Automation Test Lead Contract Job Trends in the North West

Test Automation Leader
England > North West

The median Test Automation Leader daily rate in the North West is £365, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 30 May 2026.

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

6 months to
30 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 163 - -
Rank change year-on-year - - -
Contract jobs requiring an Automation Test Lead 8 0 0
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 0.24% - -
As % of the Job Titles category 0.26% - -
Number of daily rates quoted 2 0 0
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £365 - -
England median daily rate £500 £450 £450
% change year-on-year +11.11% - -19.10%

All Contract IT Job Roles
North West

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in the North West. 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 the North West with a recognized job title 3,073 1,805 2,565
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.68% 92.66% 94.61%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,727 1,200 1,639
10th Percentile £300 £263 £268
25th Percentile £400 £380 £382
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £467 £488
Median % change year-on-year +1.71% -4.21% -2.50%
75th Percentile £588 £550 £580
90th Percentile £675 £653 £675
England median daily rate £515 £518 £525
% change year-on-year -0.48% -1.43% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 314 110 292
10th Percentile £18.57 £13.00 £11.13
25th Percentile £25.49 £14.38 £14.00
Median hourly rate £50.00 £28.75 £32.12
Median % change year-on-year +73.91% -10.48% +5.16%
75th Percentile £71.91 £60.00 £47.50
90th Percentile £83.75 £83.52 £70.90
England median hourly rate £45.00 £29.33 £37.50
% change year-on-year +53.43% -21.79% -16.67%

Automation Test Lead
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

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

Automation Test Lead job vacancy trend in the North West

Automation Test Lead
Daily Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Automation Test Lead job vacancies in the North West.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Automation Test Lead job vacancies in the North West

Automation Test Lead
Contract Job Locations in the North West

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Automation Test Lead within the North West region over the 6 months to 30 May 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
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Manchester - 4 - - 1
Merseyside - 4 £365 - 1
Automation Test Lead
England

Automation Test Lead Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West

For the 6 months to 30 May 2026, Automation Test 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 North West region featuring Automation Test Lead in the job title.

1 8 (100.00%) Test Automation
2 7 (87.50%) BDD
2 7 (87.50%) Gherkin
3 4 (50.00%) API Testing
3 4 (50.00%) Cucumber
3 4 (50.00%) Java
3 4 (50.00%) Playwright
3 4 (50.00%) QA
3 4 (50.00%) Selenium
3 4 (50.00%) TDD
4 3 (37.50%) C#
4 3 (37.50%) Manual Testing
4 3 (37.50%) Ranorex
4 3 (37.50%) Regression Testing
4 3 (37.50%) SpecFlow
4 3 (37.50%) Test Planning
4 3 (37.50%) Wealth Management
5 2 (25.00%) Continuous Improvement
5 2 (25.00%) OOP
6 1 (12.50%) AI
6 1 (12.50%) Coaching
6 1 (12.50%) Defect Management
6 1 (12.50%) End-to-End Testing
6 1 (12.50%) Exploratory Testing
6 1 (12.50%) Functional Testing
6 1 (12.50%) Generative AI
6 1 (12.50%) Git
6 1 (12.50%) JIRA
6 1 (12.50%) Mentoring
6 1 (12.50%) Programme Governance

Automation Test Lead Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West 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:

Development Applications
1 4 (50.00%) Cucumber
1 4 (50.00%) Selenium
2 3 (37.50%) Ranorex
2 3 (37.50%) SpecFlow
3 1 (12.50%) Git
3 1 (12.50%) JIRA
General
1 5 (62.50%) Finance
2 3 (37.50%) Analytical Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 7 (87.50%) Gherkin
2 4 (50.00%) Playwright
Miscellaneous
1 1 (12.50%) Onboarding
1 1 (12.50%) Product Ownership
Processes & Methodologies
1 8 (100.00%) Test Automation
2 7 (87.50%) BDD
3 4 (50.00%) API Testing
3 4 (50.00%) TDD
4 3 (37.50%) Manual Testing
4 3 (37.50%) Regression Testing
4 3 (37.50%) Test Planning
4 3 (37.50%) Wealth Management
5 2 (25.00%) Continuous Improvement
5 2 (25.00%) OOP
6 1 (12.50%) AI
6 1 (12.50%) Coaching
6 1 (12.50%) Defect Management
6 1 (12.50%) Exploratory Testing
6 1 (12.50%) Functional Testing
6 1 (12.50%) Mentoring
6 1 (12.50%) Programme Governance
6 1 (12.50%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 1 (12.50%) Stakeholder Management
6 1 (12.50%) Test Strategy
Programming Languages
1 4 (50.00%) Java
2 3 (37.50%) C#
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 4 (50.00%) QA