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 4 May 2026.

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

 6 months to
4 May 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 405 479 458
Rank change year-on-year +74 -21 +139
Contract jobs requiring an Embedded Engineer 221 48 134
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.47% 0.16% 0.31%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.51% 0.18% 0.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 19 19 13
10th Percentile £390 - £345
25th Percentile £413 £475 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £538 £500
Median % change year-on-year -2.33% +7.50% +5.26%
75th Percentile £581 £591 £550
90th Percentile £655 £660 £575
UK excluding London median daily rate £440 £538 £500
% change year-on-year -18.14% +7.50% +6.67%
Number of hourly rates quoted 169 21 117
10th Percentile £52.15 £52.50 £46.25
25th Percentile £62.00 £59.00 £51.06
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 - £87.50 £84.00
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 43,538 27,092 40,027
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.28% 92.49% 92.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 26,804 17,695 26,061
10th Percentile £315 £300 £280
25th Percentile £413 £406 £409
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £503 £515 £525
Median % change year-on-year -2.31% -1.90% -2.78%
75th Percentile £613 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £492 £475 £490
% change year-on-year +3.58% -3.06% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,808 1,048 2,666
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.18 £12.86
25th Percentile £20.35 £18.50 £16.30
Median hourly rate £44.00 £29.00 £36.50
Median % change year-on-year +51.72% -20.55% -18.89%
75th Percentile £66.06 £62.50 £61.29
90th Percentile £78.75 £75.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.46 £28.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year +62.36% -30.00% -5.35%

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 4 May 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 4 May 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 4 May 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 +51 205 £440 -18.14% 210
England +47 205 £525 -2.33% 217
East of England +25 84 - - 52
Work from Home +30 63 £525 -16.13% 57
South West +14 60 £425 - 42
South East -44 30 £718 +43.50% 65
Midlands -58 14 £563 - 24
West Midlands - 14 £563 - 13
London -38 13 £525 - 12
Northern Ireland - 12 £425 -
North West - 3 - - 3
North of England - 3 - - 25
Scotland - 2 - - 6

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

For the 6 months to 4 May 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.

1 178 (80.54%) Software Engineering
2 80 (36.20%) C
3 69 (31.22%) Ada
4 49 (22.17%) C++
5 47 (21.27%) Security Cleared
6 44 (19.91%) Linux
7 40 (18.10%) SC Cleared
8 34 (15.38%) Validation
9 29 (13.12%) Embedded C
10 26 (11.76%) Rational DOORS
11 24 (10.86%) UML
12 23 (10.41%) Software-Defined Radio
13 22 (9.95%) Embedded Linux
14 21 (9.50%) Embedded C++
14 21 (9.50%) Firmware
14 21 (9.50%) Rational Rhapsody
15 17 (7.69%) SysML
16 16 (7.24%) Verification and Validation
16 16 (7.24%) Workflow
17 15 (6.79%) Def Stans
17 15 (6.79%) Ethernet
18 14 (6.33%) JIRA
19 13 (5.88%) Embedded Software Development
19 13 (5.88%) Git
20 12 (5.43%) Embedded Firmware
20 12 (5.43%) Test Automation
21 11 (4.98%) Digital Signal Processing
21 11 (4.98%) FreeRTOS
21 11 (4.98%) Problem-Solving
21 11 (4.98%) Signal Processing

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 (3.17%) Confluence
2 1 (0.45%) SharePoint
Applications
1 1 (0.45%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 6 (2.71%) GitHub
2 3 (1.36%) AWS
3 2 (0.90%) Power Platform
4 1 (0.45%) Azure
4 1 (0.45%) Azure DevOps
4 1 (0.45%) Azure Functions
4 1 (0.45%) Entra ID
4 1 (0.45%) Microsoft 365
4 1 (0.45%) Power Automate
4 1 (0.45%) PowerApps
4 1 (0.45%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 23 (10.41%) Software-Defined Radio
2 15 (6.79%) Ethernet
3 9 (4.07%) Wireless
4 6 (2.71%) Modbus
4 6 (2.71%) RS-232
4 6 (2.71%) RS-485
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.90%) SQL Server Reporting Services
2 1 (0.45%) PostgreSQL
2 1 (0.45%) Power BI
2 1 (0.45%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 26 (11.76%) Rational DOORS
2 21 (9.50%) Rational Rhapsody
3 14 (6.33%) JIRA
4 13 (5.88%) Git
5 7 (3.17%) PVCS
6 1 (0.45%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 1 (0.45%) CMake
6 1 (0.45%) GitLab
6 1 (0.45%) GoogleTest
6 1 (0.45%) PetaLinux
6 1 (0.45%) Visual Studio
General
1 30 (13.57%) Aerospace
2 24 (10.86%) Electronics
3 14 (6.33%) Social Skills
4 8 (3.62%) Analytical Skills
4 8 (3.62%) Documentation Skills
5 7 (3.17%) Automotive
6 5 (2.26%) Military
7 4 (1.81%) Law
8 3 (1.36%) Games
8 3 (1.36%) Manufacturing
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (4.52%) Yocto
2 1 (0.45%) .NET
2 1 (0.45%) Microsoft Graph
2 1 (0.45%) PostGIS
2 1 (0.45%) React
2 1 (0.45%) REST
Miscellaneous
1 35 (15.84%) Embedded Systems
2 16 (7.24%) FPGA
3 12 (5.43%) PCIe
4 5 (2.26%) Device Driver
5 4 (1.81%) MicroBlaze
5 4 (1.81%) RISC-V
6 3 (1.36%) Data Centre
7 2 (0.90%) ARM Cortex
7 2 (0.90%) VHDL
8 1 (0.45%) Algorithms
8 1 (0.45%) ASIC
8 1 (0.45%) CAN bus
8 1 (0.45%) Cloud Native
8 1 (0.45%) Onboarding
8 1 (0.45%) Product Ownership
8 1 (0.45%) Verilog
8 1 (0.45%) Video\Live Streaming
Operating Systems
1 44 (19.91%) Linux
2 22 (9.95%) Embedded Linux
3 11 (4.98%) FreeRTOS
4 1 (0.45%) Debian
4 1 (0.45%) Ubuntu
4 1 (0.45%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 178 (80.54%) Software Engineering
2 34 (15.38%) Validation
3 24 (10.86%) UML
4 17 (7.69%) SysML
5 16 (7.24%) Verification and Validation
5 16 (7.24%) Workflow
6 13 (5.88%) Embedded Software Development
7 12 (5.43%) Test Automation
8 11 (4.98%) Digital Signal Processing
8 11 (4.98%) Problem-Solving
8 11 (4.98%) Signal Processing
8 11 (4.98%) Systems Engineering
9 10 (4.52%) Requirements Analysis
9 10 (4.52%) Software Testing
10 9 (4.07%) Data Acquisition
10 9 (4.07%) Workflow Management
11 7 (3.17%) CI/CD
11 7 (3.17%) Code Coverage
11 7 (3.17%) Test Scripting
11 7 (3.17%) Unit Testing
Programming Languages
1 80 (36.20%) C
2 69 (31.22%) Ada
3 49 (22.17%) C++
4 29 (13.12%) Embedded C
5 21 (9.50%) Embedded C++
6 10 (4.52%) Python
7 3 (1.36%) Rust
8 2 (0.90%) Bash
8 2 (0.90%) C#
9 1 (0.45%) MATLAB
9 1 (0.45%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.45%) SQL
9 1 (0.45%) SystemVerilog
9 1 (0.45%) Tcl
9 1 (0.45%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 47 (21.27%) Security Cleared
2 40 (18.10%) SC Cleared
3 1 (0.45%) Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 15 (6.79%) Def Stans
2 6 (2.71%) DO-178B
2 6 (2.71%) MISRA
System Software
1 21 (9.50%) Firmware
2 12 (5.43%) Embedded Firmware
3 7 (3.17%) Virtual Machines
3 7 (3.17%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.45%) Active Directory
4 1 (0.45%) Docker
Systems Management
1 1 (0.45%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 7 (3.17%) ANSYS
1 7 (3.17%) IBM
1 7 (3.17%) VMware
2 4 (1.81%) Lauterbach
3 2 (0.90%) EMC
4 1 (0.45%) Google
4 1 (0.45%) Microsoft
4 1 (0.45%) NVIDIA
4 1 (0.45%) Xilinx
227 Embedded Engineer jobs Nationwide