Senior ML Engineer Salary in Dresden (2026)

Salary by Sub-Level

• Senior (5–8 years): €82,000–€95,000
• Staff/Principal (8–12 years): €95,000–€110,000
• Head of ML/AI (12+ years): €105,000–€130,000+

Industrial AI Leadership

Senior ML engineers in Dresden lead production AI systems with direct financial impact measured in millions. Infineon's defect detection systems use deep learning computer vision operating at sub-micron precision. GlobalFoundries' yield prediction models optimize fabrication parameters across hundreds of process steps. Bosch's IoT fab leverages predictive maintenance ML to prevent equipment failures. These are models whose performance is measured in euros, not accuracy metrics.

The Production ML Premium

At senior level, Dresden rewards engineers who own the full ML lifecycle in manufacturing contexts: problem framing with process engineers, data pipeline design for sensor streams, model development with manufacturing constraints, production deployment in fab environments, monitoring at 99.99% uptime, and continuous iteration. Pure research backgrounds without production deployment experience are less valued.

Global Scarcity of Semiconductor ML

Senior ML engineers with semiconductor manufacturing expertise are among the scarcest tech professionals globally. Intel, Samsung, TSMC, ASML, Applied Materials, and Lam Research all need this skill set. Dresden is one of the few places in the world where you can develop it organically — creating genuine global career portability.