Hardware Engineer Job Trends

Hardware Engineer
UK

The median Hardware Engineer salary in the UK is £65,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 10 September 2026.

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

6 months to
10 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 570 613 473
Rank change year-on-year +43 -140 +193
Permanent jobs requiring a Hardware Engineer 239 60 341
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.21% 0.12% 0.43%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.23% 0.13% 0.46%
Number of salaries quoted 162 39 211
10th Percentile £31,250 £25,375 £35,000
25th Percentile £50,000 £42,500 £43,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £48,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +35.42% -8.57% +16.67%
75th Percentile £75,000 £61,125 £65,000
90th Percentile - £75,000 £70,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £65,000 £48,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year +35.42% -8.57% +16.67%

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 105,685 44,574 74,714
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.54% 89.72% 95.24%
Number of salaries quoted 72,853 26,277 45,811
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,250 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £36,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £57,500 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.55% - -8.33%
75th Percentile £77,000 £75,000 £73,750
90th Percentile £97,500 £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%

Hardware Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Hardware Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK

Hardware Engineer
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for Hardware Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for Hardware Engineer job vacancies in the UK

Hardware Engineer
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Hardware Engineer over the 6 months to 10 September 2026.

Salary histogram for Hardware Engineer in the UK

Hardware 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 Hardware Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 10 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
UK excluding London +49 224 £65,000 +35.42% 78
England +21 189 £65,000 +30.00% 78
South East +62 95 £65,000 -13.33% 27
Scotland +35 38 £65,000 +148.57% 9
East of England +1 35 £70,000 +16.67% 29
Work from Home -27 28 £75,000 +57.89% 26
South West -62 24 £35,500 -29.00% 5
North of England -41 16 £50,500 +1.00% 6
Midlands -46 15 £75,000 +66.67% 7
West Midlands -20 12 £75,000 +30.43% 3
North East - 12 £50,500 -
London - 4 £80,000 - 8
North West -11 3 - - 6
East Midlands -34 3 £50,000 +11.11% 4
Yorkshire -46 1 £50,000 -
Northern Ireland - 1 £65,000 -

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

For the 6 months to 10 September 2026, Hardware 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 Hardware Engineer in the job title.

1 49 (20.50%) Degree
2 33 (13.81%) Problem-Solving
3 30 (12.55%) Validation
4 28 (11.72%) BPSS Clearance
5 23 (9.62%) HND
6 21 (8.79%) Coaching
7 19 (7.95%) Mentor Graphics
8 18 (7.53%) EMC
9 17 (7.11%) DO-254
9 17 (7.11%) Software Engineering
10 16 (6.69%) Security Cleared
10 16 (6.69%) Technical Leadership
11 14 (5.86%) Firmware
12 13 (5.44%) Test Automation
13 12 (5.02%) Python
13 12 (5.02%) Schematic Capture
13 12 (5.02%) Wireless
14 9 (3.77%) C
14 9 (3.77%) Mentoring
14 9 (3.77%) Prototyping
14 9 (3.77%) Verification and Validation
15 8 (3.35%) Design for Manufacturing
16 7 (2.93%) Embedded Firmware
16 7 (2.93%) Software Testing
17 6 (2.51%) Embedded C
17 6 (2.51%) MATLAB
17 6 (2.51%) Simulink
18 5 (2.09%) Business Intelligence
18 5 (2.09%) Cybersecurity
18 5 (2.09%) FMEA

Hardware 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:

Applications
1 6 (2.51%) Simulink
2 1 (0.42%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.42%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.42%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 1 (0.42%) OrCAD
Cloud Services
1 1 (0.42%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 12 (5.02%) Wireless
2 4 (1.67%) Wi-Fi
3 3 (1.26%) 5G
3 3 (1.26%) Bluetooth
3 3 (1.26%) Ethernet
3 3 (1.26%) Gigabit Ethernet
3 3 (1.26%) GSM
3 3 (1.26%) RS-232
3 3 (1.26%) RS-485
3 3 (1.26%) ZigBee
4 1 (0.42%) NFC
4 1 (0.42%) SAN
Development Applications
1 1 (0.42%) LabVIEW
General
1 102 (42.68%) Electronics
2 42 (17.57%) Aerospace
3 37 (15.48%) Manufacturing
4 25 (10.46%) Analytical Skills
5 21 (8.79%) Finance
6 17 (7.11%) Wearables
7 13 (5.44%) Social Skills
8 8 (3.35%) Automotive
9 5 (2.09%) Advertising
9 5 (2.09%) Telecoms
10 4 (1.67%) Organisational Skills
10 4 (1.67%) Retail
11 2 (0.84%) Documentation Skills
12 1 (0.42%) Health Technology
12 1 (0.42%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 1 (0.42%) Marketing
12 1 (0.42%) Military
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (1.26%) Flash
Miscellaneous
1 30 (12.55%) Analogue Electronics
2 28 (11.72%) Embedded Systems
3 27 (11.30%) IoT
4 7 (2.93%) Algorithms
5 6 (2.51%) FPGA
6 4 (1.67%) Greenfield Project
6 4 (1.67%) Robotics
7 3 (1.26%) Acoustics
7 3 (1.26%) EPoS
7 3 (1.26%) Handset
7 3 (1.26%) PCIe
8 2 (0.84%) Driving Licence
8 2 (0.84%) Smart Energy
9 1 (0.42%) Data Centre
9 1 (0.42%) Mainframe
9 1 (0.42%) Product Ownership
9 1 (0.42%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 2 (0.84%) Windows
2 1 (0.42%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 33 (13.81%) Problem-Solving
2 30 (12.55%) Validation
3 21 (8.79%) Coaching
4 17 (7.11%) Software Engineering
5 16 (6.69%) Technical Leadership
6 13 (5.44%) Test Automation
7 12 (5.02%) Schematic Capture
8 9 (3.77%) Mentoring
8 9 (3.77%) Prototyping
8 9 (3.77%) Verification and Validation
9 8 (3.35%) Design for Manufacturing
10 7 (2.93%) Software Testing
11 5 (2.09%) Business Intelligence
11 5 (2.09%) Cybersecurity
11 5 (2.09%) FMEA
11 5 (2.09%) Project Delivery
11 5 (2.09%) Root Cause Analysis
11 5 (2.09%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 4 (1.67%) Commercial Awareness
12 4 (1.67%) People Management
Programming Languages
1 12 (5.02%) Python
2 9 (3.77%) C
3 6 (2.51%) Embedded C
3 6 (2.51%) MATLAB
4 3 (1.26%) C++
5 2 (0.84%) C#
Qualifications
1 49 (20.50%) Degree
2 28 (11.72%) BPSS Clearance
3 23 (9.62%) HND
4 16 (6.69%) Security Cleared
5 4 (1.67%) DBS Check
5 4 (1.67%) HNC
5 4 (1.67%) SC Cleared
6 2 (0.84%) Master's Degree
7 1 (0.42%) Computer Science Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 17 (7.11%) DO-254
2 4 (1.67%) ISO 14001
2 4 (1.67%) ISO 9001
2 4 (1.67%) QA
3 2 (0.84%) JTAG
4 1 (0.42%) Accessibility
4 1 (0.42%) DO-160
4 1 (0.42%) IEC 61508
4 1 (0.42%) ISO 13485
System Software
1 14 (5.86%) Firmware
2 7 (2.93%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 5 (2.09%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 19 (7.95%) Mentor Graphics
2 18 (7.53%) EMC
3 4 (1.67%) IBM
3 4 (1.67%) Microsoft
4 3 (1.26%) HP