Software Architect Job Trends

Software Architect
UK

The median Software Architect salary in the UK is £85,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 27 May 2026.

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

6 months to
27 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 677 608 599
Rank change year-on-year -69 -9 +208
Permanent jobs requiring a Software Architect 59 40 305
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.063% 0.094% 0.31%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.068% 0.11% 0.32%
Number of salaries quoted 37 31 174
10th Percentile £75,000 £66,250 £65,000
25th Percentile £80,000 £72,500 £68,125
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £85,000 £80,000 £75,000
Median % change year-on-year +6.25% +6.67% +3.45%
75th Percentile £100,000 £85,000 £85,938
90th Percentile - £87,500 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £85,700 £80,000 £75,000
% change year-on-year +7.13% +6.67% +11.11%

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 86,844 37,958 93,943
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.41% 89.30% 94.71%
Number of salaries quoted 57,790 21,252 68,852
10th Percentile £30,000 £29,750 £28,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £40,500 £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 £51,058 £50,000
% change year-on-year -2.07% +2.12% -6.54%

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 27 May 2026.

Salary histogram for Software Architect in the UK

Software Architect
Top 11 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 27 May 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 -33 52 £90,000 +20.00% 47
UK excluding London -44 48 £85,700 +7.13% 32
Work from Home +23 21 £80,000 - 13
North of England -16 15 £75,000 -6.25% 7
South East -6 14 £100,000 +36.99% 5
Yorkshire -34 10 £75,000 -1.32%
East of England -21 9 £85,075 +36.12% 4
South West -53 9 £80,000 -8.57% 5
North West -8 5 £100,000 +17.65%
London -19 5 £90,000 +9.09% 16
Scotland -13 1 £85,700 +7.13% 2

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

For the 6 months to 27 May 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 13 (22.03%) Node.js
2 12 (20.34%) .NET
2 12 (20.34%) Security Cleared
3 11 (18.64%) SaaS
4 10 (16.95%) NestJS
5 9 (15.25%) Azure
6 8 (13.56%) Agile
6 8 (13.56%) Computer Science
6 8 (13.56%) Computer Science Degree
6 8 (13.56%) Degree
6 8 (13.56%) DevOps
6 8 (13.56%) Microservices
6 8 (13.56%) Software Architecture
7 7 (11.86%) AWS
7 7 (11.86%) C#
7 7 (11.86%) TOGAF
8 6 (10.17%) CI/CD
8 6 (10.17%) Mentoring
8 6 (10.17%) Roadmaps
8 6 (10.17%) Software Delivery
9 5 (8.47%) Continuous Improvement
9 5 (8.47%) Design Patterns
9 5 (8.47%) Java
9 5 (8.47%) JavaScript
10 4 (6.78%) AI
10 4 (6.78%) Application Security
10 4 (6.78%) Architectural Patterns
10 4 (6.78%) AWS Certification
10 4 (6.78%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
10 4 (6.78%) Azure Certification

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:

Cloud Services
1 11 (18.64%) SaaS
2 9 (15.25%) Azure
3 7 (11.86%) AWS
4 4 (6.78%) Serverless
5 1 (1.69%) Azure DevOps
Communications & Networking
1 3 (5.08%) Broadband
2 2 (3.39%) VSAT
2 2 (3.39%) Wireless
General
1 11 (18.64%) Social Skills
2 2 (3.39%) Games
2 2 (3.39%) Telecoms
3 1 (1.69%) Aeronautics
3 1 (1.69%) Aerospace
3 1 (1.69%) Automotive
3 1 (1.69%) Finance
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 13 (22.03%) Node.js
2 12 (20.34%) .NET
3 10 (16.95%) NestJS
4 3 (5.08%) Backbone.js
4 3 (5.08%) React
5 2 (3.39%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 4 (6.78%) Cloud Native
1 4 (6.78%) Enterprise Software
2 3 (5.08%) Distributed Systems
3 2 (3.39%) Educational Technology
3 2 (3.39%) Product Ownership
3 2 (3.39%) Virtual Team
Processes & Methodologies
1 8 (13.56%) Agile
1 8 (13.56%) Computer Science
1 8 (13.56%) DevOps
1 8 (13.56%) Microservices
1 8 (13.56%) Software Architecture
2 7 (11.86%) TOGAF
3 6 (10.17%) CI/CD
3 6 (10.17%) Mentoring
3 6 (10.17%) Roadmaps
3 6 (10.17%) Software Delivery
4 5 (8.47%) Continuous Improvement
4 5 (8.47%) Design Patterns
5 4 (6.78%) AI
5 4 (6.78%) Architectural Patterns
5 4 (6.78%) Data Modelling
5 4 (6.78%) EAI
5 4 (6.78%) Enterprise Architecture
5 4 (6.78%) Integration Patterns
5 4 (6.78%) Migration
5 4 (6.78%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 7 (11.86%) C#
2 5 (8.47%) Java
2 5 (8.47%) JavaScript
3 4 (6.78%) Python
3 4 (6.78%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 12 (20.34%) Security Cleared
2 8 (13.56%) Computer Science Degree
2 8 (13.56%) Degree
3 4 (6.78%) AWS Certification
3 4 (6.78%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
3 4 (6.78%) Azure Certification
3 4 (6.78%) Microsoft Certification
3 4 (6.78%) TOGAF Certification
4 2 (3.39%) BPSS Clearance
4 2 (3.39%) Chartered Engineer
5 1 (1.69%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 2 (3.39%) ISO/IEC 12207
2 1 (1.69%) GDPR
Vendors
1 4 (6.78%) Microsoft
2 1 (1.69%) BiZZdesign