Software Architect Job Trends

Software Architect
UK

The median Software Architect salary in the UK is £90,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 13 October 2026.

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

6 months to
13 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 668 606 436
Rank change year-on-year -62 -170 +187
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Architect 141 61 357
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.12% 0.12% 0.50%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.13% 0.14% 0.52%
Number of salaries quoted 92 41 157
10th Percentile £75,000 £73,000 £65,000
25th Percentile £80,000 £75,000 £75,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £90,000 £85,700 £80,000
Median % change year-on-year +5.02% +7.13% -5.88%
75th Percentile £100,000 £93,750 £86,250
90th Percentile £101,250 £100,000 £92,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £90,000 £85,700 £80,000
% change year-on-year +5.02% +7.13% -5.88%

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 109,503 44,040 68,088
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 92.55% 89.76% 95.37%
Number of salaries quoted 74,366 25,685 38,800
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,000 £31,250
25th Percentile £41,000 £35,000 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £58,750 £53,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +9.81% -2.73% -8.33%
75th Percentile £76,250 £73,750 £75,000
90th Percentile £100,000 £95,000 £95,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £46,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year +19.57% -8.00% -4.76%

Software Architect
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Software Architect job vacancy trend in the UK

Software Architect
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for Software Architect job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for Software Architect job vacancies in the UK

Software Architect
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Software Architect over the 6 months to 13 October 2026.

Salary histogram for Software Architect in the UK

Software Architect
Top 14 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Software Architect within the UK over the 6 months to 13 October 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 -64 125 £90,000 +5.02% 88
UK excluding London -91 107 £90,000 +5.02% 71
East of England -2 37 £90,000 - 25
London -40 24 £100,000 +11.11% 17
Work from Home -44 23 £90,000 +12.50% 40
North of England -50 23 £80,000 +6.67% 10
Midlands -42 18 £80,000 -20.00% 8
South East -40 16 £95,000 +30.14% 19
West Midlands -28 14 £82,500 - 7
North East - 12 £80,000 - 5
North West -24 11 - - 4
Scotland +4 7 - - 3
South West -76 6 - - 4
East Midlands -34 4 £77,500 -22.50% 1

Software Architect Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 13 October 2026, Software Architect 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 Software Architect in the job title.

1 33 (23.40%) Software Architecture
2 27 (19.15%) Software Engineering
3 25 (17.73%) Technical Leadership
4 22 (15.60%) CI/CD
5 19 (13.48%) .NET
6 17 (12.06%) Decision-Making
7 16 (11.35%) DevOps
8 15 (10.64%) Integration Patterns
8 15 (10.64%) Observability
8 15 (10.64%) Problem-Solving
9 14 (9.93%) C#
9 14 (9.93%) Continuous Improvement
9 14 (9.93%) Microservices
10 13 (9.22%) Event-Driven
10 13 (9.22%) Firmware
10 13 (9.22%) Test Automation
11 12 (8.51%) C
11 12 (8.51%) C++
11 12 (8.51%) Linux
11 12 (8.51%) Mentoring
12 11 (7.80%) Python
12 11 (7.80%) Security Cleared
13 10 (7.09%) AWS
13 10 (7.09%) Degree
13 10 (7.09%) Roadmaps
13 10 (7.09%) Validation
14 9 (6.38%) Node.js
14 9 (6.38%) SaaS
15 8 (5.67%) Architectural Patterns
15 8 (5.67%) Computer Science

Software Architect 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 2 (1.42%) Confluence
Applications
1 2 (1.42%) Simulink
Cloud Services
1 10 (7.09%) AWS
2 9 (6.38%) SaaS
3 7 (4.96%) Azure
4 3 (2.13%) GCP
5 1 (0.71%) Anthropic Claude
5 1 (0.71%) GitHub
5 1 (0.71%) GitHub Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 3 (2.13%) HTTP
1 3 (2.13%) VSAT
1 3 (2.13%) Wireless
2 1 (0.71%) Broadband
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (2.13%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 2 (1.42%) GitLab
1 2 (1.42%) JIRA
2 1 (0.71%) Claude Code
General
1 24 (17.02%) Social Skills
2 11 (7.80%) Automotive
3 10 (7.09%) Military
4 8 (5.67%) Manufacturing
5 4 (2.84%) Aerospace
6 3 (2.13%) Pharmaceutical
7 2 (1.42%) Advertising
7 2 (1.42%) Electronics
8 1 (0.71%) Analytical Skills
8 1 (0.71%) Finance
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 19 (13.48%) .NET
2 9 (6.38%) Node.js
3 8 (5.67%) Django
4 5 (3.55%) Blazor
4 5 (3.55%) React
4 5 (3.55%) Vue
5 3 (2.13%) REST
5 3 (2.13%) Web Services
5 3 (2.13%) WPF
6 2 (1.42%) Backbone.js
6 2 (1.42%) Middleware
6 2 (1.42%) NestJS
7 1 (0.71%) CSS
7 1 (0.71%) HTML
Miscellaneous
1 15 (10.64%) Distributed Systems
2 12 (8.51%) Legacy Systems
3 10 (7.09%) Robotics
4 9 (6.38%) Embedded Systems
4 9 (6.38%) IoT
5 8 (5.67%) AI Agents
6 5 (3.55%) Cloud Native
6 5 (3.55%) Enterprise Software
6 5 (3.55%) Virtual Team
7 3 (2.13%) Management Information System
7 3 (2.13%) Online Gambling
7 3 (2.13%) SCADA
7 3 (2.13%) Video\Live Streaming
8 2 (1.42%) Educational Technology
8 2 (1.42%) Product Ownership
9 1 (0.71%) Legacy Applications
9 1 (0.71%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 12 (8.51%) Linux
2 2 (1.42%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 33 (23.40%) Software Architecture
2 27 (19.15%) Software Engineering
3 25 (17.73%) Technical Leadership
4 22 (15.60%) CI/CD
5 17 (12.06%) Decision-Making
6 16 (11.35%) DevOps
7 15 (10.64%) Integration Patterns
7 15 (10.64%) Observability
7 15 (10.64%) Problem-Solving
8 14 (9.93%) Continuous Improvement
8 14 (9.93%) Microservices
9 13 (9.22%) Event-Driven
9 13 (9.22%) Test Automation
10 12 (8.51%) Mentoring
11 10 (7.09%) Roadmaps
11 10 (7.09%) Validation
12 8 (5.67%) Architectural Patterns
12 8 (5.67%) Containerisation
12 8 (5.67%) Logistics
12 8 (5.67%) Secure Coding
Programming Languages
1 14 (9.93%) C#
2 12 (8.51%) C
2 12 (8.51%) C++
3 11 (7.80%) Python
4 7 (4.96%) Rust
5 5 (3.55%) SQL
6 4 (2.84%) Go
6 4 (2.84%) Java
7 3 (2.13%) JavaScript
7 3 (2.13%) TypeScript
7 3 (2.13%) VB.NET
8 2 (1.42%) Embedded C
8 2 (1.42%) Embedded C++
8 2 (1.42%) MATLAB
9 1 (0.71%) Ada
Qualifications
1 11 (7.80%) Security Cleared
2 10 (7.09%) Degree
3 6 (4.26%) Computer Science Degree
4 5 (3.55%) DV Cleared
5 1 (0.71%) SC Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 7 (4.96%) MISRA
2 2 (1.42%) Automotive SPICE
System Software
1 13 (9.22%) Firmware
2 8 (5.67%) Docker
Systems Management
1 8 (5.67%) Kubernetes
2 2 (1.42%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 3 (2.13%) Microsoft