INSIGHTS
UK Robotics Salary Guide 2026
Base salary bands for 16 robotics and automation roles, from graduate to CTO, with London and regional pay, contract day rates and the skills that command a premium.
KEY FINDINGS
What the market is paying.
Robotics hiring in the UK splits into two markets. Industrial automation, field service and mechatronics roles pay much the same across the country. Software, perception and machine learning roles, especially at London's venture-backed AI and autonomy companies, pay a large and growing premium.
+39%
London premium at the median for robotics roles: around £80k in London against about £57.5k elsewhere in the UK.
£85k
Typical median for roles citing reinforcement learning, against about £60k for robotics roles overall.
£690/day
Median contract rate for roles citing robotics, with typical rates of £550–£740 a day.
£100k+
Where lead machine learning engineer pay starts. Heads of engineering typically earn £90k–£125k.
WHERE THE PREMIUM SITS
Software and AI lead the way.
The London premium is concentrated in software, AI and perception. London robotics software, computer vision and machine learning roles advertise around £90k at the median, against £60k–£66k elsewhere. Automation, mechatronics and field roles show little or no London premium, and the Midlands and North West often pay as well.
Need a salary benchmark for a specific role?
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