Systems Engineer Contract Job Trends

System Engineer
UK

The median System Engineer daily rate in the UK is £465, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 6 July 2026.

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

6 months to
6 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 255 350 230
Rank change year-on-year +95 -120 +145
Contract jobs requiring a Systems Engineer 496 203 435
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.96% 0.64% 1.00%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.04% 0.69% 1.08%
Number of daily rates quoted 115 73 96
10th Percentile £225 £363 £313
25th Percentile £382 £414 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £465 £485 £450
Median % change year-on-year -4.12% +7.78% -13.88%
75th Percentile £529 £600 £563
90th Percentile £600 £650 £638
UK excluding London median daily rate £465 £500 £439
% change year-on-year -7.00% +13.96% -12.25%
Number of hourly rates quoted 212 53 184
10th Percentile £46.61 £45.24 £39.96
25th Percentile £56.36 £51.25 £47.83
Median hourly rate £67.50 £56.04 £61.25
Median % change year-on-year +20.45% -8.51% +0.25%
75th Percentile £78.75 £73.75 £71.50
90th Percentile £81.66 £75.79 £76.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £67.50 £56.24 £65.00
% change year-on-year +20.02% -13.48% +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 47,894 29,248 40,280
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.44% 91.99% 93.02%
Number of daily rates quoted 28,968 18,668 25,910
10th Percentile £325 £287 £285
25th Percentile £417 £400 £409
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% -4.76% -2.33%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £493
% change year-on-year +5.26% -3.65% -1.40%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,250 1,325 2,804
10th Percentile £15.75 £13.75 £12.86
25th Percentile £21.14 £17.44 £16.65
Median hourly rate £43.00 £26.45 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +62.57% -29.47% -14.05%
75th Percentile £67.50 £55.25 £62.96
90th Percentile £80.00 £73.25 £74.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £25.15 £40.00
% change year-on-year +78.93% -37.13% -

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 6 July 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 6 July 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 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
England +69 448 £475 -5.94% 424
UK excluding London +56 416 £465 -7.00% 384
South East +29 114 £500 -13.04% 135
South West +36 103 £500 -9.30% 99
Work from Home -16 74 £465 -7.00% 109
East of England -2 66 £450 -18.18% 45
London -49 63 £463 -11.90% 71
Midlands -25 55 £395 +12.86% 51
North of England -55 46 £450 +6.64% 40
West Midlands -33 33 £395 -7.06% 33
North West -37 28 £500 +18.06% 18
East Midlands -7 22 £450 +500.00% 18
Scotland -1 19 £215 -54.13% 17
Yorkshire -39 13 £393 - 16
Wales - 13 £465 - 6
North East -34 5 £450 +38.46% 6

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

For the 6 months to 6 July 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.

1 114 (22.98%) Security Cleared
2 91 (18.35%) Systems Engineering
3 79 (15.93%) SC Cleared
4 49 (9.88%) Validation
5 42 (8.47%) Degree
6 38 (7.66%) Problem-Solving
7 37 (7.46%) Rational DOORS
8 36 (7.26%) Windows
9 35 (7.06%) Linux
10 29 (5.85%) Microsoft
11 27 (5.44%) Verification and Validation
12 23 (4.64%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
13 22 (4.44%) DV Cleared
14 21 (4.23%) Azure
14 21 (4.23%) Infrastructure Engineering
15 20 (4.03%) Active Directory
15 20 (4.03%) Decision-Making
15 20 (4.03%) TCP/IP
16 18 (3.63%) Customer Service
16 18 (3.63%) ServiceNow
16 18 (3.63%) Siemens
17 17 (3.43%) Configuration Management
18 16 (3.23%) DNS
18 16 (3.23%) Ethernet
18 16 (3.23%) Microsoft Office
18 16 (3.23%) Python
18 16 (3.23%) Risk Assessment
19 15 (3.02%) BPSS Clearance
19 15 (3.02%) Creative Thinking
19 15 (3.02%) Fault Analysis

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 (1.01%) Microsoft Exchange
2 4 (0.81%) SharePoint
3 3 (0.60%) Confluence
3 3 (0.60%) SAS
4 1 (0.20%) IIS
Applications
1 16 (3.23%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (2.22%) Simulink
3 4 (0.81%) Stateflow
Business Applications
1 1 (0.20%) ResourceLink
1 1 (0.20%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
1 1 (0.20%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 21 (4.23%) Azure
2 13 (2.62%) AWS
3 12 (2.42%) Microsoft 365
3 12 (2.42%) SaaS
4 9 (1.81%) Entra ID
5 6 (1.21%) GitHub
6 5 (1.01%) OpenShift
7 4 (0.81%) GitHub Actions
8 3 (0.60%) Amazon EC2
8 3 (0.60%) Amazon S3
8 3 (0.60%) Azure Logic Apps
8 3 (0.60%) OneDrive
9 2 (0.40%) Cloudflare
9 2 (0.40%) GCP
9 2 (0.40%) Google Workspace
10 1 (0.20%) Amazon EKS
10 1 (0.20%) AWS Step Functions
10 1 (0.20%) Power Platform
10 1 (0.20%) PowerApps
10 1 (0.20%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 20 (4.03%) TCP/IP
2 16 (3.23%) DNS
2 16 (3.23%) Ethernet
3 13 (2.62%) Firewall
4 12 (2.42%) DHCP
5 7 (1.41%) Network Security
6 5 (1.01%) LAN
6 5 (1.01%) VPN
7 4 (0.81%) WAN
8 3 (0.60%) LTE
8 3 (0.60%) Modbus
8 3 (0.60%) SpaceWire
8 3 (0.60%) VLAN
9 2 (0.40%) DKIM
9 2 (0.40%) DMARC
9 2 (0.40%) NAS
9 2 (0.40%) PSTN
9 2 (0.40%) TETRA
9 2 (0.40%) Unified Communications
9 2 (0.40%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.40%) SQL Server Reporting Services
2 1 (0.20%) BusinessObjects
2 1 (0.20%) Db2
2 1 (0.20%) IBM InfoSphere
2 1 (0.20%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 37 (7.46%) Rational DOORS
2 7 (1.41%) Rational Rhapsody
3 5 (1.01%) JIRA
4 1 (0.20%) CANoe
General
1 65 (13.10%) Aerospace
2 51 (10.28%) Social Skills
3 38 (7.66%) Military
4 27 (5.44%) Avionics
5 20 (4.03%) Analytical Skills
5 20 (4.03%) Electronics
6 18 (3.63%) Manufacturing
7 16 (3.23%) Presentation Skills
8 15 (3.02%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 12 (2.42%) Automotive
10 10 (2.02%) Law
11 9 (1.81%) Finance
11 9 (1.81%) Public Sector
12 4 (0.81%) Aviation
12 4 (0.81%) Documentation Skills
12 4 (0.81%) Telecoms
13 2 (0.40%) Games
13 2 (0.40%) Retail
14 1 (0.20%) Legal
14 1 (0.20%) Police
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 6 (1.21%) OpenID
1 6 (1.21%) SAML
2 5 (1.01%) REST
3 3 (0.60%) ISPF
3 3 (0.60%) Microsoft Graph
3 3 (0.60%) Software Packaging
4 2 (0.40%) FastAPI
4 2 (0.40%) HTML
4 2 (0.40%) JSON
4 2 (0.40%) Middleware
4 2 (0.40%) React
5 1 (0.20%) GraphQL
5 1 (0.20%) NETCONF
5 1 (0.20%) Node.js
5 1 (0.20%) OpenGL
5 1 (0.20%) Qt
5 1 (0.20%) RESTful
5 1 (0.20%) Streamlit
5 1 (0.20%) Unity (Game Engine)
5 1 (0.20%) Unreal Engine
Miscellaneous
1 15 (3.02%) Industry 4.0
1 15 (3.02%) Robotics
2 7 (1.41%) CUDA
2 7 (1.41%) Embedded Systems
2 7 (1.41%) IoT
2 7 (1.41%) Operational Technology
2 7 (1.41%) Renewable Energy
3 6 (1.21%) Mainframe
4 5 (1.01%) Data Centre
4 5 (1.01%) Onboarding
4 5 (1.01%) Self-Motivation
5 4 (0.81%) Virtual Team
6 3 (0.60%) Acoustics
6 3 (0.60%) FPGA
6 3 (0.60%) SCADA
7 2 (0.40%) Animation
7 2 (0.40%) ASIC
7 2 (0.40%) CAN bus
7 2 (0.40%) Data Protection Act
7 2 (0.40%) Management Information System
Operating Systems
1 36 (7.26%) Windows
2 35 (7.06%) Linux
3 13 (2.62%) Windows Server
4 4 (0.81%) Mac OS
5 3 (0.60%) Android
5 3 (0.60%) MVS
5 3 (0.60%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 3 (0.60%) zOS
6 2 (0.40%) Windows 10
7 1 (0.20%) FreeRTOS
7 1 (0.20%) Ubuntu
7 1 (0.20%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 91 (18.35%) Systems Engineering
2 49 (9.88%) Validation
3 38 (7.66%) Problem-Solving
4 27 (5.44%) Verification and Validation
5 23 (4.64%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
6 21 (4.23%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 20 (4.03%) Decision-Making
8 18 (3.63%) Customer Service
9 17 (3.43%) Configuration Management
10 16 (3.23%) Risk Assessment
11 15 (3.02%) Creative Thinking
11 15 (3.02%) Fault Analysis
11 15 (3.02%) Mechatronics
12 13 (2.62%) Workflow
13 11 (2.22%) AI
13 11 (2.22%) Continuous Improvement
13 11 (2.22%) Migration
13 11 (2.22%) Root Cause Analysis
14 10 (2.02%) SysML
14 10 (2.02%) User Experience
Programming Languages
1 16 (3.23%) Python
2 15 (3.02%) MATLAB
3 13 (2.62%) PowerShell
4 6 (1.21%) Bash
5 5 (1.01%) REXX
6 4 (0.81%) C
7 3 (0.60%) Java
7 3 (0.60%) JCL
8 2 (0.40%) TypeScript
9 1 (0.20%) C#
9 1 (0.20%) C++
9 1 (0.20%) Go
9 1 (0.20%) JavaScript
9 1 (0.20%) Lua
9 1 (0.20%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.20%) SQL
Qualifications
1 114 (22.98%) Security Cleared
2 79 (15.93%) SC Cleared
3 42 (8.47%) Degree
4 22 (4.44%) DV Cleared
5 15 (3.02%) BPSS Clearance
6 5 (1.01%) Microsoft Certification
7 4 (0.81%) Azure Certification
8 3 (0.60%) CCNA
8 3 (0.60%) Cisco Certification
9 2 (0.40%) AWS Certification
9 2 (0.40%) Chartered Engineer
10 1 (0.20%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
10 1 (0.20%) CCA
10 1 (0.20%) CCNP
10 1 (0.20%) CISSP
10 1 (0.20%) CompTIA CySA+
10 1 (0.20%) Computer Science Degree
10 1 (0.20%) HND
10 1 (0.20%) Master's Degree
10 1 (0.20%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 4 (0.81%) Def Stans
1 4 (0.81%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 3 (0.60%) Data Quality
2 3 (0.60%) MIL-STD-1553
3 2 (0.40%) NIST
3 2 (0.40%) QA
4 1 (0.20%) Cyber Essentials
4 1 (0.20%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
4 1 (0.20%) DICOM
4 1 (0.20%) DO-254
4 1 (0.20%) HAZOP
4 1 (0.20%) HL7
4 1 (0.20%) IEC 61508
4 1 (0.20%) ISO 26262
4 1 (0.20%) NIST 800
4 1 (0.20%) SLA
System Software
1 20 (4.03%) Active Directory
2 12 (2.42%) VMware Infrastructure
3 8 (1.61%) Virtual Desktop
4 6 (1.21%) Slurm Workload Manager
5 5 (1.01%) Firmware
5 5 (1.01%) Hyper-V
5 5 (1.01%) Virtual Machines
6 4 (0.81%) Docker
7 2 (0.40%) Embedded Firmware
7 2 (0.40%) VMware Workstation
8 1 (0.20%) Job Entry Subsystem
8 1 (0.20%) KVM
8 1 (0.20%) Microsoft App-V
Systems Management
1 11 (2.22%) Microsoft Intune
2 9 (1.81%) Ansible
3 7 (1.41%) Kubernetes
4 6 (1.21%) Puppet
5 5 (1.01%) SCCM
5 5 (1.01%) Terraform
6 2 (0.40%) Functional Safety
6 2 (0.40%) Tivoli NetView
7 1 (0.20%) Amdocs OSS
7 1 (0.20%) Control-M
7 1 (0.20%) Jamf Pro
7 1 (0.20%) MOM
7 1 (0.20%) Packer
7 1 (0.20%) PingFederate
7 1 (0.20%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 29 (5.85%) Microsoft
2 18 (3.63%) ServiceNow
2 18 (3.63%) Siemens
3 15 (3.02%) Fortinet
4 14 (2.82%) EMC
5 13 (2.62%) NetApp
6 12 (2.42%) IBM
6 12 (2.42%) VMware
7 7 (1.41%) NVIDIA
8 6 (1.21%) Cisco
9 4 (0.81%) Splunk
10 3 (0.60%) Broadcom
10 3 (0.60%) Citrix
10 3 (0.60%) Google
10 3 (0.60%) NEC
11 2 (0.40%) Apple
11 2 (0.40%) CyberArk
11 2 (0.40%) Red Hat
11 2 (0.40%) SAP
12 1 (0.20%) Dynatrace