Lead Data Scientist Job Trends in the UK excluding London
Lead Data Scientist
UK > UK excluding London
The median Lead Data Scientist salary in the UK excluding London is £80,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 18 October 2026.
The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 18 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 597 | 533 | 602 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -64 | +69 | -59 |
| Permanent jobs requiring a Lead Data Scientist | 73 | 5 | 8 |
| As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London | 0.083% | 0.015% | 0.016% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.090% | 0.016% | 0.017% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 37 | 5 | 6 |
| 10th Percentile | - | £80,500 | - |
| 25th Percentile | £75,000 | - | £49,396 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £80,000 | £85,000 | £50,120 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -5.88% | +69.59% | -45.98% |
| 75th Percentile | £100,000 | - | £65,392 |
| 90th Percentile | - | - | £72,500 |
| UK median annual salary | £100,000 | £85,000 | £63,000 |
| % change year-on-year | +17.65% | +34.92% | -32.10% |
All Permanent IT Job Roles
UK excluding London
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies in the UK excluding London. 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.
| 6 months to 18 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent vacancies in the UK excluding London with a recognized job title | 80,907 | 30,649 | 46,936 |
| % of permanent jobs with a recognized job title | 92.26% | 89.72% | 95.41% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 55,756 | 17,542 | 25,700 |
| 10th Percentile | £30,000 | £26,750 | £30,000 |
| 25th Percentile | £40,000 | £32,000 | £40,000 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £55,000 | £45,390 | £50,000 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +21.17% | -9.22% | -4.76% |
| 75th Percentile | £70,000 | £63,750 | £65,000 |
| 90th Percentile | £87,500 | £79,725 | £80,000 |
| UK median annual salary | £58,750 | £52,500 | £56,000 |
| % change year-on-year | +11.90% | -6.25% | -6.67% |
Lead Data Scientist Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London
Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring 'Lead Data Scientist' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.
Lead Data Scientist Salary Trend in the UK excluding London
Salary distribution trend for Lead Data Scientist job vacancies in the UK excluding London.
Lead Data Scientist Salary Histogram in the UK excluding London
Salary distribution for jobs citing Lead Data Scientist in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 18 October 2026.
Lead Data Scientist Job Locations in the UK excluding London
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Lead Data Scientist within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Midlands | - | 26 | £77,513 | - | 9 |
| East Midlands | - | 24 | £80,000 | - | 5 |
| North of England | -57 | 16 | £83,774 | +1.54% | 7 |
| South East | - | 14 | £75,000 | - | |
| Yorkshire | - | 13 | £91,887 | - | 4 |
| Wales | - | 8 | £100,000 | - | 2 |
| Northern Ireland | - | 5 | £100,000 | - | |
| North West | -41 | 2 | £72,513 | -12.11% | 3 |
| South West | -69 | 2 | £75,000 | -11.76% | 4 |
| West Midlands | - | 2 | £75,013 | - | 4 |
| Scotland | - | 2 | £75,013 | - | 3 |
| North East | - | 1 | £83,774 | - | |
| Lead Data Scientist UK |
|||||
Lead Data Scientist Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London
For the 6 months to 18 October 2026, Lead Data Scientist 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 UK excluding London region featuring Lead Data Scientist in the job title.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Data Science | 100.0% | 73 |
| 2 | Machine Learning | 82.2% | 60 |
| 3 | AI | 49.3% | 36 |
| 4 | Mentoring | 41.1% | 30 |
| 5 | Python | 39.7% | 29 |
| 6 | PyTorch | 35.6% | 26 |
| 6 | TensorFlow | 35.6% | 26 |
| 8 | Deep Learning | 32.9% | 24 |
| 8 | Roadmaps | 32.9% | 24 |
| 8 | Software Engineering | 32.9% | 24 |
| 8 | Statistics | 32.9% | 24 |
| 12 | Actionable Insight | 31.5% | 23 |
| 12 | Hugging Face | 31.5% | 23 |
| 12 | Project Management | 31.5% | 23 |
| 15 | Analytics | 27.4% | 20 |
| 15 | SQL | 27.4% | 20 |
| 17 | Generative AI | 21.9% | 16 |
| 18 | Customer Insight | 20.5% | 15 |
| 18 | Neural Network | 20.5% | 15 |
| 20 | LLM | 15.1% | 11 |
| 20 | MLOps | 15.1% | 11 |
| 22 | Decision-Making | 12.3% | 9 |
| 22 | Security Cleared | 12.3% | 9 |
| 24 | Continuous Improvement | 9.6% | 7 |
| 25 | B2B | 8.2% | 6 |
| 25 | Customer Experience | 8.2% | 6 |
| 25 | Cybersecurity | 8.2% | 6 |
| 25 | SaaS | 8.2% | 6 |
| 25 | Stakeholder Management | 8.2% | 6 |
| 30 | Coaching | 6.8% | 5 |
Lead Data Scientist Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Job Titles
| Rank | Job Title | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Senior Data Scientist | 100.0% | 73 |
| 2 | Lead Developer | 17.8% | 13 |
| 3 | Principal Data Scientist | 11.0% | 8 |