Embedded Firmware Job Trends

Embedded Firmware
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs requiring Embedded Firmware skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 18 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 547 537 525
Rank change year-on-year -10 -12 +354
Permanent jobs citing Embedded Firmware 103 159 228
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.17% 0.30% 0.38%
As % of the System Software category 2.43% 2.39% 2.53%
Number of salaries quoted 83 77 109
10th Percentile £43,500 £52,500 £38,750
25th Percentile £45,750 £55,000 £46,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £62,500 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year -12.00% +19.05% -8.70%
75th Percentile £64,375 £72,500 £61,250
90th Percentile £67,500 £82,500 £75,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £62,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year -12.00% +13.64% -4.35%

All System Software Skills
UK

Embedded Firmware falls under the System Software category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring system software skills.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for system software skills 4,237 6,663 9,009
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 6.94% 12.50% 15.17%
Number of salaries quoted 2,972 4,003 7,416
10th Percentile £27,500 £30,000 £28,500
25th Percentile £32,000 £40,000 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £57,500 £54,000
Median % change year-on-year -13.04% +6.48% -1.82%
75th Percentile £74,066 £78,000 £72,433
90th Percentile £90,000 £99,900 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £42,500 £50,000 £47,500
% change year-on-year -15.00% +5.26% -

Embedded Firmware
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Embedded Firmware relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

Embedded Firmware job vacancy trend in the UK

Embedded Firmware
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Embedded Firmware.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Embedded Firmware

Embedded Firmware
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Embedded Firmware over the 6 months to 18 January 2026.

Salary histogram for Embedded Firmware in the UK

Embedded Firmware
Top 14 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Embedded Firmware within the UK over the 6 months to 18 January 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
UK excluding London +8 102 £55,000 -12.00% 133
England +12 81 £55,000 -11.65% 123
Work from Home +45 42 £55,000 -21.43% 46
South East +62 36 £55,000 -13.73% 33
North of England +26 32 £50,750 -9.38% 27
Yorkshire +5 16 £50,000 - 16
Scotland +1 12 £70,000 +12.00% 9
Wales +4 10 £57,500 -17.86% 7
North West +22 9 £46,500 -7.92% 8
North East -6 7 £56,500 -0.44% 3
South West -51 7 £65,000 -3.70% 26
West Midlands +27 5 £52,500 -17.32% 3
Midlands +12 5 £52,500 -27.59% 12
London +56 1 £55,000 -21.43% 7

Embedded Firmware
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:

Business Applications
1 2 (1.94%) Towers Watson Igloo
Cloud Services
1 1 (0.97%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 11 (10.68%) Software-Defined Radio
1 11 (10.68%) Wireless
2 6 (5.83%) RS-232
3 4 (3.88%) 3G
3 4 (3.88%) GPRS
3 4 (3.88%) GSM
3 4 (3.88%) Modbus
3 4 (3.88%) RS-485
3 4 (3.88%) SSL
3 4 (3.88%) TCP/IP
4 2 (1.94%) Bluetooth
5 1 (0.97%) HTTP
5 1 (0.97%) MQTT
Development Applications
1 11 (10.68%) Git
2 10 (9.71%) Visual Studio
3 2 (1.94%) Rational DOORS
General
1 42 (40.78%) Electronics
2 16 (15.53%) Automotive
3 14 (13.59%) Finance
4 10 (9.71%) Aviation
4 10 (9.71%) Social Skills
5 8 (7.77%) Manufacturing
6 6 (5.83%) Aerospace
7 1 (0.97%) Games
7 1 (0.97%) Law
Job Titles
1 69 (66.99%) Embedded Engineer
2 40 (38.83%) Firmware Engineer
3 36 (34.95%) Software Engineer
4 29 (28.16%) Embedded Firmware Engineer
5 26 (25.24%) Embedded Software Engineer
6 14 (13.59%) Electronics Engineer
7 12 (11.65%) C++ Software Engineer
8 10 (9.71%) C# Software Engineer
9 6 (5.83%) Design Engineer
9 6 (5.83%) Electronics Design Engineer
10 5 (4.85%) Architect
10 5 (4.85%) Embedded Software Design Engineer
10 5 (4.85%) Firmware Architect
10 5 (4.85%) Software Design Engineer
11 4 (3.88%) Senior
12 3 (2.91%) Developer
12 3 (2.91%) Firmware Developer
12 3 (2.91%) Junior
12 3 (2.91%) Senior Software Engineer
12 3 (2.91%) Software Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (8.74%) Flash
2 1 (0.97%) Yocto
Miscellaneous
1 37 (35.92%) Embedded Systems
2 18 (17.48%) IoT
3 14 (13.59%) FPGA
4 9 (8.74%) e-Learning
4 9 (8.74%) MicroBlaze
4 9 (8.74%) RISC-V
5 6 (5.83%) Algorithms
5 6 (5.83%) Analogue Electronics
6 4 (3.88%) Onboarding
7 2 (1.94%) NVMe
7 2 (1.94%) PCIe
7 2 (1.94%) VHDL
Operating Systems
1 14 (13.59%) Linux
2 13 (12.62%) Embedded Linux
3 10 (9.71%) Windows
4 5 (4.85%) FreeRTOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 43 (41.75%) Software Engineering
2 27 (26.21%) Agile
3 20 (19.42%) Mentoring
4 14 (13.59%) Test Automation
5 13 (12.62%) Digital Signal Processing
5 13 (12.62%) Signal Processing
6 12 (11.65%) Embedded Software Development
6 12 (11.65%) System Testing
7 11 (10.68%) Innovative Thinking
8 10 (9.71%) CI/CD
8 10 (9.71%) Collaborative Culture
8 10 (9.71%) Multithreading
9 8 (7.77%) Software Testing
10 6 (5.83%) Continuous Improvement
10 6 (5.83%) Problem-Solving
10 6 (5.83%) Validation
10 6 (5.83%) Verification and Validation
11 4 (3.88%) OO
11 4 (3.88%) Secure Coding
11 4 (3.88%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 59 (57.28%) C
1 59 (57.28%) C++
2 24 (23.30%) Embedded C
3 15 (14.56%) Embedded C++
4 10 (9.71%) C#
5 2 (1.94%) Assembly Language
5 2 (1.94%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 11 (10.68%) SC Cleared
1 11 (10.68%) Security Cleared
2 2 (1.94%) Degree
3 1 (0.97%) Computer Science Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 6 (5.83%) QA
2 4 (3.88%) IEC 61508
2 4 (3.88%) ISO 26262
2 4 (3.88%) MISRA
3 1 (0.97%) GDPR
3 1 (0.97%) JTAG
System Software
1 103 (100.00%) Firmware
Vendors
1 8 (7.77%) EMC
2 2 (1.94%) Altera
2 2 (1.94%) Xilinx
3 1 (0.97%) Google
3 1 (0.97%) Microsoft
3 1 (0.97%) NVIDIA