April 2026 Edition

UK Tech Profession
Salary Intelligence

Live data from — UK job postings, updated weekly. Salary benchmarks, tooling trends and market intelligence for QA engineers, developers, business analysts and programme managers — and the leaders who hire them.

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Job postings analysed
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UK median QA salary
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Roles requiring automation
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Most in-demand tool

Salary by seniority

Annual permanent roles · UK-wide
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Salary by region

Median annual salary · permanent roles
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Salary by role

Median · 25th–75th percentile · year-on-year trend
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SOURCE: ITJOBSWATCH · 6 MONTHS TO MAR 2026 · UK-WIDE

Tool demand & salary premium

UK demand rank · median salary in roles requiring each tool
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SOURCE: ITJOBSWATCH · RANKED BY UK DEMAND · LOWER RANK NUMBER = MORE IN DEMAND

Contract day rates

Outside IR35 / day rate roles
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Cross-discipline salary benchmarks

UK median · permanent roles · April 2026
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SOURCES: ITJOBSWATCH · ADZUNA · LIVE UK JOB POSTINGS · UPDATED WEEKLY

Hiring cost intelligence

For CEOs, CIOs, CTOs and programme leaders
Software Engineer
£70,000
£55,000 – £95,000 | Contract: £500–£800/day
Cost of vacancy: ~£850/day. UK tech salary growth 7.5% YoY. Cloud-native and AI-skilled engineers command 20-40% premium. Degree requirements dropped by most UK employers in 2026.
▲ High demand · skills-first market
QA / Test Automation Engineer
£52,000
£40,000 – £75,000 | Contract: £350–£600/day
Playwright and AI-assisted testing driving 15-25% premium over manual-only roles. SDET roles command up to £70,000. Automation skills now required in 37% of UK QA postings.
▲ Automation premium growing
Business Analyst
£55,000
£40,000 – £75,000 | Contract: £400–£650/day
Data and AI-augmented BAs commanding £60-75K. CBAP and BCS certifications add 10-15% salary premium. Power BI and SQL now expected as baseline skills across sectors.
→ Stable demand · AI augmentation increasing value
Programme Manager
£80,000
£65,000 – £110,000 | Contract: £650–£900/day
MSP and PMP dual-certified PMs command top rates. AI-assisted reporting (Microsoft Copilot for Project, Jira AI) now differentiator. Benefits realisation thinking valued over delivery-only focus.
▲ AI-capable PMs at significant premium

Strategic workforce intelligence

What your peers are doing in 2026

39% of UK tech businesses plan to expand their teams in 2026, with Software Engineers, QA Automation and Engineering Managers in highest demand. Yet most are still using salary models benchmarked 2-3 years ago, resulting in extended vacancy cycles averaging £850/day in lost productivity.

The AI skills premium is real and widening. Professionals who combine domain expertise with AI tooling command 20-40% above market median. This applies across all four disciplines tracked by RoleIQ — QA engineers with Playwright and AI testing tools, developers with GitHub Copilot and cloud-native skills, BAs with Power BI and AI-augmented analysis, and PMs with AI-assisted reporting and forecasting.

Regional salary compression is accelerating. Manchester and Leeds now offer comparable engineering talent at 15-25% below London rates. Remote-first hiring has softened the London premium for senior individual contributors, but executive and programme leadership roles retain strong London anchoring.

Get the full intelligence layer

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