Thought Leadership Job Trends

Thought Leadership
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs requiring Thought Leadership skills. It covers vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 15 September 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Sep 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 243 454 266
Rank change year-on-year +211 -188 -38
Permanent jobs citing Thought Leadership 622 362 788
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 1.27% 0.47% 1.27%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.43% 0.58% 1.35%
Number of salaries quoted 155 189 402
10th Percentile £44,250 £47,500 £56,219
25th Percentile £58,125 £63,750 £67,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £80,000 £80,000 £80,000
Median % change year-on-year - - -0.57%
75th Percentile £105,000 £97,500 £95,000
90th Percentile £120,000 £116,000 £115,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £65,000 £77,500 £79,632
% change year-on-year -16.13% -2.68% +13.76%

All Process and 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 43,561 62,745 58,381
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 88.66% 80.90% 94.42%
Number of salaries quoted 24,438 36,124 43,818
10th Percentile £28,500 £32,000 £32,750
25th Percentile £36,250 £42,500 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £57,500 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -4.35% -4.17% -
75th Percentile £75,000 £76,500 £80,000
90th Percentile £96,250 £95,000 £100,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £47,500 £52,500 £54,000
% change year-on-year -9.52% -2.78% +2.86%

Thought Leadership
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing Thought Leadership as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for Thought Leadership 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 15 September 2025.

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 15 September 2025. 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 +243 583 £78,750 -0.32% 690
London +223 390 £90,000 +9.64% 420
UK excluding London +117 199 £65,000 -16.13% 421
South East +108 119 £43,750 -39.66% 198
Work from Home +92 110 £65,000 -18.75% 277
North of England +24 28 £84,000 +46.09% 59
Midlands +43 20 £66,250 +1.92% 47
North West +23 19 £84,000 +46.09% 40
West Midlands +47 17 £61,250 -5.77% 27
Scotland +51 16 £80,000 -20.00% 38
South West +58 11 £80,000 - 37
Yorkshire +18 9 £85,000 - 17
Northern Ireland - 2 - - 3
Channel Islands - 2 £78,750 -
East Midlands +23 1 - - 18
Wales - 1 £47,500 - 7

Thought Leadership
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 17 (2.73%) Apache Spark
2 7 (1.13%) CMS
2 7 (1.13%) WordPress
3 6 (0.96%) Confluence
3 6 (0.96%) nginx
4 4 (0.64%) Microsoft Exchange
5 3 (0.48%) Apache Airflow
5 3 (0.48%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 1 (0.16%) Apache
6 1 (0.16%) CICS
6 1 (0.16%) SharePoint
6 1 (0.16%) WebLogic
6 1 (0.16%) WebSphere
Applications
1 18 (2.89%) Microsoft Excel
2 13 (2.09%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 11 (1.77%) Maya
4 6 (0.96%) Microsoft Office
5 4 (0.64%) Chatbot
5 4 (0.64%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.32%) Adobe After Effects
6 2 (0.32%) Adobe Premiere
6 2 (0.32%) Adobe XD
7 1 (0.16%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 1 (0.16%) Notion
7 1 (0.16%) Photoshop
Business Applications
1 31 (4.98%) SAP S/4HANA
2 12 (1.93%) Dynamics CRM
3 7 (1.13%) NetSuite
4 6 (0.96%) SAP SCM
5 4 (0.64%) SAP EWM
6 3 (0.48%) Payment Gateway
6 3 (0.48%) SAP CO
6 3 (0.48%) SAP FI
6 3 (0.48%) SAP FI/CO
6 3 (0.48%) SAP FSCM
6 3 (0.48%) SAP Oil and Gas
6 3 (0.48%) SAP PP
7 2 (0.32%) SAP APO
7 2 (0.32%) SAP IBP
7 2 (0.32%) SAP MM
7 2 (0.32%) SAP QM
7 2 (0.32%) Shopify
8 1 (0.16%) Oracle BPM
8 1 (0.16%) SAP ERP
8 1 (0.16%) SAP LE
Cloud Services
1 124 (19.94%) Azure
2 101 (16.24%) AWS
3 43 (6.91%) GCP
4 26 (4.18%) SaaS
5 25 (4.02%) Amazon Bedrock
5 25 (4.02%) Vertex AI
6 24 (3.86%) Azure Synapse Analytics
7 23 (3.70%) Power Platform
8 20 (3.22%) Cloud Computing
9 18 (2.89%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
10 17 (2.73%) Serverless
11 15 (2.41%) Snowflake
12 14 (2.25%) GitHub
13 8 (1.29%) Azure DevOps
14 7 (1.13%) IaaS
14 7 (1.13%) Microsoft 365
14 7 (1.13%) OCI
15 6 (0.96%) AWS Lambda
15 6 (0.96%) AWS Step Functions
15 6 (0.96%) Matillion
Communications & Networking
1 11 (1.77%) DNS
2 8 (1.29%) Network Security
3 6 (0.96%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
4 3 (0.48%) Internet
4 3 (0.48%) TCP/IP
4 3 (0.48%) VPN
5 2 (0.32%) BGP
5 2 (0.32%) Firewall
6 1 (0.16%) ATM
6 1 (0.16%) SSH
6 1 (0.16%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 39 (6.27%) Data Lake
2 37 (5.95%) NoSQL
3 24 (3.86%) Data Warehouse
3 24 (3.86%) Metadata
4 21 (3.38%) Amazon Redshift
5 20 (3.22%) Big Data
5 20 (3.22%) Power BI
6 17 (2.73%) Hadoop
7 9 (1.45%) BigQuery
8 5 (0.80%) Relational Database
9 4 (0.64%) SQL Server
10 3 (0.48%) MongoDB
10 3 (0.48%) Power Query
10 3 (0.48%) PowerPivot
11 2 (0.32%) DynamoDB
11 2 (0.32%) Looker
11 2 (0.32%) Oracle Reports
11 2 (0.32%) PostgreSQL
11 2 (0.32%) Tableau
12 1 (0.16%) NonStop SQL
Development Applications
1 14 (2.25%) JIRA
2 12 (1.93%) ERwin
3 7 (1.13%) GitLab
4 3 (0.48%) eCATT
5 2 (0.32%) Axure RP
5 2 (0.32%) Balsamiq
5 2 (0.32%) Git
5 2 (0.32%) MLflow
6 1 (0.16%) Jenkins
6 1 (0.16%) VersaTest
6 1 (0.16%) Vite
6 1 (0.16%) WaveMaker
General
1 240 (38.59%) Social Skills
2 237 (38.10%) Law
3 223 (35.85%) Analytical Skills
4 197 (31.67%) Finance
5 124 (19.94%) Marketing
6 71 (11.41%) Retail
7 57 (9.16%) Games
8 54 (8.68%) Influencing Skills
9 45 (7.23%) Presentation Skills
10 43 (6.91%) Public Sector
11 41 (6.59%) Banking
12 28 (4.50%) Advertising
13 20 (3.22%) Legal
14 17 (2.73%) Pharmaceutical
15 16 (2.57%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 14 (2.25%) Publishing
17 13 (2.09%) Manufacturing
18 10 (1.61%) Dutch Language
18 10 (1.61%) French Language
19 9 (1.45%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 166 (26.69%) Senior
2 122 (19.61%) Lead
3 114 (18.33%) Architect
4 68 (10.93%) Consultant
5 54 (8.68%) Solutions Architect
6 47 (7.56%) Senior Consultant
7 34 (5.47%) Senior Architect
8 33 (5.31%) Senior Solutions Architect
8 33 (5.31%) ServiceNow Architect
9 29 (4.66%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
10 28 (4.50%) Enterprise Architect
11 26 (4.18%) Account Executive
12 25 (4.02%) Gen AI Consultant
13 24 (3.86%) Lead Architect
14 19 (3.05%) Product Lead
15 18 (2.89%) Salesforce Architect
16 17 (2.73%) Data Architect
16 17 (2.73%) Data Scientist
16 17 (2.73%) Senior Manager
17 15 (2.41%) IT Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 36 (5.79%) REST
2 26 (4.18%) LangChain
3 24 (3.86%) SOAP
4 20 (3.22%) Middleware
5 18 (2.89%) Lightning Web Components
6 17 (2.73%) Kafka
7 15 (2.41%) React
8 10 (1.61%) .NET
9 9 (1.45%) CSS
10 8 (1.29%) AngularJS
10 8 (1.29%) SAP Fiori
11 7 (1.13%) Web Services
11 7 (1.13%) XML
12 6 (0.96%) JSON
12 6 (0.96%) Vue
13 5 (0.80%) ASP.NET
13 5 (0.80%) HTML
14 3 (0.48%) .NET Framework
14 3 (0.48%) Oracle Fusion
14 3 (0.48%) SAPUI5
Miscellaneous
1 57 (9.16%) Product Ownership
2 54 (8.68%) Algorithms
3 52 (8.36%) Analytical Mindset
4 47 (7.56%) Legacy Systems
5 40 (6.43%) Enterprise Software
6 38 (6.11%) FMCG
7 25 (4.02%) Virtual Team
8 21 (3.38%) Self-Motivation
8 21 (3.38%) Social Media
9 18 (2.89%) Data Structures
9 18 (2.89%) Public Cloud
10 17 (2.73%) Cloud Native
10 17 (2.73%) Digital Media
10 17 (2.73%) Onboarding
11 14 (2.25%) Life Science
12 13 (2.09%) Management Information System
13 11 (1.77%) Blog
14 10 (1.61%) Blockchain
15 9 (1.45%) Private Cloud
16 8 (1.29%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 1 (0.16%) Linux
1 1 (0.16%) Solaris
1 1 (0.16%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 250 (40.19%) Roadmaps
2 214 (34.41%) Artificial Intelligence
3 213 (34.24%) Analytics
4 200 (32.15%) Agile
5 181 (29.10%) Problem-Solving
6 142 (22.83%) Business Strategy
7 141 (22.67%) Machine Learning
8 118 (18.97%) Decision-Making
8 118 (18.97%) Project Management
9 113 (18.17%) Stakeholder Management
10 109 (17.52%) Computer Science
11 100 (16.08%) DevOps
12 94 (15.11%) Business Development
13 93 (14.95%) Continuous Improvement
14 87 (13.99%) Technical Leadership
15 85 (13.67%) Data Science
16 78 (12.54%) Coaching
17 77 (12.38%) Mentoring
18 70 (11.25%) IT Strategy
18 70 (11.25%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 74 (11.90%) Python
2 40 (6.43%) SQL
3 31 (4.98%) JavaScript
4 18 (2.89%) Apex Code
5 14 (2.25%) Java
6 9 (1.45%) C#
7 4 (0.64%) C++
7 4 (0.64%) R
7 4 (0.64%) TypeScript
8 2 (0.32%) Scala
9 1 (0.16%) Bash
9 1 (0.16%) Bicep
9 1 (0.16%) Bourne shell
9 1 (0.16%) COBOL
9 1 (0.16%) C-shell
9 1 (0.16%) Kotlin
9 1 (0.16%) Perl
9 1 (0.16%) PowerShell
9 1 (0.16%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 229 (36.82%) Degree
2 82 (13.18%) Computer Science Degree
3 80 (12.86%) Master's Degree
4 48 (7.72%) PhD
5 23 (3.70%) Security Cleared
6 17 (2.73%) SC Cleared
7 11 (1.77%) TOGAF Certification
8 10 (1.61%) Cisco Certification
9 9 (1.45%) CISSP
10 8 (1.29%) CCNP
10 8 (1.29%) MBA
10 8 (1.29%) PMI Certification
11 6 (0.96%) AWS Certification
11 6 (0.96%) CCNA
11 6 (0.96%) CISM
12 5 (0.80%) APMG
12 5 (0.80%) Azure Certification
12 5 (0.80%) CRISC
12 5 (0.80%) Microsoft Certification
12 5 (0.80%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 48 (7.72%) Data Quality
2 34 (5.47%) QA
3 24 (3.86%) GDPR
4 17 (2.73%) Accessibility
5 11 (1.77%) GxP
6 10 (1.61%) PMO
7 7 (1.13%) SLA
7 7 (1.13%) WCAG
8 5 (0.80%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 5 (0.80%) NIST
9 4 (0.64%) P3O
10 3 (0.48%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 3 (0.48%) NIST 800
11 2 (0.32%) Actionable Recommendations
11 2 (0.32%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 2 (0.32%) COBIT
11 2 (0.32%) EMIR
11 2 (0.32%) GRC
12 1 (0.16%) MiFID
12 1 (0.16%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 8 (1.29%) Docker
2 1 (0.16%) RACF
2 1 (0.16%) Virtual Machines
2 1 (0.16%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 18 (2.89%) Terraform
2 17 (2.73%) Kubernetes
3 2 (0.32%) Ansible
3 2 (0.32%) FortiGate
3 2 (0.32%) Prometheus
4 1 (0.16%) Grafana
4 1 (0.16%) HP UCMDB
4 1 (0.16%) Oracle ZFS
4 1 (0.16%) Puppet
4 1 (0.16%) Single Sign-On
4 1 (0.16%) VxRail
Vendors
1 61 (9.81%) Google
2 54 (8.68%) SAP
3 44 (7.07%) Microsoft
4 40 (6.43%) ServiceNow
5 33 (5.31%) Salesforce
6 32 (5.14%) Adobe
7 30 (4.82%) Databricks
8 26 (4.18%) TikTok
9 19 (3.05%) Dell
10 18 (2.89%) Oracle
10 18 (2.89%) Salesforce Marketing Cloud
11 16 (2.57%) IBM
12 9 (1.45%) OpenAI
13 8 (1.29%) Foundry
14 6 (0.96%) F5
14 6 (0.96%) Palantir
15 5 (0.80%) Pinterest
15 5 (0.80%) Snapchat
15 5 (0.80%) Splunk
16 3 (0.48%) Workday