Lead Job Trends in the West Midlands

Leader
England > West Midlands

The median Leader salary in the West Midlands is £65,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 14 June 2026.

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

6 months to
14 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 16 30 18
Rank change year-on-year +14 -12 +2
Permanent jobs requiring a Lead 441 205 684
As % of all permanent jobs in the West Midlands 5.80% 6.76% 7.96%
As % of the Job Titles category 6.15% 7.58% 8.47%
Number of salaries quoted 329 168 477
10th Percentile £42,500 £41,000 £45,000
25th Percentile £51,250 £50,000 £51,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £60,000 £65,000
Median % change year-on-year +8.33% -7.69% +8.33%
75th Percentile £85,000 £73,750 £80,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £80,375 £87,500
England median annual salary £75,000 £75,000 £70,000
% change year-on-year - +7.14% -3.45%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
West Midlands

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies in the West Midlands. 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 West Midlands with a recognized job title 7,173 2,704 8,074
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 94.26% 89.12% 93.95%
Number of salaries quoted 5,270 1,744 5,800
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,000 £26,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £33,750 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £52,500 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% +5.00% -4.76%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £63,750
90th Percentile £85,000 £77,500 £77,500
England median annual salary £57,000 £57,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year -0.87% +9.52% -13.32%

Lead
Job Vacancy Trend in the West Midlands

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

Lead job vacancy trend in the West Midlands

Lead
Salary Trend in the West Midlands

Salary distribution trend for Lead job vacancies in the West Midlands.

Salary distribution trend for Lead job vacancies in the West Midlands

Lead
Salary Histogram in the West Midlands

Salary distribution for jobs citing Lead in the West Midlands over the 6 months to 14 June 2026.

Salary histogram for Lead in the West Midlands

Lead
Job Locations in the West Midlands

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Lead within the West Midlands region over the 6 months to 14 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
Birmingham +7 147 £70,000 +12.00% 28
Staffordshire +45 65 £75,000 +66.67% 19
Shropshire -1 57 £52,500 +28.05% 16
Warwickshire +4 54 £60,000 -11.11% 15
Coventry +7 41 £25,500 -51.43% 8
Solihull +7 24 £95,000 +72.73% 5
Worcestershire +5 23 £65,000 +25.00% 5
Wednesbury - 9 £55,000 -
Wolverhampton -16 8 £70,000 -26.32%
Lead
England

Lead Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the West Midlands

For the 6 months to 14 June 2026, Lead 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 across the West Midlands region featuring Lead in the job title.

1 63 (14.29%) Azure
2 51 (11.56%) Agile
2 51 (11.56%) Continuous Improvement
3 48 (10.88%) Mentoring
4 38 (8.62%) AI
5 33 (7.48%) CI/CD
6 31 (7.03%) Microsoft
7 30 (6.80%) Coaching
7 30 (6.80%) DevOps
8 29 (6.58%) Problem-Solving
9 28 (6.35%) QA
10 27 (6.12%) Java
10 27 (6.12%) SQL
11 26 (5.90%) Test Automation
12 25 (5.67%) AWS
12 25 (5.67%) Degree
13 24 (5.44%) Oracle
13 24 (5.44%) Python
14 23 (5.22%) C#
14 23 (5.22%) CRM
14 23 (5.22%) Roadmaps
15 22 (4.99%) SaaS
16 21 (4.76%) Computer Science
16 21 (4.76%) Service Delivery
16 21 (4.76%) Technical Leadership
17 20 (4.54%) Data Architecture
17 20 (4.54%) JavaScript
18 19 (4.31%) Software Engineering
19 18 (4.08%) Cybersecurity
19 18 (4.08%) Microservices

Lead Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the West Midlands 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 4 (0.91%) Confluence
2 2 (0.45%) ArchestrA
2 2 (0.45%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.23%) Apache Airflow
Applications
1 3 (0.68%) Fusion 360
1 3 (0.68%) Microsoft Excel
1 3 (0.68%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 1 (0.23%) AutoCAD
Business Applications
1 2 (0.45%) SAP S/4HANA
2 1 (0.23%) SAP BPC
2 1 (0.23%) SAP GRC
2 1 (0.23%) SAP HCM
Cloud Services
1 63 (14.29%) Azure
2 25 (5.67%) AWS
3 22 (4.99%) SaaS
4 9 (2.04%) Dynamics 365
5 8 (1.81%) Microsoft 365
6 7 (1.59%) Azure DevOps
6 7 (1.59%) dbt
6 7 (1.59%) PaaS
6 7 (1.59%) Power Platform
7 4 (0.91%) BrowserStack
7 4 (0.91%) Entra ID
8 3 (0.68%) iPaaS
9 2 (0.45%) Azure AI
9 2 (0.45%) Datadog
9 2 (0.45%) GitHub
10 1 (0.23%) Anthropic Claude
10 1 (0.23%) Dagster
10 1 (0.23%) Microsoft Copilot
10 1 (0.23%) Siteimprove
10 1 (0.23%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 3 (0.68%) Network Security
1 3 (0.68%) VPN
1 3 (0.68%) Wireless
2 2 (0.45%) Firewall
2 2 (0.45%) LAN
2 2 (0.45%) SD-WAN
2 2 (0.45%) Software-Defined Networking
2 2 (0.45%) VLAN
2 2 (0.45%) WAN
2 2 (0.45%) Wi-Fi
3 1 (0.23%) BGP
3 1 (0.23%) Cisco ASA
3 1 (0.23%) EIGRP
3 1 (0.23%) Internet
3 1 (0.23%) OSPF
3 1 (0.23%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (1.81%) Data Warehouse
2 6 (1.36%) Data Lake
3 3 (0.68%) MongoDB
3 3 (0.68%) MySQL
3 3 (0.68%) NoSQL
3 3 (0.68%) PostgreSQL
3 3 (0.68%) Power BI
4 2 (0.45%) Amazon Redshift
4 2 (0.45%) Metadata
5 1 (0.23%) BigQuery
5 1 (0.23%) Power Query
5 1 (0.23%) SAP BW
5 1 (0.23%) SQL Server
5 1 (0.23%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 1 (0.23%) SQL Server Reporting Services
5 1 (0.23%) Tableau
5 1 (0.23%) ZAP BI
Development Applications
1 8 (1.81%) JIRA
1 8 (1.81%) JUnit
1 8 (1.81%) Selenium
2 7 (1.59%) Cucumber
2 7 (1.59%) Maven
2 7 (1.59%) Mockito
3 5 (1.13%) Gatling
3 5 (1.13%) Zephyr
4 4 (0.91%) GitLab
4 4 (0.91%) JMeter
4 4 (0.91%) LabVIEW
5 3 (0.68%) Jenkins
6 2 (0.45%) Appium
6 2 (0.45%) Cypress.io
6 2 (0.45%) Git
6 2 (0.45%) LoadRunner
6 2 (0.45%) Locust
6 2 (0.45%) Postman
6 2 (0.45%) REST Assured
6 2 (0.45%) TestRail
General
1 67 (15.19%) Finance
2 39 (8.84%) Social Skills
3 20 (4.54%) Public Sector
4 19 (4.31%) Manufacturing
5 18 (4.08%) Analytical Skills
5 18 (4.08%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 17 (3.85%) Games
7 16 (3.63%) Telecoms
8 12 (2.72%) Organisational Skills
9 8 (1.81%) Banking
10 6 (1.36%) Legal
11 5 (1.13%) Law
11 5 (1.13%) Retail
12 4 (0.91%) Aviation
13 3 (0.68%) Presentation Skills
14 2 (0.45%) Electronics
14 2 (0.45%) Influencing Skills
15 1 (0.23%) Billing
15 1 (0.23%) Fire and Rescue
15 1 (0.23%) Marketing
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 14 (3.17%) .NET
2 11 (2.49%) React
3 9 (2.04%) Playwright
4 8 (1.81%) Spring
4 8 (1.81%) Unity (Game Engine)
5 7 (1.59%) EDI
6 6 (1.36%) REST
6 6 (1.36%) RESTful
7 3 (0.68%) .NET Framework
7 3 (0.68%) Avalonia
7 3 (0.68%) Node.js
7 3 (0.68%) OpenCV
7 3 (0.68%) WPF
8 2 (0.45%) Gherkin
8 2 (0.45%) Middleware
8 2 (0.45%) React Native
9 1 (0.23%) AngularJS
9 1 (0.23%) Laravel
9 1 (0.23%) SAP Fiori
9 1 (0.23%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 13 (2.95%) Onboarding
2 11 (2.49%) Driving Licence
2 11 (2.49%) Greenfield Project
3 10 (2.27%) Virtual Team
4 9 (2.04%) Management Information System
4 9 (2.04%) Virtual Reality
5 8 (1.81%) Product Ownership
5 8 (1.81%) Self-Motivation
6 6 (1.36%) Legacy Systems
6 6 (1.36%) Mobile Games
6 6 (1.36%) Operational Technology
6 6 (1.36%) Robotics
7 5 (1.13%) Mobile App
8 4 (0.91%) FMCG
9 3 (0.68%) Analytical Mindset
9 3 (0.68%) Cloud Native
9 3 (0.68%) Photography
10 2 (0.45%) Enterprise Software
10 2 (0.45%) Hybrid Cloud
10 2 (0.45%) Security Operations Centre
Operating Systems
1 12 (2.72%) Windows
2 8 (1.81%) Android
3 7 (1.59%) Apple iOS
4 6 (1.36%) Mac OS
5 5 (1.13%) Linux
6 4 (0.91%) Windows Server
7 1 (0.23%) Kali Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 51 (11.56%) Agile
1 51 (11.56%) Continuous Improvement
2 48 (10.88%) Mentoring
3 38 (8.62%) AI
4 33 (7.48%) CI/CD
5 30 (6.80%) Coaching
5 30 (6.80%) DevOps
6 29 (6.58%) Problem-Solving
7 26 (5.90%) Test Automation
8 23 (5.22%) CRM
8 23 (5.22%) Roadmaps
9 21 (4.76%) Computer Science
9 21 (4.76%) Service Delivery
9 21 (4.76%) Technical Leadership
10 20 (4.54%) Data Architecture
11 19 (4.31%) Software Engineering
12 18 (4.08%) Cybersecurity
12 18 (4.08%) Microservices
12 18 (4.08%) Stakeholder Engagement
13 17 (3.85%) Data Governance
Programming Languages
1 27 (6.12%) Java
1 27 (6.12%) SQL
2 24 (5.44%) Python
3 23 (5.22%) C#
4 20 (4.54%) JavaScript
5 9 (2.04%) Bash
6 7 (1.59%) PL/SQL
7 6 (1.36%) PowerShell
8 5 (1.13%) TypeScript
9 4 (0.91%) C++
10 2 (0.45%) Go
11 1 (0.23%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 1 (0.23%) JCL
Qualifications
1 25 (5.67%) Degree
2 16 (3.63%) Security Cleared
3 11 (2.49%) SC Cleared
4 8 (1.81%) Master's Degree
5 6 (1.36%) CITP
6 5 (1.13%) ISTQB
7 4 (0.91%) ACCA
7 4 (0.91%) Azure Certification
7 4 (0.91%) CIMA
7 4 (0.91%) ISEB
7 4 (0.91%) Oracle Certification
8 3 (0.68%) CREST Certified
9 2 (0.45%) CCNP
9 2 (0.45%) Cisco Certification
9 2 (0.45%) HND
10 1 (0.23%) CCNA
10 1 (0.23%) Computer Science Degree
10 1 (0.23%) HNC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (6.35%) QA
2 9 (2.04%) Accessibility
3 5 (1.13%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 4 (0.91%) Actionable Recommendations
4 4 (0.91%) SLA
5 3 (0.68%) Data Quality
6 2 (0.45%) GDPR
6 2 (0.45%) GRC
6 2 (0.45%) WCAG
7 1 (0.23%) COBIT
7 1 (0.23%) IEC 61508
7 1 (0.23%) NIST
7 1 (0.23%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 12 (2.72%) Docker
2 5 (1.13%) Active Directory
3 3 (0.68%) Firmware
4 1 (0.23%) IAG
Systems Management
1 11 (2.49%) Kubernetes
2 6 (1.36%) Functional Safety
3 5 (1.13%) Jamf Pro
4 4 (0.91%) Terraform
5 3 (0.68%) Grafana
5 3 (0.68%) Microsoft Intune
5 3 (0.68%) MOM
6 2 (0.45%) CSIRT
7 1 (0.23%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 1 (0.23%) HP ALM
7 1 (0.23%) HP Fortify
7 1 (0.23%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 31 (7.03%) Microsoft
2 24 (5.44%) Oracle
3 7 (1.59%) Salesforce
4 6 (1.36%) Planon
4 6 (1.36%) ServiceNow
5 5 (1.13%) ConnectWise
6 4 (0.91%) Cisco
7 3 (0.68%) Meraki
7 3 (0.68%) SAP
8 2 (0.45%) Fortinet
8 2 (0.45%) Splunk
9 1 (0.23%) AppDynamics
9 1 (0.23%) HP
9 1 (0.23%) HubSpot
9 1 (0.23%) Palo Alto
9 1 (0.23%) Rockwell
9 1 (0.23%) Samsung
9 1 (0.23%) Siemens
9 1 (0.23%) Sparx
9 1 (0.23%) Veracode