Principal Engineer Contract Job Trends in Surrey

Principal Engineer
South East > Surrey

The median Principal Engineer daily rate in Surrey is £632, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 21 December 2025.

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

6 months to
21 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 48 53 60
Rank change year-on-year +5 +7 -
Contract jobs requiring a Principal Engineer 6 2 13
As % of all contract jobs in Surrey 1.46% 0.47% 2.02%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.58% 0.50% 2.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 1 0 1
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £632 - £600
South East median daily rate £565 £450 £775
% change year-on-year +25.56% -41.94% +21.24%
Number of hourly rates quoted 5 2 12
10th Percentile £75.41 £63.20 -
25th Percentile - £64.04 £61.63
Median hourly rate £85.40 £70.29 £76.53
Median % change year-on-year +21.50% -8.16% -
75th Percentile - £76.74 £79.31
90th Percentile - £77.71 £83.29
South East median hourly rate £81.00 £70.29 £76.53
% change year-on-year +15.24% -8.16% -

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
Surrey

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in Surrey. 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 Surrey with a recognized job title 379 398 615
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.21% 93.65% 95.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 238 257 486
10th Percentile £204 £203 £184
25th Percentile £250 £262 £294
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -2.44%
75th Percentile £575 £550 £598
90th Percentile £688 £643 £675
South East median daily rate £500 £506 £501
% change year-on-year -1.23% +1.15% +0.10%
Number of hourly rates quoted 46 19 31
10th Percentile £25.15 £18.65 £36.25
25th Percentile £52.50 £20.77 £50.00
Median hourly rate £55.00 £24.18 £63.00
Median % change year-on-year +127.46% -61.62% +40.00%
75th Percentile £76.88 £28.63 £76.53
90th Percentile £90.09 £68.78 £78.36
South East median hourly rate £25.15 £42.50 £54.44
% change year-on-year -40.82% -21.94% +53.71%

Principal Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend in Surrey

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 Surrey.

Principal Engineer job vacancy trend in Surrey

Principal Engineer
Daily Rate Trend in Surrey

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Principal Engineer job vacancies in Surrey.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Principal Engineer job vacancies in Surrey

Principal Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend in Surrey

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

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

Principal Engineer
Hourly Rate Histogram in Surrey

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Principal Engineer in Surrey over the 6 months to 21 December 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Principal Engineer in Surrey

Principal Engineer
Contract Job Locations in Surrey

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 Surrey region over the 6 months to 21 December 2025. 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
Camberley - 4 - - 3
Principal Engineer
South East

Principal Engineer Skill Set
Top 15 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Surrey

For the 6 months to 21 December 2025, 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 Surrey region featuring Principal Engineer in the job title.

1 2 (33.33%) Degree
1 2 (33.33%) Information Security
1 2 (33.33%) NCSC
1 2 (33.33%) Risk Management
1 2 (33.33%) RMADS
1 2 (33.33%) SC Cleared
1 2 (33.33%) Security Cleared
2 1 (16.67%) BPSS Clearance
2 1 (16.67%) Incident Management
2 1 (16.67%) Information Assurance
2 1 (16.67%) Mentoring
2 1 (16.67%) Product Strategy
2 1 (16.67%) Risk Assessment
2 1 (16.67%) Stakeholder Engagement
2 1 (16.67%) Technical Leadership

Principal Engineer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Surrey 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:

General
1 1 (16.67%) Analytical Skills
1 1 (16.67%) Social Skills
Miscellaneous
1 2 (33.33%) Management Information System
Processes & Methodologies
1 2 (33.33%) Information Security
1 2 (33.33%) Risk Management
2 1 (16.67%) Incident Management
2 1 (16.67%) Information Assurance
2 1 (16.67%) Mentoring
2 1 (16.67%) Product Strategy
2 1 (16.67%) Risk Assessment
2 1 (16.67%) Stakeholder Engagement
2 1 (16.67%) Technical Leadership
Qualifications
1 2 (33.33%) Degree
1 2 (33.33%) SC Cleared
1 2 (33.33%) Security Cleared
2 1 (16.67%) BPSS Clearance
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 2 (33.33%) NCSC
1 2 (33.33%) RMADS