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 23 July 2026.

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

6 months to
23 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 238 317 241
Rank change year-on-year +79 -76 +118
Contract jobs requiring a Systems Engineer 477 194 351
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.06% 0.71% 1.00%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.15% 0.77% 1.07%
Number of daily rates quoted 100 62 75
10th Percentile £225 £363 £313
25th Percentile £382 £414 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £506 £450
Median % change year-on-year -6.17% +12.50% -13.46%
75th Percentile £533 £610 £563
90th Percentile £600 £650 £635
UK median daily rate £465 £480 £450
% change year-on-year -3.13% +6.67% -13.46%
Number of hourly rates quoted 225 59 142
10th Percentile £47.47 £44.99 £39.96
25th Percentile £56.74 £51.72 £46.65
Median hourly rate £66.99 £56.44 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year +18.69% -13.17% +13.38%
75th Percentile £77.50 £74.38 £71.25
90th Percentile £81.05 £77.75 £76.86
UK median hourly rate £67.47 £56.44 £60.00
% change year-on-year +19.54% -5.93% -2.44%

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 41,522 25,105 32,718
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.52% 91.81% 93.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 25,299 16,309 21,568
10th Percentile £325 £288 £300
25th Percentile £425 £403 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £512 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.54% -2.48% -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £738 £738 £750
UK median daily rate £525 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -2.05%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,983 1,254 2,147
10th Percentile £16.00 £13.75 £13.51
25th Percentile £22.46 £17.87 £18.30
Median hourly rate £45.56 £27.29 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year +66.91% -35.78% -3.53%
75th Percentile £68.00 £56.44 £65.00
90th Percentile £81.04 £75.00 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £43.69 £25.15 £40.33
% change year-on-year +73.72% -37.63% -7.70%

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 23 July 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 23 July 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 23 July 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 +24 134 £500 -11.11% 121
South West +28 105 £495 -10.20% 73
East of England -3 67 £450 -18.18% 41
London -35 66 £475 -9.52% 86
Midlands -20 57 £395 +12.86% 50
North of England -51 47 £450 +5.88% 37
West Midlands -36 34 £395 -7.06% 33
North West -38 31 £500 +17.65% 16
East Midlands -1 23 £463 +516.67% 16
Yorkshire -38 12 £275 - 11
North East -36 4 £450 - 10
Systems Engineer
UK

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

For the 6 months to 23 July 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.

1 100 (20.96%) Security Cleared
2 89 (18.66%) Systems Engineering
3 65 (13.63%) SC Cleared
4 44 (9.22%) Validation
5 40 (8.39%) Degree
6 37 (7.76%) Rational DOORS
7 36 (7.55%) Windows
8 35 (7.34%) Problem-Solving
9 27 (5.66%) Verification and Validation
10 26 (5.45%) Microsoft
11 24 (5.03%) DV Cleared
12 22 (4.61%) Active Directory
12 22 (4.61%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
13 20 (4.19%) Azure
13 20 (4.19%) Decision-Making
13 20 (4.19%) Infrastructure Engineering
13 20 (4.19%) TCP/IP
14 18 (3.77%) Configuration Management
14 18 (3.77%) Customer Service
14 18 (3.77%) Siemens
15 17 (3.56%) EMC
15 17 (3.56%) Linux
16 16 (3.35%) BPSS Clearance
16 16 (3.35%) Ethernet
16 16 (3.35%) Microsoft Office
16 16 (3.35%) Risk Assessment
16 16 (3.35%) ServiceNow
17 15 (3.14%) Creative Thinking
17 15 (3.14%) Fault Analysis
17 15 (3.14%) Mechatronics

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 (1.05%) Microsoft Exchange
2 4 (0.84%) SAS
2 4 (0.84%) SharePoint
3 3 (0.63%) Confluence
Applications
1 16 (3.35%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (2.31%) Simulink
3 4 (0.84%) Stateflow
Business Applications
1 2 (0.42%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
2 1 (0.21%) ResourceLink
2 1 (0.21%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 20 (4.19%) Azure
2 11 (2.31%) AWS
2 11 (2.31%) Microsoft 365
2 11 (2.31%) SaaS
3 9 (1.89%) Entra ID
4 6 (1.26%) GitHub
5 5 (1.05%) OpenShift
6 4 (0.84%) GitHub Actions
7 3 (0.63%) Azure Logic Apps
7 3 (0.63%) GCP
7 3 (0.63%) OneDrive
8 2 (0.42%) Cloudflare
9 1 (0.21%) Amazon CloudWatch
9 1 (0.21%) AWS Lambda
9 1 (0.21%) AWS Step Functions
9 1 (0.21%) Azure Monitor
9 1 (0.21%) Azure Sentinel
9 1 (0.21%) Azure Service Bus
9 1 (0.21%) Figma
9 1 (0.21%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 20 (4.19%) TCP/IP
2 16 (3.35%) Ethernet
3 13 (2.73%) DNS
4 10 (2.10%) Firewall
5 9 (1.89%) DHCP
6 8 (1.68%) LAN
6 8 (1.68%) Network Security
7 5 (1.05%) IPv4
7 5 (1.05%) VLAN
8 4 (0.84%) Modbus
8 4 (0.84%) VPN
8 4 (0.84%) WAN
9 3 (0.63%) SpaceWire
10 2 (0.42%) DKIM
10 2 (0.42%) DMARC
10 2 (0.42%) Kerberos
10 2 (0.42%) NAS
10 2 (0.42%) PSTN
10 2 (0.42%) SAN
10 2 (0.42%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.42%) SQL Server Reporting Services
2 1 (0.21%) NoSQL
Development Applications
1 37 (7.76%) Rational DOORS
2 7 (1.47%) Rational Rhapsody
3 4 (0.84%) JIRA
4 1 (0.21%) CANoe
4 1 (0.21%) Storybook
General
1 71 (14.88%) Aerospace
2 46 (9.64%) Social Skills
3 37 (7.76%) Military
4 29 (6.08%) Avionics
5 20 (4.19%) Manufacturing
6 19 (3.98%) Electronics
7 17 (3.56%) Presentation Skills
8 16 (3.35%) Analytical Skills
9 15 (3.14%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 13 (2.73%) Automotive
11 10 (2.10%) Finance
11 10 (2.10%) Law
12 7 (1.47%) Public Sector
13 4 (0.84%) Aviation
14 3 (0.63%) Documentation Skills
14 3 (0.63%) Games
15 2 (0.42%) Influencing Skills
15 2 (0.42%) Telecoms
16 1 (0.21%) Banking
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (1.05%) NETCONF
1 5 (1.05%) OpenID
1 5 (1.05%) SAML
2 4 (0.84%) REST
3 3 (0.63%) ISPF
3 3 (0.63%) Microsoft Graph
3 3 (0.63%) Software Packaging
4 2 (0.42%) HTML
5 1 (0.21%) CSS
5 1 (0.21%) GraphQL
5 1 (0.21%) JSON
5 1 (0.21%) Middleware
5 1 (0.21%) Node.js
5 1 (0.21%) OpenGL
5 1 (0.21%) Qt
5 1 (0.21%) RESTful
5 1 (0.21%) SailPoint
Miscellaneous
1 15 (3.14%) Industry 4.0
1 15 (3.14%) Robotics
2 9 (1.89%) Operational Technology
3 7 (1.47%) Renewable Energy
4 6 (1.26%) IoT
4 6 (1.26%) Mainframe
5 5 (1.05%) Embedded Systems
5 5 (1.05%) Virtual Team
6 4 (0.84%) Data Centre
6 4 (0.84%) Onboarding
6 4 (0.84%) SCADA
7 3 (0.63%) Acoustics
7 3 (0.63%) Animation
7 3 (0.63%) FPGA
7 3 (0.63%) Self-Motivation
8 2 (0.42%) AI Agents
8 2 (0.42%) Biopharmaceutical
8 2 (0.42%) CAN bus
8 2 (0.42%) Legacy Systems
8 2 (0.42%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 36 (7.55%) Windows
2 17 (3.56%) Linux
3 13 (2.73%) Windows Server
4 6 (1.26%) Windows 10
5 4 (0.84%) Mac OS
6 3 (0.63%) Android
6 3 (0.63%) MVS
6 3 (0.63%) zOS
7 2 (0.42%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 2 (0.42%) Unix
8 1 (0.21%) FreeRTOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 89 (18.66%) Systems Engineering
2 44 (9.22%) Validation
3 35 (7.34%) Problem-Solving
4 27 (5.66%) Verification and Validation
5 22 (4.61%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
6 20 (4.19%) Decision-Making
6 20 (4.19%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 18 (3.77%) Configuration Management
7 18 (3.77%) Customer Service
8 16 (3.35%) Risk Assessment
9 15 (3.14%) Creative Thinking
9 15 (3.14%) Fault Analysis
9 15 (3.14%) Mechatronics
10 13 (2.73%) Workflow
11 11 (2.31%) Continuous Improvement
11 11 (2.31%) SysML
12 10 (2.10%) Agile
12 10 (2.10%) Root Cause Analysis
13 9 (1.89%) Migration
13 9 (1.89%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 13 (2.73%) Python
2 12 (2.52%) MATLAB
2 12 (2.52%) PowerShell
3 5 (1.05%) REXX
4 4 (0.84%) C
5 3 (0.63%) Bash
5 3 (0.63%) JCL
6 2 (0.42%) Java
6 2 (0.42%) SQL
7 1 (0.21%) Bicep
7 1 (0.21%) Go
7 1 (0.21%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 100 (20.96%) Security Cleared
2 65 (13.63%) SC Cleared
3 40 (8.39%) Degree
4 24 (5.03%) DV Cleared
5 16 (3.35%) BPSS Clearance
6 5 (1.05%) Microsoft Certification
7 4 (0.84%) CCNA
7 4 (0.84%) Cisco Certification
8 3 (0.63%) Azure Certification
8 3 (0.63%) Chartered Engineer
9 2 (0.42%) AWS Certification
10 1 (0.21%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
10 1 (0.21%) CCA
10 1 (0.21%) CCNP
10 1 (0.21%) CISSP
10 1 (0.21%) CompTIA CySA+
10 1 (0.21%) Computer Science Degree
10 1 (0.21%) HND
10 1 (0.21%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 4 (0.84%) Def Stans
1 4 (0.84%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 3 (0.63%) Data Quality
2 3 (0.63%) MIL-STD-1553
2 3 (0.63%) NCSC
3 2 (0.42%) GxP
3 2 (0.42%) NIST
3 2 (0.42%) QA
4 1 (0.21%) Accessibility
4 1 (0.21%) Cyber Essentials
4 1 (0.21%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
4 1 (0.21%) DICOM
4 1 (0.21%) DO-254
4 1 (0.21%) HAZOP
4 1 (0.21%) HL7
4 1 (0.21%) IEC 61508
4 1 (0.21%) ISO 26262
4 1 (0.21%) ISO/IEC 15288
4 1 (0.21%) NIST 800
4 1 (0.21%) WCAG
System Software
1 22 (4.61%) Active Directory
2 12 (2.52%) VMware Infrastructure
3 7 (1.47%) Hyper-V
3 7 (1.47%) Virtual Desktop
4 5 (1.05%) Firmware
5 4 (0.84%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.42%) Docker
6 2 (0.42%) Embedded Firmware
6 2 (0.42%) VMware Workstation
7 1 (0.21%) Job Entry Subsystem
7 1 (0.21%) KVM
7 1 (0.21%) Microsoft App-V
Systems Management
1 11 (2.31%) Microsoft Intune
2 6 (1.26%) Kubernetes
3 5 (1.05%) Terraform
4 4 (0.84%) Ansible
4 4 (0.84%) SCCM
5 2 (0.42%) Functional Safety
5 2 (0.42%) Tivoli NetView
6 1 (0.21%) Amdocs OSS
6 1 (0.21%) Control-M
6 1 (0.21%) Failover Clustering
6 1 (0.21%) Jamf Pro
6 1 (0.21%) Microsoft Clustering
6 1 (0.21%) Packer
6 1 (0.21%) PingFederate
6 1 (0.21%) Progress Chef
6 1 (0.21%) Puppet
6 1 (0.21%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 26 (5.45%) Microsoft
2 18 (3.77%) Siemens
3 17 (3.56%) EMC
4 16 (3.35%) ServiceNow
5 14 (2.94%) Fortinet
6 12 (2.52%) NetApp
6 12 (2.52%) VMware
7 11 (2.31%) IBM
8 6 (1.26%) Cisco
9 3 (0.63%) Broadcom
9 3 (0.63%) Citrix
9 3 (0.63%) NEC
9 3 (0.63%) Perforce
9 3 (0.63%) Splunk
10 2 (0.42%) BeyondTrust
10 2 (0.42%) CrowdStrike
10 2 (0.42%) CyberArk
10 2 (0.42%) Red Hat
10 2 (0.42%) Rockwell
10 2 (0.42%) Sparx