Lead Designer Contract Job Trends in the South East

Lead Designer
England > South East

The median Lead Designer daily rate in the South East is £525, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 23 February 2026.

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

6 months to
23 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 189 163 196
Rank change year-on-year -26 +33 +37
Contract jobs requiring a Lead Designer 3 1 16
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 0.063% 0.032% 0.29%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.069% 0.034% 0.31%
Number of daily rates quoted 1 1 8
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile £513 £825 £575
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £850 £600
Median % change year-on-year -38.24% +41.67% +9.09%
75th Percentile £538 £875 £625
90th Percentile - - £629
England median daily rate £525 £534 £600
% change year-on-year -1.69% -11.00% -7.69%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1 0 0
Median hourly rate £50.00 - -
England median hourly rate £50.00 - -

All Contract IT Job Roles
South East

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in the South East. 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 South East with a recognized job title 4,330 2,915 5,133
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 90.49% 92.98% 93.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,775 1,822 3,160
10th Percentile £264 £243 £205
25th Percentile £403 £400 £378
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £500
75th Percentile £600 £603 £608
90th Percentile £688 £663 £688
England median daily rate £501 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.67% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 379 106 404
10th Percentile £13.95 £18.50 £13.00
25th Percentile £18.32 £24.18 £18.15
Median hourly rate £29.61 £42.69 £44.00
Median % change year-on-year -30.64% -2.98% -2.22%
75th Percentile £69.20 £62.50 £62.50
90th Percentile £85.50 £75.00 £76.53
England median hourly rate £33.17 £36.00 £35.00
% change year-on-year -7.86% +2.86% -12.50%

Lead Designer
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

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

Lead Designer job vacancy trend in the South East

Lead Designer
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Lead Designer job vacancies in the South East.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Lead Designer job vacancies in the South East

Lead Designer
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Lead Designer job vacancies in the South East.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Lead Designer job vacancies in the South East

Lead Designer
Contract Job Locations in the South East

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Lead Designer within the South East region over the 6 months to 23 February 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
Thames Valley -31 2 £525 -38.24%
Buckinghamshire - 2 £525 -
Surrey - 1 - - 3
Lead Designer
England

Lead Designer Skill Set
Top 15 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East

For the 6 months to 23 February 2026, Lead Designer 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 South East region featuring Lead Designer in the job title.

1 2 (66.67%) Coaching
1 2 (66.67%) Collaborative Working
1 2 (66.67%) Cybersecurity
1 2 (66.67%) Decision-Making
1 2 (66.67%) DV Cleared
1 2 (66.67%) Enterprise Architecture
1 2 (66.67%) ITIL
1 2 (66.67%) Roadmaps
1 2 (66.67%) Security Cleared
1 2 (66.67%) Service Design
1 2 (66.67%) Service Management
2 1 (33.33%) 3D Modelling
2 1 (33.33%) Mentoring
2 1 (33.33%) MicroStation
2 1 (33.33%) SmartPlant

Lead Designer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East 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 1 (33.33%) MicroStation
Business Applications
1 1 (33.33%) SmartPlant
General
1 1 (33.33%) Social Skills
1 1 (33.33%) Telecoms
Miscellaneous
1 2 (66.67%) Product Ownership
2 1 (33.33%) Greenfield Project
Processes & Methodologies
1 2 (66.67%) Coaching
1 2 (66.67%) Collaborative Working
1 2 (66.67%) Cybersecurity
1 2 (66.67%) Decision-Making
1 2 (66.67%) Enterprise Architecture
1 2 (66.67%) ITIL
1 2 (66.67%) Roadmaps
1 2 (66.67%) Service Design
1 2 (66.67%) Service Management
2 1 (33.33%) 3D Modelling
2 1 (33.33%) Mentoring
Qualifications
1 2 (66.67%) DV Cleared
1 2 (66.67%) Security Cleared