Wondering the same. Maybe they meant "US FAANG salaries" very literally, i.e. just the salary, not the bonus and equity...

If they really mean US FAANG total compensation, my guess is quant trading firms.

even UK quant firms don't really pay similar to US quant firms unless for the very top roles or firms that have multiple locations

Do they pay similar to US FAANG, though?

I did mean salary, I'm not sure about total comp because UK firms don't seem to operate similarly for the most part.

Defence/gov £250k base. CRUD apps, nothing fancy, just lots of data.

The salary curve in the UK has a long tail of rubbish pay because that's what people accept. Budgets are often much higher, and supply of skills is low.

You just have to follow the money and negotiate well. Firms with deep pockets don't care if you cost 90k or 300k when the project is in the hundreds of millions and the fallout of failure would cost much more.

The important think is to show you represent 5x less risk for 5x more pay.

How do you show that? A large portfolio of successful projects/many years of experience?

Yes. Also be good at interviewing. 90% of getting what you want is being liked without appearing like you need to be liked.