Lead Designer Contract Job Trends in Manchester
Lead Designer
North West > Manchester
The median Lead Designer daily rate in Manchester is £638, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 26 October 2026.
The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 26 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 129 | - | - |
| Rank change year-on-year | - | - | - |
| Contract Lead Designer jobs | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| As % of all contract jobs in Manchester | 0.098% | - | - |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.11% | - | - |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 10th Percentile | £559 | - | - |
| 25th Percentile | £572 | - | - |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £638 | - | - |
| 75th Percentile | £697 | - | - |
| 90th Percentile | £706 | - | - |
| North West median daily rate | £638 | £425 | - |
| % change year-on-year | +50.00% | - | - |
All Contract IT Job Roles
Manchester
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job adverts in Manchester matching a recognised job title. The table also shows what proportion of all contract IT job adverts they make up.
| 6 months to 26 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract job adverts in Manchester matching a recognised job title | 1,862 | 969 | 1,085 |
| % of contract job adverts matching a recognised job title | 91.32% | 91.59% | 93.78% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 1,086 | 622 | 625 |
| 10th Percentile | £350 | £300 | £316 |
| 25th Percentile | £413 | £393 | £400 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £500 | £450 | £475 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +11.11% | -5.26% | -5.00% |
| 75th Percentile | £613 | £582 | £575 |
| 90th Percentile | £700 | £675 | £675 |
| North West median daily rate | £500 | £450 | £475 |
| % change year-on-year | +11.11% | -5.26% | -5.00% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 216 | 85 | 35 |
| 10th Percentile | £19.00 | £13.96 | £16.31 |
| 25th Percentile | £32.69 | £17.30 | £26.93 |
| Median hourly rate | £60.00 | £22.32 | £35.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +168.88% | -36.24% | +79.49% |
| 75th Percentile | £73.81 | £31.40 | £62.50 |
| 90th Percentile | £77.50 | £62.25 | £73.30 |
| North West median hourly rate | £45.56 | £26.08 | £35.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +74.71% | -25.50% | - |
Lead Designer Job Vacancy Trend in Manchester
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract Lead Designer job postings relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Manchester.
Lead Designer Daily Rate Trend in Manchester
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Lead Designer job vacancies in Manchester.
Lead Designer Skill Set Top 21 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Manchester
For the 6 months to 26 October 2026, Lead Designer contract job ads cited 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 Lead Designer job ads across the Manchester region.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Agile | 100.0% | 2 |
| 2 | Accessibility | 50.0% | 1 |
| 2 | AI | 50.0% | 1 |
| 2 | Azure | 50.0% | 1 |
| 2 | Cisco | 50.0% | 1 |
| 2 | Decision-Making | 50.0% | 1 |
| 2 | Figma | 50.0% | 1 |
| 2 | Firewall | 50.0% | 1 |
| 2 | Fortinet | 50.0% | 1 |
| 2 | Load Balancing | 50.0% | 1 |
| 2 | Network Design | 50.0% | 1 |
| 2 | Network Security | 50.0% | 1 |
| 2 | Operational Resilience | 50.0% | 1 |
| 2 | Roadmaps | 50.0% | 1 |
| 2 | Scaled Agile Framework | 50.0% | 1 |
| 2 | Security Architecture | 50.0% | 1 |
| 2 | Service Design | 50.0% | 1 |
| 2 | Stakeholder Management | 50.0% | 1 |
| 2 | Technical Leadership | 50.0% | 1 |
| 2 | Unified Communications | 50.0% | 1 |
| 2 | Waterfall | 50.0% | 1 |
Lead Designer Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Manchester by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Job Titles
| Rank | Job Title | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lead Product Designer | 50.0% | 1 |
| 1 | Network Designer | 50.0% | 1 |
| 1 | Solutions Designer | 50.0% | 1 |