Software Engineer Contract Job Trends in Stevenage

Software Engineer
Hertfordshire > Stevenage

The median Software Engineer daily rate in Stevenage is £625, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 21 February 2026.

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

6 months to
21 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 2 17 5
Rank change year-on-year +15 -12 +10
Contract jobs requiring a Software Engineer 75 8 87
As % of all contract jobs in Stevenage 22.46% 6.67% 27.71%
As % of the Job Titles category 23.29% 6.90% 29.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 1 0 0
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £625 - -
Hertfordshire median daily rate £675 - £425
% change year-on-year - - -15.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 66 4 82
10th Percentile £62.50 - £61.25
25th Percentile £65.00 £61.25 -
Median hourly rate £68.00 £64.00 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year +6.25% -1.54% +6.12%
75th Percentile £70.00 £66.50 £70.00
90th Percentile - £67.85 £90.00
Hertfordshire median hourly rate £68.00 £62.50 £65.00
% change year-on-year +8.80% -3.85% +6.12%

All Contract IT Job Roles
Stevenage

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in Stevenage. 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 Stevenage with a recognized job title 322 116 292
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 96.41% 96.67% 92.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 100 21 27
10th Percentile £211 £304 £224
25th Percentile £422 £450 £290
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £400
Median % change year-on-year +0.05% +25.00% +3.23%
75th Percentile £625 £613 £550
90th Percentile £775 £625 £670
Hertfordshire median daily rate £526 £525 £450
% change year-on-year +0.10% +16.67% -10.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 182 67 192
10th Percentile £36.48 £40.75 £39.55
25th Percentile £50.00 £60.00 £45.00
Median hourly rate £65.00 £67.50 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year -3.70% +3.85% -
75th Percentile £70.00 £82.25 £70.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £86.00 £84.94
Hertfordshire median hourly rate £50.00 £66.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year -24.24% +1.54% -

Software Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend in Stevenage

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

Software Engineer job vacancy trend in Stevenage

Software Engineer
Daily Rate Trend in Stevenage

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in Stevenage.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in Stevenage

Software Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend in Stevenage

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in Stevenage.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Software Engineer job vacancies in Stevenage

Software Engineer
Hourly Rate Histogram in Stevenage

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Software Engineer in Stevenage over the 6 months to 21 February 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Software Engineer in Stevenage

Software Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Stevenage

For the 6 months to 21 February 2026, 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 Stevenage region featuring Software Engineer in the job title.

1 75 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 34 (45.33%) C++
3 31 (41.33%) C
4 23 (30.67%) Ada
4 23 (30.67%) Security Cleared
5 20 (26.67%) C#
5 20 (26.67%) Embedded C
5 20 (26.67%) Rational DOORS
5 20 (26.67%) SC Cleared
6 18 (24.00%) Unit Testing
6 18 (24.00%) Validation
7 13 (17.33%) Embedded C++
8 12 (16.00%) Git
9 11 (14.67%) Ethernet
9 11 (14.67%) SysML
9 11 (14.67%) Test Scripting
9 11 (14.67%) UML
10 10 (13.33%) Visualisation
10 10 (13.33%) Windows
11 9 (12.00%) CI/CD
11 9 (12.00%) Linux
11 9 (12.00%) Verification and Validation
12 8 (10.67%) ANSYS
12 8 (10.67%) Code Coverage
12 8 (10.67%) IBM
12 8 (10.67%) JIRA
12 8 (10.67%) PVCS
12 8 (10.67%) Requirements Analysis
12 8 (10.67%) Synthetic Environment
12 8 (10.67%) Virtual Machines

Software Engineer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Stevenage 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:

Applications
1 2 (2.67%) Microsoft Excel
Communications & Networking
1 11 (14.67%) Ethernet
2 6 (8.00%) TCP/IP
3 1 (1.33%) Modbus
3 1 (1.33%) RS-232
3 1 (1.33%) RS-422
3 1 (1.33%) RS-485
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (2.67%) Metadata
Development Applications
1 20 (26.67%) Rational DOORS
2 12 (16.00%) Git
3 8 (10.67%) JIRA
3 8 (10.67%) PVCS
4 6 (8.00%) Eclipse
4 6 (8.00%) Visual Studio
General
1 17 (22.67%) Electronics
2 10 (13.33%) Aerospace
3 8 (10.67%) Military
4 7 (9.33%) Analytical Skills
5 6 (8.00%) Law
5 6 (8.00%) Presentation Skills
5 6 (8.00%) Social Skills
6 3 (4.00%) Manufacturing
7 2 (2.67%) Publishing
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 6 (8.00%) Node.js
1 6 (8.00%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 7 (9.33%) PCIe
2 3 (4.00%) FPGA
2 3 (4.00%) State Machine
3 2 (2.67%) Embedded Systems
3 2 (2.67%) Legacy Systems
3 2 (2.67%) Management Information System
3 2 (2.67%) Reference Data
Operating Systems
1 10 (13.33%) Windows
2 9 (12.00%) Linux
3 4 (5.33%) FreeRTOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 75 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 18 (24.00%) Unit Testing
2 18 (24.00%) Validation
3 11 (14.67%) SysML
3 11 (14.67%) Test Scripting
3 11 (14.67%) UML
4 10 (13.33%) Visualisation
5 9 (12.00%) CI/CD
5 9 (12.00%) Verification and Validation
6 8 (10.67%) Code Coverage
6 8 (10.67%) Requirements Analysis
6 8 (10.67%) Synthetic Environment
6 8 (10.67%) Workflow
7 7 (9.33%) Agile
7 7 (9.33%) Continuous Integration
7 7 (9.33%) Software Testing
7 7 (9.33%) TDD
7 7 (9.33%) Technical Leadership
8 6 (8.00%) Digital Twin
8 6 (8.00%) Systems Engineering
Programming Languages
1 34 (45.33%) C++
2 31 (41.33%) C
3 23 (30.67%) Ada
4 20 (26.67%) C#
4 20 (26.67%) Embedded C
5 13 (17.33%) Embedded C++
6 6 (8.00%) JavaScript
7 2 (2.67%) Java
7 2 (2.67%) Perl
7 2 (2.67%) PowerShell
7 2 (2.67%) SQL
8 1 (1.33%) Python
Qualifications
1 23 (30.67%) Security Cleared
2 20 (26.67%) SC Cleared
System Software
1 8 (10.67%) Virtual Machines
1 8 (10.67%) VMware Infrastructure
Vendors
1 8 (10.67%) ANSYS
1 8 (10.67%) IBM
1 8 (10.67%) VMware
2 6 (8.00%) Microsoft