Data Science Developer Contract Job Trends

Data Science Developer
UK

The median Data Science Developer daily rate in the UK is £515, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 16 December 2025.

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

6 months to
16 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 599 539 600
Rank change year-on-year -60 +61 +191
Contract jobs requiring a Data Science Developer 4 5 2
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.011% 0.015% 0.005%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.012% 0.016% 0.005%
Number of daily rates quoted 2 5 0
10th Percentile £505 £603 -
25th Percentile £508 £625 -
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £650 -
Median % change year-on-year -20.77% - -
75th Percentile £521 £675 -
90th Percentile £523 £698 -
UK excluding London median daily rate £515 £650 -
% change year-on-year -20.77% - -

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. 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 UK with a recognized job title 33,396 31,755 41,279
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 90.97% 92.76% 93.40%
Number of daily rates quoted 21,158 19,530 27,755
10th Percentile £290 £300 £288
25th Percentile £404 £410 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £619 £638 £644
90th Percentile £723 £738 £740
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £490 £500
% change year-on-year -3.06% -2.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,967 1,021 1,465
10th Percentile £14.25 £15.48 £15.19
25th Percentile £18.11 £21.00 £19.18
Median hourly rate £25.15 £34.00 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -26.03% -24.44% +50.00%
75th Percentile £57.50 £62.69 £65.00
90th Percentile £71.47 £72.75 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £45.00
% change year-on-year -22.62% -27.78% +80.00%

Data Science Developer
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Data Science Developer' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Data Science Developer job vacancy trend in the UK

Data Science Developer
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Data Science Developer job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Data Science Developer job vacancies in the UK

Data Science Developer
Top 5 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Data Science Developer within the UK over the 6 months to 16 December 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
England -38 4 £515 -20.77% 3
East of England -24 3 £515 -20.77%
UK excluding London -57 3 £515 -20.77% 2
Work from Home - 2 - -
London -2 1 - - 3

Data Science Developer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 16 December 2025, Data Science Developer 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 featuring Data Science Developer in the job title.

1 4 (100.00%) AI
1 4 (100.00%) Data Munging
1 4 (100.00%) Data Science
1 4 (100.00%) Feature Engineering
1 4 (100.00%) Generative AI
1 4 (100.00%) Machine Learning
1 4 (100.00%) Matplotlib
1 4 (100.00%) Python
1 4 (100.00%) PyTorch
1 4 (100.00%) R
1 4 (100.00%) scikit-learn
1 4 (100.00%) Seaborn
1 4 (100.00%) Statistical Modelling
1 4 (100.00%) Tableau
1 4 (100.00%) TensorFlow
1 4 (100.00%) Visualisation
2 3 (75.00%) Analytics
2 3 (75.00%) Apache Spark
2 3 (75.00%) AWS
2 3 (75.00%) Azure
2 3 (75.00%) Big Data
2 3 (75.00%) Computer Science
2 3 (75.00%) Data Analysis
2 3 (75.00%) Degree
2 3 (75.00%) Hadoop
2 3 (75.00%) LLM
2 3 (75.00%) Master's Degree
2 3 (75.00%) NumPy
2 3 (75.00%) Pandas
2 3 (75.00%) PhD

Data Science Developer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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:

Application Platforms
1 3 (75.00%) Apache Spark
Cloud Services
1 3 (75.00%) AWS
1 3 (75.00%) Azure
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (100.00%) Tableau
2 3 (75.00%) Big Data
2 3 (75.00%) Hadoop
General
1 4 (100.00%) Analytical Skills
2 1 (25.00%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 4 (100.00%) Matplotlib
1 4 (100.00%) PyTorch
1 4 (100.00%) scikit-learn
1 4 (100.00%) Seaborn
1 4 (100.00%) TensorFlow
2 3 (75.00%) NumPy
2 3 (75.00%) Pandas
Miscellaneous
1 3 (75.00%) Algorithms
Processes & Methodologies
1 4 (100.00%) AI
1 4 (100.00%) Data Munging
1 4 (100.00%) Data Science
1 4 (100.00%) Feature Engineering
1 4 (100.00%) Generative AI
1 4 (100.00%) Machine Learning
1 4 (100.00%) Statistical Modelling
1 4 (100.00%) Visualisation
2 3 (75.00%) Analytics
2 3 (75.00%) Computer Science
2 3 (75.00%) Data Analysis
2 3 (75.00%) LLM
2 3 (75.00%) Predictive Analytics
2 3 (75.00%) Reinforcement Learning
2 3 (75.00%) Time Series Forecasting
3 2 (50.00%) Data Analytics
3 2 (50.00%) Decision-Making
4 1 (25.00%) Data Visualisation
4 1 (25.00%) Predictive Modelling
4 1 (25.00%) Time Series Analysis
Programming Languages
1 4 (100.00%) Python
1 4 (100.00%) R
Qualifications
1 3 (75.00%) Degree
1 3 (75.00%) Master's Degree
1 3 (75.00%) PhD
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 2 (50.00%) Data Quality