Systems Engineer Contract Job Trends in England

System Engineer
UK > England

The median System Engineer daily rate in England is £450, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 6 November 2025.

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

 6 months to
6 Nov 2025		 Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 375 276 321
Rank change year-on-year -99 +45 +150
Contract jobs requiring a Systems Engineer 145 265 282
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.49% 0.85% 0.71%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.54% 0.92% 0.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 41 67 153
10th Percentile £188 £320 £367
25th Percentile £350 £356 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £450 £560
Median % change year-on-year - -19.64% +17.89%
75th Percentile £575 £538 £645
90th Percentile £619 £673 £700
UK median daily rate £452 £450 £550
% change year-on-year +0.44% -18.18% +10.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 43 68 54
10th Percentile £44.94 £24.30 £35.23
25th Percentile £46.98 £40.85 £51.40
Median hourly rate £58.74 £65.00 £56.49
Median % change year-on-year -9.64% +15.06% -4.21%
75th Percentile £74.38 £70.00 £62.75
90th Percentile £77.16 £76.79 £76.75
UK median hourly rate £58.74 £65.00 £56.49
% change year-on-year -9.64% +15.06% +2.71%

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
England

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in 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 England with a recognized job title 26,862 28,918 36,986
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.19% 93.00% 93.74%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,264 17,647 25,665
10th Percentile £281 £300 £300
25th Percentile £404 £413 £418
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year -2.86% -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £749 £750
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,582 1,089 1,403
10th Percentile £14.09 £15.10 £15.25
25th Percentile £17.79 £21.00 £19.25
Median hourly rate £25.15 £40.33 £45.88
Median % change year-on-year -37.63% -12.11% +52.93%
75th Percentile £51.44 £66.61 £65.00
90th Percentile £70.00 £75.00 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £37.00 £45.00
% change year-on-year -32.03% -17.78% +55.71%

Systems Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend in England

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

Systems Engineer job vacancy trend in England

Systems Engineer
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Systems Engineer job vacancies in England.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Systems Engineer job vacancies in England

Systems Engineer
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Systems Engineer in England over the 6 months to 6 November 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Systems Engineer in England

Systems Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Systems Engineer job vacancies in England.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Systems Engineer job vacancies in England

Systems Engineer
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Systems Engineer in England over the 6 months to 6 November 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Systems Engineer in England

Systems Engineer
Contract Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Systems Engineer within the England region over the 6 months to 6 November 2025. 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
South East -27 25 £379 +8.29% 189
London -32 25 £493 +9.44% 120
North of England -57 25 £450 -40.00% 55
North West -30 24 £450 -40.00% 40
East of England -35 24 £454 +3.77% 98
South West +10 23 £550 - 142
Midlands -46 22 £425 - 77
West Midlands -30 12 £425 +4.62% 38
East Midlands -26 10 - - 39
Yorkshire -30 1 - - 7
Systems Engineer
UK

Systems Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England

For the 6 months to 6 November 2025, Systems 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 England region featuring Systems Engineer in the job title.

1 39 (26.90%) Security Cleared
2 33 (22.76%) SC Cleared
3 16 (11.03%) Systems Engineering
4 15 (10.34%) Validation
5 14 (9.66%) Linux
6 13 (8.97%) Python
7 11 (7.59%) Azure
7 11 (7.59%) Microsoft
7 11 (7.59%) Rational DOORS
8 10 (6.90%) AWS
8 10 (6.90%) Verification and Validation
9 9 (6.21%) Java
9 9 (6.21%) Problem-Solving
10 8 (5.52%) Active Directory
10 8 (5.52%) Degree
10 8 (5.52%) DevOps
10 8 (5.52%) Firewall
10 8 (5.52%) Requirements Management
10 8 (5.52%) System Testing
11 7 (4.83%) Agile
11 7 (4.83%) Cybersecurity
11 7 (4.83%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 7 (4.83%) Terraform
11 7 (4.83%) VMware
11 7 (4.83%) Windows
12 6 (4.14%) Ansible
12 6 (4.14%) Cisco
12 6 (4.14%) IBM
12 6 (4.14%) Microsoft 365
12 6 (4.14%) Oracle

Systems Engineer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in 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:

Application Platforms
1 2 (1.38%) Microsoft Exchange
1 2 (1.38%) NetWeaver
1 2 (1.38%) SharePoint
2 1 (0.69%) Apache
2 1 (0.69%) Confluence
2 1 (0.69%) IIS
2 1 (0.69%) Tomcat
Applications
1 2 (1.38%) Simulink
2 1 (0.69%) CANalyzer
Business Applications
1 2 (1.38%) SAP Oil and Gas
1 2 (1.38%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 11 (7.59%) Azure
2 10 (6.90%) AWS
3 6 (4.14%) Microsoft 365
4 3 (2.07%) Amazon S3
4 3 (2.07%) Entra ID
4 3 (2.07%) GitHub
4 3 (2.07%) GitHub Actions
5 2 (1.38%) Amazon CloudWatch
5 2 (1.38%) Amazon EC2
5 2 (1.38%) AWS CloudFormation
5 2 (1.38%) AWS Lambda
5 2 (1.38%) GCP
5 2 (1.38%) GitHub Copilot
5 2 (1.38%) Google Workspace
5 2 (1.38%) Serverless
6 1 (0.69%) IaaS
6 1 (0.69%) Microsoft Copilot
6 1 (0.69%) Microsoft Purview
6 1 (0.69%) OCI
6 1 (0.69%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 8 (5.52%) Firewall
2 4 (2.76%) SSL
3 3 (2.07%) VPN
3 3 (2.07%) Wireless
4 2 (1.38%) DHCP
4 2 (1.38%) DNS
4 2 (1.38%) LAN
4 2 (1.38%) Software-Defined Radio
4 2 (1.38%) TCP/IP
4 2 (1.38%) WAN
5 1 (0.69%) Cisco IOS
5 1 (0.69%) Ethernet
5 1 (0.69%) FCAPS
5 1 (0.69%) HTTP
5 1 (0.69%) Modbus
5 1 (0.69%) NAS
5 1 (0.69%) Network Security
5 1 (0.69%) SAN
5 1 (0.69%) VoIP
5 1 (0.69%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.69%) Azure SQL Database
1 1 (0.69%) Electronic Patient Records
1 1 (0.69%) Metadata
1 1 (0.69%) Pentaho
1 1 (0.69%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 11 (7.59%) Rational DOORS
2 2 (1.38%) Git
2 2 (1.38%) JIRA
3 1 (0.69%) CANoe
3 1 (0.69%) ClearCase
3 1 (0.69%) CMake
3 1 (0.69%) GitLab
3 1 (0.69%) Gradle
3 1 (0.69%) LabVIEW
3 1 (0.69%) Postman
3 1 (0.69%) Rational Statemate
3 1 (0.69%) Selenium
General
1 24 (16.55%) Aerospace
2 13 (8.97%) Social Skills
3 7 (4.83%) Manufacturing
4 6 (4.14%) Military
5 5 (3.45%) Electronics
6 3 (2.07%) Analytical Skills
6 3 (2.07%) Documentation Skills
6 3 (2.07%) Finance
6 3 (2.07%) Public Sector
6 3 (2.07%) Telecoms
7 2 (1.38%) Avionics
7 2 (1.38%) Banking
7 2 (1.38%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 2 (1.38%) Legal
7 2 (1.38%) Social Housing
8 1 (0.69%) French Language
8 1 (0.69%) Local Government
8 1 (0.69%) Marketing
8 1 (0.69%) Presentation Skills
8 1 (0.69%) Retail Banking
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (2.07%) Kafka
1 3 (2.07%) Web Services
2 2 (1.38%) Middleware
3 1 (0.69%) Bazel
3 1 (0.69%) FastAPI
3 1 (0.69%) GraphQL
3 1 (0.69%) Oracle Fusion
3 1 (0.69%) RabbitMQ
3 1 (0.69%) React
3 1 (0.69%) Redux
3 1 (0.69%) REST
3 1 (0.69%) Spring
3 1 (0.69%) Spring Boot
3 1 (0.69%) XML
3 1 (0.69%) XSD
Miscellaneous
1 12 (8.28%) SCADA
2 7 (4.83%) Renewable Energy
3 4 (2.76%) Legacy Systems
4 3 (2.07%) Algorithms
4 3 (2.07%) Distributed Systems
4 3 (2.07%) Management Information System
4 3 (2.07%) Onboarding
4 3 (2.07%) Operational Technology
5 2 (1.38%) Clustering
5 2 (1.38%) Data Centre
5 2 (1.38%) Replication
5 2 (1.38%) Robotics
6 1 (0.69%) Acoustics
6 1 (0.69%) Driving Licence
6 1 (0.69%) Hybrid Cloud
6 1 (0.69%) Linux Command Line
6 1 (0.69%) Product Ownership
6 1 (0.69%) Public Cloud
6 1 (0.69%) Security Posture
6 1 (0.69%) State Machine
Operating Systems
1 14 (9.66%) Linux
2 7 (4.83%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
2 7 (4.83%) Windows
3 4 (2.76%) Unix
4 2 (1.38%) CentOS
4 2 (1.38%) Mac OS
4 2 (1.38%) Ubuntu
4 2 (1.38%) Windows Server
5 1 (0.69%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
5 1 (0.69%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 16 (11.03%) Systems Engineering
2 15 (10.34%) Validation
3 10 (6.90%) Verification and Validation
4 9 (6.21%) Problem-Solving
5 8 (5.52%) DevOps
5 8 (5.52%) Requirements Management
5 8 (5.52%) System Testing
6 7 (4.83%) Agile
6 7 (4.83%) Cybersecurity
7 6 (4.14%) Software Engineering
7 6 (4.14%) Stakeholder Management
8 5 (3.45%) CI/CD
8 5 (3.45%) ERP
8 5 (3.45%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 5 (3.45%) Mentoring
8 5 (3.45%) Process Improvement
8 5 (3.45%) Requirements Engineering
9 4 (2.76%) Infrastructure as Code
9 4 (2.76%) Project Delivery
9 4 (2.76%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 13 (8.97%) Python
2 9 (6.21%) Java
3 4 (2.76%) PowerShell
3 4 (2.76%) SQL
4 3 (2.07%) Bash
4 3 (2.07%) C
4 3 (2.07%) C#
4 3 (2.07%) Go
4 3 (2.07%) MATLAB
5 2 (1.38%) C++
5 2 (1.38%) JavaScript
5 2 (1.38%) Shell Script
6 1 (0.69%) Korn
6 1 (0.69%) Ladder Logic
6 1 (0.69%) Perl
6 1 (0.69%) Tcl
6 1 (0.69%) VBA
Qualifications
1 39 (26.90%) Security Cleared
2 33 (22.76%) SC Cleared
3 8 (5.52%) Degree
4 5 (3.45%) BPSS Clearance
5 3 (2.07%) DV Cleared
6 2 (1.38%) CCNA
6 2 (1.38%) Cisco Certification
6 2 (1.38%) RHCE
7 1 (0.69%) AWS Certification
7 1 (0.69%) Computer Science Degree
7 1 (0.69%) HND
7 1 (0.69%) ISACA
7 1 (0.69%) Network+ Certification
7 1 (0.69%) RHCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 4 (2.76%) IEC 61131
2 2 (1.38%) Cyber Essentials
2 2 (1.38%) ISO 26262
3 1 (0.69%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
3 1 (0.69%) Def Stans
3 1 (0.69%) IEC 61508
3 1 (0.69%) ISO/IEC 27001
System Software
1 8 (5.52%) Active Directory
2 4 (2.76%) Docker
3 2 (1.38%) Slurm Workload Manager
3 2 (1.38%) Virtual Machines
3 2 (1.38%) VMware Infrastructure
3 2 (1.38%) vSphere
4 1 (0.69%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 7 (4.83%) Terraform
2 6 (4.14%) Ansible
3 5 (3.45%) Microsoft Intune
4 4 (2.76%) Kubernetes
5 2 (1.38%) SCCM
5 2 (1.38%) SELinux
5 2 (1.38%) Single Sign-On
6 1 (0.69%) FortiGate
6 1 (0.69%) Jamf Pro
6 1 (0.69%) Prometheus
6 1 (0.69%) Puppet
6 1 (0.69%) Red Hat Satellite
6 1 (0.69%) WSUS
6 1 (0.69%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 11 (7.59%) Microsoft
2 7 (4.83%) VMware
3 6 (4.14%) Cisco
3 6 (4.14%) IBM
3 6 (4.14%) Oracle
3 6 (4.14%) SAP
3 6 (4.14%) Siemens
4 5 (3.45%) Rockwell
5 4 (2.76%) Red Hat
5 4 (2.76%) Wonderware
6 3 (2.07%) Axway
6 3 (2.07%) Okta
6 3 (2.07%) ServiceNow
7 2 (1.38%) CyberArk
7 2 (1.38%) Google
7 2 (1.38%) Palo Alto
8 1 (0.69%) Cerner
8 1 (0.69%) Nokia
8 1 (0.69%) Rapid7
8 1 (0.69%) Remedy
624 Systems Engineer jobs in England