Senior Software Engineer Job Trends

Senior Software Engineer
UK

The median Senior Software Engineer salary in the UK is £75,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 23 April 2026.

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

6 months to
23 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 177 218 156
Rank change year-on-year +41 -62 +128
Permanent jobs requiring a Senior Software Engineer 1,065 622 1,745
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.21% 1.48% 1.84%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.30% 1.66% 1.94%
Number of salaries quoted 829 539 1,257
10th Percentile £57,500 £52,500 £50,000
25th Percentile £65,000 £58,750 £55,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £75,000 £75,000 £65,000
Median % change year-on-year - +15.38% -7.14%
75th Percentile £95,000 £97,500 £80,000
90th Percentile £100,000 £123,500 £101,250
UK excluding London median annual salary £70,000 £65,000 £61,500
% change year-on-year +7.69% +5.69% -5.38%

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 81,705 37,434 89,731
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 92.78% 89.27% 94.57%
Number of salaries quoted 52,263 23,569 66,364
10th Percentile £30,000 £30,750 £28,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £42,500 £38,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £53,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +13.21% -11.67%
75th Percentile £75,000 £78,750 £71,250
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £52,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year -4.76% +5.00% -4.76%

Senior Software Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Senior Software Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK

Senior Software Engineer
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for Senior Software Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for Senior Software Engineer job vacancies in the UK

Senior Software Engineer
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Senior Software Engineer over the 6 months to 23 April 2026.

Salary histogram for Senior Software Engineer in the UK

Senior Software 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 Senior Software Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 23 April 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 +56 912 £75,000 -3.23% 196
UK excluding London +62 704 £70,000 +7.69% 174
London +32 301 £95,000 - 58
Work from Home -20 290 £72,500 -3.33% 99
South East +53 170 £70,000 +7.69% 62
North of England -31 142 £75,000 +15.38% 15
South West +40 141 £70,000 +7.69% 19
Scotland -5 89 £67,500 +5.88% 20
East of England 0 82 £70,000 +7.69% 21
North West -15 80 £75,000 +15.38% 10
Midlands +18 66 £65,000 -10.34% 28
Yorkshire -31 47 £75,000 -5.55% 3
West Midlands +6 41 £67,500 -6.90% 18
East Midlands -25 25 £65,000 - 10
North East -44 15 £77,500 +40.91% 2
Wales -19 13 £62,500 -3.85% 6
Northern Ireland - 1 - - 6

Senior Software Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 23 April 2026, Senior Software Engineer 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 Senior Software Engineer in the job title.

1 1,049 (98.50%) Software Engineering
2 158 (14.84%) Java
3 152 (14.27%) Agile
4 150 (14.08%) AWS
5 145 (13.62%) C#
6 142 (13.33%) .NET
6 142 (13.33%) C++
7 122 (11.46%) Full-Stack Development
8 118 (11.08%) Python
9 105 (9.86%) CI/CD
10 99 (9.30%) Mentoring
11 94 (8.83%) Azure
11 94 (8.83%) Microservices
12 89 (8.36%) React
13 88 (8.26%) DevOps
14 83 (7.79%) Linux
15 79 (7.42%) TypeScript
16 76 (7.14%) Kubernetes
16 76 (7.14%) SaaS
17 70 (6.57%) Test Automation
18 67 (6.29%) SQL
19 65 (6.10%) Fintech
20 64 (6.01%) AI
20 64 (6.01%) Computer Science
20 64 (6.01%) JavaScript
21 63 (5.92%) Degree
22 62 (5.82%) C
23 59 (5.54%) Problem-Solving
24 58 (5.45%) Docker
25 56 (5.26%) SDLC

Senior Software Engineer 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 4 (0.38%) Apache Solr
2 3 (0.28%) CMS
3 2 (0.19%) Apache
3 2 (0.19%) Confluence
4 1 (0.094%) Tuxedo
Cloud Services
1 150 (14.08%) AWS
2 94 (8.83%) Azure
3 76 (7.14%) SaaS
4 55 (5.16%) GCP
5 41 (3.85%) GitHub
6 17 (1.60%) Azure AKS
6 17 (1.60%) GitHub Copilot
6 17 (1.60%) Serverless
7 14 (1.31%) Amazon EKS
8 11 (1.03%) Anthropic Claude
8 11 (1.03%) Azure Cosmos DB
9 10 (0.94%) Azure Event Grid
10 8 (0.75%) Stripe
11 6 (0.56%) Azure DevOps
12 5 (0.47%) GitHub Actions
12 5 (0.47%) IaaS
13 4 (0.38%) Amazon OpenSearch
14 3 (0.28%) Amazon S3
14 3 (0.28%) Firebase
14 3 (0.28%) Pulumi
Communications & Networking
1 17 (1.60%) HTTP
1 17 (1.60%) RS-232
2 16 (1.50%) Ethernet
3 14 (1.31%) Multicast
4 6 (0.56%) Bluetooth
4 6 (0.56%) Wireless
5 5 (0.47%) Broadband
5 5 (0.47%) Modbus
6 3 (0.28%) Profibus
6 3 (0.28%) RS-485
6 3 (0.28%) ZigBee
7 1 (0.094%) LTE
Database & Business Intelligence
1 35 (3.29%) SQL Server
2 26 (2.44%) NoSQL
3 21 (1.97%) PostgreSQL
4 14 (1.31%) MongoDB
5 13 (1.22%) Elasticsearch
6 10 (0.94%) BigQuery
7 9 (0.85%) MySQL
8 5 (0.47%) Redis
8 5 (0.47%) Relational Database
9 4 (0.38%) Big Data
9 4 (0.38%) DocumentDB
9 4 (0.38%) Neo4j
10 2 (0.19%) Azure SQL Database
10 2 (0.19%) DB2
10 2 (0.19%) DynamoDB
10 2 (0.19%) MariaDB
11 1 (0.094%) Amazon Athena
11 1 (0.094%) RDBMS
Development Applications
1 41 (3.85%) Git
2 25 (2.35%) JIRA
3 16 (1.50%) TeamCity
4 15 (1.41%) GitLab
5 12 (1.13%) Visual Studio Code
6 11 (1.03%) Claude Code
6 11 (1.03%) Jenkins
7 4 (0.38%) Cucumber
7 4 (0.38%) JUnit
8 3 (0.28%) Bitbucket
8 3 (0.28%) JBehave
9 2 (0.19%) Android Studio
9 2 (0.19%) CircleCI
9 2 (0.19%) GDB
9 2 (0.19%) Selenium
9 2 (0.19%) SonarQube
9 2 (0.19%) Xcode
10 1 (0.094%) Eclipse
10 1 (0.094%) NUnit
10 1 (0.094%) Visual Studio
General
1 160 (15.02%) Finance
2 64 (6.01%) Banking
3 45 (4.23%) Social Skills
4 20 (1.88%) Electronics
4 20 (1.88%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 19 (1.78%) Financial Institution
6 18 (1.69%) Retail
7 17 (1.60%) Automotive
7 17 (1.60%) Influencing Skills
8 16 (1.50%) Law
8 16 (1.50%) Manufacturing
9 14 (1.31%) Games
10 13 (1.22%) Back Office
10 13 (1.22%) Public Sector
11 12 (1.13%) Tech for Good
12 8 (0.75%) Analytical Skills
12 8 (0.75%) Pharmaceutical
13 7 (0.66%) Aerospace
14 5 (0.47%) Agriculture
14 5 (0.47%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 142 (13.33%) .NET
2 89 (8.36%) React
3 53 (4.98%) Node.js
4 43 (4.04%) REST
5 34 (3.19%) RESTful
6 28 (2.63%) .NET Core
7 27 (2.54%) React Native
8 19 (1.78%) .NET Framework
9 14 (1.31%) Boost C++ Libraries
9 14 (1.31%) FIX Protocol
9 14 (1.31%) pytest
9 14 (1.31%) Yocto
10 13 (1.22%) Ruby on Rails
10 13 (1.22%) Spring
10 13 (1.22%) WPF
11 12 (1.13%) AngularJS
11 12 (1.13%) Django
11 12 (1.13%) Entity Framework
11 12 (1.13%) GraphQL
12 11 (1.03%) Dapper ORM
Miscellaneous
1 79 (7.42%) Cloud Native
2 39 (3.66%) Algorithms
3 30 (2.82%) Embedded Systems
4 28 (2.63%) Distributed Systems
5 18 (1.69%) Public Cloud
6 16 (1.50%) Derivative
7 15 (1.41%) Robotics
8 14 (1.31%) CAN bus
8 14 (1.31%) Device Driver
8 14 (1.31%) Equities
8 14 (1.31%) Fixed Income
8 14 (1.31%) IoT
9 12 (1.13%) Greenfield Project
10 10 (0.94%) Legacy Systems
11 9 (0.85%) Sports Betting
12 6 (0.56%) FMCG
12 6 (0.56%) Hedge funds
12 6 (0.56%) Legacy Code
13 5 (0.47%) Blog
13 5 (0.47%) Mobile Payment
Operating Systems
1 83 (7.79%) Linux
2 28 (2.63%) Embedded Linux
3 18 (1.69%) Android
4 12 (1.13%) FreeRTOS
5 6 (0.56%) Apple iOS
6 2 (0.19%) Windows
7 1 (0.094%) ThreadX
Processes & Methodologies
1 1,049 (98.50%) Software Engineering
2 152 (14.27%) Agile
3 122 (11.46%) Full-Stack Development
4 105 (9.86%) CI/CD
5 99 (9.30%) Mentoring
6 94 (8.83%) Microservices
7 88 (8.26%) DevOps
8 70 (6.57%) Test Automation
9 65 (6.10%) Fintech
10 64 (6.01%) AI
10 64 (6.01%) Computer Science
11 59 (5.54%) Problem-Solving
12 56 (5.26%) SDLC
13 54 (5.07%) Technical Leadership
14 52 (4.88%) Containerisation
15 50 (4.69%) Scrum
16 44 (4.13%) Embedded Software Development
17 41 (3.85%) Continuous Improvement
17 41 (3.85%) Low Latency
18 38 (3.57%) User Experience
Programming Languages
1 158 (14.84%) Java
2 145 (13.62%) C#
3 142 (13.33%) C++
4 118 (11.08%) Python
5 79 (7.42%) TypeScript
6 67 (6.29%) SQL
7 64 (6.01%) JavaScript
8 62 (5.82%) C
9 36 (3.38%) Rust
10 26 (2.44%) Go
11 19 (1.78%) PHP
12 18 (1.69%) Embedded C
13 16 (1.50%) Kotlin
14 13 (1.22%) Ruby
15 8 (0.75%) Scala
16 4 (0.38%) F#
16 4 (0.38%) Haskell
16 4 (0.38%) VB
17 3 (0.28%) Delphi
17 3 (0.28%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 63 (5.92%) Degree
2 44 (4.13%) Security Cleared
3 32 (3.00%) SC Cleared
4 24 (2.25%) Computer Science Degree
5 21 (1.97%) Master's Degree
6 13 (1.22%) DV Cleared
7 9 (0.85%) PhD
8 2 (0.19%) Microsoft Certification
9 1 (0.094%) BPSS Clearance
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (2.16%) QA
2 16 (1.50%) IEC 61508
2 16 (1.50%) MISRA
2 16 (1.50%) MISRA C
3 7 (0.66%) Accessibility
4 1 (0.094%) ECSS
4 1 (0.094%) GDPR
4 1 (0.094%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 58 (5.45%) Docker
2 31 (2.91%) Firmware
3 13 (1.22%) Embedded Firmware
4 2 (0.19%) Hyper-V
4 2 (0.19%) KVM
4 2 (0.19%) Virtual Machines
4 2 (0.19%) VMware Infrastructure
5 1 (0.094%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 76 (7.14%) Kubernetes
2 35 (3.29%) Terraform
3 17 (1.60%) Grafana
4 13 (1.22%) Functional Safety
5 5 (0.47%) Prometheus
6 2 (0.19%) Ansible
6 2 (0.19%) Argo
7 1 (0.094%) Plesk
Vendors
1 14 (1.31%) Google
2 11 (1.03%) Microsoft
3 8 (0.75%) HubSpot
4 2 (0.19%) Adobe
4 2 (0.19%) CA Agile Central
4 2 (0.19%) SAP
4 2 (0.19%) VMware
5 1 (0.094%) Green Hills
5 1 (0.094%) New Relic
5 1 (0.094%) OpenAI