August 2026 – UK – IT, Tech and AI Salary & Contractor Rates
The Reality Behind the Data
August is all about execution velocity over theoretical roadmaps. While boards remain cautious with broad permanent headcount, budgets are being deployed with pinpoint precision. Stakeholders will not hesitate to hire execution-focused specialists who can step in on day one to clear technical debt and drive projects across the finish line.
The Agility Migration
Elite AI, MLOps, and data specialists are leaving large corporates—not over compliance or salary caps, but due to enterprise sluggishness. Frustrated by multi-stage approval loops, top talent wants to see their models live in production. Agile small and medium-sized businesses offering fast sign-offs and immediate project ownership are winning the war for premium technical talent in Q3.
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 |
£89,760 |
£105,600 |
£124,608 |
+12.5% |
£770 |
+8.2% |
|
AI / Machine Learning Engineer |
£69,360 |
£81,600 |
£96,288 |
+14.2% |
£580 |
+9.5% |
|
AI Solutions Architect |
£77,520 |
£91,200 |
£107,616 |
+11.8% |
£650 |
+7.8% |
|
MLOps Engineer |
£63,648 |
£74,880 |
£88,358 |
+13.0% |
£500 |
+8.8% |
|
Automation / RPA Architect |
£65,280 |
£76,800 |
£90,624 |
+6.5% |
£530 |
+4.2% |
|
RPA Developer |
£44,880 |
£52,800 |
£62,304 |
+3.8% |
£360 |
+2.5% |
|
Data Science Lead |
£73,440 |
£86,400 |
£101,952 |
+8.4% |
£600 |
+5.5% |
|
Data Scientist |
£53,040 |
£62,400 |
£73,632 |
+7.2% |
£430 |
+4.8% |
|
Data Engineer |
£48,960 |
£57,600 |
£67,968 |
+9.1% |
£410 |
+6.0% |
|
Data Architect |
£69,360 |
£81,600 |
£96,288 |
+5.8% |
£550 |
+3.8% |
|
Business Intelligence (BI) Analyst |
£39,168 |
£46,080 |
£54,374 |
+2.1% |
£310 |
+1.5% |
|
BI Developer |
£44,880 |
£52,800 |
£62,304 |
+3.5% |
£360 |
+2.2% |
|
Power Platform / Low-Code Dev |
£48,960 |
£57,600 |
£67,968 |
+8.9% |
£410 |
+5.8% |
|
Prompt Engineer / AI App Dev |
£57,120 |
£67,200 |
£79,296 |
+18.5% |
£480 |
+12.0% |
|
IT Ops & Leadership |
|||||||
IT Director / CIO |
£97,920 |
£115,200 |
£135,936 |
+2.8% |
£620 |
+1.8% |
|
Head of IT / IT Manager |
£61,200 |
£72,000 |
£84,960 |
+1.5% |
£480 |
+1.0% |
|
IT Business Partner |
£53,040 |
£62,400 |
£73,632 |
+3.2% |
£430 |
+2.0% |
|
Service Delivery Manager |
£53,040 |
£62,400 |
£73,632 |
+0.8% |
£410 |
+0.5% |
|
IT Operations Manager |
£55,488 |
£65,280 |
£77,030 |
+1.2% |
£430 |
+0.8% |
|
IT Project Manager |
£48,960 |
£57,600 |
£67,968 |
-1.5% |
£410 |
-0.8% |
|
Program Manager |
£69,360 |
£81,600 |
£96,288 |
+2.4% |
£530 |
+1.5% |
|
Scrum Master / Agile Coach |
£53,040 |
£62,400 |
£73,632 |
-3.2% |
£430 |
-2.0% |
|
Business Analyst |
£44,880 |
£52,800 |
£62,304 |
+1.8% |
£360 |
+1.2% |
|
1st Line Support Technician |
£21,216 |
£24,960 |
£29,453 |
+0.5% |
£150 |
0.0% |
|
2nd Line Support Engineer |
£28,560 |
£33,600 |
£39,648 |
+1.4% |
£210 |
+1.0% |
|
3rd Line / Senior Tech Support |
£36,720 |
£43,200 |
£50,976 |
+2.2% |
£290 |
+1.5% |
|
Helpdesk Manager / Service Desk Lead |
£40,800 |
£48,000 |
£56,640 |
+1.0% |
£310 |
+0.5% |
|
Infrastructure & Networking |
|||||||
Infrastructure Manager |
£57,120 |
£67,200 |
£79,296 |
+1.5% |
£430 |
+1.0% |
|
Senior Systems Engineer |
£44,880 |
£52,800 |
£62,304 |
+2.0% |
£340 |
+1.2% |
|
Systems Administrator |
£34,272 |
£40,320 |
£47,578 |
-0.8% |
£260 |
-0.5% |
|
Network Architect |
£69,360 |
£81,600 |
£96,288 |
+4.2% |
£530 |
+2.8% |
|
Network Engineer |
£39,168 |
£46,080 |
£54,374 |
+1.8% |
£290 |
+1.0% |
|
Network Security Engineer |
£47,328 |
£55,680 |
£65,702 |
+6.2% |
£360 |
+4.0% |
|
Unified Communications Specialist |
£39,168 |
£46,080 |
£54,374 |
+0.5% |
£290 |
+0.2% |
|
Storage & Virtualisation Engineer |
£42,432 |
£49,920 |
£58,906 |
-1.2% |
£310 |
-0.8% |
|
Data Centre Engineer |
£34,272 |
£40,320 |
£47,578 |
+2.5% |
£260 |
+1.8% |
|
Site Reliability Engineer (SRE) |
£58,752 |
£69,120 |
£81,562 |
+9.5% |
£460 |
+6.5% |
|
Cloud & DevOps |
|||||||
Cloud Architect (AWS/Azure/GCP) |
£77,520 |
£91,200 |
£107,616 |
+8.2% |
£600 |
+5.5% |
|
Principal Cloud Engineer |
£69,360 |
£81,600 |
£96,288 |
+7.5% |
£550 |
+5.0% |
|
Cloud Systems Engineer |
£47,328 |
£55,680 |
£65,702 |
+5.1% |
£360 |
+3.4% |
|
DevOps Engineer |
£61,200 |
£72,000 |
£84,960 |
+6.8% |
£480 |
+4.5% |
|
DevOps Lead / Architect |
£73,440 |
£86,400 |
£101,952 |
+7.9% |
£580 |
+5.2% |
|
DevSecOps Engineer |
£65,280 |
£76,800 |
£90,624 |
+11.2% |
£530 |
+7.5% |
|
Infrastructure as Code Specialist |
£57,120 |
£67,200 |
£79,296 |
+6.0% |
£460 |
+4.0% |
|
Cloud Migration Specialist |
£58,752 |
£69,120 |
£81,562 |
+4.5% |
£460 |
+3.0% |
|
FinOps Specialist |
£55,488 |
£65,280 |
£77,030 |
+7.8% |
£430 |
+5.0% |
|
Cybersecurity & Risk |
|||||||
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) |
£106,080 |
£124,800 |
£147,264 |
+7.8% |
£820 |
+5.2% |
|
Information Security Manager |
£69,360 |
£81,600 |
£96,288 |
+6.5% |
£530 |
+4.3% |
|
Cyber Security Engineer |
£53,040 |
£62,400 |
£73,632 |
+8.5% |
£430 |
+5.8% |
|
Cyber Security Analyst |
£39,168 |
£46,080 |
£54,374 |
+5.4% |
£290 |
+3.6% |
|
Penetration Tester / Ethical Hacker |
£50,592 |
£59,520 |
£70,234 |
+6.8% |
£410 |
+4.5% |
|
SOC Analyst |
£34,272 |
£40,320 |
£47,578 |
+4.2% |
£260 |
+2.8% |
|
Security Architect |
£73,440 |
£86,400 |
£101,952 |
+9.8% |
£580 |
+6.4% |
|
Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) Lead |
£61,200 |
£72,000 |
£84,960 |
+5.9% |
£460 |
+3.9% |
|
Identity & Access Management (IAM) Specialist |
£48,960 |
£57,600 |
£67,968 |
+7.1% |
£360 |
+4.8% |
|
Cloud Security Specialist |
£63,648 |
£74,880 |
£88,358 |
+9.2% |
£500 |
+6.0% |
|
Software & ERP |
|||||||
Software Engineering Manager |
£73,440 |
£86,400 |
£101,952 |
+4.8% |
£580 |
+3.2% |
|
Lead Software Developer |
£63,648 |
£74,880 |
£88,358 |
+5.2% |
£500 |
+3.5% |
|
Senior Full Stack Developer |
£55,488 |
£65,280 |
£77,030 |
+4.1% |
£430 |
+2.7% |
|
Software Engineer (Python/Java/.NET) |
£50,592 |
£59,520 |
£70,234 |
+4.5% |
£410 |
+3.0% |
|
ERP / CRM Manager |
£61,200 |
£72,000 |
£84,960 |
+2.2% |
£480 |
+1.5% |
|
Solution Architect |
£71,808 |
£84,480 |
£99,686 |
+5.5% |
£550 |
+3.6% |
If your company is thinking of hiring, do it now. As demand rises, so too with the rates of pay and the difficulty levels of attracting and securing the right talent.
If, however, your company is slowing down – beware! If your IT staff start to feel insecure, talent competitors and recruiters will find it very easy to persuade your staff to interview elsewhere. Despite the stress and negativity that may exist, take the time to focus on reassuring your team and, where appropriate, reward their loyalty. It’s a false economy to avoid salary increases for your best people. Doing so risks leave yourself vulnerable to losing key staff and the larger costs in both time and money of replacing them.
Should you be considering recruitment or simply would like some advice on anything recruitment related, please do not hesitate to give us a call and see how we can really help you to Recruit Someone Worth Recruiting.