Mechanical Design Engineer Contract Job Trends

Mechanical Design Engineer
UK

The median Mechanical Design Engineer daily rate in the UK is £53, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 6 December 2025.

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

6 months to
6 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 593 - 597
Rank change year-on-year - - +203
Contract jobs requiring a Mechanical Design Engineer 1 0 5
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.003% - 0.011%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.003% - 0.012%
Number of daily rates quoted 1 0 3
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile - - -
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £53 - £450
75th Percentile - - £460
90th Percentile - - £466
UK excluding London median daily rate £53 - £450

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
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 33,145 33,385 42,274
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 90.93% 92.77% 93.45%
Number of daily rates quoted 21,040 20,359 28,495
10th Percentile £285 £300 £294
25th Percentile £402 £410 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £619 £638 £645
90th Percentile £725 £738 £743
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £495 £500
% change year-on-year -4.04% -1.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,927 1,147 1,515
10th Percentile £14.25 £15.36 £15.16
25th Percentile £17.88 £20.75 £19.06
Median hourly rate £25.15 £35.00 £43.90
Median % change year-on-year -28.14% -20.27% +39.88%
75th Percentile £57.25 £63.93 £65.00
90th Percentile £70.50 £73.75 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £44.50
% change year-on-year -22.62% -26.97% +78.00%

Mechanical Design Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Mechanical Design Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK

Mechanical Design Engineer
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Mechanical Design Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Mechanical Design Engineer job vacancies in the UK

Mechanical Design Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Mechanical Design Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Mechanical Design Engineer job vacancies in the UK

Mechanical Design Engineer
Top 3 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Mechanical Design Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 6 December 2025. 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 - 1 £53 - 1
East of England - 1 £53 -
UK excluding London - 1 £53 - 4

Mechanical Design Engineer Skill Set
Top 13 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 6 December 2025, Mechanical Design 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 Mechanical Design Engineer in the job title.

1 1 (100.00%) ANSYS
1 1 (100.00%) CAD
1 1 (100.00%) EMC
1 1 (100.00%) Finite Element Analysis
1 1 (100.00%) PLM
1 1 (100.00%) Product Requirements
1 1 (100.00%) PTC
1 1 (100.00%) PTC Creo
1 1 (100.00%) SC Cleared
1 1 (100.00%) Security Cleared
1 1 (100.00%) Siemens
1 1 (100.00%) Siemens NX
1 1 (100.00%) Teamcenter

Mechanical Design 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:

Applications
1 1 (100.00%) PTC Creo
1 1 (100.00%) Siemens NX
Business Applications
1 1 (100.00%) Teamcenter
General
1 1 (100.00%) Manufacturing
Processes & Methodologies
1 1 (100.00%) CAD
1 1 (100.00%) Finite Element Analysis
1 1 (100.00%) PLM
1 1 (100.00%) Product Requirements
Qualifications
1 1 (100.00%) SC Cleared
1 1 (100.00%) Security Cleared
Vendors
1 1 (100.00%) ANSYS
1 1 (100.00%) EMC
1 1 (100.00%) PTC
1 1 (100.00%) Siemens