Software Architecture Contract Job Trends in the South West

Software Architecture
England > South West

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the South West requiring Software Architecture skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 19 November 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
19 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 119 129 144
Rank change year-on-year +10 +15 +28
Contract jobs citing Software Architecture 9 3 15
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 0.41% 0.13% 0.48%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.47% 0.15% 0.55%
Number of daily rates quoted 2 0 12
10th Percentile £188 - £514
25th Percentile £290 - £525
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £460 - £550
Median % change year-on-year - - -15.38%
75th Percentile £630 - £659
90th Percentile £732 - £688
England median daily rate £550 £650 £593
% change year-on-year -15.38% +9.70% +2.60%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4 0 2
10th Percentile £84.70 - -
25th Percentile £106.75 - £73.75
Median hourly rate £119.00 - £77.50
75th Percentile - - £81.25
90th Percentile - - -
England median hourly rate £92.00 £62.00 £53.00
% change year-on-year +48.39% +16.98% -19.85%

All Process and Methodology Skills
South West

Software Architecture falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in the South West.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 1,933 2,032 2,709
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 87.11% 85.16% 87.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,136 1,211 1,819
10th Percentile £231 £313 £300
25th Percentile £400 £425 £421
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% +4.76%
75th Percentile £638 £645 £650
90th Percentile £725 £738 £719
England median daily rate £505 £525 £545
% change year-on-year -3.81% -3.67% -0.91%
Number of hourly rates quoted 288 146 282
10th Percentile £15.25 £14.95 £20.03
25th Percentile £18.87 £33.00 £45.00
Median hourly rate £25.15 £65.00 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year -61.31% +8.33% -7.69%
75th Percentile £65.00 £70.25 £70.00
90th Percentile £67.25 £74.22 £83.40
England median hourly rate £25.15 £37.25 £45.00
% change year-on-year -32.48% -17.22% +28.57%

Software Architecture
Job Vacancy Trend in the South West

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Software Architecture relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West.

Software Architecture job vacancy trend in the South West

Software Architecture
Daily Rate Trend in the South West

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Software Architecture.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Software Architecture

Software Architecture
Daily Rate Histogram in the South West

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Software Architecture in the South West over the 6 months to 19 November 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Software Architecture in the South West

Software Architecture
Hourly Rate Trend in the South West

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Software Architecture.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing Software Architecture

Software Architecture
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South West

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Software Architecture in the South West over the 6 months to 19 November 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Software Architecture in the South West

Software Architecture
Contract Job Locations in the South West

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Software Architecture within the South West region over the 6 months to 19 November 2025. 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
Bristol +8 7 £120 - 10
Wiltshire - 2 £800 - 4
Software Architecture
England

Software Architecture
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South 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:

Applications
1 3 (33.33%) Microsoft Excel
1 3 (33.33%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 1 (11.11%) IaaS
1 1 (11.11%) OpenShift
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (11.11%) MongoDB
General
1 3 (33.33%) Social Skills
2 1 (11.11%) Analytical Skills
2 1 (11.11%) Public Sector
Job Titles
1 4 (44.44%) Architect
1 4 (44.44%) System Design Authority
2 2 (22.22%) Software Architect
2 2 (22.22%) Solutions Architect
3 1 (11.11%) Lead
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (11.11%) Qt
Operating Systems
1 6 (66.67%) Linux
1 6 (66.67%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
1 6 (66.67%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 7 (77.78%) API Design
1 7 (77.78%) Architectural Patterns
1 7 (77.78%) CI/CD
1 7 (77.78%) Containerisation
2 6 (66.67%) API Integration
2 6 (66.67%) DevSecOps
2 6 (66.67%) Machine Learning
2 6 (66.67%) OCR
2 6 (66.67%) Patch Management
3 5 (55.56%) Systems Engineering
4 2 (22.22%) Target Operating Model
5 1 (11.11%) Conceptual Models
5 1 (11.11%) DevOps
5 1 (11.11%) Image Processing
5 1 (11.11%) Microservices
5 1 (11.11%) Observability
5 1 (11.11%) Performance Analysis
5 1 (11.11%) Problem-Solving
5 1 (11.11%) Storytelling
5 1 (11.11%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 1 (11.11%) Ada
1 1 (11.11%) C
1 1 (11.11%) C++
1 1 (11.11%) PowerShell
1 1 (11.11%) Python
Qualifications
1 5 (55.56%) SC Cleared
1 5 (55.56%) Security Cleared
2 3 (33.33%) Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (11.11%) Def Stans
1 1 (11.11%) IEC 61508
1 1 (11.11%) MISRA
1 1 (11.11%) MISRA C
1 1 (11.11%) QA
System Software
1 1 (11.11%) Docker
1 1 (11.11%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 7 (77.78%) Kubernetes
2 6 (66.67%) SCOM
3 1 (11.11%) Ansible
3 1 (11.11%) Cilium
3 1 (11.11%) Podman
3 1 (11.11%) Terraform
Vendors
1 2 (22.22%) NVIDIA
2 1 (11.11%) Red Hat
2 1 (11.11%) VMware