Systems Engineering Job Trends

Systems Engineering
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs requiring Systems Engineering skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 15 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 247 216 414
Rank change year-on-year -31 +198 -127
Permanent jobs citing Systems Engineering 532 751 326
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.88% 1.40% 0.59%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.09% 1.54% 0.65%
Number of salaries quoted 277 333 196
10th Percentile £41,929 £37,574 £43,125
25th Percentile £50,000 £47,603 £52,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £62,500
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -12.00% -
75th Percentile £75,900 £63,750 £80,313
90th Percentile £80,000 £80,000 £111,746
UK excluding London median annual salary £60,000 £52,600 £60,000
% change year-on-year +14.07% -12.33% +4.35%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

Systems Engineering falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 48,808 48,616 49,870
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 80.95% 90.71% 89.93%
Number of salaries quoted 28,796 23,669 37,967
10th Percentile £28,500 £35,000 £31,250
25th Percentile £37,500 £45,000 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%
75th Percentile £75,000 £80,000 £77,715
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £97,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £55,000 £51,971
% change year-on-year -9.09% +5.83% -5.51%

Systems Engineering
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Systems Engineering relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

Systems Engineering job vacancy trend in the UK

Systems Engineering
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Systems Engineering.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Systems Engineering

Systems Engineering
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Systems Engineering over the 6 months to 15 January 2026.

Salary histogram for Systems Engineering in the UK

Systems Engineering
Top 15 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Systems Engineering within the UK over the 6 months to 15 January 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 -9 474 £60,000 +11.11% 333
UK excluding London -26 467 £60,000 +14.07% 326
South East +32 146 £55,000 +6.07% 111
South West -11 103 £65,000 +12.07% 81
North of England -26 101 £54,793 +9.47% 38
North West -10 95 £54,793 +9.47% 19
Work from Home +77 87 £75,000 +7.14% 121
Midlands -30 55 £87,500 +150.00% 46
East of England +37 36 £55,000 +6.54% 54
West Midlands -19 36 £90,000 +157.14% 16
London +21 30 £77,500 +10.71% 26
Scotland -47 21 £75,900 +30.79% 10
East Midlands -26 19 £75,900 +15.00% 29
Wales -7 6 £65,885 -0.63% 6
Yorkshire -17 6 £69,525 +20.79% 13

Systems Engineering
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 11 (2.07%) Microsoft Exchange
2 7 (1.32%) Confluence
3 1 (0.19%) SharePoint
Applications
1 26 (4.89%) Simulink
2 12 (2.26%) CATIA
3 11 (2.07%) Microsoft Office
4 4 (0.75%) Mathcad
5 3 (0.56%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.19%) GNU Octave
6 1 (0.19%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.19%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 17 (3.20%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
2 1 (0.19%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.19%) Primavera
Cloud Services
1 24 (4.51%) Azure
2 19 (3.57%) AWS
3 11 (2.07%) Microsoft 365
4 10 (1.88%) Entra ID
5 4 (0.75%) GCP
5 4 (0.75%) PaaS
6 3 (0.56%) Power Platform
7 2 (0.38%) Amazon EKS
7 2 (0.38%) AWS CloudFormation
7 2 (0.38%) Azure AKS
7 2 (0.38%) Dynamics 365
7 2 (0.38%) Google Kubernetes Engine
7 2 (0.38%) OpenShift
7 2 (0.38%) Power Automate
7 2 (0.38%) PowerApps
7 2 (0.38%) Serverless
8 1 (0.19%) AWS Lambda
8 1 (0.19%) Azure DevOps
8 1 (0.19%) Azure Functions
8 1 (0.19%) iPaaS
Communications & Networking
1 11 (2.07%) DNS
1 11 (2.07%) WAN
2 9 (1.69%) DHCP
2 9 (1.69%) TCP/IP
3 8 (1.50%) LAN
4 6 (1.13%) Software-Defined Radio
5 5 (0.94%) Firewall
5 5 (0.94%) HTTPS
6 4 (0.75%) Ethernet
6 4 (0.75%) SNA
6 4 (0.75%) Wi-Fi
6 4 (0.75%) Wireshark
7 3 (0.56%) HTTP
7 3 (0.56%) SNMP
8 2 (0.38%) Modbus
9 1 (0.19%) SAN
9 1 (0.19%) Structured Cabling
9 1 (0.19%) VLAN
9 1 (0.19%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 9 (1.69%) Relational Database
2 5 (0.94%) SQL Server
3 4 (0.75%) NoSQL
4 3 (0.56%) MySQL
4 3 (0.56%) Power BI
5 2 (0.38%) DynamoDB
5 2 (0.38%) Elasticsearch
5 2 (0.38%) GIS
5 2 (0.38%) MongoDB
5 2 (0.38%) PostgreSQL
6 1 (0.19%) Geospatial Data
6 1 (0.19%) Oracle Database
6 1 (0.19%) Parquet
6 1 (0.19%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 109 (20.49%) Rational DOORS
2 51 (9.59%) JIRA
3 5 (0.94%) GitLab
4 4 (0.75%) JIRA Agile
5 3 (0.56%) Apache Continuum
5 3 (0.56%) Balsamiq
5 3 (0.56%) Bitbucket
5 3 (0.56%) Git
5 3 (0.56%) LabVIEW
5 3 (0.56%) Rational Rhapsody
5 3 (0.56%) Visual Studio
6 2 (0.38%) Jenkins
7 1 (0.19%) Atlassian Bamboo
General
1 93 (17.48%) Social Skills
2 62 (11.65%) Electronics
3 44 (8.27%) Aerospace
4 31 (5.83%) Finance
5 27 (5.08%) Analytical Skills
6 21 (3.95%) Avionics
6 21 (3.95%) Military
7 15 (2.82%) Manufacturing
8 12 (2.26%) Public Sector
9 10 (1.88%) Influencing Skills
10 8 (1.50%) Documentation Skills
10 8 (1.50%) Legal
11 6 (1.13%) Automotive
11 6 (1.13%) Telecoms
12 3 (0.56%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 3 (0.56%) Publishing
13 2 (0.38%) Advertising
13 2 (0.38%) Law
14 1 (0.19%) Marketing
14 1 (0.19%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 315 (59.21%) Systems Engineer
2 137 (25.75%) Principal Engineer
3 128 (24.06%) Principal Systems Engineer
4 121 (22.74%) Senior
5 86 (16.17%) Senior Systems Engineer
6 50 (9.40%) Lead
7 31 (5.83%) Lead Systems Engineer
8 20 (3.76%) Consultant
9 18 (3.38%) RF Engineer
10 17 (3.20%) Requirements Manager
10 17 (3.20%) Systems Manager
11 14 (2.63%) Architect
11 14 (2.63%) Requirements Engineer
11 14 (2.63%) Team Leader
12 13 (2.44%) Control Systems Engineer
13 11 (2.07%) Embedded Engineer
13 11 (2.07%) Software Support Engineer
13 11 (2.07%) Support Engineer
14 10 (1.88%) Senior Consultant
15 8 (1.50%) Windows Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 7 (1.32%) OLE
2 5 (0.94%) .NET
3 4 (0.75%) DCOM
3 4 (0.75%) Elastic Stack
3 4 (0.75%) OpenTelemetry
4 3 (0.56%) NETCONF
4 3 (0.56%) REST
4 3 (0.56%) RESTCONF
5 2 (0.38%) AngularJS
5 2 (0.38%) RESTful
6 1 (0.19%) Entity Framework
6 1 (0.19%) HTML
6 1 (0.19%) Hugging Face
6 1 (0.19%) KnockoutJS
6 1 (0.19%) LangChain
6 1 (0.19%) PyTorch
6 1 (0.19%) Razor View Engine
6 1 (0.19%) React
6 1 (0.19%) Spring Boot
6 1 (0.19%) TensorFlow
Miscellaneous
1 51 (9.59%) Management Information System
2 37 (6.95%) Algorithms
3 16 (3.01%) e-Learning
4 15 (2.82%) Embedded Systems
5 11 (2.07%) Enterprise Software
6 10 (1.88%) Driving Licence
7 9 (1.69%) SCADA
8 8 (1.50%) Hedge funds
9 7 (1.32%) Cloud Native
10 6 (1.13%) Cyber Defence
10 6 (1.13%) Hybrid Cloud
11 5 (0.94%) Cyber Threat
12 4 (0.75%) Analytical Mindset
12 4 (0.75%) Self-Motivation
13 3 (0.56%) Acoustics
13 3 (0.56%) Augmented Reality
13 3 (0.56%) CAN bus
13 3 (0.56%) Distributed Architecture
14 2 (0.38%) Verilog
14 2 (0.38%) VHDL
Operating Systems
1 19 (3.57%) Windows
2 13 (2.44%) Windows Server
3 11 (2.07%) Linux
4 8 (1.50%) Windows Server 2012
5 3 (0.56%) Android
6 1 (0.19%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 109 (20.49%) Requirements Management
2 102 (19.17%) Validation
3 95 (17.86%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
4 93 (17.48%) Technical Leadership
5 91 (17.11%) Agile
6 68 (12.78%) Problem-Solving
6 68 (12.78%) Verification and Validation
7 57 (10.71%) Systems Thinking
8 55 (10.34%) SysML
9 46 (8.65%) Mathematics
10 45 (8.46%) Software Engineering
11 41 (7.71%) Continuous Improvement
11 41 (7.71%) Signal Processing
12 40 (7.52%) Physics
13 37 (6.95%) Collaborative Working
14 35 (6.58%) Customer Requirements
15 34 (6.39%) Coaching
16 32 (6.02%) Waterfall
17 31 (5.83%) Test Planning
18 28 (5.26%) UML
Programming Languages
1 36 (6.77%) MATLAB
2 25 (4.70%) Python
3 14 (2.63%) C++
3 14 (2.63%) PowerShell
4 12 (2.26%) C
5 11 (2.07%) SQL
6 9 (1.69%) C#
7 5 (0.94%) Go
8 4 (0.75%) Bash
8 4 (0.75%) Java
8 4 (0.75%) Rust
9 3 (0.56%) JavaScript
9 3 (0.56%) VBScript
10 2 (0.38%) VB
11 1 (0.19%) Embedded C
11 1 (0.19%) R
11 1 (0.19%) Shell Script
11 1 (0.19%) T-SQL
11 1 (0.19%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 259 (48.68%) BPSS Clearance
2 229 (43.05%) Degree
3 100 (18.80%) Security Cleared
4 73 (13.72%) SC Cleared
5 28 (5.26%) DV Cleared
6 24 (4.51%) Chartered Engineer
7 23 (4.32%) Master's Degree
8 21 (3.95%) HNC
9 19 (3.57%) HND
10 9 (1.69%) Computer Science Degree
11 7 (1.32%) RIBA
12 6 (1.13%) PhD
13 5 (0.94%) Numerate Degree
14 4 (0.75%) Cisco Certification
15 3 (0.56%) CCIE
15 3 (0.56%) CCNP
15 3 (0.56%) CITP
15 3 (0.56%) CREST Certified
15 3 (0.56%) PMI Certification
15 3 (0.56%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 100 (18.80%) ISO/IEC 15288
2 27 (5.08%) ISO/IEC 12207
3 4 (0.75%) IEC 61508
4 3 (0.56%) ISO 9001
4 3 (0.56%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 2 (0.38%) GDPR
5 2 (0.38%) NIST
5 2 (0.38%) NIST 800
6 1 (0.19%) Cyber Essentials
6 1 (0.19%) GAAP
6 1 (0.19%) HAZOP
6 1 (0.19%) IFRS
6 1 (0.19%) PCI DSS
6 1 (0.19%) PMO
6 1 (0.19%) SLA
System Software
1 11 (2.07%) Active Directory
2 7 (1.32%) Docker
3 5 (0.94%) Firmware
4 4 (0.75%) VMware ESXi
4 4 (0.75%) VMware Infrastructure
5 1 (0.19%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 15 (2.82%) Kubernetes
2 11 (2.07%) Ansible
3 8 (1.50%) Active Directory Federation Services
3 8 (1.50%) Single Sign-On
3 8 (1.50%) Terraform
4 4 (0.75%) Prometheus
5 2 (0.38%) BMC PATROL
5 2 (0.38%) Functional Safety
5 2 (0.38%) Progress Chef
5 2 (0.38%) Rancher
6 1 (0.19%) Failover Clustering
Vendors
1 73 (13.72%) IBM
2 26 (4.89%) Microsoft
3 21 (3.95%) Siemens
4 17 (3.20%) Sparx
5 8 (1.50%) Bloomberg
5 8 (1.50%) Reuters
6 5 (0.94%) VMware
7 4 (0.75%) Dell
7 4 (0.75%) Foundry
7 4 (0.75%) MathWorks
7 4 (0.75%) Palantir
8 3 (0.56%) Cisco
8 3 (0.56%) SAP
9 2 (0.38%) Allen-Bradley
9 2 (0.38%) Atlassian
9 2 (0.38%) EMC
9 2 (0.38%) Mellanox
9 2 (0.38%) Solarflare
10 1 (0.19%) Anaplan
10 1 (0.19%) Oracle