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 14 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 247 215 420
Rank change year-on-year -32 +205 -137
Permanent jobs citing Systems Engineering 531 746 326
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.89% 1.39% 0.59%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.09% 1.54% 0.65%
Number of salaries quoted 274 333 197
10th Percentile £41,715 £37,574 £43,250
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 £77,500 £63,750 £80,000
90th Percentile £81,750 £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 48,596 48,532 50,084
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 81.00% 90.69% 89.94%
Number of salaries quoted 28,664 23,590 38,164
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 £77,750
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £97,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £55,000 £52,000
% change year-on-year -9.09% +5.77% -5.45%

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 14 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 14 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% 329
UK excluding London -24 464 £60,000 +14.07% 322
South East +38 145 £55,000 +6.07% 111
North of England -33 102 £54,793 +9.47% 36
South West -2 101 £65,000 +12.07% 80
North West -13 96 £54,793 +9.47% 17
Work from Home +77 87 £75,900 +8.43% 125
Midlands -26 55 £87,500 +150.00% 46
West Midlands -15 36 £90,000 +157.14% 16
East of England +35 35 £55,000 +6.54% 53
London +14 33 £77,500 +10.71% 28
Scotland -45 21 £75,900 +30.79% 10
East Midlands -21 19 £75,900 +15.00% 30
Wales -3 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 13 (2.45%) Microsoft Exchange
2 7 (1.32%) Confluence
3 1 (0.19%) SharePoint
Applications
1 25 (4.71%) Simulink
2 12 (2.26%) CATIA
3 11 (2.07%) Microsoft Office
4 4 (0.75%) Mathcad
5 2 (0.38%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.19%) GNU Octave
6 1 (0.19%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.19%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 18 (3.39%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
2 1 (0.19%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.19%) Primavera
Cloud Services
1 25 (4.71%) Azure
2 18 (3.39%) AWS
3 14 (2.64%) Microsoft 365
4 12 (2.26%) 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%) Azure Key Vault
7 2 (0.38%) Azure Sentinel
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%) Azure Monitor
8 1 (0.19%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 13 (2.45%) DNS
2 12 (2.26%) WAN
3 11 (2.07%) DHCP
3 11 (2.07%) TCP/IP
4 9 (1.69%) LAN
5 7 (1.32%) Firewall
6 6 (1.13%) Software-Defined Radio
7 5 (0.94%) Wi-Fi
8 4 (0.75%) Ethernet
8 4 (0.75%) HTTPS
8 4 (0.75%) SNA
8 4 (0.75%) Wireshark
9 2 (0.38%) HTTP
9 2 (0.38%) Modbus
9 2 (0.38%) SAN
9 2 (0.38%) SNMP
9 2 (0.38%) VLAN
10 1 (0.19%) DMARC
10 1 (0.19%) Structured Cabling
10 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
1 110 (20.72%) Rational DOORS
2 51 (9.60%) 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 94 (17.70%) Social Skills
2 63 (11.86%) Electronics
3 42 (7.91%) Aerospace
4 33 (6.21%) Finance
5 28 (5.27%) Analytical Skills
6 21 (3.95%) Avionics
7 20 (3.77%) Military
8 15 (2.82%) Manufacturing
9 12 (2.26%) Public Sector
10 10 (1.88%) Influencing Skills
11 9 (1.69%) Legal
12 8 (1.51%) Documentation Skills
13 6 (1.13%) Automotive
14 5 (0.94%) Telecoms
15 4 (0.75%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 3 (0.56%) Law
16 3 (0.56%) Publishing
17 2 (0.38%) Advertising
18 1 (0.19%) Marketing
18 1 (0.19%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 315 (59.32%) Systems Engineer
2 138 (25.99%) Principal Engineer
3 129 (24.29%) Principal Systems Engineer
4 118 (22.22%) Senior
5 84 (15.82%) Senior Systems Engineer
6 50 (9.42%) Lead
7 31 (5.84%) Lead Systems Engineer
8 19 (3.58%) Consultant
9 18 (3.39%) RF Engineer
10 17 (3.20%) Requirements Manager
10 17 (3.20%) Systems Manager
11 14 (2.64%) Team Leader
12 13 (2.45%) Architect
12 13 (2.45%) Control Systems Engineer
12 13 (2.45%) Requirements Engineer
13 11 (2.07%) Embedded Engineer
13 11 (2.07%) Software Support Engineer
13 11 (2.07%) Support Engineer
14 9 (1.69%) Senior Consultant
14 9 (1.69%) 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 2 (0.38%) AngularJS
4 2 (0.38%) NETCONF
4 2 (0.38%) REST
4 2 (0.38%) RESTCONF
4 2 (0.38%) RESTful
5 1 (0.19%) .NET Framework
5 1 (0.19%) Ajax
5 1 (0.19%) CSS
5 1 (0.19%) HTML
5 1 (0.19%) jQuery
5 1 (0.19%) Middleware
5 1 (0.19%) Razor View Engine
5 1 (0.19%) Spring
5 1 (0.19%) WCF
5 1 (0.19%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 53 (9.98%) Management Information System
2 39 (7.34%) Algorithms
3 17 (3.20%) e-Learning
4 15 (2.82%) Embedded Systems
5 12 (2.26%) Enterprise Software
6 10 (1.88%) Driving Licence
7 9 (1.69%) Hedge funds
7 9 (1.69%) SCADA
8 6 (1.13%) Cloud Native
8 6 (1.13%) Cyber Defence
8 6 (1.13%) Hybrid Cloud
9 4 (0.75%) Analytical Mindset
9 4 (0.75%) Cyber Threat
9 4 (0.75%) Self-Motivation
10 3 (0.56%) Acoustics
10 3 (0.56%) Augmented Reality
10 3 (0.56%) CAN bus
11 2 (0.38%) Public Cloud
11 2 (0.38%) Renewable Energy
11 2 (0.38%) VHDL
Operating Systems
1 22 (4.14%) Windows
2 15 (2.82%) Windows Server
3 12 (2.26%) Linux
4 9 (1.69%) Windows Server 2012
5 3 (0.56%) Android
6 1 (0.19%) Unix
6 1 (0.19%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 109 (20.53%) Requirements Management
2 100 (18.83%) Validation
3 95 (17.89%) Technical Leadership
4 93 (17.51%) Model-Based Systems Engineering
5 89 (16.76%) Agile
6 70 (13.18%) Problem-Solving
7 66 (12.43%) Verification and Validation
8 55 (10.36%) SysML
9 54 (10.17%) Systems Thinking
10 45 (8.47%) Mathematics
11 44 (8.29%) Software Engineering
12 43 (8.10%) Signal Processing
13 41 (7.72%) Continuous Improvement
14 39 (7.34%) Physics
15 38 (7.16%) Collaborative Working
16 34 (6.40%) Customer Requirements
17 33 (6.21%) Coaching
18 32 (6.03%) Test Planning
18 32 (6.03%) Waterfall
19 29 (5.46%) UML
Programming Languages
1 35 (6.59%) MATLAB
2 26 (4.90%) Python
3 17 (3.20%) PowerShell
4 14 (2.64%) C++
5 12 (2.26%) C
5 12 (2.26%) 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%) Perl
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 (48.78%) BPSS Clearance
2 227 (42.75%) Degree
3 99 (18.64%) Security Cleared
4 74 (13.94%) SC Cleared
5 28 (5.27%) DV Cleared
6 22 (4.14%) Chartered Engineer
6 22 (4.14%) Master's Degree
7 21 (3.95%) HNC
8 19 (3.58%) HND
9 9 (1.69%) Computer Science Degree
10 7 (1.32%) RIBA
11 6 (1.13%) PhD
12 5 (0.94%) Numerate Degree
13 3 (0.56%) Cisco Certification
13 3 (0.56%) CITP
13 3 (0.56%) CREST Certified
13 3 (0.56%) PMI Certification
13 3 (0.56%) PMP
14 2 (0.38%) CEH
14 2 (0.38%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 100 (18.83%) 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 14 (2.64%) Active Directory
2 7 (1.32%) Docker
3 6 (1.13%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (0.94%) Firmware
4 5 (0.94%) VMware ESXi
5 2 (0.38%) Hyper-V
6 1 (0.19%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 14 (2.64%) Kubernetes
2 11 (2.07%) Ansible
3 10 (1.88%) Single Sign-On
4 9 (1.69%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 8 (1.51%) Terraform
6 4 (0.75%) Prometheus
7 2 (0.38%) Functional Safety
7 2 (0.38%) Progress Chef
7 2 (0.38%) Rancher
8 1 (0.19%) CASB
8 1 (0.19%) Failover Clustering
8 1 (0.19%) QRadar
8 1 (0.19%) SCCM
8 1 (0.19%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 75 (14.12%) IBM
2 29 (5.46%) Microsoft
3 20 (3.77%) Siemens
4 18 (3.39%) Sparx
5 9 (1.69%) Bloomberg
5 9 (1.69%) Reuters
6 7 (1.32%) 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
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%) SAP
9 2 (0.38%) Solarflare
9 2 (0.38%) Splunk
9 2 (0.38%) Veeam