Software Engineering Job Trends in Scotland

Software Engineering
UK > Scotland

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in Scotland requiring Software Engineering skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 21 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
21 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 17 7 3
Rank change year-on-year -10 -4 +1
Permanent jobs citing Software Engineering 279 291 2,907
As % of all permanent jobs in Scotland 8.30% 15.12% 46.50%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.40% 16.39% 50.26%
Number of salaries quoted 157 224 528
10th Percentile £39,308 £40,000 £38,750
25th Percentile £55,000 £47,500 £46,125
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £62,500 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% +4.17% -7.69%
75th Percentile £75,000 £83,000 £70,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £100,000 £98,474
UK median annual salary £70,000 £72,500 £62,500
% change year-on-year -3.45% +16.00% -10.71%

All Process & Methodology Skills
Scotland

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 Scotland.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 2,447 1,775 5,784
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in Scotland 72.76% 92.21% 92.53%
Number of salaries quoted 1,322 898 2,396
10th Percentile £28,250 £27,175 £28,500
25th Percentile £31,250 £41,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £55,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year -18.18% +4.76% -9.19%
75th Percentile £67,500 £75,000 £65,000
90th Percentile £84,875 £93,778 £80,000
UK median annual salary £57,500 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -4.17% +9.09% -10.86%

Software Engineering
Job Vacancy Trend in Scotland

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

Software Engineering job vacancy trend in Scotland

Software Engineering
Salary Trend in Scotland

Salary distribution trend for jobs in Scotland citing Software Engineering.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in Scotland citing Software Engineering

Software Engineering
Salary Histogram in Scotland

Salary distribution for jobs citing Software Engineering in Scotland over the 6 months to 21 April 2026.

Salary histogram for Software Engineering in Scotland

Software Engineering
Job Locations in Scotland

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Software Engineering within the Scotland region over the 6 months to 21 April 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
Edinburgh +1 196 £65,000 -2.26% 39
West Lothian -3 26 £65,000 +23.81% 8
Glasgow -39 18 £72,500 +2.11% 22
Aberdeen -10 9 £65,000 +44.44% 1
Banffshire - 8 £30,000 -
South Lanarkshire - 6 £55,000 - 1
South Ayrshire 0 4 £55,498 -4.37%
Fife -6 2 - - 6
Stirling - 2 - -
North Lanarkshire - 2 £80,000 - 1
Dundee -9 1 £80,000 -
Lanarkshire -9 1 £34,000 -54.67% 13
Midlothian - 1 - - 19
Scottish Borders - 1 £39,594 -
Software Engineering
UK

Software Engineering
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Scotland 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 5 (1.79%) Smallworld
2 1 (0.36%) Apache
2 1 (0.36%) Apache Airflow
Business Applications
1 1 (0.36%) Salesforce CRM
Cloud Services
1 36 (12.90%) Azure
2 18 (6.45%) Azure DevOps
3 11 (3.94%) Azure Key Vault
3 11 (3.94%) dbt
3 11 (3.94%) Snowflake
4 9 (3.23%) AWS
5 8 (2.87%) Serverless
6 7 (2.51%) Azure Data Factory
6 7 (2.51%) GitHub
6 7 (2.51%) GitHub Copilot
6 7 (2.51%) Power Automate
6 7 (2.51%) Power Platform
6 7 (2.51%) SaaS
7 3 (1.08%) Azure AI
7 3 (1.08%) Azure Machine Learning
7 3 (1.08%) Vertex AI
8 2 (0.72%) Amazon S3
8 2 (0.72%) AWS CloudFormation
8 2 (0.72%) AWS Lambda
8 2 (0.72%) GCP
Communications & Networking
1 16 (5.73%) RS-232
2 14 (5.02%) Ethernet
3 11 (3.94%) Broadband
4 2 (0.72%) Bluetooth
4 2 (0.72%) Wireless
5 1 (0.36%) Network Security
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (2.51%) Power BI
2 5 (1.79%) GIS
3 3 (1.08%) PostgreSQL
3 3 (1.08%) SQL Server
4 1 (0.36%) Amazon RDS
4 1 (0.36%) Amazon Redshift
4 1 (0.36%) DynamoDB
4 1 (0.36%) Elasticsearch
4 1 (0.36%) MySQL
4 1 (0.36%) NoSQL
4 1 (0.36%) Oracle Reports
4 1 (0.36%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 6 (2.15%) Storybook
2 3 (1.08%) Git
2 3 (1.08%) JIRA
3 2 (0.72%) Rational DOORS
3 2 (0.72%) Rational Rhapsody
3 2 (0.72%) Rational Statemate
4 1 (0.36%) Appium
4 1 (0.36%) LabVIEW
4 1 (0.36%) MLflow
4 1 (0.36%) Postman
4 1 (0.36%) Subversion
General
1 35 (12.54%) Finance
2 19 (6.81%) Social Skills
3 14 (5.02%) Games
4 8 (2.87%) Legal
5 7 (2.51%) Analytical Skills
5 7 (2.51%) Telecoms
6 6 (2.15%) Marketing
7 4 (1.43%) Banking
7 4 (1.43%) Military
8 3 (1.08%) Avionics
8 3 (1.08%) Electronics
8 3 (1.08%) Tech for Good
9 2 (0.72%) Influencing Skills
9 2 (0.72%) Public Sector
10 1 (0.36%) Aviation
10 1 (0.36%) Manufacturing
10 1 (0.36%) Police
Job Titles
1 208 (74.55%) Software Engineer
2 110 (39.43%) Senior
3 89 (31.90%) Senior Software Engineer
4 77 (27.60%) Embedded Engineer
4 77 (27.60%) Embedded Software Engineer
5 49 (17.56%) Senior Embedded Engineer
5 49 (17.56%) Senior Embedded Software Engineer
6 24 (8.60%) Lead
7 20 (7.17%) Principal Engineer
8 18 (6.45%) Principal Software Engineer
9 15 (5.38%) Engineering Manager
10 14 (5.02%) Linux Engineer
10 14 (5.02%) Senior Linux Engineer
11 13 (4.66%) Lead Software Engineer
12 12 (4.30%) Embedded Linux Engineer
12 12 (4.30%) Embedded Linux Software Engineer
13 11 (3.94%) Applications Engineer
13 11 (3.94%) Azure Engineer
14 9 (3.23%) Developer
15 8 (2.87%) Software Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 15 (5.38%) React
2 14 (5.02%) Yocto
3 12 (4.30%) .NET
3 12 (4.30%) OAuth
4 11 (3.94%) GraphQL
4 11 (3.94%) OpenAPI
4 11 (3.94%) Swagger
5 7 (2.51%) Next.js
6 6 (2.15%) AWS CDK
6 6 (2.15%) JSON
6 6 (2.15%) JSON-LD
7 4 (1.43%) Node.js
8 3 (1.08%) .NET Framework
8 3 (1.08%) AngularJS
8 3 (1.08%) LangChain
8 3 (1.08%) React Native
8 3 (1.08%) Semantic Kernel
8 3 (1.08%) Vue
9 2 (0.72%) .NET Core
9 2 (0.72%) Entity Framework
Miscellaneous
1 17 (6.09%) Cloud Native
2 14 (5.02%) Device Driver
3 13 (4.66%) Embedded Systems
4 11 (3.94%) CAN bus
5 9 (3.23%) Educational Technology
6 7 (2.51%) Low-Code
6 7 (2.51%) NHS
6 7 (2.51%) Onboarding
6 7 (2.51%) Self-Motivation
7 5 (1.79%) Legacy Code
7 5 (1.79%) Mobile App
8 4 (1.43%) Renewable Energy
9 3 (1.08%) Distributed Systems
9 3 (1.08%) Enterprise Cloud
10 2 (0.72%) Distributed Architecture
11 1 (0.36%) Cyber Threat
11 1 (0.36%) Data Structures
11 1 (0.36%) Product Ownership
11 1 (0.36%) Replication
11 1 (0.36%) Security Operations Centre
Operating Systems
1 29 (10.39%) Linux
2 26 (9.32%) Embedded Linux
3 8 (2.87%) Android
4 1 (0.36%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 73 (26.16%) Agile
2 34 (12.19%) CI/CD
2 34 (12.19%) Coaching
3 28 (10.04%) Problem-Solving
4 27 (9.68%) DevOps
5 24 (8.60%) Asset Management
6 23 (8.24%) Mentoring
7 19 (6.81%) OO
8 18 (6.45%) Test Automation
9 17 (6.09%) Infrastructure as Code
10 16 (5.73%) Observability
10 16 (5.73%) Scrum
11 15 (5.38%) Roadmaps
11 15 (5.38%) SDLC
12 14 (5.02%) Continuous Improvement
12 14 (5.02%) Cybersecurity
12 14 (5.02%) Microservices
13 13 (4.66%) AI
13 13 (4.66%) Data Integration
13 13 (4.66%) Line Management
Programming Languages
1 40 (14.34%) C
2 34 (12.19%) C++
3 31 (11.11%) Java
4 24 (8.60%) C#
5 23 (8.24%) SQL
6 20 (7.17%) Embedded C
7 18 (6.45%) Python
8 14 (5.02%) TypeScript
9 11 (3.94%) JavaScript
9 11 (3.94%) PowerShell
10 9 (3.23%) Kotlin
11 4 (1.43%) Ada
12 1 (0.36%) Bicep
12 1 (0.36%) MATLAB
12 1 (0.36%) Perl
12 1 (0.36%) Swift
Qualifications
1 5 (1.79%) Degree
2 4 (1.43%) BPSS Clearance
3 1 (0.36%) HND
3 1 (0.36%) SC Cleared
3 1 (0.36%) Security Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 11 (3.94%) IEC 61508
1 11 (3.94%) MISRA
1 11 (3.94%) MISRA C
2 7 (2.51%) Accessibility
3 6 (2.15%) WCAG
4 1 (0.36%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 1 (0.36%) NCSC
4 1 (0.36%) NIST
4 1 (0.36%) QA
4 1 (0.36%) SLA
System Software
1 14 (5.02%) Firmware
2 5 (1.79%) Embedded Firmware
3 2 (0.72%) Docker
4 1 (0.36%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 13 (4.66%) Terraform
2 11 (3.94%) Functional Safety
3 4 (1.43%) Kubernetes
4 1 (0.36%) Grafana
Vendors
1 14 (5.02%) Microsoft
2 3 (1.08%) Foundry
2 3 (1.08%) Google
3 2 (0.72%) Green Hills
3 2 (0.72%) Oracle
4 1 (0.36%) Remedy
4 1 (0.36%) Salesforce
4 1 (0.36%) Siemens