Lead Developer Job Trends in England

Lead Developer
UK > England

The median Lead Developer salary in England is £76,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 27 November 2025.

The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
27 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 341 274 283
Rank change year-on-year -67 +9 +40
Permanent jobs requiring a Lead Developer 307 611 503
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.66% 1.02% 1.11%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.72% 1.08% 1.16%
Number of salaries quoted 230 481 432
10th Percentile £57,500 - £58,850
25th Percentile £67,500 £47,000 £65,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £76,000 £70,000 £80,000
Median % change year-on-year +8.57% -12.50% -
75th Percentile £90,000 £95,000 £100,000
90th Percentile £122,500 £142,500 £122,500
UK median annual salary £76,000 £67,500 £80,000
% change year-on-year +12.59% -15.63% +2.56%

All Permanent IT Job Vacancies
England

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies in England. 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 permanent jobs in our overall sample.

Permanent vacancies in England with a recognized job title 42,510 56,656 43,199
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 90.70% 94.17% 95.21%
Number of salaries quoted 27,436 31,732 33,563
10th Percentile £28,250 £32,500 £32,000
25th Percentile £36,250 £42,500 £43,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £57,560 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -4.45% -4.07% -
75th Percentile £75,000 £77,500 £80,000
90th Percentile £94,375 £95,000 £100,000
UK median annual salary £55,000 £57,500 £60,000
% change year-on-year -4.35% -4.17% -

Lead Developer
Job Vacancy Trend in England

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

Lead Developer job vacancy trend in England

Lead Developer
Salary Trend in England

Salary distribution trend for Lead Developer job vacancies in England.

Salary distribution trend for Lead Developer job vacancies in England

Lead Developer
Salary Histogram in England

Salary distribution for jobs citing Lead Developer in England over the 6 months to 27 November 2025.

Salary histogram for Lead Developer in England

Lead Developer
Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Lead Developer within the England region over the 6 months to 27 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
London -35 127 £95,000 - 23
North of England +4 73 £70,000 +7.69% 13
North West +13 37 £70,000 +7.69% 4
Midlands +7 37 £74,500 +56.84% 13
West Midlands +39 34 £73,250 +55.85% 11
South East +12 33 £85,000 +21.43% 24
Yorkshire +3 30 £70,000 +48.94% 6
South West -6 22 £68,750 +46.28% 9
East of England +11 8 £65,000 -8.77% 6
North East +11 6 £68,500 +5.38% 3
East Midlands +10 3 £75,000 +25.00% 2
Lead Developer
UK

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

For the 6 months to 27 November 2025, Lead Developer 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 permanent job ads across the England region featuring Lead Developer in the job title.

1 113 (36.81%) Agile
1 113 (36.81%) AWS
2 110 (35.83%) Azure
3 87 (28.34%) Mentoring
3 87 (28.34%) Python
4 75 (24.43%) CI/CD
5 70 (22.80%) C#
6 68 (22.15%) React
7 63 (20.52%) .NET
8 62 (20.20%) Software Engineering
9 61 (19.87%) Technical Leadership
10 59 (19.22%) Full-Stack Development
11 57 (18.57%) Java
12 56 (18.24%) JavaScript
12 56 (18.24%) Problem-Solving
13 53 (17.26%) Microservices
14 48 (15.64%) SQL
15 47 (15.31%) AI
16 45 (14.66%) Continuous Improvement
16 45 (14.66%) Docker
16 45 (14.66%) TypeScript
17 44 (14.33%) DevOps
18 41 (13.36%) Containerisation
19 38 (12.38%) Node.js
19 38 (12.38%) QA
20 36 (11.73%) Power Platform
21 34 (11.07%) Roadmaps
22 33 (10.75%) SQL Server
23 32 (10.42%) Serverless
23 32 (10.42%) TDD

Lead Developer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England 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 (0.98%) Apache
1 3 (0.98%) Confluence
1 3 (0.98%) SharePoint
2 2 (0.65%) WordPress
3 1 (0.33%) Anypoint
3 1 (0.33%) Appian
3 1 (0.33%) CMS
3 1 (0.33%) Umbraco
Applications
1 1 (0.33%) Microsoft Excel
1 1 (0.33%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 15 (4.89%) Dynamics CRM
2 3 (0.98%) Magento
2 3 (0.98%) Shopify
3 2 (0.65%) NEC Housing
4 1 (0.33%) Endur
4 1 (0.33%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 113 (36.81%) AWS
2 110 (35.83%) Azure
3 36 (11.73%) Power Platform
4 32 (10.42%) Serverless
5 31 (10.10%) SaaS
6 22 (7.17%) GCP
6 22 (7.17%) GitHub
7 20 (6.51%) Amazon S3
8 19 (6.19%) Dynamics 365
8 19 (6.19%) PowerApps
9 18 (5.86%) Amazon SQS
10 17 (5.54%) AWS Lambda
11 14 (4.56%) Azure DevOps
12 11 (3.58%) Power Automate
13 8 (2.61%) Azure Cosmos DB
13 8 (2.61%) Azure Data Factory
14 7 (2.28%) Azure Logic Apps
15 6 (1.95%) Amazon EC2
15 6 (1.95%) Azure Functions
16 5 (1.63%) Azure Synapse Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 1 (0.33%) Broadband
1 1 (0.33%) MQTT
1 1 (0.33%) Network Security
Database & Business Intelligence
1 33 (10.75%) SQL Server
2 31 (10.10%) MongoDB
3 29 (9.45%) NoSQL
4 28 (9.12%) PostgreSQL
5 20 (6.51%) Power BI
6 10 (3.26%) MySQL
7 9 (2.93%) Data Warehouse
7 9 (2.93%) DynamoDB
8 8 (2.61%) Tick Data
9 7 (2.28%) Azure SQL Database
9 7 (2.28%) Relational Database
10 6 (1.95%) Amazon RDS
10 6 (1.95%) SQL Server Integration Services
11 5 (1.63%) Data Lake
12 4 (1.30%) Amazon Aurora
12 4 (1.30%) RDBMS
13 3 (0.98%) Amazon Athena
13 3 (0.98%) Apache Iceberg
13 3 (0.98%) Big Data
13 3 (0.98%) SQL Server Analysis Services
Development Applications
1 20 (6.51%) Git
2 6 (1.95%) Jenkins
2 6 (1.95%) SonarQube
3 5 (1.63%) Maven
4 3 (0.98%) Bitbucket Server
4 3 (0.98%) DbUnit
4 3 (0.98%) JIRA
4 3 (0.98%) jMock
4 3 (0.98%) JUnit
4 3 (0.98%) Mockito
4 3 (0.98%) Visual Studio
4 3 (0.98%) Vite
4 3 (0.98%) Xcode
5 2 (0.65%) Cypress.io
5 2 (0.65%) GitLab
5 2 (0.65%) Spinnaker
6 1 (0.33%) Cucumber
6 1 (0.33%) MSTest
6 1 (0.33%) Selenium
6 1 (0.33%) Subversion
General
1 63 (20.52%) Social Skills
2 51 (16.61%) Finance
3 28 (9.12%) Inclusion and Diversity
4 24 (7.82%) Marketing
5 21 (6.84%) Front Office
6 17 (5.54%) Analytical Skills
7 15 (4.89%) Law
7 15 (4.89%) Public Sector
7 15 (4.89%) Tech for Good
8 14 (4.56%) Organisational Skills
8 14 (4.56%) Retail
9 12 (3.91%) Health Technology
10 11 (3.58%) Influencing Skills
10 11 (3.58%) Publishing
11 8 (2.61%) Electronics
12 7 (2.28%) Banking
13 5 (1.63%) Back Office
13 5 (1.63%) Games
13 5 (1.63%) Legal
14 4 (1.30%) Manufacturing
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 68 (22.15%) React
2 63 (20.52%) .NET
3 38 (12.38%) Node.js
4 28 (9.12%) RESTful
5 24 (7.82%) AngularJS
6 23 (7.49%) Kafka
7 20 (6.51%) Flask
8 19 (6.19%) GraphQL
8 19 (6.19%) Vue
9 18 (5.86%) .NET Core
9 18 (5.86%) REST
10 16 (5.21%) FastAPI
10 16 (5.21%) HTML
10 16 (5.21%) Redux
11 15 (4.89%) CSS
12 13 (4.23%) .NET Framework
12 13 (4.23%) Blazor
13 11 (3.58%) Laravel
13 11 (3.58%) Spring Boot
14 10 (3.26%) Django
Miscellaneous
1 23 (7.49%) Cloud Native
2 17 (5.54%) Fixed Income
3 16 (5.21%) Distributed Systems
3 16 (5.21%) Legacy Systems
3 16 (5.21%) Product Ownership
4 9 (2.93%) Marketing Technology
5 8 (2.61%) Clustering
6 7 (2.28%) Data Structures
6 7 (2.28%) Derivative
6 7 (2.28%) Enterprise Software
7 6 (1.95%) Greenfield Project
8 5 (1.63%) Market Risk
9 4 (1.30%) AI Agents
9 4 (1.30%) Algorithms
9 4 (1.30%) Hedge funds
9 4 (1.30%) PKI
10 3 (0.98%) Credit Risk
10 3 (0.98%) Distributed Architecture
10 3 (0.98%) Mobile App
10 3 (0.98%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 9 (2.93%) Apple iOS
1 9 (2.93%) Linux
2 7 (2.28%) Android
3 4 (1.30%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 113 (36.81%) Agile
2 87 (28.34%) Mentoring
3 75 (24.43%) CI/CD
4 62 (20.20%) Software Engineering
5 61 (19.87%) Technical Leadership
6 59 (19.22%) Full-Stack Development
7 56 (18.24%) Problem-Solving
8 53 (17.26%) Microservices
9 47 (15.31%) AI
10 45 (14.66%) Continuous Improvement
11 44 (14.33%) DevOps
12 41 (13.36%) Containerisation
13 34 (11.07%) Roadmaps
14 32 (10.42%) TDD
15 30 (9.77%) Scrum
16 29 (9.45%) Code Quality
16 29 (9.45%) Test Automation
17 27 (8.79%) Coaching
18 25 (8.14%) Clean Code
18 25 (8.14%) SDLC
Programming Languages
1 87 (28.34%) Python
2 70 (22.80%) C#
3 57 (18.57%) Java
4 56 (18.24%) JavaScript
5 48 (15.64%) SQL
6 45 (14.66%) TypeScript
7 22 (7.17%) Go
8 14 (4.56%) PHP
9 11 (3.58%) Scala
10 9 (2.93%) Kotlin
11 8 (2.61%) C++
12 5 (1.63%) Swift
13 4 (1.30%) C
14 2 (0.65%) Apex Code
14 2 (0.65%) Data Analysis Expressions
14 2 (0.65%) Delphi
14 2 (0.65%) PL/SQL
14 2 (0.65%) PowerShell
14 2 (0.65%) Ruby
14 2 (0.65%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 16 (5.21%) Degree
2 15 (4.89%) Security Cleared
3 13 (4.23%) SC Cleared
4 8 (2.61%) Computer Science Degree
5 4 (1.30%) AWS Certification
5 4 (1.30%) AWS Certified Developer
6 3 (0.98%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
7 1 (0.33%) DBS Check
7 1 (0.33%) DV Cleared
7 1 (0.33%) ITIL Certification
7 1 (0.33%) Master's Degree
7 1 (0.33%) PhD
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 38 (12.38%) QA
2 7 (2.28%) Accessibility
3 1 (0.33%) Data Quality
3 1 (0.33%) GDPR
3 1 (0.33%) HL7
System Software
1 45 (14.66%) Docker
Systems Management
1 21 (6.84%) Kubernetes
2 17 (5.54%) Terraform
3 2 (0.65%) Argo
3 2 (0.65%) HP Fortify
Vendors
1 30 (9.77%) Microsoft
2 7 (2.28%) Databricks
3 5 (1.63%) Google
4 4 (1.30%) SAP
5 3 (0.98%) Atlassian
5 3 (0.98%) Salesforce
5 3 (0.98%) Splunk
6 2 (0.65%) IFS
6 2 (0.65%) NEC
6 2 (0.65%) Northgate
6 2 (0.65%) OpenAI
7 1 (0.33%) Adobe
7 1 (0.33%) Bloomberg
7 1 (0.33%) Blue Prism
7 1 (0.33%) eFront
7 1 (0.33%) Informatica
7 1 (0.33%) MuleSoft
7 1 (0.33%) OpenLink
7 1 (0.33%) Oracle
7 1 (0.33%) ServiceNow