Lead Contract Job Trends in Cardiff

Leader
South Wales > Cardiff

The median Leader daily rate in Cardiff is £433, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 25 November 2025.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
25 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 15 24 22
Rank change year-on-year +9 -2 +8
Contract jobs requiring a Lead 23 10 15
As % of all contract jobs in Cardiff 9.20% 4.17% 6.28%
As % of the Job Titles category 9.75% 4.52% 6.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 13 10 13
10th Percentile £249 £208 £166
25th Percentile £305 £543 £207
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £433 £625 £300
Median % change year-on-year -30.72% +108.33% -52.94%
75th Percentile £526 £719 -
90th Percentile £586 £750 £598
South Wales median daily rate £424 £625 £300
% change year-on-year -32.20% +108.33% -48.72%

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
Cardiff

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in Cardiff. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in Cardiff with a recognized job title 236 221 231
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 94.40% 92.08% 96.65%
Number of daily rates quoted 173 162 180
10th Percentile £208 £131 £174
25th Percentile £290 £200 £220
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £405 £425 £425
Median % change year-on-year -4.71% - -5.56%
75th Percentile £494 £550 £538
90th Percentile £613 £637 £626
South Wales median daily rate £405 £409 £435
% change year-on-year -0.98% -5.98% -8.42%
Number of hourly rates quoted 10 12 9
10th Percentile - £15.48 £16.00
25th Percentile £13.08 £19.09 £17.00
Median hourly rate £16.08 £24.50 £22.50
Median % change year-on-year -34.37% +8.89% +25.00%
75th Percentile £19.70 £26.50 £26.50
90th Percentile £21.50 £27.40 £44.75
South Wales median hourly rate £20.50 £25.60 £26.00
% change year-on-year -19.92% -1.54% +44.44%

Lead
Job Vacancy Trend in Cardiff

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Lead' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Cardiff.

Lead job vacancy trend in Cardiff

Lead
Daily Rate Trend in Cardiff

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Lead job vacancies in Cardiff.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Lead job vacancies in Cardiff

Lead
Daily Rate Histogram in Cardiff

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Lead in Cardiff over the 6 months to 25 November 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Lead in Cardiff

Lead Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Cardiff

For the 6 months to 25 November 2025, Lead contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the Cardiff region featuring Lead in the job title.

1 7 (30.43%) Agile
2 6 (26.09%) SQL
3 5 (21.74%) DevOps
3 5 (21.74%) Mentoring
3 5 (21.74%) Microsoft
3 5 (21.74%) Problem-Solving
3 5 (21.74%) Test Strategy
4 4 (17.39%) .NET
4 4 (17.39%) .NET Core
4 4 (17.39%) Accessibility
4 4 (17.39%) Case Management
4 4 (17.39%) Continuous Improvement
4 4 (17.39%) Cypress.io
4 4 (17.39%) Degree
4 4 (17.39%) End-to-End Testing
4 4 (17.39%) Jest
4 4 (17.39%) Master's Degree
4 4 (17.39%) Next.js
4 4 (17.39%) Oracle
4 4 (17.39%) React
4 4 (17.39%) Software Engineering
4 4 (17.39%) Test Automation
4 4 (17.39%) TypeScript
5 3 (13.04%) .NET Framework
5 3 (13.04%) Budget Management
5 3 (13.04%) Budgeting and Resource Allocation
5 3 (13.04%) Change Management
5 3 (13.04%) CI/CD
5 3 (13.04%) Code Quality
5 3 (13.04%) Contract Negotiation

Lead Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Cardiff 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 2 (8.70%) Oracle Service Bus
1 2 (8.70%) Oracle SOA Suite
1 2 (8.70%) WebLogic
Applications
1 2 (8.70%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 2 (8.70%) Oracle BPM
2 1 (4.35%) Dynamics CRM
Cloud Services
1 2 (8.70%) Azure
Communications & Networking
1 1 (4.35%) Firewall
1 1 (4.35%) Network Security
1 1 (4.35%) Remote Desktop
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (4.35%) Oracle Database
1 1 (4.35%) Relational Database
1 1 (4.35%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 4 (17.39%) Cypress.io
2 3 (13.04%) Git
3 2 (8.70%) Selenium
3 2 (8.70%) SpecFlow
4 1 (4.35%) JIRA
General
1 8 (34.78%) Public Sector
2 7 (30.43%) Social Skills
3 4 (17.39%) Analytical Skills
4 2 (8.70%) Organisational Skills
5 1 (4.35%) Billing
5 1 (4.35%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 1 (4.35%) Local Government
5 1 (4.35%) Retail
5 1 (4.35%) Welsh Language
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 4 (17.39%) .NET
1 4 (17.39%) .NET Core
1 4 (17.39%) Jest
1 4 (17.39%) Next.js
1 4 (17.39%) React
2 3 (13.04%) .NET Framework
2 3 (13.04%) Entity Framework
3 2 (8.70%) CSS
3 2 (8.70%) HTML
3 2 (8.70%) JSON
3 2 (8.70%) Middleware
3 2 (8.70%) OAuth
3 2 (8.70%) OAuth2
3 2 (8.70%) OpenAPI
3 2 (8.70%) Oracle Fusion
3 2 (8.70%) REST
3 2 (8.70%) SOAP
3 2 (8.70%) Swagger
3 2 (8.70%) XML
3 2 (8.70%) XSD
Miscellaneous
1 4 (17.39%) NHS
2 3 (13.04%) Client/Server
3 2 (8.70%) Management Information System
3 2 (8.70%) Onboarding
3 2 (8.70%) Virtual Team
4 1 (4.35%) Data Protection Act
4 1 (4.35%) Smart Meter
Processes & Methodologies
1 7 (30.43%) Agile
2 5 (21.74%) DevOps
2 5 (21.74%) Mentoring
2 5 (21.74%) Problem-Solving
2 5 (21.74%) Test Strategy
3 4 (17.39%) Case Management
3 4 (17.39%) Continuous Improvement
3 4 (17.39%) End-to-End Testing
3 4 (17.39%) Software Engineering
3 4 (17.39%) Test Automation
4 3 (13.04%) Budget Management
4 3 (13.04%) Change Management
4 3 (13.04%) CI/CD
4 3 (13.04%) Code Quality
4 3 (13.04%) Cybersecurity
4 3 (13.04%) Informatics
4 3 (13.04%) Performance Optimisation
4 3 (13.04%) PRINCE2
4 3 (13.04%) Programme Management
4 3 (13.04%) Unit Testing
Programming Languages
1 6 (26.09%) SQL
2 4 (17.39%) TypeScript
3 3 (13.04%) PL/SQL
4 2 (8.70%) C#
5 1 (4.35%) JavaScript
5 1 (4.35%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 4 (17.39%) Degree
1 4 (17.39%) Master's Degree
2 1 (4.35%) BPSS Clearance
2 1 (4.35%) FFIEC
2 1 (4.35%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 4 (17.39%) Accessibility
2 3 (13.04%) WCAG
3 2 (8.70%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 2 (8.70%) NIST
3 2 (8.70%) QA
4 1 (4.35%) Cyber Essentials
4 1 (4.35%) HL7
System Software
1 2 (8.70%) Docker
Systems Management
1 1 (4.35%) HP ALM
Vendors
1 5 (21.74%) Microsoft
2 4 (17.39%) Oracle
3 1 (4.35%) HP
3 1 (4.35%) Zscaler