Which tech roles pay the most? Dice’s latest edition of the Tech Salary Report breaks down which types of engineers, managers, and other specialists earn more than the average tech professional.

As with past years, the top tech occupations by salary had one big thing in common: they were either leadership positions (CEO, CIO, CTO) or tasked with guiding companies through big projects and digital transformation (solutions architect, principal software engineer, program analyst). In other words, companies are still willing to pay top dollar to tech professionals who can use their combination of technical and soft skills to guide teams in driving significant change. Here’s the breakdown from the Report:

At the same time, it’s important to note that the tech professionals tasked with enacting that change on a code level also saw their salaries increase (software developer salaries gained 6.5 percent in 2023, for example). As the ninth most common tech job posting in 2023, software developers were highly sought after, and the average jump in pay shows it.

DevOps engineers, product managers, MIS managers and principal software engineers lost the most ground. Did compensation for these positions decline in aggregate due to the massive layoffs last year? Or did it dip because more tech professionals are pouring into these roles, boosting the supply? That’s a tough question to answer, but one thing’s for certain: companies will continue to need tech professionals who’ve mastered the arts of project management, DevOps and software engineering.

If you want to boost your salary over the long term, it’s also helpful to adopt management skills. Even if you’re not interested in becoming a CIO or CTO, roles such as solutions architect and principal software engineer often manage huge teams, and knowing how to achieve success in this context is vital.

Systems administrators saw a huge average salary increase (11.2 percent) last year, followed by software developers and program analysts/managers. Due to the re-emergence of in-office work over the past two years, help desk technicians saw nearly 5 percent average salary growth, as well; to succeed in the role, these specialists must become skilled at solving problems for remote, hybrid (i.e., in the office a few days per week) and full-time office workers.

Dice’s Tech Salary Report includes lots of additional information about tech salaries and benefits, including how tech professionals feel about their current compensation, average pay by tech skill, and whether workers are negotiating with their bosses for higher payouts.