Principal Engineer
UK
The median Principal Engineer salary in the UK is £70,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 30 May 2025.
The table below provides salary benchmarking and summary statistics, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 30 May 2025 |
Same period 2024 | Same period 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 52 | 274 | 507 |
| Rank change year-on-year | +222 | +233 | -94 |
| Permanent jobs requiring a Principal Engineer | 2,540 | 1,073 | 549 |
| As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK | 4.58% | 1.04% | 0.57% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 5.07% | 1.10% | 0.62% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 534 | 458 | 404 |
| 10th Percentile | £52,000 | £55,000 | £58,750 |
| 25th Percentile | £61,500 | £65,000 | £68,563 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £70,000 | £77,500 | £85,000 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -9.68% | -8.82% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £70,600 | £92,500 | £115,000 |
| 90th Percentile | £77,125 | £115,000 | £150,000 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £70,000 | £70,000 | £73,750 |
| % change year-on-year | - | -5.08% | +1.72% |
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 | 50,066 | 97,923 | 88,829 |
| % of permanent jobs with a recognized job title | 90.36% | 94.81% | 91.43% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 26,124 | 69,761 | 56,179 |
| 10th Percentile | £28,750 | £28,500 | £32,500 |
| 25th Percentile | £40,750 | £38,500 | £45,000 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £55,000 | £52,500 | £60,000 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +4.76% | -12.50% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £73,750 | £70,000 | £80,000 |
| 90th Percentile | £95,000 | £90,000 | £100,000 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £51,000 | £50,000 | £53,500 |
| % change year-on-year | +2.00% | -6.54% | +6.63% |
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 30 May 2025.
Principal Engineer
Top 16 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 30 May 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 | +219 | 2,469 | £70,000 | - | 891 |
| England | +208 | 2,342 | £70,000 | -12.50% | 905 |
| Midlands | +206 | 1,223 | £65,000 | -7.14% | 144 |
| West Midlands | +187 | 796 | £58,250 | -22.33% | 79 |
| South East | +182 | 446 | £70,600 | +0.86% | 279 |
| East Midlands | +134 | 427 | £71,250 | +9.62% | 55 |
| North of England | +145 | 383 | £51,564 | -20.67% | 199 |
| North West | +137 | 330 | £51,564 | -20.67% | 112 |
| Work from Home | +180 | 295 | £70,600 | -5.87% | 510 |
| South West | +93 | 195 | £58,000 | -22.67% | 103 |
| Scotland | +137 | 110 | £52,000 | -25.71% | 44 |
| Wales | +85 | 69 | £70,600 | +17.67% | 23 |
| London | -36 | 49 | £102,500 | +10.81% | 138 |
| Yorkshire | +51 | 48 | £65,000 | - | 69 |
| East of England | +1 | 43 | £67,000 | -13.55% | 116 |
| North East | +32 | 5 | £60,000 | +9.09% | 19 |
Principal Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities
For the 6 months to 30 May 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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