Embedded Software Engineer Job Trends

Embedded Software Engineer
UK

The median Embedded Software Engineer salary in the UK is £65,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 18 May 2026.

The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
18 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 339 527 295
Rank change year-on-year +188 -232 +361
Permanent jobs requiring an Embedded Software Engineer 481 128 962
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.52% 0.29% 0.99%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.56% 0.32% 1.05%
Number of salaries quoted 384 94 741
10th Percentile £50,000 £42,500 £40,000
25th Percentile £55,000 £47,500 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £54,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +20.37% -1.82% -8.33%
75th Percentile £70,000 £65,000 £65,000
90th Percentile £78,500 £67,500 £75,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £65,000 £54,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +20.37% -1.82% -7.56%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent 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 permanent jobs in our overall sample.

Permanent vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 85,613 39,653 91,884
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.33% 89.71% 94.62%
Number of salaries quoted 56,627 23,002 67,400
10th Percentile £30,000 £30,000 £28,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £41,250 £38,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £57,500 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year -4.35% +9.52% -12.50%
75th Percentile £75,000 £77,500 £71,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £52,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -3.85% +4.00% -5.66%

Embedded Software Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Embedded Software Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK

Embedded Software Engineer
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for Embedded Software Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for Embedded Software Engineer job vacancies in the UK

Embedded Software Engineer
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Embedded Software Engineer over the 6 months to 18 May 2026.

Salary histogram for Embedded Software Engineer in the UK

Embedded Software Engineer
Top 16 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Embedded Software Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 18 May 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 +169 459 £65,000 +20.37% 114
England +193 400 £65,000 +19.27% 127
South East +61 109 £65,000 +6.12% 35
South West +33 104 £65,000 +30.00% 27
Work from Home +66 82 £65,000 +16.59% 37
Scotland +36 66 £65,000 +36.84%
East of England +21 62 £70,000 +29.63% 30
Midlands +20 62 £68,750 +30.95% 13
North of England -8 48 £55,000 - 12
West Midlands +13 34 £70,000 +55.56% 8
Yorkshire -17 31 £55,000 +10.00% 6
East Midlands -15 28 £54,000 +2.86% 5
London -4 14 £70,000 +9.80% 10
North West +16 13 £50,000 -9.09% 3
Wales -22 8 £44,000 -32.31%
North East -37 4 £58,250 -4.51% 3

Embedded Software Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 18 May 2026, Embedded Software Engineer 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 permanent job ads featuring Embedded Software Engineer in the job title.

1 481 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 124 (25.78%) C
3 105 (21.83%) C++
4 99 (20.58%) Firmware
5 53 (11.02%) Linux
6 51 (10.60%) Embedded C
7 39 (8.11%) Embedded Firmware
8 37 (7.69%) Embedded Linux
9 35 (7.28%) Embedded Software Development
10 29 (6.03%) Python
11 28 (5.82%) Security Cleared
12 25 (5.20%) Ethernet
12 25 (5.20%) Wireless
13 21 (4.37%) Agile
13 21 (4.37%) Degree
14 19 (3.95%) RS-232
15 17 (3.53%) Collaborative Culture
15 17 (3.53%) FreeRTOS
15 17 (3.53%) IEC 61508
15 17 (3.53%) Yocto
16 16 (3.33%) Bluetooth
16 16 (3.33%) MISRA
16 16 (3.33%) MISRA C
16 16 (3.33%) SC Cleared
16 16 (3.33%) Signal Processing
16 16 (3.33%) Validation
17 15 (3.12%) Embedded C++
17 15 (3.12%) Git
18 14 (2.91%) Computer Science
18 14 (2.91%) Scrum

Embedded Software 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 1 (0.21%) Confluence
Applications
1 3 (0.62%) CANalyzer
2 2 (0.42%) Simulink
Cloud Services
1 3 (0.62%) AWS
1 3 (0.62%) Azure
1 3 (0.62%) Azure DevOps
Communications & Networking
1 25 (5.20%) Ethernet
1 25 (5.20%) Wireless
2 19 (3.95%) RS-232
3 16 (3.33%) Bluetooth
4 12 (2.49%) Modbus
5 9 (1.87%) ZigBee
6 7 (1.46%) Wi-Fi
7 6 (1.25%) Profibus
8 5 (1.04%) RS-485
9 4 (0.83%) LTE
9 4 (0.83%) Software-Defined Radio
10 3 (0.62%) MQTT
11 1 (0.21%) Multicast
11 1 (0.21%) TCP/IP
Development Applications
1 15 (3.12%) Git
2 5 (1.04%) Eclipse
3 4 (0.83%) Jenkins
3 4 (0.83%) Subversion
4 3 (0.62%) CANoe
4 3 (0.62%) GDB
4 3 (0.62%) GitLab
4 3 (0.62%) Robot Framework
5 2 (0.42%) JIRA
6 1 (0.21%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.21%) CMake
6 1 (0.21%) GoogleTest
6 1 (0.21%) Qt Creator
6 1 (0.21%) Rational DOORS
6 1 (0.21%) SonarQube
6 1 (0.21%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 47 (9.77%) Electronics
2 25 (5.20%) Manufacturing
3 21 (4.37%) Automotive
4 17 (3.53%) Aerospace
5 12 (2.49%) Social Skills
6 8 (1.66%) Aviation
7 5 (1.04%) Organisational Skills
7 5 (1.04%) Pharmaceutical
8 2 (0.42%) Wearables
9 1 (0.21%) Advertising
9 1 (0.21%) Analytical Skills
9 1 (0.21%) Cyber-Physical System
9 1 (0.21%) Telecoms
9 1 (0.21%) Welsh Language
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 17 (3.53%) Yocto
2 9 (1.87%) Qt
3 4 (0.83%) WebSockets
4 3 (0.62%) pytest
4 3 (0.62%) PyTorch
4 3 (0.62%) TensorFlow
4 3 (0.62%) Unity DI Container
Miscellaneous
1 58 (12.06%) Embedded Systems
2 22 (4.57%) IoT
3 21 (4.37%) Device Driver
4 16 (3.33%) Algorithms
5 15 (3.12%) CAN bus
6 9 (1.87%) ARM Cortex
7 5 (1.04%) Legacy Code
7 5 (1.04%) Robotics
8 4 (0.83%) Raspberry Pi
9 2 (0.42%) FPGA
9 2 (0.42%) Self-Driving Car
10 1 (0.21%) Data Structures
10 1 (0.21%) GNSS
10 1 (0.21%) Smart Energy
Operating Systems
1 53 (11.02%) Linux
2 37 (7.69%) Embedded Linux
3 17 (3.53%) FreeRTOS
4 2 (0.42%) SafeRTOS
4 2 (0.42%) Windows
5 1 (0.21%) Android
5 1 (0.21%) ThreadX
Processes & Methodologies
1 481 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 35 (7.28%) Embedded Software Development
3 21 (4.37%) Agile
4 17 (3.53%) Collaborative Culture
5 16 (3.33%) Signal Processing
5 16 (3.33%) Validation
6 14 (2.91%) Computer Science
6 14 (2.91%) Scrum
7 13 (2.70%) SDLC
8 12 (2.49%) Cybersecurity
8 12 (2.49%) DevOps
8 12 (2.49%) Software Testing
9 11 (2.29%) Roadmaps
9 11 (2.29%) Safety Engineering
10 10 (2.08%) Product Roadmap
11 9 (1.87%) Test Automation
12 8 (1.66%) CI/CD
12 8 (1.66%) Problem-Solving
12 8 (1.66%) Software Architecture
13 7 (1.46%) Continuous Improvement
Programming Languages
1 124 (25.78%) C
2 105 (21.83%) C++
3 51 (10.60%) Embedded C
4 29 (6.03%) Python
5 15 (3.12%) Embedded C++
6 7 (1.46%) MATLAB
7 5 (1.04%) Ada
8 3 (0.62%) Bash
9 2 (0.42%) Rust
10 1 (0.21%) C#
10 1 (0.21%) Java
10 1 (0.21%) Kotlin
10 1 (0.21%) R
Qualifications
1 28 (5.82%) Security Cleared
2 21 (4.37%) Degree
3 16 (3.33%) SC Cleared
4 12 (2.49%) Master's Degree
5 4 (0.83%) Computer Science Degree
5 4 (0.83%) HND
6 3 (0.62%) HNC
7 2 (0.42%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 17 (3.53%) IEC 61508
2 16 (3.33%) MISRA
2 16 (3.33%) MISRA C
3 3 (0.62%) JTAG
4 1 (0.21%) DO-254
4 1 (0.21%) HAZOP
4 1 (0.21%) IEC 62304
4 1 (0.21%) ISO 26262
4 1 (0.21%) QA
System Software
1 99 (20.58%) Firmware
2 39 (8.11%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 13 (2.70%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 4 (0.83%) Atmel
1 4 (0.83%) Peregrine
2 3 (0.62%) Atlassian
3 1 (0.21%) Google