Head of Design Job Trends

Head of Design
UK

The median Head of Design salary in the UK is £70,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 20 December 2025.

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

6 months to
20 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 636 699 678
Rank change year-on-year +63 -21 +323
Permanent jobs requiring a Head of Design 19 20 27
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.032% 0.035% 0.055%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.036% 0.038% 0.058%
Number of salaries quoted 11 16 27
10th Percentile £65,000 - £58,250
25th Percentile £69,263 £58,750 £58,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £62,500 £67,500
Median % change year-on-year +12.00% -7.41% -3.57%
75th Percentile - £66,250 £97,500
90th Percentile £76,649 £90,625 £105,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £70,000 £69,026 £83,627
% change year-on-year +1.41% -17.46% +19.47%

All Permanent IT Job Vacancies
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies. 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 UK with a recognized job title 53,277 52,813 46,358
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 90.30% 93.52% 95.24%
Number of salaries quoted 32,837 28,309 35,975
10th Percentile £28,500 £33,000 £31,250
25th Percentile £36,250 £43,750 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% - -
75th Percentile £75,000 £77,750 £80,000
90th Percentile £93,750 £97,500 £97,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £48,979 £52,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year -6.71% - -

Head of Design
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Head of Design job vacancy trend in the UK

Head of Design
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for Head of Design job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for Head of Design job vacancies in the UK

Head of Design
Top 5 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Head of Design within the UK over the 6 months to 20 December 2025. 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 +79 19 £70,000 +12.00% 3
UK excluding London +76 19 £70,000 +1.41% 3
South West - 11 £68,525 - 1
East of England - 8 £70,000 - 2
Work from Home +51 5 £68,525 +9.64% 2

Head of Design Skill Set
Top 19 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 20 December 2025, Head of Design 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 featuring Head of Design in the job title.

1 5 (26.32%) Problem-Solving
2 3 (15.79%) Accessibility
2 3 (15.79%) Agile
2 3 (15.79%) AI
2 3 (15.79%) Budget Management
2 3 (15.79%) Business Case
2 3 (15.79%) Community of Practice
2 3 (15.79%) Culture Change
2 3 (15.79%) Generative AI
2 3 (15.79%) Oracle
2 3 (15.79%) Oracle Fusion
2 3 (15.79%) Roadmaps
2 3 (15.79%) SaaS
2 3 (15.79%) Service Design
2 3 (15.79%) Strategic Roadmap
2 3 (15.79%) Strategic Thinking
2 3 (15.79%) Task Automation
2 3 (15.79%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
3 2 (10.53%) Project Management

Head of Design Skill Set
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:

Cloud Services
1 3 (15.79%) SaaS
General
1 3 (15.79%) Retail
2 2 (10.53%) Finance
2 2 (10.53%) Influencing Skills
2 2 (10.53%) Presentation Skills
2 2 (10.53%) Social Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (15.79%) Oracle Fusion
Miscellaneous
1 2 (10.53%) e-Learning
Processes & Methodologies
1 5 (26.32%) Problem-Solving
2 3 (15.79%) Agile
2 3 (15.79%) AI
2 3 (15.79%) Budget Management
2 3 (15.79%) Business Case
2 3 (15.79%) Community of Practice
2 3 (15.79%) Culture Change
2 3 (15.79%) Generative AI
2 3 (15.79%) Roadmaps
2 3 (15.79%) Service Design
2 3 (15.79%) Strategic Roadmap
2 3 (15.79%) Strategic Thinking
2 3 (15.79%) Task Automation
2 3 (15.79%) User-Centered Design (UCD)
3 2 (10.53%) Project Management
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 3 (15.79%) Accessibility
Vendors
1 3 (15.79%) Oracle