Systems Engineer Contract Job Trends

System Engineer
UK

The median System Engineer daily rate in the UK is £475, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 21 September 2026.

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

6 months to
21 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 235 389 270
Rank change year-on-year +154 -119 +73
Contract jobs requiring a Systems Engineer 617 177 333
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.14% 0.54% 0.87%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.23% 0.60% 0.93%
Number of daily rates quoted 139 54 77
10th Percentile £325 £272 £325
25th Percentile £413 £363 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £470 £450
Median % change year-on-year +1.06% +4.44% -16.86%
75th Percentile £570 £594 £538
90th Percentile £725 £623 £653
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £475 £425
% change year-on-year - +11.76% -17.07%
Number of hourly rates quoted 309 51 103
10th Percentile £46.61 £44.94 £35.99
25th Percentile £56.74 £50.00 £44.94
Median hourly rate £67.47 £56.44 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year +19.54% -13.17% +15.06%
75th Percentile £74.25 £73.75 £70.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £75.79 £76.86
UK excluding London median hourly rate £67.50 £56.44 £65.00
% change year-on-year +19.60% -13.17% +15.06%

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 50,135 29,742 35,694
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.25% 91.07% 92.98%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,651 18,759 21,938
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 £627 £625 £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 3,860 1,586 1,659
10th Percentile £14.56 £13.75 £14.73
25th Percentile £20.25 £17.17 £20.30
Median hourly rate £42.50 £25.15 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +68.99% -41.51% -3.37%
75th Percentile £67.84 £51.88 £65.00
90th Percentile £78.78 £70.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.50 £25.13 £43.90
% change year-on-year +69.14% -42.76% +0.34%

Systems Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Systems Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK

Systems Engineer
Daily Rate Trend

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

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

Systems Engineer
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Systems Engineer over the 6 months to 21 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Systems Engineer in the UK

Systems Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend

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

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

Systems Engineer
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Systems Engineer over the 6 months to 21 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Systems Engineer in the UK

Systems Engineer
Top 16 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Systems Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 21 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 +148 575 £495 +5.32% 1,312
UK excluding London +99 513 £475 - 993
South East +49 158 £521 +12.22% 313
South West +54 149 £500 - 149
London -28 90 £475 +3.83% 372
Work from Home -11 89 £465 -15.45% 479
North of England -21 67 £400 -13.51% 124
Midlands -8 59 £475 +11.76% 123
East of England -12 50 £233 -59.57% 147
North West -28 42 £500 +8.11% 61
West Midlands -25 32 £425 - 79
East Midlands +3 27 £475 - 44
North East - 16 £350 - 25
Wales +2 15 £465 - 15
Scotland -25 15 £775 +55.00% 124
Yorkshire - 9 £275 - 48

Systems Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 21 September 2026, Systems 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 Systems Engineer in the job title.

1 118 (19.12%) Systems Engineering
2 105 (17.02%) Security Cleared
3 92 (14.91%) SC Cleared
4 63 (10.21%) Validation
5 59 (9.56%) Linux
6 54 (8.75%) Windows
7 41 (6.65%) Verification and Validation
8 40 (6.48%) Microsoft
9 38 (6.16%) Rational DOORS
10 34 (5.51%) Degree
11 32 (5.19%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
11 32 (5.19%) Python
12 31 (5.02%) Azure
13 29 (4.70%) Problem-Solving
14 28 (4.54%) Active Directory
14 28 (4.54%) Windows Server
15 27 (4.38%) Configuration Management
16 23 (3.73%) VMware
17 22 (3.57%) Disaster Recovery
17 22 (3.57%) VMware Infrastructure
18 21 (3.40%) Ansible
18 21 (3.40%) DNS
18 21 (3.40%) Requirements Management
19 20 (3.24%) ITIL
20 19 (3.08%) Firewall
20 19 (3.08%) Hyper-V
20 19 (3.08%) MATLAB
20 19 (3.08%) PowerShell
21 17 (2.76%) DHCP
21 17 (2.76%) Infrastructure as Code

Systems 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 5 (0.81%) Microsoft Exchange
2 4 (0.65%) JBoss
2 4 (0.65%) SAS
3 3 (0.49%) SharePoint
4 2 (0.32%) Confluence
5 1 (0.16%) IIS
Applications
1 17 (2.76%) Simulink
2 4 (0.65%) Stateflow
3 1 (0.16%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (0.16%) Solid Edge
Business Applications
1 3 (0.49%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 31 (5.02%) Azure
2 16 (2.59%) AWS
3 15 (2.43%) Entra ID
3 15 (2.43%) Microsoft 365
4 12 (1.94%) OpenShift
5 10 (1.62%) SaaS
6 6 (0.97%) GCP
7 5 (0.81%) GitHub
8 3 (0.49%) Azure Monitor
8 3 (0.49%) GitHub Actions
8 3 (0.49%) IaaS
9 2 (0.32%) Azure Logic Apps
9 2 (0.32%) Cloud Computing
9 2 (0.32%) Cloudflare
9 2 (0.32%) OneDrive
10 1 (0.16%) Amazon EC2
10 1 (0.16%) Amazon S3
10 1 (0.16%) AWS Direct Connect
10 1 (0.16%) Route 53
10 1 (0.16%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 21 (3.40%) DNS
2 19 (3.08%) Firewall
3 17 (2.76%) DHCP
4 13 (2.11%) TCP/IP
5 12 (1.94%) VPN
6 10 (1.62%) Network Security
7 8 (1.30%) LAN
8 7 (1.13%) Modbus
9 6 (0.97%) IPv4
9 6 (0.97%) Kerberos
10 5 (0.81%) ATM
10 5 (0.81%) VLAN
11 4 (0.65%) WAN
12 3 (0.49%) NAS
12 3 (0.49%) Remote Desktop
12 3 (0.49%) SAN
12 3 (0.49%) Software-Defined Networking
12 3 (0.49%) VoIP
13 2 (0.32%) DKIM
13 2 (0.32%) DMARC
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (0.97%) GIS
2 4 (0.65%) Big Data
2 4 (0.65%) Hadoop
2 4 (0.65%) SQL Server
3 1 (0.16%) Amazon RDS
3 1 (0.16%) Db2
3 1 (0.16%) Geospatial Data
3 1 (0.16%) NoSQL
3 1 (0.16%) PostgreSQL
3 1 (0.16%) QGIS
3 1 (0.16%) Spatial Data
Development Applications
1 38 (6.16%) Rational DOORS
2 7 (1.13%) Rational Rhapsody
3 4 (0.65%) JIRA
4 3 (0.49%) Git
4 3 (0.49%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.16%) CANoe
5 1 (0.16%) Claude Code
5 1 (0.16%) Storybook
General
1 95 (15.40%) Aerospace
2 48 (7.78%) Social Skills
3 46 (7.46%) Avionics
4 28 (4.54%) Analytical Skills
5 23 (3.73%) Automotive
5 23 (3.73%) Manufacturing
6 21 (3.40%) Military
7 16 (2.59%) Finance
8 10 (1.62%) Electronics
8 10 (1.62%) Law
9 5 (0.81%) Aviation
10 4 (0.65%) Documentation Skills
10 4 (0.65%) Games
10 4 (0.65%) Influencing Skills
10 4 (0.65%) Telecoms
11 3 (0.49%) Presentation Skills
12 1 (0.16%) Financial Institution
12 1 (0.16%) Legal
12 1 (0.16%) Public Sector
12 1 (0.16%) Publishing
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 13 (2.11%) Terraform
2 6 (0.97%) NETCONF
2 6 (0.97%) OpenID
2 6 (0.97%) SAML
3 5 (0.81%) XML
4 3 (0.49%) ARM Templates
4 3 (0.49%) HTML
4 3 (0.49%) ISPF
5 2 (0.32%) FastAPI
5 2 (0.32%) Microsoft Graph
5 2 (0.32%) React
5 2 (0.32%) REST
6 1 (0.16%) CSS
6 1 (0.16%) Middleware
6 1 (0.16%) ODBC
6 1 (0.16%) OpenGL
6 1 (0.16%) OpenLayers
6 1 (0.16%) Qt
6 1 (0.16%) RESTful
6 1 (0.16%) SailPoint
Miscellaneous
1 15 (2.43%) Operational Technology
1 15 (2.43%) SCADA
2 10 (1.62%) Renewable Energy
3 9 (1.46%) Algorithms
4 8 (1.30%) Cloud Native
4 8 (1.30%) Hybrid Cloud
5 7 (1.13%) CUDA
5 7 (1.13%) IoT
6 6 (0.97%) CCTV
6 6 (0.97%) Mainframe
6 6 (0.97%) Management Information System
6 6 (0.97%) Virtual Team
7 5 (0.81%) AI Agents
7 5 (0.81%) Clustering
8 4 (0.65%) Animation
8 4 (0.65%) Data Centre
8 4 (0.65%) Distributed Architecture
8 4 (0.65%) Distributed Computing
8 4 (0.65%) Distributed Systems
8 4 (0.65%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 59 (9.56%) Linux
2 54 (8.75%) Windows
3 28 (4.54%) Windows Server
4 14 (2.27%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 8 (1.30%) Unix
6 6 (0.97%) Windows 10
7 4 (0.65%) zOS
8 3 (0.49%) Android
8 3 (0.49%) MVS
9 2 (0.32%) Debian
10 1 (0.16%) FreeRTOS
10 1 (0.16%) Rocky
10 1 (0.16%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 118 (19.12%) Systems Engineering
2 63 (10.21%) Validation
3 41 (6.65%) Verification and Validation
4 32 (5.19%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
5 29 (4.70%) Problem-Solving
6 27 (4.38%) Configuration Management
7 22 (3.57%) Disaster Recovery
8 21 (3.40%) Requirements Management
9 20 (3.24%) ITIL
10 17 (2.76%) Infrastructure as Code
10 17 (2.76%) Root Cause Analysis
11 15 (2.43%) AI
12 14 (2.27%) Infrastructure Engineering
12 14 (2.27%) Stakeholder Management
13 13 (2.11%) Business Continuity
13 13 (2.11%) Migration
13 13 (2.11%) Performance Tuning
13 13 (2.11%) Project Management
14 12 (1.94%) Continuous Improvement
14 12 (1.94%) SysML
Programming Languages
1 32 (5.19%) Python
2 19 (3.08%) MATLAB
2 19 (3.08%) PowerShell
3 11 (1.78%) Bash
4 9 (1.46%) C
4 9 (1.46%) SQL
5 7 (1.13%) C++
6 6 (0.97%) REXX
7 4 (0.65%) Bicep
7 4 (0.65%) Java
7 4 (0.65%) Rust
8 3 (0.49%) JCL
8 3 (0.49%) Perl
9 2 (0.32%) TypeScript
10 1 (0.16%) C#
10 1 (0.16%) COBOL
10 1 (0.16%) Go
10 1 (0.16%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 105 (17.02%) Security Cleared
2 92 (14.91%) SC Cleared
3 34 (5.51%) Degree
4 13 (2.11%) BPSS Clearance
5 7 (1.13%) Azure Certification
5 7 (1.13%) Microsoft Certification
6 6 (0.97%) DV Cleared
7 5 (0.81%) Chartered Engineer
8 4 (0.65%) Computer Science Degree
8 4 (0.65%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
9 3 (0.49%) AWS Certification
9 3 (0.49%) CCA
9 3 (0.49%) Cisco Certification
9 3 (0.49%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
9 3 (0.49%) Master's Degree
10 2 (0.32%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
10 2 (0.32%) CCNA
11 1 (0.16%) CCNP
11 1 (0.16%) HNC
11 1 (0.16%) HND
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 7 (1.13%) Def Stans
2 5 (0.81%) QA
3 3 (0.49%) GxP
3 3 (0.49%) ISO/IEC 15288
3 3 (0.49%) NCSC
4 1 (0.16%) Accessibility
4 1 (0.16%) ARP4761
4 1 (0.16%) Cyber Essentials
4 1 (0.16%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
4 1 (0.16%) Data Quality
4 1 (0.16%) DICOM
4 1 (0.16%) Disclosure Scotland
4 1 (0.16%) DO-254
4 1 (0.16%) GMP
4 1 (0.16%) HAZOP
4 1 (0.16%) HL7
4 1 (0.16%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 1 (0.16%) MIL-STD-1553
4 1 (0.16%) SLA
4 1 (0.16%) WCAG
System Software
1 28 (4.54%) Active Directory
2 22 (3.57%) VMware Infrastructure
3 19 (3.08%) Hyper-V
4 8 (1.30%) Docker
5 6 (0.97%) Slurm Workload Manager
5 6 (0.97%) Virtual Machines
6 4 (0.65%) Firmware
6 4 (0.65%) Virtual Desktop
7 2 (0.32%) VMware Workstation
8 1 (0.16%) Embedded Firmware
8 1 (0.16%) Job Entry Subsystem
8 1 (0.16%) KVM
8 1 (0.16%) Microsoft App-V
8 1 (0.16%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.16%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 21 (3.40%) Ansible
2 16 (2.59%) Puppet
3 15 (2.43%) Kubernetes
4 9 (1.46%) Microsoft Intune
5 6 (0.97%) Progress Chef
6 5 (0.81%) Failover Clustering
6 5 (0.81%) Red Hat Satellite
7 4 (0.65%) Grafana
7 4 (0.65%) Prometheus
8 3 (0.49%) Istio
9 2 (0.32%) Functional Safety
9 2 (0.32%) Salt
9 2 (0.32%) SCCM
9 2 (0.32%) Tivoli NetView
10 1 (0.16%) Check_MK
10 1 (0.16%) Control-M
10 1 (0.16%) Microsoft Clustering
10 1 (0.16%) PingFederate
10 1 (0.16%) Podman
10 1 (0.16%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 40 (6.48%) Microsoft
2 23 (3.73%) VMware
3 16 (2.59%) EMC
4 15 (2.43%) Red Hat
5 11 (1.78%) Cisco
6 10 (1.62%) IBM
7 7 (1.13%) NVIDIA
8 6 (0.97%) SaltStack
8 6 (0.97%) ServiceNow
9 5 (0.81%) AVEVA
9 5 (0.81%) Splunk
10 4 (0.65%) Perforce
11 3 (0.49%) Fortinet
11 3 (0.49%) Okta
11 3 (0.49%) Rockwell
11 3 (0.49%) Sparx
12 2 (0.32%) BeyondTrust
12 2 (0.32%) Broadcom
12 2 (0.32%) CrowdStrike
12 2 (0.32%) CyberArk