Senior Systems Engineer Job Trends

Senior System Engineer
UK

The median Senior System Engineer salary in the UK is £60,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 9 May 2026.

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

6 months to
9 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 309 458 494
Rank change year-on-year +149 +36 +186
Permanent jobs requiring a Senior Systems Engineer 529 199 435
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.58% 0.46% 0.45%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.63% 0.51% 0.48%
Number of salaries quoted 289 148 311
10th Percentile £45,000 £47,683 £45,000
25th Percentile £50,000 £48,869 £50,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £54,793 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +9.50% -0.38% -8.33%
75th Percentile £66,300 £62,125 £65,000
90th Percentile £80,000 £83,000 £70,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £60,000 £54,793 £55,000
% change year-on-year +9.50% -0.38% -

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 84,369 38,923 91,211
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.07% 89.45% 94.57%
Number of salaries quoted 55,003 23,201 67,042
10th Percentile £30,000 £30,000 £28,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £41,250 £38,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £58,000 £52,777
Median % change year-on-year -5.17% +9.90% -12.04%
75th Percentile £75,000 £77,500 £71,250
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £52,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year -4.76% +5.00% -5.66%

Senior Systems Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Senior Systems Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK

Senior Systems Engineer
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for Senior Systems Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for Senior Systems Engineer job vacancies in the UK

Senior Systems Engineer
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Senior Systems Engineer over the 6 months to 9 May 2026.

Salary histogram for Senior Systems Engineer in the UK

Senior Systems 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 Senior Systems Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 9 May 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 +164 494 £60,000 +9.50% 75
UK excluding London +119 452 £60,000 +9.50% 57
South East +83 152 £60,000 +2.56% 27
South West +21 109 £60,000 +14.07% 10
Midlands +22 71 £60,000 +14.29% 9
London +25 67 £82,500 +8.55% 24
North of England -76 60 £53,386 +6.66% 6
West Midlands +3 44 £50,000 - 7
Work from Home +22 39 £50,000 -24.53% 22
North West -46 38 £55,000 +9.88% 4
East of England +21 34 £60,000 -29.41% 6
East Midlands -1 27 £62,500 +13.64% 2
Scotland +9 24 £49,000 -34.98% 3
Yorkshire -40 18 £50,861 +2.28%
North East - 4 - - 2
Wales -30 2 - -

Senior Systems Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 9 May 2026, Senior Systems 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 Senior Systems Engineer in the job title.

1 178 (33.65%) Systems Engineering
2 117 (22.12%) BPSS Clearance
3 74 (13.99%) Degree
4 57 (10.78%) Requirements Management
5 45 (8.51%) AI
5 45 (8.51%) Azure
6 42 (7.94%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
6 42 (7.94%) Validation
7 41 (7.75%) Agile
8 39 (7.37%) Rational DOORS
9 38 (7.18%) Machine Learning
10 36 (6.81%) Cybersecurity
10 36 (6.81%) SysML
10 36 (6.81%) Technical Leadership
11 34 (6.43%) Python
11 34 (6.43%) Siemens
12 32 (6.05%) AWS
12 32 (6.05%) Verification and Validation
13 31 (5.86%) ISO/IEC 15288
13 31 (5.86%) Mentoring
13 31 (5.86%) Software Engineering
13 31 (5.86%) SQL
14 30 (5.67%) Systems Thinking
15 29 (5.48%) Analytics
16 28 (5.29%) Coaching
16 28 (5.29%) GCP
17 27 (5.10%) Use Case
18 26 (4.91%) Generative AI
18 26 (4.91%) Mathematics
18 26 (4.91%) MATLAB

Senior Systems 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:

Application Platforms
1 24 (4.54%) Apache Airflow
1 24 (4.54%) Apache Spark
2 8 (1.51%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (0.57%) SharePoint
4 2 (0.38%) FactoryTalk
4 2 (0.38%) WinCC
Applications
1 22 (4.16%) Simulink
2 10 (1.89%) Microsoft Office
3 8 (1.51%) CATIA
4 3 (0.57%) Chatbot
5 2 (0.38%) Lightworks
Cloud Services
1 45 (8.51%) Azure
2 32 (6.05%) AWS
3 28 (5.29%) GCP
4 25 (4.73%) Power Platform
5 24 (4.54%) dbt
6 23 (4.35%) Azure Synapse Analytics
6 23 (4.35%) Snowflake
7 9 (1.70%) Entra ID
7 9 (1.70%) Microsoft 365
8 8 (1.51%) Google Workspace
9 3 (0.57%) AWS Lambda
9 3 (0.57%) Serverless
10 2 (0.38%) Azure Machine Learning
10 2 (0.38%) Copilot Studio
10 2 (0.38%) Microsoft Copilot
10 2 (0.38%) OneDrive
10 2 (0.38%) SaaS
10 2 (0.38%) Vertex AI
11 1 (0.19%) Mimecast
11 1 (0.19%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 17 (3.21%) Broadband
2 10 (1.89%) Intrusion Detection
3 5 (0.95%) Tactical Data Link
4 3 (0.57%) DHCP
4 3 (0.57%) DNS
5 2 (0.38%) Firewall
5 2 (0.38%) Modbus
5 2 (0.38%) Multicast
5 2 (0.38%) Profibus
6 1 (0.19%) RS-422
6 1 (0.19%) Software-Defined Radio
6 1 (0.19%) TCP/IP
6 1 (0.19%) VSAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (4.73%) Power BI
2 24 (4.54%) BigQuery
3 23 (4.35%) Amazon Redshift
3 23 (4.35%) Data Lake
3 23 (4.35%) Data Warehouse
3 23 (4.35%) Elasticsearch
3 23 (4.35%) Looker
3 23 (4.35%) Snowflake Schema
3 23 (4.35%) Tableau
4 2 (0.38%) SQL Server
4 2 (0.38%) SQL Server Analysis Services
4 2 (0.38%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 2 (0.38%) SQL Server Reporting Services
5 1 (0.19%) Azure SQL Database
5 1 (0.19%) KDB
5 1 (0.19%) Metadata
5 1 (0.19%) MongoDB
5 1 (0.19%) NoSQL
5 1 (0.19%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 39 (7.37%) Rational DOORS
2 23 (4.35%) MLflow
3 10 (1.89%) JIRA
4 5 (0.95%) Apache Continuum
5 3 (0.57%) Jenkins
6 2 (0.38%) TeamCity
7 1 (0.19%) Rational Rhapsody
General
1 60 (11.34%) Aerospace
2 35 (6.62%) Finance
3 30 (5.67%) Analytical Skills
4 27 (5.10%) Electronics
5 25 (4.73%) Military
6 22 (4.16%) Social Skills
7 18 (3.40%) Manufacturing
8 12 (2.27%) Avionics
8 12 (2.27%) Documentation Skills
9 10 (1.89%) Organisational Skills
10 9 (1.70%) Games
10 9 (1.70%) Legal
11 6 (1.13%) Retail
12 4 (0.76%) Aviation
12 4 (0.76%) Digital Health
12 4 (0.76%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 4 (0.76%) Telecoms
13 2 (0.38%) Aeronautics
13 2 (0.38%) Influencing Skills
13 2 (0.38%) Local Government
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (4.73%) Kafka
1 25 (4.73%) LangChain
2 23 (4.35%) LlamaIndex
2 23 (4.35%) pgvector
2 23 (4.35%) PyTorch
2 23 (4.35%) scikit-learn
2 23 (4.35%) TensorFlow
3 9 (1.70%) REST
4 8 (1.51%) GraphQL
4 8 (1.51%) LDAP
4 8 (1.51%) OAuth
4 8 (1.51%) OpenID
4 8 (1.51%) SAML
4 8 (1.51%) SOAP
5 2 (0.38%) Akka
5 2 (0.38%) LangGraph
6 1 (0.19%) Middleware
6 1 (0.19%) Model Context Protocol
6 1 (0.19%) React
6 1 (0.19%) Spring
Miscellaneous
1 26 (4.91%) Management Information System
2 25 (4.73%) Public Cloud
3 24 (4.54%) Cloud Native
4 23 (4.35%) Clustering
4 23 (4.35%) Driving Licence
5 17 (3.21%) CCTV
6 15 (2.84%) SCADA
7 8 (1.51%) Cyber Threat
7 8 (1.51%) Cyberattack
7 8 (1.51%) Self-Motivation
8 7 (1.32%) Distributed Systems
9 5 (0.95%) Embedded Systems
9 5 (0.95%) Renewable Energy
9 5 (0.95%) Virtual Team
10 4 (0.76%) Algorithms
11 3 (0.57%) Data Centre
12 2 (0.38%) IoT
12 2 (0.38%) Over-the-Top Content
12 2 (0.38%) Robotics
12 2 (0.38%) Video\Live Streaming
Operating Systems
1 20 (3.78%) Linux
2 10 (1.89%) Ubuntu
3 8 (1.51%) Windows
4 3 (0.57%) VMS
4 3 (0.57%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 178 (33.65%) Systems Engineering
2 57 (10.78%) Requirements Management
3 45 (8.51%) AI
4 42 (7.94%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
4 42 (7.94%) Validation
5 41 (7.75%) Agile
6 38 (7.18%) Machine Learning
7 36 (6.81%) Cybersecurity
7 36 (6.81%) SysML
7 36 (6.81%) Technical Leadership
8 32 (6.05%) Verification and Validation
9 31 (5.86%) Mentoring
9 31 (5.86%) Software Engineering
10 30 (5.67%) Systems Thinking
11 29 (5.48%) Analytics
12 28 (5.29%) Coaching
13 27 (5.10%) Use Case
14 26 (4.91%) Generative AI
14 26 (4.91%) Mathematics
14 26 (4.91%) Semantic Search
Programming Languages
1 34 (6.43%) Python
2 31 (5.86%) SQL
3 26 (4.91%) MATLAB
4 12 (2.27%) PowerShell
5 9 (1.70%) Bash
6 8 (1.51%) Java
6 8 (1.51%) T-SQL
7 3 (0.57%) C++
7 3 (0.57%) Scala
8 2 (0.38%) C
8 2 (0.38%) C#
8 2 (0.38%) Rust
9 1 (0.19%) R
Qualifications
1 117 (22.12%) BPSS Clearance
2 74 (13.99%) Degree
3 16 (3.02%) Chartered Engineer
3 16 (3.02%) HNC
4 11 (2.08%) HND
5 8 (1.51%) Security Cleared
6 7 (1.32%) SC Cleared
7 6 (1.13%) Master's Degree
8 3 (0.57%) Computer Science Degree
8 3 (0.57%) PhD
9 2 (0.38%) DBS Check
10 1 (0.19%) APMP
10 1 (0.19%) Azure Certification
10 1 (0.19%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (5.86%) ISO/IEC 15288
2 23 (4.35%) California Consumer Privacy Act
2 23 (4.35%) GDPR
3 9 (1.70%) ISO/IEC 12207
4 8 (1.51%) NCSC
4 8 (1.51%) NIST
5 5 (0.95%) IEC 61508
5 5 (0.95%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 3 (0.57%) PMO
7 2 (0.38%) IEC 61131
7 2 (0.38%) ISO/IEC 17025
8 1 (0.19%) ARP4754
8 1 (0.19%) ARP4761
8 1 (0.19%) DO-160
8 1 (0.19%) DO-254
System Software
1 12 (2.27%) Active Directory
2 4 (0.76%) VMware Infrastructure
3 3 (0.57%) Docker
3 3 (0.57%) vSphere
4 2 (0.38%) Hyper-V
4 2 (0.38%) KVM
4 2 (0.38%) Virtual Machines
5 1 (0.19%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 12 (2.27%) Kubernetes
2 2 (0.38%) Ansible
2 2 (0.38%) BMC PATROL
2 2 (0.38%) SCCM
3 1 (0.19%) Grafana
3 1 (0.19%) Graylog
3 1 (0.19%) Microsoft Intune
3 1 (0.19%) Prometheus
3 1 (0.19%) Terraform
Vendors
1 34 (6.43%) Siemens
2 23 (4.35%) Cloudera
2 23 (4.35%) Databricks
2 23 (4.35%) Dell
3 15 (2.84%) Microsoft
4 14 (2.65%) IBM
5 11 (2.08%) Cisco
6 10 (1.89%) Allen-Bradley
6 10 (1.89%) NVIDIA
7 8 (1.51%) Rockwell
8 6 (1.13%) VMware
9 5 (0.95%) AVEVA
9 5 (0.95%) Wonderware
10 2 (0.38%) Aruba
10 2 (0.38%) Foundry
10 2 (0.38%) Google
10 2 (0.38%) iManage
10 2 (0.38%) Intapp
11 1 (0.19%) Arista
11 1 (0.19%) Mellanox