Lead Designer Contract Job Trends in the North West
Lead Designer
England > North West
The median Lead Designer daily rate in the North West 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 | 185 | 135 | - |
| Rank change year-on-year | -50 | - | - |
| Contract Lead Designer jobs | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the North West | 0.075% | 0.043% | - |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.083% | 0.047% | - |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 10th Percentile | £559 | - | - |
| 25th Percentile | £572 | £413 | - |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £638 | £425 | - |
| Median % change year-on-year | +50.00% | - | - |
| 75th Percentile | £697 | £438 | - |
| 90th Percentile | £706 | - | - |
| England median daily rate | £600 | £575 | £594 |
| % change year-on-year | +4.35% | -3.16% | -13.64% |
All Contract IT Job Roles
North West
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job adverts in the North West 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 the North West matching a recognised job title | 3,602 | 2,114 | 2,188 |
| % of contract job adverts matching a recognised job title | 90.41% | 90.92% | 93.54% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 2,036 | 1,404 | 1,156 |
| 10th Percentile | £300 | £243 | £274 |
| 25th Percentile | £403 | £363 | £390 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £500 | £450 | £475 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +11.11% | -5.26% | -5.00% |
| 75th Percentile | £600 | £575 | £575 |
| 90th Percentile | £674 | £678 | £650 |
| England median daily rate | £525 | £510 | £525 |
| % change year-on-year | +2.94% | -2.86% | -2.78% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 449 | 190 | 153 |
| 10th Percentile | £14.35 | £13.82 | £15.52 |
| 25th Percentile | £24.19 | £18.41 | £18.00 |
| Median hourly rate | £45.56 | £26.08 | £35.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +74.71% | -25.50% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £73.00 | £51.02 | £55.25 |
| 90th Percentile | £85.00 | £71.56 | £71.38 |
| England median hourly rate | £41.09 | £25.15 | £42.50 |
| % change year-on-year | +63.39% | -40.82% | -5.56% |
Lead Designer Job Vacancy Trend in the North West
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract Lead Designer job postings relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West.
Lead Designer Daily Rate Trend in the North West
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Lead Designer job vacancies in the North West.
Lead Designer 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 Lead Designer jobs within the North West region over the 6 months to 26 October 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 |
Job Ads Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate % Change on Same Period Last Year |
Live Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester | - | 2 | £638 | - | 2 |
| Lead Designer England |
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Lead Designer Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West
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 North West region.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Agile | 66.7% | 2 |
| 1 | Service Design | 66.7% | 2 |
| 3 | Accessibility | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | AI | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Azure | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Business Case | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Cisco | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Creative Problem-Solving | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Decision-Making | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Figma | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Firewall | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Fortinet | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Journey Map | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Load Balancing | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Mentoring | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Network Design | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Network Security | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Operational Resilience | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Problem-Solving | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Project Delivery | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Prototyping | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Roadmaps | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Scaled Agile Framework | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Security Architecture | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Stakeholder Management | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Storyboarding | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Technical Leadership | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Unified Communications | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Waterfall | 33.3% | 1 |
| 3 | Wireframes | 33.3% | 1 |
Lead Designer Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West 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 | 33.3% | 1 |
| 1 | Lead Service Designer | 33.3% | 1 |
| 1 | Network Designer | 33.3% | 1 |
| 1 | Solutions Designer | 33.3% | 1 |