IEC 61508 Job Trends

IEC 61508
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs requiring IEC 61508 skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 28 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
28 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 634 633 788
Rank change year-on-year -1 +155 +87
Permanent jobs citing IEC 61508 37 38 29
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.053% 0.080% 0.038%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 0.45% 0.49% 0.27%
Number of salaries quoted 18 4 16
10th Percentile £51,250 - £46,250
25th Percentile £55,000 - £53,188
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £61,500 £75,000
Median % change year-on-year -2.44% -18.00% +11.11%
75th Percentile £65,000 £64,875 £88,500
90th Percentile £72,375 £70,950 £102,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £60,000 £61,500 £75,000
% change year-on-year -2.44% -18.00% +20.00%

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
UK

IEC 61508 falls under the Quality Assurance and Compliance category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring quality assurance or compliance skills.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 8,278 7,767 10,815
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 11.82% 16.43% 14.26%
Number of salaries quoted 4,662 3,665 7,960
10th Percentile £30,370 £31,250 £27,500
25th Percentile £42,029 £43,750 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year - +9.09% -4.35%
75th Percentile £80,000 £77,750 £72,500
90th Percentile £95,000 £95,000 £91,250
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £54,375 £48,500
% change year-on-year -8.05% +12.11% -3.00%

IEC 61508
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing IEC 61508 relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

IEC 61508 job vacancy trend in the UK

IEC 61508
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing IEC 61508.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing IEC 61508

IEC 61508
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing IEC 61508 over the 6 months to 28 February 2026.

Salary histogram for IEC 61508 in the UK

IEC 61508
Top 12 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing IEC 61508 within the UK over the 6 months to 28 February 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 -5 32 £60,000 -2.44% 18
England +5 16 £75,000 +21.95% 22
Work from Home - 14 £60,000 - 4
Scotland -2 11 £60,000 -
North West -2 11 - - 2
North of England -7 11 - - 3
Wales +4 7 £57,500 -
London +26 2 £75,000 +7.14% 5
South East -8 2 - - 3
Midlands - 2 - - 3
East Midlands - 1 - - 2
West Midlands - 1 - - 1

IEC 61508
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 (16.22%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (5.41%) AutoCAD
3 1 (2.70%) EPLAN
Communications & Networking
1 2 (5.41%) Profibus
1 2 (5.41%) RS-485
Development Applications
1 4 (10.81%) Git
General
1 9 (24.32%) Social Skills
2 7 (18.92%) Manufacturing
3 4 (10.81%) Aviation
4 2 (5.41%) Military
5 1 (2.70%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 26 (70.27%) Senior
2 14 (37.84%) Embedded Engineer
3 11 (29.73%) Embedded Software Engineer
3 11 (29.73%) Senior Embedded Engineer
3 11 (29.73%) Senior Embedded Software Engineer
3 11 (29.73%) Senior Software Engineer
3 11 (29.73%) Software Engineer
4 9 (24.32%) Instrumentation Engineer
4 9 (24.32%) Senior Electrical Engineer
5 7 (18.92%) Control Systems Engineer
5 7 (18.92%) Systems Engineer
6 6 (16.22%) Senior Systems Engineer
7 5 (13.51%) Principal Engineer
8 4 (10.81%) Firmware Engineer
9 3 (8.11%) Embedded Firmware Engineer
9 3 (8.11%) Safety Engineer
10 2 (5.41%) Software Support Engineer
10 2 (5.41%) Support Engineer
11 1 (2.70%) Electrical Engineer
11 1 (2.70%) Lead
Miscellaneous
1 11 (29.73%) CAN bus
1 11 (29.73%) Embedded Systems
2 6 (16.22%) SCADA
3 4 (10.81%) Algorithms
3 4 (10.81%) FPGA
3 4 (10.81%) Onboarding
4 1 (2.70%) Driving Licence
4 1 (2.70%) Operational Technology
Processes & Methodologies
1 15 (40.54%) Software Engineering
2 13 (35.14%) SDLC
2 13 (35.14%) Systems Engineering
3 12 (32.43%) Safety Engineering
4 11 (29.73%) Cybersecurity
4 11 (29.73%) Embedded Software Development
5 10 (27.03%) System Testing
6 7 (18.92%) Acceptance Criteria
6 7 (18.92%) Control Theory
7 6 (16.22%) Collaborative Working
7 6 (16.22%) Continuous Improvement
7 6 (16.22%) Validation
8 4 (10.81%) Agile
8 4 (10.81%) CI/CD
8 4 (10.81%) OO
8 4 (10.81%) Technical Leadership
8 4 (10.81%) Test Automation
9 2 (5.41%) FMECA
9 2 (5.41%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 2 (5.41%) Workshop Facilitation
Programming Languages
1 15 (40.54%) C
2 11 (29.73%) C++
Qualifications
1 20 (54.05%) Degree
2 18 (48.65%) BPSS Clearance
3 9 (24.32%) Master's Degree
4 1 (2.70%) HND
4 1 (2.70%) SC Cleared
4 1 (2.70%) Security Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 11 (29.73%) MISRA
1 11 (29.73%) MISRA C
2 4 (10.81%) ISO 26262
3 3 (8.11%) Def Stans
4 1 (2.70%) IEC 61131
System Software
1 6 (16.22%) Firmware
2 4 (10.81%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 23 (62.16%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 7 (18.92%) Allen-Bradley
1 7 (18.92%) Siemens
2 2 (5.41%) EMC
2 2 (5.41%) Rockwell