Software Engineering Job Trends in the North West

Software Engineering
England > North West

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the North West requiring Software Engineering skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 11 November 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
11 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 49 10 14
Rank change year-on-year -39 +4 -1
Permanent jobs citing Software Engineering 234 763 429
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 4.47% 11.13% 10.89%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 5.24% 13.70% 11.57%
Number of salaries quoted 180 317 284
10th Percentile £46,250 £40,000 £41,250
25th Percentile £55,000 £48,750 £48,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £57,500 £63,500
Median % change year-on-year +21.74% -9.45% +5.83%
75th Percentile £87,500 £68,750 £76,563
90th Percentile £100,250 £75,000 £86,250
England median annual salary £75,000 £68,000 £70,000
% change year-on-year +10.29% -2.86% -

All Process and Methodology Skills
North West

Software Engineering falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in the North West.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 4,464 5,571 3,707
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 85.26% 81.26% 94.13%
Number of salaries quoted 2,423 2,744 2,815
10th Percentile £27,000 £32,114 £31,250
25th Percentile £35,000 £40,000 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £52,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -3.85% -5.45% +4.76%
75th Percentile £65,000 £65,000 £70,000
90th Percentile £80,000 £78,750 £83,750
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - 0.00%

Software Engineering
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Software Engineering relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Software Engineering job vacancy trend in the North West

Software Engineering
Salary Trend in the North West

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Software Engineering.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Software Engineering

Software Engineering
Salary Histogram in the North West

Salary distribution for jobs citing Software Engineering in the North West over the 6 months to 11 November 2025.

Salary histogram for Software Engineering in the North West

Software Engineering
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 Software Engineering within the North West region over the 6 months to 11 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
Manchester -16 181 £72,500 +20.83% 224
Cheshire -29 33 £60,000 +10.09% 34
Lancashire -55 10 £51,342 +1.67% 84
Merseyside -29 9 £62,500 -3.85% 5
Cumbria +4 1 £60,000 +4.35% 3
Software Engineering
England

Software Engineering
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 9 (3.85%) Confluence
2 3 (1.28%) Apache
2 3 (1.28%) Apache Solr
2 3 (1.28%) Apache Spark
3 2 (0.85%) Apache Airflow
3 2 (0.85%) IIS
3 2 (0.85%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.43%) CMS
4 1 (0.43%) OpenStack
Applications
1 4 (1.71%) Microsoft Excel
1 4 (1.71%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (1.28%) Adobe XD
2 3 (1.28%) Sketch
3 2 (0.85%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 2 (0.85%) Microsoft Project
3 2 (0.85%) MS Visio
3 2 (0.85%) Simulink
4 1 (0.43%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 1 (0.43%) Dynamics CRM
Cloud Services
1 84 (35.90%) AWS
2 66 (28.21%) Azure
3 24 (10.26%) SaaS
4 18 (7.69%) GCP
5 14 (5.98%) Serverless
6 13 (5.56%) GitHub
7 10 (4.27%) AWS Lambda
8 9 (3.85%) Azure DevOps
8 9 (3.85%) Power Platform
9 6 (2.56%) Microsoft 365
10 5 (2.14%) IaaS
10 5 (2.14%) PaaS
11 4 (1.71%) AWS CloudFormation
12 3 (1.28%) Amazon ECS
12 3 (1.28%) Amazon EKS
12 3 (1.28%) Amazon S3
12 3 (1.28%) Figma
12 3 (1.28%) OpenShift
13 2 (0.85%) AWS Step Functions
13 2 (0.85%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 3 (1.28%) Internet
2 2 (0.85%) AMQP
2 2 (0.85%) HTTP
3 1 (0.43%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 24 (10.26%) NoSQL
2 21 (8.97%) MongoDB
3 14 (5.98%) PostgreSQL
4 11 (4.70%) MySQL
5 7 (2.99%) SQL Server
6 6 (2.56%) Relational Database
7 5 (2.14%) Data Warehouse
7 5 (2.14%) Power BI
8 4 (1.71%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
8 4 (1.71%) DynamoDB
8 4 (1.71%) Elasticsearch
9 3 (1.28%) Big Data
9 3 (1.28%) Neo4j
10 2 (0.85%) Amazon RDS
10 2 (0.85%) Amazon Redshift
10 2 (0.85%) Cloudera CDH
10 2 (0.85%) Data Hub
10 2 (0.85%) Hadoop
10 2 (0.85%) SQL CLR
11 1 (0.43%) DocumentDB
Development Applications
1 10 (4.27%) JIRA
2 9 (3.85%) Cypress.io
2 9 (3.85%) Git
3 8 (3.42%) GitLab
4 6 (2.56%) Cucumber
4 6 (2.56%) Selenium
5 5 (2.14%) Jenkins
6 2 (0.85%) Visual Studio
6 2 (0.85%) webpack
7 1 (0.43%) Gatling
7 1 (0.43%) Jasmine
7 1 (0.43%) JMeter
7 1 (0.43%) Karma Test Runner
7 1 (0.43%) LoadRunner
7 1 (0.43%) NUnit
7 1 (0.43%) Protractor
General
1 47 (20.09%) Finance
2 38 (16.24%) Social Skills
3 9 (3.85%) Marketing
3 9 (3.85%) Public Sector
3 9 (3.85%) Retail
4 7 (2.99%) Analytical Skills
4 7 (2.99%) Banking
4 7 (2.99%) Legal
5 6 (2.56%) Manufacturing
5 6 (2.56%) Telecoms
6 5 (2.14%) Billing
6 5 (2.14%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 4 (1.71%) Electronics
7 4 (1.71%) Games
7 4 (1.71%) Influencing Skills
8 3 (1.28%) Financial Institution
9 2 (0.85%) Aerospace
9 2 (0.85%) Automotive
9 2 (0.85%) Back Office
9 2 (0.85%) Organisational Skills
Job Titles
1 111 (47.44%) Software Engineer
2 72 (30.77%) Senior
3 39 (16.67%) Senior Software Engineer
4 32 (13.68%) Developer
5 29 (12.39%) Lead
6 15 (6.41%) Java Engineer
7 12 (5.13%) DV Cleared Software Engineer
7 12 (5.13%) Java Software Engineer
7 12 (5.13%) Lead Software Engineer
8 11 (4.70%) AWS Engineer
8 11 (4.70%) Python Engineer
8 11 (4.70%) Systems Engineer
9 10 (4.27%) Architect
10 9 (3.85%) Control Systems Engineer
10 9 (3.85%) Data Engineer
10 9 (3.85%) Principal Engineer
10 9 (3.85%) Python Software Engineer
10 9 (3.85%) Senior Developer
10 9 (3.85%) Senior Systems Engineer
11 8 (3.42%) Senior Data Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 50 (21.37%) React
2 47 (20.09%) .NET
3 24 (10.26%) Spring
3 24 (10.26%) Spring Boot
4 21 (8.97%) AngularJS
5 18 (7.69%) RESTful
6 16 (6.84%) Kafka
7 15 (6.41%) Node.js
8 13 (5.56%) .NET Core
8 13 (5.56%) CSS
9 12 (5.13%) HTML
10 11 (4.70%) .NET Framework
11 10 (4.27%) REST
12 9 (3.85%) Jest
12 9 (3.85%) Vue
13 8 (3.42%) Next.js
14 7 (2.99%) Entity Framework
14 7 (2.99%) FastAPI
15 6 (2.56%) RabbitMQ
16 5 (2.14%) React Native
Miscellaneous
1 30 (12.82%) Cloud Native
2 17 (7.26%) Distributed Systems
2 17 (7.26%) Greenfield Project
2 17 (7.26%) Product Ownership
3 9 (3.85%) SCADA
4 8 (3.42%) Wiki
5 7 (2.99%) AI Agents
6 4 (1.71%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
7 3 (1.28%) BBC
7 3 (1.28%) Enterprise Software
7 3 (1.28%) Legacy Systems
7 3 (1.28%) Mobile App
7 3 (1.28%) Onboarding
7 3 (1.28%) Private Cloud
7 3 (1.28%) SWIFT Messaging Network
8 2 (0.85%) Client/Server
8 2 (0.85%) Distributed Computing
8 2 (0.85%) Embedded Systems
8 2 (0.85%) Marketing Technology
8 2 (0.85%) Team-Oriented Environment
Operating Systems
1 6 (2.56%) Linux
1 6 (2.56%) Windows
2 4 (1.71%) Windows Server
3 2 (0.85%) CentOS
3 2 (0.85%) Debian
3 2 (0.85%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
3 2 (0.85%) Ubuntu
4 1 (0.43%) Android
4 1 (0.43%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 84 (35.90%) Agile
2 81 (34.62%) CI/CD
3 62 (26.50%) DevOps
4 54 (23.08%) Microservices
5 42 (17.95%) TDD
6 39 (16.67%) Mentoring
7 38 (16.24%) Containerisation
8 30 (12.82%) Continuous Improvement
8 30 (12.82%) Full-Stack Development
8 30 (12.82%) Problem-Solving
9 25 (10.68%) AI
10 21 (8.97%) Coaching
11 19 (8.12%) Clean Code
12 18 (7.69%) Code Quality
12 18 (7.69%) Event-Driven
12 18 (7.69%) Fintech
12 18 (7.69%) Stakeholder Management
12 18 (7.69%) Test Automation
13 17 (7.26%) Computer Science
13 17 (7.26%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 58 (24.79%) Java
2 53 (22.65%) C#
3 43 (18.38%) SQL
4 41 (17.52%) TypeScript
5 38 (16.24%) Python
6 30 (12.82%) JavaScript
7 6 (2.56%) C++
8 5 (2.14%) PHP
8 5 (2.14%) Ruby
9 4 (1.71%) C
10 3 (1.28%) Kotlin
10 3 (1.28%) Rust
11 2 (0.85%) Bash
11 2 (0.85%) Embedded C++
11 2 (0.85%) Go
11 2 (0.85%) MATLAB
11 2 (0.85%) Scala
12 1 (0.43%) Embedded C
12 1 (0.43%) PowerShell
12 1 (0.43%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 27 (11.54%) Security Cleared
2 20 (8.55%) Degree
3 18 (7.69%) DV Cleared
4 13 (5.56%) Computer Science Degree
5 10 (4.27%) SC Cleared
6 2 (0.85%) DBS Check
6 2 (0.85%) HNC
6 2 (0.85%) HND
6 2 (0.85%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
6 2 (0.85%) Postgraduate
7 1 (0.43%) AWS Certification
7 1 (0.43%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 6 (2.56%) QA
2 4 (1.71%) Accessibility
3 3 (1.28%) ISO 20022
3 3 (1.28%) SEPA
3 3 (1.28%) TARGET2
4 1 (0.43%) Actionable Recommendations
4 1 (0.43%) Data Quality
4 1 (0.43%) GDPR
4 1 (0.43%) MISRA
4 1 (0.43%) MISRA C
4 1 (0.43%) WCAG
System Software
1 46 (19.66%) Docker
2 2 (0.85%) Active Directory
2 2 (0.85%) VMware Infrastructure
3 1 (0.43%) KVM
3 1 (0.43%) QEMU
Systems Management
1 38 (16.24%) Kubernetes
2 19 (8.12%) Terraform
3 7 (2.99%) Ansible
4 4 (1.71%) Grafana
5 3 (1.28%) Puppet
6 2 (0.85%) Progress Chef
7 1 (0.43%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
7 1 (0.43%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 24 (10.26%) Microsoft
2 5 (2.14%) BiZZdesign
2 5 (2.14%) Google
3 4 (1.71%) Cisco
3 4 (1.71%) Oracle
3 4 (1.71%) Salesforce
3 4 (1.71%) SAP
4 3 (1.28%) Databricks
4 3 (1.28%) SaltStack
5 2 (0.85%) Avaya
5 2 (0.85%) Concur
5 2 (0.85%) Ping Identity
5 2 (0.85%) Red Hat
5 2 (0.85%) Sage
5 2 (0.85%) VMware
6 1 (0.43%) Adobe
6 1 (0.43%) Atlassian
6 1 (0.43%) Dynatrace
6 1 (0.43%) IBM
6 1 (0.43%) TOWER Software