{ "title": "UK Salaries 2026 — Role and City Benchmarks", "description": "UK salary benchmark dataset for 30 roles × 8 cities × 4 seniority levels. Built by a 12-year UK recruiter from publicly stated averages on Reed.co.uk, Indeed UK, LinkedIn Talent Insights, the 2025 Robert Walters Salary Survey, Hays UK Salary Guide, and ONS earnings data. Cross-referenced against placements made in 2025 and early 2026.", "publisher": "JobLabs (https://joblabs.ai)", "author": "Alex — 12-year UK recruiter", "license": "CC BY 4.0 — free to reuse with attribution to JobLabs", "citation": "JobLabs UK Salaries 2026 dataset, https://joblabs.ai/data/uk-salaries-2026/", "version": "2026.04", "lastUpdated": "2026-04-27", "nextUpdate": "2027-04", "schema": { "role": { "type": "string", "description": "Job title" }, "slug": { "type": "string", "description": "URL-safe role identifier" }, "category": { "type": "string", "description": "Role category (Tech, Finance, Sales, etc.)" }, "ukAverage": { "type": "number", "description": "All-UK mid-level average salary, GBP" }, "ukMin": { "type": "number", "description": "Junior-level floor, GBP" }, "ukMax": { "type": "number", "description": "Senior-level ceiling, GBP (excludes director-level outliers)" }, "londonPremiumPct": { "type": "number", "description": "Additional uplift for inside-M25 roles, percent" }, "bands": { "type": "array", "description": "Salary range by seniority level", "items": { "level": { "type": "string", "description": "Seniority label (Junior/Mid/Senior/Lead)" }, "yoe": { "type": "string", "description": "Years-of-experience band" }, "min": { "type": "number", "description": "Band floor, GBP" }, "max": { "type": "number", "description": "Band ceiling, GBP" } } }, "topPayingSkills": { "type": "array", "description": "Skills that command salary premiums", "items": { "skill": { "type": "string" }, "bumpPct": { "type": "number", "description": "Approximate percent uplift on base" } } }, "topEmployers": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "negotiationTip": { "type": "string", "description": "Recruiter-tested negotiation advice" } }, "cities": [ { "slug": "london", "name": "London" }, { "slug": "bristol", "name": "Bristol" }, { "slug": "cambridge", "name": "Cambridge" }, { "slug": "oxford", "name": "Oxford" }, { "slug": "manchester", "name": "Manchester" }, { "slug": "birmingham", "name": "Birmingham" }, { "slug": "edinburgh", "name": "Edinburgh" }, { "slug": "belfast", "name": "Belfast" } ], "rolesCount": 30, "roles": [ { "role": "HR Manager", "slug": "hr-manager", "category": "People & Legal", "ukAverage": 60000, "ukMin": 35000, "ukMax": 100000, "londonPremiumPct": 22, "bands": [ { "level": "HR Officer / Junior HR Manager", "yoe": "0-3 years", "min": 35000, "max": 48000 }, { "level": "HR Manager (mid)", "yoe": "3-7 years", "min": 50000, "max": 70000 }, { "level": "Senior HR Manager / Head of HR", "yoe": "7-12 years", "min": 75000, "max": 100000 }, { "level": "HR Director / CPO", "yoe": "12+ years", "min": 105000, "max": 160000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "Employee relations & UK employment law", "bumpPct": 12 }, { "skill": "Large-scale change & redundancy programmes", "bumpPct": 15 }, { "skill": "Compensation & benefits design", "bumpPct": 14 }, { "skill": "CIPD Level 7 (Chartered)", "bumpPct": 8 }, { "skill": "HRIS implementation (Workday, SuccessFactors)", "bumpPct": 10 } ], "topEmployers": [ "BT", "BP", "Unilever", "Deloitte", "KPMG", "Diageo", "AstraZeneca", "GSK" ], "negotiationTip": "Most HR Managers undersell the commercial side of their work. When I'm briefing a hiring panel, the candidates who land the top of the band always quantify outcomes: 'I led a restructure that took £2.1m out of payroll while keeping engagement scores flat.' Bring two or three numbers like that into the offer conversation. The other lever people miss is the bonus structure — base might be capped at internal banding, but a 15-20% bonus tied to retention or ER outcomes is often negotiable when base isn't. Ask for the comp framework in writing before you counter, and always benchmark against the CIPD reward survey for your sector, not just the headline UK average.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Recruiter", "slug": "recruiter", "category": "People & Legal", "ukAverage": 50000, "ukMin": 28000, "ukMax": 85000, "londonPremiumPct": 25, "bands": [ { "level": "Junior Recruiter / Resourcer", "yoe": "0-2 years", "min": 28000, "max": 40000 }, { "level": "Recruiter (mid)", "yoe": "2-5 years", "min": 42000, "max": 60000 }, { "level": "Senior Recruiter / TA Manager", "yoe": "5-9 years", "min": 62000, "max": 85000 }, { "level": "Head of Talent / TA Director", "yoe": "9+ years", "min": 90000, "max": 140000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "Tech / engineering recruitment specialism", "bumpPct": 18 }, { "skill": "Executive search experience", "bumpPct": 22 }, { "skill": "LinkedIn Recruiter mastery + Boolean sourcing", "bumpPct": 8 }, { "skill": "Sector niche (FS, life sciences, AI)", "bumpPct": 15 }, { "skill": "Building TA function from scratch", "bumpPct": 12 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Monzo", "Revolut", "Wise", "Octopus Energy", "Stripe UK", "Deloitte", "PwC", "Hays" ], "negotiationTip": "Recruiters are the worst negotiators of their own salaries — I see it constantly. Three things shift the number. First, never accept the first base without seeing the bonus or commission scheme in writing; OTE conversations are where the real money is. Second, if you're moving in-house from agency, anchor on your last 12 months' total earnings, not your base — most hiring managers expect this. Third, ask about the hiring forecast: if the company is planning to scale headcount 40% in the next year, your offer should reflect that you'll be carrying the load. Sign-on bonuses are also far more common in TA than candidates realise, particularly when you're walking away from agency commission accruals.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Solicitor", "slug": "solicitor", "category": "People & Legal", "ukAverage": 75000, "ukMin": 35000, "ukMax": 250000, "londonPremiumPct": 35, "bands": [ { "level": "NQ Solicitor", "yoe": "0-1 PQE", "min": 35000, "max": 90000 }, { "level": "Mid-level Associate", "yoe": "3-5 PQE", "min": 45000, "max": 110000 }, { "level": "Senior Associate", "yoe": "6-9 PQE", "min": 75000, "max": 150000 }, { "level": "Partner / Legal Director (in-house)", "yoe": "10+ PQE", "min": 150000, "max": 250000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "M&A / corporate transactional", "bumpPct": 25 }, { "skill": "Tax law specialism", "bumpPct": 22 }, { "skill": "Financial services regulatory", "bumpPct": 20 }, { "skill": "IP litigation", "bumpPct": 18 }, { "skill": "US qualification (NY Bar) + UK", "bumpPct": 30 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Allen & Overy", "Slaughter and May", "Linklaters", "Freshfields", "Clifford Chance", "Hogan Lovells", "DLA Piper", "Eversheds Sutherland" ], "negotiationTip": "Magic Circle and US firms publish their NQ scales, so don't waste energy negotiating base at NQ level — those numbers are fixed. Where you have leverage is at 2-5 PQE, and at the lateral move. Three things to push on: the bonus discretionary range (a 'target' bonus and a 'maximum' bonus often differ by 15-30%), the billing target (a lower target with the same package is effectively a pay rise), and credited PQE on the move (firms sometimes credit you up a notch if you've done particularly heavyweight work). For in-house moves, the legal market is hot enough in 2026 that GCs at scale-ups are now offering equity packages that meaningfully change the long-term picture.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Engineering Manager", "slug": "engineering-manager", "category": "Tech Leadership", "ukAverage": 120000, "ukMin": 85000, "ukMax": 200000, "londonPremiumPct": 20, "bands": [ { "level": "Junior EM / Team Lead", "yoe": "5-8 years engineering + 1-2 EM", "min": 85000, "max": 110000 }, { "level": "Engineering Manager (mid)", "yoe": "8-12 years total", "min": 110000, "max": 145000 }, { "level": "Senior EM / Director of Engineering", "yoe": "12+ years", "min": 140000, "max": 200000 }, { "level": "VP Engineering / CTO", "yoe": "15+ years", "min": 180000, "max": 280000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "Scaling teams 30+ engineers", "bumpPct": 18 }, { "skill": "Hiring at scale (50+ hires/year)", "bumpPct": 12 }, { "skill": "Retained technical depth (still code-literate)", "bumpPct": 10 }, { "skill": "Building engineering culture from scratch", "bumpPct": 14 }, { "skill": "Platform / infra leadership experience", "bumpPct": 15 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Monzo", "Revolut", "Wise", "Octopus Energy", "Sky", "BBC", "Stripe UK", "Cloudflare UK" ], "negotiationTip": "EMs consistently leave money on the table by focusing only on base. In 2026, total comp at UK scale-ups is where the action is — RSUs, performance shares, retention grants. When I run an offer with a candidate, I make them benchmark four things: base, target bonus, equity grant value (4-year vest), and refresher policy. A £130k base offer with a £200k equity grant and refreshers is meaningfully better than £150k base with no equity. Also push on the headcount you'll inherit and the headcount budget for the year — those numbers tell you whether the role can actually deliver what it claims, and they're a fair thing to ask before signing.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Tech Lead", "slug": "tech-lead", "category": "Tech Leadership", "ukAverage": 110000, "ukMin": 85000, "ukMax": 185000, "londonPremiumPct": 22, "bands": [ { "level": "Tech Lead (mid)", "yoe": "5-8 years", "min": 85000, "max": 115000 }, { "level": "Senior Tech Lead", "yoe": "8-11 years", "min": 110000, "max": 145000 }, { "level": "Staff Engineer / Principal", "yoe": "11+ years", "min": 140000, "max": 185000 }, { "level": "Distinguished / Architect", "yoe": "13+ years", "min": 175000, "max": 230000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "Distributed systems design", "bumpPct": 18 }, { "skill": "ML infrastructure / MLOps", "bumpPct": 22 }, { "skill": "Security architecture", "bumpPct": 16 }, { "skill": "Cross-team architecture influence", "bumpPct": 14 }, { "skill": "Payments / financial systems depth", "bumpPct": 17 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Monzo", "Revolut", "Wise", "Stripe UK", "Cloudflare UK", "Just Eat", "Klarna UK", "Octopus Energy" ], "negotiationTip": "The Tech Lead title trap: candidates accept the title bump without negotiating the comp bump that should come with it. If you're being offered a Tech Lead role, the conversation needs to cover three things beyond base. First, level — is this a Senior, Staff or Principal-equivalent in their internal levelling? Get that in writing, because it determines all future progression and equity refreshers. Second, scope — how many engineers will you be technically leading, and across how many teams? Third, expected promotion timeline — top-tier UK fintechs are explicit about this, and you should be too. Equity refreshers in particular are quietly the biggest comp lever for Staff+ engineers and many candidates don't even ask about the policy.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Marketing Director", "slug": "marketing-director", "category": "Senior Leadership", "ukAverage": 140000, "ukMin": 85000, "ukMax": 280000, "londonPremiumPct": 25, "bands": [ { "level": "Marketing Director (smaller co / £10-50m turnover)", "yoe": "8-12 years", "min": 85000, "max": 120000 }, { "level": "Marketing Director (mid-market)", "yoe": "10-15 years", "min": 120000, "max": 180000 }, { "level": "Marketing Director / CMO (large UK / scale-up)", "yoe": "12+ years", "min": 180000, "max": 280000 }, { "level": "Group CMO (FTSE 100 / global)", "yoe": "15+ years", "min": 250000, "max": 450000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "B2B SaaS scale-up to IPO experience", "bumpPct": 25 }, { "skill": "Brand-to-revenue accountability (full funnel)", "bumpPct": 18 }, { "skill": "Board-level communication & investor narrative", "bumpPct": 15 }, { "skill": "International market entry (US / EU)", "bumpPct": 14 }, { "skill": "Performance marketing depth at £10m+ budget", "bumpPct": 12 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Diageo", "Unilever", "P&G UK", "ASOS", "Sky", "Vodafone", "Octopus Energy", "Monzo" ], "negotiationTip": "Marketing Director offers in 2026 almost always have three negotiable layers, but candidates frequently only push on the first. Layer one is base — there's usually 10-15% movement here if you can evidence comparable offers. Layer two is bonus structure — the difference between a 20% target bonus and a 40% target tied to revenue outcomes is enormous, and it's negotiable, particularly at scale-ups where the comp design is still being figured out. Layer three is equity for scale-up roles — and this is where serious money is made or lost. Always ask for the strike price, the total share count outstanding, the last funding round valuation and the vesting cliff. If a CMO role doesn't include equity at a Series B+ company, that's a red flag worth raising before you sign.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Teacher", "slug": "teacher", "category": "Public Sector & Education", "ukAverage": 40000, "ukMin": 24890, "ukMax": 70000, "londonPremiumPct": 12, "bands": [ { "level": "NQT / ECT (M1)", "yoe": "0-1 years", "min": 24890, "max": 31650 }, { "level": "Main Pay Scale (M2-M6)", "yoe": "1-5 years", "min": 27000, "max": 37000 }, { "level": "Upper Pay Scale (UPS1-UPS3)", "yoe": "6-10 years", "min": 37000, "max": 44000 }, { "level": "Head of Department / TLR", "yoe": "8-15 years", "min": 45000, "max": 60000 }, { "level": "Deputy / Headteacher", "yoe": "12+ years", "min": 60000, "max": 130000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "Maths or physics specialism (shortage subject)", "bumpPct": 15 }, { "skill": "Senior Leadership Team (SLT) track", "bumpPct": 25 }, { "skill": "MAT trust experience (off-scale pay)", "bumpPct": 12 }, { "skill": "Mandarin or Spanish language teaching", "bumpPct": 10 }, { "skill": "SENCO qualification (NPQ in SEND)", "bumpPct": 8 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Ark Schools", "Harris Federation", "United Learning", "E-ACT", "Star Academies", "Outwood Grange Academies Trust", "Oasis Community Learning" ], "negotiationTip": "Here's what most teachers don't realise: STPCD sets the floor, not the ceiling. Maintained schools must follow it, but academies and MATs are free to pay above scale — and many do, especially for shortage subjects (maths, physics, computing, MFL). When you move schools, you can ask for pay portability — your existing pay point should be honoured, not reset. Always negotiate the TLR alongside the base, and if you're moving to a MAT, ask to see their published pay policy before accepting. The other lever nobody uses: ask for an upper pay scale assessment in writing if you're stuck on M6 — too many teachers stall there for years because they didn't formally apply.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Nurse", "slug": "nurse", "category": "Healthcare", "ukAverage": 41000, "ukMin": 28407, "ukMax": 89310, "londonPremiumPct": 20, "bands": [ { "level": "Band 5 (Newly Qualified)", "yoe": "0-3 years", "min": 28407, "max": 34581 }, { "level": "Band 6 (Specialist / Senior Staff)", "yoe": "3-7 years", "min": 37338, "max": 44962 }, { "level": "Band 7 (Clinical Lead / ANP)", "yoe": "6-12 years", "min": 46148, "max": 52809 }, { "level": "Band 8a (Matron / Lead Nurse)", "yoe": "10-15 years", "min": 53755, "max": 60504 }, { "level": "Band 8b-8d (Consultant Nurse)", "yoe": "15+ years", "min": 62215, "max": 89310 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "Critical care / ICU experience", "bumpPct": 15 }, { "skill": "Oncology or chemotherapy competency", "bumpPct": 12 }, { "skill": "Mental health Band 6+ specialism", "bumpPct": 10 }, { "skill": "Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP) qualification", "bumpPct": 25 }, { "skill": "Clinical research nursing", "bumpPct": 18 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust", "UCLH NHS Foundation Trust", "Barts Health NHS Trust", "Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust", "Bupa UK", "Nuffield Health", "HCA Healthcare UK", "BMI Healthcare" ], "negotiationTip": "AfC pay is fixed, but the surrounding package isn't. When you accept a Band 5 role, three things are negotiable that nobody asks about: starting increment (you can be appointed above the minimum for relevant prior experience — get this in writing before you sign), recognition of overseas or private sector years, and preceptorship support. Moving from NHS to private (Bupa, Nuffield, HCA), expect 10-25% more on base but factor in the pension hit — the NHS pension is worth roughly 20% of salary in employer contributions. If you're going Band 5 to Band 6, don't apply internally without first checking the external market — I've seen nurses get £4-6k more by changing trust at the same time as the band jump. And bank shifts at your own trust pay better than agency for tax reasons.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Investment Banker", "slug": "investment-banker", "category": "Finance", "ukAverage": 140000, "ukMin": 75000, "ukMax": 700000, "londonPremiumPct": 35, "bands": [ { "level": "Analyst (Year 1-3) — base only", "yoe": "0-3 years", "min": 75000, "max": 110000 }, { "level": "Associate (Year 4-7) — base only", "yoe": "3-7 years", "min": 120000, "max": 180000 }, { "level": "Vice President — base only", "yoe": "7-12 years", "min": 180000, "max": 260000 }, { "level": "Director / Executive Director — base", "yoe": "10-14 years", "min": 220000, "max": 320000 }, { "level": "Managing Director — base only", "yoe": "14+ years", "min": 250000, "max": 500000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "M&A heavyweight execution (live deal record)", "bumpPct": 25 }, { "skill": "Leveraged finance / sponsor coverage", "bumpPct": 22 }, { "skill": "FIG or healthcare sector specialism", "bumpPct": 18 }, { "skill": "US private equity client coverage", "bumpPct": 20 }, { "skill": "Restructuring / special situations", "bumpPct": 15 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Goldman Sachs", "JPMorgan", "Morgan Stanley", "Citi", "Bank of America", "Barclays", "HSBC", "UBS", "Lazard", "Rothschild & Co", "Evercore", "Jefferies", "Houlihan Lokey" ], "negotiationTip": "Investment banking comp negotiation is governed by buckets. Within a year-group at any bulge bracket, you'll be ranked top, upper-middle, lower-middle or bottom — and your bonus is set by bucket, not by you. The negotiation that actually moves money happens when you switch firms. A lateral move from a tier-two house to Goldman, JPM or Morgan Stanley typically buys a 20-40% comp uplift, plus a sign-on bonus or unvested deferred buy-out. Boutiques (Lazard, Rothschild, Evercore, Centerview) pay base in line with bulge brackets but can pay punchier bonuses for top performers because the leverage is leaner. Critically: never resign before you have the offer in writing including bonus guarantee for year one. Also — get the deferred-comp claw-back clauses reviewed by a finance lawyer, not a generalist.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Civil Engineer", "slug": "civil-engineer", "category": "Engineering", "ukAverage": 50000, "ukMin": 28000, "ukMax": 115000, "londonPremiumPct": 15, "bands": [ { "level": "Graduate Engineer", "yoe": "0-2 years", "min": 28000, "max": 38000 }, { "level": "Incorporated Engineer (IEng)", "yoe": "3-6 years", "min": 38000, "max": 55000 }, { "level": "Chartered Engineer (CEng)", "yoe": "6-10 years", "min": 55000, "max": 80000 }, { "level": "Senior / Principal Engineer", "yoe": "10-15 years", "min": 80000, "max": 115000 }, { "level": "Technical Director / Associate", "yoe": "15+ years", "min": 100000, "max": 160000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "Structural engineering specialism", "bumpPct": 12 }, { "skill": "BIM / Revit fluency (Level 2 minimum)", "bumpPct": 7 }, { "skill": "Sustainability / embodied carbon expertise", "bumpPct": 15 }, { "skill": "HS2 or AMP8 (water) programme experience", "bumpPct": 18 }, { "skill": "Offshore wind / renewables sector", "bumpPct": 14 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Atkins (AtkinsRéalis)", "Mott MacDonald", "Arup", "WSP UK", "AECOM", "Jacobs", "Balfour Beatty", "Costain", "Galliford Try", "Sir Robert McAlpine" ], "negotiationTip": "The chartership conversation is where civil engineers leave money on the table. CEng status typically triggers an £8-15k step-change at most consultancies, but employers won't volunteer it — you have to ask, ideally before submitting your IPR. Bring the offer letter from a competitor if you have one. The other underused lever: project allowances. Working on HS2, Hinkley Point C, Sizewell C, or major water (AMP8) framework projects often comes with a £3-8k site or remote allowance that's separate from base. When moving from consultancy to contractor, expect 10-20% base uplift but check the bonus structure — contractor bonuses are typically smaller and project-margin linked, where consultancies pay smaller but more consistent annual bonuses. Always negotiate study leave for chartership, not just fees.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Content Marketer", "slug": "content-marketer", "category": "Marketing & Sales", "ukAverage": 45000, "ukMin": 25000, "ukMax": 115000, "londonPremiumPct": 18, "bands": [ { "level": "Junior Content Marketer", "yoe": "0-2 years", "min": 25000, "max": 35000 }, { "level": "Mid-level Content Marketer", "yoe": "2-5 years", "min": 38000, "max": 55000 }, { "level": "Senior Content Strategist", "yoe": "5-9 years", "min": 55000, "max": 78000 }, { "level": "Content Lead / Manager", "yoe": "7-12 years", "min": 65000, "max": 90000 }, { "level": "Head of Content", "yoe": "10+ years", "min": 80000, "max": 115000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "SEO + content strategy (proven traffic growth)", "bumpPct": 18 }, { "skill": "B2B SaaS content with pipeline attribution", "bumpPct": 22 }, { "skill": "Video and audio content production", "bumpPct": 15 }, { "skill": "Technical writing for developer audiences", "bumpPct": 20 }, { "skill": "Lifecycle / email content with conversion data", "bumpPct": 12 } ], "topEmployers": [ "HubSpot UK", "Octopus Energy", "Monzo", "Revolut", "Sky", "BBC", "ITV", "Diageo", "Unilever", "Wise" ], "negotiationTip": "Content marketers undersell themselves because they don't quantify. Before any salary conversation, build a one-page traffic and pipeline sheet: organic sessions before/after, top-converting articles by signups or revenue, content-attributed pipeline if B2B, retention or activation lift if DTC. I've seen content leads add £10-15k to their offer simply by walking in with this sheet versus describing 'managed editorial calendar'. The other lever: insist on title clarity. A 'Senior Content Marketer' role at a Series B SaaS often pays £15k less than a 'Content Strategy Lead' role doing the same work elsewhere — title inflation costs you nothing and follows you through your next two moves. Equity at scale-ups (Octopus, Wise, Monzo) is genuinely worth modelling — at £55-70k base you might leave £20-40k of paper value on the table by not negotiating it.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "CFO", "slug": "cfo", "category": "Senior Leadership", "ukAverage": 220000, "ukMin": 100000, "ukMax": 1000000, "londonPremiumPct": 28, "bands": [ { "level": "Scale-up CFO (Series A-B)", "yoe": "10-15 years", "min": 100000, "max": 180000 }, { "level": "PE-backed Mid-Market CFO", "yoe": "15-20 years", "min": 180000, "max": 280000 }, { "level": "FTSE 250 CFO (base)", "yoe": "18-25 years", "min": 280000, "max": 450000 }, { "level": "FTSE 100 CFO (base)", "yoe": "20+ years", "min": 400000, "max": 700000 }, { "level": "FTSE 100 CFO (total comp inc. LTIPs)", "yoe": "20+ years", "min": 800000, "max": 2000000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "PE-backed scaling experience (3-5x growth)", "bumpPct": 25 }, { "skill": "IPO experience (UK Main Market or AIM)", "bumpPct": 22 }, { "skill": "M&A integration leadership", "bumpPct": 18 }, { "skill": "FTSE listing (250 or 100) on CV", "bumpPct": 30 }, { "skill": "International / multi-currency treasury", "bumpPct": 12 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Octopus Energy", "Wise", "Deliveroo", "Just Eat Takeaway", "Revolut", "Monzo", "Bumble", "Ocado Group", "Rolls-Royce", "Diageo" ], "negotiationTip": "CFO compensation is the most leverage-dependent senior role I recruit. Three negotiation truths most candidates miss: First, equity or LTIPs are the real comp — a £200k base PE-backed CFO with 0.5-1.5% sweet equity can clear £3-10m on exit, dwarfing the salary. Insist on a proper equity model from your CFO predecessor's exit if you can get it. Second, severance and change-of-control terms matter more than base — 12-month notice plus accelerated vesting on sale is standard at PE-backed level. Negotiate this hard before signing, never after. Third, FTSE listed roles are governed by the remuneration committee policy — base is relatively fixed but pension contribution rates, LTIP performance hurdles and malus/clawback windows are negotiable at appointment. Always have a senior reward consultant or executive employment lawyer review the contract — the cost (£3-8k) is rounding error against six-figure mistakes.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Software Engineer", "slug": "software-engineer", "category": "Tech", "ukAverage": 70000, "ukMin": 35000, "ukMax": 150000, "londonPremiumPct": 18, "bands": [ { "level": "Junior", "yoe": "0-2 years", "min": 35000, "max": 50000 }, { "level": "Mid", "yoe": "2-5 years", "min": 55000, "max": 80000 }, { "level": "Senior", "yoe": "5-8 years", "min": 85000, "max": 120000 }, { "level": "Lead / Staff", "yoe": "8+ years", "min": 110000, "max": 150000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "Rust or Go (production)", "bumpPct": 12 }, { "skill": "Distributed systems design", "bumpPct": 15 }, { "skill": "ML systems / inference at scale", "bumpPct": 18 }, { "skill": "Cloud architecture (AWS/GCP)", "bumpPct": 10 }, { "skill": "Security clearance (SC/DV)", "bumpPct": 14 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Monzo", "Revolut", "Wise", "Cloudflare UK", "Stripe UK", "Octopus Energy", "Sky", "Ocado Technology" ], "negotiationTip": "The single move that adds £5-15k to a software engineer offer in 2026 is naming a competing offer's specific number, even if it is just a verbal one. The hiring manager's stated max is rarely their actual ceiling — most UK tech employers have 10-15% headroom on engineering bands that only gets unlocked when you give them a reason. Second move: ask for the band, not the number. Phrase it as \"what is the band for this level?\" rather than \"what is the salary?\" Recruiters are trained to share bands when asked directly; we are trained to anchor low when asked about the number. Third: never accept the first offer the same day. A 48-hour pause without explanation produces a follow-up call from the recruiter 70% of the time, and that call almost always contains an improved number.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Product Manager", "slug": "product-manager", "category": "Tech", "ukAverage": 80000, "ukMin": 45000, "ukMax": 170000, "londonPremiumPct": 22, "bands": [ { "level": "Associate / Junior PM", "yoe": "0-2 years", "min": 45000, "max": 60000 }, { "level": "Product Manager", "yoe": "2-5 years", "min": 65000, "max": 90000 }, { "level": "Senior Product Manager", "yoe": "5-8 years", "min": 95000, "max": 130000 }, { "level": "Group / Principal PM", "yoe": "8+ years", "min": 130000, "max": 170000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "ML / AI product experience", "bumpPct": 18 }, { "skill": "Payments or fintech background", "bumpPct": 14 }, { "skill": "B2B SaaS scaling (Series B-D)", "bumpPct": 12 }, { "skill": "Growth / retention specialism", "bumpPct": 13 }, { "skill": "Technical PM (engineering background)", "bumpPct": 10 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Monzo", "Wise", "Bumble", "Klarna UK", "Octopus Energy", "Sky", "Just Eat", "Sainsbury's Tech" ], "negotiationTip": "The strongest negotiation lever for product managers in 2026 is showing the hiring manager — not the recruiter — a clear before-and-after metric you owned. \"I took retention from 41% to 58% over four quarters\" beats any answer to \"what salary are you looking for?\" by a wide margin. The mistake I see most often is candidates negotiating with the recruiter on number alone. Recruiters are gatekeepers; they have a band and a target. Hiring managers have a budget and an outcome they want. Once you are at offer stage, ask for a 20-minute call with the hiring manager to discuss your first 90-day plan — and in that call, surface your impact metrics. Offer revisions of £8-12k frequently come from that conversation, not from negotiating with HR.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Data Analyst", "slug": "data-analyst", "category": "Tech", "ukAverage": 55000, "ukMin": 30000, "ukMax": 110000, "londonPremiumPct": 15, "bands": [ { "level": "Junior Analyst", "yoe": "0-2 years", "min": 30000, "max": 42000 }, { "level": "Analyst", "yoe": "2-4 years", "min": 45000, "max": 65000 }, { "level": "Senior Analyst", "yoe": "4-7 years", "min": 65000, "max": 85000 }, { "level": "Lead / Analytics Engineer", "yoe": "7+ years", "min": 85000, "max": 110000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "Python (production, not just notebooks)", "bumpPct": 12 }, { "skill": "dbt (analytics engineering)", "bumpPct": 14 }, { "skill": "Looker or Tableau (advanced)", "bumpPct": 8 }, { "skill": "ML basics (regression, clustering)", "bumpPct": 11 }, { "skill": "Experimentation / A/B testing design", "bumpPct": 10 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Monzo", "Deliveroo", "Bumble", "Octopus Energy", "Just Eat", "Tesco Tech", "Sky", "BBC" ], "negotiationTip": "The biggest mistake I see data analysts make in negotiation is benchmarking against other analysts. You are competing in a market that includes analytics engineers, BI developers and entry-level data scientists — all of whom pay better. When you negotiate, frame your work using the language of the higher-paid adjacent roles: \"I do the work of an analytics engineer\" or \"I run experiments end-to-end like a product analyst would.\" That reframe alone shifts hiring managers' anchor by £5-10k in my experience. The second move: ask what the senior analyst band caps at, not what your offer is. If the cap is £65k and you are being offered £58k, you have £7k of obvious headroom. If the cap is £85k, you have a very different conversation. Most analysts accept the first number because they do not know the band exists.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Data Scientist", "slug": "data-scientist", "category": "Tech", "ukAverage": 75000, "ukMin": 40000, "ukMax": 160000, "londonPremiumPct": 20, "bands": [ { "level": "Junior Data Scientist", "yoe": "0-2 years", "min": 40000, "max": 55000 }, { "level": "Data Scientist", "yoe": "2-5 years", "min": 60000, "max": 85000 }, { "level": "Senior Data Scientist", "yoe": "5-8 years", "min": 90000, "max": 125000 }, { "level": "Staff / Lead Data Scientist", "yoe": "8+ years", "min": 120000, "max": 160000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "LLM fine-tuning + evaluation", "bumpPct": 22 }, { "skill": "PyTorch at production scale", "bumpPct": 14 }, { "skill": "MLOps (model deployment, monitoring)", "bumpPct": 16 }, { "skill": "Causal inference / experimentation", "bumpPct": 12 }, { "skill": "Computer vision (production)", "bumpPct": 13 } ], "topEmployers": [ "DeepMind", "Cohere", "Wayve", "Monzo", "Revolut", "BenevolentAI", "Octopus Energy", "Bumble" ], "negotiationTip": "The single most powerful move for a data scientist negotiating in 2026 is positioning yourself in the AI market rather than the analytics market — even if the role is borderline. When a hiring manager says \"data scientist,\" they typically have an analytics-flavoured budget in mind (£70-100k for mid-level). When you reframe the conversation around \"applied ML\" or \"production model deployment,\" you shift their reference points to the AI band (£90-130k for the same level). I have seen identical candidates earn £25k more by switching the language they used in their final-round conversations. Be specific: talk about model evaluation frameworks, production latency, drift monitoring, eval harnesses. The vocabulary signals which market you compete in, and hiring managers price candidates against the market they think they are in.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "DevOps Engineer", "slug": "devops-engineer", "category": "Tech", "ukAverage": 75000, "ukMin": 40000, "ukMax": 160000, "londonPremiumPct": 18, "bands": [ { "level": "Junior DevOps Engineer", "yoe": "0-2 years", "min": 40000, "max": 55000 }, { "level": "DevOps Engineer", "yoe": "2-5 years", "min": 60000, "max": 85000 }, { "level": "Senior DevOps / SRE", "yoe": "5-8 years", "min": 90000, "max": 125000 }, { "level": "Lead Platform Engineer", "yoe": "8+ years", "min": 125000, "max": 160000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "Kubernetes (production at scale)", "bumpPct": 15 }, { "skill": "Terraform / IaC (advanced modules)", "bumpPct": 12 }, { "skill": "Multi-cloud architecture (AWS + GCP)", "bumpPct": 13 }, { "skill": "Security / compliance (SOC2, ISO27001)", "bumpPct": 14 }, { "skill": "FinOps / cloud cost optimisation", "bumpPct": 11 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Cloudflare UK", "Monzo", "Wise", "Octopus Energy", "GitLab UK", "Ocado Technology", "Sainsbury's Tech", "Sky" ], "negotiationTip": "DevOps engineers consistently undervalue themselves in negotiation, and it costs them £10-20k per offer. The reason: most DevOps engineers come up through ops or sysadmin backgrounds where pay rises were small and infrequent, and they carry that anchor into tech-company negotiations where the bands are far higher. The single best negotiation move is benchmarking against senior backend engineer salaries at the same company — they are usually equivalent or higher for DevOps in 2026, and most candidates do not know it. The second move: get specific about cost savings. \"I cut our AWS bill by £40k a month\" is the strongest possible signal, because it directly justifies your salary in numbers the CFO understands. Walk into the offer call with a written list of measurable infra wins from your last role; expect a £8-15k uplift.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "UX Designer", "slug": "ux-designer", "category": "Tech", "ukAverage": 60000, "ukMin": 35000, "ukMax": 130000, "londonPremiumPct": 20, "bands": [ { "level": "Junior UX Designer", "yoe": "0-2 years", "min": 35000, "max": 48000 }, { "level": "UX / Product Designer", "yoe": "2-5 years", "min": 50000, "max": 72000 }, { "level": "Senior Product Designer", "yoe": "5-8 years", "min": 75000, "max": 100000 }, { "level": "Lead / Principal Designer", "yoe": "8+ years", "min": 100000, "max": 130000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "Design systems leadership", "bumpPct": 14 }, { "skill": "Prototyping in code (React / Framer)", "bumpPct": 12 }, { "skill": "Accessibility (WCAG 2.2 expertise)", "bumpPct": 10 }, { "skill": "User research (mixed methods)", "bumpPct": 9 }, { "skill": "B2B SaaS product design", "bumpPct": 11 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Monzo", "Bumble", "BBC", "Sky", "Octopus Energy", "Wise", "Just Eat", "Sainsbury's Tech" ], "negotiationTip": "UX designers are the most likely tech candidates to accept the first offer, and it is costing the discipline at scale. Two moves consistently produce £5-10k uplifts in my experience. First: present your portfolio in commercial terms, not craft terms. \"I redesigned the onboarding flow and conversion went from 23% to 31%\" anchors the conversation around impact. \"I redesigned the onboarding flow with a focus on clarity and consistency\" anchors it around taste — and taste is harder to price. Second: ask for the design system or accessibility ownership explicitly during negotiation. \"I would expect to lead design system work at this level\" frames you as a senior contributor and often unlocks an extra band. Hiring managers genuinely struggle to find designers who want strategic responsibility — be the one who does, and the offer reflects it.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Project Manager", "slug": "project-manager", "category": "Business & Ops", "ukAverage": 65000, "ukMin": 35000, "ukMax": 145000, "londonPremiumPct": 18, "bands": [ { "level": "Junior PM", "yoe": "0-2 years", "min": 35000, "max": 50000 }, { "level": "Mid PM", "yoe": "3-5 years", "min": 55000, "max": 75000 }, { "level": "Senior PM", "yoe": "6-9 years", "min": 80000, "max": 110000 }, { "level": "Lead / PMO", "yoe": "10+ years", "min": 110000, "max": 145000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "Programme management at scale", "bumpPct": 14 }, { "skill": "Transformation / change delivery", "bumpPct": 12 }, { "skill": "Agile at scale (SAFe / LeSS)", "bumpPct": 8 }, { "skill": "PMP or Prince2 Practitioner", "bumpPct": 6 }, { "skill": "Regulatory delivery (FS / pharma)", "bumpPct": 11 } ], "topEmployers": [ "HSBC", "Barclays", "Lloyds", "BP", "Shell", "Accenture UK", "Capgemini UK", "Deloitte UK" ], "negotiationTip": "The single move that adds £5-12k to a UK project manager offer in 2026 is naming a specific delivery outcome you are responsible for in week one. Most PM offers anchor on a previous salary; if you reframe the conversation to \"I am being asked to ship X by Q3\", the discussion shifts from history to value. The second move is asking for a 12-month review tied to delivery, not tenure. Hiring managers grant this because it costs nothing today, but it locks in a clear path to the next band — and most candidates never ask. Avoid the day-rate-equivalent argument unless you are converting from contract — it makes commercial PMs look mercenary.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Operations Manager", "slug": "operations-manager", "category": "Business & Ops", "ukAverage": 60000, "ukMin": 35000, "ukMax": 140000, "londonPremiumPct": 16, "bands": [ { "level": "Junior Ops Manager", "yoe": "0-3 years", "min": 35000, "max": 48000 }, { "level": "Ops Manager", "yoe": "4-7 years", "min": 50000, "max": 70000 }, { "level": "Senior Ops Manager", "yoe": "8-12 years", "min": 75000, "max": 100000 }, { "level": "Head of Operations", "yoe": "12+ years", "min": 100000, "max": 140000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "Lean Six Sigma Black Belt", "bumpPct": 9 }, { "skill": "P&L ownership at unit level", "bumpPct": 13 }, { "skill": "Supply chain at scale (multi-site)", "bumpPct": 11 }, { "skill": "M&A integration / post-deal ops", "bumpPct": 14 }, { "skill": "Continuous improvement at scale", "bumpPct": 7 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Amazon UK", "Tesco", "Sainsbury's", "Octopus Energy", "Deliveroo", "DPD UK", "Royal Mail", "Unilever" ], "negotiationTip": "The framing that adds the most to operations manager offers is moving the conversation from \"managing a team\" to \"running a P&L\". Even if the budget is small, every operations role has cost or output it can claim. \"I run a £4m budget with twelve direct reports\" anchors at a different price than \"I manage twelve operations executives\". The difference is genuinely worth £8-15k at senior level. The second move is naming a specific efficiency outcome — cost saved, throughput improved, error rate reduced — with the actual percentage. Hiring managers price ambiguity conservatively; numbers force them upward. Anyone selling \"strong ops fundamentals\" is leaving money on the table.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Business Analyst", "slug": "business-analyst", "category": "Business & Ops", "ukAverage": 60000, "ukMin": 35000, "ukMax": 130000, "londonPremiumPct": 18, "bands": [ { "level": "Junior BA", "yoe": "0-2 years", "min": 35000, "max": 50000 }, { "level": "BA", "yoe": "3-5 years", "min": 55000, "max": 75000 }, { "level": "Senior BA", "yoe": "6-9 years", "min": 75000, "max": 100000 }, { "level": "Lead BA / Principal", "yoe": "10+ years", "min": 100000, "max": 130000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "SQL + Python data fluency", "bumpPct": 12 }, { "skill": "Requirements engineering / BPMN", "bumpPct": 8 }, { "skill": "Agile delivery", "bumpPct": 6 }, { "skill": "Regulatory change (FS / pharma)", "bumpPct": 13 }, { "skill": "Data product or platform domain", "bumpPct": 10 } ], "topEmployers": [ "JPMorgan UK", "HSBC", "Barclays", "Lloyds", "GSK", "AstraZeneca", "BT", "Aviva" ], "negotiationTip": "The largest pay uplift available to a UK business analyst is renaming yourself in your job search. \"Business analyst\" caps at around £85k for most candidates; \"product analyst\", \"data analyst\" or \"transformation lead\" with the same skill set commands £15-25k more. The market rewards proximity to product or data more than the BA title itself. The second move is naming an executive sponsor in the negotiation conversation — \"I report into the COO directly\" or \"my work goes to the executive committee weekly\" — which signals seniority that is otherwise invisible on a CV. Many BA roles bury senior responsibility under junior-sounding job titles; recover the gap at offer stage.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Finance Manager", "slug": "finance-manager", "category": "Finance", "ukAverage": 70000, "ukMin": 45000, "ukMax": 160000, "londonPremiumPct": 22, "bands": [ { "level": "Junior Finance Manager", "yoe": "0-3 years post-qual", "min": 45000, "max": 60000 }, { "level": "Finance Manager", "yoe": "4-7 years post-qual", "min": 60000, "max": 85000 }, { "level": "Senior Finance Manager", "yoe": "8-12 years", "min": 85000, "max": 115000 }, { "level": "Head of Finance / FD", "yoe": "12+ years", "min": 115000, "max": 160000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "FP&A leadership", "bumpPct": 13 }, { "skill": "M&A / due diligence experience", "bumpPct": 14 }, { "skill": "ERP transformation (NetSuite, SAP, Oracle)", "bumpPct": 10 }, { "skill": "PE-backed scale-up reporting", "bumpPct": 12 }, { "skill": "ACA, ACCA or CIMA qualified", "bumpPct": 8 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Diageo", "Unilever", "GSK", "AstraZeneca", "BP", "Shell", "Octopus Energy", "Wise" ], "negotiationTip": "Finance managers are systematically underpaid against their qualifications. The fastest fix is benchmarking against the right peer group at offer stage. If you are a qualified accountant with 5-7 years post-qualification experience, the relevant comparator is FP&A in tech or financial services, not commercial accounting in mid-market industry. Naming a specific competitor offer band — even a verbal one — moves UK finance manager offers by £5-15k. The second move is asking for the bonus structure to be specified in writing with concrete trigger metrics. Finance offers often quote a bonus range but not the gating; getting the gating documented protects you from the discretionary rug-pull that catches first-time finance leaders out.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Accountant", "slug": "accountant", "category": "Finance", "ukAverage": 55000, "ukMin": 28000, "ukMax": 115000, "londonPremiumPct": 20, "bands": [ { "level": "Part-qualified", "yoe": "0-3 years", "min": 28000, "max": 40000 }, { "level": "Newly qualified", "yoe": "3-4 years", "min": 45000, "max": 60000 }, { "level": "Qualified accountant (mid)", "yoe": "5-7 years", "min": 60000, "max": 80000 }, { "level": "Senior accountant / manager", "yoe": "8+ years", "min": 80000, "max": 115000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "ACA / ACCA / CIMA qualified", "bumpPct": 25 }, { "skill": "IFRS technical specialism", "bumpPct": 9 }, { "skill": "Audit (Big Four)", "bumpPct": 8 }, { "skill": "Tax specialism (CTA)", "bumpPct": 12 }, { "skill": "Group consolidation / multi-entity", "bumpPct": 7 } ], "topEmployers": [ "PwC UK", "Deloitte UK", "EY UK", "KPMG UK", "Grant Thornton", "BDO UK", "RSM UK", "Diageo" ], "negotiationTip": "The single most valuable move for a part-qualified or newly-qualified accountant is timing the move six months after qualification, not before. Recruiters pay newly-qualified accountants a structural premium for the first 12 months post-qual — qualified-and-experienced commands the next jump. Moving the day you qualify caps you near the bottom of the qualified band; moving 6-12 months later positions you in the upper band of the same level. The second move is letting the recruiter name the salary first. Part-qualified accountants almost always anchor low because they remember their study-support salary; the market has moved on, and silence costs nothing.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Management Consultant", "slug": "management-consultant", "category": "Business & Ops", "ukAverage": 75000, "ukMin": 40000, "ukMax": 200000, "londonPremiumPct": 30, "bands": [ { "level": "Associate / Analyst", "yoe": "0-2 years", "min": 40000, "max": 55000 }, { "level": "Consultant", "yoe": "2-4 years", "min": 55000, "max": 85000 }, { "level": "Senior Consultant / Manager", "yoe": "5-8 years", "min": 85000, "max": 130000 }, { "level": "Principal / Senior Manager", "yoe": "9-12 years", "min": 130000, "max": 200000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "MBB / Big Four pedigree", "bumpPct": 18 }, { "skill": "Sector specialism (FS, healthcare, tech)", "bumpPct": 12 }, { "skill": "Digital transformation expertise", "bumpPct": 11 }, { "skill": "M&A / commercial due diligence", "bumpPct": 14 }, { "skill": "Top-tier MBA (LBS, INSEAD, Oxford SBS)", "bumpPct": 9 } ], "topEmployers": [ "McKinsey UK", "BCG UK", "Bain UK", "Deloitte UK", "PwC UK", "EY-Parthenon", "KPMG UK", "Accenture Strategy" ], "negotiationTip": "Strategy consultants negotiate poorly at exit because firms have a tightly-banded pay-by-tenure structure that conditions consultants to wait for promotion rather than ask. The largest single uplift available to a consultant is the post-MBA repositioning move — re-entering at one band higher than your departure level adds £25-40k. The second move is naming a specific industry exit as your alternative. Consultants leaving for a corporate strategy role rarely match consultancy total comp on cash, but base salary typically jumps 15-25%. Use that base-salary uplift as the negotiating anchor for any move that involves swapping bonus volatility for stability — and never accept the first \"competitive\" offer letter without anchoring against your previous total comp.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Marketing Manager", "slug": "marketing-manager", "category": "Marketing & Sales", "ukAverage": 55000, "ukMin": 30000, "ukMax": 130000, "londonPremiumPct": 18, "bands": [ { "level": "Junior Marketing Manager", "yoe": "0-3 years", "min": 30000, "max": 42000 }, { "level": "Marketing Manager", "yoe": "4-6 years", "min": 45000, "max": 65000 }, { "level": "Senior Marketing Manager", "yoe": "7-10 years", "min": 65000, "max": 90000 }, { "level": "Head of Marketing", "yoe": "10+ years", "min": 90000, "max": 130000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "B2B SaaS demand generation", "bumpPct": 13 }, { "skill": "Growth marketing / paid acquisition", "bumpPct": 11 }, { "skill": "Marketing automation (HubSpot, Marketo, Pardot)", "bumpPct": 8 }, { "skill": "AI tooling fluency", "bumpPct": 7 }, { "skill": "Multi-market / international experience", "bumpPct": 9 } ], "topEmployers": [ "HubSpot UK", "Salesforce UK", "Adobe UK", "Octopus Energy", "Monzo", "Revolut", "Sky", "ITV" ], "negotiationTip": "Marketing managers consistently undersell growth contributions in negotiations because attribution is ambiguous in UK B2B SaaS. The fix is to bring three specific numbers to the offer conversation: a campaign cost, an attributed revenue or pipeline figure, and the resulting cost-per-acquisition or ROI multiple. Even one credible \"I delivered £X pipeline at £Y CAC\" sentence changes the salary anchor by £5-15k. The second move is asking for a marketing budget commitment in writing as part of the offer. \"I would expect £Xk annual budget for paid plus tools to deliver against the goals discussed\" reframes the conversation around what you can produce, not what you have done.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Sales Executive", "slug": "sales-executive", "category": "Marketing & Sales", "ukAverage": 50000, "ukMin": 28000, "ukMax": 100000, "londonPremiumPct": 18, "bands": [ { "level": "SDR / BDR", "yoe": "0-2 years", "min": 28000, "max": 38000 }, { "level": "Account Executive", "yoe": "2-4 years", "min": 40000, "max": 55000 }, { "level": "Senior AE / Mid-Market", "yoe": "5-7 years", "min": 55000, "max": 75000 }, { "level": "Enterprise AE / Strategic", "yoe": "8+ years", "min": 75000, "max": 100000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "Enterprise / named-account selling", "bumpPct": 18 }, { "skill": "MEDDIC / MEDDPICC qualification", "bumpPct": 9 }, { "skill": "SaaS / fintech vertical experience", "bumpPct": 11 }, { "skill": "Multi-product / portfolio selling", "bumpPct": 10 }, { "skill": "Channel / partner sales", "bumpPct": 7 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Salesforce UK", "HubSpot UK", "Adobe UK", "Microsoft UK", "Workday UK", "ServiceNow UK", "Snowflake UK", "Stripe UK" ], "negotiationTip": "Sales people are paradoxically among the worst negotiators of their own offers because they take target pay at face value. Two moves consistently improve UK SaaS sales offers. First: ask for the actual percentage of reps who hit quota in the last four quarters. \"What was the AE attainment rate at FY24 close?\" forces the hiring manager to either disclose strong numbers (which justifies the OTE) or acknowledge weak ones (which justifies a higher base or guaranteed ramp). Second: negotiate ramp guarantees in writing. \"I would want 100% target earnings guaranteed for months one through three\" gives you protected income while you build pipeline, and most companies will agree because the alternative is losing the candidate. Both moves are easy to ask and hard to retract once granted.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Account Manager", "slug": "account-manager", "category": "Marketing & Sales", "ukAverage": 52000, "ukMin": 28000, "ukMax": 115000, "londonPremiumPct": 18, "bands": [ { "level": "Junior AM", "yoe": "0-2 years", "min": 28000, "max": 40000 }, { "level": "Account Manager", "yoe": "3-5 years", "min": 42000, "max": 60000 }, { "level": "Senior AM", "yoe": "6-9 years", "min": 60000, "max": 85000 }, { "level": "Strategic / Key Account", "yoe": "10+ years", "min": 85000, "max": 115000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "Large-account expansion / land-and-expand", "bumpPct": 12 }, { "skill": "Technical account management", "bumpPct": 10 }, { "skill": "Multi-product portfolio management", "bumpPct": 9 }, { "skill": "Vertical specialism (FS, healthcare, tech)", "bumpPct": 8 }, { "skill": "Renewal-and-expansion delivery track record", "bumpPct": 11 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Salesforce UK", "HubSpot UK", "Adobe UK", "Microsoft UK", "Octopus Energy", "Sky", "BBC", "ITV" ], "negotiationTip": "The account manager move with the largest pay impact is reframing the title at offer stage. \"Account manager\" caps at around £75k for most candidates; \"customer success manager\", \"strategic account manager\" or \"client director\" with similar work pays £15-25k more. The market values retention and expansion outcomes over relationship management framing. The second move is naming specific account-level financial outcomes — \"I grew my £2m portfolio to £3.4m over 18 months\" anchors the conversation upward. Account managers consistently undersell expansion contributions because they were not measured on them; if you can plausibly claim the contribution, claim it.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Customer Success Manager", "slug": "customer-success-manager", "category": "Marketing & Sales", "ukAverage": 60000, "ukMin": 35000, "ukMax": 130000, "londonPremiumPct": 18, "bands": [ { "level": "Junior CSM", "yoe": "0-2 years", "min": 35000, "max": 48000 }, { "level": "CSM", "yoe": "3-5 years", "min": 50000, "max": 70000 }, { "level": "Senior CSM", "yoe": "6-9 years", "min": 70000, "max": 95000 }, { "level": "Head of Customer Success", "yoe": "10+ years", "min": 95000, "max": 130000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "Enterprise CSM (named-account)", "bumpPct": 12 }, { "skill": "Technical CSM (API / integration ownership)", "bumpPct": 14 }, { "skill": "Churn prediction / data fluency", "bumpPct": 9 }, { "skill": "Multi-product portfolio management", "bumpPct": 8 }, { "skill": "Vertical specialism (health, FS, regulated)", "bumpPct": 11 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Gainsight UK", "HubSpot UK", "Salesforce UK", "Snowflake UK", "Octopus Energy", "Wise", "Stripe UK", "Cloudflare UK" ], "negotiationTip": "Customer success managers are paid 10-15% below where the role's revenue contribution justifies, mainly because UK CSM compensation lagged the US market by several years. The fix at offer stage is anchoring against the role's revenue impact, not its job description. \"I expanded my £4m portfolio to £5.8m last year — what does that mean for the variable structure here?\" forces the conversation around contribution. The second move is asking explicitly whether expansion is the CSM's responsibility or split with sales. If expansion is yours, push for stronger variable. If split, ensure the boundary is documented to avoid attribution disputes that quietly shrink bonuses.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "Brand Manager", "slug": "brand-manager", "category": "Marketing & Sales", "ukAverage": 60000, "ukMin": 35000, "ukMax": 130000, "londonPremiumPct": 18, "bands": [ { "level": "Junior Brand Manager", "yoe": "0-3 years", "min": 35000, "max": 48000 }, { "level": "Brand Manager", "yoe": "4-7 years", "min": 50000, "max": 70000 }, { "level": "Senior Brand Manager", "yoe": "8-11 years", "min": 70000, "max": 95000 }, { "level": "Head of Brand", "yoe": "12+ years", "min": 95000, "max": 130000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "FMCG NPD (new product development)", "bumpPct": 10 }, { "skill": "DTC / e-commerce growth", "bumpPct": 12 }, { "skill": "Retail buyer relationships", "bumpPct": 8 }, { "skill": "Multi-market / international", "bumpPct": 11 }, { "skill": "Brand strategy at scale", "bumpPct": 9 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Diageo", "Unilever UK", "Procter & Gamble UK", "Heineken UK", "Coca-Cola UK", "Innocent", "Brewdog", "ASOS" ], "negotiationTip": "FMCG brand managers negotiate poorly because the structured pay scale at most blue-chip employers conditions candidates that pay is fixed-for-grade. The largest single pay uplift is the move out of FMCG into challenger-brand DTC or scale-up roles — the same brand management work commands £15-25k more at growing consumer companies that are not yet structurally pay-banded. The second move is naming a specific NPD launch outcome with a real retail-listing or revenue figure. Hiring managers price ambiguity conservatively; concrete launch metrics force them upward. \"I led the launch of X which delivered £4m in year-one revenue\" anchors very differently from \"I led the X launch\".", "updatedAt": "April 2026" }, { "role": "SEO Specialist", "slug": "seo-specialist", "category": "Marketing & Sales", "ukAverage": 48000, "ukMin": 25000, "ukMax": 115000, "londonPremiumPct": 18, "bands": [ { "level": "Junior SEO Specialist", "yoe": "0-2 years", "min": 25000, "max": 38000 }, { "level": "SEO Specialist", "yoe": "3-5 years", "min": 40000, "max": 58000 }, { "level": "Senior SEO Specialist / Lead", "yoe": "6-9 years", "min": 60000, "max": 85000 }, { "level": "Head of SEO / Director", "yoe": "10+ years", "min": 85000, "max": 115000 } ], "topPayingSkills": [ { "skill": "Technical SEO (Core Web Vitals, schema, JS rendering)", "bumpPct": 13 }, { "skill": "Programmatic SEO at scale", "bumpPct": 14 }, { "skill": "AI / SGE optimisation strategy", "bumpPct": 11 }, { "skill": "Multi-language / international SEO", "bumpPct": 9 }, { "skill": "Content + SEO strategy hybrid", "bumpPct": 8 } ], "topEmployers": [ "Octopus Energy", "Monzo", "Wise", "Klarna UK", "Boohoo", "ASOS", "BBC", "ITV" ], "negotiationTip": "SEO specialists negotiate poorly because much of their work is invisible until results land months later. The fix at offer stage is naming three specific organic-traffic outcomes with the underlying numbers. \"I grew non-brand organic from 80k to 240k monthly users in 14 months at £3 CAC\" anchors the conversation around revenue impact. The second move is asking for the specific AI-overview / SGE / LLM-citation strategy the company has, not just traditional rank-tracking metrics. SEO leaders who ask intelligent questions about post-2024 AI search dynamics signal the depth that justifies higher pay; candidates who ask only about backlinks signal the opposite. The information-asymmetry move pays.", "updatedAt": "April 2026" } ] }