The median tech salary in Abu Dhabi is AED36K in 2026, across 73 roles in software, data, cybersecurity, product, and design. See every role's salary, its year-on-year change, and how it stacks up against the United Arab Emirates national median below.
73
Roles covered
2026 salary guide
AED36K
Median salary
City benchmark midpoint
AED25K – AED76K
Salary range
Lowest to highest tracked
Head of Engineering
Highest-paying role
AED56K median
Software Engineering
Most represented category
Most tracked roles
0%
vs. national median
AED0K higher
High Confidence
Confidence
How much we trust this number
Market snapshot
City overview
Abu Dhabi tracks 73 distinct tech roles across 13 categories in the United Arab Emirates' salary data, rated high confidence for how much we trust the numbers.
Local hiring market
Software Engineering is Abu Dhabi's most represented category, accounting for roughly 20% of tracked roles, ahead of Cybersecurity and Data & Analytics.
How it compares
Abu Dhabi's median tracked salary of AED36K sits 0% in line with the United Arab Emirates national median. Head of Engineering is the highest-paying role tracked here, at AED56K.
73 roles, each linked to its full country-wide salary page. Sort by any column or search for a specific title.
Showing 73 of 73 tracked roles
| Confidence | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head of Engineering Technology Leadership | AED56K/mo | +6.0% | AED49K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Chief Information Security Officer Technology Leadership | AED56K/mo | +8.0% | AED54K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Engineering Manager Software Engineering | AED46K/mo | +6.5% | AED45K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Enterprise Architect Software Engineering | AED46K/mo | +6.5% | AED45K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Blockchain / Smart Contract Developer Web3 & Blockchain | AED45K/mo | +9.0% | AED38K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| FinOps Specialist Cloud & Infrastructure | AED42K/mo | +8.0% | AED35K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Platform Engineer Cloud & Infrastructure | AED42K/mo | +8.0% | AED35K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Network Engineer Cloud & Infrastructure | AED42K/mo | +8.0% | AED35K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| AI Strategy & Solutions Architect Emerging & Specialist Tech | AED41K/mo | +13.0% | AED40K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| DevSecOps Engineer Cloud & Infrastructure | AED41K/mo | +9.0% | AED34K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| SOC Analyst Cybersecurity | AED41K/mo | +9.0% | AED34K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Generative AI / LLM Engineer AI & Machine Learning | AED41K/mo | +14.0% | AED40K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) Lead Cybersecurity | AED41K/mo | +9.0% | AED34K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| AI Product Manager AI & Machine Learning | AED41K/mo | +12.0% | AED40K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| MLOps Engineer Data & Analytics | AED41K/mo | +12.5% | AED40K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Cloud Security Architect Cybersecurity | AED41K/mo | +9.0% | AED34K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Payment Gateway Integration Engineer Software Engineering | AED39K/mo | +7.0% | AED33K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Core Banking Integration Specialist FinTech & Quant | AED39K/mo | +7.0% | AED33K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| PropTech Platform Engineer Software Engineering | AED39K/mo | +7.0% | AED33K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Wealth / Investment Platform Engineer FinTech & Quant | AED39K/mo | +7.0% | AED33K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| RegTech / Compliance Technology Analyst FinTech & Quant | AED39K/mo | +7.0% | AED33K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) Software Engineering | AED39K/mo | +8.5% | AED38K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Cloud Architect (AWS / Azure Sovereign Cloud) Cloud & Infrastructure | AED39K/mo | +9.0% | AED38K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Data Center Facilities Manager / Architect Emerging & Specialist Tech | AED39K/mo | +9.5% | AED38K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Cybersecurity Specialist / Architect Cybersecurity | AED38K/mo | +10.0% | AED38K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Data Governance Specialist Data & Analytics | AED38K/mo | +8.0% | AED32K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Data Architect Data & Analytics | AED37K/mo | +8.0% | AED37K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| DevOps & CI/CD Engineer Cloud & Infrastructure | AED36K/mo | +8.0% | AED35K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| API & Integration Architect Architecture | AED36K/mo | +8.0% | AED35K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Solutions Architect Software Engineering | AED36K/mo | +8.0% | AED35K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Scrum Master / Agile Coach Product & Design | AED36K/mo | +5.0% | AED30K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Business Analyst Project & Delivery | AED36K/mo | +5.0% | AED30K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Penetration Tester / Red Team Specialist Cybersecurity | AED36K/mo | +8.5% | AED35K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Incident Response Specialist Cybersecurity | AED36K/mo | +9.0% | AED35K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Identity & Access Management (IAM) Engineer Cybersecurity | AED36K/mo | +9.0% | AED35K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Principal Software Engineer Software Engineering | AED35K/mo | +8.0% | AED41K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| AI / ML Engineer AI & Machine Learning | AED35K/mo | +12.5% | AED39K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| AI Research Scientist AI & Machine Learning | AED35K/mo | +12.0% | AED41K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Cloud Security Specialist Cybersecurity | AED35K/mo | +11.0% | AED41K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Quantitative Developer (C++ / Python) FinTech & Quant | AED35K/mo | +11.0% | AED41K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Web3 Security Engineer Web3 & Blockchain | AED35K/mo | +11.0% | AED41K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Senior Cloud & Infrastructure Lead Cloud & Infrastructure | AED35K/mo | +10.0% | AED41K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Algorithmic Trading Systems Engineer FinTech & Quant | AED35K/mo | +10.0% | AED41K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Platform / Internal Developer Tooling Engineer Software Engineering | AED35K/mo | +10.0% | AED41K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Frontend Engineer Software Engineering | AED34K/mo | +6.0% | AED28K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Business Intelligence (BI) Lead Data & Analytics | AED34K/mo | +7.0% | AED34K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| QA Automation Engineer Software Engineering | AED34K/mo | +6.0% | AED28K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Data Scientist (Risk & Compliance) Data & Analytics | AED34K/mo | +8.5% | AED34K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Data Engineer Data & Analytics | AED34K/mo | +8.5% | AED34K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Database Administrator (DBA - Oracle / PostgreSQL / NoSQL) Cloud & Infrastructure | AED34K/mo | +6.5% | AED32K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Technical Product Manager Product & Design | AED33K/mo | +6.0% | AED33K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| IT Program / Project Manager Product & Design | AED33K/mo | +5.5% | AED33K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Salesforce / CRM Architect Enterprise Applications & ERP | AED33K/mo | +6.0% | AED33K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| SAP / Oracle ERP Cloud Consultant Enterprise Applications & ERP | AED33K/mo | +6.0% | AED33K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Full-Stack Engineer (React / Next.js / TypeScript) Software Engineering | AED32K/mo | +6.5% | AED32K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Back-End Developer (Java / Python / Node.js) Software Engineering | AED32K/mo | +6.5% | AED32K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Analytics Engineer Data & Analytics | AED32K/mo | +7.5% | AED31K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Mobile Developer (Flutter / React Native / Swift) Software Engineering | AED31K/mo | +6.5% | AED30K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Virtual Asset Payment / API Engineer Web3 & Blockchain | AED30K/mo | +8.0% | AED35K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Data Governance & Privacy Lead Data & Analytics | AED30K/mo | +8.0% | AED35K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Application Security (AppSec) Engineer Cybersecurity | AED30K/mo | +10.0% | AED35K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| GRC Lead Cybersecurity | AED30K/mo | +9.0% | AED35K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Payments Platform Engineer FinTech & Quant | AED30K/mo | +8.0% | AED35K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Smart Contract / Solidity Developer Web3 & Blockchain | AED30K/mo | +8.0% | AED35K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| NLP Specialist AI & Machine Learning | AED30K/mo | +11.0% | AED35K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Core Banking Systems Specialist (Temenos / Mambu) FinTech & Quant | AED30K/mo | +8.0% | AED35K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Security Operations Center (SOC) Lead Cybersecurity | AED30K/mo | +8.0% | AED35K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| IoT & Embedded Systems Engineer Emerging & Specialist Tech | AED30K/mo | +6.5% | AED29K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| UI/UX & Product Designer Product & Design | AED28K/mo | +5.5% | AED28K/mo | High ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Business Systems Analyst Enterprise Applications & ERP | AED25K/mo | +5.0% | AED30K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Network & Cloud Connectivity Engineer Cloud & Infrastructure | AED25K/mo | +6.0% | AED30K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| Front-Office / Trading Floor Application Support FinTech & Quant | AED25K/mo | +6.0% | AED30K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
| QA Automation Lead Software Engineering | AED25K/mo | +5.0% | AED30K/mo | Moderate ConfidenceHigh Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only. |
The median tech salary in Abu Dhabi is AED36K, while the average is AED36K. The median is less skewed by a small number of very high or very low outlier salaries, which is why it's usually the more reliable figure to benchmark your own offer against.
The benchmark median salary in Abu Dhabi is AED36K in 2026, based on published market compensation data.
Abu Dhabi is currently aligned with the national benchmark by AED0K (0%).
Head of Engineering is the highest-paying tech role tracked in Abu Dhabi, with a median salary of AED56K. See the full role table on this page for salary ranges across every tracked discipline.
Software Engineering has more tracked roles in Abu Dhabi than any other category, ahead of the other disciplines tracked on this page.
This city benchmark is marked High Confidence. High Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only.
A city's tech salaries move with its own mix of employers, its cost of living, and which specific roles are actually being hired there, plus how much data we've been able to collect for that city. All of that can pull a city's numbers away from the national average, in either direction.
Yes. Contract and day-rate pay in Abu Dhabi is tracked separately from permanent salaries and doesn't convert to an annual figure on a simple pro-rata basis, it reflects contractor market rates directly. Check the contract/day rate column in the role table on this page for the roles where both figures are tracked.
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