March 2026 – UK – IT, Tech and AI Salary & Contractor Rates
Overview: March 2026
- Architecture Momentum : The consistent ~3.8% rise in Architecture salaries ( and ~5.7% in day rates ) indicates that the “Planning Phase” for 2026 infrastructure overhauls is in full swing.
- The Support Squeeze : While Leadership is relatively stable , the 4% jump in 3rd Line Support shows that the battle for technical “Engine Room” staff is intensifying.
- Contractor Edge : Day rates are rising faster than permanent salaries ( particularly in Operations and Architecture ) as firms use interims to de-risk their headcount before the April Day 1 Rights deadline .
Category |
Job Title |
Yearly Low |
Yearly Median (Base) |
Yearly High |
Annual % Change
|
Contractor Day Rate
|
Day Rate Change
|
Leadership |
Chief Transformation Officer (CTRO) |
£126,000 |
£168,000 |
£205,000 |
+1.51% |
£1,278 |
+2.24% |
Chief Technology Officer (CTO) |
£122,200 |
£162,900 |
£198,700 |
+1.50% |
£1,227 |
+2.25% |
|
Chief Information Officer (CIO) |
£114,400 |
£152,500 |
£186,000 |
+1.50% |
£1,176 |
+2.26% |
|
Chief Info Security Officer (CISO) |
£103,000 |
£137,300 |
£167,500 |
+1.52% |
£1,125 |
+2.27% |
|
IT Director |
£73,000 |
£97,400 |
£118,800 |
+1.46% |
£818 |
+2.25% |
|
Head of Data / AI |
£111,400 |
£148,600 |
£181,300 |
+1.50% |
£1,022 |
+2.20% |
|
Head of IT |
£62,000 |
£82,700 |
£100,900 |
+1.47% |
£767 |
+2.27% |
|
Operations |
3rd Line Support (SysAdmin) |
£40,600 |
£54,100 |
£66,000 |
+4.04% |
£398 |
+6.13% |
2nd Line Support – Snr Service Desk |
£29,600 |
£39,500 |
£48,200 |
+3.95% |
£292 |
+6.18% |
|
1st Line Support – Service Desk |
£22,200 |
£29,600 |
£36,100 |
+3.86% |
£212 |
+6.00% |
|
IT Support Manager |
£45,600 |
£60,800 |
£74,200 |
+3.93% |
£530 |
+6.00% |
|
Architecture |
Enterprise Architect |
£74,200 |
£98,900 |
£120,700 |
+3.83% |
£1,004 |
+5.68% |
Solution Architect |
£70,000 |
£93,400 |
£113,900 |
+3.78% |
£898 |
+5.65% |
|
Cloud Architect (AWS/Azure) |
£79,800 |
£106,400 |
£129,800 |
+3.80% |
£951 |
+5.67% |
|
Security Architect |
£85,600 |
£114,200 |
£139,300 |
+3.82% |
£1,110 |
+5.71% |
|
Data Architect |
£69,900 |
£93,200 |
£113,700 |
+3.84% |
£951 |
+5.67% |
|
Engineering |
AI / Machine Learning Engineer |
£73,400 |
£97,800 |
£119,300 |
+2.95% |
£940 |
+4.44% |
DevOps / SRE Engineer |
£65,700 |
£87,600 |
£106,900 |
+3.06% |
£784 |
+4.53% |
|
Cyber Security Engineer |
£57,900 |
£77,200 |
£94,200 |
+2.93% |
£758 |
+4.55% |
|
Software Developer (Senior) |
£65,700 |
£87,600 |
£106,900 |
+3.06% |
£679 |
+4.46% |
|
Data Engineer |
£60,200 |
£80,300 |
£98,000 |
+2.95% |
£732 |
+4.57% |
|
Network Engineer |
£44,800 |
£59,700 |
£72,800 |
+2.93% |
£522 |
+4.40% |
|
Data & PM |
Data Scientist (Senior) |
£68,100 |
£90,800 |
£110,800 |
+3.18% |
£865 |
+4.85% |
Data Analyst |
£37,100 |
£49,500 |
£60,400 |
+3.12% |
£472 |
+4.89% |
|
IT Project Manager |
£55,700 |
£74,300 |
£90,600 |
+3.19% |
£681 |
+4.77% |
|
Business Analyst (Technical) |
£46,400 |
£61,900 |
£75,500 |
+3.17% |
£576 |
+4.73% |
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.