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 4 September 2026.

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

6 months to
4 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 576 622 468
Rank change year-on-year +46 -154 +157
Permanent jobs requiring a Hardware Engineer 229 59 354
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.21% 0.12% 0.45%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.22% 0.13% 0.47%
Number of salaries quoted 156 39 224
10th Percentile £31,250 £25,375 £33,250
25th Percentile £49,438 £42,500 £43,688
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £48,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year +35.42% -4.00% +11.11%
75th Percentile £75,000 £61,125 £65,000
90th Percentile - £75,000 £70,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £65,000 £48,000 £51,250
% change year-on-year +35.42% -6.34% +13.89%

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 103,497 43,997 75,693
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.82% 89.68% 95.22%
Number of salaries quoted 71,228 25,950 47,905
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,169 £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 £76,250 £74,258 £72,500
90th Percentile £97,500 £95,000 £92,159
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 4 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 4 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 +50 213 £65,000 +35.42% 115
England +39 180 £65,000 +30.00% 118
South East +37 93 £65,000 -13.33% 32
Scotland +33 36 £65,000 +148.57% 9
East of England +4 33 £70,000 +16.67% 51
Work from Home -34 28 £75,000 +57.89% 35
South West -59 20 £30,000 -40.00% 14
Midlands -38 15 £75,000 +66.67% 8
North of England -45 15 £50,500 +1.00% 7
West Midlands -18 12 £75,000 +30.43% 5
North East - 12 £50,500 - 1
London - 4 £80,000 - 12
East Midlands -44 3 £50,000 +11.11% 3
North West -17 2 - - 5
Yorkshire -42 1 £50,000 - 1
Northern Ireland - 1 £65,000 -

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

For the 6 months to 4 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 48 (20.96%) Degree
2 32 (13.97%) Problem-Solving
3 30 (13.10%) Validation
4 28 (12.23%) BPSS Clearance
5 23 (10.04%) HND
6 21 (9.17%) Coaching
7 19 (8.30%) Mentor Graphics
8 18 (7.86%) EMC
9 16 (6.99%) DO-254
9 16 (6.99%) Security Cleared
9 16 (6.99%) Software Engineering
9 16 (6.99%) Technical Leadership
10 14 (6.11%) Firmware
11 12 (5.24%) Python
11 12 (5.24%) Schematic Capture
11 12 (5.24%) Test Automation
11 12 (5.24%) Wireless
12 9 (3.93%) C
12 9 (3.93%) Prototyping
12 9 (3.93%) Verification and Validation
13 8 (3.49%) Design for Manufacturing
13 8 (3.49%) Mentoring
14 7 (3.06%) Embedded Firmware
14 7 (3.06%) Software Testing
15 6 (2.62%) Embedded C
15 6 (2.62%) MATLAB
15 6 (2.62%) Simulink
16 5 (2.18%) FMEA
16 5 (2.18%) Functional Safety
16 5 (2.18%) Project Delivery

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 (2.62%) Simulink
2 1 (0.44%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.44%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.44%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 1 (0.44%) OrCAD
Cloud Services
1 1 (0.44%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 12 (5.24%) Wireless
2 4 (1.75%) Wi-Fi
3 3 (1.31%) 5G
3 3 (1.31%) Bluetooth
3 3 (1.31%) Ethernet
3 3 (1.31%) Gigabit Ethernet
3 3 (1.31%) GSM
3 3 (1.31%) RS-232
3 3 (1.31%) RS-485
3 3 (1.31%) ZigBee
4 1 (0.44%) NFC
4 1 (0.44%) SAN
Development Applications
1 1 (0.44%) LabVIEW
General
1 100 (43.67%) Electronics
2 39 (17.03%) Aerospace
3 34 (14.85%) Manufacturing
4 25 (10.92%) Analytical Skills
5 21 (9.17%) Finance
6 17 (7.42%) Wearables
7 13 (5.68%) Social Skills
8 8 (3.49%) Automotive
9 5 (2.18%) Advertising
9 5 (2.18%) Telecoms
10 4 (1.75%) Organisational Skills
10 4 (1.75%) Retail
11 2 (0.87%) Documentation Skills
12 1 (0.44%) Health Technology
12 1 (0.44%) Marketing
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (1.31%) Flash
Miscellaneous
1 30 (13.10%) Analogue Electronics
2 27 (11.79%) Embedded Systems
2 27 (11.79%) IoT
3 7 (3.06%) Algorithms
4 5 (2.18%) FPGA
5 4 (1.75%) Greenfield Project
6 3 (1.31%) Acoustics
6 3 (1.31%) EPoS
6 3 (1.31%) Handset
6 3 (1.31%) PCIe
6 3 (1.31%) Robotics
7 2 (0.87%) Driving Licence
7 2 (0.87%) Smart Energy
8 1 (0.44%) Data Centre
8 1 (0.44%) Mainframe
8 1 (0.44%) Product Ownership
8 1 (0.44%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 2 (0.87%) Windows
2 1 (0.44%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 32 (13.97%) Problem-Solving
2 30 (13.10%) Validation
3 21 (9.17%) Coaching
4 16 (6.99%) Software Engineering
4 16 (6.99%) Technical Leadership
5 12 (5.24%) Schematic Capture
5 12 (5.24%) Test Automation
6 9 (3.93%) Prototyping
6 9 (3.93%) Verification and Validation
7 8 (3.49%) Design for Manufacturing
7 8 (3.49%) Mentoring
8 7 (3.06%) Software Testing
9 5 (2.18%) FMEA
9 5 (2.18%) Project Delivery
9 5 (2.18%) Root Cause Analysis
10 4 (1.75%) Cost Optimisation
10 4 (1.75%) Cybersecurity
10 4 (1.75%) Line Management
10 4 (1.75%) People Management
10 4 (1.75%) Test Strategy
Programming Languages
1 12 (5.24%) Python
2 9 (3.93%) C
3 6 (2.62%) Embedded C
3 6 (2.62%) MATLAB
4 3 (1.31%) C++
5 2 (0.87%) C#
Qualifications
1 48 (20.96%) Degree
2 28 (12.23%) BPSS Clearance
3 23 (10.04%) HND
4 16 (6.99%) Security Cleared
5 4 (1.75%) DBS Check
5 4 (1.75%) HNC
5 4 (1.75%) SC Cleared
6 2 (0.87%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (6.99%) DO-254
2 4 (1.75%) ISO 14001
2 4 (1.75%) ISO 9001
2 4 (1.75%) QA
3 2 (0.87%) JTAG
4 1 (0.44%) DO-160
4 1 (0.44%) ISO 13485
System Software
1 14 (6.11%) Firmware
2 7 (3.06%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 5 (2.18%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 19 (8.30%) Mentor Graphics
2 18 (7.86%) EMC
3 4 (1.75%) IBM
3 4 (1.75%) Microsoft
4 3 (1.31%) HP