This is my first formal pay-review request. I've been with the company for four years and work at a mid-to-senior systems and infrastructure level. My responsibilities include ESXi and VxRail patching, Azure infrastructure and Application Gateways, application migrations, AVD deployments, backup and database troubleshooting, Intune and BYOD, Azure DevOps and Git, large PowerShell repositories, software deployment scripting, SSO, web servers and certificates, and Google Workspace and ChromeOS Flex projects. I've also completed AZ-104 and am working toward AZ-305.
The department has changed significantly, with around half the team leaving and six or more new positions expected. My former manager's responsibilities are effectively being divided among several new roles and a project manager. The company is now advertising an Endpoint Engineer position at £52,000–£56,000, while I currently earn £49,000. Endpoint engineering is an area I'm already experienced in, and I previously spent about a year standardising and improving the company's device fleet.
I raised this with the Head of IT and requested a salary review, but he suggested discussing it with my new manager, who has only been at the company for a few days. That meeting is scheduled for next week. I'm considering asking for a role and salary adjustment while also applying elsewhere. How should I approach the conversation, and what should I do if they ask me to wait?
4 Answers
Go into the meeting with a specific request, not just a general request for more money. Prepare a short list of your responsibilities, projects delivered, qualifications, and the business impact of your work. Then explain that your current duties and experience are closer to the advertised Endpoint Engineer level and ask what salary adjustment or role reclassification they can offer. Also research comparable salaries locally so your figure is based on evidence.
Apply for the advertised role if you meet the requirements. It gives you a formal route to be assessed for the higher salary instead of relying entirely on a new manager to argue your case. Even if you stay in your current position, applying externally will show you what the market is willing to pay.
You should probably do both things at once: have the internal discussion and start applying elsewhere. Companies often have more flexibility when hiring than when adjusting an existing employee’s pay, and changing jobs is frequently the quickest way to make a significant salary increase. Don’t resign based on a vague promise, though—wait for a written offer and compare the whole package, progression, workload, and stability.
That doesn’t mean an internal raise is impossible. Some people increase their pay substantially by taking on broader responsibilities where they already work, but it helps to have a clearly defined new role and measurable outcomes.
Your workload appears to have grown well beyond the role you were originally hired for. Frame this as a role-alignment issue rather than a complaint about someone else’s salary: your responsibilities, technical breadth, and delivery history justify reviewing both your job title and compensation. Stay calm, be factual, and avoid making threats or using an offer as leverage unless you are genuinely prepared to leave.
I’d also ask about the timeline and decision process. ‘We’ll review it later’ isn’t useful unless they give you a date and clear criteria.