Senior Systems Administrator Job Trends
Senior System Administrator (Senior Sysadmin)
UK
The median Senior System Administrator (Senior Sysadmin) salary in the UK is £62,500 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 24 October 2026.
The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 24 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 731 | 668 | 742 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -63 | +74 | -52 |
| Permanent Senior Systems Administrator jobs | 84 | 4 | 16 |
| As % of all permanent jobs in the UK | 0.069% | 0.008% | 0.023% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.075% | 0.009% | 0.024% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 40 | 3 | 10 |
| 10th Percentile | £41,750 | £46,500 | - |
| 25th Percentile | £56,000 | £54,375 | - |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £62,500 | £70,000 | £45,000 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -10.71% | +55.56% | -18.18% |
| 75th Percentile | £100,000 | £73,125 | £73,750 |
| 90th Percentile | - | £73,500 | £80,625 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £62,500 | £71,250 | £45,000 |
| % change year-on-year | -12.28% | +58.33% | -18.18% |
All Permanent IT Job Roles
UK
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job adverts matching a recognised job title. The table also shows what proportion of all permanent IT job adverts they make up.
| 6 months to 24 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent job adverts in the UK matching a recognised job title | 111,477 | 44,406 | 65,669 |
| % of permanent job adverts matching a recognised job title | 92.18% | 89.83% | 95.30% |
| Number of salaries quoted | 75,138 | 26,267 | 37,427 |
| 10th Percentile | £30,500 | £28,177 | £31,250 |
| 25th Percentile | £41,250 | £35,000 | £41,591 |
| Median annual salary (50th Percentile) | £59,300 | £52,500 | £56,500 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +12.95% | -7.08% | -5.83% |
| 75th Percentile | £76,250 | £73,750 | £75,000 |
| 90th Percentile | £98,750 | £93,750 | £95,000 |
| UK excluding London median annual salary | £55,000 | £45,390 | £50,000 |
| % change year-on-year | +21.17% | -9.22% | -4.76% |
Senior Systems Administrator Job Vacancy Trend
Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent Senior Systems Administrator job postings relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.
Senior Systems Administrator Salary Trend
Salary distribution trend for Senior Systems Administrator job vacancies in the UK.
Senior Systems Administrator Salary Histogram
Salary distribution for Senior Systems Administrator jobs over the 6 months to 24 October 2026.
Senior Systems Administrator Top 13 Job Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in Senior Systems Administrator jobs within the UK over the 6 months to 24 October 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.
| Location | Rank Change on Same Period Last Year |
Job Ads Past 6 Months |
Median Salary Past 6 Months |
Median Salary % Change on Same Period Last Year |
Live Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | -93 | 64 | £65,000 | -7.14% | 27 |
| UK excluding London | -78 | 54 | £62,500 | -12.28% | 12 |
| London | - | 26 | £68,750 | - | 13 |
| South East | -53 | 18 | £92,500 | - | 5 |
| Scotland | - | 17 | £43,500 | - | |
| Work from Home | - | 14 | £62,500 | - | 10 |
| Midlands | - | 12 | - | - | |
| West Midlands | - | 12 | - | - | |
| North of England | - | 5 | £35,500 | - | 2 |
| Yorkshire | - | 3 | £35,500 | - | 1 |
| North East | - | 2 | £65,000 | - | |
| East of England | -50 | 1 | - | - | 2 |
| South West | - | 1 | £60,000 | - | 2 |
Senior Systems Administrator Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities
For the 6 months to 24 October 2026, Senior Systems Administrator job ads cited the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all permanent Senior Systems Administrator job ads.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Linux | 35.7% | 30 |
| 2 | DV Cleared | 21.4% | 18 |
| 2 | Security Cleared | 21.4% | 18 |
| 4 | Ansible | 20.2% | 17 |
| 4 | AWS | 20.2% | 17 |
| 6 | DevOps | 19.0% | 16 |
| 7 | Big Data | 17.9% | 15 |
| 7 | Firewall | 17.9% | 15 |
| 9 | Analytics | 15.5% | 13 |
| 10 | Bash | 14.3% | 12 |
| 10 | VMware | 14.3% | 12 |
| 12 | CI/CD | 13.1% | 11 |
| 12 | Cloud Security | 13.1% | 11 |
| 12 | Terraform | 13.1% | 11 |
| 12 | VPN | 13.1% | 11 |
| 16 | CRM | 11.9% | 10 |
| 16 | Entra ID | 11.9% | 10 |
| 16 | ERP | 11.9% | 10 |
| 16 | Kubernetes | 11.9% | 10 |
| 16 | Microsoft | 11.9% | 10 |
| 16 | Microsoft 365 | 11.9% | 10 |
| 16 | Microsoft Exchange | 11.9% | 10 |
| 16 | Revenue Recognition | 11.9% | 10 |
| 16 | Salesforce | 11.9% | 10 |
| 25 | Active Directory | 10.7% | 9 |
| 25 | AI | 10.7% | 9 |
| 25 | Azure | 10.7% | 9 |
| 25 | DNS | 10.7% | 9 |
| 25 | Infrastructure Automation | 10.7% | 9 |
| 25 | Intacct | 10.7% | 9 |
Senior Systems Administrator Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Job Titles
| Rank | Job Title | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Systems Administrator | 92.9% | 78 |
| 2 | IT Systems Administrator | 25.0% | 21 |
| 2 | Senior IT Administrator | 25.0% | 21 |
| 4 | Senior Linux Systems Administrator | 22.6% | 19 |
| 5 | DevOps Administrator | 9.5% | 8 |
| 5 | Senior DevOps | 9.5% | 8 |
| 7 | Senior Data Warehouse Specialist | 6.0% | 5 |
| 8 | Migration Specialist | 3.6% | 3 |
| 9 | AWS Specialist | 2.4% | 2 |
| 9 | Senior Security Specialist | 2.4% | 2 |