Principal Engineer Contracts in Southampton

Principal Engineer
Hampshire > Southampton

The median Principal Engineer daily rate in Southampton is £70, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 19 August 2025.

The table below provides contractor rate benchmarking and summary statistics, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

 6 months to
19 Aug 2025		 Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 16 13 -
Rank change year-on-year -3 - -
Contract jobs requiring a Principal Engineer 3 8 0
As % of all contract jobs advertised in Southampton 2.31% 5.06% -
As % of the Job Titles category 2.50% 5.67% -
Number of daily rates quoted 1 0 0
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £70 - -
Hampshire median daily rate £70 - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2 8 0
10th Percentile £71.40 - -
25th Percentile £72.00 £65.00 -
Median hourly rate £73.50 £80.00 -
Median % change year-on-year -8.13% - -
75th Percentile £74.50 - -
90th Percentile £74.80 - -
Hampshire median hourly rate £73.50 £76.86 -
% change year-on-year -4.37% - -

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
Southampton

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in Southampton. 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 Southampton with a recognized job title 120 141 178
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.31% 89.24% 96.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 75 88 120
10th Percentile £128 £200 £263
25th Percentile £303 £350 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £488 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year -2.40% -4.76% +6.06%
75th Percentile £569 £634 £603
90th Percentile £683 £660 £651
Hampshire median daily rate £538 £575 £525
% change year-on-year -6.52% +9.52% +2.44%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 15 17
10th Percentile £70.60 - -
25th Percentile £70.75 £21.89 -
Median hourly rate £72.00 £65.00 £16.00
Median % change year-on-year +10.77% +306.25% -21.95%
75th Percentile £74.00 £80.00 £23.75
90th Percentile £74.60 - £31.70
Hampshire median hourly rate £48.75 £57.35 £52.50
% change year-on-year -15.00% +9.24% +61.54%

Principal Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend in Southampton

Job postings that featured Principal Engineer in the job title as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in Southampton.

Job vacancy trend for Principal Engineer in Southampton

Principal Engineer
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in Southampton

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Principal Engineer in Southampton.

Hourly rate trend for Principal Engineer in Southampton

Principal Engineer Skill Set
Top 10 Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in Southampton

For the 6 months to 19 August 2025, Principal Engineer contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the Southampton region featuring Principal Engineer in the job title.

1 2 (66.67%) Wireless
1 2 (66.67%) Software Engineering
1 2 (66.67%) Mentoring
1 2 (66.67%) Algorithms
1 2 (66.67%) Systems Engineering
1 2 (66.67%) Social Skills
2 1 (33.33%) SC Cleared
2 1 (33.33%) Security Cleared
2 1 (33.33%) Test Planning
2 1 (33.33%) PLM

Principal Engineer Skill Set
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in Southampton by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Communications & Networking
1 2 (66.67%) Wireless
General
1 2 (66.67%) Social Skills
Miscellaneous
1 2 (66.67%) Algorithms
Processes & Methodologies
1 2 (66.67%) Mentoring
1 2 (66.67%) Software Engineering
1 2 (66.67%) Systems Engineering
2 1 (33.33%) PLM
2 1 (33.33%) Test Planning
Qualifications
1 1 (33.33%) SC Cleared
1 1 (33.33%) Security Cleared
21 Principal Engineer jobs in Hampshire