Research Engineer Job Trends

Research Engineer
UK

The median Research Engineer salary in the UK is £59,811 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 26 September 2026.

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

6 months to
26 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 763 653 741
Rank change year-on-year -110 +88 -39
Permanent jobs requiring a Research Engineer 53 11 44
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.045% 0.022% 0.058%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.049% 0.025% 0.060%
Number of salaries quoted 44 5 40
10th Percentile - £61,000 £39,375
25th Percentile £46,939 £70,000 £40,561
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £59,811 £80,000 £50,000
Median % change year-on-year -25.24% +60.00% -35.48%
75th Percentile £87,500 - £80,000
90th Percentile £100,000 £104,750 £92,125
UK excluding London median annual salary £60,000 £80,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -25.00% +60.00% -9.09%

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 109,213 44,406 72,800
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 92.99% 89.70% 95.27%
Number of salaries quoted 74,793 25,960 42,645
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,250 £30,500
25th Percentile £40,750 £36,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £59,000 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +7.27% - -8.33%
75th Percentile £77,500 £73,775 £75,000
90th Percentile £98,950 £95,000 £93,750
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £47,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year +15.79% -5.00% -4.76%

Research Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring 'Research Engineer' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

Research Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK

Research Engineer
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for Research Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for Research Engineer job vacancies in the UK

Research Engineer
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Research Engineer over the 6 months to 26 September 2026.

Salary histogram for Research Engineer in the UK

Research Engineer
Top 12 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Research Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 26 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
England -86 51 £59,811 -25.24% 204
London - 29 £59,623 - 150
UK excluding London -140 24 £60,000 -25.00% 58
South West -68 10 £85,000 +6.25% 7
Work from Home -46 8 £85,000 +6.25% 48
North of England - 5 £50,000 - 6
South East -37 4 £40,500 -48.57% 15
North East - 4 £50,000 - 2
East of England -29 3 £60,000 -14.29% 16
Scotland - 1 £100,000 - 8
North West - 1 £102,500 - 1
Wales - 1 £55,000 -

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

For the 6 months to 26 September 2026, Research 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 Research Engineer in the job title.

1 24 (45.28%) AI
2 23 (43.40%) Software Engineering
3 20 (37.74%) Machine Learning
4 17 (32.08%) Python
5 14 (26.42%) Degree
6 13 (24.53%) Security Cleared
7 12 (22.64%) Computer Science
8 11 (20.75%) Cybersecurity
8 11 (20.75%) Digital Twin
8 11 (20.75%) Problem-Solving
9 10 (18.87%) Master's Degree
10 9 (16.98%) Data Science
10 9 (16.98%) LLM
10 9 (16.98%) SC Cleared
11 8 (15.09%) DBS Check
11 8 (15.09%) Systems Engineering
12 7 (13.21%) Cyber Resilience
12 7 (13.21%) Information Security
12 7 (13.21%) Network Security
12 7 (13.21%) Threat Modelling
13 6 (11.32%) Agile
13 6 (11.32%) CI/CD
13 6 (11.32%) Deep Learning
14 5 (9.43%) Data Management
14 5 (9.43%) Decision-Making
14 5 (9.43%) Generative AI
14 5 (9.43%) Mathematics
14 5 (9.43%) PhD
14 5 (9.43%) Roadmaps
15 4 (7.55%) Accessibility

Research 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 3 (5.66%) Blender
1 3 (5.66%) Maya
Cloud Services
1 1 (1.89%) Azure
Communications & Networking
1 7 (13.21%) Network Security
2 4 (7.55%) Software-Defined Radio
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (3.77%) MongoDB
1 2 (3.77%) PostgreSQL
2 1 (1.89%) Neo4j
General
1 11 (20.75%) Inclusion and Diversity
2 7 (13.21%) Aerospace
2 7 (13.21%) Cyber-Physical System
3 6 (11.32%) Social Skills
4 4 (7.55%) Analytical Skills
5 3 (5.66%) Humanities
5 3 (5.66%) Social Science
6 2 (3.77%) Electronics
6 2 (3.77%) Retail
7 1 (1.89%) Manufacturing
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 3 (5.66%) Django
1 3 (5.66%) Express.js
1 3 (5.66%) Godot
1 3 (5.66%) Node.js
1 3 (5.66%) PyTorch
1 3 (5.66%) Unity (Game Engine)
1 3 (5.66%) Unreal Engine
1 3 (5.66%) WebXR
2 1 (1.89%) Google JAX
2 1 (1.89%) JAX
2 1 (1.89%) NumPy
Miscellaneous
1 10 (18.87%) AI Agents
2 7 (13.21%) Blog
2 7 (13.21%) Legacy Systems
2 7 (13.21%) Operational Technology
3 5 (9.43%) Algorithms
4 3 (5.66%) Distributed Systems
5 2 (3.77%) Distributed Architecture
5 2 (3.77%) Life Science
5 2 (3.77%) Tandem
6 1 (1.89%) 3D Printing
6 1 (1.89%) Arduino
6 1 (1.89%) Autonomous Agent
6 1 (1.89%) BeagleBone
6 1 (1.89%) Device Driver
6 1 (1.89%) Embedded Systems
6 1 (1.89%) Enterprise Cloud
6 1 (1.89%) IoT
6 1 (1.89%) NHS
6 1 (1.89%) Raspberry Pi
6 1 (1.89%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 1 (1.89%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 24 (45.28%) AI
2 23 (43.40%) Software Engineering
3 20 (37.74%) Machine Learning
4 12 (22.64%) Computer Science
5 11 (20.75%) Cybersecurity
5 11 (20.75%) Digital Twin
5 11 (20.75%) Problem-Solving
6 9 (16.98%) Data Science
6 9 (16.98%) LLM
7 8 (15.09%) Systems Engineering
8 7 (13.21%) Cyber Resilience
8 7 (13.21%) Information Security
8 7 (13.21%) Threat Modelling
9 6 (11.32%) Agile
9 6 (11.32%) CI/CD
9 6 (11.32%) Deep Learning
10 5 (9.43%) Data Management
10 5 (9.43%) Decision-Making
10 5 (9.43%) Generative AI
10 5 (9.43%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 17 (32.08%) Python
2 3 (5.66%) JavaScript
2 3 (5.66%) TypeScript
3 2 (3.77%) C
3 2 (3.77%) Java
3 2 (3.77%) R
3 2 (3.77%) SQL
4 1 (1.89%) C#
4 1 (1.89%) C++
4 1 (1.89%) Embedded C
4 1 (1.89%) Rust
Qualifications
1 14 (26.42%) Degree
2 13 (24.53%) Security Cleared
3 10 (18.87%) Master's Degree
4 9 (16.98%) SC Cleared
5 8 (15.09%) DBS Check
6 5 (9.43%) PhD
7 4 (7.55%) DV Cleared
8 2 (3.77%) Postgraduate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 4 (7.55%) Accessibility
2 1 (1.89%) MISRA
2 1 (1.89%) QA
System Software
1 1 (1.89%) Slurm Workload Manager
Vendors
1 3 (5.66%) Google
2 2 (3.77%) Thales