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 29 March 2026.

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

6 months to
29 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 468 465 444
Rank change year-on-year -3 -21 +189
Contract jobs requiring an Embedded Engineer 162 60 146
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.36% 0.20% 0.33%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.40% 0.22% 0.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 18 23 19
10th Percentile £379 - £325
25th Percentile £413 £475 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £538 £450
Median % change year-on-year -2.33% +19.44% -
75th Percentile £569 £556 £531
90th Percentile £638 £653 £575
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £538 £475
% change year-on-year -16.28% +13.16% +5.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 116 27 119
10th Percentile £42.50 £52.50 £46.25
25th Percentile £62.38 £59.00 £51.75
Median hourly rate £67.50 £66.50 £62.50
Median % change year-on-year +1.50% +6.40% +8.70%
75th Percentile £70.00 £68.00 £70.00
90th Percentile - £76.25 £90.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £67.50 £66.50 £62.50
% change year-on-year +1.50% +6.40% +8.70%

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 40,989 27,183 41,081
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.01% 92.83% 92.84%
Number of daily rates quoted 25,539 17,878 26,912
10th Percentile £313 £300 £275
25th Percentile £413 £406 £407
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £520 £525
Median % change year-on-year -3.85% -0.95% -3.67%
75th Percentile £613 £630 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £485 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +2.11% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,552 945 2,521
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.09 £12.86
25th Percentile £19.50 £21.00 £16.25
Median hourly rate £37.50 £32.50 £33.00
Median % change year-on-year +15.38% -1.52% -24.36%
75th Percentile £65.00 £64.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £76.81 £71.87
UK excluding London median hourly rate £38.63 £32.25 £33.00
% change year-on-year +19.78% -2.27% -21.07%

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 29 March 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 29 March 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Embedded Engineer in the UK

Embedded Engineer
Top 13 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 29 March 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 -13 147 £525 -2.33% 174
UK excluding London -14 146 £450 -16.28% 175
East of England +16 66 £475 -11.63% 38
Work from Home +27 48 £525 -16.13% 58
South West -6 40 £425 - 32
South East -52 15 £718 +43.50% 54
London - 13 £525 - 9
Northern Ireland +8 12 £425 -
Midlands -58 9 £563 - 29
West Midlands - 9 £563 - 20
North West - 3 - - 4
North of England - 3 - - 20
Scotland - 1 - - 5

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

For the 6 months to 29 March 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.

1 127 (78.40%) Software Engineering
2 70 (43.21%) C
3 53 (32.72%) Ada
4 46 (28.40%) C++
5 42 (25.93%) Security Cleared
6 36 (22.22%) Linux
6 36 (22.22%) Validation
7 35 (21.60%) SC Cleared
8 30 (18.52%) Rational DOORS
9 24 (14.81%) Embedded C
9 24 (14.81%) Embedded C++
9 24 (14.81%) Firmware
9 24 (14.81%) UML
10 20 (12.35%) SysML
11 19 (11.73%) Def Stans
11 19 (11.73%) Embedded Linux
12 18 (11.11%) Systems Engineering
13 17 (10.49%) Rational Rhapsody
14 16 (9.88%) Git
14 16 (9.88%) JIRA
14 16 (9.88%) Workflow
15 15 (9.26%) Ethernet
16 13 (8.02%) Embedded Software Development
17 12 (7.41%) Verification and Validation
18 11 (6.79%) FreeRTOS
18 11 (6.79%) MISRA
18 11 (6.79%) Problem-Solving
18 11 (6.79%) Test Automation
18 11 (6.79%) Test Scripting
19 10 (6.17%) DO-178B

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 7 (4.32%) Confluence
2 1 (0.62%) SharePoint
Applications
1 1 (0.62%) Simulink
Cloud Services
1 6 (3.70%) GitHub
2 2 (1.23%) AWS
2 2 (1.23%) Power Platform
3 1 (0.62%) Azure
3 1 (0.62%) Azure DevOps
3 1 (0.62%) Azure Functions
3 1 (0.62%) Entra ID
3 1 (0.62%) Microsoft 365
3 1 (0.62%) Power Automate
3 1 (0.62%) PowerApps
3 1 (0.62%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 15 (9.26%) Ethernet
2 7 (4.32%) RS-232
3 6 (3.70%) Modbus
3 6 (3.70%) RS-485
4 5 (3.09%) Software-Defined Radio
5 2 (1.23%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (1.23%) SQL Server Reporting Services
2 1 (0.62%) PostgreSQL
2 1 (0.62%) Power BI
2 1 (0.62%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 30 (18.52%) Rational DOORS
2 17 (10.49%) Rational Rhapsody
3 16 (9.88%) Git
3 16 (9.88%) JIRA
4 7 (4.32%) PVCS
5 3 (1.85%) Jenkins
6 1 (0.62%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 1 (0.62%) PetaLinux
6 1 (0.62%) Polyspace
6 1 (0.62%) Visual Studio
General
1 31 (19.14%) Electronics
2 21 (12.96%) Aerospace
3 15 (9.26%) Analytical Skills
4 10 (6.17%) Social Skills
5 8 (4.94%) Documentation Skills
6 7 (4.32%) Law
7 5 (3.09%) Military
8 4 (2.47%) Automotive
9 3 (1.85%) Games
10 2 (1.23%) Manufacturing
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 7 (4.32%) Yocto
2 1 (0.62%) .NET
2 1 (0.62%) Microsoft Graph
2 1 (0.62%) PostGIS
2 1 (0.62%) React
2 1 (0.62%) REST
Miscellaneous
1 34 (20.99%) Embedded Systems
2 12 (7.41%) FPGA
2 12 (7.41%) PCIe
3 3 (1.85%) CAN bus
3 3 (1.85%) Data Centre
4 2 (1.23%) Device Driver
4 2 (1.23%) MicroBlaze
4 2 (1.23%) RISC-V
4 2 (1.23%) VHDL
5 1 (0.62%) Algorithms
5 1 (0.62%) ASIC
5 1 (0.62%) Cloud Native
5 1 (0.62%) CUDA
5 1 (0.62%) Onboarding
5 1 (0.62%) Product Ownership
5 1 (0.62%) Verilog
Operating Systems
1 36 (22.22%) Linux
2 19 (11.73%) Embedded Linux
3 11 (6.79%) FreeRTOS
4 3 (1.85%) Windows
5 1 (0.62%) Debian
5 1 (0.62%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 127 (78.40%) Software Engineering
2 36 (22.22%) Validation
3 24 (14.81%) UML
4 20 (12.35%) SysML
5 18 (11.11%) Systems Engineering
6 16 (9.88%) Workflow
7 13 (8.02%) Embedded Software Development
8 12 (7.41%) Verification and Validation
9 11 (6.79%) Problem-Solving
9 11 (6.79%) Test Automation
9 11 (6.79%) Test Scripting
10 10 (6.17%) Requirements Analysis
11 9 (5.56%) Data Acquisition
11 9 (5.56%) Workflow Management
12 8 (4.94%) Collaborative Culture
13 7 (4.32%) Code Coverage
13 7 (4.32%) Technical Leadership
13 7 (4.32%) Unit Testing
14 6 (3.70%) Agile
14 6 (3.70%) Software Testing
Programming Languages
1 70 (43.21%) C
2 53 (32.72%) Ada
3 46 (28.40%) C++
4 24 (14.81%) Embedded C
4 24 (14.81%) Embedded C++
5 6 (3.70%) Python
6 5 (3.09%) C#
7 3 (1.85%) MATLAB
7 3 (1.85%) Rust
8 2 (1.23%) Bash
9 1 (0.62%) SQL
9 1 (0.62%) SystemVerilog
9 1 (0.62%) Tcl
9 1 (0.62%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 42 (25.93%) Security Cleared
2 35 (21.60%) SC Cleared
3 1 (0.62%) Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (11.73%) Def Stans
2 11 (6.79%) MISRA
3 10 (6.17%) DO-178B
4 1 (0.62%) AUTOSAR
4 1 (0.62%) ISO 26262
4 1 (0.62%) MISRA C
System Software
1 24 (14.81%) Firmware
2 10 (6.17%) Embedded Firmware
2 10 (6.17%) Virtual Machines
3 7 (4.32%) VMware Infrastructure
4 4 (2.47%) Docker
5 1 (0.62%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 1 (0.62%) Functional Safety
1 1 (0.62%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 7 (4.32%) ANSYS
1 7 (4.32%) IBM
1 7 (4.32%) VMware
2 4 (2.47%) Lauterbach
3 2 (1.23%) EMC
4 1 (0.62%) Microsoft
4 1 (0.62%) NVIDIA
4 1 (0.62%) QNX
4 1 (0.62%) Sitecore
4 1 (0.62%) Xilinx