Methodology and sources
Where the numbers come from
Everything from the Methodology sheet, with a clear label on the values we only predict. Editorial values are estimates (August 2026) or results of a formula based on them, and job-ad data are labelled separately.
Overall score formula (0–10)
DerivedScore = w_salary x (Salary midpoint / highest Salary midpoint x 10) + w_ai x AI resistance + w_demand x Demand + w_remote x Remote + w_stress x (10 - Stress)
| Factor | Default weight |
|---|---|
| Salary | 30% |
| AI resistance | 35% |
| Demand | 20% |
| Remote work | 10% |
| Low stress | 5% |
The sliders on the ranking page change the weights only in your browser. Weights are normalised to 100%, so the score stays on the 0–10 scale.
Calculation parameters
Estimate| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Employment (UoP): net as % of gross (simplified, averaged) | 0.68 |
| B2B, 12% flat-rate tax: take-home as % of the net invoice (after social security and income tax) | 0.82 |
| Junior: estimate as % of 'Salary midpoint' (typical range 0.40-0.60) | 0.50 |
Estimate for a JUNIOR: Salary midpoint x the coefficient from the Methodology sheet (0.50 by default; typical range 0.40-0.60). A gross/B2B mix value, NOT take-home.
Scale legend
- AI resistance
- 10 = rides the AI wave, 1 = highly automatable
- Demand
- 10 = acute shortage of specialists, 1 = shrinking market
- Stress
- 10 = heavy on-call / shifts / pressure, 1 = calm
- Entry barrier
- 10 = years of prerequisites, 1 = open to beginners
- Remote work
- 10 = fully remote is the norm, 1 = mostly on-site
- Prestige
- 10 = elite reputation in the industry, 1 = underrated role; a subjective view of the title among engineers - informational, not part of the Score formula
- Easiest transitions
- 2-3 roles with the shortest path from this one (overlapping skills)
Tiers
Which data we predict and which we calculate
| Column in the source workbook | Source | How it is made |
|---|---|---|
| Rank | Estimate | Editorial ranking: future, money and market |
| Category, Tier | Estimate | Editorial classification |
| Salary min - MID (k PLN/month, employment gross / B2B mix) | Estimate | Estimated range for the MID level |
| Salary max - SENIOR (k PLN/month, employment gross / B2B mix) | Estimate | Estimated range for an experienced SENIOR |
| Salary midpoint (k PLN, employment gross / B2B mix) | Derived | Average of the bottom and top of the range |
| Junior - estimate (k PLN/month, employment gross / B2B mix) | Derived | Midpoint × 0.50 |
| Take-home, employment (UoP) - midpoint (k) | Derived | Midpoint × 0.68 |
| Take-home, B2B flat-rate tax - midpoint (k) | Derived | Midpoint × 0.82 |
| AI risk | Estimate | Editorial rating: low, medium or high |
| AI resistance (1-10), Demand (1-10), Stress (1-10) | Estimate | Editorial scores 1–10 |
| Entry barrier (1-10), Remote work (1-10), Prestige (1-10) | Estimate | Editorial scores 1–10 (prestige is not part of the score) |
| Overall score (0-10) | Derived | The weighted formula on this page |
| Easiest transitions (where to move next), Key certifications (entry ticket), Notes | Estimate | Editorial descriptions |
The role's subjective reputation in the industry: how much the title 'means' in IT and how other engineers see it. Informational - not part of the Overall score formula.
Data sources
| Source | Label | Scope | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Editorial ranking (Excel workbook) | Estimate | Ranking_Rol_IT_Polska_2026.xlsx, August 2026 | Active |
| Formulas from the Methodology sheet | Derived | Score, junior, take-home amounts | Active |
| SOLID.Jobs, public API | From job ads | Offer counts, B2B/employment ranges, stack, levels, category trends. 1531 IT offers, 98% matched to roles | Active, updated weekly, as of 30/10/2026 |
| Job-board reports | From reports | Just Join IT, No Fluff Jobs, theprotocol.it, pracuj.pl. By hand, always with a link and a date | Planned |
| Automated collection from other job boards | — | The terms of JJIT, RocketJobs and pracuj.pl forbid it | Only with written consent |
Job-ad data: how we calculate
From job ads- We fetch IT offers and category statistics from the SOLID.Jobs public API, which is meant for integrators and aggregators. One harvest is a dozen or so requests 1.2 s apart, with the campaign identifier piwowarpawel-career-radar.
- Offer descriptions, links and logos are dropped in memory straight away. Only aggregates are stored: offer and employer counts, B2B and employment pay quartiles (range midpoint, PLN per month), remote share, experience levels and the most common technologies.
- An offer is matched to a role by its title, or by the board's category when no pattern fits. Last time: 1389 by title, 106 by category, 36 unmatched (mostly non-IT offers).
- A role with fewer than 10 offers shows its category's statistics, clearly labelled. Currently 14 roles have at least 30 offers, 13 have 10–29, 26 have 1–9 and 10 have none.
- Quality gates: at least 90% of offers must match a role, and the offer count must not change by more than 50% between harvests. Otherwise the result is quarantined and the app keeps the last good data.
- SOLID.Jobs is a smaller board and a few companies post a large share of its offers, so the numbers show trends and the shape of the offers, not the whole market. The score formula still uses the editorial estimates.
As of 30/10/2026. An Azure Pipelines run refreshes the data every week, and each update is reviewed before publication.
Notes and caveats on the estimates
- Salaries: indicative MONTHLY ranges for mid to senior level, in k PLN, Warsaw/remote market, August 2026.
- Ranges mix gross employment pay and B2B rates - B2B is often 15-25% higher on paper; smaller cities are usually 10-30% lower.
- Solutions / Sales Engineer: ranges are OTE (base + commission). C-level: very wide spread, top of range without equity.
- IMPORTANT: the 'Salary min/max' ranges cover MID -> SENIOR (juniors are NOT included or averaged in). The 'Junior - estimate' column = Salary midpoint x a coefficient (editable above, 0.50 by default); staff/principal/architect pay can exceed the top of the range.
- The 'take-home' columns are calculated from 'Salary midpoint' and simplified: employment is really ~70% net at lower ranges and ~65% above the second tax threshold; B2B depends on the tax form, social security (full/preferential) and the health contribution.
- Rank = editorial ranking (future + money + market). Overall score = weighted formula; after changing the weights, sort by this column.
- The difference: SysAdmin = infrastructure level (servers, virtualisation, networks). IT Administrator = a company's internal IT (endpoints, M365, second-line service desk).
- NEW ROLES (August 2026 update): AI Agent Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineer, Observability Engineer, AI Governance, M365/Modern Workplace, Data Center Technician, RPA Developer.
- FDE: the fastest-growing title of 2026 (job ads up by hundreds of percent year on year); still rare in Poland, but arriving with the wave of enterprise AI rollouts.
- All scores are editorial estimates for orientation, not statistical data. Local markets differ a lot.
Source file: Ranking_Rol_IT_Polska_2026.xlsx, sheets Dashboard, Ranking, Metodologia. Created 2026-08-31, modified 2026-08-31.