Engineering
- Data Science, AI and Machine Learning
Benchmark compensation across London, Paris and Switzerland, with additional Amsterdam data for selected sell side technology roles.
Salary ranges cover professionals from Associate through to Managing Director-level, giving hiring managers and financial technology professionals a clearer view of how compensation develops with experience.
What's inside the guide?
Download the guide to compare compensation across the following specialisms.
Software Engineering
Hedge fund and prop trading software engineers can reach £1.5m+ total compensation in London, with our guide revealing how pay changes by seniority and market.
Infrastructure
Senior infrastructure compensation can reach £1m in London and CHF2m+ in Switzerland, highlighting the premium firms may pay for experienced technology talent.
Data
Data engineering compensation reaches £1m in London, while senior AI and machine learning packages can exceed £2m, showing where specialist skills command higher rewards.
A quick snapshot on financial trading technology compensation
£2m+
total compensation for Managing Director-level data science, AI and ML professionals in buy side and prop trading in London.
€1m+
total compensation for Managing Director-level data engineering professionals in buy side and prop trading in Paris.
€700k+
compensation for Managing Director-level data engineering professionals on the sell side in Amsterdam.
CHF 3m+
total compensation for Managing Director-level software engineering professionals in hedge funds and prop trading in Switzerland.
The compensation guide covers four core technology disciplines:
- Software Engineering
- Infrastructure
- Data Engineering
- Data Science, AI and Machine Learning
These are benchmarked across different financial services environments, including hedge funds and proprietary trading, buy side firms, and sell side institutions.
Need a more tailored view of the market?
The benchmarks in this guide provide a broad view of financial technology compensation across Europe, but individual packages can vary by location, experience, technical expertise, business performance, and wider market conditions.
Whether you are benchmarking a role, planning your next hire, or reviewing your compensation strategy, our financial technology specialists can provide guidance based on your specific requirements and market.
Frequently asked questions
Financial technology compensation varies considerably by role, seniority, location and type of financial institution. The Selby Jennings guide provides indicative base salary and total compensation ranges across London, Paris, Amsterdam and Switzerland for selected trading technology disciplines.
According to the guide, London software engineering base salaries within hedge funds and proprietary trading firms range from £80k to £450k, depending on seniority. Total compensation ranges from £120k at Associate level to £1.5m+ at Managing Director level. Please remember this is simply a guide for benchmarking purposes, and actual rates may vary.
Compensation varies by discipline and seniority. One of the highest ranges in the guide is for Managing Director-level software engineers at hedge funds and proprietary trading firms, where total compensation can reach CHF 1m to CHF 3m+.
The guide provides Paris salary benchmarks across software engineering, infrastructure, data engineering, data science, AI, and machine learning. For example, senior data engineering professionals in buy-side and proprietary trading firms can receive total compensation of €500k to €1m+.
Amsterdam benchmarks are included for selected sell-side technology roles. The guide covers software engineering, infrastructure, and data engineering, with compensation varying by experience. Managing Director-level data engineering total compensation can reach €450k to €700k+.
The guide covers software engineering, infrastructure, data engineering, and data science, AI and machine learning. Benchmarks span hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, buy side organisations and sell side institutions, depending on the discipline.
Yes. The guide provides base salary and total compensation ranges, allowing employers and professionals to assess how overall packages vary by role, seniority, location and financial services environment.
Compensation can vary significantly between financial services environments. The guide provides separate benchmarks for selected roles across hedge funds and proprietary trading firms, buy side organisations and sell side institutions, making it possible to compare compensation structures across the market.
Selby Jennings' Financial Services Trading Technology Europe Compensation Guide provides indicative salary benchmarks for London, Paris, Amsterdam and Switzerland. Employers can use the data as a market reference when reviewing salary bands, planning hires and assessing compensation strategies.
Yes. The guide provides broad market benchmarks, while Selby Jennings can provide compensation guidance based on specific hiring requirements, roles, and markets. Its financial technology practice works across software engineering, infrastructure, data science and engineering, business technology, and related functions.
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