Principal Java Developer Job Trends

Principal Java Developer
UK

The median Principal Java Developer salary in the UK is £95,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 19 October 2025.

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

6 months to
19 Oct 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 640 739 743
Rank change year-on-year +99 +4 +355
Permanent jobs requiring a Principal Java Developer 8 8 4
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.016% 0.012% 0.007%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.018% 0.012% 0.007%
Number of salaries quoted 1 3 4
10th Percentile - - £81,625
25th Percentile £87,500 £107,250 £87,813
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £95,000 £111,500 £101,250
Median % change year-on-year -14.80% +10.12% +22.73%
75th Percentile £102,500 £115,750 £123,750
90th Percentile - - £139,500
UK excluding London median annual salary - - £80,000
% change year-on-year - - -3.03%

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 43,882 66,228 53,833
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 89.80% 95.36% 95.61%
Number of salaries quoted 25,880 37,894 41,616
10th Percentile £28,000 £31,250 £32,000
25th Percentile £35,000 £41,250 £43,210
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £56,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -6.25% -6.67% -
75th Percentile £73,750 £75,000 £80,000
90th Percentile £93,750 £95,000 £97,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £45,000 £50,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year -10.00% -4.76% -

Principal Java Developer
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Principal Java Developer job vacancy trend in the UK

Principal Java Developer
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for Principal Java Developer job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for Principal Java Developer job vacancies in the UK

Principal Java Developer
Top 6 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Principal Java Developer within the UK over the 6 months to 19 October 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 +96 8 £95,000 -14.80%
London +73 5 £95,000 -14.80%
Yorkshire - 3 - -
Work from Home - 3 - -
UK excluding London - 3 - -
North of England - 3 - -

Principal Java Developer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 19 October 2025, Principal Java 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 Principal Java Developer in the job title.

1 8 (100.00%) Java
2 7 (87.50%) AWS
2 7 (87.50%) Roadmaps
3 6 (75.00%) Data Design
3 6 (75.00%) Flutter
3 6 (75.00%) Go
3 6 (75.00%) Kotlin
3 6 (75.00%) React
3 6 (75.00%) Scala
3 6 (75.00%) SDLC
3 6 (75.00%) Secure Coding
3 6 (75.00%) Technology Roadmap
3 6 (75.00%) Test Strategy
4 1 (12.50%) Azure
4 1 (12.50%) C#
4 1 (12.50%) CI/CD
4 1 (12.50%) Clean Code
4 1 (12.50%) Containerisation
4 1 (12.50%) Decision-Making
4 1 (12.50%) Docker
4 1 (12.50%) GCP
4 1 (12.50%) IT Strategy
4 1 (12.50%) Kubernetes
4 1 (12.50%) Mentoring
4 1 (12.50%) Microservices
4 1 (12.50%) Python
4 1 (12.50%) Software Engineering
4 1 (12.50%) Technology Strategy
4 1 (12.50%) TypeScript
4 1 (12.50%) Value Proposition

Principal Java 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:

Cloud Services
1 7 (87.50%) AWS
2 1 (12.50%) Azure
2 1 (12.50%) GCP
General
1 6 (75.00%) Analytical Skills
1 6 (75.00%) Social Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 6 (75.00%) Flutter
1 6 (75.00%) React
Miscellaneous
1 1 (12.50%) Distributed Systems
Processes & Methodologies
1 7 (87.50%) Roadmaps
2 6 (75.00%) Data Design
2 6 (75.00%) SDLC
2 6 (75.00%) Secure Coding
2 6 (75.00%) Technology Roadmap
2 6 (75.00%) Test Strategy
3 1 (12.50%) CI/CD
3 1 (12.50%) Clean Code
3 1 (12.50%) Containerisation
3 1 (12.50%) Decision-Making
3 1 (12.50%) IT Strategy
3 1 (12.50%) Mentoring
3 1 (12.50%) Microservices
3 1 (12.50%) Software Engineering
3 1 (12.50%) Technology Strategy
3 1 (12.50%) Value Proposition
Programming Languages
1 8 (100.00%) Java
2 6 (75.00%) Go
2 6 (75.00%) Kotlin
2 6 (75.00%) Scala
3 1 (12.50%) C#
3 1 (12.50%) Python
3 1 (12.50%) TypeScript
System Software
1 1 (12.50%) Docker
Systems Management
1 1 (12.50%) Kubernetes