Principal Engineer Contract Job Trends in Kent

Principal Engineer
South East > Kent

The median Principal Engineer daily rate in Kent is £475, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 29 September 2026.

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

6 months to
29 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 20 - 21
Rank change year-on-year - - -
Contract jobs requiring a Principal Engineer 8 0 5
As % of all contract jobs in Kent 3.07% - 2.56%
As % of the Job Titles category 3.72% - 2.78%
Number of daily rates quoted 2 0 0
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile £463 - -
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 - -
75th Percentile £488 - -
90th Percentile - - -
South East median daily rate £463 £565 £450
% change year-on-year -18.14% +25.56% -25.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 6 0 5
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile £75.35 - £71.81
Median hourly rate £80.98 - £77.12
75th Percentile £86.61 - £82.43
90th Percentile - - £84.83
South East median hourly rate £78.50 £81.00 £77.12
% change year-on-year -3.08% +5.03% +2.74%

All Contract IT Job Roles
Kent

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in Kent. 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 Kent with a recognized job title 215 112 180
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 82.38% 95.73% 92.31%
Number of daily rates quoted 114 89 64
10th Percentile £248 £152 £146
25th Percentile £414 £220 £197
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £363 £458
Median % change year-on-year +51.72% -20.77% +25.34%
75th Percentile £648 £500 £581
90th Percentile £675 £623 £625
South East median daily rate £525 £500 £505
% change year-on-year +5.00% -0.99% +1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 50 10 35
10th Percentile £15.13 - £12.88
25th Percentile £35.02 £13.75 £29.90
Median hourly rate £48.81 £14.00 £70.32
Median % change year-on-year +248.64% -80.09% +29.33%
75th Percentile £85.03 £20.40 £75.16
90th Percentile £87.83 - £82.43
South East median hourly rate £49.00 £25.15 £58.49
% change year-on-year +94.83% -57.00% +13.75%

Principal Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend in Kent

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

Principal Engineer job vacancy trend in Kent

Principal Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend in Kent

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Principal Engineer job vacancies in Kent.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Principal Engineer job vacancies in Kent

Principal Engineer
Contract Job Locations in Kent

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Principal Engineer within the Kent region over the 6 months to 29 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
Rochester - 6 - -
Principal Engineer
South East

Principal Engineer Skill Set
Top 10 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Kent

For the 6 months to 29 September 2026, Principal 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 Kent region featuring Principal Engineer in the job title.

1 2 (25.00%) Data Acquisition
1 2 (25.00%) Design for Test
1 2 (25.00%) Functional Testing
1 2 (25.00%) LabVIEW
1 2 (25.00%) SC Cleared
1 2 (25.00%) Security Cleared
1 2 (25.00%) Software Testing
1 2 (25.00%) Technical Leadership
1 2 (25.00%) Test Automation
1 2 (25.00%) Test Strategy

Principal Engineer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Kent 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 2 (25.00%) LabVIEW
General
1 2 (25.00%) Electronics
1 2 (25.00%) Manufacturing
Processes & Methodologies
1 2 (25.00%) Data Acquisition
1 2 (25.00%) Design for Test
1 2 (25.00%) Functional Testing
1 2 (25.00%) Software Testing
1 2 (25.00%) Technical Leadership
1 2 (25.00%) Test Automation
1 2 (25.00%) Test Strategy
Qualifications
1 2 (25.00%) SC Cleared
1 2 (25.00%) Security Cleared