Senior Software Engineer Job Trends

Senior Software Engineer
UK

The median Senior Software Engineer salary in the UK is £77,500 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 8 January 2026.

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

6 months to
8 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 243 176 243
Rank change year-on-year -67 +67 +16
Permanent jobs requiring a Senior Software Engineer 551 906 708
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.92% 1.67% 1.31%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.02% 1.80% 1.38%
Number of salaries quoted 438 590 531
10th Percentile £57,675 £52,500 £50,000
25th Percentile £65,000 £58,750 £57,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £77,500 £70,000 £65,000
Median % change year-on-year +10.71% +7.69% -7.14%
75th Percentile £97,500 £95,000 £81,375
90th Percentile £115,000 £122,500 £101,250
UK excluding London median annual salary £65,000 £65,000 £65,000

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 54,184 50,447 51,400
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 90.62% 92.94% 95.28%
Number of salaries quoted 33,461 26,369 39,567
10th Percentile £28,500 £33,200 £30,750
25th Percentile £36,250 £45,000 £41,566
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £57,500
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +4.35% -4.17%
75th Percentile £75,000 £78,750 £77,500
90th Percentile £93,750 £97,500 £96,539
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 8 January 2026.

Salary histogram for Senior Software Engineer in the UK

Senior Software 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 Senior Software Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 8 January 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 -56 479 £77,500 +10.71% 787
UK excluding London -69 316 £65,000 - 791
London -4 210 £95,000 +5.56% 98
Work from Home -76 194 £80,000 +14.29% 433
South East -53 72 £65,000 - 234
North of England -36 69 £75,000 +15.38% 141
South West 0 67 £65,000 +8.33% 105
Scotland -21 50 £67,500 +5.88% 40
North West -2 35 £70,000 +7.69% 58
East of England -23 33 £72,500 +7.41% 133
Yorkshire -8 27 £75,000 +14.57% 60
Midlands -1 20 £65,000 +2.36% 88
East Midlands +5 12 £65,000 +8.33% 58
West Midlands +4 8 £70,000 +10.24% 28
North East -27 7 £70,000 +14.75% 23
Wales 0 5 - - 47

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

For the 6 months to 8 January 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.

1 538 (97.64%) Software Engineering
2 123 (22.32%) Java
3 122 (22.14%) Agile
4 121 (21.96%) AWS
5 86 (15.61%) C#
5 86 (15.61%) Python
6 81 (14.70%) .NET
7 78 (14.16%) TypeScript
8 74 (13.43%) CI/CD
8 74 (13.43%) Mentoring
9 70 (12.70%) Full-Stack Development
10 68 (12.34%) React
11 67 (12.16%) Microservices
12 65 (11.80%) JavaScript
13 63 (11.43%) Azure
14 60 (10.89%) C++
14 60 (10.89%) Kubernetes
15 56 (10.16%) DevOps
16 45 (8.17%) Linux
17 44 (7.99%) AI
18 43 (7.80%) Computer Science
18 43 (7.80%) Problem-Solving
18 43 (7.80%) Technical Leadership
19 42 (7.62%) Degree
20 41 (7.44%) SQL
21 37 (6.72%) GCP
21 37 (6.72%) SDLC
22 35 (6.35%) Fintech
23 34 (6.17%) Docker
24 33 (5.99%) Clean Code

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 32 (5.81%) Apache
2 31 (5.63%) Apache Airflow
3 2 (0.36%) Apache Solr
4 1 (0.18%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.18%) CMS
4 1 (0.18%) Confluence
4 1 (0.18%) Oracle SOA Suite
4 1 (0.18%) Tuxedo
Applications
1 1 (0.18%) Photoshop
Cloud Services
1 121 (21.96%) AWS
2 63 (11.43%) Azure
3 37 (6.72%) GCP
4 32 (5.81%) dbt
4 32 (5.81%) Snowflake
5 27 (4.90%) SaaS
6 23 (4.17%) GitHub
7 10 (1.81%) Azure DevOps
7 10 (1.81%) GitHub Copilot
8 8 (1.45%) Azure AKS
9 7 (1.27%) Amazon EKS
9 7 (1.27%) Stripe
10 6 (1.09%) Serverless
11 5 (0.91%) Cloud Run
12 4 (0.73%) Azure Cosmos DB
12 4 (0.73%) Azure Event Grid
12 4 (0.73%) GitHub Actions
13 3 (0.54%) Azure Service Bus
13 3 (0.54%) Firebase
13 3 (0.54%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 14 (2.54%) Multicast
2 10 (1.81%) HTTP
3 3 (0.54%) Ethernet
3 3 (0.54%) RS-232
4 2 (0.36%) Broadband
5 1 (0.18%) AMQP
5 1 (0.18%) DNS
5 1 (0.18%) HTTPS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 32 (5.81%) Amazon Athena
2 31 (5.63%) Apache Arrow
2 31 (5.63%) Apache Iceberg
2 31 (5.63%) Apache Ignite
2 31 (5.63%) Data Lake
2 31 (5.63%) Dremio
3 23 (4.17%) SQL Server
4 21 (3.81%) PostgreSQL
5 19 (3.45%) NoSQL
6 12 (2.18%) Relational Database
7 10 (1.81%) BigQuery
8 8 (1.45%) Elasticsearch
8 8 (1.45%) MongoDB
8 8 (1.45%) MySQL
9 7 (1.27%) Redis
10 4 (0.73%) Azure SQL Database
10 4 (0.73%) DynamoDB
11 2 (0.36%) GIS
11 2 (0.36%) MariaDB
11 2 (0.36%) RDBMS
Development Applications
1 29 (5.26%) Git
2 20 (3.63%) JIRA
3 8 (1.45%) TeamCity
4 6 (1.09%) Jenkins
5 4 (0.73%) JUnit
6 3 (0.54%) Cucumber
6 3 (0.54%) JBehave
7 2 (0.36%) CircleCI
7 2 (0.36%) GitLab
7 2 (0.36%) Maven
7 2 (0.36%) Visual Studio
8 1 (0.18%) Ant
8 1 (0.18%) Gradle
8 1 (0.18%) Rational DOORS
8 1 (0.18%) Rational Rhapsody
8 1 (0.18%) Rational Statemate
8 1 (0.18%) Selenium
8 1 (0.18%) SonarQube
8 1 (0.18%) webpack
8 1 (0.18%) Xcode
General
1 128 (23.23%) Finance
2 69 (12.52%) Banking
3 40 (7.26%) Social Skills
4 31 (5.63%) Front Office
4 31 (5.63%) Investment Banking
5 16 (2.90%) Financial Institution
6 14 (2.54%) Law
6 14 (2.54%) Retail
7 12 (2.18%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 10 (1.81%) Influencing Skills
9 9 (1.63%) Games
10 6 (1.09%) Automotive
10 6 (1.09%) Back Office
10 6 (1.09%) Health Technology
10 6 (1.09%) Public Sector
11 5 (0.91%) Electronics
11 5 (0.91%) Pharmaceutical
11 5 (0.91%) Tech for Good
12 4 (0.73%) Legal
12 4 (0.73%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 81 (14.70%) .NET
2 68 (12.34%) React
3 32 (5.81%) gRPC
4 31 (5.63%) NumPy
4 31 (5.63%) Pandas
4 31 (5.63%) Protocol Buffers
4 31 (5.63%) RESTful
4 31 (5.63%) SciPy
5 22 (3.99%) AngularJS
5 22 (3.99%) REST
6 21 (3.81%) React Native
7 19 (3.45%) .NET Core
8 18 (3.27%) GraphQL
9 15 (2.72%) Spring
10 14 (2.54%) Boost C++ Libraries
10 14 (2.54%) FIX Protocol
10 14 (2.54%) Node.js
10 14 (2.54%) pytest
10 14 (2.54%) Spring Boot
11 13 (2.36%) Ruby on Rails
Miscellaneous
1 50 (9.07%) Cloud Native
2 46 (8.35%) Derivative
3 45 (8.17%) Equities
3 45 (8.17%) Fixed Income
4 32 (5.81%) Hedge funds
5 31 (5.63%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
5 31 (5.63%) Pricing Data
6 22 (3.99%) Algorithms
7 20 (3.63%) Distributed Systems
8 16 (2.90%) Embedded Systems
9 14 (2.54%) Greenfield Project
10 11 (2.00%) Public Cloud
11 9 (1.63%) Legacy Code
12 8 (1.45%) CAN bus
12 8 (1.45%) Data Structures
13 7 (1.27%) Blog
13 7 (1.27%) Legacy Systems
14 5 (0.91%) IoT
15 4 (0.73%) Robotics
15 4 (0.73%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 45 (8.17%) Linux
2 13 (2.36%) Android
3 12 (2.18%) Embedded Linux
4 3 (0.54%) Apple iOS
5 2 (0.36%) Unix
5 2 (0.36%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 538 (97.64%) Software Engineering
2 122 (22.14%) Agile
3 74 (13.43%) CI/CD
3 74 (13.43%) Mentoring
4 70 (12.70%) Full-Stack Development
5 67 (12.16%) Microservices
6 56 (10.16%) DevOps
7 44 (7.99%) AI
8 43 (7.80%) Computer Science
8 43 (7.80%) Problem-Solving
8 43 (7.80%) Technical Leadership
9 37 (6.72%) SDLC
10 35 (6.35%) Fintech
11 33 (5.99%) Clean Code
11 33 (5.99%) Containerisation
12 31 (5.63%) Asset Management
12 31 (5.63%) Investment Management
13 30 (5.44%) Test Automation
14 27 (4.90%) Low Latency
14 27 (4.90%) User Experience
Programming Languages
1 123 (22.32%) Java
2 86 (15.61%) C#
2 86 (15.61%) Python
3 78 (14.16%) TypeScript
4 65 (11.80%) JavaScript
5 60 (10.89%) C++
6 41 (7.44%) SQL
7 27 (4.90%) C
8 18 (3.27%) Rust
9 17 (3.09%) Go
10 15 (2.72%) Kotlin
11 13 (2.36%) Ruby
12 12 (2.18%) PHP
13 6 (1.09%) Delphi
14 5 (0.91%) Embedded C
15 3 (0.54%) Bash
16 2 (0.36%) Fortran
16 2 (0.36%) Scala
16 2 (0.36%) Swift
16 2 (0.36%) VB
Qualifications
1 42 (7.62%) Degree
2 21 (3.81%) Computer Science Degree
3 11 (2.00%) Master's Degree
4 8 (1.45%) Security Cleared
5 5 (0.91%) SC Cleared
6 3 (0.54%) PhD
7 2 (0.36%) Microsoft Certification
8 1 (0.18%) BPSS Clearance
8 1 (0.18%) DBS Check
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (3.99%) QA
2 8 (1.45%) Accessibility
2 8 (1.45%) IEC 61508
2 8 (1.45%) MISRA
2 8 (1.45%) MISRA C
3 2 (0.36%) ISO 9000
3 2 (0.36%) ISO 9001
3 2 (0.36%) JTAG
4 1 (0.18%) Actionable Recommendations
4 1 (0.18%) Data Quality
4 1 (0.18%) ECSS
4 1 (0.18%) GDPR
4 1 (0.18%) PCI DSS
4 1 (0.18%) PSD2
System Software
1 34 (6.17%) Docker
2 7 (1.27%) Virtual Machines
2 7 (1.27%) Virtual Servers
3 6 (1.09%) Firmware
4 3 (0.54%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 60 (10.89%) Kubernetes
2 19 (3.45%) Terraform
3 8 (1.45%) Functional Safety
3 8 (1.45%) Grafana
4 2 (0.36%) Ansible
4 2 (0.36%) Argo
5 1 (0.18%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 14 (2.54%) Google
2 10 (1.81%) Microsoft
3 6 (1.09%) HubSpot
4 2 (0.36%) Adobe
4 2 (0.36%) Atlassian
4 2 (0.36%) CA Agile Central
4 2 (0.36%) OpenAI
4 2 (0.36%) Oracle
4 2 (0.36%) SAP
5 1 (0.18%) Dynatrace
5 1 (0.18%) ForgeRock
5 1 (0.18%) Green Hills
5 1 (0.18%) MuleSoft
5 1 (0.18%) New Relic
5 1 (0.18%) SendGrid