September 2026 – South East – IT, Tech and AI Salary & Contractor Rates
The Reality Behind the Data
Close to London Money, Without the London Commute
South East salaries are running close behind London’s on the roles that matter most: Prompt Engineer / AI App Dev is up 17.8% here versus London’s 18.0%, and AI/ML Engineer sits at £92,000 median against London’s £102,500. For companies competing with London employers on talent, the gap has narrowed enough that remote-first or hybrid roles based in the South East are a genuinely competitive offer, not a consolation prize.
The Same Roles Are Losing Ground Here Too
IT Project Manager (-1.1%) and Scrum Master/Agile Coach (-2.7%) are both down year-on-year — consistent with the pattern across every region in this series. Meanwhile CISO pay has climbed to £140,000 median (+7.5%), and Security Architect to £98,000 (+9.5%). If you’re hiring security or AI leadership in the South East, budget on the assumption that London-adjacent doesn’t mean London-discount anymore.
| 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 | £102,000 | £120,000 | £142,000 | +11.8% | £850 | +8.8% | |
| AI / Machine Learning Engineer | £78,000 | £92,000 | £110,000 | +14.0% | £660 | +9.5% | |
| AI Solutions Architect | £88,000 | £104,000 | £125,000 | +11.5% | £750 | +7.8% | |
| MLOps Engineer | £74,000 | £86,000 | £102,000 | +12.8% | £580 | +8.5% | |
| Automation / RPA Architect | £75,000 | £86,000 | £102,000 | +6.3% | £610 | +4.1% | |
| RPA Developer | £52,000 | £60,000 | £71,000 | +3.6% | £415 | +2.3% | |
| Data Science Lead | £84,000 | £98,000 | £116,000 | +8.3% | £680 | +5.3% | |
| Data Scientist | £60,000 | £71,000 | £84,000 | +7.0% | £490 | +4.6% | |
| Data Engineer | £56,000 | £66,000 | £78,000 | +9.0% | £470 | +5.9% | |
| Data Architect | £80,000 | £94,000 | £110,000 | +5.6% | £630 | +3.7% | |
| Business Intelligence (BI) Analyst | £44,000 | £52,000 | £61,500 | +2.1% | £355 | +1.5% | |
| BI Developer | £51,000 | £60,000 | £71,000 | +3.3% | £415 | +2.1% | |
| Power Platform / Low-Code Dev | £56,000 | £66,000 | £78,000 | +8.6% | £470 | +5.6% | |
| Prompt Engineer / AI App Dev | £65,000 | £76,000 | £90,000 | +17.8% | £550 | +11.8% | |
| IT Ops & Leadership | |||||||
| IT Director / CIO | £108,000 | £128,000 | £152,000 | +2.6% | £710 | +1.7% | |
| Head of IT / IT Manager | £70,000 | £82,000 | £97,000 | +1.5% | £550 | +0.9% | |
| IT Business Partner | £60,000 | £71,000 | £84,000 | +3.1% | £490 | +1.9% | |
| Service Delivery Manager | £60,000 | £71,000 | £84,000 | +0.7% | £470 | +0.5% | |
| IT Operations Manager | £62,000 | £74,000 | £87,000 | +1.1% | £490 | +0.7% | |
| IT Project Manager | £56,000 | £66,000 | £78,000 | -1.1% | £470 | -0.6% | |
| Program Manager | £80,000 | £94,000 | £110,000 | +2.3% | £610 | +1.4% | |
| Scrum Master / Agile Coach | £60,000 | £71,000 | £84,000 | -2.7% | £490 | -1.7% | |
| Business Analyst | £51,000 | £60,000 | £71,000 | +1.7% | £415 | +1.1% | |
| 1st Line Support Technician | £24,000 | £28,500 | £33,500 | +0.5% | £172 | +0.0% | |
| 2nd Line Support Engineer | £32,000 | £38,000 | £45,000 | +1.3% | £240 | +0.9% | |
| 3rd Line / Senior Tech Support | £41,000 | £48,500 | £57,500 | +2.1% | £330 | +1.4% | |
| Helpdesk Manager / Service Desk Lead | £46,000 | £54,000 | £64,000 | +0.9% | £355 | +0.4% | |
| Infrastructure & Networking | |||||||
| Infrastructure Manager | £65,000 | £76,000 | £90,000 | +1.4% | £490 | +0.9% | |
| Senior Systems Engineer | £51,000 | £60,000 | £71,000 | +1.8% | £385 | +1.1% | |
| Systems Administrator | £38,500 | £45,500 | £53,500 | -0.6% | £295 | -0.4% | |
| Network Architect | £80,000 | £94,000 | £110,000 | +4.1% | £610 | +2.7% | |
| Network Engineer | £44,000 | £52,000 | £61,500 | +1.7% | £330 | +0.9% | |
| Network Security Engineer | £54,000 | £63,500 | £74,500 | +5.9% | £415 | +3.9% | |
| Unified Communications Specialist | £44,000 | £52,000 | £61,500 | +0.4% | £330 | +0.2% | |
| Storage & Virtualisation Engineer | £48,000 | £56,500 | £66,500 | -0.9% | £355 | -0.6% | |
| Data Centre Engineer | £38,500 | £45,500 | £53,500 | +2.3% | £295 | +1.7% | |
| Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) | £66,000 | £78,000 | £92,000 | +9.2% | £525 | +6.3% | |
| Cloud & DevOps | |||||||
| Cloud Architect (AWS/Azure/GCP) | £88,000 | £103,000 | £121,000 | +7.9% | £685 | +5.3% | |
| Principal Cloud Engineer | £80,000 | £94,000 | £110,000 | +7.2% | £630 | +4.9% | |
| Cloud Systems Engineer | £54,000 | £63,500 | £74,500 | +4.9% | £415 | +3.3% | |
| DevOps Engineer | £68,000 | £80,000 | £95,000 | +6.6% | £545 | +4.3% | |
| DevOps Lead / Architect | £84,000 | £98,000 | £116,000 | +7.6% | £665 | +5.1% | |
| DevSecOps Engineer | £73,000 | £86,000 | £102,000 | +10.9% | £605 | +7.2% | |
| Infrastructure as Code Specialist | £64,000 | £76,000 | £90,000 | +5.7% | £525 | +3.9% | |
| Cloud Migration Specialist | £66,000 | £78,000 | £92,000 | +4.3% | £525 | +2.9% | |
| FinOps Specialist | £62,000 | £74,000 | £87,000 | +7.6% | £490 | +4.9% | |
| Cybersecurity & Risk | |||||||
| Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) | £120,000 | £140,000 | £165,000 | +7.5% | £935 | +5.1% | |
| Information Security Manager | £80,000 | £92,000 | £108,000 | +6.3% | £605 | +4.2% | |
| Cyber Security Engineer | £60,000 | £71,000 | £84,000 | +8.2% | £490 | +5.6% | |
| Cyber Security Analyst | £44,000 | £52,000 | £61,500 | +5.2% | £330 | +3.5% | |
| Penetration Tester / Ethical Hacker | £57,500 | £67,500 | £79,500 | +6.6% | £465 | +4.3% | |
| SOC Analyst | £38,500 | £45,500 | £53,500 | +4.1% | £295 | +2.7% | |
| Security Architect | £84,000 | £98,000 | £116,000 | +9.5% | £665 | +6.2% | |
| Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) Lead | £68,000 | £81,000 | £95,500 | +5.7% | £525 | +3.8% | |
| Identity & Access Management (IAM) Specialist | £56,000 | £66,000 | £78,000 | +6.9% | £415 | +4.6% | |
| Cloud Security Specialist | £72,000 | £84,500 | £99,500 | +8.9% | £565 | +5.9% | |
| Software & ERP | |||||||
| Software Engineering Manager | £84,000 | £98,000 | £116,000 | +4.6% | £665 | +3.1% | |
| Lead Software Developer | £72,000 | £84,500 | £99,500 | +5.0% | £565 | +3.4% | |
| Senior Full Stack Developer | £62,000 | £74,000 | £87,000 | +4.0% | £490 | +2.6% | |
| Software Engineer (Python/Java/.NET) | £57,500 | £67,500 | £79,500 | +4.3% | £465 | +2.9% | |
| ERP / CRM Manager | £68,000 | £81,000 | £95,500 | +2.1% | £545 | +1.5% | |
| Solution Architect | £80,000 | £95,000 | £112,000 | +5.3% | £620 | +3.5% | |
September’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 — call us on 0207 788 6600 or email james@langleyjames.com.