Embedded Engineer Contract Job Trends

Embedded Engineer
UK

The median Embedded Engineer daily rate in the UK is £525, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 12 August 2026.

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

 6 months to
12 Aug 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 486 524 419
Rank change year-on-year +38 -105 +79
Contract jobs requiring an Embedded Engineer 185 22 141
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.35% 0.067% 0.36%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.37% 0.073% 0.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 15 8 33
10th Percentile £466 £489 £365
25th Percentile £513 £519 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £582 £475
Median % change year-on-year -9.76% +22.47% -4.04%
75th Percentile £684 £635 £550
90th Percentile £738 £660 £570
UK excluding London median daily rate £525 £582 £475
% change year-on-year -9.76% +22.47% -2.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 145 8 88
10th Percentile £48.64 £47.90 £47.85
25th Percentile £62.00 £58.31 £57.50
Median hourly rate £66.50 £62.00 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +7.26% -11.43% +9.80%
75th Percentile £68.75 £87.50 -
90th Percentile £70.00 £88.25 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £66.50 £62.00 £70.00
% change year-on-year +7.26% -11.43% +7.69%

All Contract IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. 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 UK with a recognized job title 49,398 30,125 36,175
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.56% 91.38% 92.91%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,694 19,103 23,309
10th Percentile £328 £282 £300
25th Percentile £425 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -1.87%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,473 1,514 2,025
10th Percentile £15.00 £13.60 £14.16
25th Percentile £20.75 £17.12 £20.50
Median hourly rate £42.25 £25.15 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +67.99% -41.51% +2.87%
75th Percentile £67.84 £53.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £72.50 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.68 £25.08 £45.00
% change year-on-year +70.20% -44.28% +27.66%

Embedded Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Embedded Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK

Embedded Engineer
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Embedded Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Embedded Engineer job vacancies in the UK

Embedded Engineer
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Embedded Engineer over the 6 months to 12 August 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Embedded Engineer in the UK

Embedded Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Embedded Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Embedded Engineer job vacancies in the UK

Embedded Engineer
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Embedded Engineer over the 6 months to 12 August 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Embedded Engineer in the UK

Embedded Engineer
Top 12 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Embedded Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 12 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
England +47 178 £525 -16.13% 262
UK excluding London +46 176 £525 -9.76% 235
Work from Home -1 54 £525 -16.13% 96
East of England +24 53 - - 68
South West +7 49 £425 - 51
South East -33 42 £525 -17.06% 59
Midlands - 15 - - 25
West Midlands - 15 - - 11
North West - 10 - - 7
North of England - 10 - - 21
London -62 9 £625 - 24
Scotland -1 7 - - 7

Embedded Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 12 August 2026, Embedded 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 featuring Embedded Engineer in the job title.

1 153 (82.70%) Software Engineering
2 49 (26.49%) C
3 46 (24.86%) Ada
4 39 (21.08%) Linux
5 32 (17.30%) C++
5 32 (17.30%) Security Cleared
6 29 (15.68%) SC Cleared
7 25 (13.51%) Software-Defined Radio
8 21 (11.35%) Wireless
9 20 (10.81%) Embedded Linux
10 18 (9.73%) Embedded C
10 18 (9.73%) UML
10 18 (9.73%) Validation
11 17 (9.19%) Rational Rhapsody
12 16 (8.65%) Signal Processing
13 15 (8.11%) Firmware
14 14 (7.57%) SysML
15 13 (7.03%) Digital Signal Processing
15 13 (7.03%) Rational DOORS
16 11 (5.95%) Verification and Validation
16 11 (5.95%) Yocto
17 10 (5.41%) Software Testing
18 9 (4.86%) Embedded Firmware
18 9 (4.86%) Problem-Solving
19 8 (4.32%) Def Stans
19 8 (4.32%) Embedded Software Development
19 8 (4.32%) Test Automation
20 7 (3.78%) CI/CD
20 7 (3.78%) Device Driver Development
20 7 (3.78%) DevOps

Embedded Engineer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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:

Application Platforms
1 1 (0.54%) Confluence
Applications
1 1 (0.54%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 1 (0.54%) AWS
Communications & Networking
1 25 (13.51%) Software-Defined Radio
2 21 (11.35%) Wireless
3 4 (2.16%) Bluetooth
3 4 (2.16%) Ethernet
4 1 (0.54%) TCP/IP
4 1 (0.54%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (1.08%) SQL Server Reporting Services
2 1 (0.54%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 17 (9.19%) Rational Rhapsody
2 13 (7.03%) Rational DOORS
3 6 (3.24%) Git
4 2 (1.08%) CppUnit
4 2 (1.08%) PVCS
5 1 (0.54%) Atlassian Bamboo
5 1 (0.54%) CMake
5 1 (0.54%) GitLab
5 1 (0.54%) GoogleTest
5 1 (0.54%) JIRA
5 1 (0.54%) PetaLinux
General
1 39 (21.08%) Aerospace
2 11 (5.95%) Automotive
3 10 (5.41%) Social Skills
4 6 (3.24%) Documentation Skills
5 5 (2.70%) Electronics
6 3 (1.62%) Analytical Skills
6 3 (1.62%) Manufacturing
7 2 (1.08%) Telecoms
8 1 (0.54%) Military
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (5.95%) Yocto
2 2 (1.08%) QML
2 2 (1.08%) Qt
3 1 (0.54%) Middleware
3 1 (0.54%) PostGIS
Miscellaneous
1 30 (16.22%) Embedded Systems
2 13 (7.03%) Device Driver
3 7 (3.78%) RISC-V
4 5 (2.70%) FPGA
4 5 (2.70%) MicroBlaze
5 4 (2.16%) ARM Cortex
5 4 (2.16%) PCIe
6 3 (1.62%) Algorithms
6 3 (1.62%) Robotics
7 1 (0.54%) ASIC
7 1 (0.54%) CAN bus
7 1 (0.54%) IoT
7 1 (0.54%) Verilog
7 1 (0.54%) VHDL
7 1 (0.54%) Video\Live Streaming
Operating Systems
1 39 (21.08%) Linux
2 20 (10.81%) Embedded Linux
3 7 (3.78%) FreeRTOS
4 1 (0.54%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 153 (82.70%) Software Engineering
2 18 (9.73%) UML
2 18 (9.73%) Validation
3 16 (8.65%) Signal Processing
4 14 (7.57%) SysML
5 13 (7.03%) Digital Signal Processing
6 11 (5.95%) Verification and Validation
7 10 (5.41%) Software Testing
8 9 (4.86%) Problem-Solving
9 8 (4.32%) Embedded Software Development
9 8 (4.32%) Test Automation
10 7 (3.78%) CI/CD
10 7 (3.78%) Device Driver Development
10 7 (3.78%) DevOps
11 6 (3.24%) Agile
11 6 (3.24%) Data Acquisition
11 6 (3.24%) Workflow
11 6 (3.24%) Workflow Management
12 5 (2.70%) Hardware-in-the-Loop
12 5 (2.70%) Performance Engineering
Programming Languages
1 49 (26.49%) C
2 46 (24.86%) Ada
3 32 (17.30%) C++
4 18 (9.73%) Embedded C
5 7 (3.78%) Embedded C++
5 7 (3.78%) Python
6 1 (0.54%) Rust
6 1 (0.54%) Shell Script
6 1 (0.54%) SystemVerilog
6 1 (0.54%) Tcl
Qualifications
1 32 (17.30%) Security Cleared
2 29 (15.68%) SC Cleared
3 1 (0.54%) Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 8 (4.32%) Def Stans
2 4 (2.16%) MISRA
3 3 (1.62%) Automotive SPICE
4 2 (1.08%) DO-178B
4 2 (1.08%) ISO 26262
System Software
1 15 (8.11%) Firmware
2 9 (4.86%) Embedded Firmware
3 2 (1.08%) Virtual Machines
3 2 (1.08%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.54%) Docker
Systems Management
1 3 (1.62%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 4 (2.16%) Lauterbach
2 2 (1.08%) EMC
2 2 (1.08%) QNX
2 2 (1.08%) VMware
3 1 (0.54%) Google
3 1 (0.54%) NVIDIA
3 1 (0.54%) Xilinx
281 Embedded Engineer jobs Nationwide