Systems Engineer Contract Job Trends in England

System Engineer
UK > England

The median System Engineer daily rate in England is £475, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 9 September 2026.

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

6 months to
9 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 220 362 248
Rank change year-on-year +142 -114 +94
Contract jobs requiring a Systems Engineer 570 162 325
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.23% 0.59% 1.00%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.33% 0.64% 1.07%
Number of daily rates quoted 124 50 66
10th Percentile £274 £322 £319
25th Percentile £382 £400 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £475 £450
Median % change year-on-year - +5.56% -17.81%
75th Percentile £570 £594 £534
90th Percentile £725 £628 £594
UK median daily rate £475 £475 £450
% change year-on-year - +5.56% -15.89%
Number of hourly rates quoted 292 48 114
10th Percentile £48.75 £44.94 £39.17
25th Percentile £56.74 £51.25 £45.01
Median hourly rate £65.90 £56.44 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year +16.76% -13.17% +15.06%
75th Percentile £74.25 £74.06 £70.94
90th Percentile £80.00 £75.79 £76.86
UK median hourly rate £67.47 £56.44 £62.66
% change year-on-year +19.54% -9.92% +10.91%

All Contract IT Job Roles
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 42,776 25,207 30,347
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.35% 91.34% 93.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 25,638 16,245 19,141
10th Percentile £325 £281 £305
25th Percentile £425 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £505 £525
Median % change year-on-year +3.96% -3.81% -4.55%
75th Percentile £638 £625 £638
90th Percentile £738 £738 £750
UK median daily rate £525 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -0.94%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,349 1,343 1,530
10th Percentile £15.00 £13.57 £14.56
25th Percentile £21.00 £17.30 £21.25
Median hourly rate £44.46 £25.15 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year +76.76% -47.05% +5.56%
75th Percentile £68.00 £55.00 £67.50
90th Percentile £80.00 £72.50 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £42.50 £25.15 £43.00
% change year-on-year +68.99% -41.51% +1.18%

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 9 September 2026.

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 9 September 2026.

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 9 September 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
South East +42 155 £500 +5.26% 222
South West +51 143 £498 +3.38% 112
London -31 88 £475 -8.65% 220
North of England -23 66 £400 -11.11% 87
Midlands -13 59 £450 +5.88% 72
East of England -3 57 £233 -57.73% 104
North West -29 43 £500 +11.11% 42
West Midlands -26 33 £425 - 46
East Midlands +2 26 £475 - 25
North East - 14 £350 - 23
Yorkshire - 9 £275 - 32
Systems Engineer
UK

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

For the 6 months to 9 September 2026, 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.

1 107 (18.77%) Systems Engineering
2 100 (17.54%) Security Cleared
3 84 (14.74%) SC Cleared
4 60 (10.53%) Validation
5 48 (8.42%) Windows
6 43 (7.54%) Verification and Validation
7 40 (7.02%) Rational DOORS
8 39 (6.84%) Microsoft
9 37 (6.49%) Linux
10 34 (5.96%) Degree
11 29 (5.09%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
12 28 (4.91%) Azure
13 27 (4.74%) Active Directory
13 27 (4.74%) Problem-Solving
13 27 (4.74%) Windows Server
14 25 (4.39%) Python
15 23 (4.04%) Configuration Management
15 23 (4.04%) VMware
16 22 (3.86%) VMware Infrastructure
17 21 (3.68%) Disaster Recovery
17 21 (3.68%) DNS
18 19 (3.33%) ITIL
19 18 (3.16%) Firewall
19 18 (3.16%) Hyper-V
19 18 (3.16%) PowerShell
20 17 (2.98%) BPSS Clearance
20 17 (2.98%) DHCP
20 17 (2.98%) MATLAB
21 16 (2.81%) EMC
21 16 (2.81%) Microsoft 365

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 4 (0.70%) JBoss
1 4 (0.70%) Microsoft Exchange
1 4 (0.70%) SAS
2 3 (0.53%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.35%) Confluence
Applications
1 16 (2.81%) Simulink
2 4 (0.70%) Stateflow
3 1 (0.18%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 3 (0.53%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
2 1 (0.18%) ResourceLink
Cloud Services
1 28 (4.91%) Azure
2 16 (2.81%) Microsoft 365
3 14 (2.46%) AWS
3 14 (2.46%) Entra ID
4 11 (1.93%) OpenShift
5 10 (1.75%) SaaS
6 5 (0.88%) GCP
6 5 (0.88%) GitHub
7 4 (0.70%) Azure Monitor
8 3 (0.53%) Azure Logic Apps
8 3 (0.53%) GitHub Actions
9 2 (0.35%) Cloudflare
9 2 (0.35%) OneDrive
10 1 (0.18%) Amazon CloudWatch
10 1 (0.18%) AWS Lambda
10 1 (0.18%) Azure Sentinel
10 1 (0.18%) Azure Service Bus
10 1 (0.18%) IaaS
10 1 (0.18%) Route 53
10 1 (0.18%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 21 (3.68%) DNS
2 18 (3.16%) Firewall
3 17 (2.98%) DHCP
4 13 (2.28%) TCP/IP
5 12 (2.11%) VPN
6 10 (1.75%) Network Security
7 8 (1.40%) LAN
8 6 (1.05%) IPv4
8 6 (1.05%) Kerberos
8 6 (1.05%) Modbus
8 6 (1.05%) VLAN
9 5 (0.88%) ATM
10 4 (0.70%) WAN
11 3 (0.53%) NAS
11 3 (0.53%) SAN
11 3 (0.53%) Software-Defined Networking
11 3 (0.53%) VoIP
12 2 (0.35%) DKIM
12 2 (0.35%) DMARC
13 1 (0.18%) SpaceWire
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (0.70%) Big Data
1 4 (0.70%) Hadoop
2 3 (0.53%) GIS
2 3 (0.53%) SQL Server
3 1 (0.18%) Amazon RDS
3 1 (0.18%) Db2
3 1 (0.18%) NoSQL
Development Applications
1 40 (7.02%) Rational DOORS
2 7 (1.23%) Rational Rhapsody
3 3 (0.53%) JIRA
4 1 (0.18%) CANoe
4 1 (0.18%) Claude Code
4 1 (0.18%) Git
4 1 (0.18%) Jenkins
4 1 (0.18%) Storybook
General
1 93 (16.32%) Aerospace
2 44 (7.72%) Social Skills
3 40 (7.02%) Avionics
4 26 (4.56%) Analytical Skills
4 26 (4.56%) Military
5 21 (3.68%) Automotive
6 20 (3.51%) Manufacturing
7 15 (2.63%) Finance
8 11 (1.93%) Electronics
9 10 (1.75%) Law
10 5 (0.88%) Aviation
11 4 (0.70%) Games
11 4 (0.70%) Influencing Skills
11 4 (0.70%) Presentation Skills
12 3 (0.53%) Documentation Skills
12 3 (0.53%) Telecoms
13 2 (0.35%) Public Sector
14 1 (0.18%) Banking
14 1 (0.18%) Financial Institution
14 1 (0.18%) Local Government
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (2.11%) Terraform
2 6 (1.05%) NETCONF
3 5 (0.88%) OpenID
3 5 (0.88%) SAML
4 3 (0.53%) ARM Templates
4 3 (0.53%) ISPF
4 3 (0.53%) REST
4 3 (0.53%) XML
5 2 (0.35%) HTML
5 2 (0.35%) Microsoft Graph
5 2 (0.35%) Middleware
6 1 (0.18%) CSS
6 1 (0.18%) JSON
6 1 (0.18%) Node.js
6 1 (0.18%) OpenGL
6 1 (0.18%) Qt
6 1 (0.18%) RESTful
6 1 (0.18%) SailPoint
Miscellaneous
1 12 (2.11%) Operational Technology
1 12 (2.11%) SCADA
2 9 (1.58%) Renewable Energy
3 8 (1.40%) Hybrid Cloud
4 7 (1.23%) Algorithms
5 6 (1.05%) Cloud Native
5 6 (1.05%) IoT
5 6 (1.05%) Mainframe
5 6 (1.05%) Management Information System
6 5 (0.88%) Clustering
6 5 (0.88%) Virtual Team
7 4 (0.70%) AI Agents
7 4 (0.70%) Animation
7 4 (0.70%) CCTV
7 4 (0.70%) Data Centre
7 4 (0.70%) Distributed Architecture
7 4 (0.70%) Distributed Computing
7 4 (0.70%) Legacy Systems
8 3 (0.53%) Distributed Systems
8 3 (0.53%) Onboarding
Operating Systems
1 48 (8.42%) Windows
2 37 (6.49%) Linux
3 27 (4.74%) Windows Server
4 12 (2.11%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 6 (1.05%) Windows 10
6 5 (0.88%) Unix
7 4 (0.70%) zOS
8 3 (0.53%) Android
8 3 (0.53%) MVS
9 2 (0.35%) Debian
10 1 (0.18%) FreeRTOS
10 1 (0.18%) Rocky
Processes & Methodologies
1 107 (18.77%) Systems Engineering
2 60 (10.53%) Validation
3 43 (7.54%) Verification and Validation
4 29 (5.09%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
5 27 (4.74%) Problem-Solving
6 23 (4.04%) Configuration Management
7 21 (3.68%) Disaster Recovery
8 19 (3.33%) ITIL
9 15 (2.63%) Requirements Management
9 15 (2.63%) Root Cause Analysis
10 14 (2.46%) Infrastructure as Code
10 14 (2.46%) Project Management
11 13 (2.28%) Stakeholder Management
11 13 (2.28%) Workflow
12 12 (2.11%) SysML
13 11 (1.93%) Agile
13 11 (1.93%) AI
13 11 (1.93%) Business Continuity
13 11 (1.93%) Data Integration
13 11 (1.93%) Migration
Programming Languages
1 25 (4.39%) Python
2 18 (3.16%) PowerShell
3 17 (2.98%) MATLAB
4 10 (1.75%) Bash
5 6 (1.05%) C
5 6 (1.05%) REXX
6 5 (0.88%) SQL
7 4 (0.70%) Bicep
7 4 (0.70%) C++
8 3 (0.53%) JCL
8 3 (0.53%) Rust
9 2 (0.35%) Java
10 1 (0.18%) COBOL
10 1 (0.18%) Go
10 1 (0.18%) Perl
10 1 (0.18%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 100 (17.54%) Security Cleared
2 84 (14.74%) SC Cleared
3 34 (5.96%) Degree
4 17 (2.98%) BPSS Clearance
5 7 (1.23%) DV Cleared
5 7 (1.23%) Microsoft Certification
6 6 (1.05%) Azure Certification
7 5 (0.88%) Chartered Engineer
7 5 (0.88%) Cisco Certification
8 4 (0.70%) CCNA
8 4 (0.70%) Computer Science Degree
8 4 (0.70%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
9 3 (0.53%) CCA
9 3 (0.53%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
10 2 (0.35%) AWS Certification
10 2 (0.35%) CCNP
10 2 (0.35%) HND
10 2 (0.35%) Master's Degree
11 1 (0.18%) HNC
11 1 (0.18%) Numerate Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 7 (1.23%) Def Stans
2 4 (0.70%) QA
3 3 (0.53%) ISO/IEC 15288
3 3 (0.53%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 3 (0.53%) NCSC
4 2 (0.35%) GxP
5 1 (0.18%) Accessibility
5 1 (0.18%) ARP4761
5 1 (0.18%) Cyber Essentials
5 1 (0.18%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 1 (0.18%) Data Quality
5 1 (0.18%) DICOM
5 1 (0.18%) DO-254
5 1 (0.18%) HAZOP
5 1 (0.18%) HL7
5 1 (0.18%) MIL-STD-1553
5 1 (0.18%) NIST
5 1 (0.18%) NIST 800
5 1 (0.18%) WCAG
System Software
1 27 (4.74%) Active Directory
2 22 (3.86%) VMware Infrastructure
3 18 (3.16%) Hyper-V
4 6 (1.05%) Docker
5 5 (0.88%) Virtual Machines
6 4 (0.70%) Firmware
6 4 (0.70%) Virtual Desktop
7 2 (0.35%) VMware Workstation
8 1 (0.18%) Embedded Firmware
8 1 (0.18%) Job Entry Subsystem
8 1 (0.18%) KVM
8 1 (0.18%) Microsoft App-V
8 1 (0.18%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.18%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 14 (2.46%) Ansible
2 13 (2.28%) Kubernetes
3 9 (1.58%) Microsoft Intune
4 8 (1.40%) Puppet
5 5 (0.88%) Failover Clustering
5 5 (0.88%) Red Hat Satellite
6 4 (0.70%) Grafana
6 4 (0.70%) Progress Chef
6 4 (0.70%) Prometheus
7 3 (0.53%) Istio
8 2 (0.35%) Functional Safety
8 2 (0.35%) Tivoli NetView
9 1 (0.18%) Amdocs OSS
9 1 (0.18%) Check_MK
9 1 (0.18%) Control-M
9 1 (0.18%) Microsoft Clustering
9 1 (0.18%) PingFederate
9 1 (0.18%) Podman
9 1 (0.18%) SCCM
9 1 (0.18%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 39 (6.84%) Microsoft
2 23 (4.04%) VMware
3 16 (2.81%) EMC
4 13 (2.28%) Cisco
4 13 (2.28%) Red Hat
5 10 (1.75%) IBM
6 4 (0.70%) Perforce
6 4 (0.70%) SaltStack
6 4 (0.70%) ServiceNow
7 3 (0.53%) AVEVA
7 3 (0.53%) Fortinet
7 3 (0.53%) NEC
7 3 (0.53%) Okta
7 3 (0.53%) Rockwell
7 3 (0.53%) Sparx
7 3 (0.53%) Splunk
8 2 (0.35%) BeyondTrust
8 2 (0.35%) Broadcom
8 2 (0.35%) CrowdStrike
8 2 (0.35%) Google