Senior Developer Contract Job Trends

Senior Developer
UK

The median Senior Developer daily rate in the UK is £525, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 15 January 2026.

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

6 months to
15 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 165 146 171
Rank change year-on-year -19 +25 -61
Contract jobs requiring a Senior Developer 628 567 593
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.69% 1.78% 1.40%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.85% 1.92% 1.51%
Number of daily rates quoted 448 367 424
10th Percentile £405 £422 £425
25th Percentile £450 £500 £479
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £575 £575
Median % change year-on-year -8.70% - -10.16%
75th Percentile £650 £700 £691
90th Percentile £850 £840 £838
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £505 £525
% change year-on-year -0.99% -3.81% -8.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 1 9
10th Percentile - - £43.55
25th Percentile - - £56.25
Median hourly rate - £77.19 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year - +28.65% -4.00%
75th Percentile - - £72.50
90th Percentile - - £75.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate - £77.19 £52.50
% change year-on-year - +47.03% -16.00%

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 33,883 29,520 39,341
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.34% 92.72% 93.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 21,433 18,105 26,194
10th Percentile £300 £288 £280
25th Percentile £405 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £618 £638 £638
90th Percentile £720 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £475 £500
% change year-on-year - -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,985 889 1,660
10th Percentile £14.38 £15.50 £14.16
25th Percentile £18.24 £21.05 £18.93
Median hourly rate £26.30 £32.50 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year -19.08% -23.53% +21.43%
75th Percentile £60.00 £62.24 £65.00
90th Percentile £70.00 £73.75 £76.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £31.29 £45.00
% change year-on-year -19.62% -30.47% +55.17%

Senior Developer
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Senior Developer job vacancy trend in the UK

Senior Developer
Daily Rate Trend

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

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

Senior Developer
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Senior Developer over the 6 months to 15 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Senior Developer in the UK

Senior Developer
Hourly Rate Trend

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

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

Senior Developer
Top 17 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Senior Developer within the UK over the 6 months to 15 January 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 -15 536 £550 -7.76% 502
London -22 329 £625 +0.81% 124
Work from Home +13 217 £597 -0.50% 321
UK excluding London -29 210 £500 -0.99% 461
North of England -13 72 £550 +6.28% 93
South West +20 54 £475 -13.64% 60
Yorkshire -23 38 £631 +20.24% 31
North West -17 31 £500 - 43
South East -29 31 £473 -13.21% 151
Midlands -26 24 £505 +1.00% 47
West Midlands -24 19 £525 - 21
East of England -22 17 £500 -13.42% 58
Scotland -17 12 £513 +13.89% 24
North East -4 9 £488 -17.37% 19
East Midlands -26 5 £475 +4.11% 25
Wales 0 4 £638 +27.50% 29
Northern Ireland -1 4 £544 -9.38% 8

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

For the 6 months to 15 January 2026, Senior 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 Senior Developer in the job title.

1 218 (34.71%) Java
2 205 (32.64%) AWS
3 201 (32.01%) Agile
4 160 (25.48%) Microservices
5 158 (25.16%) Azure
6 154 (24.52%) CI/CD
7 152 (24.20%) DevOps
8 147 (23.41%) SQL
9 144 (22.93%) Python
9 144 (22.93%) Security Cleared
10 126 (20.06%) Kafka
10 126 (20.06%) SC Cleared
11 125 (19.90%) Docker
12 121 (19.27%) Problem-Solving
13 120 (19.11%) Kubernetes
14 116 (18.47%) JavaScript
15 96 (15.29%) Spring
16 84 (13.38%) React
17 81 (12.90%) Containerisation
18 79 (12.58%) Spring Boot
19 78 (12.42%) C#
20 77 (12.26%) Software Engineering
20 77 (12.26%) TDD
21 75 (11.94%) Git
22 72 (11.46%) Full-Stack Development
23 71 (11.31%) .NET
24 70 (11.15%) Scrum
24 70 (11.15%) Test Automation
25 66 (10.51%) RESTful
26 65 (10.35%) Azure DevOps

Senior 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 17 (2.71%) Confluence
2 6 (0.96%) nginx
3 5 (0.80%) SharePoint
4 4 (0.64%) CMS
4 4 (0.64%) Jupyter
5 3 (0.48%) SAS
6 2 (0.32%) Mendix
6 2 (0.32%) Microsoft Exchange
7 1 (0.16%) Anypoint
7 1 (0.16%) Headless CMS
7 1 (0.16%) Oracle Application Server
7 1 (0.16%) Smallworld
7 1 (0.16%) Tomcat
7 1 (0.16%) WordPress
Applications
1 10 (1.59%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 5 (0.80%) Dynamics CRM
2 3 (0.48%) Endur
3 2 (0.32%) Remedy ITSM
3 2 (0.32%) SAP S/4HANA
4 1 (0.16%) FLEXCUBE
4 1 (0.16%) IBM Planning Analytics
4 1 (0.16%) Oracle ERP
4 1 (0.16%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 1 (0.16%) Oracle Retail
4 1 (0.16%) Payment Gateway
4 1 (0.16%) SAP BRIM
4 1 (0.16%) SAP FI
4 1 (0.16%) SAP Travel Management
Cloud Services
1 205 (32.64%) AWS
2 158 (25.16%) Azure
3 65 (10.35%) Azure DevOps
4 52 (8.28%) GitHub
5 38 (6.05%) Serverless
6 34 (5.41%) GCP
7 27 (4.30%) Power Platform
8 19 (3.03%) AWS Lambda
9 17 (2.71%) Amazon EC2
9 17 (2.71%) Azure Service Bus
9 17 (2.71%) Dynamics 365
10 16 (2.55%) Amazon SQS
10 16 (2.55%) GitHub Actions
10 16 (2.55%) Power Automate
11 14 (2.23%) Amazon EKS
11 14 (2.23%) SaaS
12 13 (2.07%) Azure AKS
13 12 (1.91%) Amazon S3
13 12 (1.91%) PowerApps
14 11 (1.75%) Amazon ECS
Communications & Networking
1 5 (0.80%) Kerberos
2 4 (0.64%) SSL
3 3 (0.48%) Reverse Proxy
4 2 (0.32%) Firewall
4 2 (0.32%) HTTP
4 2 (0.32%) VPN
5 1 (0.16%) DNS
5 1 (0.16%) FTP
5 1 (0.16%) Internet
5 1 (0.16%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 61 (9.71%) PostgreSQL
2 48 (7.64%) MongoDB
3 41 (6.53%) Relational Database
4 36 (5.73%) SQL Server
5 35 (5.57%) NoSQL
6 30 (4.78%) Apache Cassandra
7 16 (2.55%) Power BI
8 15 (2.39%) Data Hub
8 15 (2.39%) DynamoDB
9 14 (2.23%) DB2
10 12 (1.91%) Data Warehouse
11 11 (1.75%) Redis
12 10 (1.59%) Amazon RDS
12 10 (1.59%) MySQL
13 8 (1.27%) Data Lake
14 7 (1.11%) Oracle BI EE
14 7 (1.11%) RDBMS
15 6 (0.96%) HBase
16 5 (0.80%) Couchbase
16 5 (0.80%) Delta Lake
Development Applications
1 75 (11.94%) Git
2 41 (6.53%) Jenkins
3 38 (6.05%) JUnit
4 34 (5.41%) GitLab
4 34 (5.41%) Oracle APEX
5 29 (4.62%) JIRA
6 23 (3.66%) Mockito
7 13 (2.07%) Maven
8 12 (1.91%) Gradle
9 9 (1.43%) Artifactory
10 8 (1.27%) Cucumber
10 8 (1.27%) Postman
11 7 (1.11%) Sonatype Nexus
11 7 (1.11%) SpecFlow
12 6 (0.96%) Cypress.io
12 6 (0.96%) Mocha
12 6 (0.96%) SonarQube
13 5 (0.80%) Bitbucket
14 3 (0.48%) git-flow
14 3 (0.48%) webpack
General
1 150 (23.89%) Finance
1 150 (23.89%) Social Skills
2 92 (14.65%) Banking
3 85 (13.54%) Public Sector
4 50 (7.96%) Analytical Skills
5 38 (6.05%) Investment Banking
6 24 (3.82%) Front Office
7 13 (2.07%) Financial Institution
8 6 (0.96%) Manufacturing
9 5 (0.80%) Military
9 5 (0.80%) Presentation Skills
10 4 (0.64%) Documentation Skills
10 4 (0.64%) Law
10 4 (0.64%) Pharmaceutical
11 3 (0.48%) Health Technology
11 3 (0.48%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 3 (0.48%) Marketing
11 3 (0.48%) Retail Banking
11 3 (0.48%) Telecoms
12 2 (0.32%) Organisational Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 126 (20.06%) Kafka
2 96 (15.29%) Spring
3 84 (13.38%) React
4 79 (12.58%) Spring Boot
5 71 (11.31%) .NET
6 66 (10.51%) RESTful
7 54 (8.60%) Node.js
8 52 (8.28%) AngularJS
9 51 (8.12%) HTML
9 51 (8.12%) REST
10 43 (6.85%) CSS
11 34 (5.41%) Web Services
12 24 (3.82%) JSON
13 23 (3.66%) gRPC
14 22 (3.50%) RabbitMQ
15 21 (3.34%) .NET Framework
16 19 (3.03%) Next.js
17 17 (2.71%) Jest
17 17 (2.71%) Playwright
18 16 (2.55%) .NET Core
Miscellaneous
1 49 (7.80%) Cloud Native
2 48 (7.64%) Distributed Systems
3 32 (5.10%) Derivative
4 28 (4.46%) Equities
5 23 (3.66%) Greenfield Project
6 20 (3.18%) Market Risk
6 20 (3.18%) Product Ownership
7 19 (3.03%) Algorithms
7 19 (3.03%) Management Information System
8 18 (2.87%) Data Structures
9 16 (2.55%) Fixed Income
10 10 (1.59%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
10 10 (1.59%) Legacy Systems
11 9 (1.43%) Mobile App
12 8 (1.27%) Equity Derivative
13 7 (1.11%) Legacy Applications
13 7 (1.11%) Onboarding
14 6 (0.96%) Linux Command Line
14 6 (0.96%) NHS
15 5 (0.80%) Enterprise Software
Operating Systems
1 53 (8.44%) Linux
2 26 (4.14%) Unix
3 17 (2.71%) Android
4 14 (2.23%) Mac OS X
5 9 (1.43%) Apple iOS
6 4 (0.64%) Windows
7 2 (0.32%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.16%) Windows 10
8 1 (0.16%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 201 (32.01%) Agile
2 160 (25.48%) Microservices
3 154 (24.52%) CI/CD
4 152 (24.20%) DevOps
5 121 (19.27%) Problem-Solving
6 81 (12.90%) Containerisation
7 77 (12.26%) Software Engineering
7 77 (12.26%) TDD
8 72 (11.46%) Full-Stack Development
9 70 (11.15%) Scrum
9 70 (11.15%) Test Automation
10 62 (9.87%) Analytics
11 59 (9.39%) Open Source
12 47 (7.48%) Infrastructure as Code
13 46 (7.32%) SDLC
14 45 (7.17%) Event-Driven
15 41 (6.53%) Front End Development
16 40 (6.37%) Mentoring
16 40 (6.37%) Performance Tuning
16 40 (6.37%) Unit Testing
Programming Languages
1 218 (34.71%) Java
2 147 (23.41%) SQL
3 144 (22.93%) Python
4 116 (18.47%) JavaScript
5 78 (12.42%) C#
6 48 (7.64%) TypeScript
7 39 (6.21%) PL/SQL
8 37 (5.89%) Go
9 22 (3.50%) Kotlin
10 17 (2.71%) Ruby
11 16 (2.55%) C++
12 14 (2.23%) Shell Script
13 13 (2.07%) Bash
14 12 (1.91%) PowerShell
15 8 (1.27%) PHP
16 4 (0.64%) T-SQL
17 3 (0.48%) ABAP
17 3 (0.48%) Data Analysis Expressions
17 3 (0.48%) Objective-C
17 3 (0.48%) Swift
Qualifications
1 144 (22.93%) Security Cleared
2 126 (20.06%) SC Cleared
3 41 (6.53%) Degree
4 30 (4.78%) BPSS Clearance
5 21 (3.34%) Computer Science Degree
6 8 (1.27%) Numerate Degree
7 6 (0.96%) AWS Certification
7 6 (0.96%) OCP
7 6 (0.96%) Oracle Certification
8 5 (0.80%) Master's Degree
9 3 (0.48%) AWS Certified Developer
9 3 (0.48%) MCP
10 2 (0.32%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
10 2 (0.32%) Azure Certification
10 2 (0.32%) DV Cleared
11 1 (0.16%) AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
11 1 (0.16%) Microsoft Certification
11 1 (0.16%) Postgraduate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 30 (4.78%) Accessibility
2 21 (3.34%) QA
3 12 (1.91%) WCAG
4 11 (1.75%) Data Quality
5 4 (0.64%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 3 (0.48%) EU AI Act
6 3 (0.48%) NIST
7 1 (0.16%) GDPR
7 1 (0.16%) HMG Security Policy Framework
System Software
1 125 (19.90%) Docker
2 5 (0.80%) zsh
3 2 (0.32%) Active Directory
4 1 (0.16%) GridGain
4 1 (0.16%) Lustre
4 1 (0.16%) OpenAM
4 1 (0.16%) OpenDJ
4 1 (0.16%) OpenIDM
4 1 (0.16%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 120 (19.11%) Kubernetes
2 40 (6.37%) Terraform
3 20 (3.18%) Grafana
4 15 (2.39%) Ansible
5 9 (1.43%) Single Sign-On
6 8 (1.27%) Prometheus
7 3 (0.48%) Kibana
8 1 (0.16%) Argo
8 1 (0.16%) CloudHub
8 1 (0.16%) Control-M
8 1 (0.16%) HAProxy
8 1 (0.16%) Packer
8 1 (0.16%) Rundeck
8 1 (0.16%) Sysdig
Vendors
1 56 (8.92%) Oracle
2 27 (4.30%) Microsoft
3 22 (3.50%) Google
4 15 (2.39%) Sybase
5 13 (2.07%) ServiceNow
6 10 (1.59%) Databricks
7 6 (0.96%) Atlassian
8 5 (0.80%) Guidewire
8 5 (0.80%) SAP
9 4 (0.64%) Apple
9 4 (0.64%) IBM
9 4 (0.64%) Salesforce
10 3 (0.48%) BMC
10 3 (0.48%) Cognizant
10 3 (0.48%) Dataiku
10 3 (0.48%) Foundry
10 3 (0.48%) Pega
11 2 (0.32%) CA Agile Central
11 2 (0.32%) Confluent
11 2 (0.32%) Ivanti