Cyber Defence Contract Job Trends in England

Cyber Defence
UK > England

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Cyber Defence in contract job vacancies in England. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Cyber Defence over the 6 months leading up to 17 December 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 478 459 499
Rank change year-on-year -19 +40 +203
Contract jobs citing Cyber Defence 71 52 58
As % of all contract jobs in England 0.23% 0.18% 0.16%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 0.63% 0.55% 0.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 41 21 22
10th Percentile £425 £550 £525
25th Percentile £500 £648 £578
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £575 £700 £740
Median % change year-on-year -17.86% -5.46% +18.47%
75th Percentile £700 £795 £792
90th Percentile £788 £813 £799
UK median daily rate £581 £700 £740
% change year-on-year -16.96% -5.46% +18.47%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2 0 9
10th Percentile £30.28 - -
25th Percentile £30.69 - £62.50
Median hourly rate £31.39 - £65.00
75th Percentile £32.08 - £67.50
90th Percentile £32.49 - £69.00
UK median hourly rate £80.00 - £65.00

All Generic Skills
England

Cyber Defence falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring generic IT skills in England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills 11,224 9,439 11,901
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 35.73% 32.35% 32.05%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,080 5,723 8,061
10th Percentile £282 £282 £269
25th Percentile £408 £413 £421
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -6.68% - -4.35%
75th Percentile £638 £675 £675
90th Percentile £738 £800 £775
UK median daily rate £501 £538 £550
% change year-on-year -6.88% -2.27% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 566 281 458
10th Percentile £14.25 £17.08 £16.75
25th Percentile £18.25 £23.60 £20.89
Median hourly rate £28.06 £37.50 £43.92
Median % change year-on-year -25.17% -14.62% +25.39%
75th Percentile £61.44 £66.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £80.75 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £27.00 £33.27 £42.50
% change year-on-year -18.85% -21.72% +21.43%

Cyber Defence
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Cyber Defence relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in England.

Cyber Defence job vacancy trend in England

Cyber Defence
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Cyber Defence.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Cyber Defence

Cyber Defence
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Cyber Defence in England over the 6 months to 17 December 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Cyber Defence in England

Cyber Defence
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Cyber Defence.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Cyber Defence

Cyber Defence
Contract Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Cyber Defence within the England region over the 6 months to 17 December 2025. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
London +12 35 £625 -16.67% 14
South West +7 15 £539 -21.71% 3
South East -7 11 £463 -33.93% 10
North of England -45 3 £575 - 6
Midlands -49 3 £500 -35.28% 2
West Midlands -52 3 £500 -35.28% 1
Yorkshire - 2 - - 2
East of England -13 1 £650 - 6
North West -28 1 £575 - 4
Cyber Defence
UK

Cyber Defence
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England 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 (4.23%) Microsoft Exchange
1 3 (4.23%) SharePoint
2 1 (1.41%) Confluence
Cloud Services
1 25 (35.21%) AWS
2 19 (26.76%) Azure
3 11 (15.49%) Microsoft 365
4 8 (11.27%) Azure Sentinel
5 5 (7.04%) Entra ID
6 2 (2.82%) IaaS
7 1 (1.41%) Azure Logic Apps
7 1 (1.41%) Cloud Computing
7 1 (1.41%) PaaS
7 1 (1.41%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 13 (18.31%) Firewall
2 3 (4.23%) Skype
2 3 (4.23%) VSAN
3 2 (2.82%) DNS
3 2 (2.82%) TCP/IP
3 2 (2.82%) VPN
4 1 (1.41%) HTTP
4 1 (1.41%) Internet
4 1 (1.41%) LAN
4 1 (1.41%) MPLS
4 1 (1.41%) SAN
4 1 (1.41%) SMTP
4 1 (1.41%) Structured Cabling
4 1 (1.41%) WAN
4 1 (1.41%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (1.41%) Big Data
Development Applications
1 1 (1.41%) Burp Suite
1 1 (1.41%) GCC
1 1 (1.41%) JIRA
1 1 (1.41%) Metasploit
1 1 (1.41%) MSI
General
1 30 (42.25%) Social Skills
2 20 (28.17%) Analytical Skills
3 13 (18.31%) Public Sector
4 8 (11.27%) Finance
5 6 (8.45%) Telecoms
6 5 (7.04%) Electronics
6 5 (7.04%) Legal
6 5 (7.04%) Manufacturing
6 5 (7.04%) Marketing
6 5 (7.04%) Military
7 3 (4.23%) Banking
7 3 (4.23%) Documentation Skills
7 3 (4.23%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 2 (2.82%) Local Government
9 1 (1.41%) Financial Institution
9 1 (1.41%) Presentation Skills
9 1 (1.41%) Retail
Job Titles
1 37 (52.11%) Analyst
2 21 (29.58%) Security Analyst
3 12 (16.90%) Senior
3 12 (16.90%) SOC Analyst
4 11 (15.49%) Security Engineer
5 10 (14.08%) Cybersecurity Analyst
6 9 (12.68%) Senior Analyst
7 8 (11.27%) Senior Security Analyst
8 7 (9.86%) Senior Cybersecurity Analyst
9 6 (8.45%) Architect
9 6 (8.45%) Lead
10 5 (7.04%) Security Architect
11 4 (5.63%) DevOps Engineer
11 4 (5.63%) SailPoint Engineer
12 3 (4.23%) Consultant
12 3 (4.23%) Coordinator
12 3 (4.23%) Lead DevOps
12 3 (4.23%) Lead DevOps Engineer
12 3 (4.23%) Security Assurance Coordinator
12 3 (4.23%) Threat Intelligence Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 4 (5.63%) SailPoint
2 2 (2.82%) ModSecurity
3 1 (1.41%) OpenMP
3 1 (1.41%) REST
3 1 (1.41%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 15 (21.13%) Cyber Threat
2 8 (11.27%) Security Posture
3 5 (7.04%) Data Centre
3 5 (7.04%) Operational Technology
4 4 (5.63%) Enterprise Cloud
4 4 (5.63%) Security Operations Centre
5 3 (4.23%) PKI
5 3 (4.23%) Private Cloud
6 2 (2.82%) CSOC
6 2 (2.82%) Fat Client
6 2 (2.82%) Thin Client
7 1 (1.41%) Analytical Mindset
7 1 (1.41%) Cloud Security Posture
7 1 (1.41%) CUDA
7 1 (1.41%) Cyber Kill Chain
7 1 (1.41%) Cyber Security Posture
7 1 (1.41%) Onboarding
7 1 (1.41%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 7 (9.86%) Windows
2 6 (8.45%) Linux
3 3 (4.23%) Windows 10
3 3 (4.23%) Windows Server
3 3 (4.23%) Windows Server 2008
4 2 (2.82%) Windows Server 2019
5 1 (1.41%) Kali Linux
5 1 (1.41%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 1 (1.41%) Rocky
5 1 (1.41%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 49 (69.01%) Cybersecurity
2 33 (46.48%) SIEM
3 32 (45.07%) Incident Response
4 26 (36.62%) Agile
5 21 (29.58%) Threat Intelligence
6 20 (28.17%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
7 19 (26.76%) Threat Detection
8 17 (23.94%) Security Operations
9 16 (22.54%) Problem-Solving
10 14 (19.72%) Coaching
10 14 (19.72%) Continuous Improvement
10 14 (19.72%) Mentoring
11 13 (18.31%) Line Management
12 11 (15.49%) Forensic Analysis
12 11 (15.49%) MITRE ATT&CK
12 11 (15.49%) Vulnerability Management
13 10 (14.08%) Roadmaps
14 9 (12.68%) Impact Assessments
14 9 (12.68%) ITIL
15 7 (9.86%) Information Security
Programming Languages
1 3 (4.23%) Kusto Query Language
1 3 (4.23%) PowerShell
1 3 (4.23%) SQL
2 2 (2.82%) Python
Qualifications
1 42 (59.15%) Security Cleared
2 35 (49.30%) SC Cleared
3 12 (16.90%) CISSP
4 8 (11.27%) Degree
4 8 (11.27%) DV Cleared
5 6 (8.45%) CompTIA CySA+
5 6 (8.45%) Network+ Certification
5 6 (8.45%) SANS
6 4 (5.63%) CISMP
6 4 (5.63%) GIAC
6 4 (5.63%) GSEC
7 3 (4.23%) CISM
7 3 (4.23%) CREST Certified
7 3 (4.23%) DBS Check
8 2 (2.82%) CEH
9 1 (1.41%) Cisco Certification
9 1 (1.41%) GCIH
9 1 (1.41%) ITIL Certification
9 1 (1.41%) Microsoft Certification
9 1 (1.41%) RHCE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 9 (12.68%) NCSC
2 8 (11.27%) NIST
3 6 (8.45%) GDPR
3 6 (8.45%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 4 (5.63%) Accessibility
4 4 (5.63%) QA
5 3 (4.23%) RMADS
6 2 (2.82%) Cyber Essentials
6 2 (2.82%) JSP 440
7 1 (1.41%) Actionable Recommendations
7 1 (1.41%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 1 (1.41%) GRC
System Software
1 4 (5.63%) VMware Infrastructure
2 3 (4.23%) Active Directory
2 3 (4.23%) VMware ESXi
3 1 (1.41%) GPFS
3 1 (1.41%) Lustre
3 1 (1.41%) Microsoft App-V
3 1 (1.41%) Slurm Workload Manager
3 1 (1.41%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 3 (4.23%) Active Directory Federation Services
1 3 (4.23%) Microsoft Intune
1 3 (4.23%) OPNET
1 3 (4.23%) vCenter Server
2 2 (2.82%) QRadar
3 1 (1.41%) CASB
3 1 (1.41%) SCCM
3 1 (1.41%) SELinux
Vendors
1 32 (45.07%) Microsoft
2 20 (28.17%) Splunk
3 5 (7.04%) SAP
3 5 (7.04%) VMware
4 2 (2.82%) Citrix
4 2 (2.82%) ServiceNow
4 2 (2.82%) Tenable
5 1 (1.41%) Computacenter
5 1 (1.41%) Databricks
5 1 (1.41%) Intel
5 1 (1.41%) NVIDIA
5 1 (1.41%) Zscaler