Thought Leadership Job Trends

Thought Leadership
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs requiring Thought Leadership skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 11 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
11 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 295 363 327
Rank change year-on-year +68 -36 -85
Permanent jobs citing Thought Leadership 467 339 737
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.64% 0.77% 0.88%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.82% 0.83% 1.01%
Number of salaries quoted 166 119 498
10th Percentile £43,875 £47,250 £43,000
25th Percentile £61,250 £72,500 £62,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £80,000 £90,000 £80,000
Median % change year-on-year -11.11% +12.50% -11.11%
75th Percentile £97,500 £110,000 £100,064
90th Percentile £118,750 £130,250 £130,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £70,000 £89,750 £79,632
% change year-on-year -22.01% +12.71% +0.80%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

Thought Leadership falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 56,972 41,045 73,238
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 78.05% 93.61% 87.51%
Number of salaries quoted 34,330 22,188 55,854
10th Percentile £29,750 £32,500 £29,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £45,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +9.09% -11.31%
75th Percentile £77,419 £80,000 £73,750
90th Percentile £97,500 £102,500 £94,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -9.09% +10.00% -8.90%

Thought Leadership
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Thought Leadership relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

Thought Leadership job vacancy trend in the UK

Thought Leadership
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Thought Leadership.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Thought Leadership

Thought Leadership
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Thought Leadership over the 6 months to 11 March 2026.

Salary histogram for Thought Leadership in the UK

Thought Leadership
Top 16 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Thought Leadership within the UK over the 6 months to 11 March 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England +40 396 £80,000 -8.57% 466
London +68 255 £86,500 -3.89% 154
UK excluding London -9 153 £70,000 -22.01% 353
Work from Home +4 85 £77,500 -10.65% 158
North of England -45 41 £78,750 -8.96% 66
South East -8 40 £62,500 -10.71% 161
East of England +20 35 £60,100 -38.20% 30
North West -17 33 £75,000 -20.75% 36
Scotland -21 17 £80,000 -20.00% 10
Midlands -14 10 £62,500 -16.67% 39
South West -12 8 £53,250 -40.83% 37
West Midlands -8 6 £75,000 - 20
Yorkshire -43 6 £90,000 +44.00% 26
East Midlands - 4 £50,000 - 18
North East -18 2 - - 4
Wales - 2 £42,000 - 13

Thought Leadership
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 7 (1.50%) Apache Airflow
2 6 (1.28%) CMS
3 5 (1.07%) IIS
3 5 (1.07%) WordPress
4 3 (0.64%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.43%) Confluence
5 2 (0.43%) Palantir Foundry
5 2 (0.43%) SharePoint
6 1 (0.21%) CICS
6 1 (0.21%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 1 (0.21%) WebSphere
Applications
1 12 (2.57%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 7 (1.50%) Maya
2 7 (1.50%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (1.07%) Adobe Creative Suite
3 5 (1.07%) Adobe XD
3 5 (1.07%) InVision
3 5 (1.07%) Microsoft Office
3 5 (1.07%) Sketch
4 3 (0.64%) Adobe Illustrator
4 3 (0.64%) Elementor
4 3 (0.64%) Photoshop
5 2 (0.43%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.21%) Siemens NX
6 1 (0.21%) Trello
Business Applications
1 13 (2.78%) SAP S/4HANA
2 8 (1.71%) Dynamics CRM
2 8 (1.71%) Endur
3 4 (0.86%) SAP MDG
4 3 (0.64%) Elite 3E
5 2 (0.43%) Payment Gateway
5 2 (0.43%) SAP ERP
5 2 (0.43%) SAP SCM
5 2 (0.43%) Teamcenter
6 1 (0.21%) NetSuite
6 1 (0.21%) Oracle Applications
6 1 (0.21%) Oracle ERP
6 1 (0.21%) SAP CO
6 1 (0.21%) SAP FI
6 1 (0.21%) SAP FI/CO
6 1 (0.21%) SAP IBP
6 1 (0.21%) SAP PLM
6 1 (0.21%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 73 (15.63%) AWS
2 54 (11.56%) Azure
3 45 (9.64%) SaaS
4 34 (7.28%) Snowflake
5 29 (6.21%) GCP
6 11 (2.36%) Power Platform
7 10 (2.14%) GitHub
8 9 (1.93%) Dynamics 365
9 7 (1.50%) Azure DevOps
9 7 (1.50%) Cloud Computing
9 7 (1.50%) dbt
10 6 (1.28%) AWS CloudFormation
10 6 (1.28%) Matillion
10 6 (1.28%) Microsoft Copilot
10 6 (1.28%) OCI
10 6 (1.28%) SuccessFactors
11 5 (1.07%) Azure AI
11 5 (1.07%) Azure Machine Learning
11 5 (1.07%) Figma
11 5 (1.07%) Google Ads
Communications & Networking
1 9 (1.93%) Firewall
2 4 (0.86%) Intrusion Detection
2 4 (0.86%) Network Security
2 4 (0.86%) WAN
3 3 (0.64%) SD-WAN
3 3 (0.64%) Wireless
4 2 (0.43%) Cisco ISE
4 2 (0.43%) LAN
4 2 (0.43%) Tactical Data Link
4 2 (0.43%) WebEx
4 2 (0.43%) Wi-Fi
5 1 (0.21%) BGP
5 1 (0.21%) Broadband
5 1 (0.21%) MPLS
5 1 (0.21%) Software-Defined Networking
5 1 (0.21%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 29 (6.21%) Data Warehouse
2 19 (4.07%) Data Lake
3 14 (3.00%) NoSQL
4 11 (2.36%) Tableau
5 10 (2.14%) Power BI
6 9 (1.93%) Big Data
7 6 (1.28%) BigQuery
7 6 (1.28%) Hadoop
7 6 (1.28%) Metadata
8 5 (1.07%) Data Mining
9 4 (0.86%) DataStage
9 4 (0.86%) QlikView
9 4 (0.86%) SAP HANA
10 2 (0.43%) Amazon RDS
10 2 (0.43%) Delta Lake
10 2 (0.43%) Looker
10 2 (0.43%) MongoDB
10 2 (0.43%) SAP Data Services
10 2 (0.43%) SQL Server
11 1 (0.21%) DB2
Development Applications
1 6 (1.28%) GitLab
1 6 (1.28%) MLflow
2 5 (1.07%) Axure RP
2 5 (1.07%) Cucumber
2 5 (1.07%) JIRA
3 4 (0.86%) ER Studio
3 4 (0.86%) ERwin
3 4 (0.86%) PowerDesigner
4 2 (0.43%) Git
4 2 (0.43%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.21%) Cypress.io
5 1 (0.21%) Selenium
5 1 (0.21%) SonarQube
General
1 175 (37.47%) Finance
2 115 (24.63%) Social Skills
3 88 (18.84%) Marketing
4 85 (18.20%) Analytical Skills
5 56 (11.99%) Public Sector
6 50 (10.71%) Presentation Skills
7 40 (8.57%) Law
8 36 (7.71%) Legal
9 34 (7.28%) Retail
10 29 (6.21%) Banking
11 28 (6.00%) Games
11 28 (6.00%) Pharmaceutical
12 26 (5.57%) Influencing Skills
13 18 (3.85%) Financial Institution
13 18 (3.85%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 12 (2.57%) Aerospace
15 11 (2.36%) Publishing
16 8 (1.71%) Manufacturing
16 8 (1.71%) Telecoms
17 6 (1.28%) Brand Awareness
Job Titles
1 96 (20.56%) Senior
2 69 (14.78%) Lead
3 68 (14.56%) Architect
4 62 (13.28%) Consultant
5 44 (9.42%) Account Executive
6 35 (7.49%) Sales Executive
7 29 (6.21%) Senior Sales Executive
8 21 (4.50%) Business Architect
8 21 (4.50%) Business Development Executive
8 21 (4.50%) Senior Manager
9 20 (4.28%) Senior Architect
10 18 (3.85%) Business Sales Executive
10 18 (3.85%) Sales Account Executive
10 18 (3.85%) Senior Account Executive
10 18 (3.85%) Senior Consultant
10 18 (3.85%) Solutions Architect
11 17 (3.64%) Business Consultant
12 15 (3.21%) Business Manager
13 14 (3.00%) Marketing Manager
13 14 (3.00%) Product Specialist
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (2.36%) Spring
1 11 (2.36%) Spring Boot
2 8 (1.71%) Kafka
2 8 (1.71%) REST
3 7 (1.50%) CSS
3 7 (1.50%) HTML
4 6 (1.28%) React
4 6 (1.28%) SOAP
5 5 (1.07%) OAuth
5 5 (1.07%) OAuth2
5 5 (1.07%) Play Framework
5 5 (1.07%) PyTorch
5 5 (1.07%) TensorFlow
6 3 (0.64%) Flutter
6 3 (0.64%) Oracle Fusion
7 2 (0.43%) AngularJS
7 2 (0.43%) Middleware
7 2 (0.43%) PySpark
7 2 (0.43%) scikit-learn
7 2 (0.43%) XGBoost
Miscellaneous
1 35 (7.49%) Life Science
2 31 (6.64%) Self-Motivation
3 28 (6.00%) Enterprise Software
4 27 (5.78%) Blog
5 24 (5.14%) Cloud Native
6 17 (3.64%) Algorithms
6 17 (3.64%) Social Media
7 15 (3.21%) Onboarding
8 14 (3.00%) Management Information System
9 13 (2.78%) Web Conferencing
10 12 (2.57%) Product Ownership
11 11 (2.36%) Distributed Systems
12 10 (2.14%) AI Agents
12 10 (2.14%) e-Learning
13 9 (1.93%) Credit Risk
13 9 (1.93%) Podcast
14 8 (1.71%) Data Fabric
14 8 (1.71%) NHS
15 7 (1.50%) Data Protection Act
15 7 (1.50%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 2 (0.43%) Windows
2 1 (0.21%) Android
2 1 (0.21%) Apple iOS
2 1 (0.21%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 171 (36.62%) AI
2 132 (28.27%) Analytics
3 129 (27.62%) Decision-Making
4 128 (27.41%) Business Development
5 107 (22.91%) Agile
6 101 (21.63%) Roadmaps
7 91 (19.49%) Mentoring
8 67 (14.35%) Problem-Solving
9 65 (13.92%) Business Strategy
10 62 (13.28%) B2B
11 60 (12.85%) Generative AI
12 59 (12.63%) Computer Science
12 59 (12.63%) Workshop Facilitation
13 58 (12.42%) Cybersecurity
14 54 (11.56%) Machine Learning
14 54 (11.56%) Stakeholder Management
14 54 (11.56%) Strategic Thinking
15 53 (11.35%) Data Science
15 53 (11.35%) Use Case
16 49 (10.49%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 35 (7.49%) Python
2 26 (5.57%) Java
3 24 (5.14%) SQL
4 8 (1.71%) JavaScript
5 6 (1.28%) R
6 5 (1.07%) Kotlin
6 5 (1.07%) PowerShell
6 5 (1.07%) Scala
7 4 (0.86%) C#
8 3 (0.64%) Go
9 1 (0.21%) ABAP
9 1 (0.21%) Bash
9 1 (0.21%) Ruby
9 1 (0.21%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 138 (29.55%) Degree
2 56 (11.99%) Master's Degree
3 50 (10.71%) Security Cleared
4 34 (7.28%) PhD
5 32 (6.85%) SC Cleared
6 23 (4.93%) Computer Science Degree
7 15 (3.21%) CISSP
8 14 (3.00%) CISM
9 13 (2.78%) DBS Check
10 10 (2.14%) Azure Certification
10 10 (2.14%) PMI Certification
10 10 (2.14%) PMP
11 9 (1.93%) AWS Certification
12 8 (1.71%) MBA
13 6 (1.28%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
13 6 (1.28%) DV Cleared
14 5 (1.07%) (ISC)2 CCSP
14 5 (1.07%) CISA
14 5 (1.07%) CRISC
14 5 (1.07%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (4.50%) GxP
2 20 (4.28%) Accessibility
3 14 (3.00%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 13 (2.78%) GRC
5 12 (2.57%) NIST
6 11 (2.36%) QA
7 10 (2.14%) Data Quality
8 8 (1.71%) EMIR
9 6 (1.28%) Actionable Recommendations
9 6 (1.28%) WCAG
10 5 (1.07%) EU AI Act
10 5 (1.07%) JSP 440
11 4 (0.86%) Government Security Classifications
11 4 (0.86%) HMG Security Policy Framework
12 3 (0.64%) GDPR
12 3 (0.64%) SLA
13 2 (0.43%) NCSC
13 2 (0.43%) NIST 800
13 2 (0.43%) PCI DSS
14 1 (0.21%) Basel III
System Software
1 4 (0.86%) Docker
2 3 (0.64%) Active Directory
3 1 (0.21%) RACF
Systems Management
1 16 (3.43%) Terraform
2 6 (1.28%) Ansible
2 6 (1.28%) Kubernetes
3 3 (0.64%) Grafana
4 2 (0.43%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
4 2 (0.43%) RSA Archer
5 1 (0.21%) Microsoft Intune
5 1 (0.21%) Progress Chef
5 1 (0.21%) Prometheus
5 1 (0.21%) Puppet
Vendors
1 57 (12.21%) Dell
2 29 (6.21%) SAP
3 27 (5.78%) Databricks
3 27 (5.78%) Microsoft
4 20 (4.28%) Google
4 20 (4.28%) Oracle
5 16 (3.43%) Informatica
6 14 (3.00%) HubSpot
7 13 (2.78%) ServiceNow
8 12 (2.57%) Denodo
8 12 (2.57%) Teradata
9 10 (2.14%) Adobe
9 10 (2.14%) IBM
9 10 (2.14%) Salesforce
10 8 (1.71%) OpenLink
11 6 (1.28%) Cognizant
11 6 (1.28%) Workday
12 5 (1.07%) BT
13 3 (0.64%) Fortinet
13 3 (0.64%) OpenAI