Hybrid/Remote Head of AI Contract Job Trends
Head of Artificial Intelligence
UK > Work from Home
The median Head of Artificial Intelligence daily rate for remote/hybrid work is £850, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 19 October 2026.
The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 19 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 390 | 309 | 319 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -81 | +10 | - |
| Contract jobs requiring a Head of AI | 5 | 1 | 5 |
| As % of all contract jobs with remote/hybrid work options | 0.037% | 0.010% | 0.040% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.040% | 0.011% | 0.043% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| 10th Percentile | £805 | - | - |
| 25th Percentile | - | £1,050 | £675 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £850 | £1,100 | £700 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -22.73% | +57.14% | - |
| 75th Percentile | - | £1,150 | £725 |
| 90th Percentile | £876 | - | - |
| UK median daily rate | £838 | £1,050 | £750 |
| % change year-on-year | -20.24% | +40.00% | -21.05% |
All Contract IT Job Roles
Work from Home
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies with remote/hybrid work options. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.
| 6 months to 19 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract vacancies in Work from Home with a recognized job title | 12,597 | 9,063 | 11,551 |
| % of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title | 92.73% | 93.79% | 93.43% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 7,895 | 5,916 | 7,290 |
| 10th Percentile | £358 | £325 | £325 |
| 25th Percentile | £429 | £413 | £413 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £515 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +1.94% | -1.90% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £625 | £625 | £631 |
| 90th Percentile | £716 | £725 | £750 |
| UK median daily rate | £525 | £500 | £525 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.00% | -4.76% | - |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 745 | 301 | 237 |
| 10th Percentile | £15.39 | £14.00 | £20.15 |
| 25th Percentile | £26.72 | £20.50 | £28.50 |
| Median hourly rate | £60.00 | £37.50 | £45.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +60.00% | -16.67% | -14.29% |
| 75th Percentile | £70.00 | £65.00 | £67.50 |
| 90th Percentile | £82.50 | £68.00 | £73.00 |
| UK median hourly rate | £41.06 | £25.15 | £40.33 |
| % change year-on-year | +63.26% | -37.63% | -10.39% |
Head of AI Job Vacancy Trend for Remote/Hybrid Roles
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Head of AI' in the job title and offering remote or hybrid work options relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.
Head of AI Daily Rate Trend for Remote/Hybrid Jobs
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for remote/hybrid Head of AI job vacancies.
Head of AI Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Remote/Hybrid Jobs
For the 6 months to 19 October 2026, Head of AI contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract jobs with hybrid/remote work options featuring Head of AI in the job title.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SC Cleared | 100.0% | 5 |
| 1 | Security Cleared | 100.0% | 5 |
| 3 | AI | 80.0% | 4 |
| 4 | Data Pipeline | 60.0% | 3 |
| 4 | Data Visualisation | 60.0% | 3 |
| 4 | Visualisation | 60.0% | 3 |
| 7 | CI/CD | 40.0% | 2 |
| 7 | DevOps | 40.0% | 2 |
| 7 | Security Architecture | 40.0% | 2 |
| 7 | Serverless | 40.0% | 2 |
| 7 | TDD | 40.0% | 2 |
| 7 | Technical Architecture | 40.0% | 2 |
| 13 | Agile | 20.0% | 1 |
| 13 | AI Transformation | 20.0% | 1 |
| 13 | Amazon Bedrock | 20.0% | 1 |
| 13 | AWS | 20.0% | 1 |
| 13 | BPSS Clearance | 20.0% | 1 |
| 13 | Cloud Security | 20.0% | 1 |
| 13 | Continuous Improvement | 20.0% | 1 |
| 13 | Cybersecurity | 20.0% | 1 |
| 13 | Decision-Making | 20.0% | 1 |
| 13 | Mentoring | 20.0% | 1 |
| 13 | NCSC | 20.0% | 1 |
| 13 | Retrieval-Augmented Generation | 20.0% | 1 |
| 13 | Roadmaps | 20.0% | 1 |
| 13 | Stakeholder Engagement | 20.0% | 1 |
| 13 | Technical Leadership | 20.0% | 1 |
| 13 | Technology Roadmap | 20.0% | 1 |
| 13 | Threat Modelling | 20.0% | 1 |
| 13 | User-Centered Design (UCD) | 20.0% | 1 |
Head of AI Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Remote/Hybrid Jobs 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 | Head of Technical Architecture | 40.0% | 2 |
| 2 | Head of Digital | 20.0% | 1 |