Principal Engineer
UK
The median Principal Engineer salary in the UK is £65,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 27 April 2025.
The table below provides salary benchmarking and summary statistics, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 27 Apr 2025 |
Same period 2024 | Same period 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 43 | 284 | 492 |
| Rank change year-on-year | +241 | +208 | -76 |
| Permanent jobs requiring a Principal Engineer | 2,854 | 991 | 614 |
| As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK | 5.50% | 1.01% | 0.59% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 6.11% | 1.07% | 0.64% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 530 | 382 | 444 |
| 10th Percentile | £48,486 | £57,750 | £55,500 |
| 25th Percentile | £58,000 | £65,000 | £66,813 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £65,000 | £80,000 | £83,500 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -18.75% | -4.19% | -1.76% |
| 75th Percentile | £70,600 | £96,250 | £115,000 |
| 90th Percentile | £82,275 | £116,125 | £150,000 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £65,000 | £70,000 | £72,500 |
| % change year-on-year | -7.14% | -3.45% | - |
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 | 46,743 | 92,908 | 95,969 |
| % of permanent jobs with a recognized job title | 90.04% | 94.63% | 91.59% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 27,377 | 66,757 | 60,289 |
| 10th Percentile | £30,500 | £28,500 | £32,500 |
| 25th Percentile | £42,500 | £38,500 | £45,000 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £57,500 | £52,738 | £60,000 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +9.03% | -12.10% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £75,000 | £71,250 | £81,250 |
| 90th Percentile | £97,500 | £90,000 | £100,000 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £52,500 | £50,000 | £52,500 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.00% | -4.76% | +5.00% |
Principal Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend
Job postings that featured Principal Engineer in the job title as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.
Principal Engineer
Salary Trend
3-month moving average salary quoted in jobs citing Principal Engineer.
Principal Engineer
Salary Histogram
Salary distribution for jobs citing Principal Engineer over the 6 months to 27 April 2025.
Principal Engineer
Top 17 Job Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Principal Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 27 April 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK excluding London | +241 | 2,747 | £65,000 | -7.14% | 456 |
| England | +244 | 2,634 | £65,000 | -18.75% | 633 |
| Midlands | +202 | 1,357 | £67,500 | -10.00% | 62 |
| West Midlands | +182 | 880 | £61,625 | -11.96% | 44 |
| East Midlands | +134 | 477 | £71,250 | -16.18% | 17 |
| North of England | +173 | 471 | £51,564 | -20.67% | 122 |
| North West | +160 | 411 | £47,250 | -27.31% | 87 |
| South East | +208 | 398 | £70,600 | -5.87% | 99 |
| South West | +130 | 271 | £58,000 | -17.14% | 68 |
| Work from Home | +182 | 221 | £70,600 | -16.94% | 286 |
| Scotland | +128 | 134 | £52,000 | -22.96% | 24 |
| London | -2 | 75 | £101,250 | +2.53% | 209 |
| Yorkshire | +70 | 57 | £65,000 | - | 30 |
| Wales | +74 | 56 | £70,600 | +17.67% | 7 |
| East of England | +44 | 54 | £67,000 | -13.55% | 82 |
| Northern Ireland | +41 | 6 | - | - | 6 |
| North East | +32 | 3 | - | - | 5 |
Principal Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities
For the 6 months to 27 April 2025, Principal Engineer job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number co-occurrences and as a proportion of all permanent job ads featuring Principal Engineer in the job title.
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Principal Engineer Skill Set
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category
The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:
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