Forward Deployed Engineer Contract Job Trends
Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE)
UK
The median Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) daily rate in the UK is £625, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 12 November 2026.
The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.
| 6 months to 12 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | 662 | 576 | - |
| Rank change year-on-year | -86 | - | - |
| Contract Forward Deployed Engineer jobs | 39 | 1 | 0 |
| As % of all contract jobs in the UK | 0.070% | 0.003% | - |
| As % of the Job Titles category | 0.076% | 0.003% | - |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 31 | 1 | 0 |
| 10th Percentile | £320 | - | - |
| 25th Percentile | £463 | £625 | - |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £625 | £650 | - |
| Median % change year-on-year | -3.85% | - | - |
| 75th Percentile | £856 | £675 | - |
| 90th Percentile | £1,200 | - | - |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £320 | £650 | - |
| % change year-on-year | -50.77% | - | - |
All Contract IT Job Roles
UK
For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job adverts matching a recognised job title. The table also shows what proportion of all contract IT job adverts they make up.
| 6 months to 12 Nov 2026 |
Same period 2025 | Same period 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract job adverts in the UK matching a recognised job title | 51,248 | 32,002 | 33,665 |
| % of contract job adverts matching a recognised job title | 91.76% | 90.95% | 92.89% |
| Number of daily rates quoted | 30,104 | 20,319 | 20,303 |
| 10th Percentile | £330 | £280 | £300 |
| 25th Percentile | £425 | £402 | £412 |
| Median daily rate (50th Percentile) | £525 | £500 | £525 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +5.00% | -4.76% | - |
| 75th Percentile | £638 | £623 | £638 |
| 90th Percentile | £738 | £725 | £738 |
| UK excluding London median daily rate | £500 | £475 | £490 |
| % change year-on-year | +5.26% | -3.06% | -2.00% |
| Number of hourly rates quoted | 4,383 | 1,833 | 1,258 |
| 10th Percentile | £14.22 | £14.06 | £15.10 |
| 25th Percentile | £19.00 | £17.69 | £20.30 |
| Median hourly rate | £41.00 | £25.15 | £35.00 |
| Median % change year-on-year | +63.02% | -28.14% | -21.35% |
| 75th Percentile | £68.75 | £51.80 | £65.00 |
| 90th Percentile | £81.25 | £69.92 | £73.75 |
| UK excluding London median hourly rate | £40.00 | £25.15 | £35.00 |
| % change year-on-year | +59.05% | -28.14% | -21.35% |
Forward Deployed Engineer Daily Rate Histogram
Daily rate distribution for Forward Deployed Engineer jobs over the 6 months to 12 November 2026.
Forward Deployed Engineer Top 5 Contract Job Locations
The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in Forward Deployed Engineer jobs within the UK over the 6 months to 12 November 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 |
Job Ads Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate Past 6 Months |
Median Daily Rate % Change on Same Period Last Year |
Live Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England | -77 | 35 | £613 | -5.77% | 48 |
| London | - | 30 | £650 | - | 38 |
| Work from Home | - | 14 | £425 | - | 12 |
| South East | -54 | 5 | £320 | -50.77% | 10 |
| UK excluding London | -102 | 5 | £320 | -50.77% | 19 |
Forward Deployed Engineer Skill Set Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities
For the 6 months to 12 November 2026, Forward Deployed Engineer contract job ads cited 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 Forward Deployed Engineer job ads.
| Rank | Skill | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AI | 89.7% | 35 |
| 2 | Azure | 53.8% | 21 |
| 2 | Software Engineering | 53.8% | 21 |
| 4 | LLM | 51.3% | 20 |
| 5 | CI/CD | 43.6% | 17 |
| 5 | TypeScript | 43.6% | 17 |
| 7 | Anthropic Claude | 38.5% | 15 |
| 8 | AWS | 35.9% | 14 |
| 8 | Python | 35.9% | 14 |
| 10 | Observability | 30.8% | 12 |
| 10 | OpenAI | 30.8% | 12 |
| 10 | Retrieval-Augmented Generation | 30.8% | 12 |
| 13 | Kubernetes | 28.2% | 11 |
| 13 | PostgreSQL | 28.2% | 11 |
| 15 | Infrastructure as Code | 25.6% | 10 |
| 15 | SQL | 25.6% | 10 |
| 15 | Terraform | 25.6% | 10 |
| 18 | Next.js | 23.1% | 9 |
| 18 | Stakeholder Engagement | 23.1% | 9 |
| 18 | Stakeholder Management | 23.1% | 9 |
| 21 | Docker | 20.5% | 8 |
| 21 | Full-Stack Development | 20.5% | 8 |
| 21 | GCP | 20.5% | 8 |
| 21 | GitHub | 20.5% | 8 |
| 21 | JavaScript | 20.5% | 8 |
| 21 | Use Case | 20.5% | 8 |
| 27 | Azure AI | 17.9% | 7 |
| 27 | Git | 17.9% | 7 |
| 27 | Model Context Protocol | 17.9% | 7 |
| 27 | Platform Engineering | 17.9% | 7 |
Forward Deployed Engineer Skill Set Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category
The table below expands on the one above by listing co-occurrences one category at a time. It covers the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences in each category.
Job Titles
| Rank | Job Title | Share | Job Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Artificial Intelligence Engineer | 25.6% | 10 |
| 2 | AWS Engineer | 5.1% | 2 |
| 2 | Principal Engineer | 5.1% | 2 |
| 4 | Agentic Artificial Intelligence Engineer | 2.6% | 1 |
| 4 | Artificial Intelligence Consultant | 2.6% | 1 |
| 4 | Enterprise Consultant | 2.6% | 1 |
| 4 | Kubernetes Engineer | 2.6% | 1 |
| 4 | Python Engineer | 2.6% | 1 |