3rd Line Support Job Trends in the North West

Third Line Support
England > North West

The median Third Line Support salary in the North West is £35,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 12 October 2026.

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

6 months to
12 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 242 224 214
Rank change year-on-year -18 -10 -29
Permanent jobs requiring a 3rd Line Support 21 11 20
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 0.16% 0.21% 0.28%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.18% 0.24% 0.29%
Number of salaries quoted 19 11 16
10th Percentile £29,750 £29,500 £29,500
25th Percentile £29,875 £33,500 -
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £35,000 £40,000 £35,000
Median % change year-on-year -12.50% +14.29% -6.67%
75th Percentile £47,500 £42,250 £42,500
90th Percentile - £42,500 £43,750
England median annual salary £46,000 £42,500 £40,000
% change year-on-year +8.24% +6.25% -2.44%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
North West

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies in the North West. 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 the North West with a recognized job title 11,944 4,536 6,921
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.01% 87.87% 95.19%
Number of salaries quoted 8,771 2,282 3,951
10th Percentile £30,000 £26,500 £31,250
25th Percentile £40,000 £34,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% - -9.09%
75th Percentile £75,000 £65,000 £65,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £80,000 £77,500
England median annual salary £59,000 £55,000 £56,000
% change year-on-year +7.27% -1.79% -6.67%

3rd Line Support
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring '3rd Line Support' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the North West.

3rd Line Support job vacancy trend in the North West

3rd Line Support
Salary Trend in the North West

Salary distribution trend for 3rd Line Support job vacancies in the North West.

Salary distribution trend for 3rd Line Support job vacancies in the North West

3rd Line Support
Salary Histogram in the North West

Salary distribution for jobs citing 3rd Line Support in the North West over the 6 months to 12 October 2026.

Salary histogram for 3rd Line Support in the North West

3rd Line Support
Job Locations in the North West

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing 3rd Line Support within the North West region over the 6 months to 12 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
Matching
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Manchester -47 12 £45,000 +11.11% 4
Lancashire - 5 £31,500 - 1
Cheshire - 4 £35,000 - 2
3rd Line Support
England

3rd Line Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West

For the 6 months to 12 October 2026, 3rd Line Support 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 North West region featuring 3rd Line Support in the job title.

1 15 (71.43%) Microsoft
2 14 (66.67%) Active Directory
3 12 (57.14%) Windows
3 12 (57.14%) Windows Server
4 11 (52.38%) Microsoft 365
5 9 (42.86%) Azure
5 9 (42.86%) Firewall
5 9 (42.86%) VPN
6 8 (38.10%) Change Control
6 8 (38.10%) Degree
7 7 (33.33%) DHCP
8 6 (28.57%) DNS
8 6 (28.57%) Entra ID
8 6 (28.57%) Microsoft Exchange
8 6 (28.57%) Microsoft Intune
8 6 (28.57%) VLAN
9 5 (23.81%) AI
9 5 (23.81%) Autotask
9 5 (23.81%) Business Continuity
9 5 (23.81%) Cisco
9 5 (23.81%) Continuous Improvement
9 5 (23.81%) Cybersecurity
9 5 (23.81%) Data Loss Prevention
9 5 (23.81%) Data Protection
9 5 (23.81%) Datto
9 5 (23.81%) Disaster Recovery
9 5 (23.81%) ERP
9 5 (23.81%) IaaS
9 5 (23.81%) Information Security
9 5 (23.81%) ISMS

3rd Line Support Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West 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 6 (28.57%) Microsoft Exchange
2 1 (4.76%) SharePoint
Cloud Services
1 11 (52.38%) Microsoft 365
2 9 (42.86%) Azure
3 6 (28.57%) Entra ID
4 5 (23.81%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 9 (42.86%) Firewall
1 9 (42.86%) VPN
2 7 (33.33%) DHCP
3 6 (28.57%) DNS
3 6 (28.57%) VLAN
4 5 (23.81%) SSL
4 5 (23.81%) TCP/IP
5 3 (14.29%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (4.76%) SQL Server
General
1 6 (28.57%) Social Skills
2 5 (23.81%) Manufacturing
3 3 (14.29%) Analytical Skills
Miscellaneous
1 3 (14.29%) Driving Licence
1 3 (14.29%) Management Information System
2 1 (4.76%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 12 (57.14%) Windows
1 12 (57.14%) Windows Server
2 1 (4.76%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 8 (38.10%) Change Control
2 5 (23.81%) AI
2 5 (23.81%) Business Continuity
2 5 (23.81%) Continuous Improvement
2 5 (23.81%) Cybersecurity
2 5 (23.81%) Data Loss Prevention
2 5 (23.81%) Data Protection
2 5 (23.81%) Disaster Recovery
2 5 (23.81%) ERP
2 5 (23.81%) Information Security
2 5 (23.81%) ISMS
2 5 (23.81%) Problem Management
2 5 (23.81%) Remote Monitoring and Management
2 5 (23.81%) Root Cause Analysis
2 5 (23.81%) Technical Debt
2 5 (23.81%) Validation
3 3 (14.29%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 3 (14.29%) Knowledge Transfer
3 3 (14.29%) Mobile Device Management
3 3 (14.29%) Vulnerability Management
Programming Languages
1 3 (14.29%) PowerShell
Qualifications
1 8 (38.10%) Degree
2 3 (14.29%) DBS Check
3 1 (4.76%) SC Cleared
3 1 (4.76%) Security Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 3 (14.29%) Cyber Essentials
1 3 (14.29%) SLA
System Software
1 14 (66.67%) Active Directory
2 1 (4.76%) BitLocker
Systems Management
1 6 (28.57%) Microsoft Intune
2 5 (23.81%) Autotask
3 1 (4.76%) SCCM
3 1 (4.76%) WSUS
Vendors
1 15 (71.43%) Microsoft
2 5 (23.81%) Cisco
2 5 (23.81%) Datto
2 5 (23.81%) WatchGuard
3 3 (14.29%) Fortinet