Top 10 Highest Paid Professions in New Zealand, 2023

Benefits of working in New Zealand

• New Zealand offers working hours of 40 hours per week.
• The country lies in the ninth position on the World Happiness Index 2022.
• New Zealand has a very high life expectancy of 82.65 years.
• Minimum hourly salary in New Zealand is NZ$21.20.

Located amidst the South Pacific Ocean, New Zealand is known for its beautiful landscapes and welcoming people. The country provides an outstanding work-life balance as it ranks ninth in the World Happiness Index 2022 with a 7.28 score on a scale of 10. As a result, New Zealand has a life expectancy of 82.65 years. Additionally, the government provides many benefits to its employees:

• five days of paid sick leave
• twenty six weeks of paid maternity leave to mothers and one week of unpaid paternity leave
• severance package in case of termination
• bereavement leave in case of a death of a loved one
• forty hours’ work week
• Employees are entitled for four weeks paid annual leave
• National Minimum Wage set by the New Zealand government

For people looking for a high-salary role in the country, we have listed some professions that offer the highest salaries. The below table shows the annual average wages of the top ten highest-paid jobs in New Zealand:

Serial Number	Field of Expertise	Job Role	Annual Salary
1	Executive	Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director	$500K
2	Property	Development Director	up to $408K
3	Legal	Equity Partner	$350K
4	Human Resources	Head of HR/HR Director	$250K
5	Construction	Construction Manager	$224K
6	Marketing & Digital	Executive Director of Communications	$220K
7	Technology	Chief Information Officer	$220K
8	Accountancy & Finance	Senior Commercial Manager/ Director	$205K
9	Policy & Strategy	Policy Manager	up to $170K
10	Engineering	Civil & Structural Associate	$160K

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1. Executive: Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director: As an organization's leaders, a CEO, and MD get the highest salary in New Zealand. But, the high salary comes with tons of responsibilities. They are behind the introduction of methods and new technologies in the organization.
2. Property: Development Director: A Development Director in the Property industry gets paid a salary as high as $408K. The average salary range of a Development Director in the industry is between $306-408K. The sector is one of the largest sectors of New Zealand, contributing to around 15% of the GDP.
3. Legal: Equity Partner: The salary of an Equity Partner in a legal industry depends on their cities. For example, an Equity Partner in Auckland can let one earn $350K or more, and one can make $350K in the same profession in Wellington and Christchurch. The job needs a lot of hard work to survive in this competitive legal field.
4. Human Resources: Head of HR/HR Director: The Head of HR/ HR Director gets the highest pay in all HR jobs in New Zealand. The position will be there in companies with more than one thousand employees and paid a salary of $250K. The next highest earners in human resources are Heads of / Directors Remuneration & Benefits with $179K, Heads of L&D / L&D Directors at $179K, etc.
5. Construction: Construction Manager: Construction Manager: A Commercial Manager in the construction industry in New Zealand is paid a high salary between $153K and $224K. The other high earners in the industry are the Senior Estimators and Design Managers. And in residential construction, the high-earning positions are Senior Contracts Administrators / Quantity Surveyors.
6. Marketing & Digital: Executive Director of Communications: The highest earners in the country's Marketing & Digital industry are the Executive Director of Communications in the PR & Communications field. The salary that they are being offered is up to $220K. Other roles in the same industry with high wages are PR Directors, Digital Product Owners, Marketing Directors, and Senior Marketing Managers.
7. Technology: Chief Information Officer: The Technology sector in New Zealand has many jobs riles with lucrative salaries. The highest are CIOs, with an annual salary of about $220K. The other job roles that follow a CIO in compensation are PMO Managers, Program Managers, Chief Information Security Officers, Chief Technical Officers, Enterprise Architects, etc.
8. Accountancy & Finance: Senior Commercial Manager/ Director: Qualified Accountants in the Accountancy and Finance Sector draw the highest annual salary of up to $205K in firms that generate over $300 million. The high-earning roles in this industry are Group Financial Controllers, Managers/Heads of Financial Planning/Analysis, Senior Commercial Managers/Directors, Heads of Treasury and Heads of Risk, etc.
9. Policy & Strategy: Policy Manager: Currently, the policy & strategy professionals of Wellington are getting the highest salaries of up to $170K in New Zealand. There has been a 36% rise in the roles of the permanent employees engaged in the policy and strategy. The other high earners are Senior Economists, Strategic Managers, and Policy Managers.
10. Engineering: Civil & Structural Associate: Civil and Structural Associates in the engineering industry are the highest-earning profession, with an annual salary of $160K. The industry's nest top earners are Contracted Operations Managers, Senior Project Managers, Building Services Managers, Senior Associates in design consultancy, etc.

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