Principal Software Engineer Contract Job Trends in the East of England

Principal Software Engineer
England > East of England

The median Principal Software Engineer daily rate in the East of England is £72, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 27 February 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
27 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 106 82 109
Rank change year-on-year -24 +27 +18
Contract jobs requiring a Principal Software Engineer 7 2 1
As % of all contract jobs in the East of England 0.38% 0.19% 0.053%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.41% 0.21% 0.059%
Number of daily rates quoted 1 0 0
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £72 - -
England median daily rate £603 - £600
% change year-on-year - - -33.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 6 1 1
10th Percentile £62.73 - -
25th Percentile £62.97 - £59.02
Median hourly rate £68.21 £80.00 £64.04
Median % change year-on-year -14.74% +24.93% -
75th Percentile £73.46 - £69.05
90th Percentile - - -
England median hourly rate £68.21 £80.00 £64.04
% change year-on-year -14.74% +24.93% -

All Contract IT Job Roles
East of England

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in the East of England. 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.

Contract vacancies in the East of England with a recognized job title 1,694 963 1,701
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.37% 90.34% 89.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 742 496 870
10th Percentile £188 £225 £225
25th Percentile £325 £350 £345
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £493 £475
Median % change year-on-year -3.55% +3.68% -
75th Percentile £599 £600 £567
90th Percentile £675 £691 £675
England median daily rate £505 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -3.81% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 512 134 468
10th Percentile £13.72 £16.45 £14.00
25th Percentile £16.63 £22.25 £15.50
Median hourly rate £23.27 £60.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -61.23% +50.00% +41.59%
75th Percentile £65.00 £73.44 £65.00
90th Percentile £70.00 £85.00 £75.25
England median hourly rate £35.00 £36.00 £34.52
% change year-on-year -2.78% +4.30% -13.71%

Principal Software Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend in the East of England

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Principal Software Engineer' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the East of England.

Principal Software Engineer job vacancy trend in the East of England

Principal Software Engineer
Daily Rate Trend in the East of England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Principal Software Engineer job vacancies in the East of England.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Principal Software Engineer job vacancies in the East of England

Principal Software Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend in the East of England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Principal Software Engineer job vacancies in the East of England.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Principal Software Engineer job vacancies in the East of England

Principal Software Engineer
Contract Job Locations in the East of England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Principal Software Engineer within the East of England region over the 6 months to 27 February 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
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Bedfordshire -6 6 £72 - 1
Essex - 1 - -
Principal Software Engineer
England

Principal Software Engineer Skill Set
Top 20 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the East of England

For the 6 months to 27 February 2026, Principal Software Engineer 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 job ads across the East of England region featuring Principal Software Engineer in the job title.

1 7 (100.00%) Security Cleared
1 7 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 4 (57.14%) Ada
3 3 (42.86%) Agile
3 3 (42.86%) C++
4 2 (28.57%) ISTQB
4 2 (28.57%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
4 2 (28.57%) Problem-Solving
4 2 (28.57%) Python
4 2 (28.57%) Regression Testing
4 2 (28.57%) SC Cleared
4 2 (28.57%) SDLC
4 2 (28.57%) Software Testing
4 2 (28.57%) Test Automation
4 2 (28.57%) Test Scripting
5 1 (14.29%) DevOps
5 1 (14.29%) JIRA
5 1 (14.29%) Linux
5 1 (14.29%) Rational Rhapsody
5 1 (14.29%) Windows

Principal Software Engineer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the East of England by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Development Applications
1 1 (14.29%) JIRA
1 1 (14.29%) Rational Rhapsody
General
1 4 (57.14%) Aerospace
2 2 (28.57%) Analytical Skills
Miscellaneous
1 2 (28.57%) Embedded Systems
Operating Systems
1 1 (14.29%) Linux
1 1 (14.29%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 7 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 3 (42.86%) Agile
3 2 (28.57%) Problem-Solving
3 2 (28.57%) Regression Testing
3 2 (28.57%) SDLC
3 2 (28.57%) Software Testing
3 2 (28.57%) Test Automation
3 2 (28.57%) Test Scripting
4 1 (14.29%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 4 (57.14%) Ada
2 3 (42.86%) C++
3 2 (28.57%) Python
Qualifications
1 7 (100.00%) Security Cleared
2 2 (28.57%) ISTQB
2 2 (28.57%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
2 2 (28.57%) SC Cleared