Embedded Engineer Contract Job Trends

Embedded Engineer
UK

The median Embedded Engineer daily rate in the UK is £550, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 8 October 2026.

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

6 months to
8 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 524 542 429
Rank change year-on-year +18 -113 +22
Contract jobs requiring an Embedded Engineer 167 16 130
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.31% 0.048% 0.34%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.33% 0.053% 0.37%
Number of daily rates quoted 14 4 34
10th Percentile £479 £432 £375
25th Percentile £513 £452 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £563 £475
Median % change year-on-year -2.22% +18.42% -9.52%
75th Percentile £713 £694 £525
90th Percentile £790 £728 £550
UK excluding London median daily rate £525 £456 £475
% change year-on-year +15.07% -3.95% -9.52%
Number of hourly rates quoted 126 5 59
10th Percentile £57.63 £39.55 £50.35
25th Percentile £62.50 £56.25 £61.28
Median hourly rate £67.50 £58.50 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +15.38% -16.43% +7.69%
75th Percentile £70.00 £63.75 -
90th Percentile - £65.85 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £67.50 £58.50 £70.00
% change year-on-year +15.38% -16.43% +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 50,211 30,029 35,202
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.06% 90.85% 92.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,500 18,931 21,295
10th Percentile £325 £276 £300
25th Percentile £425 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -0.94%
75th Percentile £638 £623 £638
90th Percentile £737 £725 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £495
% change year-on-year +5.26% -4.04% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4,030 1,622 1,502
10th Percentile £14.36 £13.75 £14.86
25th Percentile £19.40 £17.30 £20.50
Median hourly rate £41.71 £25.15 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year +65.84% -40.82% -4.49%
75th Percentile £67.50 £51.19 £65.00
90th Percentile £78.78 £68.52 £74.86
UK excluding London median hourly rate £41.71 £25.08 £43.00
% change year-on-year +66.34% -41.69% -3.37%

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 8 October 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 8 October 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 8 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
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
UK excluding London +44 160 £525 +15.07% 425
England +45 158 £550 -15.38% 516
Work from Home -15 60 £525 - 185
South East -20 46 £525 - 102
East of England +9 45 - - 113
South West +1 43 - - 54
North of England - 10 - - 36
North West - 10 - - 17
Scotland -10 9 £543 +24.00% 41
London -82 7 £725 +3.57% 81
Midlands - 7 - - 71
West Midlands - 7 - - 30

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

For the 6 months to 8 October 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.

1 141 (84.43%) Software Engineering
2 49 (29.34%) C
3 39 (23.35%) C++
4 30 (17.96%) Linux
5 28 (16.77%) Embedded C
6 27 (16.17%) Wireless
7 23 (13.77%) Software-Defined Radio
8 22 (13.17%) Security Cleared
9 21 (12.57%) SC Cleared
10 18 (10.78%) Ada
10 18 (10.78%) UML
11 17 (10.18%) Embedded Linux
11 17 (10.18%) Signal Processing
12 15 (8.98%) Firmware
12 15 (8.98%) Validation
13 14 (8.38%) Digital Signal Processing
14 13 (7.78%) JIRA
14 13 (7.78%) Rational Rhapsody
14 13 (7.78%) Yocto
15 10 (5.99%) Embedded Firmware
15 10 (5.99%) Rational DOORS
15 10 (5.99%) Software Testing
16 9 (5.39%) Agile
17 8 (4.79%) Verification and Validation
18 7 (4.19%) CI/CD
18 7 (4.19%) Device Driver Development
18 7 (4.19%) DevOps
18 7 (4.19%) Embedded C++
18 7 (4.19%) FreeRTOS
18 7 (4.19%) Hardware-in-the-Loop

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 (0.60%) Confluence
Applications
1 2 (1.20%) Microsoft Office
Communications & Networking
1 27 (16.17%) Wireless
2 23 (13.77%) Software-Defined Radio
3 4 (2.40%) Bluetooth
4 3 (1.80%) Ethernet
5 1 (0.60%) TCP/IP
5 1 (0.60%) Wi-Fi
Development Applications
1 13 (7.78%) JIRA
1 13 (7.78%) Rational Rhapsody
2 10 (5.99%) Rational DOORS
3 6 (3.59%) Git
4 3 (1.80%) CppUnit
4 3 (1.80%) PVCS
5 1 (0.60%) Eclipse
General
1 21 (12.57%) Aerospace
2 10 (5.99%) Automotive
3 5 (2.99%) Social Skills
4 3 (1.80%) Analytical Skills
5 2 (1.20%) Telecoms
6 1 (0.60%) Avionics
6 1 (0.60%) Documentation Skills
6 1 (0.60%) Manufacturing
6 1 (0.60%) Pharmaceutical
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 13 (7.78%) Yocto
2 2 (1.20%) QML
2 2 (1.20%) Qt
3 1 (0.60%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 24 (14.37%) Embedded Systems
2 15 (8.98%) Device Driver
3 9 (5.39%) RISC-V
4 7 (4.19%) MicroBlaze
5 4 (2.40%) ARM Cortex
6 3 (1.80%) Algorithms
6 3 (1.80%) FPGA
6 3 (1.80%) PCIe
6 3 (1.80%) Robotics
7 1 (0.60%) CAN bus
7 1 (0.60%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 30 (17.96%) Linux
2 17 (10.18%) Embedded Linux
3 7 (4.19%) FreeRTOS
4 3 (1.80%) Windows
5 2 (1.20%) Debian
6 1 (0.60%) VxWorks
Processes & Methodologies
1 141 (84.43%) Software Engineering
2 18 (10.78%) UML
3 17 (10.18%) Signal Processing
4 15 (8.98%) Validation
5 14 (8.38%) Digital Signal Processing
6 10 (5.99%) Software Testing
7 9 (5.39%) Agile
8 8 (4.79%) Verification and Validation
9 7 (4.19%) CI/CD
9 7 (4.19%) Device Driver Development
9 7 (4.19%) DevOps
9 7 (4.19%) Hardware-in-the-Loop
10 5 (2.99%) Configuration Management
10 5 (2.99%) Integration Testing
10 5 (2.99%) Issue Tracking
10 5 (2.99%) Multithreading
10 5 (2.99%) Project Planning
10 5 (2.99%) SDLC
10 5 (2.99%) SysML
10 5 (2.99%) Unit Testing
Programming Languages
1 49 (29.34%) C
2 39 (23.35%) C++
3 28 (16.77%) Embedded C
4 18 (10.78%) Ada
5 7 (4.19%) Embedded C++
6 6 (3.59%) Python
7 1 (0.60%) R
7 1 (0.60%) Rust
Qualifications
1 22 (13.17%) Security Cleared
2 21 (12.57%) SC Cleared
3 1 (0.60%) Degree
3 1 (0.60%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 6 (3.59%) MISRA
2 3 (1.80%) Automotive SPICE
2 3 (1.80%) Def Stans
3 2 (1.20%) DO-178B
3 2 (1.20%) ISO 26262
3 2 (1.20%) MISRA C
4 1 (0.60%) IEC 62304
4 1 (0.60%) JTAG
4 1 (0.60%) QA
System Software
1 15 (8.98%) Firmware
2 10 (5.99%) Embedded Firmware
3 3 (1.80%) Virtual Machines
3 3 (1.80%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 3 (1.80%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 3 (1.80%) VMware
2 2 (1.20%) QNX
3 1 (0.60%) Wind River