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 19 September 2026.

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

6 months to
19 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 541 615 477
Rank change year-on-year +74 -138 +196
Permanent jobs requiring a Hardware Engineer 257 60 330
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.22% 0.12% 0.42%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.24% 0.14% 0.44%
Number of salaries quoted 167 38 202
10th Percentile £31,250 £25,375 £35,000
25th Percentile £50,000 £41,875 £43,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £48,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +35.42% -8.57% +13.51%
75th Percentile £73,750 £60,750 £65,000
90th Percentile £75,000 £75,000 £70,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £65,000 £48,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year +35.42% -8.57% +13.51%

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 108,200 44,314 74,420
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.19% 89.66% 95.24%
Number of salaries quoted 74,226 26,055 44,614
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,250 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,250 £36,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £58,500 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +6.36% - -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%

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 19 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 19 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 +41 243 £65,000 +35.42% 181
England +36 204 £65,000 +30.00% 202
South East +45 103 £65,000 -11.86% 49
Scotland +37 41 £62,500 +139.01% 16
East of England +3 36 £70,000 +16.67% 78
Work from Home -31 29 £75,000 +57.89% 53
South West -54 27 £35,500 -29.00% 20
North of England -53 20 £50,500 +1.00% 11
Midlands -48 15 £75,000 +66.67% 13
North East - 13 £50,500 - 2
West Midlands -36 12 £75,000 +30.43% 5
North West -13 6 - - 7
East Midlands -46 3 - - 8
London - 3 £80,000 - 22
Yorkshire -44 1 £50,000 - 2
Northern Ireland - 1 £65,000 -

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

For the 6 months to 19 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 55 (21.40%) Degree
2 36 (14.01%) Problem-Solving
3 34 (13.23%) BPSS Clearance
4 32 (12.45%) Validation
5 29 (11.28%) HND
6 24 (9.34%) Coaching
7 22 (8.56%) Mentor Graphics
8 21 (8.17%) Software Engineering
9 20 (7.78%) DO-254
10 19 (7.39%) EMC
11 17 (6.61%) Security Cleared
12 16 (6.23%) Technical Leadership
13 15 (5.84%) Test Automation
14 13 (5.06%) Firmware
14 13 (5.06%) Schematic Capture
14 13 (5.06%) Wireless
15 12 (4.67%) Python
16 11 (4.28%) Verification and Validation
17 9 (3.50%) Design for Manufacturing
18 8 (3.11%) Mentoring
19 7 (2.72%) C
19 7 (2.72%) Embedded Firmware
19 7 (2.72%) HNC
19 7 (2.72%) Prototyping
20 6 (2.33%) Embedded C
20 6 (2.33%) MATLAB
20 6 (2.33%) SC Cleared
20 6 (2.33%) Simulink
21 5 (1.95%) Business Intelligence
21 5 (1.95%) Continuous Improvement

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 (2.33%) Simulink
2 1 (0.39%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.39%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.39%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 1 (0.39%) OrCAD
Cloud Services
1 2 (0.78%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 13 (5.06%) Wireless
2 5 (1.95%) Wi-Fi
3 4 (1.56%) Bluetooth
3 4 (1.56%) Ethernet
3 4 (1.56%) RS-485
4 3 (1.17%) 5G
4 3 (1.17%) Gigabit Ethernet
4 3 (1.17%) GSM
4 3 (1.17%) RS-232
4 3 (1.17%) ZigBee
5 1 (0.39%) NFC
5 1 (0.39%) RS-422
5 1 (0.39%) SAN
Development Applications
1 2 (0.78%) LabVIEW
General
1 110 (42.80%) Electronics
2 51 (19.84%) Aerospace
3 36 (14.01%) Manufacturing
4 29 (11.28%) Analytical Skills
5 27 (10.51%) Finance
6 17 (6.61%) Wearables
7 14 (5.45%) Social Skills
8 10 (3.89%) Automotive
9 6 (2.33%) Telecoms
10 5 (1.95%) Advertising
10 5 (1.95%) Retail
11 4 (1.56%) Organisational Skills
12 2 (0.78%) Documentation Skills
13 1 (0.39%) Avionics
13 1 (0.39%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 1 (0.39%) Marketing
13 1 (0.39%) Military
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (1.17%) Flash
Miscellaneous
1 33 (12.84%) Analogue Electronics
2 29 (11.28%) Embedded Systems
2 29 (11.28%) IoT
3 8 (3.11%) FPGA
4 7 (2.72%) Algorithms
5 5 (1.95%) Greenfield Project
6 4 (1.56%) Robotics
7 3 (1.17%) Acoustics
7 3 (1.17%) EPoS
7 3 (1.17%) Handset
7 3 (1.17%) PCIe
7 3 (1.17%) Smart Energy
8 2 (0.78%) Driving Licence
9 1 (0.39%) ARM Cortex
9 1 (0.39%) Data Centre
9 1 (0.39%) GNSS
9 1 (0.39%) Mainframe
9 1 (0.39%) Product Ownership
9 1 (0.39%) Replication
9 1 (0.39%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 5 (1.95%) Windows
2 1 (0.39%) Linux
2 1 (0.39%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 36 (14.01%) Problem-Solving
2 32 (12.45%) Validation
3 24 (9.34%) Coaching
4 21 (8.17%) Software Engineering
5 16 (6.23%) Technical Leadership
6 15 (5.84%) Test Automation
7 13 (5.06%) Schematic Capture
8 11 (4.28%) Verification and Validation
9 9 (3.50%) Design for Manufacturing
10 8 (3.11%) Mentoring
11 7 (2.72%) Prototyping
12 5 (1.95%) Business Intelligence
12 5 (1.95%) Continuous Improvement
12 5 (1.95%) Cybersecurity
12 5 (1.95%) FMEA
12 5 (1.95%) Project Delivery
12 5 (1.95%) Regulatory Compliance
12 5 (1.95%) Root Cause Analysis
12 5 (1.95%) Software Testing
12 5 (1.95%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 12 (4.67%) Python
2 7 (2.72%) C
3 6 (2.33%) Embedded C
3 6 (2.33%) MATLAB
4 2 (0.78%) C#
4 2 (0.78%) C++
Qualifications
1 55 (21.40%) Degree
2 34 (13.23%) BPSS Clearance
3 29 (11.28%) HND
4 17 (6.61%) Security Cleared
5 7 (2.72%) HNC
6 6 (2.33%) SC Cleared
7 5 (1.95%) DBS Check
8 2 (0.78%) Master's Degree
9 1 (0.39%) Computer Science Degree
9 1 (0.39%) EMC Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (7.78%) DO-254
2 5 (1.95%) ISO 9001
2 5 (1.95%) QA
3 4 (1.56%) ISO 14001
4 2 (0.78%) JTAG
5 1 (0.39%) Accessibility
5 1 (0.39%) Def Stans
5 1 (0.39%) DO-160
5 1 (0.39%) IEC 61508
5 1 (0.39%) ISO 13485
System Software
1 13 (5.06%) Firmware
2 7 (2.72%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 5 (1.95%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 22 (8.56%) Mentor Graphics
2 19 (7.39%) EMC
3 4 (1.56%) IBM
3 4 (1.56%) Microsoft
4 3 (1.17%) HP
5 1 (0.39%) Altera
5 1 (0.39%) Sage
5 1 (0.39%) Xilinx