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 7 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
7 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 15 31 11
Rank change year-on-year +16 -20 +6
Permanent jobs citing Software Engineering 948 491 834
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 7.35% 9.36% 11.22%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 10.09% 10.46% 14.06%
Number of salaries quoted 757 162 372
10th Percentile £50,000 £47,518 £40,000
25th Percentile £60,000 £54,625 £48,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £67,500 £57,250
Median % change year-on-year +3.70% +17.90% -8.40%
75th Percentile £85,000 £85,938 £68,750
90th Percentile £100,000 £100,000 £77,500
England median annual salary £75,000 £77,500 £66,788
% change year-on-year -3.23% +16.04% -5.20%

All Process & 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 9,394 4,693 5,931
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 72.87% 89.49% 79.83%
Number of salaries quoted 6,992 2,208 3,132
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,500 £30,750
25th Percentile £41,250 £35,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £50,000 £50,055
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% -0.11% -8.99%
75th Percentile £75,000 £65,000 £65,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £80,000 £78,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% -8.33% -1.64%

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 7 October 2026.

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 7 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 +6 745 £71,991 +2.84% 487
Cheshire -6 82 £65,000 -3.70% 46
Merseyside +24 68 £75,000 +20.00% 22
Lancashire -12 37 £60,326 +26.51% 35
Cumbria +9 13 £50,000 -16.67% 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 7 (0.74%) Apache
2 6 (0.63%) Apache Spark
2 6 (0.63%) SharePoint Server
3 5 (0.53%) FactoryTalk
4 4 (0.42%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 4 (0.42%) Apache Airflow
4 4 (0.42%) CMS
5 3 (0.32%) Headless CMS
5 3 (0.32%) SharePoint
5 3 (0.32%) Tomcat
5 3 (0.32%) WebSphere
6 2 (0.21%) Apache Solr
6 2 (0.21%) nginx
6 2 (0.21%) WinCC
7 1 (0.11%) Confluence
7 1 (0.11%) Kentico
7 1 (0.11%) Umbraco
Applications
1 4 (0.42%) Trello
2 2 (0.21%) Microsoft Excel
2 2 (0.21%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 2 (0.21%) Dynamics CRM
Cloud Services
1 184 (19.41%) AWS
2 89 (9.39%) Azure
3 74 (7.81%) SaaS
4 44 (4.64%) Serverless
5 35 (3.69%) GCP
6 25 (2.64%) AWS Lambda
7 22 (2.32%) Azure DevOps
8 20 (2.11%) GitHub
9 19 (2.00%) Power Platform
10 18 (1.90%) Anthropic Claude
11 15 (1.58%) Datadog
12 13 (1.37%) Firebase
12 13 (1.37%) Route 53
13 12 (1.27%) Dynamics 365
14 9 (0.95%) Amazon S3
15 8 (0.84%) GitHub Copilot
15 8 (0.84%) Microsoft Copilot
16 7 (0.74%) AWS CloudFormation
17 6 (0.63%) Azure Functions
17 6 (0.63%) npm
Communications & Networking
1 7 (0.74%) TCP/IP
2 3 (0.32%) AMQP
2 3 (0.32%) Firewall
3 2 (0.21%) Bluetooth
3 2 (0.21%) Wi-Fi
3 2 (0.21%) Wireless
3 2 (0.21%) ZigBee
4 1 (0.11%) 5G
4 1 (0.11%) Network Security
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (2.43%) PostgreSQL
2 21 (2.22%) SQL Server
3 18 (1.90%) NoSQL
4 15 (1.58%) MongoDB
5 11 (1.16%) MySQL
6 7 (0.74%) Chroma
6 7 (0.74%) Pinecone
7 6 (0.63%) Relational Database
8 5 (0.53%) Power BI
8 5 (0.53%) Redis
9 4 (0.42%) Amazon RDS
9 4 (0.42%) Big Data
9 4 (0.42%) DynamoDB
9 4 (0.42%) MariaDB
9 4 (0.42%) Metadata
9 4 (0.42%) Power Query
10 3 (0.32%) Azure SQL Database
10 3 (0.32%) Cloudera CDH
10 3 (0.32%) Hadoop
11 2 (0.21%) FileMaker
Development Applications
1 29 (3.06%) Git
2 17 (1.79%) GitLab
3 16 (1.69%) Claude Code
4 12 (1.27%) JUnit
5 11 (1.16%) Maven
6 9 (0.95%) Jenkins
6 9 (0.95%) JIRA
6 9 (0.95%) Spock
7 6 (0.63%) Cypress.io
8 4 (0.42%) IntelliJ
8 4 (0.42%) Storybook
8 4 (0.42%) Vagrant
9 3 (0.32%) Mockito
9 3 (0.32%) Selenium
10 2 (0.21%) Atlassian Bamboo
10 2 (0.21%) Bitbucket
10 2 (0.21%) Mocha
10 2 (0.21%) Vite
11 1 (0.11%) Gemini Tracker
11 1 (0.11%) NUnit
General
1 86 (9.07%) Finance
2 85 (8.97%) Social Skills
3 36 (3.80%) Retail
4 29 (3.06%) Public Sector
5 22 (2.32%) Electronics
6 21 (2.22%) Legal
7 18 (1.90%) Analytical Skills
8 16 (1.69%) Aviation
8 16 (1.69%) Publishing
9 15 (1.58%) Aerospace
10 14 (1.48%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 14 (1.48%) Law
11 10 (1.05%) Manufacturing
12 7 (0.74%) Banking
12 7 (0.74%) Games
13 6 (0.63%) Billing
14 5 (0.53%) Automotive
14 5 (0.53%) iGaming
14 5 (0.53%) Marketing
15 3 (0.32%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 614 (64.77%) Software Engineer
2 301 (31.75%) Senior
3 218 (23.00%) Senior Software Engineer
4 126 (13.29%) Lead
5 91 (9.60%) Developer
6 90 (9.49%) Lead Software Engineer
7 61 (6.43%) Principal Engineer
8 53 (5.59%) Java Engineer
9 52 (5.49%) Principal Software Engineer
10 47 (4.96%) Software Manager
11 45 (4.75%) Java Software Engineer
12 44 (4.64%) Full-Stack Engineer
13 41 (4.32%) Engineering Manager
14 40 (4.22%) Embedded Engineer
15 39 (4.11%) Python Engineer
16 37 (3.90%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
17 36 (3.80%) Senior Developer
17 36 (3.80%) Senior Java Engineer
18 33 (3.48%) Embedded Software Engineer
19 31 (3.27%) Software Engineering Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 89 (9.39%) React
2 78 (8.23%) .NET
3 49 (5.17%) Spring
4 40 (4.22%) Node.js
5 36 (3.80%) Spring Boot
5 36 (3.80%) Terraform
6 32 (3.38%) Next.js
7 29 (3.06%) AngularJS
8 25 (2.64%) REST
9 23 (2.43%) React Native
9 23 (2.43%) Vue
10 19 (2.00%) RESTful
11 18 (1.90%) Kafka
12 14 (1.48%) Ruby on Rails
13 13 (1.37%) FastAPI
14 12 (1.27%) CSS
15 11 (1.16%) .NET Core
15 11 (1.16%) LangChain
16 10 (1.05%) Playwright
17 6 (0.63%) Jest
Miscellaneous
1 106 (11.18%) Cloud Native
2 50 (5.27%) Distributed Systems
3 39 (4.11%) Product Ownership
4 28 (2.95%) AI Agents
5 18 (1.90%) Mobile App
6 14 (1.48%) Legacy Systems
7 12 (1.27%) Media Streaming
7 12 (1.27%) Podcast
8 11 (1.16%) Greenfield Project
9 10 (1.05%) Embedded Systems
10 9 (0.95%) Private Cloud
11 7 (0.74%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
11 7 (0.74%) Life Science
12 6 (0.63%) Onboarding
12 6 (0.63%) Self-Motivation
13 5 (0.53%) Management Information System
13 5 (0.53%) Virtual Team
14 4 (0.42%) Driving Licence
14 4 (0.42%) Low-Code
14 4 (0.42%) Taxonomies
Operating Systems
1 43 (4.54%) Linux
2 14 (1.48%) Windows
3 9 (0.95%) Embedded Linux
4 6 (0.63%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 5 (0.53%) Android
6 4 (0.42%) VMS
7 3 (0.32%) CentOS
7 3 (0.32%) Debian
7 3 (0.32%) Ubuntu
7 3 (0.32%) Unix
8 2 (0.21%) Apple iOS
8 2 (0.21%) FreeRTOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 166 (17.51%) AI
2 162 (17.09%) Agile
3 142 (14.98%) CI/CD
4 129 (13.61%) DevOps
5 124 (13.08%) Full-Stack Development
6 118 (12.45%) Mentoring
7 95 (10.02%) Continuous Improvement
8 92 (9.70%) Problem-Solving
9 88 (9.28%) Microservices
10 70 (7.38%) Observability
11 67 (7.07%) Test Automation
12 59 (6.22%) Technical Leadership
13 57 (6.01%) Code Quality
14 49 (5.17%) Collaborative Culture
14 49 (5.17%) Roadmaps
15 47 (4.96%) Stakeholder Management
15 47 (4.96%) TDD
16 46 (4.85%) Event-Driven
17 45 (4.75%) Containerisation
18 42 (4.43%) Infrastructure as Code
Programming Languages
1 142 (14.98%) Python
2 140 (14.77%) Java
3 126 (13.29%) TypeScript
4 91 (9.60%) C#
5 86 (9.07%) SQL
6 80 (8.44%) JavaScript
7 33 (3.48%) Go
8 23 (2.43%) C++
9 16 (1.69%) C
10 15 (1.58%) Ruby
11 11 (1.16%) PHP
12 9 (0.95%) Bash
13 5 (0.53%) Scala
14 4 (0.42%) Groovy
14 4 (0.42%) PowerShell
15 3 (0.32%) Ladder Logic
15 3 (0.32%) T-SQL
16 2 (0.21%) Kotlin
16 2 (0.21%) Shell Script
16 2 (0.21%) VB.NET
Qualifications
1 75 (7.91%) Security Cleared
2 59 (6.22%) SC Cleared
3 39 (4.11%) DV Cleared
4 33 (3.48%) Degree
5 17 (1.79%) Computer Science Degree
6 6 (0.63%) DBS Check
6 6 (0.63%) PMI Certification
7 4 (0.42%) BPSS Clearance
7 4 (0.42%) Master's Degree
7 4 (0.42%) PMP
8 2 (0.21%) Azure Certification
8 2 (0.21%) Microsoft Certification
9 1 (0.11%) AWS Certification
9 1 (0.11%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
9 1 (0.11%) Microsoft Certified Professional
9 1 (0.11%) Postgraduate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 30 (3.16%) QA
2 18 (1.90%) Accessibility
3 7 (0.74%) Data Quality
3 7 (0.74%) WCAG
4 4 (0.42%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 3 (0.32%) GDPR
5 3 (0.32%) IEC 61131
6 2 (0.21%) IEC 61508
7 1 (0.11%) GRC
System Software
1 62 (6.54%) Docker
2 7 (0.74%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 59 (6.22%) Kubernetes
2 13 (1.37%) Ansible
3 4 (0.42%) Grafana
3 4 (0.42%) Packer
3 4 (0.42%) Progress Chef
3 4 (0.42%) Prometheus
4 3 (0.32%) Podman
4 3 (0.32%) Puppet
5 2 (0.21%) Argo
5 2 (0.21%) Microsoft Intune
6 1 (0.11%) Functional Safety
6 1 (0.11%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 26 (2.74%) Microsoft
2 18 (1.90%) Splunk
3 15 (1.58%) Google
4 10 (1.05%) OpenAI
5 9 (0.95%) AppDynamics
5 9 (0.95%) Databricks
6 8 (0.84%) Rockwell
7 6 (0.63%) Red Hat
7 6 (0.63%) Siemens
8 5 (0.53%) New Relic
8 5 (0.53%) YouTube
9 4 (0.42%) Adobe
9 4 (0.42%) Mistral
9 4 (0.42%) OneTrust
9 4 (0.42%) Xamarin
10 3 (0.32%) IBM
10 3 (0.32%) SaltStack
10 3 (0.32%) Thales
11 2 (0.21%) MEDITECH
12 1 (0.11%) Alteryx