Maintenance Engineer Salary in Derby

Let’s talk about the average Maintenance Engineer Salary in Derby a little more. Over the course of Q4 ‘23 – Q1 ‘24 I reviewed 81 adverts. Which is a good data set to work from, hopefully we’ll find even more next time. Like last time, our average pays a lot more than the average on Indeed – 5.7% more! 

Derby has a very similar issue to Nottingham. In the fact that salaries on the whole fall behind expectations. But there are more engineers out there.   

If you’re interested in learning about a particular salary use the links below to navigate through this blog. Or, just scroll to see all! 

So let’s get straight into the average salary maintenance engineers in Derby can earn! 

Overview for the area: £42,403

Looking at Derby as a whole, the average has seen an increase of 2.1% and salaries ranged from £29,000 – £62,500 per annum. Seeing some increase is a good sign, though it should be higher and you can see that there is a real discrepancy in salaries with that huge range. The largest range in the whole of the East Midlands – clearly Derby has a lot of variability in the salaries offered.  

Mind you, this does include Days. Which made up 32% of the adverts in Derby. So, what does the area look like based on Shifts or just Days:  

The Shift average is just under where I think it should be. But it’s not the end of the world. The Days average I’m super impressed with. It’s on the rise (as it should be) and engineers would work Days for this. 

The Average Salary for an Electrical Maintenance Engineer: £41,844 

In Derby, 22% of roles wanted an Electrical Bias. Somehow the average elec salary has decreased by nearly 1% since our previous report in September 2023. This is frustrating, but this time round we collected much more data for electrical roles in Derby so this could be why.  

What’s most unexpected is that this bias has the lowest average salary in the area. The salaries are close, there’s not much in it, to be honest. But it’s still surprising that elec sits at the bottom of the pile in Derby.

These both being Monday-Friday roles puts a bit of a spanner in the works. It makes sense being the minimum salary as that’s what we’ve been seeing in other areas too. But is still too low.

The maximum salary is great in return for working a conventional week.

The Average Salary for a Mechanical Maintenance Engineer: £42,580 

Only 10% of the job ads in Derby were after mechanically biased engineers. Although this proportion is low, the salary average is the highest out of the biases. It’s even more surprising that half of these roles are for Mon-Fri Days. 

What’s great to see is that this salary has seen a 3% increase since the last report. 

We found both Mon-Fri Days and Double Days roles offering this minimum salary. For Mon-Fri Days it’s ok but not great at all for double days, as it involves unsociable hours and could be weekends.

This high salary for Mon-Fri Days is crazy. Although it didn’t say it in the advert, this must be a more senior role as this is crazy money compared to the majority of Mon-Fri Days roles.

The Average Salary for a Multi Skilled Maintenance Engineer: £42,560 

This average is 3% greater than what we found over the previous 6 months. 

A whopping 68% of the roles in Derby were directed to multi-skilled maintenance engineers. And like Leicester and Nottingham, it sits middle of the pack in terms of average salary.  

These salaries for multi-skilled engineers were the minimum and maximum across Derby and the whole of the East Midlands.

Both adverts didn’t state the shift type. When it comes to the lowest salary, it’s offensively low regardless of the shift type.

With the high salary, I have my suspicions it would include some nights for that juicy amount – it’s a very competitive salary.

Given that all of these averages included days roles, they’re pretty good. We’ve had a look at the average salary each of the biases could earn. Now let’s turn our attention to shifts. 

What do the shifts pay engineers? 

Again, there is a rich mix of shifts available to engineers in Derby. Here are some interesting points:  

So, let’s talk about what the most common shifts in Derby are paying their engineers on average. We’ve got lots of info for you. So, to make things simpler, have ordered it starting with the most frequently advertised shift.

4-on-4-off – £45,933

Reflecting the region as a whole, this was the most popular shift type in Derby. Making up 21% of the job adverts we reviewed.  

It’s a good average, to be honest. As this shift generally ranges between £44,000 and £47,000 per annum (depending on experience). 

What’s mad is that there’s an electrical 4-on-4-off role paying just £37,500. You will not find a fully qualified engineer at this rate. With this salary, it does feel like they’re playing their luck to see what you would get- especially as it was a multi-skilled role. But even then, it’s too low.    

Days (£37,000), Mon – Fri (£41,292) and Mon – Fri Days (£41,409)

Combined, these roles made up 31.8% of Derby’s roles. 

These shift patterns were a little deceptive. As they could potentially cover some level of unsociable hours – especially the Mon – Fri shift. So, the fact that the salaries are on the low side in concerning. 

An important takeaway from these: be honest with the hours of work. As in, what times will engineers be working on a Mon-Fri? Will Days be over the weekend? Otherwise, you’ll be wasting engineers time and that will hamper future hiring efforts.    

Rotating – £41,919

10% of roles in Derby were for the rotating shift. The highest demand for this particular shift out of all areas in the East Midlands. It may be an uncommon shift, but they clearly aren’t paying enough for it. This means rotating between days and nights which, I don’t know about you, but I think would be tolling. Companies offering this shift need to be paying more to get the top talent. 

Double Days (£41,111) and 3 Shift (£45,908)

Both of these shifts were sought after by almost 10% of the reviewed adverts. The averages should definitely be higher! 

Nights (£46,640) and Panama (£46,310)

These have the highest salary averages out of the 9 shifts we came across in Derby. But some of the least demanded shifts.  

With the ‘Nights’, it’s a bit ambiguous whether these are Mon-Fri or Thurs-Sun or even continental. That would create some variability in the salary. 

Panama however is quite a dark horse of shifts. It often pays well but you end up getting every other weekend off. A win-win situation. 

So, To Summarise The Average Maintenance Engineer Salary in Derby 

For Derby, most of the averages were at the lower end of what I would expect, apart from the odd few.   

If I’m honest, another reason why this average could be lower is because some companies will put out an advert at its lowest to see what they can get. If they get a gem for less that’s a win for them. But this tactic doesn’t tend to work.   

Also, some bigger companies are making redundancies or reducing salaries because of a downturn in production. So, this could be another reason why the averages are running low in the area.   

In terms of what is going to happen with salaries. They need to continue going up, and more so than they have in the past 6 months. The skills gap is getting bigger and bigger. And companies will need to up their salaries to attract engineers- as the area has a lot more available in comparison to Leicester.    

But I’m at the average – why can’t I hire? 

Sitting at the average isn’t always a good thing, as that’s where most of the competition is. In this market, you need to be paying well above this. Not so much for the engineers who are active on the market, but to attract those engineers who are in work – as people won’t move for a couple of grand.  

Obviously, if you can’t increase your salaries then you might feel a bit stuck. But you can help elevate your package by thinking about the benefits you put in place. This is something that I can help you with when hiring, I work with a lot of clients to showcase what good packages look like in their area. Also, if you are updating your benefits package then this will also help you retain engineers as well – so it’s really a win-win.  

If you’d like more help with this, check out our engineering recruitment services today!  

What Now?

This blog just focuses on what companies are advertising, and it only covers some of the key points – it would be way too long otherwise.  

Also, you should check out my blogs on the average salary in Leicester, Nottingham, and an overview of the East Midlands region. As it’s always best to see what else it out there. But if you’re actively looking for work then you should look at our current Maintenance Engineer jobs.  

To get a full picture of salaries in the area, and the East Midlands as a whole, you should download our full report today!