Original data · 29 September 2026
Senior salaries in Australia: what job ads state
By Hillel Lithwick, founder of ApexHunt · Melbourne
We read 1,106 current Australian job ads across 20 senior titles. 118 of them state a salary, which is 11%. This page shows what those ads state, role by role, with the count beside every figure.
Pay by role
| Role | Ads read | State a salary | What they state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operations Manager | 344 | 51 (15%) | Middle of the range A$125,000; half sit between A$110,000 and A$155,000 |
| General Manager | 264 | 26 (10%) | Middle of the range A$165,000; half sit between A$140,000 and A$201,000 |
| Head of Marketing | 89 | 5 (6%) | A$110,000 to A$240,000 |
| Chief Executive Officer | 24 | 5 (21%) | A$82,212 to A$260,000 |
| Ecommerce Manager | 17 | 5 (29%) | A$120,000 to A$180,000 |
| Marketing Director | 36 | 4 (11%) | A$196,800 to A$359,200 |
| Finance Director | 20 | 4 (20%) | A$150,000 to A$400,000 |
| Managing Director | 15 | 4 (27%) | A$175,000 to A$260,000 |
| Head of Operations | 31 | 3 (10%) | A$65,000 to A$220,000 |
| Operations Director | 14 | 3 (21%) | A$140,000 to A$222,600 |
| Chief Financial Officer | 16 | 2 (13%) | A$130,000 to A$215,250 |
| Chief Operating Officer | 13 | 2 (15%) | A$193,725 to A$500,000 |
| Supply Chain Manager | 13 | 2 (15%) | A$80,000 to A$200,000 |
| Sales Director | 152 | 1 (1%) | A$95,000 to A$105,000 |
| HR Director | 4 | 1 (25%) | A$250,000 to A$250,000 |
| National Sales Manager | 16 | 0 (0%) | No ad states one |
| State Manager | 15 | 0 (0%) | No ad states one |
| Head of Ecommerce | 14 | 0 (0%) | No ad states one |
| Chief Marketing Officer | 5 | 0 (0%) | No ad states one |
| Chief of Staff | 4 | 0 (0%) | No ad states one |
A role with 20 or more stated salaries has its own page with the spread: General Manager and Operations Manager. For the rest, the table gives the lowest and highest figure any ad stated. Read a range from four or five ads as a sighting, and as a starting point for your own number.
What the numbers mean for your next move
Most senior ads leave the salary out, so the figure is set in the conversation. Walk in with two things: the range that comparable ads do state, and the evidence in your CV that places you at the top of it. An ad rewards scope it can see: the size of the team, the budget, the revenue, the remit.
ApexHunt scores your CV against a specific job ad and shows what the ad asks for that your CV doesn't yet show. Check your CV free, no account needed. If your role has just been made redundant, the redundancy pay calculator works out your payout.
How we counted
Source: job ads listed on Adzuna for Australia on 29 September 2026, posted within the previous 180 days, where the ad's title names the role. An ad listed in several suburbs counts once. A salary counts only when the advertiser stated both ends of a range; estimated salaries are never used. We keep a range when its midpoint is between A$70,000 and A$700,000 and its top is no more than two and a half times its bottom, which removes hourly and daily rates. Titles with assistant, deputy, junior, graduate or trainee are left out. Each ad is placed by the midpoint of its range. Ads that state a salary may differ from those that do not, so treat these as the advertised market, which is one part of the whole. The query is saved and re-run for every update.