Principal Engineer
UK
The median Principal Engineer salary in the UK is £68,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 8 May 2025.
The table below provides salary benchmarking and summary statistics, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.
| 6 months to 8 May 2025 |
Same period 2024 | Same period 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 45 | 281 | 487 |
| Rank change year-on-year | +236 | +206 | -70 |
| Permanent jobs requiring a Principal Engineer | 2,875 | 1,018 | 593 |
| As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK | 5.32% | 1.03% | 0.58% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 5.89% | 1.09% | 0.63% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 561 | 412 | 434 |
| 10th Percentile | £48,596 | £57,500 | £55,500 |
| 25th Percentile | £58,000 | £65,000 | £66,250 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £68,000 | £80,000 | £84,500 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -15.00% | -5.33% | -0.59% |
| 75th Percentile | £70,600 | £96,250 | £115,000 |
| 90th Percentile | £78,750 | £115,000 | £150,000 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £65,000 | £70,000 | £72,500 |
| % change year-on-year | -7.14% | -3.45% | - |
All Permanent IT Job Vacancies
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 | 48,816 | 93,552 | 93,960 |
| % of permanent jobs with a recognized job title | 90.39% | 94.64% | 91.50% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 27,241 | 67,063 | 59,087 |
| 10th Percentile | £30,000 | £28,500 | £32,500 |
| 25th Percentile | £41,500 | £38,500 | £45,000 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £57,500 | £52,501 | £60,000 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +9.52% | -12.50% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £75,000 | £71,250 | £81,250 |
| 90th Percentile | £97,500 | £90,000 | £100,000 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £52,000 | £50,000 | £53,000 |
| % change year-on-year | +4.00% | -5.66% | +6.00% |
Principal Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend
Job postings that featured Principal Engineer in the job title as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.
Principal Engineer
Salary Trend
3-month moving average salary quoted in jobs citing Principal Engineer.
Principal Engineer
Salary Histogram
Salary distribution for jobs citing Principal Engineer over the 6 months to 8 May 2025.
Principal Engineer
Top 17 Job Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Principal Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 8 May 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK excluding London | +233 | 2,774 | £65,000 | -7.14% | 366 |
| England | +232 | 2,654 | £67,000 | -16.25% | 478 |
| Midlands | +188 | 1,357 | £67,500 | -15.63% | 39 |
| West Midlands | +184 | 880 | £61,625 | -11.96% | 30 |
| East Midlands | +139 | 477 | £71,250 | -16.18% | 9 |
| North of England | +172 | 472 | £51,564 | -20.67% | 89 |
| South East | +202 | 421 | £70,600 | -5.87% | 112 |
| North West | +144 | 410 | £47,000 | -27.69% | 62 |
| South West | +131 | 274 | £58,000 | -17.14% | 56 |
| Work from Home | +184 | 236 | £70,600 | -16.94% | 222 |
| Scotland | +134 | 132 | £52,000 | -25.71% | 12 |
| London | +1 | 73 | £101,250 | +6.58% | 159 |
| Wales | +73 | 61 | £70,600 | +17.67% | 4 |
| Yorkshire | +60 | 58 | £65,000 | - | 22 |
| East of England | +17 | 53 | £67,000 | -13.55% | 60 |
| Northern Ireland | +38 | 4 | - | - | 7 |
| North East | +34 | 4 | £60,000 | - | 5 |
Principal Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities
For the 6 months to 8 May 2025, Principal Engineer job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number co-occurrences and as a proportion of all permanent job ads featuring Principal Engineer in the job title.
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Principal Engineer Skill Set
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category
The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:
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