Thought Leadership Job Trends

Thought Leadership
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs requiring Thought Leadership skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 12 October 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
12 Oct 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 265 468 259
Rank change year-on-year +203 -209 -43
Permanent jobs citing Thought Leadership 544 314 728
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 1.11% 0.44% 1.29%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.24% 0.53% 1.37%
Number of salaries quoted 148 155 391
10th Percentile £40,000 £48,000 £56,219
25th Percentile £58,750 £65,000 £68,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £78,750 £80,000 £80,674
Median % change year-on-year -1.56% -0.84% -3.79%
75th Percentile £106,563 £95,000 £96,145
90th Percentile £122,500 £110,000 £117,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £65,000 £80,000 £79,632
% change year-on-year -18.75% +0.46% +9.84%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK

Thought Leadership falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 43,703 59,228 53,304
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 88.91% 82.25% 94.10%
Number of salaries quoted 24,458 31,674 40,841
10th Percentile £28,250 £32,750 £32,500
25th Percentile £36,000 £43,750 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% - -
75th Percentile £75,000 £78,250 £80,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £97,500 £97,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £46,750 £52,500 £54,000
% change year-on-year -10.95% -2.78% +2.86%

Thought Leadership
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Thought Leadership relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

Thought Leadership job vacancy trend in the UK

Thought Leadership
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Thought Leadership.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Thought Leadership

Thought Leadership
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Thought Leadership over the 6 months to 12 October 2025.

Salary histogram for Thought Leadership in the UK

Thought Leadership
Top 16 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Thought Leadership within the UK over the 6 months to 12 October 2025. 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 +236 508 £77,500 -0.64% 451
London +212 360 £97,750 +22.19% 289
UK excluding London +95 159 £65,000 -18.75% 217
Work from Home +77 91 £65,000 -18.75% 266
South East +99 80 £38,750 -48.33% 101
North of England +25 25 £75,000 +20.00% 56
Midlands +28 18 £67,500 +3.85% 20
Scotland -10 17 £74,500 -25.50% 12
North West +11 16 £65,000 +6.12% 44
West Midlands +36 14 £65,000 - 15
South West +48 11 £63,840 -20.20% 17
Yorkshire +18 9 £85,000 +36.00% 10
East of England -15 5 £45,000 -40.98% 12
East Midlands +18 2 £100,000 +5.26% 5
Northern Ireland - 2 - -
Wales - 1 £47,500 - 1

Thought Leadership
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 14 (2.57%) Apache Spark
2 7 (1.29%) CMS
2 7 (1.29%) WordPress
3 6 (1.10%) Confluence
3 6 (1.10%) nginx
4 4 (0.74%) Apache Airflow
4 4 (0.74%) Oracle SOA Suite
5 2 (0.37%) CICS
5 2 (0.37%) Microsoft Exchange
5 2 (0.37%) SharePoint
5 2 (0.37%) WebSphere
6 1 (0.18%) WebLogic
Applications
1 18 (3.31%) Microsoft Excel
2 14 (2.57%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 12 (2.21%) Maya
4 5 (0.92%) Microsoft Office
5 4 (0.74%) Chatbot
6 3 (0.55%) Microsoft Project
7 2 (0.37%) Adobe After Effects
7 2 (0.37%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 2 (0.37%) Adobe Premiere
7 2 (0.37%) Photoshop
8 1 (0.18%) Adobe Illustrator
8 1 (0.18%) Adobe XD
8 1 (0.18%) Elementor
Business Applications
1 28 (5.15%) SAP S/4HANA
2 9 (1.65%) Dynamics CRM
3 7 (1.29%) Endur
4 6 (1.10%) SAP SCM
5 5 (0.92%) NetSuite
6 4 (0.74%) Payment Gateway
6 4 (0.74%) SAP EWM
7 3 (0.55%) SAP CO
7 3 (0.55%) SAP ERP
7 3 (0.55%) SAP FI
7 3 (0.55%) SAP FI/CO
7 3 (0.55%) SAP FSCM
7 3 (0.55%) SAP MDG
7 3 (0.55%) SAP PP
8 2 (0.37%) SAP APO
8 2 (0.37%) SAP IBP
8 2 (0.37%) SAP MM
8 2 (0.37%) SAP Oil and Gas
8 2 (0.37%) SAP QM
8 2 (0.37%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 123 (22.61%) Azure
2 101 (18.57%) AWS
3 34 (6.25%) GCP
4 32 (5.88%) SaaS
5 25 (4.60%) Amazon Bedrock
5 25 (4.60%) Vertex AI
6 21 (3.86%) Power Platform
7 18 (3.31%) GitHub
8 15 (2.76%) Azure Synapse Analytics
8 15 (2.76%) Cloud Computing
8 15 (2.76%) Snowflake
9 14 (2.57%) Serverless
10 12 (2.21%) Azure DevOps
11 9 (1.65%) OCI
12 6 (1.10%) Azure Machine Learning
12 6 (1.10%) IaaS
12 6 (1.10%) OpenShift
13 5 (0.92%) AWS CloudFormation
13 5 (0.92%) AWS Lambda
13 5 (0.92%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 11 (2.02%) DNS
2 6 (1.10%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
2 6 (1.10%) Network Security
3 1 (0.18%) ATM
3 1 (0.18%) BGP
3 1 (0.18%) Firewall
3 1 (0.18%) Internet
3 1 (0.18%) LAN
3 1 (0.18%) MPLS
3 1 (0.18%) Software-Defined Networking
3 1 (0.18%) SSH
3 1 (0.18%) TCP/IP
3 1 (0.18%) WAN
3 1 (0.18%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 42 (7.72%) Data Lake
2 32 (5.88%) NoSQL
3 27 (4.96%) Data Warehouse
4 24 (4.41%) Metadata
5 20 (3.68%) Power BI
6 19 (3.49%) Big Data
7 14 (2.57%) Amazon Redshift
7 14 (2.57%) Hadoop
8 5 (0.92%) Tableau
9 4 (0.74%) BigQuery
9 4 (0.74%) MongoDB
10 3 (0.55%) DataStage
10 3 (0.55%) DynamoDB
10 3 (0.55%) QlikView
10 3 (0.55%) Relational Database
10 3 (0.55%) SQL Server
11 2 (0.37%) DB2
11 2 (0.37%) Looker
11 2 (0.37%) Power Query
11 2 (0.37%) PowerPivot
Development Applications
1 15 (2.76%) JIRA
2 14 (2.57%) ERwin
3 7 (1.29%) GitLab
4 3 (0.55%) eCATT
4 3 (0.55%) ER Studio
4 3 (0.55%) MLflow
4 3 (0.55%) PowerDesigner
5 1 (0.18%) Axure RP
5 1 (0.18%) Balsamiq
5 1 (0.18%) Git
5 1 (0.18%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.18%) VersaTest
5 1 (0.18%) Vite
5 1 (0.18%) WaveMaker
General
1 200 (36.76%) Analytical Skills
2 195 (35.85%) Social Skills
3 180 (33.09%) Law
4 164 (30.15%) Finance
5 111 (20.40%) Marketing
6 61 (11.21%) Retail
7 56 (10.29%) Games
8 52 (9.56%) Influencing Skills
9 41 (7.54%) Presentation Skills
10 40 (7.35%) Banking
11 34 (6.25%) Public Sector
12 23 (4.23%) Advertising
12 23 (4.23%) Legal
13 19 (3.49%) Pharmaceutical
14 15 (2.76%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 14 (2.57%) Manufacturing
16 13 (2.39%) Publishing
17 9 (1.65%) Dutch Language
17 9 (1.65%) French Language
18 8 (1.47%) Billing
Job Titles
1 143 (26.29%) Senior
2 97 (17.83%) Lead
3 81 (14.89%) Architect
4 62 (11.40%) Consultant
5 45 (8.27%) Solutions Architect
6 41 (7.54%) Senior Consultant
7 28 (5.15%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
8 25 (4.60%) Gen AI Consultant
9 24 (4.41%) Account Executive
10 23 (4.23%) Senior Architect
10 23 (4.23%) ServiceNow Architect
11 22 (4.04%) Lead Architect
11 22 (4.04%) Senior Solutions Architect
12 20 (3.68%) Product Lead
13 17 (3.13%) IT Manager
14 16 (2.94%) Data Architect
14 16 (2.94%) Data Scientist
15 15 (2.76%) Senior Manager
16 13 (2.39%) Account Manager
17 12 (2.21%) SAP Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (4.78%) LangChain
2 20 (3.68%) REST
3 16 (2.94%) React
4 13 (2.39%) Kafka
5 10 (1.84%) AngularJS
6 8 (1.47%) .NET
7 7 (1.29%) Vue
8 6 (1.10%) CSS
9 5 (0.92%) ASP.NET
9 5 (0.92%) JSON
9 5 (0.92%) SOAP
9 5 (0.92%) Web Services
9 5 (0.92%) XML
10 4 (0.74%) Hugging Face
10 4 (0.74%) Middleware
11 3 (0.55%) .NET Framework
11 3 (0.55%) Oracle Fusion
11 3 (0.55%) SAP Fiori
11 3 (0.55%) SAPUI5
12 2 (0.37%) HTML
Miscellaneous
1 51 (9.38%) Analytical Mindset
2 50 (9.19%) Algorithms
3 45 (8.27%) Product Ownership
4 44 (8.09%) Legacy Systems
5 29 (5.33%) Enterprise Software
6 28 (5.15%) FMCG
6 28 (5.15%) Self-Motivation
7 24 (4.41%) Virtual Team
8 19 (3.49%) Social Media
9 18 (3.31%) Cloud Native
9 18 (3.31%) Life Science
9 18 (3.31%) Onboarding
10 17 (3.13%) Management Information System
11 15 (2.76%) Digital Media
12 14 (2.57%) Public Cloud
13 12 (2.21%) Blog
13 12 (2.21%) Data Structures
14 11 (2.02%) Web Conferencing
15 9 (1.65%) Blockchain
16 7 (1.29%) Credit Risk
Operating Systems
1 1 (0.18%) Linux
1 1 (0.18%) Solaris
1 1 (0.18%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 213 (39.15%) Roadmaps
2 212 (38.97%) AI
3 205 (37.68%) Analytics
4 174 (31.99%) Agile
5 144 (26.47%) Problem-Solving
6 141 (25.92%) Machine Learning
7 116 (21.32%) Business Strategy
8 101 (18.57%) Decision-Making
9 96 (17.65%) Computer Science
10 91 (16.73%) Business Development
11 90 (16.54%) Project Management
12 89 (16.36%) Stakeholder Management
13 88 (16.18%) Data Science
14 79 (14.52%) DevOps
15 76 (13.97%) Mentoring
16 73 (13.42%) IT Strategy
17 70 (12.87%) Generative AI
18 69 (12.68%) Coaching
19 64 (11.76%) Strategic Roadmap
20 57 (10.48%) B2B
Programming Languages
1 68 (12.50%) Python
2 35 (6.43%) SQL
3 27 (4.96%) JavaScript
4 12 (2.21%) Java
5 6 (1.10%) C#
6 4 (0.74%) C++
7 3 (0.55%) PowerShell
7 3 (0.55%) R
8 2 (0.37%) Scala
9 1 (0.18%) Bash
9 1 (0.18%) Bicep
9 1 (0.18%) Bourne shell
9 1 (0.18%) COBOL
9 1 (0.18%) C-shell
9 1 (0.18%) Kotlin
9 1 (0.18%) Perl
9 1 (0.18%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.18%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 198 (36.40%) Degree
2 68 (12.50%) Master's Degree
3 66 (12.13%) Computer Science Degree
4 52 (9.56%) PhD
5 14 (2.57%) Security Cleared
6 9 (1.65%) PMI Certification
6 9 (1.65%) SC Cleared
6 9 (1.65%) TOGAF Certification
7 8 (1.47%) Azure Certification
7 8 (1.47%) Cisco Certification
7 8 (1.47%) PMP
8 6 (1.10%) CCNA
8 6 (1.10%) CCNP
8 6 (1.10%) CISSP
9 5 (0.92%) APMG
9 5 (0.92%) AWS Certification
9 5 (0.92%) DBS Check
9 5 (0.92%) MBA
10 4 (0.74%) Microsoft Certification
10 4 (0.74%) SAP Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 34 (6.25%) QA
2 29 (5.33%) Data Quality
3 22 (4.04%) GDPR
4 15 (2.76%) GxP
5 14 (2.57%) Accessibility
6 10 (1.84%) PMO
7 8 (1.47%) SLA
8 7 (1.29%) EMIR
9 6 (1.10%) WCAG
10 4 (0.74%) P3O
11 3 (0.55%) Actionable Recommendations
11 3 (0.55%) ISO/IEC 27001
12 2 (0.37%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 2 (0.37%) GRC
12 2 (0.37%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 2 (0.37%) NIST
12 2 (0.37%) NIST 800
13 1 (0.18%) NCSC
13 1 (0.18%) PCI DSS
13 1 (0.18%) SOC 2
System Software
1 7 (1.29%) Docker
2 2 (0.37%) RACF
3 1 (0.18%) Virtual Machines
3 1 (0.18%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 24 (4.41%) Terraform
2 13 (2.39%) Kubernetes
3 4 (0.74%) Ansible
4 3 (0.55%) Grafana
4 3 (0.55%) Prometheus
5 1 (0.18%) Oracle ZFS
5 1 (0.18%) VxRail
Vendors
1 49 (9.01%) Google
2 35 (6.43%) SAP
3 32 (5.88%) Microsoft
4 31 (5.70%) ServiceNow
5 25 (4.60%) Adobe
5 25 (4.60%) Databricks
6 19 (3.49%) Oracle
6 19 (3.49%) TikTok
7 17 (3.13%) Dell
8 10 (1.84%) Salesforce
9 9 (1.65%) OpenAI
10 8 (1.47%) Foundry
11 7 (1.29%) F5
11 7 (1.29%) OpenLink
11 7 (1.29%) Splunk
12 6 (1.10%) Palantir
13 5 (0.92%) IBM
13 5 (0.92%) Pinterest
13 5 (0.92%) Snapchat
14 4 (0.74%) Facebook