Lead Developer Job Trends in England

Lead Developer
UK > England

The median Lead Developer salary in England is £85,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 20 July 2026.

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

6 months to
20 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 289 369 226
Rank change year-on-year +80 -143 +109
Permanent jobs requiring a Lead Developer 591 308 1,043
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.67% 0.71% 1.24%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.71% 0.78% 1.31%
Number of salaries quoted 491 220 951
10th Percentile £62,500 £53,750 £47,000
25th Percentile £70,000 £63,750 £55,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £85,000 £75,000 £70,000
Median % change year-on-year +13.33% +7.14% -9.68%
75th Percentile £100,000 £90,000 £93,750
90th Percentile £107,500 £123,250 £142,500
UK median annual salary £85,000 £75,000 £70,000
% change year-on-year +13.33% +7.14% -9.68%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
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 83,530 39,318 79,484
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 94.32% 90.44% 94.64%
Number of salaries quoted 58,858 23,754 57,439
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,750 £29,250
25th Percentile £40,000 £37,750 £39,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £57,500 £55,000 £54,399
Median % change year-on-year +4.55% +1.11% -9.34%
75th Percentile £75,250 £75,000 £71,250
90th Percentile £97,500 £97,500 £90,000
UK median annual salary £55,000 £55,000 £53,500
% change year-on-year - +2.80% -10.83%

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 20 July 2026.

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 20 July 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
London +36 220 £95,000 +5.56% 29
North of England +51 142 £73,750 +5.36% 22
North West +52 97 £72,500 - 10
South East +23 87 £90,000 +22.03% 8
Midlands +16 73 £66,000 -2.22% 14
West Midlands +8 44 £65,000 -7.14% 10
South West -51 34 £65,000 +15.56%
East Midlands -1 29 £70,000 +5.66% 4
East of England +2 27 £60,100 -19.87% 2
Yorkshire -19 25 £70,000 +1.82% 8
North East -28 20 £90,000 +12.50% 4
Lead Developer
UK

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

For the 6 months to 20 July 2026, 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.

1 182 (30.80%) Full-Stack Development
2 135 (22.84%) .NET
2 135 (22.84%) AWS
3 134 (22.67%) C#
4 133 (22.50%) JavaScript
4 133 (22.50%) Mentoring
5 130 (22.00%) Azure
6 129 (21.83%) TypeScript
7 120 (20.30%) Software Engineering
8 114 (19.29%) Technical Leadership
9 105 (17.77%) Agile
10 101 (17.09%) React
11 97 (16.41%) Node.js
12 88 (14.89%) CI/CD
12 88 (14.89%) Python
13 77 (13.03%) AI
14 73 (12.35%) DevOps
15 72 (12.18%) SaaS
16 64 (10.83%) Microservices
17 63 (10.66%) Continuous Improvement
18 62 (10.49%) Java
19 60 (10.15%) Microsoft
20 58 (9.81%) SQL
21 50 (8.46%) RESTful
22 48 (8.12%) GraphQL
23 46 (7.78%) PostgreSQL
24 41 (6.94%) Problem-Solving
25 40 (6.77%) Event-Driven
25 40 (6.77%) SQL Server
26 39 (6.60%) Portfolio Management

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 17 (2.88%) Anypoint
1 17 (2.88%) Mule
2 8 (1.35%) SharePoint
3 7 (1.18%) Appian
4 6 (1.02%) Confluence
5 3 (0.51%) WordPress
6 1 (0.17%) CMS
Business Applications
1 9 (1.52%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.17%) NetSuite
Cloud Services
1 135 (22.84%) AWS
2 130 (22.00%) Azure
3 72 (12.18%) SaaS
4 32 (5.41%) Dynamics 365
5 30 (5.08%) Power Platform
6 27 (4.57%) GCP
7 26 (4.40%) Azure DevOps
8 18 (3.05%) Serverless
9 16 (2.71%) Azure Logic Apps
10 14 (2.37%) Microsoft Copilot
11 13 (2.20%) GitHub
11 13 (2.20%) Snowflake
12 11 (1.86%) Azure Service Bus
13 10 (1.69%) Amazon ECS
13 10 (1.69%) AWS Lambda
13 10 (1.69%) PowerApps
14 9 (1.52%) Azure Key Vault
14 9 (1.52%) Power Automate
15 8 (1.35%) Azure Cosmos DB
16 7 (1.18%) Azure Monitor
Communications & Networking
1 12 (2.03%) SSL
2 5 (0.85%) Broadband
3 1 (0.17%) Asterisk PBX
3 1 (0.17%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 46 (7.78%) PostgreSQL
2 40 (6.77%) SQL Server
3 18 (3.05%) Redis
4 13 (2.20%) MySQL
5 10 (1.69%) DynamoDB
5 10 (1.69%) MongoDB
6 9 (1.52%) Amazon RDS
7 8 (1.35%) Power BI
8 6 (1.02%) Elasticsearch
9 5 (0.85%) Metadata
9 5 (0.85%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 3 (0.51%) Db2
10 3 (0.51%) MariaDB
10 3 (0.51%) Spatial Data
11 2 (0.34%) Geospatial Data
11 2 (0.34%) InterSystems Cache
11 2 (0.34%) NoSQL
12 1 (0.17%) Azure SQL Database
12 1 (0.17%) SQLite
Development Applications
1 27 (4.57%) Git
2 8 (1.35%) JIRA
3 5 (0.85%) Bitbucket
4 4 (0.68%) Cypress.io
4 4 (0.68%) Maven
5 3 (0.51%) Jenkins
5 3 (0.51%) JUnit
5 3 (0.51%) Mockito
5 3 (0.51%) NUnit
5 3 (0.51%) Vite
5 3 (0.51%) webpack
6 2 (0.34%) GitLab
6 2 (0.34%) MSI
6 2 (0.34%) TeamCity
6 2 (0.34%) Terragrunt
7 1 (0.17%) DBeaver
7 1 (0.17%) fastlane
7 1 (0.17%) git-flow
7 1 (0.17%) Visual Studio Code
7 1 (0.17%) XCUITest
General
1 114 (19.29%) Finance
2 56 (9.48%) Social Skills
3 39 (6.60%) Front Office
4 18 (3.05%) Law
5 15 (2.54%) Banking
6 14 (2.37%) Games
7 13 (2.20%) Analytical Skills
8 8 (1.35%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 7 (1.18%) Public Sector
10 6 (1.02%) Retail
11 5 (0.85%) Legal
11 5 (0.85%) Legal Technology
12 4 (0.68%) Tech for Good
13 2 (0.34%) Health Technology
13 2 (0.34%) Marketing
14 1 (0.17%) Investment Banking
14 1 (0.17%) Local Government
14 1 (0.17%) Manufacturing
14 1 (0.17%) Organisational Skills
14 1 (0.17%) Pharmaceutical
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 135 (22.84%) .NET
2 101 (17.09%) React
3 97 (16.41%) Node.js
4 50 (8.46%) RESTful
5 48 (8.12%) GraphQL
6 39 (6.60%) Redux
7 34 (5.75%) Vue
8 30 (5.08%) .NET Core
8 30 (5.08%) Kafka
9 29 (4.91%) ASP.NET
10 28 (4.74%) React Native
11 26 (4.40%) Spring
12 24 (4.06%) REST
13 21 (3.55%) CSS
14 19 (3.21%) AngularJS
14 19 (3.21%) HTML
15 16 (2.71%) Next.js
16 13 (2.20%) Hugging Face
16 13 (2.20%) PyTorch
16 13 (2.20%) TensorFlow
Miscellaneous
1 37 (6.26%) Cloud Native
2 36 (6.09%) Fixed Income
3 22 (3.72%) Product Ownership
4 17 (2.88%) Derivative
4 17 (2.88%) Distributed Systems
4 17 (2.88%) Enterprise Software
5 16 (2.71%) Equities
5 16 (2.71%) Legacy Systems
5 16 (2.71%) Mobile App
6 12 (2.03%) Low-Code
7 10 (1.69%) PropTech
8 9 (1.52%) Legacy Applications
9 5 (0.85%) Onboarding
9 5 (0.85%) Virtual Team
10 4 (0.68%) Algorithms
10 4 (0.68%) Credit Risk
10 4 (0.68%) Video\Live Streaming
11 3 (0.51%) AS400
11 3 (0.51%) Operational Technology
11 3 (0.51%) Photography
Operating Systems
1 34 (5.75%) Apple iOS
2 32 (5.41%) Android
3 4 (0.68%) Linux
3 4 (0.68%) Windows
4 1 (0.17%) Debian
Processes & Methodologies
1 182 (30.80%) Full-Stack Development
2 133 (22.50%) Mentoring
3 120 (20.30%) Software Engineering
4 114 (19.29%) Technical Leadership
5 105 (17.77%) Agile
6 88 (14.89%) CI/CD
7 77 (13.03%) AI
8 73 (12.35%) DevOps
9 64 (10.83%) Microservices
10 63 (10.66%) Continuous Improvement
11 41 (6.94%) Problem-Solving
12 40 (6.77%) Event-Driven
13 39 (6.60%) Portfolio Management
14 38 (6.43%) Event-Driven Architecture
14 38 (6.43%) Investment Management
15 35 (5.92%) Fintech
16 34 (5.75%) Roadmaps
17 32 (5.41%) Coaching
17 32 (5.41%) Design Patterns
18 31 (5.25%) Mobile Development
Programming Languages
1 134 (22.67%) C#
2 133 (22.50%) JavaScript
3 129 (21.83%) TypeScript
4 88 (14.89%) Python
5 62 (10.49%) Java
6 58 (9.81%) SQL
7 28 (4.74%) Go
8 13 (2.20%) PHP
9 12 (2.03%) C++
9 12 (2.03%) DataWeave
10 11 (1.86%) Swift
11 10 (1.69%) Kotlin
12 9 (1.52%) Bicep
13 8 (1.35%) RPG
14 6 (1.02%) Ruby
15 5 (0.85%) PowerShell
16 4 (0.68%) Bash
16 4 (0.68%) C
17 3 (0.51%) PL/SQL
17 3 (0.51%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 27 (4.57%) Degree
2 25 (4.23%) SC Cleared
2 25 (4.23%) Security Cleared
3 14 (2.37%) Computer Science Degree
4 9 (1.52%) DBS Check
5 5 (0.85%) ITIL Certification
6 1 (0.17%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (3.55%) QA
2 12 (2.03%) Accessibility
3 6 (1.02%) Data Quality
4 2 (0.34%) NCSC
4 2 (0.34%) WCAG
5 1 (0.17%) GDPR
5 1 (0.17%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 35 (5.92%) Docker
2 3 (0.51%) Firmware
3 1 (0.17%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 24 (4.06%) Kubernetes
2 16 (2.71%) Terraform
3 12 (2.03%) CloudHub
4 2 (0.34%) Ansible
5 1 (0.17%) Grafana
5 1 (0.17%) Kibana
5 1 (0.17%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 60 (10.15%) Microsoft
2 17 (2.88%) MuleSoft
2 17 (2.88%) Salesforce
3 13 (2.20%) ServiceNow
4 12 (2.03%) SAP
5 7 (1.18%) HubSpot
6 6 (1.02%) IBM
6 6 (1.02%) Oracle
7 4 (0.68%) Apple
8 3 (0.51%) Bloomberg
8 3 (0.51%) DevExpress
8 3 (0.51%) OpenAI
9 2 (0.34%) Google
9 2 (0.34%) Refinitiv
9 2 (0.34%) TikTok
10 1 (0.17%) Citrix
10 1 (0.17%) Reuters
10 1 (0.17%) Revolut