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 4 November 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
4 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 630 724 694
Rank change year-on-year +94 -30 +290
Permanent jobs citing IEC 61508 23 23 27
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.046% 0.034% 0.051%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 0.30% 0.24% 0.34%
Number of salaries quoted 6 2 15
10th Percentile £48,125 £65,625 £55,000
25th Percentile £58,125 £66,563 £62,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £75,000 £71,250 £70,000
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% +1.79% +42.86%
75th Percentile - £74,688 £75,000
90th Percentile - £74,875 -
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £72,500 £70,000
% change year-on-year -24.14% +3.57% +42.86%

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 7,628 9,627 7,828
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 15.17% 14.23% 14.69%
Number of salaries quoted 4,378 4,372 5,991
10th Percentile £30,000 £30,500 £32,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £42,000 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £57,500 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -4.17% - +5.26%
75th Percentile £77,500 £78,750 £77,500
90th Percentile £93,750 £97,500 £95,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £50,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year - -4.76% +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 4 November 2025.

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 4 November 2025. 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
England +100 22 £75,000 +5.26% 28
UK excluding London +74 20 £55,000 -24.14% 37
Midlands - 9 £61,250 - 2
West Midlands - 7 £75,000 - 1
North of England +12 6 £47,500 -
North West +10 5 - -
Work from Home +67 4 £75,000 +3.45% 6
South East +37 4 - - 4
South West +28 4 £55,000 - 21
London +53 3 £75,000 +7.14% 1
East Midlands - 2 £47,500 - 1
Yorkshire - 1 £47,500 -
Scotland - 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:

Application Platforms
1 7 (30.43%) WinCC
2 4 (17.39%) FactoryTalk
3 2 (8.70%) ArchestrA
Applications
1 1 (4.35%) AutoCAD
1 1 (4.35%) EPLAN
Communications & Networking
1 8 (34.78%) Modbus
2 7 (30.43%) Firewall
3 3 (13.04%) Profibus
4 1 (4.35%) Ethernet
General
1 4 (17.39%) Manufacturing
2 3 (13.04%) Aerospace
2 3 (13.04%) Automotive
2 3 (13.04%) Military
3 2 (8.70%) Social Skills
4 1 (4.35%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 10 (43.48%) Principal Engineer
2 6 (26.09%) Senior
3 5 (21.74%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 5 (21.74%) Safety Engineer
4 4 (17.39%) Lead
4 4 (17.39%) Software Engineer
5 3 (13.04%) Control Systems Engineer
5 3 (13.04%) Engineering Manager
5 3 (13.04%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
5 3 (13.04%) Senior Manager
5 3 (13.04%) Systems Engineer
6 2 (8.70%) Embedded Engineer
6 2 (8.70%) Embedded Software Engineer
6 2 (8.70%) Lead Infrastructure Engineer
6 2 (8.70%) Lead Software Engineer
6 2 (8.70%) Lead Systems Engineer
6 2 (8.70%) Software Support Engineer
6 2 (8.70%) Support Engineer
Miscellaneous
1 8 (34.78%) Operational Technology
2 7 (30.43%) Driving Licence
2 7 (30.43%) SCADA
3 5 (21.74%) Legacy Systems
3 5 (21.74%) Renewable Energy
4 1 (4.35%) ARM Cortex
4 1 (4.35%) Embedded Systems
Operating Systems
1 7 (30.43%) Windows
1 7 (30.43%) Windows Server
2 5 (21.74%) Windows Server 2016
3 3 (13.04%) Windows Server 2019
4 1 (4.35%) FreeRTOS
4 1 (4.35%) SafeRTOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 5 (21.74%) FMECA
1 5 (21.74%) Infrastructure Engineering
1 5 (21.74%) Presales
1 5 (21.74%) Safety Engineering
1 5 (21.74%) Stakeholder Engagement
2 4 (17.39%) Cybersecurity
2 4 (17.39%) Software Engineering
3 3 (13.04%) Network Design
3 3 (13.04%) Project Delivery
3 3 (13.04%) Project Management
3 3 (13.04%) Supply Chain Management
4 2 (8.70%) Configuration Management
4 2 (8.70%) Logistics
4 2 (8.70%) Network Architecture
4 2 (8.70%) SDLC
4 2 (8.70%) Technical Leadership
4 2 (8.70%) Workshop Facilitation
5 1 (4.35%) Embedded Software Development
5 1 (4.35%) Project Planning
5 1 (4.35%) Software Testing
Programming Languages
1 2 (8.70%) C
1 2 (8.70%) Ladder Logic
2 1 (4.35%) C++
Qualifications
1 12 (52.17%) Degree
2 8 (34.78%) BPSS Clearance
3 6 (26.09%) Chartered Engineer
4 5 (21.74%) Master's Degree
5 3 (13.04%) SC Cleared
5 3 (13.04%) Security Cleared
6 2 (8.70%) HNC
6 2 (8.70%) HND
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 7 (30.43%) Def Stans
1 7 (30.43%) QA
2 6 (26.09%) IEC 61131
3 3 (13.04%) DO-254
4 2 (8.70%) HAZOP
5 1 (4.35%) DO-178B
5 1 (4.35%) IEC 62304
5 1 (4.35%) ISO 26262
System Software
1 7 (30.43%) Hyper-V
1 7 (30.43%) VMware Infrastructure
2 5 (21.74%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 5 (21.74%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 8 (34.78%) Rockwell
1 8 (34.78%) Siemens
2 7 (30.43%) VMware
3 2 (8.70%) Allen-Bradley