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 15 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 306 341 326
Rank change year-on-year +35 -15 -88
Permanent jobs citing Thought Leadership 474 350 736
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.64% 0.80% 0.87%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.82% 0.85% 1.00%
Number of salaries quoted 170 122 502
10th Percentile £42,250 £46,375 £43,075
25th Percentile £61,250 £72,500 £62,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £80,000 £90,000 £80,000
Median % change year-on-year -11.11% +12.50% -11.11%
75th Percentile £97,500 £110,000 £100,064
90th Percentile £118,750 £131,125 £130,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £70,000 £89,500 £80,000
% change year-on-year -21.79% +11.88% -

All Process & 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 57,986 41,016 73,720
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 77.95% 93.54% 87.33%
Number of salaries quoted 35,213 22,402 55,977
10th Percentile £29,750 £32,000 £29,000
25th Percentile £39,911 £44,967 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +9.09% -12.00%
75th Percentile £76,997 £80,000 £73,750
90th Percentile £97,500 £102,410 £93,750
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -9.09% +10.00% -9.09%

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 15 March 2026.

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 15 March 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 +39 404 £80,000 -8.57% 325
London +65 263 £86,500 -3.89% 205
UK excluding London -16 153 £70,000 -21.79% 227
Work from Home +22 88 £70,000 -20.89% 125
North of England -58 42 £78,750 -8.96% 47
South East -7 38 £62,500 -10.71% 122
East of England +24 36 £60,100 -38.20% 4
North West -14 34 £75,000 -20.75% 21
Scotland -23 17 £80,000 -20.00% 9
Midlands -17 10 £62,500 -16.67% 24
South West -16 8 £53,250 -33.44% 17
West Midlands 0 6 £75,000 - 17
Yorkshire -46 6 £90,000 +44.00% 18
East Midlands - 4 £50,000 - 7
North East -14 2 - - 8
Wales - 2 £42,000 - 3

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 7 (1.48%) Apache Airflow
2 5 (1.05%) CMS
2 5 (1.05%) IIS
3 4 (0.84%) Palantir Foundry
3 4 (0.84%) WordPress
4 3 (0.63%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.42%) Confluence
5 2 (0.42%) SharePoint
6 1 (0.21%) CICS
6 1 (0.21%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 1 (0.21%) WebSphere
Applications
1 12 (2.53%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 7 (1.48%) Maya
2 7 (1.48%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (1.05%) Adobe Creative Suite
3 5 (1.05%) Adobe XD
3 5 (1.05%) InVision
3 5 (1.05%) Microsoft Office
3 5 (1.05%) Sketch
4 3 (0.63%) Adobe Illustrator
4 3 (0.63%) Elementor
4 3 (0.63%) Photoshop
5 2 (0.42%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.21%) Siemens NX
6 1 (0.21%) Trello
Business Applications
1 14 (2.95%) SAP S/4HANA
2 8 (1.69%) Dynamics CRM
3 7 (1.48%) Endur
4 4 (0.84%) SAP MDG
5 3 (0.63%) Elite 3E
6 2 (0.42%) SAP ERP
6 2 (0.42%) SAP SCM
6 2 (0.42%) Teamcenter
7 1 (0.21%) NetSuite
7 1 (0.21%) Oracle Applications
7 1 (0.21%) Oracle ERP
7 1 (0.21%) Payment Gateway
7 1 (0.21%) SAP CO
7 1 (0.21%) SAP FI
7 1 (0.21%) SAP FI/CO
7 1 (0.21%) SAP IBP
7 1 (0.21%) SAP PLM
7 1 (0.21%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 79 (16.67%) AWS
2 58 (12.24%) Azure
3 46 (9.70%) SaaS
4 35 (7.38%) GCP
5 34 (7.17%) Snowflake
6 11 (2.32%) Power Platform
7 10 (2.11%) GitHub
8 9 (1.90%) Dynamics 365
9 7 (1.48%) AWS CloudFormation
9 7 (1.48%) Azure DevOps
9 7 (1.48%) Cloud Computing
9 7 (1.48%) dbt
10 6 (1.27%) Matillion
10 6 (1.27%) OCI
10 6 (1.27%) SuccessFactors
11 5 (1.05%) Azure Machine Learning
11 5 (1.05%) Figma
11 5 (1.05%) Google Ads
11 5 (1.05%) Microsoft Copilot
11 5 (1.05%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 10 (2.11%) Firewall
2 5 (1.05%) Intrusion Detection
2 5 (1.05%) Network Security
3 4 (0.84%) WAN
3 4 (0.84%) Wireless
4 3 (0.63%) SD-WAN
4 3 (0.63%) Wi-Fi
5 2 (0.42%) Cisco IPT
5 2 (0.42%) Cisco ISE
5 2 (0.42%) LAN
5 2 (0.42%) Tactical Data Link
5 2 (0.42%) WebEx
6 1 (0.21%) BGP
6 1 (0.21%) Bluetooth
6 1 (0.21%) Broadband
6 1 (0.21%) LoRaWAN
6 1 (0.21%) MPLS
6 1 (0.21%) Software-Defined Networking
6 1 (0.21%) SSL
6 1 (0.21%) ZigBee
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (6.33%) Data Warehouse
2 19 (4.01%) Data Lake
3 14 (2.95%) NoSQL
4 11 (2.32%) Tableau
5 10 (2.11%) Power BI
6 9 (1.90%) Big Data
7 7 (1.48%) Metadata
8 6 (1.27%) BigQuery
8 6 (1.27%) Hadoop
9 5 (1.05%) Data Mining
10 4 (0.84%) DataStage
10 4 (0.84%) QlikView
10 4 (0.84%) SAP HANA
11 2 (0.42%) Amazon RDS
11 2 (0.42%) Delta Lake
11 2 (0.42%) Looker
11 2 (0.42%) MongoDB
11 2 (0.42%) SAP Data Services
11 2 (0.42%) SQL Server
12 1 (0.21%) DB2
Development Applications
1 6 (1.27%) GitLab
1 6 (1.27%) MLflow
2 5 (1.05%) Axure RP
2 5 (1.05%) Cucumber
2 5 (1.05%) JIRA
3 4 (0.84%) ER Studio
3 4 (0.84%) ERwin
3 4 (0.84%) PowerDesigner
4 2 (0.42%) Git
4 2 (0.42%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.21%) Cypress.io
5 1 (0.21%) Selenium
5 1 (0.21%) SonarQube
General
1 177 (37.34%) Finance
2 121 (25.53%) Social Skills
3 90 (18.99%) Marketing
4 87 (18.35%) Analytical Skills
5 59 (12.45%) Public Sector
6 50 (10.55%) Presentation Skills
7 41 (8.65%) Law
8 36 (7.59%) Legal
9 34 (7.17%) Retail
10 30 (6.33%) Banking
11 28 (5.91%) Games
12 26 (5.49%) Pharmaceutical
13 25 (5.27%) Influencing Skills
14 23 (4.85%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 18 (3.80%) Financial Institution
16 12 (2.53%) Aerospace
17 11 (2.32%) Publishing
18 9 (1.90%) Telecoms
19 8 (1.69%) Manufacturing
20 7 (1.48%) Organisational Skills
Job Titles
1 99 (20.89%) Senior
2 69 (14.56%) Architect
3 68 (14.35%) Lead
4 64 (13.50%) Consultant
5 44 (9.28%) Account Executive
6 35 (7.38%) Sales Executive
7 29 (6.12%) Senior Sales Executive
8 22 (4.64%) Business Development Executive
8 22 (4.64%) Senior Manager
9 21 (4.43%) Business Architect
10 20 (4.22%) Senior Architect
11 19 (4.01%) Senior Consultant
12 18 (3.80%) Business Consultant
12 18 (3.80%) Business Sales Executive
12 18 (3.80%) Sales Account Executive
12 18 (3.80%) Senior Account Executive
12 18 (3.80%) Solutions Architect
13 15 (3.16%) Business Manager
14 14 (2.95%) Data Consultant
14 14 (2.95%) Marketing Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (2.32%) Spring
1 11 (2.32%) Spring Boot
2 8 (1.69%) Kafka
2 8 (1.69%) REST
3 7 (1.48%) CSS
3 7 (1.48%) HTML
4 6 (1.27%) React
4 6 (1.27%) SOAP
5 5 (1.05%) OAuth
5 5 (1.05%) OAuth2
5 5 (1.05%) Play Framework
5 5 (1.05%) PyTorch
5 5 (1.05%) TensorFlow
6 3 (0.63%) Flutter
6 3 (0.63%) Oracle Fusion
7 2 (0.42%) AngularJS
7 2 (0.42%) Middleware
7 2 (0.42%) SAP Fiori
7 2 (0.42%) scikit-learn
7 2 (0.42%) XGBoost
Miscellaneous
1 33 (6.96%) Life Science
2 30 (6.33%) Self-Motivation
3 28 (5.91%) Blog
4 27 (5.70%) Enterprise Software
5 25 (5.27%) Cloud Native
6 17 (3.59%) Algorithms
6 17 (3.59%) Social Media
7 15 (3.16%) Management Information System
8 14 (2.95%) Web Conferencing
9 13 (2.74%) Onboarding
10 12 (2.53%) Product Ownership
11 11 (2.32%) Distributed Systems
12 10 (2.11%) AI Agents
12 10 (2.11%) e-Learning
13 9 (1.90%) Podcast
14 8 (1.69%) Credit Risk
14 8 (1.69%) Data Fabric
14 8 (1.69%) NHS
14 8 (1.69%) Virtual Team
15 7 (1.48%) Data Protection Act
Operating Systems
1 2 (0.42%) Windows
2 1 (0.21%) Android
2 1 (0.21%) Apple iOS
2 1 (0.21%) Linux
2 1 (0.21%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 173 (36.50%) AI
2 133 (28.06%) Business Development
3 131 (27.64%) Decision-Making
4 130 (27.43%) Analytics
5 106 (22.36%) Agile
6 100 (21.10%) Roadmaps
7 95 (20.04%) Mentoring
8 71 (14.98%) Problem-Solving
9 69 (14.56%) Business Strategy
10 62 (13.08%) B2B
11 61 (12.87%) Cybersecurity
12 59 (12.45%) Workshop Facilitation
13 58 (12.24%) Generative AI
14 56 (11.81%) Computer Science
14 56 (11.81%) Stakeholder Management
15 55 (11.60%) Strategic Thinking
16 54 (11.39%) Machine Learning
17 51 (10.76%) Data Science
17 51 (10.76%) Stakeholder Engagement
18 50 (10.55%) Use Case
Programming Languages
1 37 (7.81%) Python
2 28 (5.91%) Java
3 24 (5.06%) SQL
4 8 (1.69%) JavaScript
5 6 (1.27%) R
6 5 (1.05%) Kotlin
6 5 (1.05%) PowerShell
6 5 (1.05%) Scala
7 4 (0.84%) C#
8 3 (0.63%) Go
9 1 (0.21%) ABAP
9 1 (0.21%) Bash
9 1 (0.21%) Ruby
9 1 (0.21%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 137 (28.90%) Degree
2 54 (11.39%) Master's Degree
3 53 (11.18%) Security Cleared
4 35 (7.38%) SC Cleared
5 32 (6.75%) PhD
6 22 (4.64%) Computer Science Degree
7 16 (3.38%) CISSP
8 15 (3.16%) CISM
9 14 (2.95%) DBS Check
10 13 (2.74%) Azure Certification
11 11 (2.32%) AWS Certification
12 9 (1.90%) MBA
12 9 (1.90%) PMI Certification
12 9 (1.90%) PMP
13 8 (1.69%) CRISC
14 7 (1.48%) DV Cleared
15 6 (1.27%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
16 5 (1.05%) GSEC
16 5 (1.05%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
16 5 (1.05%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (4.22%) Accessibility
2 19 (4.01%) GxP
3 15 (3.16%) GRC
3 15 (3.16%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 13 (2.74%) NIST
5 11 (2.32%) Data Quality
5 11 (2.32%) QA
6 7 (1.48%) EMIR
6 7 (1.48%) EU AI Act
7 6 (1.27%) Actionable Recommendations
7 6 (1.27%) JSP 440
8 5 (1.05%) GDPR
8 5 (1.05%) Government Security Classifications
8 5 (1.05%) HMG Security Policy Framework
8 5 (1.05%) WCAG
9 3 (0.63%) SLA
10 2 (0.42%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 2 (0.42%) NCSC
10 2 (0.42%) NIST 800
10 2 (0.42%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 5 (1.05%) Docker
2 3 (0.63%) Active Directory
3 1 (0.21%) RACF
Systems Management
1 17 (3.59%) Terraform
2 7 (1.48%) Kubernetes
3 6 (1.27%) Ansible
4 3 (0.63%) Grafana
5 2 (0.42%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
5 2 (0.42%) RSA Archer
6 1 (0.21%) Microsoft Intune
6 1 (0.21%) Progress Chef
6 1 (0.21%) Prometheus
6 1 (0.21%) Puppet
Vendors
1 57 (12.03%) Dell
2 30 (6.33%) SAP
3 27 (5.70%) Databricks
3 27 (5.70%) Microsoft
4 24 (5.06%) Google
5 20 (4.22%) Oracle
6 16 (3.38%) Informatica
7 14 (2.95%) HubSpot
8 13 (2.74%) ServiceNow
9 12 (2.53%) Denodo
9 12 (2.53%) Teradata
10 10 (2.11%) Adobe
10 10 (2.11%) IBM
10 10 (2.11%) Salesforce
11 7 (1.48%) OpenLink
12 6 (1.27%) Cognizant
12 6 (1.27%) Workday
13 5 (1.05%) BT
14 4 (0.84%) Foundry
14 4 (0.84%) Palantir