Lead Developer Job Trends

Lead Developer
UK

The median Lead Developer salary in the UK is £82,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 27 May 2026.

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

6 months to
27 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 289 410 247
Rank change year-on-year +121 -163 +82
Permanent jobs requiring a Lead Developer 615 253 1,131
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.66% 0.60% 1.14%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.71% 0.67% 1.20%
Number of salaries quoted 512 186 1,030
10th Percentile £60,000 £51,875 £48,750
25th Percentile £70,000 £62,500 £57,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £82,000 £72,500 £70,000
Median % change year-on-year +13.10% +3.57% -12.50%
75th Percentile £100,000 £85,000 £90,000
90th Percentile £108,750 £105,625 £112,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £72,500 £69,263 £65,000
% change year-on-year +4.67% +6.56% -3.70%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
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 86,844 37,958 93,943
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.41% 89.30% 94.71%
Number of salaries quoted 57,790 21,252 68,852
10th Percentile £30,000 £29,750 £28,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £40,500 £38,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £57,500 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year -4.35% +9.52% -12.50%
75th Percentile £75,000 £77,500 £70,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £51,058 £50,000
% change year-on-year -2.07% +2.12% -6.54%

Lead Developer
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Lead Developer job vacancy trend in the UK

Lead Developer
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for Lead Developer job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for Lead Developer job vacancies in the UK

Lead Developer
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Lead Developer over the 6 months to 27 May 2026.

Salary histogram for Lead Developer in the UK

Lead Developer
Top 17 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Lead Developer within the UK over the 6 months to 27 May 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 +139 564 £82,000 +13.10% 66
UK excluding London +114 359 £72,500 +4.67% 52
Work from Home +144 259 £86,250 +23.21% 31
London +73 222 £95,000 +15.15% 20
North of England +50 122 £72,500 - 24
North West +48 94 £72,000 -0.69% 9
South East +40 83 £90,000 +28.57% 14
Midlands +14 66 £70,000 +3.70% 11
South West -34 45 £65,000 +8.33%
East Midlands -9 34 £70,000 +7.69% 6
West Midlands -15 32 £67,500 - 5
East of England -11 21 £60,100 -19.87% 3
Yorkshire -30 18 £75,000 +7.14% 7
Northern Ireland -25 13 £80,000 -
North East -29 10 £67,500 -15.63% 8
Scotland +2 7 £70,000 +38.61%
Wales -45 2 £75,000 -

Lead Developer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 27 May 2026, Lead Developer 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 Lead Developer in the job title.

1 196 (31.87%) Full-Stack Development
2 136 (22.11%) AWS
3 130 (21.14%) Mentoring
4 121 (19.67%) TypeScript
5 117 (19.02%) React
5 117 (19.02%) Software Engineering
6 116 (18.86%) Agile
7 115 (18.70%) JavaScript
8 114 (18.54%) .NET
9 110 (17.89%) Azure
10 109 (17.72%) C#
11 102 (16.59%) Python
12 101 (16.42%) Technical Leadership
13 89 (14.47%) Node.js
14 85 (13.82%) CI/CD
15 83 (13.50%) SaaS
16 78 (12.68%) DevOps
17 71 (11.54%) AI
18 69 (11.22%) Java
19 62 (10.08%) SQL
20 57 (9.27%) Continuous Improvement
20 57 (9.27%) Microservices
21 55 (8.94%) RESTful
22 49 (7.97%) Problem-Solving
23 46 (7.48%) Microsoft
24 42 (6.83%) GraphQL
25 40 (6.50%) SQL Server
26 39 (6.34%) Apple iOS
26 39 (6.34%) Portfolio Management
26 39 (6.34%) PostgreSQL

Lead Developer 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:

Application Platforms
1 8 (1.30%) Anypoint
1 8 (1.30%) Mule
2 6 (0.98%) SharePoint
3 5 (0.81%) Appian
3 5 (0.81%) Confluence
4 1 (0.16%) CMS
Business Applications
1 7 (1.14%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.16%) NetSuite
Cloud Services
1 136 (22.11%) AWS
2 110 (17.89%) Azure
3 83 (13.50%) SaaS
4 36 (5.85%) Serverless
5 27 (4.39%) Power Platform
6 26 (4.23%) AWS Lambda
7 25 (4.07%) Dynamics 365
8 24 (3.90%) GCP
9 21 (3.41%) Azure DevOps
10 17 (2.76%) Amazon S3
10 17 (2.76%) Azure Logic Apps
10 17 (2.76%) GitHub
11 16 (2.60%) Amazon SQS
12 11 (1.79%) Amazon EventBridge
12 11 (1.79%) Entra ID
13 9 (1.46%) AWS CloudFormation
13 9 (1.46%) Azure App Service
13 9 (1.46%) GitHub Actions
13 9 (1.46%) PaaS
14 8 (1.30%) Amazon ECS
Communications & Networking
1 4 (0.65%) Broadband
2 3 (0.49%) SSL
3 1 (0.16%) Asterisk PBX
3 1 (0.16%) Network Security
3 1 (0.16%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 40 (6.50%) SQL Server
2 39 (6.34%) PostgreSQL
3 10 (1.63%) Amazon RDS
3 10 (1.63%) MongoDB
3 10 (1.63%) NoSQL
4 9 (1.46%) DynamoDB
5 8 (1.30%) MySQL
6 7 (1.14%) Redis
7 6 (0.98%) Power BI
8 5 (0.81%) DB2
8 5 (0.81%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 4 (0.65%) Amazon Redshift
10 3 (0.49%) MariaDB
10 3 (0.49%) Metadata
10 3 (0.49%) Spatial Data
11 2 (0.33%) InterSystems Cache
12 1 (0.16%) Azure SQL Database
12 1 (0.16%) Elasticsearch
12 1 (0.16%) Relational Database
12 1 (0.16%) SQLite
Development Applications
1 22 (3.58%) Git
2 9 (1.46%) JIRA
3 7 (1.14%) Cypress.io
4 6 (0.98%) Bitbucket
5 5 (0.81%) Maven
6 4 (0.65%) Jenkins
6 4 (0.65%) JUnit
6 4 (0.65%) webpack
7 3 (0.49%) ESLint
7 3 (0.49%) GitLab
7 3 (0.49%) Mockito
7 3 (0.49%) NUnit
7 3 (0.49%) Vite
8 2 (0.33%) Storybook
8 2 (0.33%) XCUITest
9 1 (0.16%) DBeaver
9 1 (0.16%) Postman
9 1 (0.16%) Selenium
9 1 (0.16%) TeamCity
9 1 (0.16%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 97 (15.77%) Finance
2 57 (9.27%) Social Skills
3 42 (6.83%) Front Office
4 19 (3.09%) Tech for Good
5 17 (2.76%) Analytical Skills
6 14 (2.28%) Banking
7 13 (2.11%) Health Technology
8 11 (1.79%) Games
8 11 (1.79%) Public Sector
9 9 (1.46%) Law
10 5 (0.81%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 5 (0.81%) Local Government
10 5 (0.81%) Publishing
10 5 (0.81%) Retail
11 4 (0.65%) Influencing Skills
11 4 (0.65%) Organisational Skills
11 4 (0.65%) Pharmaceutical
12 3 (0.49%) Marketing
13 2 (0.33%) Investment Banking
13 2 (0.33%) Presentation Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 117 (19.02%) React
2 114 (18.54%) .NET
3 89 (14.47%) Node.js
4 55 (8.94%) RESTful
5 42 (6.83%) GraphQL
6 39 (6.34%) Redux
7 32 (5.20%) React Native
7 32 (5.20%) Spring
8 30 (4.88%) .NET Core
8 30 (4.88%) Kafka
9 28 (4.55%) ASP.NET
10 27 (4.39%) Vue
11 25 (4.07%) AngularJS
12 24 (3.90%) CSS
13 22 (3.58%) HTML
14 21 (3.41%) .NET Framework
15 18 (2.93%) Spring Boot
16 17 (2.76%) Laravel
17 15 (2.44%) REST
18 10 (1.63%) Jest
Miscellaneous
1 36 (5.85%) Fixed Income
2 34 (5.53%) Cloud Native
3 25 (4.07%) Mobile App
3 25 (4.07%) Product Ownership
4 18 (2.93%) Derivative
5 16 (2.60%) Distributed Systems
5 16 (2.60%) Equities
6 14 (2.28%) Enterprise Software
7 13 (2.11%) PropTech
8 9 (1.46%) Legacy Applications
9 8 (1.30%) Greenfield Project
9 8 (1.30%) Low-Code
10 7 (1.14%) Legacy Systems
11 5 (0.81%) Credit Risk
12 4 (0.65%) AS400
13 3 (0.49%) iSeries
13 3 (0.49%) Operational Technology
13 3 (0.49%) Photography
13 3 (0.49%) Video\Live Streaming
14 2 (0.33%) AI Agents
Operating Systems
1 39 (6.34%) Apple iOS
2 33 (5.37%) Android
3 5 (0.81%) Linux
4 2 (0.33%) Windows
5 1 (0.16%) Debian
Processes & Methodologies
1 196 (31.87%) Full-Stack Development
2 130 (21.14%) Mentoring
3 117 (19.02%) Software Engineering
4 116 (18.86%) Agile
5 101 (16.42%) Technical Leadership
6 85 (13.82%) CI/CD
7 78 (12.68%) DevOps
8 71 (11.54%) AI
9 57 (9.27%) Continuous Improvement
9 57 (9.27%) Microservices
10 49 (7.97%) Problem-Solving
11 39 (6.34%) Portfolio Management
12 38 (6.18%) Investment Management
13 37 (6.02%) Coaching
14 31 (5.04%) Infrastructure as Code
15 30 (4.88%) Scrum
16 29 (4.72%) Event-Driven
16 29 (4.72%) Roadmaps
17 28 (4.55%) Fintech
18 27 (4.39%) Design Patterns
Programming Languages
1 121 (19.67%) TypeScript
2 115 (18.70%) JavaScript
3 109 (17.72%) C#
4 102 (16.59%) Python
5 69 (11.22%) Java
6 62 (10.08%) SQL
7 26 (4.23%) Go
8 13 (2.11%) PHP
9 12 (1.95%) Swift
10 11 (1.79%) C++
11 9 (1.46%) Kotlin
12 8 (1.30%) RPG
13 6 (0.98%) Bicep
14 5 (0.81%) Bash
14 5 (0.81%) C
15 3 (0.49%) COBOL
15 3 (0.49%) Dart
15 3 (0.49%) DataWeave
15 3 (0.49%) PL/SQL
15 3 (0.49%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 24 (3.90%) Degree
2 14 (2.28%) Security Cleared
3 13 (2.11%) SC Cleared
4 11 (1.79%) Computer Science Degree
5 9 (1.46%) DBS Check
6 4 (0.65%) ITIL Certification
7 3 (0.49%) Master's Degree
8 1 (0.16%) Microsoft Certification
8 1 (0.16%) PhD
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 27 (4.39%) QA
2 10 (1.63%) Accessibility
3 8 (1.30%) Data Quality
4 2 (0.33%) GAAP
4 2 (0.33%) IFRS
4 2 (0.33%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 1 (0.16%) GDPR
5 1 (0.16%) HL7
5 1 (0.16%) SNOMED CT
System Software
1 24 (3.90%) Docker
2 4 (0.65%) Active Directory
3 3 (0.49%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 23 (3.74%) Kubernetes
2 17 (2.76%) Terraform
3 8 (1.30%) Ansible
4 3 (0.49%) CloudHub
5 1 (0.16%) Grafana
5 1 (0.16%) HP Fortify
5 1 (0.16%) Kibana
5 1 (0.16%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 46 (7.48%) Microsoft
2 10 (1.63%) Salesforce
3 8 (1.30%) MuleSoft
3 8 (1.30%) OpenAI
4 7 (1.14%) HubSpot
5 5 (0.81%) Apple
5 5 (0.81%) IBM
5 5 (0.81%) Oracle
6 4 (0.65%) ServiceNow
7 3 (0.49%) Bloomberg
7 3 (0.49%) DevExpress
7 3 (0.49%) SAP
8 2 (0.33%) Foundry
8 2 (0.33%) Google
8 2 (0.33%) Refinitiv
8 2 (0.33%) TikTok
8 2 (0.33%) Workday
9 1 (0.16%) Citrix
9 1 (0.16%) Reuters
9 1 (0.16%) Revolut