Computer-Aided Design (CAD)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs requiring CAD skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 10 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
10 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 349 441 262
Rank change year-on-year +92 -179 +254
Permanent jobs citing CAD 583 233 748
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.49% 0.47% 1.03%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.67% 0.53% 1.25%
Number of salaries quoted 434 123 194
10th Percentile £33,046 £30,000 £26,475
25th Percentile £37,000 £35,893 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £42,500 £40,000
Median % change year-on-year +5.88% +6.25% -24.88%
75th Percentile £56,250 £49,967 £51,546
90th Percentile £70,000 £67,000 £61,015
UK excluding London median annual salary £45,000 £40,000 £42,500
% change year-on-year +12.50% -5.88% -18.82%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

CAD 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.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 86,418 43,977 59,769
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 73.19% 88.96% 82.26%
Number of salaries quoted 59,113 24,503 32,039
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,250 £32,500
25th Percentile £41,250 £36,250 £43,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -8.33% -
75th Percentile £78,750 £75,000 £77,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £95,000 £97,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £47,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year +15.79% -9.52% -2.78%

CAD
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing CAD relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

CAD job vacancy trend in the UK

CAD
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing CAD.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing CAD

CAD
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing CAD over the 6 months to 10 October 2026.

Salary histogram for CAD in the UK

CAD
Top 17 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing CAD within the UK over the 6 months to 10 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
England +104 539 £45,000 +6.17% 879
UK excluding London +92 494 £45,000 +12.50% 683
South East +26 127 £50,000 +17.96% 198
North of England +22 123 £42,000 -11.58% 145
Midlands +17 94 £45,000 +16.88% 123
South West -15 78 £45,000 +26.63% 95
London -27 68 £60,000 +33.33% 202
North West +17 66 £42,000 -11.58% 72
West Midlands -2 66 £47,500 +23.38% 73
Work from Home -29 50 £60,000 +41.18% 228
East of England -3 47 £40,000 +18.52% 73
Yorkshire +6 43 £43,750 +43.44% 51
East Midlands -20 28 £45,000 +12.50% 50
Scotland +11 21 £44,000 -26.32% 39
North East -65 14 £45,000 -5.26% 23
Northern Ireland -78 2 £60,000 - 13
Wales - 2 £34,500 - 16

CAD
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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 8 (1.37%) CMS
2 2 (0.34%) ArcGIS
2 2 (0.34%) Confluence
2 2 (0.34%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.17%) Kinematics
Applications
1 139 (23.84%) AutoCAD
2 66 (11.32%) Revit
3 54 (9.26%) SOLIDWORKS
4 36 (6.17%) Microsoft Excel
5 28 (4.80%) Microsoft Office
6 19 (3.26%) EPLAN
6 19 (3.26%) Navisworks
7 15 (2.57%) Fusion 360
8 11 (1.89%) OrCAD
9 10 (1.72%) Microsoft PowerPoint
10 9 (1.54%) Solid Edge
11 8 (1.37%) ALPHACAM
12 6 (1.03%) Autodesk Inventor
12 6 (1.03%) Siemens NX
12 6 (1.03%) Windchill
13 4 (0.69%) MS Visio
13 4 (0.69%) PTC Creo
13 4 (0.69%) Simulink
14 3 (0.51%) Adobe Illustrator
14 3 (0.51%) CATIA
Business Applications
1 4 (0.69%) Teamcenter
2 2 (0.34%) Integrated Workplace Management System
2 2 (0.34%) SAP Oil and Gas
3 1 (0.17%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.17%) ENOVIA
3 1 (0.17%) Odoo
3 1 (0.17%) SAP Business One
3 1 (0.17%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 10 (1.72%) Azure
1 10 (1.72%) Microsoft 365
2 6 (1.03%) SaaS
3 3 (0.51%) AWS
3 3 (0.51%) Dynamics 365
4 2 (0.34%) GitHub
4 2 (0.34%) Power Platform
4 2 (0.34%) SuccessFactors
5 1 (0.17%) Azure DevOps
5 1 (0.17%) GCP
5 1 (0.17%) Google App Engine
Communications & Networking
1 10 (1.72%) Wireless
2 6 (1.03%) Structured Cabling
3 5 (0.86%) Ethernet
4 3 (0.51%) RS-485
4 3 (0.51%) VLAN
4 3 (0.51%) Wi-Fi
5 2 (0.34%) Internet
5 2 (0.34%) Intranet
5 2 (0.34%) Modbus
5 2 (0.34%) Profibus
5 2 (0.34%) RS-422
6 1 (0.17%) J1939
6 1 (0.17%) RS-232
6 1 (0.17%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (0.86%) Metadata
2 4 (0.69%) GIS
2 4 (0.69%) SQL Server
3 3 (0.51%) EDMS
3 3 (0.51%) Relational Database
3 3 (0.51%) Spatial Data
4 2 (0.34%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 15 (2.57%) LabVIEW
2 7 (1.20%) JIRA
3 3 (0.51%) Git
4 2 (0.34%) C++Builder
4 2 (0.34%) Mercurial
4 2 (0.34%) Subversion
5 1 (0.17%) Rational DOORS
General
1 215 (36.88%) Manufacturing
2 139 (23.84%) Social Skills
3 69 (11.84%) Aerospace
4 68 (11.66%) Electronics
5 35 (6.00%) Organisational Skills
6 33 (5.66%) Automotive
6 33 (5.66%) Finance
7 28 (4.80%) Telecoms
8 25 (4.29%) Analytical Skills
8 25 (4.29%) Military
9 24 (4.12%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 22 (3.77%) Law
11 16 (2.74%) Billing
11 16 (2.74%) Public Sector
11 16 (2.74%) Publishing
12 9 (1.54%) Legal
13 8 (1.37%) Marketing
14 7 (1.20%) Presentation Skills
14 7 (1.20%) Retail
15 6 (1.03%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 101 (17.32%) Programmer
2 76 (13.04%) Design Engineer
3 58 (9.95%) CAD Technician
4 53 (9.09%) Senior
5 50 (8.58%) Electrical Engineer
6 35 (6.00%) Electrical Design Engineer
6 35 (6.00%) Electronics Engineer
7 32 (5.49%) Designer
8 30 (5.15%) CAD Designer
9 23 (3.95%) CAD Engineer
10 19 (3.26%) Project Manager
11 18 (3.09%) Trainee
12 16 (2.74%) Lead
12 16 (2.74%) Traffic Manager
12 16 (2.74%) Trainee Project Manager
13 14 (2.40%) Junior
14 13 (2.23%) Developer
15 12 (2.06%) Author
15 12 (2.06%) Manufacturing Engineer
15 12 (2.06%) Technical Author
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (1.89%) XML
2 9 (1.54%) HTML
3 7 (1.20%) CSS
4 6 (1.03%) MIDP
4 6 (1.03%) REST
4 6 (1.03%) SOAP
4 6 (1.03%) Web Services
5 3 (0.51%) Ajax
5 3 (0.51%) JSON
5 3 (0.51%) LDAP
6 1 (0.17%) .NET
6 1 (0.17%) AngularJS
6 1 (0.17%) ASP.NET
6 1 (0.17%) ASP.NET Core
6 1 (0.17%) EDI
Miscellaneous
1 35 (6.00%) Driving Licence
2 27 (4.63%) Robotics
3 26 (4.46%) Embedded Systems
4 25 (4.29%) Onboarding
5 22 (3.77%) IoT
6 17 (2.92%) Management Information System
7 16 (2.74%) Data Centre
8 15 (2.57%) Analogue Electronics
9 14 (2.40%) Self-Motivation
10 13 (2.23%) Life Science
11 10 (1.72%) CMDB
11 10 (1.72%) FPGA
11 10 (1.72%) Industry 4.0
12 8 (1.37%) SCADA
13 7 (1.20%) Product Ownership
13 7 (1.20%) Renewable Energy
14 6 (1.03%) 3D Printing
14 6 (1.03%) Smart Home
15 5 (0.86%) Enterprise Software
15 5 (0.86%) Virtual Reality
Operating Systems
1 13 (2.23%) Windows
2 4 (0.69%) Linux
2 4 (0.69%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 135 (23.16%) Problem-Solving
2 116 (19.90%) Continuous Improvement
3 61 (10.46%) Building Information Modelling
4 42 (7.20%) Validation
5 41 (7.03%) 3D Modelling
6 37 (6.35%) Mentoring
7 36 (6.17%) Project Delivery
8 34 (5.83%) Digital Engineering
9 32 (5.49%) Design for Manufacturing
9 32 (5.49%) ERP
10 31 (5.32%) Agile
10 31 (5.32%) Prototyping
10 31 (5.32%) Stakeholder Management
11 27 (4.63%) Customer Requirements
12 26 (4.46%) Root Cause Analysis
13 24 (4.12%) Collaborative Working
13 24 (4.12%) ITSM
13 24 (4.12%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 23 (3.95%) Decision-Making
14 23 (3.95%) Process Improvement
Programming Languages
1 20 (3.43%) C++
2 17 (2.92%) C
3 16 (2.74%) Python
4 10 (1.72%) JavaScript
5 9 (1.54%) MATLAB
6 3 (0.51%) Ladder Logic
7 2 (0.34%) C#
7 2 (0.34%) Delphi
7 2 (0.34%) Embedded C
7 2 (0.34%) Embedded C++
7 2 (0.34%) Java
7 2 (0.34%) Perl
8 1 (0.17%) Pascal
8 1 (0.17%) R
8 1 (0.17%) VB
Qualifications
1 146 (25.04%) Degree
2 81 (13.89%) HNC
3 66 (11.32%) HND
4 41 (7.03%) Security Cleared
5 25 (4.29%) BPSS Clearance
5 25 (4.29%) SC Cleared
6 18 (3.09%) DBS Check
7 10 (1.72%) Chartered Engineer
7 10 (1.72%) RIBA
8 8 (1.37%) PMP
9 6 (1.03%) PMI Certification
10 5 (0.86%) Master's Degree
11 3 (0.51%) BICSI Certification
11 3 (0.51%) BICSI RCDD
11 3 (0.51%) GNVQ
11 3 (0.51%) PRINCE2 Certification
12 2 (0.34%) ITIL Certification
12 2 (0.34%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
12 2 (0.34%) MCAD
12 2 (0.34%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 13 (2.23%) ISO 9001
1 13 (2.23%) QA
2 11 (1.89%) ISO 19650
3 8 (1.37%) Data Quality
4 4 (0.69%) Cyber Essentials
4 4 (0.69%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 3 (0.51%) GDPR
6 2 (0.34%) Def Stans
6 2 (0.34%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 2 (0.34%) NCSC
7 1 (0.17%) ECSS
7 1 (0.17%) IEC 61508
System Software
1 28 (4.80%) Firmware
2 3 (0.51%) Active Directory
2 3 (0.51%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 4 (0.69%) Functional Safety
2 3 (0.51%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 48 (8.23%) Microsoft
2 30 (5.15%) ServiceNow
3 26 (4.46%) EMC
4 21 (3.60%) Siemens
5 19 (3.26%) Autodesk
6 10 (1.72%) SAP
7 9 (1.54%) Allen-Bradley
8 8 (1.37%) Cadence
9 6 (1.03%) Cisco
10 5 (0.86%) AVEVA
11 4 (0.69%) Draytek
11 4 (0.69%) Ruckus Wireless
12 3 (0.51%) Adobe
13 2 (0.34%) Altera
13 2 (0.34%) Embarcadero
13 2 (0.34%) Epicor
13 2 (0.34%) Infor
13 2 (0.34%) NCR
13 2 (0.34%) Sage
13 2 (0.34%) Salesforce