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 30 September 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
30 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 410 26 387
Rank change year-on-year -384 +361 +58
Permanent jobs citing PhD 56 1,340 114
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 0.22% 7.99% 0.51%
As % of the Qualifications category 1.08% 20.96% 1.84%
Number of salaries quoted 30 36 28
10th Percentile £52,900 £40,383 £34,750
25th Percentile £55,000 £51,821 £51,875
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £56,000 £80,000 £72,500
Median % change year-on-year -30.00% +10.34% -3.33%
75th Percentile £64,500 £115,000 £91,875
90th Percentile £89,750 £125,000 £100,000
UK median annual salary £56,500 £92,500 £75,000
% change year-on-year -38.92% +23.33% +3.45%

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 5,174 6,394 6,183
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 20.75% 38.13% 27.63%
Number of salaries quoted 3,229 2,293 2,821
10th Percentile £32,775 £31,000 £34,404
25th Percentile £46,250 £42,500 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £62,500 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.17% - -
75th Percentile £80,000 £77,500 £75,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £95,000 £87,500
UK median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £57,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% -3.51% -1.81%

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 30 September 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:

Application Platforms
1 1 (1.79%) Kinematics
Applications
1 13 (23.21%) Simulink
2 4 (7.14%) Mathcad
3 1 (1.79%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (1.79%) SOLIDWORKS
3 1 (1.79%) Stata
3 1 (1.79%) Zemax
Business Applications
1 1 (1.79%) Dynamics GP
1 1 (1.79%) HFM
Cloud Services
1 1 (1.79%) OCI
1 1 (1.79%) SaaS
1 1 (1.79%) Stripe
Communications & Networking
1 4 (7.14%) Ethernet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (3.57%) MongoDB
1 2 (3.57%) PostgreSQL
2 1 (1.79%) Data Lake
2 1 (1.79%) Metadata
Development Applications
1 12 (21.43%) LabVIEW
2 4 (7.14%) Rational DOORS
General
1 28 (50.00%) Inclusion and Diversity
2 24 (42.86%) Electronics
3 17 (30.36%) Finance
4 16 (28.57%) Aerospace
5 15 (26.79%) Social Skills
6 10 (17.86%) Organisational Skills
7 8 (14.29%) Analytical Skills
8 4 (7.14%) Manufacturing
9 2 (3.57%) Publishing
9 2 (3.57%) Telecoms
10 1 (1.79%) Banking
10 1 (1.79%) Games
10 1 (1.79%) Marketing
10 1 (1.79%) Presentation Skills
10 1 (1.79%) Public Sector
10 1 (1.79%) Retail
Job Titles
1 23 (41.07%) Senior
2 12 (21.43%) Systems Engineer
3 8 (14.29%) Principal Engineer
3 8 (14.29%) Research Scientist
3 8 (14.29%) Senior Systems Engineer
4 6 (10.71%) Lead
5 5 (8.93%) Research Engineer
6 4 (7.14%) Electronics Engineer
6 4 (7.14%) Principal Systems Engineer
6 4 (7.14%) Senior Software Engineer
6 4 (7.14%) Software Engineer
6 4 (7.14%) Technical Specialist
7 3 (5.36%) C++ Software Engineer
7 3 (5.36%) Consultant
7 3 (5.36%) Senior C++ Software Engineer
7 3 (5.36%) Senior Consultant
8 2 (3.57%) Data Science Leader
8 2 (3.57%) Lecturer
8 2 (3.57%) Machine Learning Researcher
8 2 (3.57%) Team Leader
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 2 (3.57%) PyTorch
2 1 (1.79%) EDI
2 1 (1.79%) Google JAX
2 1 (1.79%) JAX
2 1 (1.79%) Keras
2 1 (1.79%) NumPy
2 1 (1.79%) Pandas
2 1 (1.79%) scikit-learn
2 1 (1.79%) TensorFlow
Miscellaneous
1 14 (25.00%) FPGA
2 13 (23.21%) Algorithms
3 8 (14.29%) Fibre Optics
4 7 (12.50%) VHDL
5 6 (10.71%) Verilog
6 3 (5.36%) Blog
6 3 (5.36%) Data Structures
6 3 (5.36%) Robotics
7 2 (3.57%) AI Agents
7 2 (3.57%) Distributed Architecture
7 2 (3.57%) Distributed Systems
7 2 (3.57%) PCIe
7 2 (3.57%) Podcast
Operating Systems
1 3 (5.36%) Linux
1 3 (5.36%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 21 (37.50%) Physics
2 20 (35.71%) AI
3 15 (26.79%) Validation
4 12 (21.43%) Data Science
4 12 (21.43%) Roadmaps
5 10 (17.86%) Machine Learning
5 10 (17.86%) Prototyping
5 10 (17.86%) Technical Leadership
5 10 (17.86%) Technology Strategy
6 9 (16.07%) Computer Science
6 9 (16.07%) Mathematics
6 9 (16.07%) Motion Control
6 9 (16.07%) Signal Processing
7 8 (14.29%) Customer Engagement
7 8 (14.29%) Fault Analysis
7 8 (14.29%) Microscopy
7 8 (14.29%) Project Planning
7 8 (14.29%) Regulatory Compliance
7 8 (14.29%) Software Engineering
7 8 (14.29%) Technology Roadmap
Programming Languages
1 21 (37.50%) MATLAB
2 19 (33.93%) Python
3 5 (8.93%) C
3 5 (8.93%) C++
3 5 (8.93%) SystemVerilog
4 2 (3.57%) Embedded C
4 2 (3.57%) Java
4 2 (3.57%) R
4 2 (3.57%) SQL
5 1 (1.79%) Bash
5 1 (1.79%) Embedded C++
5 1 (1.79%) Rust
Qualifications
1 56 (100.00%) Degree
2 32 (57.14%) Master's Degree
3 20 (35.71%) Security Cleared
4 18 (32.14%) SC Cleared
5 13 (23.21%) BPSS Clearance
5 13 (23.21%) DV Cleared
6 3 (5.36%) Postgraduate
7 1 (1.79%) Oracle Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 13 (23.21%) Accessibility
2 2 (3.57%) QA
3 1 (1.79%) MISRA
System Software
1 7 (12.50%) Firmware
2 1 (1.79%) Docker
Vendors
1 8 (14.29%) Siemens
2 4 (7.14%) Xilinx
3 2 (3.57%) EMC
4 1 (1.79%) Altera
4 1 (1.79%) Hyperion
4 1 (1.79%) IBM
4 1 (1.79%) MathWorks
4 1 (1.79%) Microsoft
4 1 (1.79%) Oracle
4 1 (1.79%) Thales