Systems Engineer Contract Job Trends in England

System Engineer
UK > England

The median System Engineer daily rate in England is £495, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 6 June 2026.

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

6 months to
6 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 258 335 228
Rank change year-on-year +77 -107 +145
Contract jobs requiring a Systems Engineer 386 153 382
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.92% 0.63% 1.03%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.99% 0.68% 1.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 104 64 88
10th Percentile £263 £313 £313
25th Percentile £382 £400 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £495 £493 £450
Median % change year-on-year +0.51% +9.44% -12.20%
75th Percentile £541 £613 £563
90th Percentile £600 £650 £658
UK median daily rate £475 £480 £450
% change year-on-year -1.04% +6.67% -12.20%
Number of hourly rates quoted 160 39 171
10th Percentile £42.50 £45.94 £39.96
25th Percentile £55.00 £52.50 £47.83
Median hourly rate £67.50 £56.04 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year +20.45% -6.60% +1.57%
75th Percentile £78.75 £73.75 £71.25
90th Percentile £81.05 £76.00 £76.75
UK median hourly rate £67.50 £55.52 £59.00
% change year-on-year +21.58% -5.90% -4.07%

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 38,958 22,345 34,300
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.37% 92.42% 92.82%
Number of daily rates quoted 24,051 14,722 22,516
10th Percentile £325 £290 £285
25th Percentile £413 £405 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £519 £515 £525
Median % change year-on-year +0.78% -1.90% -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £638
90th Percentile £725 £750 £750
UK median daily rate £513 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +2.50% -4.76% -2.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,739 957 2,592
10th Percentile £15.79 £14.00 £12.86
25th Percentile £21.30 £18.20 £16.30
Median hourly rate £45.78 £29.33 £38.00
Median % change year-on-year +56.09% -22.82% -15.56%
75th Percentile £67.50 £60.00 £62.50
90th Percentile £80.00 £75.00 £74.00
UK median hourly rate £45.00 £28.00 £37.50
% change year-on-year +60.71% -25.33% -16.67%

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 June 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 6 June 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 6 June 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 +7 91 £500 -13.04% 142
South West +35 81 £500 -9.30% 90
East of England +6 68 £450 -18.18% 41
London -57 54 £475 -9.52% 60
North of England -48 46 £450 +8.70% 48
Midlands -28 42 £395 +43.64% 63
North West -31 27 £350 -16.27% 24
West Midlands -43 23 £395 +43.64% 43
East Midlands -11 19 £388 +416.67% 20
Yorkshire -50 14 £393 - 12
North East -24 5 £450 +38.46% 13
Systems Engineer
UK

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

For the 6 months to 6 June 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 96 (24.87%) Security Cleared
2 74 (19.17%) Systems Engineering
3 56 (14.51%) SC Cleared
4 41 (10.62%) Degree
5 39 (10.10%) Validation
6 34 (8.81%) Rational DOORS
7 31 (8.03%) Problem-Solving
7 31 (8.03%) Windows
8 24 (6.22%) DV Cleared
8 24 (6.22%) Microsoft
9 23 (5.96%) Verification and Validation
10 20 (5.18%) Decision-Making
10 20 (5.18%) Linux
10 20 (5.18%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
11 19 (4.92%) Infrastructure Engineering
12 18 (4.66%) Customer Service
12 18 (4.66%) Siemens
12 18 (4.66%) TCP/IP
13 17 (4.40%) Azure
14 16 (4.15%) Ethernet
14 16 (4.15%) Microsoft Office
14 16 (4.15%) Risk Assessment
15 15 (3.89%) Configuration Management
15 15 (3.89%) Creative Thinking
15 15 (3.89%) Fault Analysis
15 15 (3.89%) Fortinet
15 15 (3.89%) Mechatronics
15 15 (3.89%) ServiceNow
16 14 (3.63%) VMware
17 13 (3.37%) NetApp

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 5 (1.30%) Confluence
2 4 (1.04%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (0.52%) SharePoint
4 1 (0.26%) SAS
Applications
1 16 (4.15%) Microsoft Office
2 9 (2.33%) Simulink
3 4 (1.04%) Stateflow
Business Applications
1 1 (0.26%) ResourceLink
1 1 (0.26%) SAP HCM
1 1 (0.26%) SAP HR
1 1 (0.26%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
1 1 (0.26%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 17 (4.40%) Azure
2 11 (2.85%) AWS
2 11 (2.85%) SaaS
3 8 (2.07%) Microsoft 365
4 6 (1.55%) GitHub
4 6 (1.55%) OpenShift
5 5 (1.30%) Entra ID
6 4 (1.04%) GitHub Actions
7 2 (0.52%) Cohesity
7 2 (0.52%) Google Workspace
7 2 (0.52%) OneDrive
8 1 (0.26%) Amazon CloudWatch
8 1 (0.26%) Amazon EKS
8 1 (0.26%) AWS Lambda
8 1 (0.26%) AWS Step Functions
8 1 (0.26%) Cloud Computing
8 1 (0.26%) GCP
8 1 (0.26%) PaaS
8 1 (0.26%) Power Platform
8 1 (0.26%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 18 (4.66%) TCP/IP
2 16 (4.15%) Ethernet
3 8 (2.07%) DNS
3 8 (2.07%) Firewall
4 6 (1.55%) DHCP
5 5 (1.30%) LAN
6 4 (1.04%) WAN
7 3 (0.78%) SpaceWire
8 2 (0.52%) Network Security
8 2 (0.52%) PSTN
8 2 (0.52%) SAN
8 2 (0.52%) Unified Communications
8 2 (0.52%) VPN
9 1 (0.26%) Software-Defined Radio
9 1 (0.26%) VLAN
9 1 (0.26%) VoIP
9 1 (0.26%) VSAN
9 1 (0.26%) Wi-Fi
9 1 (0.26%) Wireless
9 1 (0.26%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.52%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 34 (8.81%) Rational DOORS
2 7 (1.81%) Rational Rhapsody
3 5 (1.30%) JIRA
4 1 (0.26%) CANoe
General
1 52 (13.47%) Aerospace
2 48 (12.44%) Social Skills
3 39 (10.10%) Military
4 19 (4.92%) Avionics
5 18 (4.66%) Electronics
5 18 (4.66%) Presentation Skills
6 16 (4.15%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 12 (3.11%) Analytical Skills
8 11 (2.85%) Manufacturing
9 10 (2.59%) Law
10 9 (2.33%) Public Sector
11 8 (2.07%) Finance
12 7 (1.81%) Automotive
13 5 (1.30%) Documentation Skills
14 4 (1.04%) Aviation
15 2 (0.52%) Retail
16 1 (0.26%) Banking
16 1 (0.26%) Police
16 1 (0.26%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (1.30%) OpenID
1 5 (1.30%) SAML
2 4 (1.04%) REST
3 3 (0.78%) ISPF
3 3 (0.78%) Software Packaging
4 2 (0.52%) Middleware
5 1 (0.26%) GraphQL
5 1 (0.26%) JSON
5 1 (0.26%) Microsoft Graph
5 1 (0.26%) Node.js
5 1 (0.26%) OpenGL
5 1 (0.26%) Qt
5 1 (0.26%) RESTful
5 1 (0.26%) SAP Fiori
Miscellaneous
1 15 (3.89%) Industry 4.0
1 15 (3.89%) Robotics
2 8 (2.07%) Embedded Systems
3 6 (1.55%) Data Centre
3 6 (1.55%) IoT
3 6 (1.55%) Mainframe
4 4 (1.04%) Onboarding
5 3 (0.78%) Acoustics
5 3 (0.78%) FPGA
5 3 (0.78%) Hybrid Cloud
5 3 (0.78%) Operational Technology
5 3 (0.78%) Renewable Energy
6 2 (0.52%) Analytical Mindset
6 2 (0.52%) ASIC
6 2 (0.52%) CAN bus
6 2 (0.52%) Enterprise Storage
6 2 (0.52%) Legacy Systems
6 2 (0.52%) Linux Command Line
6 2 (0.52%) Management Information System
6 2 (0.52%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 31 (8.03%) Windows
2 20 (5.18%) Linux
3 7 (1.81%) Windows Server
4 5 (1.30%) Android
5 4 (1.04%) Mac OS
6 3 (0.78%) MVS
6 3 (0.78%) zOS
7 2 (0.52%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.26%) FreeRTOS
8 1 (0.26%) Unix
8 1 (0.26%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 74 (19.17%) Systems Engineering
2 39 (10.10%) Validation
3 31 (8.03%) Problem-Solving
4 23 (5.96%) Verification and Validation
5 20 (5.18%) Decision-Making
5 20 (5.18%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
6 19 (4.92%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 18 (4.66%) Customer Service
8 16 (4.15%) Risk Assessment
9 15 (3.89%) Configuration Management
9 15 (3.89%) Creative Thinking
9 15 (3.89%) Fault Analysis
9 15 (3.89%) Mechatronics
10 13 (3.37%) Workflow
11 12 (3.11%) Migration
12 11 (2.85%) Agile
13 10 (2.59%) Continuous Improvement
13 10 (2.59%) SysML
14 9 (2.33%) Software Testing
15 8 (2.07%) Change Management
Programming Languages
1 11 (2.85%) MATLAB
2 10 (2.59%) PowerShell
3 9 (2.33%) Python
4 5 (1.30%) REXX
5 4 (1.04%) C
6 3 (0.78%) Bash
6 3 (0.78%) JCL
7 2 (0.52%) JavaScript
8 1 (0.26%) Go
8 1 (0.26%) Java
8 1 (0.26%) SQL
Qualifications
1 96 (24.87%) Security Cleared
2 56 (14.51%) SC Cleared
3 41 (10.62%) Degree
4 24 (6.22%) DV Cleared
5 9 (2.33%) BPSS Clearance
6 2 (0.52%) AWS Certification
6 2 (0.52%) Azure Certification
6 2 (0.52%) CCNA
6 2 (0.52%) Chartered Engineer
6 2 (0.52%) Cisco Certification
6 2 (0.52%) Microsoft Certification
7 1 (0.26%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
7 1 (0.26%) CCA
7 1 (0.26%) CCNP
7 1 (0.26%) CISSP
7 1 (0.26%) CompTIA CySA+
7 1 (0.26%) Computer Science Degree
7 1 (0.26%) HND
7 1 (0.26%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 4 (1.04%) Def Stans
1 4 (1.04%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 3 (0.78%) MIL-STD-1553
3 2 (0.52%) Data Quality
3 2 (0.52%) NIST
4 1 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials
4 1 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
4 1 (0.26%) DICOM
4 1 (0.26%) DO-254
4 1 (0.26%) HAZOP
4 1 (0.26%) HL7
4 1 (0.26%) IEC 61508
4 1 (0.26%) ISO 26262
4 1 (0.26%) NIST 800
4 1 (0.26%) QA
System Software
1 13 (3.37%) VMware Infrastructure
2 12 (3.11%) Active Directory
3 6 (1.55%) Hyper-V
4 5 (1.30%) Virtual Desktop
5 4 (1.04%) Firmware
6 3 (0.78%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.52%) Embedded Firmware
7 2 (0.52%) KVM
7 2 (0.52%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.52%) VMware Workstation
8 1 (0.26%) Docker
8 1 (0.26%) Job Entry Subsystem
8 1 (0.26%) Microsoft App-V
8 1 (0.26%) VMware NSX
8 1 (0.26%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 7 (1.81%) Microsoft Intune
2 6 (1.55%) Ansible
2 6 (1.55%) Terraform
3 5 (1.30%) Kubernetes
4 4 (1.04%) SCCM
5 2 (0.52%) Functional Safety
5 2 (0.52%) Tivoli NetView
6 1 (0.26%) Control-M
6 1 (0.26%) Jamf Pro
6 1 (0.26%) Packer
Vendors
1 24 (6.22%) Microsoft
2 18 (4.66%) Siemens
3 15 (3.89%) Fortinet
3 15 (3.89%) ServiceNow
4 14 (3.63%) VMware
5 13 (3.37%) NetApp
6 11 (2.85%) IBM
7 7 (1.81%) EMC
8 5 (1.30%) Cisco
9 4 (1.04%) Broadcom
10 3 (0.78%) Citrix
10 3 (0.78%) Google
10 3 (0.78%) NEC
10 3 (0.78%) Splunk
10 3 (0.78%) Veeam
11 2 (0.52%) Apple
11 2 (0.52%) Brocade
11 2 (0.52%) CyberArk
11 2 (0.52%) Oracle
11 2 (0.52%) Red Hat