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 8 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
8 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 662 590 833
Rank change year-on-year -72 +243 +20
Permanent jobs citing IEC 61508 49 36 26
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.059% 0.088% 0.029%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 0.54% 0.55% 0.20%
Number of salaries quoted 29 5 14
10th Percentile £51,250 £50,100 £46,250
25th Percentile £52,500 - £48,563
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £61,500 £75,000
Median % change year-on-year -2.44% -18.00% +15.38%
75th Percentile £65,000 - £88,438
90th Percentile £68,750 £65,100 £107,500
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 9,092 6,569 12,754
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 10.98% 16.06% 14.01%
Number of salaries quoted 5,291 3,851 9,034
10th Percentile £31,250 £30,375 £27,300
25th Percentile £42,500 £42,500 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £60,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year - +14.29% -8.70%
75th Percentile £79,250 £77,500 £70,475
90th Percentile £95,000 £95,000 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £53,000 £47,500
% change year-on-year -0.94% +11.58% -5.00%

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 8 April 2026.

Salary histogram for IEC 61508 in the UK

IEC 61508
Top 13 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 8 April 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 -58 43 £60,000 -2.44% 29
England -61 28 £55,000 -10.57% 33
Work from Home +13 14 £60,000 - 13
North West -31 14 £51,108 - 3
North of England -52 14 £51,108 +13.57% 6
Scotland -13 11 £60,000 -
Wales -21 7 £57,500 -
Midlands - 7 £65,000 - 11
West Midlands - 6 £65,000 - 7
South East -33 4 £55,000 - 4
London - 3 £55,000 - 8
South West -58 1 £50,000 -18.70% 7
East Midlands - 1 - - 4

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 (12.24%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (4.08%) AutoCAD
3 1 (2.04%) EPLAN
Cloud Services
1 2 (4.08%) AWS
1 2 (4.08%) AWS CodePipeline
Communications & Networking
1 2 (4.08%) Ethernet
1 2 (4.08%) Modbus
1 2 (4.08%) Profibus
1 2 (4.08%) RS-485
Development Applications
1 8 (16.33%) Git
2 2 (4.08%) Jenkins
2 2 (4.08%) Polyspace
2 2 (4.08%) VectorCAST
General
1 12 (24.49%) Social Skills
2 7 (14.29%) Aerospace
2 7 (14.29%) Manufacturing
3 5 (10.20%) Automotive
4 4 (8.16%) Aviation
5 3 (6.12%) Analytical Skills
5 3 (6.12%) Electronics
6 1 (2.04%) Finance
Job Titles
1 33 (67.35%) Senior
2 21 (42.86%) Embedded Engineer
3 17 (34.69%) Embedded Software Engineer
3 17 (34.69%) Software Engineer
4 16 (32.65%) Senior Embedded Engineer
4 16 (32.65%) Senior Embedded Software Engineer
4 16 (32.65%) Senior Software Engineer
5 11 (22.45%) Instrumentation Engineer
5 11 (22.45%) Senior Electrical Engineer
5 11 (22.45%) Systems Engineer
6 8 (16.33%) Control Systems Engineer
7 6 (12.24%) Senior Systems Engineer
8 4 (8.16%) Firmware Engineer
8 4 (8.16%) Safety Engineer
9 3 (6.12%) Embedded Firmware Engineer
9 3 (6.12%) Engineering Manager
9 3 (6.12%) Principal Engineer
9 3 (6.12%) Systems Safety Engineer
10 2 (4.08%) QA Engineer
10 2 (4.08%) QA Test Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 2 (4.08%) pytest
Miscellaneous
1 13 (26.53%) Embedded Systems
2 11 (22.45%) CAN bus
3 7 (14.29%) SCADA
4 5 (10.20%) Robotics
5 4 (8.16%) Algorithms
5 4 (8.16%) FPGA
5 4 (8.16%) Onboarding
6 3 (6.12%) ARM Cortex
7 1 (2.04%) Driving Licence
7 1 (2.04%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 6 (12.24%) FreeRTOS
2 1 (2.04%) SafeRTOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 21 (42.86%) Software Engineering
2 19 (38.78%) Systems Engineering
3 15 (30.61%) Safety Engineering
4 13 (26.53%) Embedded Software Development
4 13 (26.53%) SDLC
5 12 (24.49%) Acceptance Criteria
5 12 (24.49%) Cybersecurity
5 12 (24.49%) Validation
6 10 (20.41%) System Testing
7 8 (16.33%) Collaborative Working
7 8 (16.33%) Continuous Improvement
7 8 (16.33%) Control Theory
8 7 (14.29%) Test Automation
9 6 (12.24%) CI/CD
10 5 (10.20%) AI
10 5 (10.20%) Secure Coding
10 5 (10.20%) Technical Leadership
11 4 (8.16%) Agile
11 4 (8.16%) OO
11 4 (8.16%) Software Testing
Programming Languages
1 21 (42.86%) C
2 14 (28.57%) C++
3 4 (8.16%) Python
4 2 (4.08%) Bash
4 2 (4.08%) MATLAB
5 1 (2.04%) Embedded C
5 1 (2.04%) Embedded C++
5 1 (2.04%) Ladder Logic
5 1 (2.04%) R
Qualifications
1 27 (55.10%) Degree
2 21 (42.86%) BPSS Clearance
3 14 (28.57%) Master's Degree
4 3 (6.12%) PhD
5 2 (4.08%) Computer Science Degree
5 2 (4.08%) SC Cleared
5 2 (4.08%) Security Cleared
6 1 (2.04%) Chartered Engineer
6 1 (2.04%) HND
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (32.65%) MISRA
1 16 (32.65%) MISRA C
2 10 (20.41%) ISO 26262
3 5 (10.20%) Def Stans
4 4 (8.16%) DO-254
4 4 (8.16%) HAZOP
5 2 (4.08%) QA
6 1 (2.04%) IEC 61131
6 1 (2.04%) IEC 62304
System Software
1 10 (20.41%) Firmware
2 6 (12.24%) Embedded Firmware
Systems Management
1 26 (53.06%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 7 (14.29%) Allen-Bradley
1 7 (14.29%) Siemens
2 2 (4.08%) EMC
2 2 (4.08%) Rockwell