UK Project Management Pay Index — advertised pay for 9 project management roles and 12 sectors, 4 October 2026
Of 9 project management roles with enough permanent adverts stating pay, Project Director has the highest median advertised pay, £108,750 a year (n=30). Of 6 project management roles with enough contract adverts stating pay, Programme Manager has the highest median advertised pay, £575/day (n=36). By sector, Rail has the highest median advertised permanent salary of the 11 sectors that rank, £86,250 a year (n=14).
Based on 2,020 adverts live on this board, 77% of which state pay. Updated 4 October 2026.
Advertised, not paid: these are the salaries employers stated in live job adverts. They are not a survey of what people are paid, and this site neither sets nor guarantees any rate.
Permanent advertised salaries
1,507 live permanent adverts across the 12 roles, 1,154 of which state pay.
Ranked by median. Snapshot of 4 October 2026. n is the number of adverts stating pay.
Every figure is an advertised salary from the snapshot of 4 October 2026. Month-on-month change appears here once a role has a snapshot in each of two consecutive months.
Pay by sector
Every role in each sector together. A sector’s permanent salary and its contract day rate are separate figures from separate snapshots, never one number.
Snapshot of 4 October 2026. n is the number of adverts stating pay.
Fewer than 5 adverts state pay: 1 of 1 live permanent advert does.
Fewer than 5 adverts state pay: 1 of 1 live contract advert does.
Every figure is advertised, from the snapshot of 4 October 2026. A sector with fewer than 5 adverts stating pay shows its live count instead of a figure.
Contract advertised day rates
402 live contract adverts across the 12 roles, 305 of which state pay.
Ranked by median. Snapshot of 4 October 2026. n is the number of adverts stating pay.
Fewer than 5 adverts state pay: 1 of 1 live contract advert does.
Every figure is an advertised day rate from the snapshot of 4 October 2026. Month-on-month change appears here once a role has a snapshot in each of two consecutive months.
How the index is worked out
Advertised means the pay an employer stated in a live job advert on this board. It is not what anyone is paid, and it is not a survey.
A role is ranked only when at least 5 of its adverts state pay. Below that it is listed with its live count and no figure — nothing is estimated, borrowed from a neighbouring role or carried forward from an earlier month.
Pay stated per hour is converted at 7.5 hours a day and 230 working days a year, and pay stated per day at 230 days a year. The contract table divides back by 230, so a £500/day advert appears as £500/day. Where an advert gives a range, its midpoint is used.
Permanent salaries and contract day rates are separate tables from separate snapshots and are never combined into one figure. Temporary adverts, and adverts that do not say whether they are permanent or contract, are in neither table.
Each advert is placed in one sector from its title, its employer and its category, or in none when nothing names one — an advert in no sector is in the role tables but in no sector's figure. A sector's figure covers every role in it, and is published on the same 5-advert floor as a role's.
The middle half is the 25th to the 75th percentile of the adverts stating pay. “On last month” compares this snapshot’s median with the last snapshot of the previous calendar month for the same role and job type. A change between two months is a change in what is being advertised, a different mix of employers and levels, not a pay rise.
Every row is from the snapshot of 4 October 2026. Snapshots are dated and never overwritten. The full method.
Cite this
projectmanagerjobs.co.uk, “UK Project Management Pay Index: advertised pay across 12 project management roles”, snapshot of 4 October 2026. https://projectmanagerjobs.co.uk/project-management-pay-index
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