Embedded Software Engineer Contract Job Trends

Embedded Software Engineer
UK

The median Embedded Software Engineer daily rate in the UK is £718, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 20 June 2026.

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

6 months to
20 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 501 509 437
Rank change year-on-year +8 -72 +141
Contract jobs requiring an Embedded Software Engineer 143 17 152
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.28% 0.057% 0.35%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.31% 0.062% 0.37%
Number of daily rates quoted 3 7 15
10th Percentile £490 £470 £400
25th Percentile £572 £475 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £718 £626 £475
Median % change year-on-year +14.62% +31.79% -5.00%
75th Percentile £728 £643 £550
90th Percentile £729 £660 £565
UK excluding London median daily rate £718 £626 £492
% change year-on-year +14.62% +27.37% -1.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 110 5 125
10th Percentile £48.64 £40.65 £46.25
25th Percentile £57.63 £59.00 £51.25
Median hourly rate £67.00 £62.00 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year +8.06% -4.62% +13.04%
75th Percentile £68.00 £65.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £70.00 £80.00 £78.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £67.00 £62.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year +8.06% -4.62% +13.04%

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 46,784 27,533 40,775
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.37% 92.21% 92.91%
Number of daily rates quoted 28,447 17,712 26,117
10th Percentile £325 £288 £281
25th Percentile £414 £402 £409
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +3.00% -4.76% -2.33%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £490
% change year-on-year +5.26% -3.06% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,114 1,185 2,993
10th Percentile £15.25 £13.91 £12.86
25th Percentile £21.00 £17.50 £16.37
Median hourly rate £44.94 £27.50 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +63.40% -26.67% -16.67%
75th Percentile £67.50 £57.50 £62.50
90th Percentile £80.00 £75.00 £73.95
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £25.15 £40.00
% change year-on-year +78.93% -37.13% -3.61%

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 20 June 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 20 June 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Embedded Software Engineer in the UK

Embedded Software Engineer
Top 10 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 20 June 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 +14 141 £718 +14.62% 100
England +14 134 £718 +14.62% 104
South West +18 47 - - 23
Work from Home -8 43 - - 36
East of England -1 37 - - 29
South East -35 37 £718 +14.62% 26
Midlands -48 11 - - 6
West Midlands - 11 - - 3
Northern Ireland - 9 - -
London - 2 - - 6

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

For the 6 months to 20 June 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.

1 140 (97.90%) Software Engineering
2 42 (29.37%) Ada
2 42 (29.37%) C
3 40 (27.97%) Linux
4 29 (20.28%) Security Cleared
5 27 (18.88%) SC Cleared
6 26 (18.18%) Software-Defined Radio
7 25 (17.48%) C++
8 22 (15.38%) Embedded Linux
9 19 (13.29%) UML
10 17 (11.89%) Embedded C
11 16 (11.19%) Wireless
12 14 (9.79%) SysML
13 13 (9.09%) Rational Rhapsody
14 12 (8.39%) Digital Signal Processing
14 12 (8.39%) Signal Processing
14 12 (8.39%) Validation
15 11 (7.69%) Yocto
16 10 (6.99%) Software Testing
17 9 (6.29%) Rational DOORS
17 9 (6.29%) Verification and Validation
18 8 (5.59%) Embedded C++
18 8 (5.59%) Git
18 8 (5.59%) Python
19 7 (4.90%) Firmware
19 7 (4.90%) FreeRTOS
20 5 (3.50%) Agile
20 5 (3.50%) Embedded Software Development
20 5 (3.50%) Hardware-in-the-Loop
20 5 (3.50%) 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 (0.70%) Confluence
Applications
1 1 (0.70%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 1 (0.70%) AWS
Communications & Networking
1 26 (18.18%) Software-Defined Radio
2 16 (11.19%) Wireless
3 4 (2.80%) Ethernet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (0.70%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 13 (9.09%) Rational Rhapsody
2 9 (6.29%) Rational DOORS
3 8 (5.59%) Git
4 3 (2.10%) JIRA
5 2 (1.40%) PVCS
6 1 (0.70%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 1 (0.70%) CMake
6 1 (0.70%) GitLab
6 1 (0.70%) GoogleTest
6 1 (0.70%) PetaLinux
General
1 28 (19.58%) Aerospace
2 7 (4.90%) Automotive
3 5 (3.50%) Social Skills
4 4 (2.80%) Electronics
4 4 (2.80%) Law
5 2 (1.40%) Telecoms
6 1 (0.70%) Analytical Skills
6 1 (0.70%) Manufacturing
6 1 (0.70%) Military
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (7.69%) Yocto
2 2 (1.40%) QML
2 2 (1.40%) Qt
3 1 (0.70%) PostGIS
Miscellaneous
1 15 (10.49%) Embedded Systems
2 7 (4.90%) Device Driver
3 6 (4.20%) FPGA
3 6 (4.20%) PCIe
4 4 (2.80%) MicroBlaze
4 4 (2.80%) RISC-V
5 3 (2.10%) ARM Cortex
6 2 (1.40%) VHDL
7 1 (0.70%) Algorithms
7 1 (0.70%) CAN bus
7 1 (0.70%) Verilog
7 1 (0.70%) Video\Live Streaming
Operating Systems
1 40 (27.97%) Linux
2 22 (15.38%) Embedded Linux
3 7 (4.90%) FreeRTOS
4 1 (0.70%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 140 (97.90%) Software Engineering
2 19 (13.29%) UML
3 14 (9.79%) SysML
4 12 (8.39%) Digital Signal Processing
4 12 (8.39%) Signal Processing
4 12 (8.39%) Validation
5 10 (6.99%) Software Testing
6 9 (6.29%) Verification and Validation
7 5 (3.50%) Agile
7 5 (3.50%) Embedded Software Development
7 5 (3.50%) Hardware-in-the-Loop
7 5 (3.50%) Integration Testing
7 5 (3.50%) Performance Engineering
7 5 (3.50%) Requirements Analysis
8 4 (2.80%) Configuration Management
8 4 (2.80%) Customer Requirements
8 4 (2.80%) Multithreading
8 4 (2.80%) Project Management
8 4 (2.80%) Project Planning
8 4 (2.80%) Test Scripting
Programming Languages
1 42 (29.37%) Ada
1 42 (29.37%) C
2 25 (17.48%) C++
3 17 (11.89%) Embedded C
4 8 (5.59%) Embedded C++
4 8 (5.59%) Python
5 3 (2.10%) Rust
6 2 (1.40%) Bash
7 1 (0.70%) MATLAB
7 1 (0.70%) Shell Script
7 1 (0.70%) SystemVerilog
7 1 (0.70%) Tcl
Qualifications
1 29 (20.28%) Security Cleared
2 27 (18.88%) SC Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 3 (2.10%) MISRA
2 2 (1.40%) Def Stans
2 2 (1.40%) ISO 26262
3 1 (0.70%) DO-178B
System Software
1 7 (4.90%) Firmware
2 4 (2.80%) Embedded Firmware
3 2 (1.40%) Virtual Machines
3 2 (1.40%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.70%) Docker
Vendors
1 2 (1.40%) ANSYS
1 2 (1.40%) IBM
1 2 (1.40%) QNX
1 2 (1.40%) VMware
2 1 (0.70%) Google
2 1 (0.70%) NVIDIA
2 1 (0.70%) Xilinx