Nike Steps Up Its Salaries — Here’s How Much You Could Earn As a Designer Or Software Engineer

Nike is paying top dollar for talent as the sportswear giant embarks on a multi-year turnaround effort under CEO Elliott Hill. 

The latest salary data shows that Nike is paying aggressively for tech, design and marketing roles. Nike’s public work visa filings, which the company disclosed to the U.S. Department of Labor, were examined by Business Insider, and reveal six‑figure pay across software engineering, design and senior brand positions. Top leaders earn well into the mid‑six figures. These filings only show salary, not stock options or other incentives. 

Pay information for software engineers, designers and more

The filings show that software engineers at Nike can earn between about $120,000 and $301,000 a year, depending on seniority. 

Entry‑level Software Engineer I roles range from $120,000 to roughly $144,600; Software Engineer II positions run about $152,000 to $178,200. Software Engineer III roles fall between about $139,800 and $180,400, while a Senior Director of Software Engineering earns just over $301,000.

Data‑focused jobs pay solid six figures, too. Data engineering roles range from $104,500 to $175,000, while data analytics roles land around $114,600 to $118,400. A Director of Supply Chain AI/ML Engineering, a role that sits at the intersection of AI and logistics, earns about $252,500 a year.

The highest-paying job identified in the data was a non-technical role: a vice president of global brand marketing earns $425,000 annually. 

Here’s how much other roles at Nike pay, from designer to manager:

• Materials Designer: $100,000 a year
• Senior Digital Product Designer: $155,810 a year
• Senior 3D Designer: $106,605 a year
• Senior Manager, Software Engineering: $273,156 a year
• Senior Product Manager: $153,431 to $169,744 a year
• Manager, Data Engineer: $168,031 to $213,190 a year
• Senior Program Manager: $147,434 a year
• Lead Professional, Sports Marketing: $128,434 to $143,251 a year

Nike’s turnaround plan

Nike had 755 open positions globally on its job board at the time of writing. As of May 2025, Nike had about 77,800 employees worldwide. The sneaker giant announced last month that it was cutting 775 distribution-center jobs in Tennessee and Mississippi as part of a broader move to streamline its cost base and accelerate automation in the supply chain. 

Nike is in the middle of a comeback plan, a multi-year strategy branded internally as “Win Now.” The overarching goals are to restart revenue growth, regain market share from brands like Hoka and New Balance and restore Nike’s positioning in the performance sport category. The plan kicked off after Hill took over in October 2024.  

The plan is gaining traction in North America, where Nike brand revenue grew about 9% year-over-year in Nike’s latest reported quarter (second quarter 2026, three months ended November 30, 2025). Nike brand revenue reached $5.63 billion in the quarter. 

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