IEC 61508 Contract Job Trends

IEC 61508
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring IEC 61508 skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 6 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
6 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 625 534 582
Rank change year-on-year -91 +48 +84
Contract jobs citing IEC 61508 30 17 4
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.058% 0.053% 0.009%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 0.34% 0.33% 0.067%
Number of daily rates quoted 1 2 2
10th Percentile - £115 £106
25th Percentile £525 £175 £178
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £288 £319
Median % change year-on-year +91.30% -9.78% -27.16%
75th Percentile £575 £413 £476
90th Percentile - £480 £558
UK excluding London median daily rate £550 £75 £319
% change year-on-year +633.33% -76.46% -27.16%
Number of hourly rates quoted 24 13 2
10th Percentile £61.25 £61.50 £68.23
25th Percentile £64.06 - £68.94
Median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £72.75
Median % change year-on-year - -10.65% +11.92%
75th Percentile - £68.75 £76.44
90th Percentile £77.08 £69.75 £77.08
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £72.75
% change year-on-year - -10.65% +11.92%

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
UK

IEC 61508 falls under the Quality Assurance and Compliance category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring quality assurance or compliance skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 8,741 5,198 5,941
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 16.87% 16.35% 13.72%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,576 3,331 3,675
10th Percentile £340 £280 £281
25th Percentile £413 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year - - -4.76%
75th Percentile £600 £612 £623
90th Percentile £700 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £470 £475
% change year-on-year +6.38% -1.05% -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 545 221 432
10th Percentile £14.00 £14.78 £11.07
25th Percentile £19.19 £18.50 £13.52
Median hourly rate £36.00 £30.00 £24.00
Median % change year-on-year +20.00% +25.00% -36.84%
75th Percentile £67.84 £62.25 £50.27
90th Percentile £80.00 £82.96 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £36.07 £27.91 £23.50
% change year-on-year +29.24% +18.77% -35.62%

IEC 61508
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing IEC 61508 relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

IEC 61508 job vacancy trend in the UK

IEC 61508
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing IEC 61508.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing IEC 61508

IEC 61508
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing IEC 61508.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing IEC 61508

IEC 61508
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing IEC 61508 over the 6 months to 6 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for IEC 61508 in the UK

IEC 61508
Top 5 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing IEC 61508 within the UK over the 6 months to 6 July 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 -97 30 £550 +633.33% 15
England -108 30 £550 +91.30% 18
South West -14 27 £550 - 9
Work from Home -38 13 - - 9
South East - 3 - - 2

IEC 61508
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:

Development Applications
1 3 (10.00%) Rational DOORS
General
1 8 (26.67%) Aerospace
2 3 (10.00%) Automotive
2 3 (10.00%) Law
2 3 (10.00%) Social Skills
Job Titles
1 21 (70.00%) Software Engineer
2 11 (36.67%) Java Engineer
2 11 (36.67%) Java Software Engineer
3 7 (23.33%) C++ Software Engineer
4 5 (16.67%) Developer
5 4 (13.33%) Java Developer
6 3 (10.00%) SC Cleared Java Developer
7 2 (6.67%) Engineering Manager
7 2 (6.67%) Product Manager
8 1 (3.33%) C++ Developer
8 1 (3.33%) Delivery Manager
8 1 (3.33%) Product Delivery Manager
8 1 (3.33%) Safety Engineer
8 1 (3.33%) Software Safety Engineer
8 1 (3.33%) Systems Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (70.00%) Middleware
2 9 (30.00%) Qt
Miscellaneous
1 3 (10.00%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 1 (3.33%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 27 (90.00%) Software Engineering
2 4 (13.33%) Multithreading
2 4 (13.33%) SDLC
2 4 (13.33%) Validation
3 3 (10.00%) Change Control
3 3 (10.00%) Computer Science
3 3 (10.00%) Digital Engineering
3 3 (10.00%) FMEA
3 3 (10.00%) Hazard Analysis
3 3 (10.00%) Regulatory Compliance
3 3 (10.00%) Risk Assessment
3 3 (10.00%) Safety Engineering
3 3 (10.00%) Verification and Validation
3 3 (10.00%) V-Model
4 2 (6.67%) Time Management
5 1 (3.33%) Problem-Solving
5 1 (3.33%) Systems Engineering
Programming Languages
1 27 (90.00%) Ada
2 15 (50.00%) Java
3 9 (30.00%) C++
4 1 (3.33%) C
Qualifications
1 11 (36.67%) SC Cleared
1 11 (36.67%) Security Cleared
2 6 (20.00%) Degree
3 3 (10.00%) Chartered Engineer
4 1 (3.33%) BPSS Clearance
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (80.00%) Def Stans
2 9 (30.00%) MISRA
2 9 (30.00%) MISRA C
3 3 (10.00%) DO-254
3 3 (10.00%) ISO 26262
Systems Management
1 3 (10.00%) Functional Safety