Lead Job Trends in the Thames Valley

Leader
South East > Thames Valley

The median Leader salary in the Thames Valley is £75,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 16 September 2026.

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

6 months to
16 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 14 9 24
Rank change year-on-year -5 +15 +21
Permanent jobs requiring a Lead 476 543 338
As % of all permanent jobs in the Thames Valley 6.61% 14.04% 6.98%
As % of the Job Titles category 7.02% 15.37% 7.34%
Number of salaries quoted 349 136 157
10th Percentile £30,000 £41,000 £47,500
25th Percentile £49,168 £58,625 £55,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £75,000 £75,000 £70,000
Median % change year-on-year - +7.14% +3.70%
75th Percentile £90,000 £85,000 £80,000
90th Percentile £100,000 £98,750 £95,000
South East median annual salary £75,000 £72,250 £65,000
% change year-on-year +3.81% +11.15% -

All Permanent IT Job Roles
Thames Valley

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies in the Thames Valley. 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 Thames Valley with a recognized job title 6,777 3,532 4,607
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 94.10% 91.31% 95.13%
Number of salaries quoted 4,798 1,588 2,564
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,000 £31,125
25th Percentile £40,000 £35,750 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £48,750 £52,000
Median % change year-on-year +12.82% -6.25% -5.45%
75th Percentile £70,094 £67,500 £70,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £82,500 £81,250
South East median annual salary £55,000 £50,000 £52,000
% change year-on-year +10.00% -3.85% -5.45%

Lead
Job Vacancy Trend in the Thames Valley

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring 'Lead' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the Thames Valley.

Lead job vacancy trend in the Thames Valley

Lead
Salary Trend in the Thames Valley

Salary distribution trend for Lead job vacancies in the Thames Valley.

Salary distribution trend for Lead job vacancies in the Thames Valley

Lead
Salary Histogram in the Thames Valley

Salary distribution for jobs citing Lead in the Thames Valley over the 6 months to 16 September 2026.

Salary histogram for Lead in the Thames Valley

Lead
Job Locations in the Thames Valley

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Lead within the Thames Valley region over the 6 months to 16 September 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
Berkshire -8 191 £80,000 +6.67% 478
Buckinghamshire +22 163 £70,000 - 184
Oxfordshire +34 122 £65,000 -18.75% 144
Lead
South East

Lead Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the Thames Valley

For the 6 months to 16 September 2026, Lead 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 Thames Valley region featuring Lead in the job title.

1 65 (13.66%) Azure
2 59 (12.39%) Continuous Improvement
3 52 (10.92%) Microsoft
4 44 (9.24%) QA
4 44 (9.24%) Software Engineering
5 43 (9.03%) Mentoring
6 39 (8.19%) SAP
7 38 (7.98%) AI
8 35 (7.35%) Technical Leadership
9 33 (6.93%) Problem-Solving
9 33 (6.93%) Salesforce
10 28 (5.88%) Security Cleared
11 27 (5.67%) AWS
11 27 (5.67%) Decision-Making
12 26 (5.46%) C#
12 26 (5.46%) SaaS
13 25 (5.25%) .NET
13 25 (5.25%) Coaching
13 25 (5.25%) Lead Generation
14 24 (5.04%) DevOps
15 23 (4.83%) CRM
15 23 (4.83%) Degree
16 22 (4.62%) Agile
16 22 (4.62%) CI/CD
16 22 (4.62%) Power Platform
16 22 (4.62%) Roadmaps
16 22 (4.62%) SC Cleared
16 22 (4.62%) Stakeholder Management
17 21 (4.41%) Accessibility
17 21 (4.41%) Test Automation

Lead Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the Thames Valley 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 (1.05%) SharePoint
2 3 (0.63%) Confluence
3 1 (0.21%) ArchestrA
Applications
1 2 (0.42%) Microsoft Excel
1 2 (0.42%) SOLIDWORKS
2 1 (0.21%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 18 (3.78%) SAP S/4HANA
2 7 (1.47%) SAP HCM
2 7 (1.47%) SAP Payroll
3 6 (1.26%) SAP IBP
4 5 (1.05%) Dynamics CRM
5 1 (0.21%) Remedy ITSM
5 1 (0.21%) SAP CO
5 1 (0.21%) SAP FI
5 1 (0.21%) SAP FI/CO
5 1 (0.21%) SAP MDG
Cloud Services
1 65 (13.66%) Azure
2 27 (5.67%) AWS
3 26 (5.46%) SaaS
4 22 (4.62%) Power Platform
5 10 (2.10%) PaaS
6 7 (1.47%) Azure DevOps
6 7 (1.47%) SuccessFactors
7 6 (1.26%) Microsoft 365
8 5 (1.05%) AWS Lambda
8 5 (1.05%) Dynamics 365
8 5 (1.05%) Serverless
9 4 (0.84%) GitHub
9 4 (0.84%) OpenShift
10 3 (0.63%) Amazon S3
11 2 (0.42%) Azure Cosmos DB
11 2 (0.42%) GCP
11 2 (0.42%) Power Automate
11 2 (0.42%) PowerApps
12 1 (0.21%) Amplience
12 1 (0.21%) Bloomreach
Communications & Networking
1 5 (1.05%) LAN
2 4 (0.84%) Firewall
3 3 (0.63%) Internet
3 3 (0.63%) Network Security
3 3 (0.63%) WAN
3 3 (0.63%) Wi-Fi
3 3 (0.63%) Wireless
4 2 (0.42%) Broadband
4 2 (0.42%) DHCP
4 2 (0.42%) DNS
4 2 (0.42%) SMS
4 2 (0.42%) Unified Communications
4 2 (0.42%) VLAN
4 2 (0.42%) VoIP
4 2 (0.42%) VPN
4 2 (0.42%) WLAN
5 1 (0.21%) Modbus
5 1 (0.21%) MQTT
5 1 (0.21%) Software-Defined Networking
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (0.84%) Power BI
2 3 (0.63%) Data Warehouse
2 3 (0.63%) SQL Server
3 1 (0.21%) IBM InfoSphere
3 1 (0.21%) Metadata
3 1 (0.21%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 9 (1.89%) JIRA
2 6 (1.26%) Postman
3 4 (0.84%) Cucumber
3 4 (0.84%) Git
3 4 (0.84%) Yeoman
4 2 (0.42%) JUnit
4 2 (0.42%) SpecFlow
General
1 46 (9.66%) Social Skills
2 35 (7.35%) Finance
3 23 (4.83%) Electronics
4 20 (4.20%) Analytical Skills
5 19 (3.99%) Influencing Skills
6 18 (3.78%) Aerospace
7 17 (3.57%) Manufacturing
8 16 (3.36%) Organisational Skills
9 13 (2.73%) Legal
10 11 (2.31%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 9 (1.89%) Automotive
12 7 (1.47%) Marketing
13 5 (1.05%) Public Sector
14 4 (0.84%) Games
14 4 (0.84%) Retail
15 3 (0.63%) Documentation Skills
15 3 (0.63%) Law
15 3 (0.63%) Pharmaceutical
16 2 (0.42%) Presentation Skills
16 2 (0.42%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (5.25%) .NET
2 18 (3.78%) React
3 16 (3.36%) Node.js
4 6 (1.26%) .NET Framework
5 5 (1.05%) AngularJS
5 5 (1.05%) Playwright
6 4 (0.84%) Gherkin
6 4 (0.84%) Lightning Web Components
6 4 (0.84%) Razor View Engine
6 4 (0.84%) Swagger
6 4 (0.84%) Terraform
7 3 (0.63%) Loki
7 3 (0.63%) OpenTelemetry
7 3 (0.63%) REST
8 2 (0.42%) ASP.NET Web API
8 2 (0.42%) SailPoint
8 2 (0.42%) WPF
9 1 (0.21%) Middleware
9 1 (0.21%) SOAP
9 1 (0.21%) Visualforce
Miscellaneous
1 20 (4.20%) Cloud Native
2 9 (1.89%) Home Automation
2 9 (1.89%) Onboarding
2 9 (1.89%) Product Ownership
3 8 (1.68%) Private Cloud
4 5 (1.05%) Public Cloud
5 4 (0.84%) AI Agents
5 4 (0.84%) Cyber Threat
5 4 (0.84%) Management Information System
6 3 (0.63%) Hybrid Cloud
6 3 (0.63%) Pharmacovigilance
6 3 (0.63%) SCADA
6 3 (0.63%) Security Posture
6 3 (0.63%) Self-Motivation
6 3 (0.63%) Web Conferencing
7 2 (0.42%) Distributed Systems
7 2 (0.42%) Driving Licence
7 2 (0.42%) Greenfield Project
7 2 (0.42%) IVR
7 2 (0.42%) Manufacturing Execution System
Operating Systems
1 5 (1.05%) Linux
2 4 (0.84%) Windows
3 1 (0.21%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 59 (12.39%) Continuous Improvement
2 44 (9.24%) Software Engineering
3 43 (9.03%) Mentoring
4 38 (7.98%) AI
5 35 (7.35%) Technical Leadership
6 33 (6.93%) Problem-Solving
7 27 (5.67%) Decision-Making
8 25 (5.25%) Coaching
8 25 (5.25%) Lead Generation
9 24 (5.04%) DevOps
10 23 (4.83%) CRM
11 22 (4.62%) Agile
11 22 (4.62%) CI/CD
11 22 (4.62%) Roadmaps
11 22 (4.62%) Stakeholder Management
12 21 (4.41%) Test Automation
13 20 (4.20%) Translating Business Requirements
14 19 (3.99%) B2B
15 17 (3.57%) Full-Stack Development
16 16 (3.36%) Site Reliability Engineering
Programming Languages
1 26 (5.46%) C#
2 17 (3.57%) SQL
3 16 (3.36%) JavaScript
4 14 (2.94%) ABAP
5 11 (2.31%) Python
6 5 (1.05%) C
7 4 (0.84%) Apex Code
8 1 (0.21%) C++
8 1 (0.21%) Java
8 1 (0.21%) Shell Script
8 1 (0.21%) SOQL
Qualifications
1 28 (5.88%) Security Cleared
2 23 (4.83%) Degree
3 22 (4.62%) SC Cleared
4 5 (1.05%) CISSP
4 5 (1.05%) DV Cleared
5 4 (0.84%) CRISC
5 4 (0.84%) ISACA
6 3 (0.63%) Postgraduate
7 2 (0.42%) CCNA
7 2 (0.42%) CCNP
7 2 (0.42%) Cisco Certification
7 2 (0.42%) CSQA
7 2 (0.42%) HNC
7 2 (0.42%) HND
7 2 (0.42%) ICAEW
7 2 (0.42%) ISTQB
8 1 (0.21%) Microsoft Certification
8 1 (0.21%) NVQ Level 3
8 1 (0.21%) PMI Certification
8 1 (0.21%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 44 (9.24%) QA
2 21 (4.41%) Accessibility
3 8 (1.68%) 21 CFR Part 11
3 8 (1.68%) GLP
3 8 (1.68%) GMP
3 8 (1.68%) Good Clinical Practice
3 8 (1.68%) GxP
4 7 (1.47%) Data Quality
5 6 (1.26%) SLA
6 5 (1.05%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 4 (0.84%) GRC
7 4 (0.84%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 1 (0.21%) Cyber Essentials
8 1 (0.21%) ECSS
8 1 (0.21%) GDPR
8 1 (0.21%) ISO/IEC 15288
8 1 (0.21%) NCSC
8 1 (0.21%) NIST
System Software
1 5 (1.05%) Docker
2 3 (0.63%) Active Directory
2 3 (0.63%) Firmware
2 3 (0.63%) Hyper-V
3 1 (0.21%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 5 (1.05%) Kubernetes
2 3 (0.63%) Argo
2 3 (0.63%) Grafana
2 3 (0.63%) Kustomize
2 3 (0.63%) Prometheus
3 1 (0.21%) Istio
3 1 (0.21%) MOM
Vendors
1 52 (10.92%) Microsoft
2 39 (8.19%) SAP
3 33 (6.93%) Salesforce
4 4 (0.84%) EMC
5 3 (0.63%) Aruba
5 3 (0.63%) Oracle
5 3 (0.63%) Thales
6 2 (0.42%) Adobe
6 2 (0.42%) CA Agile Central
6 2 (0.42%) Cadence
6 2 (0.42%) Cisco
6 2 (0.42%) CyberArk
6 2 (0.42%) Databricks
6 2 (0.42%) Fortinet
6 2 (0.42%) Informatica
6 2 (0.42%) JDA
6 2 (0.42%) Mentor Graphics
6 2 (0.42%) Palo Alto
6 2 (0.42%) Red Hat
6 2 (0.42%) VMware