Systems or Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs requiring SDLC skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 11 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
11 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 179 107 54
Rank change year-on-year -72 -53 -9
Permanent jobs citing SDLC 1,071 1,292 4,266
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.18% 2.94% 4.42%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.60% 3.15% 5.18%
Number of salaries quoted 699 675 1,535
10th Percentile £45,000 £41,250 £40,000
25th Percentile £52,500 £51,250 £46,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £67,586 £65,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +3.98% +8.33% -1.48%
75th Percentile £90,000 £85,125 £77,500
90th Percentile £111,250 £105,000 £100,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £60,000 £59,125 £55,000
% change year-on-year +1.48% +7.50% -4.35%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

SDLC falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 66,871 40,971 82,332
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 73.97% 93.32% 85.23%
Number of salaries quoted 42,937 22,765 59,727
10th Percentile £30,000 £30,000 £29,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £42,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year - +9.09% -10.10%
75th Percentile £78,750 £80,000 £72,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £102,410 £92,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £52,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year - +5.00% -9.09%

SDLC
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing SDLC relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

SDLC job vacancy trend in the UK

SDLC
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing SDLC.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing SDLC

SDLC
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing SDLC over the 6 months to 11 May 2026.

Salary histogram for SDLC in the UK

SDLC
Top 18 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing SDLC within the UK over the 6 months to 11 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 -59 969 £70,000 +7.69% 399
UK excluding London -87 614 £60,000 +1.48% 286
Work from Home -49 393 £62,500 -3.85% 213
London -13 369 £85,000 +9.68% 161
North of England -60 187 £67,500 +12.50% 67
South East -16 147 £60,000 - 97
South West -18 110 £55,000 -4.25% 22
Midlands -98 98 £57,500 +4.55% 44
Yorkshire -4 92 £68,510 -2.13% 17
North West -66 87 £70,000 +22.81% 39
West Midlands -62 63 £57,500 -2.75% 25
East of England -18 48 £50,000 +5.26% 28
East Midlands -75 35 £55,000 - 19
Scotland -72 21 £60,000 -24.59% 25
Wales -27 12 £60,000 +4.35% 7
North East -60 8 £52,500 -12.50% 11
Isle of Man - 2 £35,000 - 1
Northern Ireland -35 1 - - 3

SDLC
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 47 (4.39%) Confluence
2 30 (2.80%) SharePoint
3 27 (2.52%) Apache Spark
4 16 (1.49%) Apache Airflow
5 9 (0.84%) SAS
6 8 (0.75%) Apache
7 7 (0.65%) OpenStack
8 5 (0.47%) Oracle SOA Suite
9 4 (0.37%) IIS
10 3 (0.28%) ColdFusion
11 2 (0.19%) JBoss
11 2 (0.19%) WebSphere
12 1 (0.093%) Apache Synapse
12 1 (0.093%) Cloud Foundry
12 1 (0.093%) CMS
12 1 (0.093%) Microsoft Exchange
12 1 (0.093%) nginx
12 1 (0.093%) Sitecore CMS
Applications
1 15 (1.40%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (1.21%) Microsoft Excel
2 13 (1.21%) Microsoft Project
3 9 (0.84%) SPSS
4 7 (0.65%) MS Visio
5 4 (0.37%) EngageOne
6 3 (0.28%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 1 (0.093%) Chatbot
7 1 (0.093%) Oracle Smart View
7 1 (0.093%) PlantUML
7 1 (0.093%) Trello
Business Applications
1 8 (0.75%) Oracle ERP
2 7 (0.65%) Dynamics CRM
3 5 (0.47%) Elite 3E
3 5 (0.47%) Fidessa
3 5 (0.47%) Visualfiles
4 4 (0.37%) Misys Midas
5 3 (0.28%) Markit EDM
6 2 (0.19%) Dynamics NAV
6 2 (0.19%) IBM Planning Analytics
6 2 (0.19%) Misys Equation
6 2 (0.19%) Oracle Receivables
6 2 (0.19%) SAP S/4HANA
7 1 (0.093%) ION Anvil
7 1 (0.093%) Oracle Applications
7 1 (0.093%) Oracle EBS
7 1 (0.093%) Oracle Payables
7 1 (0.093%) Oracle SCM
7 1 (0.093%) Payment Gateway
7 1 (0.093%) Remedy ITSM
7 1 (0.093%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 299 (27.92%) Azure
2 284 (26.52%) AWS
3 99 (9.24%) Azure DevOps
3 99 (9.24%) SaaS
4 95 (8.87%) GCP
5 82 (7.66%) Serverless
6 71 (6.63%) Power Platform
7 62 (5.79%) GitHub
8 43 (4.01%) Amazon S3
9 42 (3.92%) Dynamics 365
10 41 (3.83%) PowerApps
11 40 (3.73%) Power Automate
12 35 (3.27%) Amazon ECS
13 33 (3.08%) AWS CloudFormation
14 30 (2.80%) Amazon SQS
14 30 (2.80%) AWS Lambda
15 27 (2.52%) Apigee
15 27 (2.52%) AWS Step Functions
16 25 (2.33%) Microsoft 365
17 24 (2.24%) Amazon ECR
Communications & Networking
1 21 (1.96%) Multicast
2 17 (1.59%) Firewall
2 17 (1.59%) Network Security
3 16 (1.49%) Broadband
4 7 (0.65%) DMZ
4 7 (0.65%) TCP/IP
5 5 (0.47%) DNS
6 4 (0.37%) HTTPS
7 3 (0.28%) Bluetooth
7 3 (0.28%) Intrusion Detection
7 3 (0.28%) PuTTY
7 3 (0.28%) Wireless
8 2 (0.19%) 3GPP
8 2 (0.19%) 4G
8 2 (0.19%) 5G
8 2 (0.19%) Diameter Protocol
8 2 (0.19%) FIX Connectivity
8 2 (0.19%) MQTT
8 2 (0.19%) SCTP
8 2 (0.19%) SpaceWire
Database & Business Intelligence
1 83 (7.75%) SQL Server
2 40 (3.73%) Relational Database
3 35 (3.27%) Big Data
3 35 (3.27%) Power BI
4 31 (2.89%) PostgreSQL
5 28 (2.61%) BigQuery
6 26 (2.43%) Data Lake
7 24 (2.24%) DynamoDB
8 22 (2.05%) Elasticsearch
9 19 (1.77%) Data Warehouse
10 18 (1.68%) MongoDB
11 17 (1.59%) NoSQL
12 16 (1.49%) MySQL
13 13 (1.21%) Semantic Layer
14 11 (1.03%) SQL Server Reporting Services
15 10 (0.93%) Azure SQL Database
16 9 (0.84%) EDRMS
17 8 (0.75%) SQL Server Integration Services
18 7 (0.65%) Amazon RDS
19 6 (0.56%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 123 (11.48%) Git
2 110 (10.27%) JIRA
3 71 (6.63%) GitLab
4 66 (6.16%) Jenkins
5 50 (4.67%) Cypress.io
6 35 (3.27%) Selenium
7 34 (3.17%) Maven
8 32 (2.99%) SonarQube
9 23 (2.15%) Snyk
10 14 (1.31%) Cucumber
11 12 (1.12%) Bitbucket
11 12 (1.12%) Visual Studio Code
11 12 (1.12%) Zephyr
12 10 (0.93%) JUnit
13 9 (0.84%) JMeter
13 9 (0.84%) Mockito
13 9 (0.84%) Subversion
14 8 (0.75%) Gatling
14 8 (0.75%) Postman
15 6 (0.56%) TestRail
General
1 289 (26.98%) Finance
2 254 (23.72%) Social Skills
3 129 (12.04%) Analytical Skills
4 99 (9.24%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 83 (7.75%) Banking
6 67 (6.26%) Public Sector
7 37 (3.45%) Influencing Skills
7 37 (3.45%) Law
8 32 (2.99%) Legal
9 28 (2.61%) Retail
10 18 (1.68%) Front Office
11 17 (1.59%) Aerospace
11 17 (1.59%) Financial Institution
12 13 (1.21%) Manufacturing
12 13 (1.21%) Organisational Skills
12 13 (1.21%) Presentation Skills
13 12 (1.12%) Documentation Skills
13 12 (1.12%) Electronics
14 11 (1.03%) Automotive
14 11 (1.03%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 291 (27.17%) Developer
2 250 (23.34%) Senior
3 163 (15.22%) Software Engineer
4 130 (12.14%) Lead
5 100 (9.34%) Analyst
6 80 (7.47%) Architect
7 65 (6.07%) Senior Software Engineer
8 61 (5.70%) Software Developer
9 59 (5.51%) Senior Developer
10 52 (4.86%) Java Developer
11 49 (4.58%) Business Analyst
12 41 (3.83%) Full-Stack Developer
12 41 (3.83%) Security Architect
13 38 (3.55%) C# Developer
14 36 (3.36%) C++ Software Engineer
15 34 (3.17%) .NET Developer
16 33 (3.08%) Consultant
17 31 (2.89%) Python Developer
18 30 (2.80%) Development Manager
19 29 (2.71%) Data Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 174 (16.25%) .NET
2 100 (9.34%) React
3 76 (7.10%) REST
4 71 (6.63%) RESTful
5 61 (5.70%) HTML
6 56 (5.23%) CSS
7 54 (5.04%) Spring Boot
8 53 (4.95%) AngularJS
9 51 (4.76%) .NET Core
10 41 (3.83%) Kafka
10 41 (3.83%) Node.js
11 39 (3.64%) Vue
12 37 (3.45%) Spring
13 31 (2.89%) Jest
13 31 (2.89%) Playwright
14 28 (2.61%) ASP.NET
15 27 (2.52%) Gherkin
16 25 (2.33%) OAuth
17 24 (2.24%) XML
18 21 (1.96%) FIX Protocol
Miscellaneous
1 92 (8.59%) Cloud Native
2 82 (7.66%) Product Ownership
3 52 (4.86%) Algorithms
4 43 (4.01%) Distributed Systems
5 35 (3.27%) Security Posture
5 35 (3.27%) Self-Motivation
6 30 (2.80%) Management Information System
7 27 (2.52%) Legacy Systems
8 25 (2.33%) Data Structures
8 25 (2.33%) Fixed Income
9 24 (2.24%) Equities
10 21 (1.96%) Data Centre
10 21 (1.96%) Embedded Systems
11 20 (1.87%) Greenfield Project
12 19 (1.77%) Onboarding
12 19 (1.77%) Team-Oriented Environment
13 17 (1.59%) Derivative
13 17 (1.59%) Enterprise Software
13 17 (1.59%) Low-Code
13 17 (1.59%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 87 (8.12%) Linux
2 20 (1.87%) Windows
3 17 (1.59%) Android
4 16 (1.49%) Apple iOS
5 7 (0.65%) Unix
6 3 (0.28%) Kali Linux
7 2 (0.19%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 2 (0.19%) VxWorks
7 2 (0.19%) zOS
8 1 (0.093%) AIX
8 1 (0.093%) CentOS
8 1 (0.093%) Solaris
8 1 (0.093%) Ubuntu
8 1 (0.093%) VMS
8 1 (0.093%) Windows Server
8 1 (0.093%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 483 (45.10%) Agile
2 355 (33.15%) CI/CD
3 321 (29.97%) Software Engineering
4 274 (25.58%) DevOps
5 240 (22.41%) Continuous Improvement
6 188 (17.55%) Problem-Solving
7 181 (16.90%) AI
8 179 (16.71%) Computer Science
9 167 (15.59%) Mentoring
10 156 (14.57%) Microservices
11 152 (14.19%) Scrum
12 144 (13.45%) Test Automation
13 110 (10.27%) Stakeholder Management
14 104 (9.71%) Full-Stack Development
15 99 (9.24%) Coaching
16 97 (9.06%) Application Security
17 90 (8.40%) Cybersecurity
18 87 (8.12%) Roadmaps
19 84 (7.84%) Cloud Security
19 84 (7.84%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 284 (26.52%) Python
2 197 (18.39%) C#
3 189 (17.65%) Java
4 184 (17.18%) SQL
5 126 (11.76%) JavaScript
6 99 (9.24%) C++
7 89 (8.31%) TypeScript
8 66 (6.16%) Bash
9 46 (4.30%) C
10 35 (3.27%) PowerShell
11 27 (2.52%) Groovy
12 26 (2.43%) Go
13 15 (1.40%) Delphi
14 13 (1.21%) PL/SQL
15 11 (1.03%) Shell Script
16 10 (0.93%) Kotlin
16 10 (0.93%) RPG
17 9 (0.84%) PHP
18 8 (0.75%) Bicep
18 8 (0.75%) Rust
Qualifications
1 183 (17.09%) Degree
2 132 (12.32%) Security Cleared
3 87 (8.12%) SC Cleared
4 74 (6.91%) Computer Science Degree
5 34 (3.17%) AWS Certification
6 30 (2.80%) DV Cleared
7 24 (2.24%) AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
7 24 (2.24%) ITIL Certification
8 23 (2.15%) ISTQB
9 20 (1.87%) DBS Check
10 17 (1.59%) BPSS Clearance
10 17 (1.59%) OSCP
11 16 (1.49%) Master's Degree
11 16 (1.49%) Microsoft Certification
12 15 (1.40%) PMI Certification
13 14 (1.31%) CISSP
14 12 (1.12%) CISM
15 10 (0.93%) CREST Certified
15 10 (0.93%) PMP
16 7 (0.65%) Oracle Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 141 (13.17%) QA
2 56 (5.23%) Accessibility
3 44 (4.11%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 32 (2.99%) GRC
4 32 (2.99%) NIST
5 25 (2.33%) GDPR
6 24 (2.24%) Data Quality
7 17 (1.59%) PCI DSS
8 11 (1.03%) IEC 61508
8 11 (1.03%) MISRA
8 11 (1.03%) MISRA C
8 11 (1.03%) NCSC
9 9 (0.84%) SOC 2
10 7 (0.65%) ISO/IEC 42001
10 7 (0.65%) JSP 440
11 6 (0.56%) ISO/IEC 12207
11 6 (0.56%) PMO
12 5 (0.47%) Automotive SPICE
12 5 (0.47%) COBIT
12 5 (0.47%) Cyber Essentials
System Software
1 108 (10.08%) Docker
2 24 (2.24%) Virtual Machines
3 4 (0.37%) Firmware
4 3 (0.28%) Embedded Firmware
4 3 (0.28%) VMware Infrastructure
5 2 (0.19%) Oracle RAC
5 2 (0.19%) Time Sharing Option
5 2 (0.19%) VMware ESXi
5 2 (0.19%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 95 (8.87%) Kubernetes
2 65 (6.07%) Terraform
3 27 (2.52%) HP Fortify
4 22 (2.05%) Ansible
5 13 (1.21%) Puppet
6 12 (1.12%) Argo
6 12 (1.12%) Grafana
7 11 (1.03%) Functional Safety
8 9 (0.84%) EnCase
8 9 (0.84%) FTK
8 9 (0.84%) Prometheus
8 9 (0.84%) Rancher
9 7 (0.65%) yum
10 6 (0.56%) Kibana
11 4 (0.37%) Single Sign-On
12 3 (0.28%) Control-M
12 3 (0.28%) HP ALM
13 2 (0.19%) logstash
13 2 (0.19%) Microsoft Intune
13 2 (0.19%) PowerCLI
Vendors
1 156 (14.57%) Microsoft
2 55 (5.14%) Oracle
3 49 (4.58%) Google
4 27 (2.52%) Tenable
5 25 (2.33%) CrowdStrike
6 23 (2.15%) Palo Alto
7 16 (1.49%) Databricks
7 16 (1.49%) IBM
8 13 (1.21%) Salesforce
8 13 (1.21%) ServiceNow
9 9 (0.84%) Cellebrite
9 9 (0.84%) SAP
9 9 (0.84%) TOWER Software
10 7 (0.65%) Splunk
11 6 (0.56%) Bloomberg
11 6 (0.56%) Dynatrace
11 6 (0.56%) ION Trading
12 5 (0.47%) CQG
12 5 (0.47%) Patsystems
12 5 (0.47%) Reuters