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 4 June 2026.

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

6 months to
4 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 148 202 137
Rank change year-on-year +54 -65 +153
Permanent jobs requiring a Senior Software Engineer 1,248 761 2,051
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.35% 1.74% 2.00%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.44% 1.95% 2.11%
Number of salaries quoted 1,011 453 1,486
10th Percentile £55,000 £52,500 £50,000
25th Percentile £65,000 £62,500 £55,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £75,000 £78,810 £65,000
Median % change year-on-year -4.83% +21.25% -7.14%
75th Percentile £90,000 £100,000 £81,063
90th Percentile £100,000 £130,000 £102,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £70,000 £65,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year +7.69% +8.33% -7.69%

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 86,819 39,086 97,392
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.71% 89.49% 94.81%
Number of salaries quoted 58,219 21,927 70,884
10th Percentile £30,000 £29,250 £28,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £40,000 £38,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £57,500 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year -4.35% +9.52% -12.50%
75th Percentile £75,000 £77,500 £70,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £50,550 £50,000
% change year-on-year -1.09% +1.10% -6.54%

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 4 June 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 4 June 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 +48 1,089 £75,000 -6.25% 794
UK excluding London +62 869 £70,000 +7.69% 482
London +9 313 £95,000 - 370
Work from Home -39 302 £70,000 -11.18% 333
South East +125 226 £75,000 +15.38% 91
North of England -71 193 £75,000 +9.09% 128
South West +56 153 £70,000 -1.75% 63
North West -51 114 £75,000 +7.14% 84
East of England +40 103 £70,000 +18.64% 57
Midlands +36 96 £65,000 -10.34% 64
Scotland +20 78 £67,500 +8.00% 39
West Midlands +17 63 £69,653 -3.93% 49
Yorkshire -8 57 £70,000 -11.84% 21
East Midlands +5 33 £65,000 -7.14% 15
North East -31 22 £85,000 +54.55% 23
Wales -25 19 £56,250 -13.46% 7
Northern Ireland - 1 - - 36

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

For the 6 months to 4 June 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 1,240 (99.36%) Software Engineering
2 205 (16.43%) C++
3 199 (15.95%) C#
4 182 (14.58%) Java
5 181 (14.50%) Python
6 176 (14.10%) Agile
7 167 (13.38%) AWS
8 162 (12.98%) .NET
9 143 (11.46%) Full-Stack Development
10 127 (10.18%) CI/CD
11 110 (8.81%) Microservices
12 108 (8.65%) Mentoring
13 105 (8.41%) Azure
14 96 (7.69%) React
15 94 (7.53%) Linux
16 93 (7.45%) DevOps
17 92 (7.37%) TypeScript
18 90 (7.21%) JavaScript
19 82 (6.57%) AI
19 82 (6.57%) SaaS
20 80 (6.41%) SDLC
21 79 (6.33%) C
22 78 (6.25%) Security Cleared
22 78 (6.25%) Test Automation
23 77 (6.17%) SQL
24 76 (6.09%) Computer Science
24 76 (6.09%) Degree
24 76 (6.09%) Kubernetes
25 66 (5.29%) Docker
26 63 (5.05%) Problem-Solving

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 16 (1.28%) SharePoint Server
2 4 (0.32%) Apache Solr
3 3 (0.24%) Apache
3 3 (0.24%) FactoryTalk
3 3 (0.24%) WinCC
4 2 (0.16%) CMS
4 2 (0.16%) Confluence
Applications
1 3 (0.24%) Blender
1 3 (0.24%) Maya
Cloud Services
1 167 (13.38%) AWS
2 105 (8.41%) Azure
3 82 (6.57%) SaaS
4 51 (4.09%) GCP
5 36 (2.88%) GitHub
6 29 (2.32%) Serverless
7 18 (1.44%) Azure Cosmos DB
8 17 (1.36%) Amazon EKS
9 16 (1.28%) Anthropic Claude
10 15 (1.20%) Azure AKS
11 13 (1.04%) GitHub Copilot
12 12 (0.96%) Azure DevOps
13 9 (0.72%) Azure Event Grid
14 7 (0.56%) Stripe
15 5 (0.40%) Amazon S3
15 5 (0.40%) Amazon SQS
16 4 (0.32%) Amazon OpenSearch
16 4 (0.32%) AWS Lambda
16 4 (0.32%) IaaS
16 4 (0.32%) Pulumi
Communications & Networking
1 22 (1.76%) RS-232
2 17 (1.36%) Ethernet
3 16 (1.28%) Multicast
4 12 (0.96%) Modbus
5 11 (0.88%) Bluetooth
5 11 (0.88%) HTTP
6 10 (0.80%) Profibus
6 10 (0.80%) Wireless
7 7 (0.56%) RS-485
7 7 (0.56%) ZigBee
8 6 (0.48%) Broadband
9 1 (0.080%) LTE
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (2.40%) SQL Server
2 22 (1.76%) NoSQL
3 17 (1.36%) MySQL
4 16 (1.28%) PostgreSQL
5 13 (1.04%) MongoDB
6 10 (0.80%) Elasticsearch
7 8 (0.64%) Azure SQL Database
8 7 (0.56%) Big Data
9 5 (0.40%) BigQuery
10 4 (0.32%) DocumentDB
10 4 (0.32%) Geospatial Data
10 4 (0.32%) Neo4j
10 4 (0.32%) Relational Database
11 3 (0.24%) Amazon RDS
11 3 (0.24%) DynamoDB
11 3 (0.24%) MariaDB
11 3 (0.24%) Redis
12 1 (0.080%) DB2
12 1 (0.080%) RDBMS
Development Applications
1 51 (4.09%) Git
2 23 (1.84%) JIRA
3 19 (1.52%) TeamCity
4 18 (1.44%) GitLab
5 16 (1.28%) Claude Code
6 13 (1.04%) Visual Studio Code
7 9 (0.72%) Jenkins
8 3 (0.24%) Bitbucket
8 3 (0.24%) Rational Rhapsody
9 2 (0.16%) GDB
9 2 (0.16%) JUnit
9 2 (0.16%) SonarQube
9 2 (0.16%) Visual Studio
10 1 (0.080%) Cucumber
10 1 (0.080%) Eclipse
10 1 (0.080%) LabVIEW
10 1 (0.080%) NUnit
10 1 (0.080%) Selenium
10 1 (0.080%) WinDbg
10 1 (0.080%) Xcode
General
1 134 (10.74%) Finance
2 62 (4.97%) Banking
3 55 (4.41%) Social Skills
4 43 (3.45%) Electronics
5 30 (2.40%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 29 (2.32%) Manufacturing
6 29 (2.32%) Public Sector
7 20 (1.60%) Analytical Skills
7 20 (1.60%) Automotive
8 19 (1.52%) Retail
9 17 (1.36%) Law
10 14 (1.12%) Back Office
10 14 (1.12%) Financial Institution
10 14 (1.12%) Tech for Good
11 12 (0.96%) Aerospace
11 12 (0.96%) Games
12 11 (0.88%) Influencing Skills
13 7 (0.56%) Agriculture
13 7 (0.56%) Military
13 7 (0.56%) Organisational Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 162 (12.98%) .NET
2 96 (7.69%) React
3 61 (4.89%) Node.js
4 40 (3.21%) WPF
5 39 (3.13%) REST
6 31 (2.48%) RESTful
6 31 (2.48%) Spring
7 23 (1.84%) .NET Core
7 23 (1.84%) Spring Boot
8 22 (1.76%) React Native
9 17 (1.36%) .NET Framework
10 16 (1.28%) AngularJS
10 16 (1.28%) Boost C++ Libraries
10 16 (1.28%) FIX Protocol
10 16 (1.28%) pytest
11 15 (1.20%) Ruby on Rails
11 15 (1.20%) Yocto
12 14 (1.12%) Next.js
12 14 (1.12%) Vue
13 13 (1.04%) Django
Miscellaneous
1 87 (6.97%) Cloud Native
2 55 (4.41%) Algorithms
3 38 (3.04%) Embedded Systems
3 38 (3.04%) Legacy Systems
4 26 (2.08%) Distributed Systems
5 22 (1.76%) Greenfield Project
6 18 (1.44%) Derivative
7 17 (1.36%) IoT
8 16 (1.28%) Equities
8 16 (1.28%) Fixed Income
9 15 (1.20%) CAN bus
9 15 (1.20%) Device Driver
9 15 (1.20%) Robotics
10 11 (0.88%) Public Cloud
11 10 (0.80%) AI Agents
12 9 (0.72%) Client/Server
12 9 (0.72%) Product Ownership
12 9 (0.72%) Sports Betting
13 8 (0.64%) Legacy Applications
14 7 (0.56%) Data Structures
Operating Systems
1 94 (7.53%) Linux
2 30 (2.40%) Embedded Linux
3 17 (1.36%) FreeRTOS
4 10 (0.80%) Android
5 6 (0.48%) Windows
6 4 (0.32%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.080%) ThreadX
Processes & Methodologies
1 1,240 (99.36%) Software Engineering
2 176 (14.10%) Agile
3 143 (11.46%) Full-Stack Development
4 127 (10.18%) CI/CD
5 110 (8.81%) Microservices
6 108 (8.65%) Mentoring
7 93 (7.45%) DevOps
8 82 (6.57%) AI
9 80 (6.41%) SDLC
10 78 (6.25%) Test Automation
11 76 (6.09%) Computer Science
12 63 (5.05%) Problem-Solving
13 60 (4.81%) Containerisation
14 56 (4.49%) Fintech
15 53 (4.25%) Technical Leadership
16 48 (3.85%) Continuous Improvement
17 46 (3.69%) Embedded Software Development
18 45 (3.61%) Scrum
19 43 (3.45%) Code Quality
19 43 (3.45%) Low Latency
Programming Languages
1 205 (16.43%) C++
2 199 (15.95%) C#
3 182 (14.58%) Java
4 181 (14.50%) Python
5 92 (7.37%) TypeScript
6 90 (7.21%) JavaScript
7 79 (6.33%) C
8 77 (6.17%) SQL
9 42 (3.37%) Rust
10 27 (2.16%) Go
11 20 (1.60%) Embedded C
12 19 (1.52%) PHP
13 15 (1.20%) Ruby
14 12 (0.96%) Scala
15 9 (0.72%) Julia
15 9 (0.72%) Kotlin
15 9 (0.72%) MATLAB
16 8 (0.64%) F#
16 8 (0.64%) Haskell
17 7 (0.56%) VB
Qualifications
1 78 (6.25%) Security Cleared
2 76 (6.09%) Degree
3 60 (4.81%) SC Cleared
4 27 (2.16%) DV Cleared
5 24 (1.92%) Computer Science Degree
6 22 (1.76%) Master's Degree
7 13 (1.04%) PhD
8 3 (0.24%) AWS Certification
8 3 (0.24%) BPSS Clearance
9 2 (0.16%) DBS Check
10 1 (0.080%) HND
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 29 (2.32%) QA
2 16 (1.28%) IEC 61508
2 16 (1.28%) MISRA
2 16 (1.28%) MISRA C
3 11 (0.88%) Accessibility
4 4 (0.32%) GDPR
5 3 (0.24%) DO-178B
5 3 (0.24%) IEC 61131
6 1 (0.080%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 66 (5.29%) Docker
2 44 (3.53%) Firmware
3 19 (1.52%) Embedded Firmware
4 2 (0.16%) Hyper-V
4 2 (0.16%) KVM
4 2 (0.16%) VMware Infrastructure
5 1 (0.080%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 76 (6.09%) Kubernetes
2 40 (3.21%) Terraform
3 20 (1.60%) Grafana
4 13 (1.04%) Functional Safety
5 5 (0.40%) Prometheus
6 3 (0.24%) Ansible
6 3 (0.24%) Plesk
7 1 (0.080%) Argo
Vendors
1 8 (0.64%) Microsoft
2 7 (0.56%) Google
2 7 (0.56%) HubSpot
2 7 (0.56%) Siemens
3 3 (0.24%) Rockwell
3 3 (0.24%) Splunk
4 2 (0.16%) OpenAI
4 2 (0.16%) VMware
5 1 (0.080%) Foundry
5 1 (0.080%) Palantir
5 1 (0.080%) TOWER Software