May 2026 – UK – IT, Tech and AI Salary & Contractor Rates
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Q2 is seeing a “flight to quality.” While the volume of vacancies has stabilised, the bar for technical proficiency has risen. Clients aren’t just looking for someone who can “do the job”—they want specialists who can articulate ROI on day one.
The “Permanent/Contract Paradox” has intensified: firms are hesitant to commit to high-salary permanent hires in generalist roles but are aggressively outbidding each other for specialist contractors to hit mid-year transformation milestones.
The data shows a fascinating shift: the market has moved from “AI Exploration” to “AI Execution”. We aren’t just seeing a demand for people who know what a Large Language Model (LLM) is; we’re seeing a premium for those who can actually integrate them into legacy infrastructure without breaking the company’s security posture.
May is showing us that “Operational Stability” is the new “AI Hype.” While AI engineers are getting the headlines, the 3rd Line Engineers keeping legacy systems from melting are the ones currently driving a 5.2% day-rate jump.
Category |
Job Title |
Yearly Low |
Yearly Median (Base) |
Yearly High |
Annual % Change
|
Contractor Day Rate
|
Day Rate Change
|
LEADERSHIP |
|||||||
CTO |
£105,000 |
£140,000 |
£180,000 |
1.50% |
£1,050 |
2.30% |
|
CIO |
£95,000 |
£130,000 |
£165,000 |
1.50% |
£1,000 |
2.30% |
|
IT DIRECTOR |
£75,000 |
£95,000 |
£120,000 |
1.50% |
£750 |
2.30% |
|
HEAD OF DATA / AI |
£90,000 |
£125,000 |
£155,000 |
1.50% |
£850 |
2.20% |
|
HEAD OF IT |
£65,000 |
£80,000 |
£100,000 |
1.50% |
£650 |
2.30% |
|
ICT MANAGER |
£60,000 |
£75,000 |
£90,000 |
1.40% |
£600 |
2.10% |
|
CISO |
£95,000 |
£125,000 |
£160,000 |
1.80% |
£1,100 |
2.50% |
|
IT OPS DIRECTOR |
£80,000 |
£100,000 |
£130,000 |
1.40% |
£800 |
2.20% |
|
OPERATIONS |
|||||||
3RD LINE (SYSADMIN) |
£38,000 |
£45,000 |
£55,000 |
3.90% |
£375 |
5.20% |
|
2ND LINE SUPPORT |
£28,000 |
£34,000 |
£42,000 |
3.90% |
£250 |
5.10% |
|
1ST LINE SUPPORT |
£22,000 |
£26,000 |
£32,000 |
3.80% |
£185 |
5.00% |
|
IT SUPPORT MANAGER |
£42,000 |
£52,000 |
£65,000 |
3.90% |
£475 |
5.20% |
|
INFRASTRUCTURE ENG |
£45,000 |
£55,000 |
£70,000 |
4.10% |
£500 |
5.40% |
|
NETWORK ENGINEER |
£40,000 |
£50,000 |
£65,000 |
3.70% |
£450 |
5.10% |
|
SERVICE DESK LEAD |
£35,000 |
£42,000 |
£50,000 |
3.80% |
£350 |
5.00% |
|
M365 / AZURE ADMIN |
£40,000 |
£52,000 |
£65,000 |
4.20% |
£450 |
5.50% |
|
MAC ENGINEER |
£38,000 |
£48,000 |
£58,000 |
3.50% |
£375 |
4.80% |
|
NOC ENGINEER |
£32,000 |
£40,000 |
£50,000 |
3.20% |
£325 |
4.50% |
|
ARCHITECTURE |
|||||||
ENTERPRISE ARCHITECT |
£75,000 |
£95,000 |
£120,000 |
3.80% |
£850 |
5.70% |
|
SOLUTION ARCHITECT |
£70,000 |
£85,000 |
£105,000 |
3.80% |
£750 |
5.70% |
|
CLOUD ARCHITECT |
£75,000 |
£100,000 |
£125,000 |
3.80% |
£800 |
5.70% |
|
SECURITY ARCHITECT |
£80,000 |
£105,000 |
£130,000 |
3.80% |
£900 |
5.70% |
|
DATA ARCHITECT |
£78,250 |
£89,750 |
£102,250 |
3.90% |
£775 |
5.80% |
|
SOFTWARE ARCHITECT |
£75,000 |
£95,000 |
£115,000 |
4.00% |
£800 |
5.90% |
|
ENGINEERING |
|||||||
AI / ML ENGINEER |
£70,000 |
£95,000 |
£120,000 |
3.00% |
£800 |
4.40% |
|
DEVOPS / SRE |
£65,000 |
£85,000 |
£105,000 |
3.10% |
£700 |
4.50% |
|
CYBER SECURITY ENG |
£55,000 |
£70,000 |
£90,000 |
2.90% |
£625 |
4.60% |
|
SOFTWARE DEV (SNR) |
£60,000 |
£80,000 |
£105,000 |
3.10% |
£625 |
4.50% |
|
FULL STACK DEV |
£50,000 |
£65,000 |
£85,000 |
3.20% |
£550 |
4.70% |
|
PLATFORM ENGINEER |
£62,000 |
£78,000 |
£95,000 |
3.30% |
£675 |
4.80% |
|
QA AUTOMATION ENG |
£42,000 |
£52,000 |
£68,000 |
3.40% |
£425 |
4.90% |
|
DATA & PM |
|||||||
DATA ENGINEER |
£55,000 |
£75,000 |
£95,000 |
3.00% |
£625 |
4.60% |
|
DATA SCIENTIST (SNR) |
£65,000 |
£85,000 |
£110,000 |
3.20% |
£725 |
4.90% |
|
DATA ANALYST |
£35,000 |
£42,000 |
£52,000 |
3.10% |
£375 |
4.90% |
|
IT PROJECT MANAGER |
£55,000 |
£70,000 |
£85,000 |
3.20% |
£575 |
4.80% |
|
BUSINESS ANALYST |
£45,000 |
£58,000 |
£70,000 |
3.20% |
£475 |
4.70% |
|
TECHNICAL PM |
£65,000 |
£80,000 |
£100,000 |
3.50% |
£675 |
5.10% |
|
PRODUCT MANAGER |
£60,000 |
£78,000 |
£97,000 |
3.40% |
£650 |
4.90% |
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.