QA Leader Job Trends in the North West

Quality Assurance Lead
England > North West

The median Quality Assurance Lead salary in the North West is £61,500 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 1 January 2026.

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

6 months to
1 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 172 200 190
Rank change year-on-year +28 -10 +121
Permanent jobs requiring a QA Leader 7 5 1
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 0.11% 0.096% 0.026%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.13% 0.10% 0.027%
Number of salaries quoted 3 2 1
10th Percentile £39,650 - -
25th Percentile £46,625 £46,250 £52,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £61,500 £47,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +29.47% -13.64% +4.76%
75th Percentile £64,750 £48,750 £57,500
90th Percentile - - -
England median annual salary £60,000 £65,000 £56,250
% change year-on-year -7.69% +15.56% -19.64%

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 5,292 4,814 3,704
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 85.87% 92.58% 95.32%
Number of salaries quoted 2,849 2,546 2,878
10th Percentile £28,000 £32,750 £30,000
25th Percentile £35,000 £40,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £51,500 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year -2.91% -1.90% -0.47%
75th Percentile £65,000 £66,250 £68,750
90th Percentile £80,000 £80,000 £82,500
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -1.64%

QA Leader
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring 'QA Leader' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the North West.

QA Leader job vacancy trend in the North West

QA Leader
Salary Trend in the North West

Salary distribution trend for QA Leader job vacancies in the North West.

Salary distribution trend for QA Leader job vacancies in the North West

QA Leader
Salary Histogram in the North West

Salary distribution for jobs citing QA Leader in the North West over the 6 months to 1 January 2026.

Salary histogram for QA Leader in the North West

QA Leader
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 QA Leader within the North West region over the 6 months to 1 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Manchester +22 7 £61,500 +29.47% 2
QA Leader
England

QA Leader Skill Set
Top 17 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West

For the 6 months to 1 January 2026, QA Leader 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 QA Leader in the job title.

1 7 (100.00%) QA
2 2 (28.57%) AI
2 2 (28.57%) API Testing
2 2 (28.57%) C#
2 2 (28.57%) Coaching
2 2 (28.57%) Degree
2 2 (28.57%) Digital Strategy
2 2 (28.57%) Mentoring
2 2 (28.57%) People Management
2 2 (28.57%) QA Automation
2 2 (28.57%) Root Cause Analysis
2 2 (28.57%) SaaS
2 2 (28.57%) Selenium
2 2 (28.57%) Technical Leadership
2 2 (28.57%) Test Automation
3 1 (14.29%) Actionable Insight
3 1 (14.29%) Continuous Improvement

QA Leader 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:

Cloud Services
1 2 (28.57%) SaaS
Development Applications
1 2 (28.57%) Selenium
General
1 5 (71.43%) Finance
2 2 (28.57%) Banking
Miscellaneous
1 2 (28.57%) Product Ownership
Processes & Methodologies
1 2 (28.57%) AI
1 2 (28.57%) API Testing
1 2 (28.57%) Coaching
1 2 (28.57%) Digital Strategy
1 2 (28.57%) Mentoring
1 2 (28.57%) People Management
1 2 (28.57%) QA Automation
1 2 (28.57%) Root Cause Analysis
1 2 (28.57%) Technical Leadership
1 2 (28.57%) Test Automation
2 1 (14.29%) Actionable Insight
2 1 (14.29%) Continuous Improvement
Programming Languages
1 2 (28.57%) C#
Qualifications
1 2 (28.57%) Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 7 (100.00%) QA