LLM applications
Designs and ships products where a language model is the core of the product.
Three readings exist and all three are weak. Generative AI is the strongest of them and still covers everything from a chatbot pilot to a production retrieval system. Prompt engineering is included because it is where much of this work is still advertised, not because it is the same job.
The published figures
3 titles stand behind this discipline. They are not the same job as each other, and none is exactly this discipline.
Large Language Model
as the source names it| Basis | Lower (10th) | Middle | Upper (90th) | Sample | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contract, per day | not published | £550 | not published | not published | indicative |
| Permanent, per year | Nothing published for this title. | ||||
The source publishes a median for this term but no percentiles and no count of how many advertisements quoted a rate. A median with no spread and no sample size is a weak reading and is shown here as one.
Generative AI
as the source names it| Basis | Lower (10th) | Middle | Upper (90th) | Sample | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contract, per day | £413 | £550 | £788 | 815 rates quoted | strong |
| Permanent, per year | Nothing published for this title. | ||||
Prompt Engineering
as the source names it| Basis | Lower (10th) | Middle | Upper (90th) | Sample | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contract, per day | not published | £550 | not published | not published | indicative |
| Permanent, per year | Nothing published for this title. | ||||
No percentiles published and no count of advertisements quoting a rate. Treat as an indication that the work is priced like other AI contract work, not as a rate you could plan around.
As a fractional engagement
Built on £550 a day, the lowest advertised middle of the titles above. Lowest, not highest, because the number that matters to a buyer setting a budget is the one they are least likely to be surprised by.
| Commitment | Days a month | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| One day a week | 4 | £2,200 | £26,400 |
| Two days a week | 8 | £4,400 | £52,800 |
| Three days a week | 12 | £6,600 | £79,200 |
£550 a day multiplied by the commitment, and nothing else. No seniority uplift, because any uplift would be invented.
Why this one is hard to judge
The gap between a working prototype and something that survives real users is where most of the work is, and it does not show in a portfolio.
That is the reason a rate alone tells you very little here. Two people quoting the same day rate for this work can be worth wildly different amounts to you, and the difference does not show up in either of their profiles.
Figures from IT Jobs Watch, UK contract rates and IT Jobs Watch, UK permanent salaries, six months to 8 August 2026, read on 2026-08-08. They are rates and salaries advertised, not paid.