Software Engineering Contract Job Trends in Bristol

Software Engineering
South West > Bristol

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in Bristol requiring Software Engineering skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 8 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
8 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 3 7 19
Rank change year-on-year +4 +12 -5
Contract jobs citing Software Engineering 174 77 84
As % of all contract jobs in Bristol 17.79% 12.81% 7.99%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 21.22% 14.26% 9.60%
Number of daily rates quoted 23 3 20
10th Percentile £68 £480 £479
25th Percentile £219 £488 £513
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £400 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -27.27% - -2.65%
75th Percentile £564 £594 £676
90th Percentile £645 £598 £720
South West median daily rate £450 £600 £550
% change year-on-year -25.00% +9.09% -8.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 139 39 48
10th Percentile £61.25 £61.25 £52.50
25th Percentile - £63.75 £55.31
Median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
75th Percentile - £68.00 £70.00
90th Percentile - £68.75 -
South West median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
% change year-on-year - - -0.76%

All Process & Methodology Skills
Bristol

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

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 820 540 875
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Bristol 83.84% 89.85% 83.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 408 298 526
10th Percentile £325 £205 £294
25th Percentile £403 £350 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £495 £525
Median % change year-on-year +1.01% -5.71% +5.00%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £638
90th Percentile £738 £700 £700
South West median daily rate £525 £525 £531
% change year-on-year - -1.18% -2.52%
Number of hourly rates quoted 223 65 145
10th Percentile £17.69 £35.00 £33.80
25th Percentile £38.94 £57.50 £50.00
Median hourly rate £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
75th Percentile - £68.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £67.25 £70.00 £83.40
South West median hourly rate £57.35 £65.00 £52.50
% change year-on-year -11.77% +23.81% -14.63%

Software Engineering
Job Vacancy Trend in Bristol

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Software Engineering relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Bristol.

Software Engineering job vacancy trend in Bristol

Software Engineering
Daily Rate Trend in Bristol

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Bristol citing Software Engineering.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Bristol citing Software Engineering

Software Engineering
Daily Rate Histogram in Bristol

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Software Engineering in Bristol over the 6 months to 8 February 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Software Engineering in Bristol

Software Engineering
Hourly Rate Trend in Bristol

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Bristol citing Software Engineering.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Bristol citing Software Engineering

Software Engineering
Hourly Rate Histogram in Bristol

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Software Engineering in Bristol over the 6 months to 8 February 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Software Engineering in Bristol

Software Engineering
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Bristol 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 3 (1.72%) Apache
2 1 (0.57%) Apache Airflow
Applications
1 3 (1.72%) Microsoft Excel
1 3 (1.72%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (1.15%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 2 (1.15%) Primavera
Cloud Services
1 11 (6.32%) AWS
2 7 (4.02%) Azure
3 5 (2.87%) Azure DevOps
3 5 (2.87%) npm
4 4 (2.30%) GCP
5 3 (1.72%) OpenShift
6 2 (1.15%) Azure AKS
6 2 (1.15%) Azure Cosmos DB
6 2 (1.15%) Entra ID
7 1 (0.57%) Figma
7 1 (0.57%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 1 (0.57%) Bluetooth
1 1 (0.57%) Ethernet
1 1 (0.57%) TCP/IP
1 1 (0.57%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (4.02%) PostgreSQL
2 6 (3.45%) GIS
3 3 (1.72%) NoSQL
4 2 (1.15%) Elasticsearch
4 2 (1.15%) MongoDB
4 2 (1.15%) SQL Server
5 1 (0.57%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 14 (8.05%) Rational Rhapsody
2 9 (5.17%) GitLab
3 8 (4.60%) Jenkins
4 3 (1.72%) Sonatype Nexus
5 2 (1.15%) Artifactory
5 2 (1.15%) Git
6 1 (0.57%) Eclipse
6 1 (0.57%) Rational DOORS
6 1 (0.57%) Visual Studio
General
1 16 (9.20%) Aerospace
2 12 (6.90%) Law
3 11 (6.32%) Analytical Skills
4 10 (5.75%) Electronics
5 5 (2.87%) Finance
6 4 (2.30%) Organisational Skills
6 4 (2.30%) Public Sector
6 4 (2.30%) Social Skills
7 3 (1.72%) Military
8 2 (1.15%) Telecoms
9 1 (0.57%) Automotive
9 1 (0.57%) Aviation
9 1 (0.57%) Documentation Skills
9 1 (0.57%) Legal
Job Titles
1 131 (75.29%) Software Engineer
2 69 (39.66%) C++ Software Engineer
3 19 (10.92%) Embedded Engineer
3 19 (10.92%) Embedded Software Engineer
4 14 (8.05%) Algorithm Engineer
5 12 (6.90%) Documentation Officer
6 9 (5.17%) Product Engineer
6 9 (5.17%) Products Support Engineer
6 9 (5.17%) Software Support Engineer
6 9 (5.17%) Support Engineer
7 8 (4.60%) C Software Engineer
7 8 (4.60%) C/C++ Software Engineer
7 8 (4.60%) Java Engineer
7 8 (4.60%) Java Software Engineer
8 6 (3.45%) Lead
9 5 (2.87%) Developer
10 4 (2.30%) Senior
11 3 (1.72%) Administrator
11 3 (1.72%) DevOps Engineer
11 3 (1.72%) Java Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 45 (25.86%) Middleware
2 28 (16.09%) Qt
3 11 (6.32%) Node.js
4 9 (5.17%) React
5 3 (1.72%) Elastic Stack
5 3 (1.72%) REST
6 2 (1.15%) .NET
6 2 (1.15%) Apache NiFi
6 2 (1.15%) Express.js
6 2 (1.15%) Next.js
7 1 (0.57%) GraphQL
7 1 (0.57%) JWT
7 1 (0.57%) OAuth
7 1 (0.57%) OAuth2
7 1 (0.57%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 22 (12.64%) Algorithms
2 11 (6.32%) Embedded Systems
3 7 (4.02%) CUDA
4 6 (3.45%) Video\Live Streaming
5 5 (2.87%) Legacy Systems
6 3 (1.72%) Onboarding
7 2 (1.15%) Cloud Native
8 1 (0.57%) Management Information System
8 1 (0.57%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 19 (10.92%) Linux
2 9 (5.17%) Ubuntu
2 9 (5.17%) Windows
3 1 (0.57%) Embedded Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 18 (10.34%) CI/CD
2 14 (8.05%) Project Management
2 14 (8.05%) Validation
3 12 (6.90%) Configuration Management
3 12 (6.90%) Software Delivery
3 12 (6.90%) Systems Engineering
4 10 (5.75%) Agile
4 10 (5.75%) Integration Testing
4 10 (5.75%) Workflow
5 9 (5.17%) DevOps
6 8 (4.60%) Collaborative Culture
6 8 (4.60%) Software Testing
7 7 (4.02%) Continuous Improvement
7 7 (4.02%) Project Delivery
7 7 (4.02%) Test Automation
7 7 (4.02%) UML
8 6 (3.45%) Information Security
8 6 (3.45%) Mentoring
8 6 (3.45%) SDLC
8 6 (3.45%) Workflow Management
Programming Languages
1 90 (51.72%) C++
2 50 (28.74%) Ada
3 35 (20.11%) C
4 18 (10.34%) Java
4 18 (10.34%) JavaScript
5 12 (6.90%) MATLAB
6 9 (5.17%) Shell Script
6 9 (5.17%) TypeScript
7 8 (4.60%) C#
8 7 (4.02%) Python
9 4 (2.30%) SQL
10 2 (1.15%) Bicep
10 2 (1.15%) PowerShell
11 1 (0.57%) Embedded C++
11 1 (0.57%) Scala
Qualifications
1 57 (32.76%) Security Cleared
2 50 (28.74%) SC Cleared
3 7 (4.02%) Degree
4 3 (1.72%) Computer Science Degree
5 2 (1.15%) DV Cleared
6 1 (0.57%) CISSP
6 1 (0.57%) HND
6 1 (0.57%) MCSE
6 1 (0.57%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 44 (25.29%) Def Stans
2 33 (18.97%) IEC 61508
3 31 (17.82%) MISRA
4 21 (12.07%) MISRA C
5 10 (5.75%) DO-178B
6 3 (1.72%) QA
7 2 (1.15%) GDPR
8 1 (0.57%) DICOM
8 1 (0.57%) HL7
System Software
1 10 (5.75%) Firmware
2 6 (3.45%) Docker
3 2 (1.15%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 7 (4.02%) Kubernetes
1 7 (4.02%) Terraform
2 3 (1.72%) Grafana
2 3 (1.72%) Prometheus
3 2 (1.15%) Ansible
3 2 (1.15%) Kibana
Vendors
1 14 (8.05%) Red Hat
2 6 (3.45%) IBM
3 5 (2.87%) MathWorks
4 4 (2.30%) Microsoft
5 1 (0.57%) Databricks
5 1 (0.57%) NVIDIA