Design Engineer Contract Job Trends
Design Engineer
UK
The median Design Engineer daily rate in the UK is £463, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 23 October 2026.
The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 23 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 532 | 507 | 500 |
| Rank change year-on-year | -25 | -7 | -4 |
| Contract Design Engineer jobs | 168 | 60 | 63 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 0.30% | 0.18% | 0.17% |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.33% | 0.20% | 0.18% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 40 | 20 | 19 |
| 10th Percentile | £350 | £243 | £349 |
| 25th Percentile | £382 | £409 | £403 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £463 | £490 | £500 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -5.61% | -2.00% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £550 | £624 | £638 |
| 90th Percentile | £641 | £653 | £734 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £450 | £537 | £405 |
| % change year-on-year | -16.20% | +32.59% | -19.00% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 71 | 19 | 17 |
| 10th Percentile | - | £51.10 | £37.00 |
| 25th Percentile | £46.25 | £57.25 | £42.50 |
| Median hourly rate | £56.50 | £72.50 | £57.50 |
| Median % change year-on-year | -22.07% | +26.09% | -12.85% |
| 75th Percentile | £65.00 | £81.00 | £73.75 |
| 90th Percentile | £77.50 | - | £75.00 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £56.50 | £73.75 | £58.00 |
| % change year-on-year | -23.39% | +27.16% | -12.09% |
All Contract IT Job Roles
UK
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job adverts matching a recognised job title. The table also shows what proportion of all contract IT job adverts they make up.
| 6 months to 23 Oct 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract job adverts in the UK matching a recognised job title | 50,638 | 30,447 | 34,540 |
| % of contract job adverts matching a recognised job title | 91.79% | 90.86% | 92.95% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 29,785 | 19,268 | 20,825 |
| 10th Percentile | £325 | £278 | £300 |
| 25th Percentile | £425 | £402 | £413 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £500 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +5.00% | -4.76% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £638 | £623 | £638 |
| 90th Percentile | £737 | £725 | £738 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £500 | £475 | £490 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.26% | -3.06% | -2.00% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 4,202 | 1,682 | 1,373 |
| 10th Percentile | £14.25 | £13.80 | £15.07 |
| 25th Percentile | £19.25 | £17.30 | £20.30 |
| Median hourly rate | £41.00 | £25.15 | £40.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +63.02% | -37.13% | -10.11% |
| 75th Percentile | £67.84 | £50.00 | £65.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £80.00 | £68.75 | £73.75 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £40.00 | £25.00 | £40.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +60.00% | -37.50% | -9.09% |
Design Engineer Job Vacancy Trend
Historical trend showing the proportion of contract Design Engineer job postings relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.
Design Engineer Daily Rate Trend
Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Design Engineer job vacancies in the UK.
Design Engineer Daily Rate Histogram
Daily rate distribution for Design Engineer jobs over the 6 months to 23 October 2026.
Design Engineer Hourly Rate Trend
Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Design Engineer job vacancies in the UK.
Design Engineer Hourly Rate Histogram
Hourly rate distribution for Design Engineer jobs over the 6 months to 23 October 2026.
Design Engineer Top 16 Contract Job Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in Design Engineer jobs within the UK over the 6 months to 23 October 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 |
Job Ads Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate % Change on Same Period Last Year |
Live Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | -19 | 148 | £475 | -1.04% | 907 |
| UK excluding London | +4 | 147 | £450 | -16.20% | 780 |
| East of England | +9 | 60 | £725 | +122.05% | 163 |
| Work from Home | -62 | 26 | £425 | -11.46% | 232 |
| South East | -43 | 22 | £350 | - | 185 |
| South West | -20 | 19 | £416 | -14.61% | 108 |
| North of England | -64 | 18 | £550 | +2.42% | 124 |
| London | -85 | 15 | £475 | +11.76% | 119 |
| Scotland | -14 | 14 | £380 | -36.67% | 53 |
| Midlands | -29 | 13 | £463 | -28.85% | 123 |
| Yorkshire | -35 | 10 | £550 | +3.58% | 40 |
| North West | -50 | 7 | £495 | -20.55% | 63 |
| West Midlands | - | 7 | £450 | - | 69 |
| East Midlands | -10 | 6 | £475 | -26.92% | 54 |
| North East | - | 1 | - | - | 21 |
| Northern Ireland | - | 1 | £250 | - | 13 |
Design Engineer Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities
For the 6 months to 23 October 2026, Design Engineer contract job ads cited 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 Design Engineer job ads.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Degree | 20.2% | 34 |
| 2 | Security Cleared | 15.5% | 26 |
| 3 | SC Cleared | 14.3% | 24 |
| 4 | Problem-Solving | 13.1% | 22 |
| 5 | QA | 12.5% | 21 |
| 6 | Validation | 9.5% | 16 |
| 7 | Network Design | 8.9% | 15 |
| 8 | CAD | 8.3% | 14 |
| 8 | Customer Requirements | 8.3% | 14 |
| 10 | Cisco | 7.1% | 12 |
| 10 | Simulink | 7.1% | 12 |
| 12 | Infrastructure Engineering | 6.5% | 11 |
| 13 | Agile | 6.0% | 10 |
| 13 | EMC | 6.0% | 10 |
| 13 | Prototyping | 6.0% | 10 |
| 16 | Cisco Certification | 5.4% | 9 |
| 16 | FMEA | 5.4% | 9 |
| 18 | Cloud Security | 4.8% | 8 |
| 18 | Data Protection | 4.8% | 8 |
| 18 | FPGA Design | 4.8% | 8 |
| 18 | MATLAB | 4.8% | 8 |
| 18 | Root Cause Analysis | 4.8% | 8 |
| 18 | Schematic Capture | 4.8% | 8 |
| 24 | Cybersecurity | 4.2% | 7 |
| 24 | Firewall | 4.2% | 7 |
| 24 | Network Security | 4.2% | 7 |
| 24 | Project Delivery | 4.2% | 7 |
| 28 | BPSS Clearance | 3.6% | 6 |
| 28 | C | 3.6% | 6 |
| 28 | Design Patterns | 3.6% | 6 |
Design Engineer Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Job Titles
| Rank | Job Title | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | QA Engineer | 11.9% | 20 |
| 1 | Quality Engineer | 11.9% | 20 |
| 3 | Systems Engineer | 11.3% | 19 |
| 4 | Senior Design Engineer | 10.7% | 18 |
| 5 | Network Design Engineer | 9.5% | 16 |
| 6 | QA Leader | 8.3% | 14 |
| 7 | Electrical Design Engineer | 7.1% | 12 |
| 8 | RF Design Engineer | 6.5% | 11 |
| 9 | Electronics Design Engineer | 6.0% | 10 |
| 10 | Electrical Engineer | 5.4% | 9 |
| 10 | Test Engineer | 5.4% | 9 |
| 12 | FPGA Design Engineer | 4.8% | 8 |
| 13 | Analogue Design Engineer | 4.2% | 7 |
| 13 | Security Engineer | 4.2% | 7 |
| 15 | Infrastructure Design Engineer | 3.6% | 6 |
| 16 | Data Engineer | 3.0% | 5 |
| 16 | Hardware Design Engineer | 3.0% | 5 |
| 16 | IC Design Engineer | 3.0% | 5 |
| 16 | Senior Analogue Design Engineer | 3.0% | 5 |
| 16 | Senior Network Design Engineer | 3.0% | 5 |