Lead Contract Job Trends
Leader
UK
The median Leader daily rate in the UK is £575, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 31 October 2026.
The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 31 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 24 | 31 | 29 |
| Rank change year-on-year | +7 | -2 | +2 |
| Contract Lead jobs | 4,566 | 2,160 | 2,256 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 8.38% | 6.29% | 6.17% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 9.14% | 6.92% | 6.64% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 2,702 | 1,365 | 1,373 |
| 10th Percentile | £413 | £374 | £400 |
| 25th Percentile | £500 | £469 | £484 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £575 | £563 | £600 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +2.22% | -6.25% | +1.69% |
| 75th Percentile | £688 | £675 | £700 |
| 90th Percentile | £780 | £750 | £800 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £550 | £537 | £534 |
| % change year-on-year | +2.42% | +0.56% | -3.78% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 210 | 83 | 88 |
| 10th Percentile | £28.25 | £18.25 | £15.44 |
| 25th Percentile | £46.25 | £38.86 | £23.82 |
| Median hourly rate | £70.00 | £51.02 | £41.27 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +37.20% | +23.64% | -10.64% |
| 75th Percentile | £85.19 | £77.50 | £54.06 |
| 90th Percentile | £101.78 | £91.20 | £72.50 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £68.50 | £52.77 | £41.27 |
| % change year-on-year | +29.82% | +27.87% | -10.64% |
All Contract IT Job Roles
UK
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job adverts matching a recognised job title. The table also shows what proportion of all contract IT job adverts they make up.
| 6 months to 31 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract job adverts in the UK matching a recognised job title | 49,938 | 31,221 | 33,983 |
| % of contract job adverts matching a recognised job title | 91.64% | 90.95% | 92.91% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 29,355 | 19,779 | 20,508 |
| 10th Percentile | £328 | £279 | £300 |
| 25th Percentile | £425 | £401 | £412 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £500 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +5.00% | -4.76% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £638 | £619 | £638 |
| 90th Percentile | £738 | £725 | £738 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £500 | £475 | £490 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.26% | -3.06% | -2.00% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 4,233 | 1,754 | 1,296 |
| 10th Percentile | £14.22 | £14.00 | £15.08 |
| 25th Percentile | £18.50 | £17.50 | £20.28 |
| Median hourly rate | £40.00 | £25.15 | £38.14 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +59.05% | -34.05% | -15.26% |
| 75th Percentile | £68.00 | £51.02 | £65.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £81.25 | £69.65 | £73.75 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £40.00 | £25.13 | £37.50 |
| % change year-on-year | +59.19% | -32.99% | -15.73% |
Lead Job Vacancy Trend
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract Lead job postings relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.
Lead Daily Rate Trend
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Lead job vacancies in the UK.
Lead Daily Rate Histogram
Daily rate distribution for Lead jobs over the 6 months to 31 October 2026.
Lead Hourly Rate Trend
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Lead job vacancies in the UK.
Lead Hourly Rate Histogram
Hourly rate distribution for Lead jobs over the 6 months to 31 October 2026.
Lead Top 17 Contract Job Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in Lead jobs within the UK over the 6 months to 31 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | +6 | 3,921 | £581 | +1.04% | 912 |
| UK excluding London | +13 | 2,145 | £550 | +2.42% | 702 |
| London | +2 | 1,864 | £600 | - | 360 |
| Work from Home | +1 | 1,119 | £575 | +3.60% | 408 |
| North of England | +13 | 699 | £550 | +5.97% | 175 |
| South East | +13 | 490 | £600 | +6.67% | 182 |
| Midlands | +20 | 367 | £550 | +10.00% | 115 |
| North West | +12 | 345 | £550 | +10.00% | 84 |
| Yorkshire | +25 | 309 | £541 | +3.05% | 68 |
| West Midlands | +25 | 300 | £575 | +9.52% | 77 |
| South West | +7 | 262 | £625 | +13.64% | 116 |
| East of England | +21 | 169 | £575 | - | 55 |
| Scotland | +21 | 156 | £500 | -1.96% | 42 |
| East Midlands | +10 | 65 | £500 | +9.59% | 37 |
| North East | -11 | 53 | £600 | -2.04% | 26 |
| Wales | -10 | 22 | £550 | +27.02% | 22 |
| Northern Ireland | +4 | 4 | £688 | -12.14% | 9 |
Lead Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities
For the 6 months to 31 October 2026, Lead 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 job ads.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stakeholder Management | 26.9% | 1,226 |
| 2 | Security Cleared | 23.2% | 1,058 |
| 3 | Agile | 18.6% | 851 |
| 4 | SC Cleared | 17.2% | 787 |
| 5 | Azure | 15.6% | 713 |
| 6 | Technical Leadership | 14.6% | 666 |
| 7 | Continuous Improvement | 13.6% | 620 |
| 8 | CI/CD | 13.6% | 619 |
| 9 | AWS | 13.1% | 596 |
| 10 | AI | 12.8% | 586 |
| 11 | Roadmaps | 12.8% | 585 |
| 12 | DevOps | 12.3% | 560 |
| 13 | Stakeholder Engagement | 11.8% | 538 |
| 14 | Migration | 11.7% | 534 |
| 15 | Microsoft | 11.6% | 528 |
| 16 | Python | 11.2% | 510 |
| 17 | Problem-Solving | 10.1% | 459 |
| 18 | Decision-Making | 9.7% | 443 |
| 19 | Mentoring | 9.3% | 423 |
| 20 | Software Engineering | 8.1% | 371 |
| 21 | SQL | 8.1% | 370 |
| 22 | Analytics | 7.7% | 353 |
| 23 | Cybersecurity | 7.2% | 328 |
| 24 | Data Quality | 6.9% | 314 |
| 25 | QA | 6.8% | 309 |
| 26 | Oracle | 6.7% | 308 |
| 27 | ERP | 6.7% | 304 |
| 28 | SAP | 6.6% | 302 |
| 29 | Risk Management | 6.2% | 284 |
| 29 | Test Automation | 6.2% | 284 |
Lead Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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 | Technical Leader | 9.9% | 451 |
| 2 | Lead Architect | 8.0% | 366 |
| 3 | Lead Developer | 5.7% | 262 |
| 4 | Test Leader | 4.7% | 213 |
| 5 | Team Leader | 3.5% | 162 |
| 6 | Lead Data Engineer | 2.2% | 102 |
| 7 | Lead DevOps | 2.1% | 98 |
| 8 | Lead Software Engineer | 2.1% | 94 |
| 9 | QA Leader | 2.0% | 91 |
| 10 | Product Lead | 2.0% | 90 |
| 11 | Analyst | 1.9% | 88 |
| 11 | Technical Architect | 1.9% | 88 |
| 13 | Lead Consultant | 1.9% | 86 |
| 14 | Data Migration Lead | 1.7% | 76 |
| 15 | Lead DevOps Engineer | 1.5% | 70 |
| 16 | Lead Java Developer | 1.3% | 61 |
| 17 | Lead Solutions Architect | 1.3% | 58 |
| 18 | PMO Lead | 1.2% | 57 |
| 19 | Lead Software Developer | 1.2% | 56 |
| 20 | Python Engineer | 1.2% | 55 |