Head of AI / Director of AI
LeadershipPermanent package (Syd, Large)
$248k to $335k
Contract day rate
$1,306 to $1,766
GALILESEARCH
Australia's AI leadership search firm.
We find the AI leader, then build their team. Head of AI, Chief AI Officer and AI Transformation search, plus the engineers, architects and governance leads they hire next. Permanent and contract.
Galileo P1 salary dataset, July 2026. Explore every role, city and company size in the free salary tool.
Galileo Reviewed talent
Brief us. We interview. You hire.
Screened pools of AI leaders, engineers, architects and governance leads, verified before you ever see a CV. Shortlists within 48 hours.
What we recruit
The leader first. Then the team they build.
Flagship
The leadership hire
Head of AI & CAIO Searchpackages $248k to $489k
Heads of AI, GMs of AI and Chief AI Officers who own the mandate from board to build.
#Permanent#Retained
Explore the market Fastest-rising
The governance wave
AI Governance & Risk$195K to $264K package
Governance, risk and responsible-AI leads who keep the programme audit-ready.
#Permanent#Sprint
Explore the market Active
The operating leader
AI Transformation Leads$130k to $170k base, mid to lead
Transformation and adoption leads who move AI from pilot to P&L across the business.
#Adopt#Enable#Transform
Explore the market Largest market
The build team
AI Engineers & Architectssenior $150k to $200k, leads $200k to $270k base
The build team the leader hires next: engineers, architects and ML specialists.
#Permanent#Contract
Explore the market Leadership and governance packages incl. super: Galileo salary dataset and rate card, Sydney, large company, at each seat's anchor seniority. Transformation band: base excl. super, mid to lead level, same dataset. Engineer bands: base salary, advertised AU market. July 2026. Full bands and sources in the AI salary guide.
How we work
Three steps. One accountable partner.
- 01
Brief
One structured conversation to define the mandate, the reporting line and the package.
- 02
Shortlist
Drawn from screened talent pools we already know, not job-board scraping.
- 03
Placement
The hire, plus the 12-month team plan for the roles they hire next.
Salary intelligence
We publish the salary data the market hides.
9 in 10 Australian AI job ads hide pay. Every band below traces to live postings, published guides and our own placement data.
| Role | Permanent package (Syd, Large) | Contract day rate |
|---|---|---|
Head of AI / Director of AILeadership | $248k to $335k | $1,306 to $1,766 |
Chief AI Officer (CAIO)Strategy | $362K to $489K | $1,908 to $2,582 |
AI Transformation / Adoption LeadLeadership | $130k to $170k | $768 to $1,005 |
Gen AI EngineerPlatforms | $176K to $238K | $1,180 to $1,596 |
AI Solutions ArchitectPlatforms | $262K to $354K | $1,700 to $2,300 |
AI Governance ManagerGovernance | $195K to $264K | $1,030 to $1,393 |
Chief AI Officer (CAIO)
StrategyPermanent package (Syd, Large)
$362K to $489K
Contract day rate
$1,908 to $2,582
AI Transformation / Adoption Lead
LeadershipPermanent package (Syd, Large)
$130k to $170k
Contract day rate
$768 to $1,005
Gen AI Engineer
PlatformsPermanent package (Syd, Large)
$176K to $238K
Contract day rate
$1,180 to $1,596
AI Solutions Architect
PlatformsPermanent package (Syd, Large)
$262K to $354K
Contract day rate
$1,700 to $2,300
AI Governance Manager
GovernancePermanent package (Syd, Large)
$195K to $264K
Contract day rate
$1,030 to $1,393
Total package incl. super. Sydney, large company, principal and senior manager level. Galileo rate card, reconciled against the P1 dataset. July 2026. Leadership day rates are interim and fractional engagement rates; advertised day-rate markets for those seats are thin. Full bands and methodology in the AI salary guide.
Proprietary data, published free
Benchmark any AI seat, in any Australian city.
The live salary tool holds 24,024 data points across 77 AI roles, 6 cities, 7 company types and 7 seniority levels. Permanent packages and contract day rates. Free, no sign-up, no paywall.
Gen AI Engineer · median package by city
- Sydney$207k$1,388/day
- Melbourne$201k$1,346/day
- Brisbane$191k$1,277/day
- Perth$197k$1,318/day
- Adelaide$176k$1,179/day
- Canberra$218k$1,457/day
Median total package incl. super, senior level, large company. Galileo P1 salary dataset, July 2026. Every seniority, company size and city breakdown lives in the tool.
Why the leadership hire matters
42%
abandoned most AI initiatives in 2025
S&P Global
95%
of GenAI pilots show no P&L impact
MIT
76%
now have a chief AI officer, up from 26%
IBM, 2026
The difference is who owns it. The leadership hire decides which statistic you become.
Trusted by leading Australian organisations
- Harvey Norman
- GWF
- Smart Group
- CHG Meridian
- Blackmores
- Temple & Webster
- ACS
- NFS
- Shopback
- Vestone Capital
Advisory
Before you hire: our advisory arm runs fixed-fee AI Discovery.
Galileo Logic maps where AI pays off in your business before you commit to a leadership hire. And the Galileo Avatar shows you working AI trained on a business like yours.
Permanent and contract. Australia-wide.
Brief a role today.
Tell us the mandate. We come back with the market view, the salary band and a shortlist plan.