Senior Software Engineer Job Trends

Senior Software Engineer
UK

The median Senior Software Engineer salary in the UK is £76,250 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 2 January 2026.

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

6 months to
2 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 247 168 253
Rank change year-on-year -79 +85 -3
Permanent jobs requiring a Senior Software Engineer 525 934 674
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.89% 1.70% 1.30%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.98% 1.83% 1.37%
Number of salaries quoted 418 612 505
10th Percentile £57,750 £52,500 £50,000
25th Percentile £65,000 £58,938 £57,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £76,250 £70,000 £65,000
Median % change year-on-year +8.93% +7.69% -7.14%
75th Percentile £97,500 £95,000 £81,500
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 53,612 51,163 49,282
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 90.49% 93.12% 95.22%
Number of salaries quoted 32,999 26,912 38,093
10th Percentile £28,500 £33,200 £31,250
25th Percentile £36,250 £44,956 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% - -
75th Percentile £75,000 £78,750 £77,500
90th Percentile £93,750 £97,500 £97,500
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 2 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 2 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 -56 460 £75,000 +7.14% 291
UK excluding London -69 304 £65,000 - 223
London -36 197 £100,000 +11.11% 106
Work from Home -89 189 £80,000 +14.29% 190
South East -61 69 £65,000 - 61
North of England -36 68 £75,000 +15.38% 50
South West +3 66 £65,000 +8.33% 39
Scotland -26 44 £70,000 +9.80% 22
North West +7 35 £67,500 +3.85% 29
East of England -21 32 £70,000 +3.70% 24
Yorkshire -5 26 £75,000 +14.57% 17
Midlands +6 20 £65,000 +2.36% 21
East Midlands -14 12 £65,000 +8.33% 10
West Midlands +9 8 £72,649 +14.41% 11
North East -23 7 £70,000 +14.75% 4
Wales -7 5 - - 5

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

For the 6 months to 2 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.

1 512 (97.52%) Software Engineering
2 121 (23.05%) Java
3 120 (22.86%) Agile
3 120 (22.86%) AWS
4 85 (16.19%) Python
5 81 (15.43%) C#
6 80 (15.24%) TypeScript
7 75 (14.29%) CI/CD
8 73 (13.90%) .NET
9 72 (13.71%) Mentoring
10 66 (12.57%) Full-Stack Development
11 65 (12.38%) JavaScript
11 65 (12.38%) Microservices
11 65 (12.38%) React
12 61 (11.62%) C++
13 60 (11.43%) Azure
14 58 (11.05%) Kubernetes
15 56 (10.67%) DevOps
16 45 (8.57%) Linux
17 44 (8.38%) AI
18 42 (8.00%) Computer Science
18 42 (8.00%) Degree
18 42 (8.00%) Technical Leadership
19 41 (7.81%) Problem-Solving
20 38 (7.24%) SQL
21 36 (6.86%) GCP
22 35 (6.67%) SDLC
23 33 (6.29%) Clean Code
23 33 (6.29%) Docker
23 33 (6.29%) Fintech

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 (6.10%) Apache
2 31 (5.90%) Apache Airflow
3 2 (0.38%) Apache Solr
4 1 (0.19%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.19%) CMS
4 1 (0.19%) Confluence
4 1 (0.19%) Oracle SOA Suite
4 1 (0.19%) Tuxedo
Applications
1 1 (0.19%) Photoshop
Cloud Services
1 120 (22.86%) AWS
2 60 (11.43%) Azure
3 36 (6.86%) GCP
4 32 (6.10%) dbt
4 32 (6.10%) Snowflake
5 22 (4.19%) GitHub
5 22 (4.19%) SaaS
6 10 (1.90%) Azure DevOps
7 9 (1.71%) GitHub Copilot
8 7 (1.33%) Amazon EKS
9 6 (1.14%) Azure AKS
9 6 (1.14%) Serverless
9 6 (1.14%) Stripe
10 5 (0.95%) Cloud Run
11 4 (0.76%) GitHub Actions
12 3 (0.57%) Azure Cosmos DB
12 3 (0.57%) Azure Event Grid
12 3 (0.57%) Azure Service Bus
12 3 (0.57%) Firebase
12 3 (0.57%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 14 (2.67%) Multicast
2 9 (1.71%) HTTP
3 3 (0.57%) Ethernet
3 3 (0.57%) RS-232
4 2 (0.38%) Broadband
5 1 (0.19%) AMQP
5 1 (0.19%) DNS
5 1 (0.19%) HTTPS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 32 (6.10%) Amazon Athena
2 31 (5.90%) Apache Arrow
2 31 (5.90%) Apache Iceberg
2 31 (5.90%) Apache Ignite
2 31 (5.90%) Data Lake
2 31 (5.90%) Dremio
3 21 (4.00%) PostgreSQL
3 21 (4.00%) SQL Server
4 19 (3.62%) NoSQL
5 12 (2.29%) Relational Database
6 9 (1.71%) BigQuery
7 8 (1.52%) MongoDB
7 8 (1.52%) MySQL
8 7 (1.33%) Elasticsearch
8 7 (1.33%) Redis
9 4 (0.76%) Azure SQL Database
9 4 (0.76%) DynamoDB
10 2 (0.38%) GIS
10 2 (0.38%) MariaDB
10 2 (0.38%) RDBMS
Development Applications
1 30 (5.71%) Git
2 20 (3.81%) JIRA
3 8 (1.52%) TeamCity
4 6 (1.14%) Jenkins
5 4 (0.76%) JUnit
6 3 (0.57%) Cucumber
6 3 (0.57%) JBehave
7 2 (0.38%) CircleCI
7 2 (0.38%) GitLab
7 2 (0.38%) Maven
7 2 (0.38%) Visual Studio
8 1 (0.19%) Android Studio
8 1 (0.19%) Ant
8 1 (0.19%) Cypress.io
8 1 (0.19%) Rational DOORS
8 1 (0.19%) Rational Statemate
8 1 (0.19%) Selenium
8 1 (0.19%) SonarQube
8 1 (0.19%) webpack
8 1 (0.19%) Xcode
General
1 122 (23.24%) Finance
2 66 (12.57%) Banking
3 39 (7.43%) Social Skills
4 31 (5.90%) Front Office
4 31 (5.90%) Investment Banking
5 16 (3.05%) Financial Institution
6 14 (2.67%) Law
6 14 (2.67%) Retail
7 12 (2.29%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 9 (1.71%) Games
8 9 (1.71%) Influencing Skills
9 7 (1.33%) Public Sector
10 6 (1.14%) Back Office
10 6 (1.14%) Health Technology
11 5 (0.95%) Automotive
11 5 (0.95%) Electronics
11 5 (0.95%) Pharmaceutical
12 4 (0.76%) Analytical Skills
12 4 (0.76%) Legal
12 4 (0.76%) Manufacturing
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 73 (13.90%) .NET
2 65 (12.38%) React
3 32 (6.10%) gRPC
4 31 (5.90%) NumPy
4 31 (5.90%) Pandas
4 31 (5.90%) Protocol Buffers
4 31 (5.90%) SciPy
5 30 (5.71%) RESTful
6 22 (4.19%) AngularJS
7 21 (4.00%) React Native
8 20 (3.81%) REST
9 18 (3.43%) .NET Core
9 18 (3.43%) GraphQL
10 15 (2.86%) Spring
11 14 (2.67%) Boost C++ Libraries
11 14 (2.67%) FIX Protocol
11 14 (2.67%) pytest
11 14 (2.67%) Spring Boot
12 13 (2.48%) Node.js
13 12 (2.29%) Ruby on Rails
Miscellaneous
1 48 (9.14%) Cloud Native
2 46 (8.76%) Derivative
3 45 (8.57%) Equities
3 45 (8.57%) Fixed Income
4 32 (6.10%) Hedge funds
5 31 (5.90%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
5 31 (5.90%) Pricing Data
6 21 (4.00%) Algorithms
7 20 (3.81%) Distributed Systems
8 13 (2.48%) Embedded Systems
8 13 (2.48%) Greenfield Project
9 10 (1.90%) Public Cloud
10 9 (1.71%) Legacy Code
11 8 (1.52%) Data Structures
12 7 (1.33%) Blog
13 6 (1.14%) CAN bus
13 6 (1.14%) Legacy Systems
14 5 (0.95%) Robotics
15 4 (0.76%) AI Agents
15 4 (0.76%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 45 (8.57%) Linux
2 12 (2.29%) Android
3 11 (2.10%) Embedded Linux
4 4 (0.76%) Apple iOS
5 2 (0.38%) Unix
5 2 (0.38%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 512 (97.52%) Software Engineering
2 120 (22.86%) Agile
3 75 (14.29%) CI/CD
4 72 (13.71%) Mentoring
5 66 (12.57%) Full-Stack Development
6 65 (12.38%) Microservices
7 56 (10.67%) DevOps
8 44 (8.38%) AI
9 42 (8.00%) Computer Science
9 42 (8.00%) Technical Leadership
10 41 (7.81%) Problem-Solving
11 35 (6.67%) SDLC
12 33 (6.29%) Clean Code
12 33 (6.29%) Fintech
13 31 (5.90%) Asset Management
13 31 (5.90%) Investment Management
14 30 (5.71%) Containerisation
15 29 (5.52%) Test Automation
16 25 (4.76%) Continuous Improvement
16 25 (4.76%) User Experience
Programming Languages
1 121 (23.05%) Java
2 85 (16.19%) Python
3 81 (15.43%) C#
4 80 (15.24%) TypeScript
5 65 (12.38%) JavaScript
6 61 (11.62%) C++
7 38 (7.24%) SQL
8 26 (4.95%) C
9 18 (3.43%) Go
9 18 (3.43%) Rust
10 13 (2.48%) Kotlin
11 12 (2.29%) Ruby
12 10 (1.90%) PHP
13 6 (1.14%) Delphi
14 5 (0.95%) Embedded C
15 3 (0.57%) Bash
16 2 (0.38%) Fortran
16 2 (0.38%) MATLAB
16 2 (0.38%) Scala
16 2 (0.38%) VB
Qualifications
1 42 (8.00%) Degree
2 20 (3.81%) Computer Science Degree
3 11 (2.10%) Master's Degree
4 9 (1.71%) Security Cleared
5 5 (0.95%) SC Cleared
6 3 (0.57%) PhD
7 2 (0.38%) Microsoft Certification
8 1 (0.19%) BPSS Clearance
8 1 (0.19%) DBS Check
8 1 (0.19%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (4.19%) QA
2 8 (1.52%) Accessibility
3 6 (1.14%) IEC 61508
3 6 (1.14%) MISRA
3 6 (1.14%) MISRA C
4 2 (0.38%) ISO 9000
4 2 (0.38%) ISO 9001
4 2 (0.38%) JTAG
5 1 (0.19%) Actionable Recommendations
5 1 (0.19%) Data Quality
5 1 (0.19%) ECSS
5 1 (0.19%) GDPR
5 1 (0.19%) PCI DSS
5 1 (0.19%) PSD2
System Software
1 33 (6.29%) Docker
2 7 (1.33%) Virtual Machines
2 7 (1.33%) Virtual Servers
3 6 (1.14%) Firmware
4 3 (0.57%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 58 (11.05%) Kubernetes
2 19 (3.62%) Terraform
3 8 (1.52%) Grafana
4 6 (1.14%) Functional Safety
5 2 (0.38%) Ansible
5 2 (0.38%) Argo
6 1 (0.19%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 13 (2.48%) Google
2 11 (2.10%) Microsoft
3 5 (0.95%) HubSpot
4 2 (0.38%) Adobe
4 2 (0.38%) Atlassian
4 2 (0.38%) CA Agile Central
4 2 (0.38%) OpenAI
4 2 (0.38%) Oracle
4 2 (0.38%) SAP
5 1 (0.19%) Dynatrace
5 1 (0.19%) ForgeRock
5 1 (0.19%) Green Hills
5 1 (0.19%) MuleSoft
5 1 (0.19%) New Relic
5 1 (0.19%) Roku
5 1 (0.19%) SendGrid