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 1 October 2026.

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

6 months to
1 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 324 491 416
Rank change year-on-year +167 -75 -44
Permanent jobs requiring a Senior Systems Engineer 653 185 405
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.55% 0.37% 0.54%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.60% 0.42% 0.57%
Number of salaries quoted 380 98 234
10th Percentile £48,750 £46,250 £45,000
25th Percentile £55,000 £52,500 £49,092
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £57,500 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% -4.17% -4.00%
75th Percentile £66,300 £62,000 £70,000
90th Percentile £85,000 £76,500 £75,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% -8.33% -4.00%

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 109,576 44,426 71,253
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 92.91% 89.79% 95.29%
Number of salaries quoted 74,908 25,599 41,366
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,250 £30,750
25th Percentile £40,875 £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 £74,258 £75,000
90th Percentile £98,750 £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%

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 1 October 2026.

Salary histogram for Senior Systems Engineer in the UK

Senior Systems Engineer
Top 17 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 1 October 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 +157 595 £60,000 +9.09% 602
UK excluding London +134 578 £60,000 +9.09% 404
South East +114 275 £56,000 -6.67% 132
South West +12 123 £65,000 +18.18% 50
North of England -52 70 £55,000 +0.38% 57
Work from Home -4 64 £60,000 +26.32% 188
East of England +15 51 £62,000 -29.14% 68
London -27 47 £100,000 +33.33% 192
North West -43 33 £55,000 +0.38% 33
Scotland - 29 £55,000 - 51
Midlands -42 28 £60,000 +9.09% 39
Yorkshire -13 23 £50,000 +29.87% 16
East Midlands -24 17 £60,000 +46.34% 6
North East - 14 £55,000 - 9
West Midlands -53 11 £50,000 -9.09% 33
Wales -72 1 £66,300 +6.94% 8
Northern Ireland -85 1 - - 4

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

For the 6 months to 1 October 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.

1 140 (21.44%) Systems Engineering
2 81 (12.40%) Degree
3 71 (10.87%) BPSS Clearance
4 58 (8.88%) Technical Leadership
5 48 (7.35%) Software Engineering
6 42 (6.43%) Requirements Management
7 36 (5.51%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
7 36 (5.51%) Rational DOORS
8 34 (5.21%) Agile
8 34 (5.21%) Physics
8 34 (5.21%) Problem-Solving
8 34 (5.21%) Python
9 32 (4.90%) MATLAB
10 31 (4.75%) Systems Thinking
11 30 (4.59%) Customer Requirements
11 30 (4.59%) Siemens
12 29 (4.44%) SysML
13 28 (4.29%) AI
13 28 (4.29%) Mathematics
13 28 (4.29%) Validation
14 26 (3.98%) Azure
14 26 (3.98%) Continuous Improvement
15 25 (3.83%) Chartered Engineer
16 22 (3.37%) Microsoft
17 21 (3.22%) Coaching
17 21 (3.22%) Data Pipeline
17 21 (3.22%) Simulink
18 20 (3.06%) Change Management
18 20 (3.06%) Docker
18 20 (3.06%) ISO/IEC 15288

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 14 (2.14%) Microsoft Exchange
2 8 (1.23%) SharePoint
3 3 (0.46%) FactoryTalk
3 3 (0.46%) WinCC
4 1 (0.15%) Confluence
Applications
1 21 (3.22%) Simulink
2 17 (2.60%) Lightworks
3 12 (1.84%) CATIA
4 8 (1.23%) Chatbot
5 6 (0.92%) Windchill
6 5 (0.77%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 1 (0.15%) Dynamics CRM
Cloud Services
1 26 (3.98%) Azure
2 17 (2.60%) AWS
3 14 (2.14%) GCP
4 8 (1.23%) Microsoft 365
5 7 (1.07%) OneDrive
6 5 (0.77%) Azure DevOps
7 3 (0.46%) SaaS
8 2 (0.31%) AWS CloudFormation
8 2 (0.31%) Azure AKS
8 2 (0.31%) Azure Cosmos DB
8 2 (0.31%) Azure Key Vault
8 2 (0.31%) Azure Service Bus
8 2 (0.31%) Cloudflare
8 2 (0.31%) Datadog
8 2 (0.31%) Entra ID
8 2 (0.31%) GitHub
8 2 (0.31%) GitHub Actions
8 2 (0.31%) Power Automate
8 2 (0.31%) Power Platform
8 2 (0.31%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 14 (2.14%) Wireless
2 12 (1.84%) DNS
3 10 (1.53%) Intrusion Detection
4 7 (1.07%) DHCP
5 5 (0.77%) TCP/IP
6 4 (0.61%) Firewall
6 4 (0.61%) LAN
6 4 (0.61%) WAN
7 3 (0.46%) Modbus
7 3 (0.46%) Profibus
7 3 (0.46%) SSL
8 2 (0.31%) 3GPP
8 2 (0.31%) 5G
8 2 (0.31%) Cisco Nexus
8 2 (0.31%) HTTP
8 2 (0.31%) Internet
8 2 (0.31%) MQTT
8 2 (0.31%) Network Security
8 2 (0.31%) RS-422
8 2 (0.31%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 12 (1.84%) NoSQL
2 9 (1.38%) SQL Server
3 3 (0.46%) PostgreSQL
4 2 (0.31%) Hadoop
4 2 (0.31%) Redis
5 1 (0.15%) Apache Arrow
5 1 (0.15%) Apache Iceberg
5 1 (0.15%) GIS
5 1 (0.15%) KDB
5 1 (0.15%) Metadata
5 1 (0.15%) Parquet
Development Applications
1 36 (5.51%) Rational DOORS
2 10 (1.53%) JIRA
3 9 (1.38%) LabVIEW
4 4 (0.61%) Apache Continuum
5 2 (0.31%) NUnit
6 1 (0.15%) Git
6 1 (0.15%) Rational Rhapsody
6 1 (0.15%) Subversion
General
1 133 (20.37%) Aerospace
2 75 (11.49%) Finance
3 38 (5.82%) Social Skills
4 33 (5.05%) Electronics
5 30 (4.59%) Military
6 25 (3.83%) Aviation
7 23 (3.52%) Analytical Skills
8 16 (2.45%) Manufacturing
9 13 (1.99%) Avionics
9 13 (1.99%) Documentation Skills
10 12 (1.84%) Retail
11 11 (1.68%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 9 (1.38%) Organisational Skills
13 8 (1.23%) Telecoms
14 5 (0.77%) Local Government
15 4 (0.61%) Legal
15 4 (0.61%) Public Sector
16 3 (0.46%) Law
17 2 (0.31%) Automotive
17 2 (0.31%) Games
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (1.84%) Node.js
2 10 (1.53%) Next.js
3 5 (0.77%) .NET
3 5 (0.77%) REST
3 5 (0.77%) Terraform
4 3 (0.46%) React
4 3 (0.46%) WinForms
5 2 (0.31%) .NET Core
5 2 (0.31%) .NET Framework
5 2 (0.31%) Entity Framework
5 2 (0.31%) gRPC
5 2 (0.31%) JSON
5 2 (0.31%) MassTransit
5 2 (0.31%) MediatR
5 2 (0.31%) Protocol Buffers
5 2 (0.31%) RESTful
6 1 (0.15%) Ajax
6 1 (0.15%) PyTorch
6 1 (0.15%) Ray
6 1 (0.15%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 19 (2.91%) Driving Licence
2 17 (2.60%) Cloud Native
3 16 (2.45%) CCTV
4 14 (2.14%) Data Centre
5 12 (1.84%) SCADA
6 11 (1.68%) Distributed Systems
6 11 (1.68%) Fibre Optics
7 10 (1.53%) Management Information System
7 10 (1.53%) Robotics
8 8 (1.23%) IoT
9 7 (1.07%) Embedded Systems
10 6 (0.92%) Algorithms
10 6 (0.92%) Augmented Reality
10 6 (0.92%) Virtual Reality
11 5 (0.77%) Cyber Security Posture
11 5 (0.77%) Legacy Systems
11 5 (0.77%) PKI
11 5 (0.77%) Renewable Energy
12 4 (0.61%) Self-Motivation
13 3 (0.46%) Analogue Electronics
Operating Systems
1 14 (2.14%) Windows
2 11 (1.68%) Linux
3 10 (1.53%) Windows Server
4 3 (0.46%) VMS
5 1 (0.15%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 140 (21.44%) Systems Engineering
2 58 (8.88%) Technical Leadership
3 48 (7.35%) Software Engineering
4 42 (6.43%) Requirements Management
5 36 (5.51%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
6 34 (5.21%) Agile
6 34 (5.21%) Physics
6 34 (5.21%) Problem-Solving
7 31 (4.75%) Systems Thinking
8 30 (4.59%) Customer Requirements
9 29 (4.44%) SysML
10 28 (4.29%) AI
10 28 (4.29%) Mathematics
10 28 (4.29%) Validation
11 26 (3.98%) Continuous Improvement
12 21 (3.22%) Coaching
12 21 (3.22%) Data Pipeline
13 20 (3.06%) Change Management
14 19 (2.91%) Workflow
15 18 (2.76%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 34 (5.21%) Python
2 32 (4.90%) MATLAB
3 18 (2.76%) SQL
4 16 (2.45%) PowerShell
5 6 (0.92%) C++
6 5 (0.77%) C#
7 3 (0.46%) Bash
7 3 (0.46%) Java
7 3 (0.46%) T-SQL
7 3 (0.46%) VB.NET
8 2 (0.31%) C
Qualifications
1 81 (12.40%) Degree
2 71 (10.87%) BPSS Clearance
3 25 (3.83%) Chartered Engineer
4 15 (2.30%) Security Cleared
5 13 (1.99%) Master's Degree
6 10 (1.53%) SC Cleared
7 8 (1.23%) PhD
8 7 (1.07%) DBS Check
9 6 (0.92%) HNC
9 6 (0.92%) HND
10 3 (0.46%) Computer Science Degree
10 3 (0.46%) DV Cleared
11 2 (0.31%) Microsoft Certification
12 1 (0.15%) PMI Certification
12 1 (0.15%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (3.06%) ISO/IEC 15288
2 8 (1.23%) ISO/IEC 12207
3 4 (0.61%) Accessibility
4 3 (0.46%) IEC 61131
5 2 (0.31%) HAZOP
6 1 (0.15%) ARP4754
6 1 (0.15%) ARP4761
6 1 (0.15%) Data Quality
6 1 (0.15%) DO-160
6 1 (0.15%) MIL-STD-1553
System Software
1 20 (3.06%) Docker
2 12 (1.84%) Active Directory
3 6 (0.92%) VMware Infrastructure
3 6 (0.92%) vSphere
4 4 (0.61%) Hyper-V
5 2 (0.31%) Firmware
5 2 (0.31%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 18 (2.76%) Kubernetes
2 5 (0.77%) SCCM
3 3 (0.46%) BMC PATROL
3 3 (0.46%) Grafana
3 3 (0.46%) Microsoft Intune
4 2 (0.31%) Ansible
4 2 (0.31%) Functional Safety
5 1 (0.15%) Failover Clustering
5 1 (0.15%) Graylog
5 1 (0.15%) Microsoft Data Protection Manager
5 1 (0.15%) Prometheus
5 1 (0.15%) SCOM
Vendors
1 30 (4.59%) Siemens
2 22 (3.37%) Microsoft
3 14 (2.14%) Cisco
3 14 (2.14%) IBM
4 12 (1.84%) OpenAI
5 10 (1.53%) Rockwell
6 9 (1.38%) Google
7 7 (1.07%) Allen-Bradley
7 7 (1.07%) Aruba
7 7 (1.07%) AVEVA
7 7 (1.07%) Wonderware
8 6 (0.92%) VMware
9 5 (0.77%) ServiceNow
10 2 (0.31%) Databricks
10 2 (0.31%) Dynatrace
10 2 (0.31%) EMC
10 2 (0.31%) Palo Alto
10 2 (0.31%) Qualys
11 1 (0.15%) Citrix
11 1 (0.15%) Commvault