Data & AI Salary and Job Market in the UK 2026

You are weighing a Data & AI move in the UK and you need real numbers before you talk pay. Here is what the market looks like right now, what employers actually post, and how to push an offer up without bluffing.

What the job market looks like right now#

On 14 October 2026 the JobRise live jobs feed (jobrise.io) shows 188 open Data & AI listings in the United Kingdom. That is a snapshot of open listings on one site, not a market survey, so treat it as a live signal rather than a total count.

Momentum is decent. Of those 188 listings, 156 were posted in the last 30 days and 87 in the last 7 days. You can browse the current openings on the UK data jobs hub.

The wider picture matters too. Across all categories in the United Kingdom, JobRise shows 2,742 open listings, and the JobRise Hiring Report for the United Kingdom counts 2,245 posted in the last 30 days. Data & AI is a slice of that, roughly one listing in fourteen.

Who is hiring#

Anthropic and Intercom lead with 13 open listings each in this slice. After them come Ellison Institute of Technology (7), Spotify (7), Zopa (5), Qureight Ltd (4), interactive investor (4), VANRATH (4), Cohere (4), and INSIGHT INTERNATIONAL Limited (3).

Some of those names are recruiters or staffing firms, so a listing may not mean a direct employer. Read the posting carefully before you assume who signs your contract.

Geography skews hard to London, which holds 85 listings. Oxford and Dublin show 7 each, Leeds and Belfast 5 each. Note that Dublin is in the Republic of Ireland, not the UK, so check location and right-to-work rules before applying.

Roles on the feed span the range: "Data Scientist - GenAI - Consultant" at Infosys Consulting - Europe, "Senior Director, Analytics & Business Intelligence" at Nuvei, "Interim Lead AI Engineer" at Ki, "Senior Data Engineer" and "Data Engineering Manager" at Zoopla, "Data Analyst" at Test Triangle, "Graduate Machine Learning Researcher" at Longshot Systems Ltd, and "Data Centre Design Engineer" at Fuse Energy.

Almost everything is permanent work. Full-time accounts for 185 listings and Contract for 3. If you want contracting, the door is barely open in this slice.

What listings actually pay#

Only 71 of the 188 listings show pay at all. That is the single biggest problem with job ads: most employers hide the number and ask your expectations first.

Where pay is posted, it is all over the place. These are quoted exactly as shown:

• "Data Analyst" at Likewize: £42K-42K
• "Data Analyst" at INSIGHT INTERNATIONAL Limited: £75K-75K
• "Senior Data Analyst - R2R" at Just Eat Takeaway.com: £44K-44K
• "Data Analyst" at Anson Mccade: £111K-111K
• "Data Analyst/Technical BA/Data Governance" at Hays: £42K-42K
• "Information and Data Analyst" at Platinum Recruitment: £38K-38K

Same job title, £38K to £111K. Some of that spread is seniority, some is sector, some is a recruiter listing a day rate converted to a headline number. Do not anchor on one ad.

Typical reported ranges by seniority#

These are typical reported ranges seen across UK data and AI roles, and they vary by city, sector, and company size. Verify against current sources before you quote them in a negotiation.

• Entry or graduate: roughly £28K to £40K. Note that only 1 of 188 listings in this snapshot is an entry-looking title, "Graduate Machine Learning Researcher" at Longshot Systems Ltd. Graduate openings are thin right now.
• Mid-level analyst or engineer: roughly £45K to £65K. London sits at the top of that band, regional cities at the bottom.
• Senior individual contributor: roughly £65K to £90K. GenAI and ML specialisms push higher.
• Lead, manager, or staff: roughly £85K to £120K. The "Data Engineering Manager" role at Zoopla sits in this territory.
• Director and above: £120K and up. The "Senior Director, Analytics & Business Intelligence" role at Nuvei is the kind of job that lands here.

For live market context, check the UK hiring report alongside current listings.

How pay is structured in the UK#

Base salary is the norm, quoted as a gross annual figure. Cash bonus is common in finance, fintech, and large tech, often 5 to 15 percent of base for individual contributors and higher for directors. It is rarely guaranteed.

There is no 13th month and no superannuation. Those are terms from other markets. UK employers auto-enrol you into a workplace pension and contribute a minimum percentage of qualifying earnings, and good employers pay more than the minimum.

Equity or share options appear in listed companies and startups, mostly as RSUs or EMI options. Treat equity as a bonus, not salary. Ask what the vesting schedule is and what the last valuation was.

A "package" quote may include bonus and pension. Always ask for the base number on its own. And a note on CTC: UK ads quote salary, not a total employment cost figure.

How to negotiate the offer#

Do the work before the call. Know your range, know the market, and know your walk-away point.

• Ask what the budgeted range is before you give a number.
• Quote base salary separately from bonus and equity.
• Get the offer in writing before you resign anything.
• Ask about pension contribution, bonus history, and review timing.
• Use a competing offer only if it is real.

Here is a script that works: "Thanks, I am excited about the role. Based on the market data I have and the scope we discussed, I was expecting a base closer to £78,000. Is there room to move on base, or can we look at the sign-on or bonus instead?"

If they cannot move on base, trade for other things: a signing payment, a guaranteed first-year bonus, an earlier review date, more pension contribution, or extra leave. A tool like the salary negotiation planner helps you lay out the trade-offs before you reply.

Free tools#

• Data & AI jobs in United Kingdom
• JobRise Hiring Report: the UK
• free salary negotiation guide

FAQ#

How many Data & AI jobs are open in the UK right now?

On 14 October 2026, JobRise shows 188 open Data & AI listings in the United Kingdom, with 156 posted in the last 30 days. That is a snapshot of one site's live listings, not a full market count.

Why do so few listings show salary?

Only 71 of the 188 listings in this snapshot show pay. Employers often keep numbers private to preserve negotiating room, so ask for the range early and give a number only when pressed.

Are these UK data salaries guaranteed?

No. The ranges here are typical reported figures and vary by city, sector, and seniority. Check current official sources and live listings before you rely on any number.

Is there demand for graduate data roles?

Not much in this snapshot. Only 1 of 188 listings is an entry-looking title, "Graduate Machine Learning Researcher" at Longshot Systems Ltd, so graduates should widen their search and consider adjacent roles.

Should I apply to listings from recruiters?

Yes, but read carefully. Some of the busiest names in this snapshot are recruiters or staffing firms, so confirm who the end employer is and what the contract terms are before you proceed.