What UK tech workers earn in 2026, by role
Key Points
- UK tech salaries in 2026 range from £28,500 for IT help desk to £250,000 for chief AI officer
- AI architects, ML engineers and research scientists top £110,000 in permanent roles
- Chief information security officers earn £130,000 to £180,000
- DevOps engineers led all specialisms with 56% receiving a pay rise last year
- 44% of UK technologists got a pay rise in the last 12 months
UK technology salaries range from £28,500 for an entry-level IT help desk role to more than £250,000 for a Chief AI Officer, according to Harvey Nash’s 2026 Tech Talent and Salary Report,.
The data shows that the biggest UK tech salaries in 2026 sit in AI and leadership. Chief AI officers can earn up to £250,000 in permanent roles, matching the upper bands for Chief Technology Officers, Chief Information Officers, and Chief Data Officers.
AI architects average £90,000 with an upper range of £110,000, while machine learning engineers, applied scientists and research scientists all top out at £110,000 to £120,000.
Contractor day rates in AI run from £450 to £1,000, with chief AI officer contract rates reaching £2,400 a day.
The Harvey Nash data, drawn from a survey of more than 3,600 technologists across 53 countries, lists AI as the single biggest skills shortage globally at 30%, ahead of software engineering at 24% and cybersecurity at 23%.
Full list of tech salaries for 2026
AI and machine learning
| Role | Salary lower | Salary average | Salary upper | Day rate lower | Day rate average | Day rate upper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ML engineer | £70,000 | £85,000 | £120,000 | £450 | £600 | £900 |
| AI engineer | £65,000 | £75,000 | £100,000 | £450 | £600 | £900 |
| LLM engineer | £60,000 | £75,000 | £120,000 | £450 | £600 | £900 |
| Prompt engineer | £65,000 | £80,000 | £100,000 | £350 | £500 | £700 |
| AI coach | £65,000 | £80,000 | £100,000 | £500 | £650 | £1,000 |
| Applied scientist | £65,000 | £80,000 | £110,000 | £500 | £700 | £900 |
| Research scientist | £60,000 | £85,000 | £120,000 | £400 | £650 | £850 |
Application development and engineering
| Role | Salary lower | Salary average | Salary upper | Day rate lower | Day rate average | Day rate upper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Database administrator | £40,000 | £60,000 | £80,000 | £300 | £450 | £600 |
| Data warehousing | £45,000 | £60,000 | £80,000 | £350 | £500 | £700 |
| Hardware engineer | £50,000 | £65,000 | £80,000 | £350 | £500 | £700 |
| Software engineer | £50,000 | £70,000 | £100,000 | £350 | £500 | £750 |
| Firmware engineer | £40,000 | £55,000 | £70,000 | £350 | £500 | £700 |
| VR/AR | £40,000 | £55,000 | £70,000 | £400 | £500 | £650 |
| Mobile developer | £50,000 | £70,000 | £100,000 | £400 | £500 | £750 |
| Web designer | £35,000 | £50,000 | £60,000 | £350 | £450 | £600 |
| UI/UX designer | £35,000 | £55,000 | £70,000 | £350 | £500 | £700 |
| Full-stack developer | £50,000 | £70,000 | £100,000 | £400 | £550 | £700 |
| Frontend developer | £40,000 | £65,000 | £90,000 | £350 | £500 | £650 |
| Backend developer | £50,000 | £70,000 | £100,000 | £400 | £500 | £700 |
| Backend engineer | £55,000 | £75,000 | £110,000 | £400 | £500 | £750 |
| Embedded engineer | £50,000 | £70,000 | £100,000 | £350 | £500 | £800 |
Architecture
| Role | Salary lower | Salary average | Salary upper | Day rate lower | Day rate average | Day rate upper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solution architect | £60,000 | £80,000 | £105,000 | £525 | £600 | £750 |
| Technical architect | £60,000 | £80,000 | £105,000 | £550 | £625 | £775 |
| Cloud architect | £65,000 | £85,000 | £110,000 | £525 | £600 | £750 |
| Application architect | £60,000 | £80,000 | £100,000 | £525 | £600 | £700 |
| Enterprise architect | £75,000 | £95,000 | £130,000 | £650 | £800 | £1,200 |
| Network architect | £60,000 | £75,000 | £90,000 | £500 | £575 | £700 |
| Security architect | £75,000 | £95,000 | £130,000 | £650 | £800 | £1,200 |
| Data architect | £65,000 | £85,000 | £120,000 | £575 | £700 | £1,000 |
| AI architect | £70,000 | £90,000 | £110,000 | £650 | £800 | £1,000 |
Cloud services
| Role | Salary lower | Salary average | Salary upper | Day rate lower | Day rate average | Day rate upper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DevOps | £70,000 | £90,000 | £120,000 | £450 | £500 | £550 |
| Cloud computing | £70,000 | £90,000 | £120,000 | £450 | £500 | £550 |
| Infrastructure engineer | £47,500 | £55,000 | £60,000 | £400 | £475 | £550 |
| IT help desk | £28,500 | £30,000 | £32,000 | £200 | £250 | £300 |
| Desktop support | £33,000 | £35,000 | £37,000 | £250 | £300 | £350 |
| Test manager | £50,000 | £75,000 | £100,000 | £450 | £525 | £600 |
| QA engineer | £35,000 | £50,000 | £65,000 | £400 | £450 | £550 |
| Tester | £30,000 | £45,000 | £55,000 | £400 | £450 | £550 |
| Cloud engineer | £70,000 | £90,000 | £120,000 | £450 | £500 | £550 |
Data and analytics
| Role | Salary lower | Salary average | Salary upper | Day rate lower | Day rate average | Day rate upper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data engineer | £55,000 | £65,000 | £80,000 | £450 | £600 | £700 |
| Data scientist | £60,000 | £75,000 | £100,000 | £450 | £600 | £800 |
| Data analyst | £45,000 | £55,000 | £65,000 | £300 | £400 | £500 |
| BI developer | £45,000 | £55,000 | £65,000 | £300 | £400 | £500 |
| SQL developer | £45,000 | £55,000 | £65,000 | £300 | £400 | £550 |
| Data architect | £70,000 | £85,000 | £100,000 | £400 | £600 | £800 |
| Data protection officer | £85,000 | £100,000 | £130,000 | £650 | £850 | £1,200 |
Project, product and change management
| Role | Salary lower | Salary average | Salary upper | Day rate lower | Day rate average | Day rate upper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Functional analyst | £53,000 | £66,000 | £85,000 | £450 | £550 | £700 |
| Business analyst | £50,000 | £65,000 | £80,000 | £450 | £535 | £650 |
| Business systems analyst | £45,000 | £60,000 | £75,000 | £450 | £500 | £650 |
| Change manager | £55,000 | £65,000 | £80,000 | £450 | £525 | £750 |
| Scrum master | £65,000 | £75,000 | £90,000 | £450 | £500 | £700 |
| Agile practitioner | £60,000 | £68,000 | £100,000 | £500 | £550 | £700 |
| Delivery lead | £65,000 | £75,000 | £90,000 | £500 | £600 | £800 |
| Product owner | £65,000 | £70,000 | £90,000 | £550 | £550 | £700 |
| Project manager | £60,000 | £65,000 | £80,000 | £500 | £600 | £800 |
| Programme manager | £70,000 | £80,000 | £100,000 | £600 | £700 | £900 |
| PMO | £40,000 | £47,000 | £70,000 | £400 | £500 | £700 |
| Project co-ordinator | £30,000 | £35,000 | £40,000 | £300 | £400 | £500 |
| Product manager | £70,000 | £75,000 | £100,000 | £500 | £600 | £800 |
Security
| Role | Salary lower | Salary average | Salary upper | Day rate lower | Day rate average | Day rate upper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chief information security officer | £130,000 | £150,000 | £180,000 | £900 | £1,000 | £1,200 |
| Information security architect | £85,000 | £90,000 | £100,000 | £700 | £800 | £900 |
| Head of information security | £90,000 | £110,000 | £120,000 | £750 | £800 | £850 |
| Information security engineer | £70,000 | £75,000 | £80,000 | £550 | £600 | £700 |
| Information security analyst | £60,000 | £70,000 | £80,000 | £250 | £350 | £400 |
| DPO | £85,000 | £100,000 | £130,000 | £650 | £850 | £1,200 |
| Security risk analyst | £60,000 | £70,000 | £80,000 | £550 | £650 | £700 |
| SOC analyst | £50,000 | £60,000 | £70,000 | £400 | £450 | £600 |
Cybersecurity
| Role | Salary lower | Salary average | Salary upper | Day rate lower | Day rate average | Day rate upper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head of cybersecurity | £95,000 | £110,000 | £130,000 | £750 | £800 | £900 |
| Cybersecurity manager (GRC, network and comms threat incident) | £80,000 | £90,000 | £110,000 | £650 | £700 | £750 |
| Cybersecurity architect | £90,000 | £100,000 | £110,000 | £650 | £750 | £850 |
| Cybersecurity engineer | £70,000 | £80,000 | £85,000 | £500 | £550 | £600 |
| Cybersecurity analyst (SOC) | £50,000 | £60,000 | £70,000 | £400 | £450 | £550 |
Tech leadership
| Role | Salary lower | Salary average | Salary upper | Day rate lower | Day rate average | Day rate upper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chief technology officer | £125,000 | £175,000 | £250,000 | £800 | £1,200 | £1,800 |
| Chief information officer | £150,000 | £200,000 | £250,000 | £1,000 | £1,400 | £2,000 |
| Chief digital officer | £140,000 | £175,000 | £225,000 | £900 | £1,200 | £2,000 |
| Chief data officer | £140,000 | £175,000 | £250,000 | £1,000 | £1,500 | £2,000 |
| Chief information security officer | £125,000 | £160,000 | £190,000 | £900 | £1,250 | £2,250 |
| Chief technology and product officer | £130,000 | £180,000 | £225,000 | £1,000 | £1,400 | £2,000 |
| IT director/head of IT | £100,000 | £130,000 | £175,000 | £700 | £900 | £1,200 |
| Chief AI officer | £125,000 | £175,000 | £250,000 | £1,000 | £1,600 | £2,400 |
| Tech lead | £80,000 | £95,000 | £115,000 | £650 | £750 | £900 |
| Engineering manager | £90,000 | £135,000 | £185,000 | £500 | £700 | £850 |
Testing
| Role | Salary lower | Salary average | Salary upper | Day rate lower | Day rate average | Day rate upper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test manager | £55,000 | £65,000 | £80,000 | £400 | £550 | £650 |
| QA engineer | £35,000 | £48,000 | £65,000 | £300 | £450 | £550 |
| Tester | £32,000 | £45,000 | £55,000 | £300 | £400 | £500 |
| Penetration tester | £55,000 | £65,000 | £85,000 | £400 | £550 | £750 |
| Automation tester | £38,000 | £60,000 | £75,000 | £400 | £500 | £650 |
Source: Harvey Nash Tech Talent and Salary Report 2026, UK permanent salary bands and contractor day rates.
Software, DevOps and cloud engineers
Software engineers earn between £50,000 and £100,000 in permanent UK roles, with full-stack developers, backend developers and mobile developers tracking similar ranges.
Backend engineers reach £110,000 at the upper band. DevOps engineers, cloud computing specialists and cloud engineers all average £90,000 with an upper range of £120,000.
Frontend developers sit slightly lower at £40,000 to £90,000. Embedded engineers earn up to £100,000, while UI and UX designers range from £35,000 to £70,000.
The Harvey Nash report shows DevOps led all specialisms for pay rises last year, with 56% of DevOps professionals receiving an increase against a 45% global average.
Tech leadership and architecture
UK tech leadership is the highest-paid category in the report.
Chief Information Officers earn between £150,000 and £250,000, with Chief AI Officers, Chief Data Officers and Chief Technology Officers all reaching £250,000 at the upper band.
Chief Digital Officers and Chief Technology and Product Officers run to £225,000. IT directors earn £100,000 to £175,000, engineering managers £90,000 to £185,000, and tech leads £80,000 to £115,000.
In architecture roles, enterprise architects and security architects sit at £75,000 to £130,000, AI architects at £70,000 to £110,000, and data architects at £65,000 to £120,000. Solution architects, technical architects and cloud architects all average £80,000 to £85,000.
Pay rises
Across the survey, 44% of UK technologists received a pay rise in the last 12 months, slightly below the 45% global average, and 41% expect a rise in the coming year against a 47% global figure.
The biggest UK pay increases went to firmware and hardware engineers, AI and machine learning specialists, and DevOps engineers.
The smallest increases went to cybersecurity, ERP and CRM, and programme management staff.
With AI listed as the top skills shortage globally and UK employers competing on hybrid working and pay packages, the 2026 figures point to a market where specialised, in-demand skills attract clear salary premiums while broader IT roles see slower wage growth.
