Embedded Software Engineer Contract Job Trends in the South East

Embedded Software Engineer
England > South East

The median Embedded Software Engineer daily rate in the South East is £580, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 25 August 2026.

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

6 months to
25 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 183 157 147
Rank change year-on-year -26 -10 +47
Contract jobs requiring an Embedded Software Engineer 44 4 41
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 0.66% 0.11% 0.86%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.72% 0.13% 0.93%
Number of daily rates quoted 2 2 6
10th Percentile £463 £621 £378
25th Percentile £504 £622 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £580 £633 £475
Median % change year-on-year -8.37% +33.26% +11.76%
75th Percentile £659 £652 £525
90th Percentile £702 £657 -
England median daily rate £580 £633 £475
% change year-on-year -8.37% +33.26% -9.52%
Number of hourly rates quoted 27 0 35
10th Percentile - - £46.00
25th Percentile £48.64 - £51.06
Median hourly rate £60.00 - £70.00
75th Percentile £62.50 - £70.21
90th Percentile £65.00 - £75.00
England median hourly rate £66.50 £62.00 £70.00
% change year-on-year +7.26% -11.43% +7.69%

All Contract IT Job Roles
South East

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in the South East. 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 the South East with a recognized job title 6,147 3,185 4,402
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.02% 90.28% 92.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,596 2,050 2,665
10th Percentile £303 £205 £251
25th Percentile £425 £375 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £515
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -2.91% +3.00%
75th Percentile £625 £600 £634
90th Percentile £718 £675 £688
England median daily rate £525 £510 £525
% change year-on-year +2.94% -2.86% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 756 289 363
10th Percentile £15.50 £13.75 £16.00
25th Percentile £25.00 £15.50 £27.25
Median hourly rate £52.46 £25.15 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +108.60% -56.15% +14.70%
75th Percentile £71.06 £57.50 £74.31
90th Percentile £86.61 £75.00 £80.00
England median hourly rate £42.50 £25.23 £45.00
% change year-on-year +68.48% -43.94% +2.60%

Embedded Software Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Embedded Software Engineer' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East.

Embedded Software Engineer job vacancy trend in the South East

Embedded Software Engineer
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Embedded Software Engineer job vacancies in the South East.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Embedded Software Engineer job vacancies in the South East

Embedded Software Engineer
Daily Rate Histogram in the South East

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Embedded Software Engineer in the South East over the 6 months to 25 August 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Embedded Software Engineer in the South East

Embedded Software Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Embedded Software Engineer job vacancies in the South East.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Embedded Software Engineer job vacancies in the South East

Embedded Software Engineer
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South East

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Embedded Software Engineer in the South East over the 6 months to 25 August 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Embedded Software Engineer in the South East

Embedded Software Engineer
Contract Job Locations in the South East

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Embedded Software Engineer within the South East region over the 6 months to 25 August 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
Hampshire -2 29 £580 -8.37% 11
Surrey - 7 - -
Thames Valley -37 6 - - 4
Oxfordshire -23 3 - - 3
Berkshire - 3 - -
Sussex - 2 - - 1
Embedded Software Engineer
England

Embedded Software Engineer Skill Set
Top 25 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East

For the 6 months to 25 August 2026, Embedded Software 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 South East region featuring Embedded Software Engineer in the job title.

1 44 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 20 (45.45%) C
2 20 (45.45%) Wireless
3 12 (27.27%) Linux
4 11 (25.00%) C++
4 11 (25.00%) SC Cleared
4 11 (25.00%) Security Cleared
5 10 (22.73%) Embedded C
6 9 (20.45%) Agile
6 9 (20.45%) Digital Signal Processing
6 9 (20.45%) Embedded Firmware
6 9 (20.45%) Embedded Linux
6 9 (20.45%) Firmware
6 9 (20.45%) Signal Processing
6 9 (20.45%) Software-Defined Radio
6 9 (20.45%) Yocto
7 3 (6.82%) Windows
8 2 (4.55%) Debian
9 1 (2.27%) CMake
9 1 (2.27%) Device Driver Development
9 1 (2.27%) Embedded C++
9 1 (2.27%) Embedded Software Development
9 1 (2.27%) GitLab
9 1 (2.27%) Google
9 1 (2.27%) GoogleTest

Embedded Software Engineer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East 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:

Communications & Networking
1 20 (45.45%) Wireless
2 9 (20.45%) Software-Defined Radio
Development Applications
1 1 (2.27%) CMake
1 1 (2.27%) GitLab
1 1 (2.27%) GoogleTest
General
1 15 (34.09%) Aerospace
2 1 (2.27%) Military
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (20.45%) Yocto
Miscellaneous
1 9 (20.45%) Device Driver
1 9 (20.45%) Embedded Systems
2 8 (18.18%) MicroBlaze
2 8 (18.18%) RISC-V
3 3 (6.82%) ARM Cortex
4 1 (2.27%) CAN bus
Operating Systems
1 12 (27.27%) Linux
2 9 (20.45%) Embedded Linux
3 3 (6.82%) Windows
4 2 (4.55%) Debian
Processes & Methodologies
1 44 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 9 (20.45%) Agile
2 9 (20.45%) Digital Signal Processing
2 9 (20.45%) Signal Processing
3 1 (2.27%) Device Driver Development
3 1 (2.27%) Embedded Software Development
Programming Languages
1 20 (45.45%) C
2 11 (25.00%) C++
3 10 (22.73%) Embedded C
4 1 (2.27%) Embedded C++
Qualifications
1 11 (25.00%) SC Cleared
1 11 (25.00%) Security Cleared
System Software
1 9 (20.45%) Embedded Firmware
1 9 (20.45%) Firmware
Vendors
1 1 (2.27%) Google