October 2026 – London – IT, Tech and AI Salary & Contractor Rates
The Reality Behind the Data
Production AI Takes the Lead
London’s Prompt Engineer / AI App Dev pay growth has stabilized at an impressive 18.1% annual rise, but market demand has pivoted toward execution. Real budget expansion is now absorbed by deployment and platform specialists—AI/ML Engineers (+14.2%) and MLOps Engineers (+12.8%)—as capital firms shift from testing models to scaling production workflows.
Capital Squeeze: Process Deprioritized, Security Escalated
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Coordination Deflation: Pure management functions face continued downward pressure, with Scrum Masters (-3.1%) and IT Project Managers (-1.5%) seeing budget cuts favoring hands-on technical talent.
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Peak Cyber Demand: Critical security roles remain top-tier investments. CISO base median pay in London reaches £161,700 (contract rates up to £885/day), while DevSecOps Engineer (+11.1%) and Security Architect (+9.6%) continue to command steep market premiums.
| Category | Job Title | Yearly Low | Yearly Median (Base) | Yearly High | Annual % Change | Contractor Day Rate (High) | Day Rate Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI, Automation & Data | |||||||
| Head of AI & Automation | £117,100 | £136,600 | £161,000 | +14.8% | £810 | +11.2% | |
| AI / Machine Learning Engineer | £89,700 | £105,500 | £126,900 | +14.2% | £630 | +10.5% | |
| AI Solutions Architect | £101,300 | £119,000 | £142,100 | +12.5% | £710 | +9.2% | |
| MLOps Engineer | £84,200 | £99,400 | £117,700 | +12.8% | £550 | +8.9% | |
| Automation / RPA Architect | £85,400 | £98,200 | £117,100 | +5.2% | £575 | +4.5% | |
| RPA Developer | £58,600 | £68,300 | £80,500 | +3.8% | £385 | +3.2% | |
| Data Science Lead | £95,800 | £112,900 | £132,400 | +8.4% | £645 | +6.6% | |
| Data Scientist | £68,900 | £81,100 | £95,800 | +6.1% | £465 | +5.1% | |
| Data Engineer | £64,100 | £75,000 | £88,500 | +7.5% | £445 | +5.8% | |
| Data Architect | £90,300 | £106,100 | £124,400 | +5.9% | £590 | +4.4% | |
| Business Intelligence (BI) Analyst | £50,000 | £59,200 | £70,200 | +2.5% | £330 | +2.1% | |
| BI Developer | £58,000 | £68,300 | £80,500 | +3.1% | £385 | +2.7% | |
| Power Platform / Low-Code Dev | £64,100 | £75,000 | £88,500 | +8.0% | £445 | +6.5% | |
| Prompt Engineer / AI App Dev | £75,000 | £88,500 | £104,300 | +18.1% | £520 | +12.0% | |
| IT Ops & Leadership | |||||||
| IT Director / CIO | £122,000 | £146,400 | £173,200 | +1.8% | £660 | +2.3% | |
| Head of IT / IT Manager | £79,300 | £92,700 | £109,800 | +1.2% | £510 | +1.8% | |
| IT Business Partner | £68,300 | £80,500 | £95,200 | +0.8% | £460 | +1.1% | |
| Service Delivery Manager | £68,300 | £80,500 | £95,200 | +1.1% | £440 | +1.5% | |
| IT Operations Manager | £70,800 | £84,200 | £98,800 | +0.5% | £460 | +1.0% | |
| IT Project Manager | £62,800 | £73,800 | £87,200 | -1.50% | £435 | -0.80% | |
| Program Manager | £90,300 | £106,100 | £124,400 | -0.80% | £565 | -0.40% | |
| Scrum Master / Agile Coach | £67,100 | £79,300 | £93,900 | -3.10% | £455 | -2.20% | |
| Business Analyst | £58,000 | £68,300 | £80,500 | +3.1% | £385 | +2.8% | |
| 1st Line Support Technician | £27,500 | £32,300 | £37,800 | +3.8% | £160 | +3.2% | |
| 2nd Line Support Engineer | £36,600 | £43,300 | £51,200 | +4.0% | £225 | +3.5% | |
| 3rd Line / Senior Tech Support | £47,000 | £55,500 | £65,900 | +4.0% | £310 | +6.1% | |
| Helpdesk Manager / Service Desk Lead | £52,500 | £61,600 | £72,600 | +2.8% | £330 | +2.5% | |
| Infrastructure & Networking | |||||||
| Infrastructure Manager | £73,200 | £86,600 | £102,500 | +2.1% | £460 | +1.8% | |
| Senior Systems Engineer | £58,000 | £68,300 | £80,500 | +3.5% | £360 | +3.0% | |
| Systems Administrator | £43,300 | £51,200 | £60,400 | +3.2% | £270 | +2.8% | |
| Network Architect | £90,300 | £106,100 | £124,400 | +4.1% | £565 | +3.5% | |
| Network Engineer | £50,000 | £59,200 | £70,200 | +2.9% | £310 | +2.5% | |
| Network Security Engineer | £61,600 | £72,600 | £85,400 | +8.2% | £390 | +6.4% | |
| Unified Communications Specialist | £50,000 | £59,200 | £70,200 | +1.8% | £310 | +1.5% | |
| Storage & Virtualisation Engineer | £54,300 | £63,700 | £75,000 | +2.0% | £325 | +1.8% | |
| Data Centre Engineer | £43,900 | £51,900 | £61,000 | +2.2% | £275 | +2.0% | |
| Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) | £76,300 | £89,700 | £106,100 | +9.4% | £495 | +7.1% | |
| Cloud & DevOps | |||||||
| Cloud Architect (AWS/Azure/GCP) | £100,700 | £117,700 | £139,100 | +8.8% | £645 | +5.7% | |
| Principal Cloud Engineer | £90,900 | £106,800 | £125,100 | +7.9% | £595 | +6.2% | |
| Cloud Systems Engineer | £61,000 | £72,000 | £84,800 | +5.5% | £385 | +4.8% | |
| DevOps Engineer | £78,700 | £92,100 | £109,200 | +6.8% | £515 | +5.2% | |
| DevOps Lead / Architect | £95,800 | £112,200 | £132,400 | +7.5% | £625 | +5.8% | |
| DevSecOps Engineer | £83,600 | £99,400 | £116,500 | +11.1% | £570 | +7.4% | |
| Infrastructure as Code Specialist | £73,200 | £86,600 | £102,500 | +6.2% | £490 | +5.1% | |
| Cloud Migration Specialist | £75,600 | £89,100 | £104,900 | +5.8% | £490 | +4.8% | |
| FinOps Specialist | £71,400 | £84,800 | £99,400 | +9.1% | £465 | +7.0% | |
| Cybersecurity & Risk | |||||||
| Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) | £137,900 | £161,700 | £190,300 | +1.5% | £885 | +2.3% | |
| Information Security Manager | £90,900 | £105,500 | £124,400 | +5.8% | £570 | +4.9% | |
| Cyber Security Engineer | £68,900 | £81,100 | £95,800 | +7.2% | £465 | +5.8% | |
| Cyber Security Analyst | £50,000 | £59,200 | £70,200 | +5.1% | £310 | +4.2% | |
| Penetration Tester / Ethical Hacker | £65,900 | £77,100 | £90,900 | +6.0% | £440 | +4.8% | |
| SOC Analyst | £43,900 | £51,900 | £61,000 | +4.8% | £275 | +4.0% | |
| Security Architect | £95,800 | £112,200 | £132,400 | +9.6% | £625 | +7.2% | |
| Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) Lead | £78,100 | £92,700 | £109,200 | +4.2% | £490 | +3.8% | |
| Identity & Access Management (IAM) Specialist | £63,400 | £74,400 | £87,800 | +5.0% | £385 | +4.1% | |
| Cloud Security Specialist | £82,400 | £97,000 | £114,100 | +10.2% | £535 | +7.8% | |
| Software & ERP | |||||||
| Software Engineering Manager | £95,100 | £111,600 | £131,800 | +3.5% | £620 | +2.8% | |
| Lead Software Developer | £81,700 | £96,400 | £113,500 | +4.2% | £530 | +3.5% | |
| Senior Full Stack Developer | £70,800 | £84,200 | £98,800 | +4.8% | £460 | +3.8% | |
| Software Engineer (Python/Java/.NET) | £65,300 | £76,600 | £90,300 | +4.5% | £435 | +3.6% | |
| ERP / CRM Manager | £78,100 | £92,700 | £109,200 | +2.0% | £510 | +1.8% | |
| Solution Architect | £91,500 | £108,600 | £128,100 | +5.5% | £580 | +4.2% | |
October’s numbers make one thing clear: pay for people who build or defend, and be more selective on pure coordination roles.
If you’re hiring or reviewing pay in light of these figures, get in touch or call us on 0207 788 6600 or email james@langleyjames.com.