Hybrid/Remote Design Engineer Contract Job Trends

Design Engineer
UK > Work from Home

The median Design Engineer daily rate for remote/hybrid work is £450, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 13 December 2025.

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

6 months to
13 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 300 300 337
Rank change year-on-year 0 +37 +131
Contract jobs requiring a Design Engineer 18 16 54
As % of all contract jobs with remote/hybrid work options 0.18% 0.13% 0.30%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.19% 0.14% 0.32%
Number of daily rates quoted 3 1 12
10th Percentile £375 - £407
25th Percentile £394 £500 £474
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £550 £563
Median % change year-on-year -18.18% -2.22% +22.28%
75th Percentile £506 £600 £588
90th Percentile £525 - -
UK median daily rate £500 £550 £500
% change year-on-year -9.09% +10.00% +11.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4 5 22
10th Percentile - £53.95 £35.00
25th Percentile £52.00 £58.00 £55.63
Median hourly rate £54.00 £75.00 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year -28.00% +25.00% +33.33%
75th Percentile £61.38 - £70.00
90th Percentile £71.05 - -
UK median hourly rate £75.00 £75.00 £65.98
% change year-on-year - +13.67% +46.62%

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
Work from Home

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies with remote/hybrid work options. 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 Work from Home with a recognized job title 9,503 11,296 16,780
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 93.31% 93.10% 94.34%
Number of daily rates quoted 6,215 7,149 11,556
10th Percentile £325 £325 £325
25th Percentile £413 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -2.38% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £620 £638 £638
90th Percentile £723 £750 £738
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 335 206 378
10th Percentile £15.18 £18.50 £17.60
25th Percentile £20.50 £24.26 £26.24
Median hourly rate £43.69 £38.25 £52.50
Median % change year-on-year +14.22% -27.14% -4.55%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £70.00 £75.00 £86.63
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £34.75 £44.00
% change year-on-year -27.63% -21.02% +40.98%

Design Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend for Remote/Hybrid Roles

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Design Engineer' in the job title and offering remote or hybrid work options relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Design Engineer job vacancy trend for remote/hybrid roles

Design Engineer
Daily Rate Trend for Remote/Hybrid Jobs

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for remote/hybrid Design Engineer job vacancies.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for remote/hybrid Design Engineer job vacancies

Design Engineer
Daily Rate Histogram for Remote/Hybrid Jobs

Daily rate distribution for jobs with remote/hybrid work options citing Design Engineer over the 6 months to 13 December 2025.

Design Engineer daily rate histogram for jobs with remote/hybrid work options

Design Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend for Remote/Hybrid Jobs

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for remote/hybrid Design Engineer job vacancies.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for remote/hybrid Design Engineer job vacancies

Design Engineer
Hourly Rate Histogram for Remote/Hybrid Jobs

Hourly rate distribution for jobs with remote working options citing Design Engineer over the 6 months to 13 December 2025.

Design Engineer hourly rate histogram for jobs with remote/hybrid working options

Design Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Remote/Hybrid Jobs

For the 6 months to 13 December 2025, 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 jobs with hybrid/remote work options featuring Design Engineer in the job title.

1 7 (38.89%) SC Cleared
1 7 (38.89%) Security Cleared
2 5 (27.78%) Degree
2 5 (27.78%) Identity Access Management
2 5 (27.78%) Microsoft
3 4 (22.22%) AI
3 4 (22.22%) C
3 4 (22.22%) C++
3 4 (22.22%) Entra ID
3 4 (22.22%) Firmware
3 4 (22.22%) Flash
3 4 (22.22%) GAP Analysis
3 4 (22.22%) GDPR
3 4 (22.22%) HIPAA
3 4 (22.22%) Identity Management
3 4 (22.22%) Impact Analysis
3 4 (22.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 4 (22.22%) Microsoft 365
3 4 (22.22%) Microsoft Certification
3 4 (22.22%) Microsoft Exchange
3 4 (22.22%) Microsoft Purview
3 4 (22.22%) NIST
3 4 (22.22%) PowerShell
3 4 (22.22%) Python
3 4 (22.22%) Security Operations
3 4 (22.22%) Sensor Fusion
3 4 (22.22%) Signal Processing
3 4 (22.22%) Windows
3 4 (22.22%) Zero Trust
4 3 (16.67%) Active Directory

Design Engineer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Remote/Hybrid Jobs 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 4 (22.22%) Microsoft Exchange
2 3 (16.67%) SharePoint
3 1 (5.56%) Confluence
Applications
1 1 (5.56%) AutoCAD
1 1 (5.56%) CATIA
1 1 (5.56%) MS Visio
Cloud Services
1 4 (22.22%) Entra ID
1 4 (22.22%) Microsoft 365
1 4 (22.22%) Microsoft Purview
2 3 (16.67%) Azure
2 3 (16.67%) Azure Sentinel
2 3 (16.67%) OneDrive
3 1 (5.56%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 2 (11.11%) MPLS
2 1 (5.56%) 5G
2 1 (5.56%) BGP
2 1 (5.56%) Kerberos
2 1 (5.56%) OSPF
2 1 (5.56%) VPN
2 1 (5.56%) Wi-Fi
2 1 (5.56%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (5.56%) MongoDB
Development Applications
1 2 (11.11%) JIRA
2 1 (5.56%) Rational DOORS
General
1 4 (22.22%) Electronics
2 3 (16.67%) Social Skills
3 1 (5.56%) Analytical Skills
3 1 (5.56%) Automotive
3 1 (5.56%) Finance
3 1 (5.56%) Influencing Skills
3 1 (5.56%) Law
3 1 (5.56%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 4 (22.22%) Flash
2 1 (5.56%) OAuth
2 1 (5.56%) SAML
Miscellaneous
1 4 (22.22%) Analogue Electronics
1 4 (22.22%) FPGA
1 4 (22.22%) VHDL
2 1 (5.56%) Data Centre
2 1 (5.56%) Data Protection Act
2 1 (5.56%) Digital Signage
2 1 (5.56%) Management Information System
2 1 (5.56%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 4 (22.22%) Windows
2 1 (5.56%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 5 (27.78%) Identity Access Management
2 4 (22.22%) AI
2 4 (22.22%) GAP Analysis
2 4 (22.22%) Identity Management
2 4 (22.22%) Impact Analysis
2 4 (22.22%) Security Operations
2 4 (22.22%) Sensor Fusion
2 4 (22.22%) Signal Processing
2 4 (22.22%) Zero Trust
3 3 (16.67%) Data Loss Prevention
3 3 (16.67%) Knowledge Transfer
3 3 (16.67%) Privileged Identity Management
4 2 (11.11%) Problem-Solving
4 2 (11.11%) Software Engineering
5 1 (5.56%) Computer Science
5 1 (5.56%) Load Balancing
5 1 (5.56%) Problem Management
5 1 (5.56%) Requirements Management
5 1 (5.56%) Unit Testing
5 1 (5.56%) Use Case
Programming Languages
1 4 (22.22%) C
1 4 (22.22%) C++
1 4 (22.22%) PowerShell
1 4 (22.22%) Python
Qualifications
1 7 (38.89%) SC Cleared
1 7 (38.89%) Security Cleared
2 5 (27.78%) Degree
3 4 (22.22%) Microsoft Certification
4 1 (5.56%) CCDP
4 1 (5.56%) CCNA
4 1 (5.56%) CCNP
4 1 (5.56%) Cisco Certification
4 1 (5.56%) CISM
4 1 (5.56%) CISSP
4 1 (5.56%) Master's Degree
4 1 (5.56%) PhD
4 1 (5.56%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 4 (22.22%) GDPR
1 4 (22.22%) HIPAA
1 4 (22.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 4 (22.22%) NIST
System Software
1 4 (22.22%) Firmware
2 3 (16.67%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 1 (5.56%) Ansible
1 1 (5.56%) Cilium
1 1 (5.56%) Kubernetes
1 1 (5.56%) Rsyslog
1 1 (5.56%) SCOM
1 1 (5.56%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 5 (27.78%) Microsoft
2 2 (11.11%) Cisco
3 1 (5.56%) BiZZdesign
3 1 (5.56%) F5
3 1 (5.56%) Juniper
3 1 (5.56%) NVIDIA