Lead Developer Contract Job Trends

Lead Developer
UK

The median Lead Developer daily rate in the UK is £575, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 25 April 2026.

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

6 months to
25 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 441 347 418
Rank change year-on-year -94 +71 +57
Contract jobs requiring a Lead Developer 186 182 166
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.40% 0.62% 0.38%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.43% 0.67% 0.41%
Number of daily rates quoted 152 133 132
10th Percentile £418 £422 £401
25th Percentile £513 £505 £500
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £575 £575 £625
Median % change year-on-year +0.08% -8.00% +4.17%
75th Percentile £778 £699 £739
90th Percentile £850 £790 £888
UK excluding London median daily rate £571 £525 £600
% change year-on-year +8.76% -12.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 4 0
Median hourly rate - £96.21 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate - £102.00 -

All Contract IT Job Roles
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 43,041 27,334 40,483
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.31% 92.61% 92.78%
Number of daily rates quoted 26,619 17,888 26,425
10th Percentile £313 £300 £275
25th Percentile £413 £408 £409
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £517 £525
Median % change year-on-year -3.29% -1.52% -2.78%
75th Percentile £613 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £488 £475 £493
% change year-on-year +2.63% -3.65% -1.40%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,759 1,027 2,641
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.20 £12.86
25th Percentile £20.35 £18.51 £16.30
Median hourly rate £42.69 £29.07 £35.50
Median % change year-on-year +46.84% -18.11% -21.11%
75th Percentile £65.60 £62.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £78.25 £75.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £28.75 £37.50
% change year-on-year +56.52% -23.33% -11.76%

Lead Developer
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Lead Developer job vacancy trend in the UK

Lead Developer
Daily Rate Trend

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

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

Lead Developer
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Lead Developer over the 6 months to 25 April 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Lead Developer in the UK

Lead Developer
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Lead Developer job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Lead Developer job vacancies in the UK

Lead Developer
Top 13 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Lead Developer within the UK over the 6 months to 25 April 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
England -105 146 £588 -2.01% 73
Work from Home -19 73 £700 +22.48% 55
London -93 72 £750 +14.94% 29
UK excluding London -72 68 £571 +8.76% 52
North of England -41 45 £570 +8.57% 21
North West -22 25 £570 -10.59% 12
Yorkshire -56 12 £563 +7.14% 3
Midlands -56 10 £508 -5.77% 6
West Midlands -55 9 £492 -11.77% 4
South East -61 9 £600 +9.09% 20
North East -11 8 £575 +21.05% 6
East of England -38 2 - - 4
South West -43 2 £688 -7.09%

Lead Developer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 25 April 2026, Lead 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 Lead Developer in the job title.

1 78 (41.94%) Agile
2 74 (39.78%) AWS
3 72 (38.71%) Java
4 66 (35.48%) Node.js
5 65 (34.95%) Azure
6 58 (31.18%) React
7 57 (30.65%) JavaScript
8 54 (29.03%) TypeScript
9 52 (27.96%) Mentoring
10 50 (26.88%) Software Engineering
11 49 (26.34%) Python
12 46 (24.73%) CI/CD
13 43 (23.12%) Full-Stack Development
14 38 (20.43%) Docker
14 38 (20.43%) Redux
15 36 (19.35%) Investment Management
15 36 (19.35%) Portfolio Management
16 35 (18.82%) DevOps
17 33 (17.74%) GCP
18 32 (17.20%) Microservices
19 31 (16.67%) Security Cleared
20 30 (16.13%) Containerisation
20 30 (16.13%) Spring
20 30 (16.13%) Technical Leadership
21 29 (15.59%) Kafka
22 28 (15.05%) PostgreSQL
22 28 (15.05%) SC Cleared
23 27 (14.52%) Kubernetes
23 27 (14.52%) Spring Boot
24 26 (13.98%) GraphQL

Lead 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 7 (3.76%) SharePoint
2 3 (1.61%) ArcGIS
2 3 (1.61%) Tomcat
3 2 (1.08%) Appian
3 2 (1.08%) Confluence
3 2 (1.08%) IIS
3 2 (1.08%) JBoss
3 2 (1.08%) Oracle SOA Suite
3 2 (1.08%) ThingWorx
3 2 (1.08%) WebLogic
4 1 (0.54%) Apache
4 1 (0.54%) CMS
4 1 (0.54%) nginx
4 1 (0.54%) SAS
Business Applications
1 1 (0.54%) Magento
1 1 (0.54%) SAP S/4HANA
1 1 (0.54%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 74 (39.78%) AWS
2 65 (34.95%) Azure
3 33 (17.74%) GCP
4 12 (6.45%) GitHub
4 12 (6.45%) Serverless
5 11 (5.91%) Power Platform
6 10 (5.38%) GitHub Actions
7 7 (3.76%) Amazon Bedrock
7 7 (3.76%) Amazon SQS
7 7 (3.76%) Azure DevOps
8 6 (3.23%) Amazon S3
8 6 (3.23%) Azure AI
8 6 (3.23%) Azure AKS
8 6 (3.23%) Azure Service Bus
9 5 (2.69%) AWS Lambda
9 5 (2.69%) Azure Monitor
10 4 (2.15%) Azure Cosmos DB
10 4 (2.15%) Azure Functions
10 4 (2.15%) Azure Key Vault
10 4 (2.15%) Azure Logic Apps
Communications & Networking
1 2 (1.08%) MQTT
2 1 (0.54%) HTTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 28 (15.05%) PostgreSQL
2 7 (3.76%) Relational Database
2 7 (3.76%) SQL Server
3 4 (2.15%) Data Hub
3 4 (2.15%) DynamoDB
3 4 (2.15%) Power BI
4 3 (1.61%) Azure SQL Database
4 3 (1.61%) Geospatial Data
4 3 (1.61%) GIS
4 3 (1.61%) MongoDB
5 2 (1.08%) Amazon RDS
5 2 (1.08%) Data Warehouse
5 2 (1.08%) DocumentDB
5 2 (1.08%) Elasticsearch
5 2 (1.08%) MySQL
5 2 (1.08%) NoSQL
5 2 (1.08%) Oracle Database
6 1 (0.54%) Amazon Aurora
6 1 (0.54%) Delta Lake
6 1 (0.54%) Semantic Layer
Development Applications
1 11 (5.91%) Jenkins
2 8 (4.30%) GitLab
3 7 (3.76%) JIRA
4 5 (2.69%) Git
4 5 (2.69%) JUnit
5 4 (2.15%) Maven
5 4 (2.15%) Mockito
6 3 (1.61%) SonarQube
7 2 (1.08%) Cypress.io
7 2 (1.08%) Selenium
7 2 (1.08%) SpecFlow
8 1 (0.54%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.54%) Claude Code
8 1 (0.54%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.54%) Gradle
8 1 (0.54%) Liquibase
8 1 (0.54%) Mocha
8 1 (0.54%) Storybook
8 1 (0.54%) Vite
8 1 (0.54%) webpack
General
1 47 (25.27%) Finance
2 37 (19.89%) Front Office
3 34 (18.28%) Public Sector
4 21 (11.29%) Social Skills
5 10 (5.38%) Analytical Skills
6 3 (1.61%) Telecoms
7 2 (1.08%) Banking
7 2 (1.08%) Influencing Skills
8 1 (0.54%) Documentation Skills
8 1 (0.54%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 1 (0.54%) Investment Banking
8 1 (0.54%) Local Government
8 1 (0.54%) Marketing
8 1 (0.54%) Military
8 1 (0.54%) Police
8 1 (0.54%) Retail
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 66 (35.48%) Node.js
2 58 (31.18%) React
3 38 (20.43%) Redux
4 30 (16.13%) Spring
5 29 (15.59%) Kafka
6 27 (14.52%) Spring Boot
7 26 (13.98%) GraphQL
8 18 (9.68%) REST
9 13 (6.99%) .NET
9 13 (6.99%) AngularJS
9 13 (6.99%) Vue
10 12 (6.45%) RESTful
11 7 (3.76%) Nunjucks
12 6 (3.23%) Flutter
12 6 (3.23%) LangChain
12 6 (3.23%) OAuth
12 6 (3.23%) SOAP
13 5 (2.69%) .NET Core
13 5 (2.69%) Express.js
13 5 (2.69%) Hibernate
Miscellaneous
1 37 (19.89%) Fixed Income
2 16 (8.60%) Cloud Native
2 16 (8.60%) Derivative
2 16 (8.60%) Equities
3 13 (6.99%) Product Ownership
4 8 (4.30%) Low-Code
5 7 (3.76%) Legacy Systems
6 5 (2.69%) Credit Risk
6 5 (2.69%) Distributed Systems
7 3 (1.61%) Data Structures
7 3 (1.61%) Virtual Team
8 2 (1.08%) Algorithms
8 2 (1.08%) Client/Server
8 2 (1.08%) Data Protection Act
8 2 (1.08%) Enterprise Software
8 2 (1.08%) Industrial Internet of Things
8 2 (1.08%) Mobile App
8 2 (1.08%) Onboarding
8 2 (1.08%) Public Cloud
8 2 (1.08%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 10 (5.38%) Android
2 9 (4.84%) Apple iOS
3 4 (2.15%) Linux
4 2 (1.08%) Windows
5 1 (0.54%) Mac OS
5 1 (0.54%) Solaris
5 1 (0.54%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 78 (41.94%) Agile
2 52 (27.96%) Mentoring
3 50 (26.88%) Software Engineering
4 46 (24.73%) CI/CD
5 43 (23.12%) Full-Stack Development
6 36 (19.35%) Investment Management
6 36 (19.35%) Portfolio Management
7 35 (18.82%) DevOps
8 32 (17.20%) Microservices
9 30 (16.13%) Containerisation
9 30 (16.13%) Technical Leadership
10 23 (12.37%) Code Quality
11 20 (10.75%) Order Management
12 16 (8.60%) Asset Management
12 16 (8.60%) Fintech
12 16 (8.60%) Line Management
12 16 (8.60%) Problem-Solving
13 15 (8.06%) Event-Driven
13 15 (8.06%) Infrastructure as Code
14 14 (7.53%) Front End Development
Programming Languages
1 72 (38.71%) Java
2 57 (30.65%) JavaScript
3 54 (29.03%) TypeScript
4 49 (26.34%) Python
5 21 (11.29%) Go
6 19 (10.22%) SQL
7 14 (7.53%) C#
8 9 (4.84%) Kotlin
9 8 (4.30%) Swift
10 3 (1.61%) Apex Code
10 3 (1.61%) Bicep
11 2 (1.08%) ABAP
11 2 (1.08%) Dart
11 2 (1.08%) PowerShell
11 2 (1.08%) Scala
12 1 (0.54%) Data Analysis Expressions
12 1 (0.54%) JSX
12 1 (0.54%) PL/SQL
12 1 (0.54%) R
12 1 (0.54%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 31 (16.67%) Security Cleared
2 28 (15.05%) SC Cleared
3 16 (8.60%) BPSS Clearance
4 7 (3.76%) Degree
5 6 (3.23%) Computer Science Degree
6 2 (1.08%) DBS Check
7 1 (0.54%) DV Cleared
7 1 (0.54%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 13 (6.99%) QA
2 8 (4.30%) Accessibility
3 1 (0.54%) GDPR
3 1 (0.54%) NCSC
3 1 (0.54%) SLA
3 1 (0.54%) WCAG
System Software
1 38 (20.43%) Docker
2 1 (0.54%) Oracle RAC
2 1 (0.54%) VMware ESXi
2 1 (0.54%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 27 (14.52%) Kubernetes
2 18 (9.68%) Terraform
3 4 (2.15%) Grafana
4 1 (0.54%) Ansible
4 1 (0.54%) HP Fortify
4 1 (0.54%) Kibana
4 1 (0.54%) Oracle RMAN
4 1 (0.54%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 22 (11.83%) Microsoft
2 6 (3.23%) Foundry
3 4 (2.15%) Oracle
4 3 (1.61%) Adobe
4 3 (1.61%) Anaplan
4 3 (1.61%) ESRI
4 3 (1.61%) Salesforce
4 3 (1.61%) SAP
4 3 (1.61%) ServiceNow
5 2 (1.08%) Kepware
6 1 (0.54%) Ariba
6 1 (0.54%) Databricks
6 1 (0.54%) DataFlux
6 1 (0.54%) Google
6 1 (0.54%) IBM
6 1 (0.54%) Informatica
6 1 (0.54%) Liquidlogic
6 1 (0.54%) OpenAI
6 1 (0.54%) Red Hat
6 1 (0.54%) VMware