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Biomedical engineer : Salary and conditions

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  1. Job description
  2. Salary and conditions
  3. Entry requirements
  4. Training
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Case studies

  • The current pay for a trainee in The National Health Service (NHS)  is between £21,176 and £27,534, depending on location, rising up to £34,189 with further experience.
  • The range of typical salaries for biomedical engineers working as state registered clinical scientists in the NHS or in the private sector is £28,000 - £38,000.
  • More senior biomedical engineers in the NHS can earn up to £40,157. In some cases it may even be possible to progress to consultant level in which case pay could be as high as £97,478.
  • Salaries in the private sector may be higher and senior biomedical engineers can earn around £45,000.
    Those working in or near London receive an additional allowance.
  • Working hours are mainly 9am to 5.30pm, with local variations. Those involved in research often work in a flexible environment and longer hours may be necessary at certain stages of a project. On practical grounds, safety and maintenance work on hospital equipment is likely to be performed out of hours.
  • The workplace may be an office, laboratory, workshop, hospital, clinic or more likely a combination of the above.
  • Self-employment is unlikely, although there may be scope to work as a consulting engineer or a contractor to a hospital. However, you would need to have a good network of contacts due to the collaborative nature of the work; biomedical engineers rarely work alone.
  • As with most jobs in the engineering field, women are the minority, but only very slightly, and the number of women entering the field is increasing. It can be close to 50% male:female in the NHS and in universities.
  • Jobs are quite widely available across the UK, particularly in NHS trusts. Flexibility in preferred geographical location may be necessary both to obtain an initial training post and when seeking to move to a higher grade.
  • Local travel within the working day may be required, for example where the job involves the regional management and maintenance of medical equipment in hospitals, GP surgeries and patients’ homes. Travel to meetings, conferences or exhibitions both in the UK and abroad is also possible. Some jobs in the private sector may involve extensive travel to introduce products and clinical trials to hospitals.
  • NHS employees are less likely to travel abroad than private sector or research staff, who are more commonly involved in international collaboration.
 
AGCAS
Written by AGCAS editors
Date: 
October 2010
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