Hybrid/Remote PhD Job Trends

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil, EngD, Doctorate)
UK > Work from Home

The table below provides summary statistics for remote or hybrid work with a requirement for PhD qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered over the 6 months leading up to 12 August 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
12 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 383 62 402
Rank change year-on-year -321 +340 +70
Permanent jobs citing PhD 67 835 115
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 0.30% 5.08% 0.46%
As % of the Qualifications category 1.42% 15.01% 1.75%
Number of salaries quoted 29 50 41
10th Percentile £52,400 £40,750 £34,750
25th Percentile £55,000 £46,250 £52,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £56,000 £80,000 £70,000
Median % change year-on-year -30.00% +14.29% -9.68%
75th Percentile £59,000 £122,500 £100,000
90th Percentile £110,000 £175,000 -
UK median annual salary £62,500 £95,000 £75,000
% change year-on-year -34.21% +26.67% -

All Academic and Professional Certifications
Work from Home

PhD falls under the Academic Qualifications and Professional Certifications category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies with remote or hybrid options requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications.

Permanent vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 4,728 5,563 6,566
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 20.84% 33.86% 26.33%
Number of salaries quoted 3,095 2,444 3,799
10th Percentile £33,750 £29,750 £33,750
25th Percentile £46,743 £41,000 £43,227
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £62,500 £57,500 £57,500
Median % change year-on-year +8.70% - -4.17%
75th Percentile £78,750 £75,000 £72,500
90th Percentile £95,000 £90,750 £87,500
UK median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% - -8.33%

PhD
Job Vacancy Trend for Remote/Hybrid Jobs

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing PhD and offering remote or hybrid work options relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

PhD job vacancy trend for remote/hybrid jobs

PhD
Salary Trend for Remote/Hybrid Jobs

Salary distribution trend for jobs with remote/hybrid work options citing PhD.

Salary distribution trend for jobs with remote/hybrid work options citing PhD

PhD
Salary Histogram for Remote/Hybrid Jobs

Salary distribution for jobs with remote/hybrid work options citing PhD over the 6 months to 12 August 2026.

PhD salary histogram for jobs with remote/hybrid work options

PhD
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Remote/Hybrid Jobs 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 12 (17.91%) Simulink
2 4 (5.97%) Mathcad
3 3 (4.48%) Chatbot
4 1 (1.49%) SOLIDWORKS
4 1 (1.49%) Zemax
Business Applications
1 1 (1.49%) HFM
Cloud Services
1 6 (8.96%) AWS
2 3 (4.48%) AWS Lambda
2 3 (4.48%) Serverless
3 2 (2.99%) SaaS
4 1 (1.49%) OCI
4 1 (1.49%) Stripe
Communications & Networking
1 7 (10.45%) Broadband
2 4 (5.97%) Ethernet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (2.99%) MongoDB
1 2 (2.99%) PostgreSQL
2 1 (1.49%) Data Lake
2 1 (1.49%) Metadata
Development Applications
1 12 (17.91%) LabVIEW
2 4 (5.97%) Rational DOORS
General
1 26 (38.81%) Inclusion and Diversity
2 22 (32.84%) Electronics
3 19 (28.36%) Finance
4 17 (25.37%) Aerospace
4 17 (25.37%) Social Skills
5 14 (20.90%) Organisational Skills
6 11 (16.42%) Analytical Skills
7 4 (5.97%) Manufacturing
8 3 (4.48%) Games
9 2 (2.99%) Automotive
9 2 (2.99%) Publishing
10 1 (1.49%) Marketing
10 1 (1.49%) Presentation Skills
10 1 (1.49%) Public Sector
Job Titles
1 28 (41.79%) Senior
2 17 (25.37%) Systems Engineer
3 11 (16.42%) Senior Systems Engineer
4 8 (11.94%) Principal Engineer
5 7 (10.45%) Research Scientist
6 6 (8.96%) Lead
6 6 (8.96%) Lecturer
7 5 (7.46%) Senior Software Engineer
7 5 (7.46%) Software Engineer
8 4 (5.97%) Principal Systems Engineer
8 4 (5.97%) Technical Specialist
9 3 (4.48%) Design Engineer
9 3 (4.48%) Research Engineer
10 2 (2.99%) Analogue Design Engineer
10 2 (2.99%) Data Science Leader
10 2 (2.99%) Data Scientist
10 2 (2.99%) Electronics Engineer
10 2 (2.99%) Machine Learning Researcher
10 2 (2.99%) Safety Engineer
10 2 (2.99%) Systems Safety Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 7 (10.45%) PyTorch
2 6 (8.96%) scikit-learn
3 4 (5.97%) XGBoost
4 2 (2.99%) Keras
4 2 (2.99%) NumPy
4 2 (2.99%) Pandas
4 2 (2.99%) TensorFlow
5 1 (1.49%) Flask
5 1 (1.49%) Google JAX
5 1 (1.49%) JAX
5 1 (1.49%) Matplotlib
5 1 (1.49%) OpenCV
5 1 (1.49%) SciPy
Miscellaneous
1 13 (19.40%) Algorithms
2 11 (16.42%) FPGA
3 8 (11.94%) Fibre Optics
4 5 (7.46%) Distributed Systems
4 5 (7.46%) VHDL
5 4 (5.97%) Verilog
6 3 (4.48%) Self-Motivation
6 3 (4.48%) Sports Betting
7 2 (2.99%) AI Agents
7 2 (2.99%) Blog
7 2 (2.99%) Data Structures
7 2 (2.99%) Distributed Architecture
7 2 (2.99%) Podcast
7 2 (2.99%) Robotics
Operating Systems
1 4 (5.97%) Linux
2 2 (2.99%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 32 (47.76%) AI
2 29 (43.28%) Physics
3 23 (34.33%) Machine Learning
4 16 (23.88%) Computer Science
4 16 (23.88%) Data Science
5 15 (22.39%) Validation
6 14 (20.90%) Mathematics
7 12 (17.91%) Decision-Making
7 12 (17.91%) Problem-Solving
7 12 (17.91%) Roadmaps
8 10 (14.93%) Technology Strategy
9 9 (13.43%) Analytics
9 9 (13.43%) Generative AI
9 9 (13.43%) Prototyping
9 9 (13.43%) Retrieval-Augmented Generation
10 8 (11.94%) Customer Engagement
10 8 (11.94%) Fault Analysis
10 8 (11.94%) Microscopy
10 8 (11.94%) Project Planning
10 8 (11.94%) Risk Assessment
Programming Languages
1 24 (35.82%) Python
2 20 (29.85%) MATLAB
3 7 (10.45%) C++
4 5 (7.46%) Java
4 5 (7.46%) SystemVerilog
5 4 (5.97%) Rust
6 3 (4.48%) C#
6 3 (4.48%) Go
7 2 (2.99%) SQL
8 1 (1.49%) Bash
8 1 (1.49%) C
8 1 (1.49%) Embedded C
8 1 (1.49%) Embedded C++
8 1 (1.49%) R
Qualifications
1 67 (100.00%) Degree
2 45 (67.16%) Master's Degree
3 17 (25.37%) SC Cleared
3 17 (25.37%) Security Cleared
4 13 (19.40%) BPSS Clearance
4 13 (19.40%) DV Cleared
5 1 (1.49%) Oracle Certification
5 1 (1.49%) Postgraduate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 13 (19.40%) Accessibility
2 2 (2.99%) DO-254
2 2 (2.99%) HAZOP
2 2 (2.99%) IEC 61508
2 2 (2.99%) ISO 26262
2 2 (2.99%) QA
System Software
1 7 (10.45%) Firmware
2 1 (1.49%) Docker
Vendors
1 8 (11.94%) Siemens
2 4 (5.97%) Xilinx
3 1 (1.49%) Altera
3 1 (1.49%) Hyperion
3 1 (1.49%) IBM
3 1 (1.49%) Oracle