DNS Contract Job Trends in England

Domain Name System (DNS)
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in England requiring DNS skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 22 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
22 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 134 113 152
Rank change year-on-year -21 +39 -14
Contract jobs citing DNS 845 615 602
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.95% 2.46% 1.60%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 20.63% 19.19% 12.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 519 425 408
10th Percentile £300 £263 £225
25th Percentile £400 £406 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £495 £550 £488
Median % change year-on-year -10.00% +12.82% -7.14%
75th Percentile £588 £606 £598
90th Percentile £638 £659 £675
UK median daily rate £495 £545 £475
% change year-on-year -9.17% +14.74% -9.52%
Number of hourly rates quoted 38 16 25
10th Percentile £18.08 - £19.10
25th Percentile £22.19 £29.00 £23.80
Median hourly rate £32.50 £48.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -32.29% +20.00% -23.27%
75th Percentile £67.14 £81.10 -
90th Percentile £74.08 £81.73 £50.64
UK median hourly rate £32.50 £48.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year -32.29% +20.00% -23.27%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
England

DNS falls under the Communications and Computer Networking category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring communications or computer networking skills in England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 4,096 3,205 4,831
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 9.46% 12.84% 12.82%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,548 1,997 2,868
10th Percentile £250 £228 £213
25th Percentile £400 £363 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £495 £500
Median % change year-on-year +0.93% -0.92% -2.44%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £608
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK median daily rate £500 £483 £500
% change year-on-year +3.52% -3.40% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 280 130 397
10th Percentile £16.04 £14.64 £13.71
25th Percentile £21.25 £18.05 £17.69
Median hourly rate £29.52 £40.50 £45.88
Median % change year-on-year -27.11% -11.73% +142.37%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.00 £81.43 £73.45
UK median hourly rate £27.94 £45.00 £43.00
% change year-on-year -37.91% +4.65% +126.32%

DNS
Job Vacancy Trend in England

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

DNS job vacancy trend in England

DNS
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing DNS.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing DNS

DNS
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing DNS in England over the 6 months to 22 June 2026.

Daily rate histogram for DNS in England

DNS
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing DNS.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing DNS

DNS
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing DNS in England over the 6 months to 22 June 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for DNS in England

DNS
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 DNS within the England region over the 6 months to 22 June 2026. 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 -41 284 £500 - 59
North of England +10 233 £449 -10.20% 50
South East +1 168 £525 -4.55% 97
North West +41 153 £458 +1.67% 30
Midlands +3 109 £450 -5.26% 40
West Midlands +5 95 £438 -7.89% 22
Yorkshire -25 74 £447 -18.77% 16
South West -28 62 £500 -18.70% 36
East of England -50 35 £450 -18.18% 37
East Midlands -17 13 £450 -20.00% 18
North East -44 6 £413 +17.86% 8
DNS
UK

DNS
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 79 (9.35%) Microsoft Exchange
2 52 (6.15%) SharePoint
3 15 (1.78%) nginx
4 14 (1.66%) Confluence
5 13 (1.54%) IIS
6 11 (1.30%) Apache
7 6 (0.71%) Tomcat
8 4 (0.47%) Skype for Business
9 2 (0.24%) IBM HTTP Server
9 2 (0.24%) Oracle HTTP Server
9 2 (0.24%) WebSphere
9 2 (0.24%) WebSphere Application Server
9 2 (0.24%) WebSphere Portal
10 1 (0.12%) Exchange Server 2010
10 1 (0.12%) SharePoint Server
10 1 (0.12%) Traefik
Applications
1 18 (2.13%) Microsoft Office
2 12 (1.42%) MS Visio
3 3 (0.36%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.36%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.12%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 4 (0.47%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.12%) Cloudability
Cloud Services
1 297 (35.15%) Azure
2 159 (18.82%) AWS
3 141 (16.69%) Entra ID
4 110 (13.02%) Microsoft 365
5 93 (11.01%) GCP
6 64 (7.57%) GitHub
7 49 (5.80%) IaaS
8 38 (4.50%) SaaS
9 35 (4.14%) PaaS
10 30 (3.55%) OneDrive
10 30 (3.55%) Serverless
11 29 (3.43%) Route 53
11 29 (3.43%) Virtual Private Cloud
12 26 (3.08%) Amazon EC2
12 26 (3.08%) AWS CloudFormation
13 25 (2.96%) Amazon EKS
13 25 (2.96%) Amazon S3
14 24 (2.84%) OpenShift
15 23 (2.72%) GitHub Actions
16 22 (2.60%) Google Kubernetes Engine
Communications & Networking
1 373 (44.14%) DHCP
2 265 (31.36%) Firewall
3 211 (24.97%) VPN
4 198 (23.43%) TCP/IP
5 123 (14.56%) WAN
6 105 (12.43%) LAN
7 98 (11.60%) Network Security
8 88 (10.41%) BIG-IP
8 88 (10.41%) SSL
9 86 (10.18%) BGP
10 85 (10.06%) VLAN
11 65 (7.69%) HTTP
12 50 (5.92%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
12 50 (5.92%) Wi-Fi
12 50 (5.92%) Wireless
13 48 (5.68%) OSPF
14 41 (4.85%) DMZ
14 41 (4.85%) SAN
15 36 (4.26%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
15 36 (4.26%) Kerberos
Database & Business Intelligence
1 34 (4.02%) SQL Server
2 18 (2.13%) Elasticsearch
3 12 (1.42%) Amazon RDS
4 11 (1.30%) PostgreSQL
5 10 (1.18%) Azure SQL Database
5 10 (1.18%) Power BI
6 8 (0.95%) MySQL
7 6 (0.71%) NoSQL
8 5 (0.59%) DynamoDB
9 4 (0.47%) Amazon Aurora
9 4 (0.47%) Data Lake
9 4 (0.47%) DocumentDB
9 4 (0.47%) Redis
10 3 (0.36%) Big Data
11 2 (0.24%) MongoDB
12 1 (0.12%) Relational Database
12 1 (0.12%) SQL Server Reporting Services
12 1 (0.12%) TimescaleDB
Development Applications
1 58 (6.86%) JIRA
2 56 (6.63%) Jenkins
3 26 (3.08%) Git
4 24 (2.84%) Fiddler
5 22 (2.60%) GitLab
6 9 (1.07%) Browser DevTools
7 7 (0.83%) Bitbucket
7 7 (0.83%) SonarQube
8 6 (0.71%) Chocolatey
9 3 (0.36%) Sonatype Nexus
10 2 (0.24%) Introscope
10 2 (0.24%) Spinnaker
11 1 (0.12%) Artifactory
11 1 (0.12%) MSI
11 1 (0.12%) Visual Studio
General
1 178 (21.07%) Social Skills
2 71 (8.40%) Analytical Skills
3 68 (8.05%) Banking
4 66 (7.81%) Finance
5 53 (6.27%) Public Sector
6 41 (4.85%) Documentation Skills
7 36 (4.26%) Investment Banking
8 17 (2.01%) Legal
8 17 (2.01%) Military
9 16 (1.89%) Telecoms
10 8 (0.95%) Local Government
11 7 (0.83%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 7 (0.83%) Organisational Skills
12 6 (0.71%) Police
12 6 (0.71%) Publishing
13 5 (0.59%) Law
14 4 (0.47%) Advertising
14 4 (0.47%) Financial Institution
14 4 (0.47%) Manufacturing
15 3 (0.36%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 164 (19.41%) Network Engineer
2 120 (14.20%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 110 (13.02%) Architect
4 63 (7.46%) Support Engineer
5 60 (7.10%) Senior
6 57 (6.75%) Security Engineer
7 51 (6.04%) Analyst
8 48 (5.68%) Cloud Engineer
9 46 (5.44%) Web Engineer
10 41 (4.85%) Network Security Engineer
11 39 (4.62%) IT Support
12 37 (4.38%) Cisco Engineer
13 35 (4.14%) Cisco Network Engineer
14 34 (4.02%) IT Engineer
15 33 (3.91%) Administrator
15 33 (3.91%) Data Engineer
15 33 (3.91%) Data Network Engineer
15 33 (3.91%) DevOps Engineer
16 32 (3.79%) Cisco Security Engineer
17 31 (3.67%) Azure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 57 (6.75%) LDAP
2 44 (5.21%) 802.1X
3 42 (4.97%) SAML
4 35 (4.14%) OAuth
5 26 (3.08%) OpenID
6 20 (2.37%) OpenTelemetry
7 11 (1.30%) ARM Templates
7 11 (1.30%) JSON
8 10 (1.18%) REST
9 8 (0.95%) OAuth2
10 6 (0.71%) Kafka
11 5 (0.59%) CSS
11 5 (0.59%) XMPP
12 4 (0.47%) Hibernate
12 4 (0.47%) JPA
12 4 (0.47%) RESTful
12 4 (0.47%) Spring
12 4 (0.47%) Spring Boot
12 4 (0.47%) Web Services
12 4 (0.47%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 105 (12.43%) Data Centre
2 66 (7.81%) PKI
3 58 (6.86%) Cloud Native
4 47 (5.56%) Onboarding
5 39 (4.62%) Clustering
5 39 (4.62%) Hybrid Cloud
5 39 (4.62%) Replication
6 37 (4.38%) Management Information System
7 33 (3.91%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
8 31 (3.67%) Public Cloud
9 16 (1.89%) Enterprise Cloud
9 16 (1.89%) Self-Motivation
10 13 (1.54%) Security Posture
11 12 (1.42%) Cyber Threat
11 12 (1.42%) Legacy Systems
11 12 (1.42%) Virtual Team
12 10 (1.18%) Enterprise Software
12 10 (1.18%) Enterprise Storage
12 10 (1.18%) Product Ownership
13 9 (1.07%) Security Operations Centre
Operating Systems
1 347 (41.07%) Windows
2 202 (23.91%) Windows Server
3 112 (13.25%) Linux
4 42 (4.97%) Windows 10
5 30 (3.55%) Windows Server 2019
6 26 (3.08%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 24 (2.84%) Mac OS
7 24 (2.84%) Unix
8 19 (2.25%) Windows Server 2012
9 15 (1.78%) Apple iOS
10 12 (1.42%) Ubuntu
11 11 (1.30%) Windows Server 2016
12 10 (1.18%) CentOS
13 9 (1.07%) Android
14 7 (0.83%) Windows 7
14 7 (0.83%) Windows Server 2003
15 5 (0.59%) VMS
16 3 (0.36%) AIX
17 2 (0.24%) Oracle Linux
17 2 (0.24%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 175 (20.71%) Problem-Solving
2 171 (20.24%) Load Balancing
3 152 (17.99%) Infrastructure Engineering
4 147 (17.40%) Migration
5 143 (16.92%) High Availability
6 120 (14.20%) DevOps
7 110 (13.02%) ITIL
8 109 (12.90%) CI/CD
9 107 (12.66%) Infrastructure as Code
10 81 (9.59%) ITSM
11 77 (9.11%) Observability
12 71 (8.40%) Agile
12 71 (8.40%) Identity Access Management
13 68 (8.05%) Disaster Recovery
14 64 (7.57%) Project Delivery
15 56 (6.63%) RBAC
16 51 (6.04%) Containerisation
16 51 (6.04%) Root Cause Analysis
17 50 (5.92%) Cybersecurity
18 48 (5.68%) Runbook
Programming Languages
1 164 (19.41%) PowerShell
2 128 (15.15%) Python
3 77 (9.11%) Bash
4 49 (5.80%) SQL
5 23 (2.72%) JavaScript
6 20 (2.37%) Bicep
7 10 (1.18%) Go
7 10 (1.18%) Java
8 9 (1.07%) ActionScript
8 9 (1.07%) Shell Script
8 9 (1.07%) VBA
9 8 (0.95%) Perl
10 6 (0.71%) VBScript
11 5 (0.59%) Groovy
11 5 (0.59%) Ruby
12 4 (0.47%) C
12 4 (0.47%) VB
13 3 (0.36%) Lisp
14 2 (0.24%) Jython
14 2 (0.24%) Kotlin
Qualifications
1 280 (33.14%) Security Cleared
2 172 (20.36%) SC Cleared
3 97 (11.48%) DV Cleared
4 87 (10.30%) Cisco Certification
5 64 (7.57%) Degree
6 56 (6.63%) CCNP
7 46 (5.44%) CCNA
8 29 (3.43%) Microsoft Certification
9 27 (3.20%) Azure Certification
10 23 (2.72%) Network+ Certification
11 15 (1.78%) CompTIA Security+
11 15 (1.78%) Server+ Certification
12 14 (1.66%) BPSS Clearance
13 12 (1.42%) AWS Certification
13 12 (1.42%) CCIE
14 11 (1.30%) MCSA
14 11 (1.30%) MCSE
15 10 (1.18%) CISSP
15 10 (1.18%) JNCIA
15 10 (1.18%) JNCIS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (3.08%) SLA
2 24 (2.84%) NIST
3 19 (2.25%) GDPR
4 17 (2.01%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 14 (1.66%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 10 (1.18%) QA
7 8 (0.95%) NCSC
8 5 (0.59%) PCI DSS
9 4 (0.47%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 3 (0.36%) Cyber Essentials
11 2 (0.24%) Government Security Classifications
11 2 (0.24%) SOC 2
12 1 (0.12%) Actionable Recommendations
12 1 (0.12%) COBIT
12 1 (0.12%) JSP 440
12 1 (0.12%) NIST 800
12 1 (0.12%) RMADS
System Software
1 338 (40.00%) Active Directory
2 187 (22.13%) VMware Infrastructure
3 84 (9.94%) Hyper-V
4 57 (6.75%) VMware NSX
5 51 (6.04%) VMware ESXi
6 47 (5.56%) vSphere
7 38 (4.50%) Virtual Machines
8 33 (3.91%) Docker
8 33 (3.91%) Virtual Desktop
9 25 (2.96%) Firmware
10 16 (1.89%) BitLocker
11 14 (1.66%) NFS
12 12 (1.42%) Microsoft App-V
12 12 (1.42%) Squid
12 12 (1.42%) vCloud
13 10 (1.18%) Postfix
14 8 (0.95%) VMware Workstation
15 7 (0.83%) Varnish
16 4 (0.47%) Sendmail
16 4 (0.47%) Terminal Services
Systems Management
1 141 (16.69%) Terraform
2 106 (12.54%) Ansible
3 89 (10.53%) Kubernetes
4 71 (8.40%) Microsoft Intune
5 70 (8.28%) Single Sign-On
6 51 (6.04%) Grafana
6 51 (6.04%) vCenter Server
7 46 (5.44%) FortiGate
7 46 (5.44%) SCCM
8 39 (4.62%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 36 (4.26%) Prometheus
10 22 (2.60%) WSUS
11 21 (2.49%) Argo
12 19 (2.25%) SCOM
13 16 (1.89%) Puppet
14 14 (1.66%) HAProxy
15 13 (1.54%) Jamf Pro
15 13 (1.54%) Nessus
15 13 (1.54%) vMotion
16 8 (0.95%) Consul
Vendors
1 277 (32.78%) Microsoft
2 224 (26.51%) VMware
3 163 (19.29%) Cisco
4 150 (17.75%) F5
5 76 (8.99%) ServiceNow
6 68 (8.05%) Splunk
7 57 (6.75%) Infoblox
8 52 (6.15%) Citrix
9 51 (6.04%) Google
9 51 (6.04%) SolarWinds
10 45 (5.33%) Juniper
11 43 (5.09%) Red Hat
12 35 (4.14%) Palo Alto
13 31 (3.67%) Blue Coat
13 31 (3.67%) NetApp
14 30 (3.55%) Dynatrace
15 26 (3.08%) McAfee
16 22 (2.60%) Extreme Networks
16 22 (2.60%) Fortinet
17 21 (2.49%) CheckPoint