Embedded Software Engineer Contract Job Trends

Embedded Software Engineer
UK

The median Embedded Software Engineer daily rate in the UK is £648, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 19 September 2026.

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

6 months to
19 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 534 553 433
Rank change year-on-year +19 -120 +51
Contract jobs requiring an Embedded Software Engineer 156 4 129
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.28% 0.012% 0.33%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.31% 0.013% 0.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 4 0 28
10th Percentile £473 - £400
25th Percentile £531 - £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £648 - £496
Median % change year-on-year - - -5.57%
75th Percentile £751 - £550
90th Percentile £788 - £564
UK excluding London median daily rate £580 - £496
% change year-on-year - - -5.57%
Number of hourly rates quoted 123 2 69
10th Percentile £51.50 £34.57 £51.06
25th Percentile £61.00 £43.81 £61.25
Median hourly rate £66.50 £60.16 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year +10.54% -14.06% +7.69%
75th Percentile £68.75 £75.56 -
90th Percentile £70.00 £84.22 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £66.50 £60.16 £70.00
% change year-on-year +10.54% -14.06% +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 50,612 30,015 35,830
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.27% 91.09% 92.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,983 18,953 22,040
10th Percentile £325 £278 £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 £626 £623 £638
90th Percentile £730 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,861 1,585 1,681
10th Percentile £14.56 £13.75 £14.73
25th Percentile £20.25 £17.30 £20.50
Median hourly rate £42.50 £25.15 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +68.99% -41.51% -3.37%
75th Percentile £67.84 £52.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £79.00 £70.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.50 £25.15 £45.00
% change year-on-year +68.99% -44.11% +2.86%

Embedded Software Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Embedded Software Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK

Embedded Software Engineer
Daily Rate Trend

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

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

Embedded Software Engineer
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Embedded Software Engineer over the 6 months to 19 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Embedded Software Engineer in the UK

Embedded Software Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend

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

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

Embedded Software Engineer
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Embedded Software Engineer over the 6 months to 19 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Embedded Software Engineer in the UK

Embedded Software Engineer
Top 11 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 Software Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 19 September 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 +28 156 £648 - 234
UK excluding London +36 152 £580 - 181
Work from Home -14 52 - - 83
South East - 46 £580 - 48
East of England +18 45 - - 68
South West +4 40 - - 27
West Midlands - 11 - - 11
Midlands - 11 - - 26
North West - 10 - - 5
North of England - 10 - - 12
London -77 4 £675 - 33

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

For the 6 months to 19 September 2026, Embedded Software 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 Software Engineer in the job title.

1 153 (98.08%) Software Engineering
2 47 (30.13%) C
3 31 (19.87%) C++
3 31 (19.87%) Linux
4 29 (18.59%) Security Cleared
5 28 (17.95%) SC Cleared
5 28 (17.95%) Software-Defined Radio
6 27 (17.31%) Ada
7 26 (16.67%) Wireless
8 22 (14.10%) Embedded C
9 19 (12.18%) UML
10 17 (10.90%) Embedded Linux
11 16 (10.26%) Digital Signal Processing
11 16 (10.26%) Signal Processing
12 14 (8.97%) Yocto
13 12 (7.69%) Rational Rhapsody
14 11 (7.05%) Firmware
15 10 (6.41%) Rational DOORS
15 10 (6.41%) Software Testing
16 9 (5.77%) Agile
16 9 (5.77%) Embedded Firmware
16 9 (5.77%) SysML
16 9 (5.77%) Validation
17 8 (5.13%) FreeRTOS
17 8 (5.13%) JIRA
18 7 (4.49%) Python
19 6 (3.85%) Hardware-in-the-Loop
19 6 (3.85%) Verification and Validation
20 5 (3.21%) Configuration Management
20 5 (3.21%) Integration Testing

Embedded Software 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 (0.64%) Confluence
Applications
1 2 (1.28%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 1 (0.64%) AWS
Communications & Networking
1 28 (17.95%) Software-Defined Radio
2 26 (16.67%) Wireless
3 4 (2.56%) Ethernet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.64%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 12 (7.69%) Rational Rhapsody
2 10 (6.41%) Rational DOORS
3 8 (5.13%) JIRA
4 3 (1.92%) CppUnit
4 3 (1.92%) Git
4 3 (1.92%) PVCS
5 1 (0.64%) Atlassian Bamboo
5 1 (0.64%) CMake
5 1 (0.64%) Eclipse
5 1 (0.64%) GitLab
5 1 (0.64%) GoogleTest
5 1 (0.64%) PetaLinux
General
1 29 (18.59%) Aerospace
2 7 (4.49%) Automotive
3 5 (3.21%) Social Skills
4 2 (1.28%) Analytical Skills
4 2 (1.28%) Telecoms
5 1 (0.64%) Avionics
5 1 (0.64%) Electronics
5 1 (0.64%) Manufacturing
5 1 (0.64%) Military
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 14 (8.97%) Yocto
2 2 (1.28%) QML
2 2 (1.28%) Qt
3 1 (0.64%) PostGIS
Miscellaneous
1 19 (12.18%) Embedded Systems
2 13 (8.33%) Device Driver
3 10 (6.41%) RISC-V
4 8 (5.13%) MicroBlaze
5 5 (3.21%) FPGA
6 4 (2.56%) PCIe
7 3 (1.92%) ARM Cortex
8 1 (0.64%) CAN bus
8 1 (0.64%) Verilog
8 1 (0.64%) VHDL
8 1 (0.64%) Video\Live Streaming
Operating Systems
1 31 (19.87%) Linux
2 17 (10.90%) Embedded Linux
3 8 (5.13%) FreeRTOS
4 3 (1.92%) Windows
5 2 (1.28%) Debian
6 1 (0.64%) VxWorks
Processes & Methodologies
1 153 (98.08%) Software Engineering
2 19 (12.18%) UML
3 16 (10.26%) Digital Signal Processing
3 16 (10.26%) Signal Processing
4 10 (6.41%) Software Testing
5 9 (5.77%) Agile
5 9 (5.77%) SysML
5 9 (5.77%) Validation
6 6 (3.85%) Hardware-in-the-Loop
6 6 (3.85%) Verification and Validation
7 5 (3.21%) Configuration Management
7 5 (3.21%) Integration Testing
7 5 (3.21%) Issue Tracking
7 5 (3.21%) Multithreading
7 5 (3.21%) Performance Engineering
7 5 (3.21%) Project Management
7 5 (3.21%) Project Planning
8 4 (2.56%) Performance Optimisation
8 4 (2.56%) Technical Leadership
8 4 (2.56%) Test Scripting
Programming Languages
1 47 (30.13%) C
2 31 (19.87%) C++
3 27 (17.31%) Ada
4 22 (14.10%) Embedded C
5 7 (4.49%) Python
6 1 (0.64%) Embedded C++
6 1 (0.64%) Shell Script
6 1 (0.64%) SystemVerilog
6 1 (0.64%) Tcl
Qualifications
1 29 (18.59%) Security Cleared
2 28 (17.95%) SC Cleared
3 1 (0.64%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 5 (3.21%) MISRA
2 2 (1.28%) Def Stans
2 2 (1.28%) DO-178B
2 2 (1.28%) ISO 26262
3 1 (0.64%) MISRA C
System Software
1 11 (7.05%) Firmware
2 9 (5.77%) Embedded Firmware
3 3 (1.92%) Virtual Machines
3 3 (1.92%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.64%) Docker
Vendors
1 3 (1.92%) VMware
2 2 (1.28%) QNX
3 1 (0.64%) Google
3 1 (0.64%) NVIDIA
3 1 (0.64%) Wind River
3 1 (0.64%) Xilinx