Software Architecture Contract Job Trends in Bristol

Software Architecture
South West > Bristol

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in Bristol requiring Software Architecture skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 15 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 60 60 72
Rank change year-on-year 0 +12 +28
Contract jobs citing Software Architecture 6 3 4
As % of all contract jobs in Bristol 0.70% 0.47% 0.42%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.81% 0.53% 0.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 1 0 1
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile - - £513
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £120 - £525
75th Percentile - - £538
90th Percentile - - -
South West median daily rate £460 - £675
% change year-on-year - - +10.20%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 0 2
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile - - £73.75
Median hourly rate £119.00 - £77.50
75th Percentile - - £81.25
90th Percentile - - -
South West median hourly rate £119.00 - £77.50

All Process & Methodology Skills
Bristol

Software Architecture falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in Bristol.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 738 570 807
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Bristol 85.52% 89.62% 85.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 379 314 495
10th Percentile £295 £213 £288
25th Percentile £400 £354 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -9.52% +5.00%
75th Percentile £600 £600 £643
90th Percentile £739 £705 £700
South West median daily rate £525 £525 £550
% change year-on-year - -4.55% +4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 191 69 115
10th Percentile £16.62 £34.20 £37.00
25th Percentile £32.38 £58.00 £58.75
Median hourly rate £64.00 £65.00 £67.25
Median % change year-on-year -1.54% -3.35% +8.47%
75th Percentile £65.00 £68.75 £78.13
90th Percentile £67.25 £75.00 £84.15
South West median hourly rate £40.00 £65.00 £59.68
% change year-on-year -38.46% +8.91% -2.96%

Software Architecture
Job Vacancy Trend in Bristol

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Software Architecture relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Bristol.

Software Architecture job vacancy trend in Bristol

Software Architecture
Daily Rate Trend in Bristol

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Bristol citing Software Architecture.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Bristol citing Software Architecture

Software Architecture
Hourly Rate Trend in Bristol

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Bristol citing Software Architecture.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Bristol citing Software Architecture

Software Architecture
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Bristol 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:

Applications
1 3 (50.00%) Microsoft Excel
1 3 (50.00%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 1 (16.67%) OpenShift
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (16.67%) MongoDB
General
1 1 (16.67%) Public Sector
1 1 (16.67%) Social Skills
Job Titles
1 4 (66.67%) System Design Authority
2 2 (33.33%) Architect
2 2 (33.33%) Solutions Architect
Operating Systems
1 6 (100.00%) Linux
1 6 (100.00%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
1 6 (100.00%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 6 (100.00%) API Design
1 6 (100.00%) API Integration
1 6 (100.00%) Architectural Patterns
1 6 (100.00%) CI/CD
1 6 (100.00%) Containerisation
1 6 (100.00%) DevSecOps
1 6 (100.00%) Machine Learning
1 6 (100.00%) OCR
1 6 (100.00%) Patch Management
2 5 (83.33%) Systems Engineering
3 2 (33.33%) Target Operating Model
4 1 (16.67%) AI
4 1 (16.67%) Image Processing
4 1 (16.67%) Observability
Qualifications
1 3 (50.00%) Degree
2 2 (33.33%) SC Cleared
2 2 (33.33%) Security Cleared
Systems Management
1 6 (100.00%) Kubernetes
1 6 (100.00%) SCOM
2 1 (16.67%) Cilium
2 1 (16.67%) Podman
Vendors
1 2 (33.33%) NVIDIA
2 1 (16.67%) Red Hat