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 17 September 2026.

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

6 months to
17 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 293 579 246
Rank change year-on-year +286 -333 +319
Permanent jobs requiring an Embedded Software Engineer 714 101 868
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.62% 0.20% 1.11%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.67% 0.23% 1.17%
Number of salaries quoted 571 49 624
10th Percentile £45,000 £45,000 £40,000
25th Percentile £55,000 £48,000 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +18.18% - -4.35%
75th Percentile £71,250 £65,000 £65,000
90th Percentile £80,000 £70,000 £75,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% - -4.35%

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 107,222 44,266 74,164
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.32% 89.67% 95.25%
Number of salaries quoted 73,597 26,014 44,625
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,250 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,400 £36,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £59,000 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +7.27% - -8.33%
75th Percentile £77,500 £75,000 £73,750
90th Percentile £100,000 £95,000 £92,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £47,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year +15.79% -5.00% -4.76%

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 17 September 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 17 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England +287 680 £62,000 +12.73% 259
UK excluding London +226 675 £60,000 +9.09% 208
South East +73 189 £60,000 -7.69% 53
South West +63 174 £60,000 +33.33% 31
Work from Home +24 114 £67,500 +32.35% 93
Midlands +48 105 £70,000 +33.33% 31
East of England +63 102 £75,000 +38.89% 76
North of England +19 80 £60,000 +9.09% 13
East Midlands +2 54 £54,000 +2.86% 16
West Midlands +13 51 £70,000 +13.36% 15
North West - 31 £60,000 - 7
London -29 29 £80,000 +56.10% 32
Yorkshire -17 28 £60,000 +9.09% 4
North East -46 21 £55,000 -2.65% 2
Scotland +3 16 £67,500 +32.35% 10
Wales -65 9 £47,000 -

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

For the 6 months to 17 September 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.

1 714 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 161 (22.55%) C
3 146 (20.45%) C++
4 123 (17.23%) Firmware
5 107 (14.99%) Linux
6 71 (9.94%) Embedded Software Development
7 58 (8.12%) Embedded Linux
8 56 (7.84%) Wireless
9 48 (6.72%) Embedded C
10 43 (6.02%) Embedded Firmware
11 37 (5.18%) Python
12 34 (4.76%) Embedded C++
13 32 (4.48%) Degree
14 31 (4.34%) Bluetooth
15 30 (4.20%) Ethernet
16 29 (4.06%) FreeRTOS
17 28 (3.92%) CI/CD
18 27 (3.78%) Collaborative Engineering
19 26 (3.64%) Software Testing
20 25 (3.50%) Computer Science
21 24 (3.36%) Modbus
21 24 (3.36%) Yocto
22 23 (3.22%) Problem-Solving
23 22 (3.08%) Test Automation
24 21 (2.94%) Validation
24 21 (2.94%) Wi-Fi
25 20 (2.80%) DevOps
25 20 (2.80%) Git
26 19 (2.66%) Software Architecture
27 18 (2.52%) Lightworks

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 (0.14%) Confluence
Applications
1 18 (2.52%) Lightworks
2 11 (1.54%) Simulink
3 2 (0.28%) CANalyzer
Cloud Services
1 7 (0.98%) Azure
2 6 (0.84%) Azure DevOps
3 5 (0.70%) AWS
4 2 (0.28%) AWS IoT
4 2 (0.28%) GCP
Communications & Networking
1 56 (7.84%) Wireless
2 31 (4.34%) Bluetooth
3 30 (4.20%) Ethernet
4 24 (3.36%) Modbus
5 21 (2.94%) Wi-Fi
6 17 (2.38%) RS-232
6 17 (2.38%) ZigBee
7 12 (1.68%) LTE
8 11 (1.54%) RS-485
9 10 (1.40%) MQTT
9 10 (1.40%) Profibus
10 8 (1.12%) TCP/IP
11 2 (0.28%) LoRaWAN
11 2 (0.28%) Software-Defined Radio
12 1 (0.14%) 5G
12 1 (0.14%) Multicast
12 1 (0.14%) NGN
12 1 (0.14%) SNMP
12 1 (0.14%) VLAN
Development Applications
1 20 (2.80%) Git
2 11 (1.54%) Jenkins
3 7 (0.98%) GDB
4 6 (0.84%) CMake
4 6 (0.84%) GitLab
5 5 (0.70%) PetaLinux
6 4 (0.56%) Robot Framework
7 3 (0.42%) JIRA
8 2 (0.28%) CANoe
9 1 (0.14%) Bitbucket
9 1 (0.14%) Eclipse
9 1 (0.14%) GoogleTest
9 1 (0.14%) SonarQube
9 1 (0.14%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 84 (11.76%) Electronics
2 42 (5.88%) Manufacturing
3 35 (4.90%) Automotive
4 25 (3.50%) Aviation
5 19 (2.66%) Social Skills
6 17 (2.38%) Aerospace
7 9 (1.26%) Organisational Skills
8 5 (0.70%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 4 (0.56%) Law
10 3 (0.42%) Finance
10 3 (0.42%) Multimedia
11 2 (0.28%) Wearables
12 1 (0.14%) Analytical Skills
12 1 (0.14%) Cyber-Physical System
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 24 (3.36%) Yocto
2 5 (0.70%) Qt
3 4 (0.56%) GraphQL
3 4 (0.56%) pytest
3 4 (0.56%) Unity DI Container
3 4 (0.56%) WebSockets
4 3 (0.42%) Middleware
4 3 (0.42%) PyTorch
4 3 (0.42%) TensorFlow
5 1 (0.14%) QML
5 1 (0.14%) Qt Quick
Miscellaneous
1 89 (12.46%) Embedded Systems
2 39 (5.46%) IoT
3 25 (3.50%) Device Driver
4 21 (2.94%) ARM Cortex
5 20 (2.80%) Algorithms
6 12 (1.68%) Raspberry Pi
7 8 (1.12%) Robotics
8 6 (0.84%) CAN bus
8 6 (0.84%) FPGA
9 4 (0.56%) Verilog
9 4 (0.56%) VHDL
10 3 (0.42%) Media Streaming
11 1 (0.14%) Data Structures
11 1 (0.14%) Linux Command Line
11 1 (0.14%) Smart Energy
Operating Systems
1 107 (14.99%) Linux
2 58 (8.12%) Embedded Linux
3 29 (4.06%) FreeRTOS
4 5 (0.70%) VxWorks
5 2 (0.28%) SafeRTOS
6 1 (0.14%) ThreadX
Processes & Methodologies
1 714 (100.00%) Software Engineering
2 71 (9.94%) Embedded Software Development
3 28 (3.92%) CI/CD
4 27 (3.78%) Collaborative Engineering
5 26 (3.64%) Software Testing
6 25 (3.50%) Computer Science
7 23 (3.22%) Problem-Solving
8 22 (3.08%) Test Automation
9 21 (2.94%) Validation
10 20 (2.80%) DevOps
11 19 (2.66%) Software Architecture
12 18 (2.52%) Technology Transformation
13 17 (2.38%) Continuous Improvement
14 15 (2.10%) Signal Processing
15 14 (1.96%) Collaborative Culture
16 11 (1.54%) Cybersecurity
17 10 (1.40%) Agile
17 10 (1.40%) Mentoring
18 9 (1.26%) AI
18 9 (1.26%) TDD
Programming Languages
1 161 (22.55%) C
2 146 (20.45%) C++
3 48 (6.72%) Embedded C
4 37 (5.18%) Python
5 34 (4.76%) Embedded C++
6 15 (2.10%) MATLAB
7 11 (1.54%) Rust
8 5 (0.70%) Ada
8 5 (0.70%) Bash
9 1 (0.14%) Assembly Language
9 1 (0.14%) C#
9 1 (0.14%) R
Qualifications
1 32 (4.48%) Degree
2 14 (1.96%) Master's Degree
3 8 (1.12%) Security Cleared
4 7 (0.98%) Computer Science Degree
5 5 (0.70%) SC Cleared
6 4 (0.56%) DV Cleared
7 3 (0.42%) BPSS Clearance
8 2 (0.28%) HNC
8 2 (0.28%) HND
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 6 (0.84%) IEC 61508
1 6 (0.84%) JTAG
2 5 (0.70%) MISRA
2 5 (0.70%) MISRA C
3 4 (0.56%) ECSS
3 4 (0.56%) QA
4 3 (0.42%) Accessibility
4 3 (0.42%) ISO 26262
5 2 (0.28%) Automotive SPICE
6 1 (0.14%) DO-254
6 1 (0.14%) HAZOP
6 1 (0.14%) IEC 62304
System Software
1 123 (17.23%) Firmware
2 43 (6.02%) Embedded Firmware
3 5 (0.70%) Docker
Systems Management
1 4 (0.56%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 4 (0.56%) Peregrine
1 4 (0.56%) Xilinx
2 3 (0.42%) Google
3 2 (0.28%) Atlassian
4 1 (0.14%) Microsoft