Network Security Contract Job Trends in England

Network Security
UK > England

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in England requiring Network Security skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 22 November 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
22 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 163 140 152
Rank change year-on-year -23 +12 +102
Contract jobs citing Network Security 521 554 681
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.70% 1.77% 1.72%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 15.05% 14.44% 12.02%
Number of daily rates quoted 313 362 473
10th Percentile £350 £363 £400
25th Percentile £411 £450 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £526 £550
Median % change year-on-year -4.90% -4.41% -
75th Percentile £588 £635 £649
90th Percentile £700 £725 £700
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £550
% change year-on-year -4.76% -4.55% +0.41%
Number of hourly rates quoted 17 8 6
10th Percentile £41.40 £29.38 £40.50
25th Percentile £45.00 £39.13 £64.06
Median hourly rate £70.16 £47.50 £72.50
Median % change year-on-year +47.71% -34.48% +61.11%
75th Percentile £85.00 £58.75 £76.25
90th Percentile £97.00 £76.78 -
UK median hourly rate £70.16 £43.00 £72.50
% change year-on-year +63.16% -40.69% +61.11%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
England

Network Security 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 3,462 3,836 5,666
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 11.32% 12.27% 14.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,224 2,236 3,538
10th Percentile £206 £240 £211
25th Percentile £358 £380 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £488 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -2.50% - -
75th Percentile £588 £608 £600
90th Percentile £680 £688 £700
UK median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 190 135 328
10th Percentile £15.50 £17.79 £18.55
25th Percentile £20.82 £23.99 £23.07
Median hourly rate £34.00 £48.56 £56.49
Median % change year-on-year -29.98% -14.04% +25.53%
75th Percentile £65.00 £67.50 £67.50
90th Percentile £75.00 £75.00 £76.25
UK median hourly rate £35.50 £42.50 £56.45
% change year-on-year -16.47% -24.71% +29.76%

Network Security
Job Vacancy Trend in England

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

Network Security job vacancy trend in England

Network Security
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Network Security.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Network Security

Network Security
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Network Security in England over the 6 months to 22 November 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Network Security in England

Network Security
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Network Security.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Network Security

Network Security
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Network Security in England over the 6 months to 22 November 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Network Security in England

Network Security
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 Network Security within the England region over the 6 months to 22 November 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 -2 228 £525 -1.08% 160
North of England -30 99 £475 -5.00% 35
Midlands -22 75 £500 -14.02% 23
West Midlands +1 70 £500 -21.26% 18
North West -7 67 £485 -7.67% 23
South East -22 66 £429 -19.44% 93
Yorkshire -35 46 £274 -45.25% 10
South West -1 29 £640 +10.54% 25
East of England -13 21 £500 +48.15% 15
East Midlands -24 5 - - 5
South Coast - 2 - -
North East -5 1 £550 -32.52% 3
Network Security
UK

Network Security
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 5 (0.96%) Confluence
2 4 (0.77%) Apache
2 4 (0.77%) SharePoint
3 3 (0.58%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.19%) IIS
4 1 (0.19%) nginx
4 1 (0.19%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 14 (2.69%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (0.77%) MS Visio
3 2 (0.38%) Microsoft Excel
3 2 (0.38%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 2 (0.38%) Microsoft Project
4 1 (0.19%) Windchill
Cloud Services
1 133 (25.53%) Azure
2 111 (21.31%) AWS
3 43 (8.25%) GCP
4 27 (5.18%) Microsoft 365
5 25 (4.80%) Entra ID
6 22 (4.22%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 21 (4.03%) Amazon S3
8 19 (3.65%) Amazon EC2
8 19 (3.65%) Azure DevOps
9 16 (3.07%) Amazon CloudWatch
9 16 (3.07%) Amazon ELB
10 14 (2.69%) Azure Key Vault
10 14 (2.69%) Azure Monitor
10 14 (2.69%) GitHub
11 12 (2.30%) Azure Sentinel
11 12 (2.30%) GitHub Actions
12 11 (2.11%) Azure Logic Apps
13 10 (1.92%) Google Workspace
13 10 (1.92%) IaaS
13 10 (1.92%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 246 (47.22%) Firewall
2 100 (19.19%) DNS
3 97 (18.62%) VPN
4 79 (15.16%) WAN
5 59 (11.32%) SSL
6 56 (10.75%) BGP
7 53 (10.17%) TCP/IP
8 49 (9.40%) SD-WAN
9 48 (9.21%) LAN
10 39 (7.49%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
10 39 (7.49%) OSPF
10 39 (7.49%) Wireless
11 35 (6.72%) VLAN
12 32 (6.14%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
13 31 (5.95%) DMZ
14 24 (4.61%) Intrusion Detection
15 23 (4.41%) HTTP
16 21 (4.03%) DHCP
16 21 (4.03%) Internet
17 20 (3.84%) Cisco ISE
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (0.58%) Amazon RDS
1 3 (0.58%) InfluxDB
1 3 (0.58%) Relational Database
2 2 (0.38%) Azure SQL Database
2 2 (0.38%) Data Lake
2 2 (0.38%) Power BI
3 1 (0.19%) Amazon Athena
3 1 (0.19%) GIS
3 1 (0.19%) MySQL
3 1 (0.19%) PostgreSQL
3 1 (0.19%) Redis
3 1 (0.19%) SQL Server
3 1 (0.19%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 25 (4.80%) Jenkins
2 23 (4.41%) GitLab
3 20 (3.84%) Git
4 11 (2.11%) JIRA
5 2 (0.38%) SonarQube
6 1 (0.19%) Burp Suite
6 1 (0.19%) Metasploit
6 1 (0.19%) Sonatype Nexus
6 1 (0.19%) Subversion
General
1 160 (30.71%) Social Skills
2 85 (16.31%) Analytical Skills
3 53 (10.17%) Finance
4 40 (7.68%) Public Sector
5 36 (6.91%) Banking
6 21 (4.03%) Telecoms
7 19 (3.65%) Documentation Skills
8 16 (3.07%) Investment Banking
9 12 (2.30%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 10 (1.92%) Law
10 10 (1.92%) Pharmaceutical
11 9 (1.73%) Legal
12 7 (1.34%) Presentation Skills
13 6 (1.15%) Financial Institution
13 6 (1.15%) Military
14 5 (0.96%) Influencing Skills
14 5 (0.96%) Manufacturing
14 5 (0.96%) Organisational Skills
15 4 (0.77%) Aerospace
16 2 (0.38%) Retail
Job Titles
1 107 (20.54%) Network Engineer
2 98 (18.81%) Security Engineer
3 88 (16.89%) Architect
4 54 (10.36%) Network Security Engineer
5 53 (10.17%) Security Architect
6 51 (9.79%) Senior
7 39 (7.49%) Analyst
8 36 (6.91%) Network Architect
9 26 (4.99%) Consultant
10 19 (3.65%) Administrator
11 18 (3.45%) Network Security Architect
11 18 (3.45%) SOC Analyst
12 17 (3.26%) Cybersecurity Engineer
12 17 (3.26%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 17 (3.26%) Security Analyst
13 16 (3.07%) Operations Engineer
14 14 (2.69%) Platform Manager
14 14 (2.69%) Security Consultant
14 14 (2.69%) Systems Manager
14 14 (2.69%) Wintel Systems Administrator
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 14 (2.69%) LDAP
2 12 (2.30%) 802.1X
3 10 (1.92%) ARM Templates
4 7 (1.34%) YAML
5 6 (1.15%) .NET
5 6 (1.15%) ADO
5 6 (1.15%) SAML
6 4 (0.77%) RabbitMQ
7 3 (0.58%) .NET Core
7 3 (0.58%) AngularJS
7 3 (0.58%) Node.js
7 3 (0.58%) PyTorch
7 3 (0.58%) React
7 3 (0.58%) SailPoint
7 3 (0.58%) TensorFlow
8 2 (0.38%) Elastic Stack
8 2 (0.38%) OAuth
8 2 (0.38%) OAuth2
8 2 (0.38%) OpenID
9 1 (0.19%) Lambda Expressions
Miscellaneous
1 43 (8.25%) Management Information System
2 40 (7.68%) Data Centre
3 39 (7.49%) Security Posture
4 29 (5.57%) Hybrid Cloud
5 22 (4.22%) Cloud Native
6 19 (3.65%) Onboarding
6 19 (3.65%) Security Operations Centre
7 18 (3.45%) PKI
8 17 (3.26%) Analytical Mindset
9 16 (3.07%) Cyber Threat
9 16 (3.07%) Operational Technology
10 12 (2.30%) Public Cloud
11 11 (2.11%) Cloud Security Posture
11 11 (2.11%) Cyberattack
11 11 (2.11%) Virtual Team
12 10 (1.92%) CSOC
12 10 (1.92%) Data Protection Act
13 9 (1.73%) Product Ownership
13 9 (1.73%) SCADA
14 8 (1.54%) Cyber Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 76 (14.59%) Windows
2 61 (11.71%) Linux
3 18 (3.45%) Windows Server
4 6 (1.15%) Unix
5 5 (0.96%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 4 (0.77%) VMS
7 3 (0.58%) Mac OS
8 2 (0.38%) Windows Server 2019
9 1 (0.19%) CentOS
9 1 (0.19%) Kali Linux
9 1 (0.19%) Ubuntu
9 1 (0.19%) Windows 10
9 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 124 (23.80%) Cybersecurity
2 103 (19.77%) Problem-Solving
3 101 (19.39%) Incident Response
4 94 (18.04%) SIEM
5 78 (14.97%) Cloud Security
6 71 (13.63%) Infrastructure as Code
7 67 (12.86%) CI/CD
8 65 (12.48%) DevOps
9 56 (10.75%) Change Management
10 52 (9.98%) Identity Access Management
11 50 (9.60%) Security Architecture
12 49 (9.40%) Migration
13 48 (9.21%) Load Balancing
13 48 (9.21%) Vulnerability Management
14 46 (8.83%) Security Operations
15 45 (8.64%) Agile
16 44 (8.45%) Infrastructure Automation
17 42 (8.06%) Network Architecture
17 42 (8.06%) Network Design
18 41 (7.87%) Information Security
Programming Languages
1 103 (19.77%) Python
2 65 (12.48%) PowerShell
3 38 (7.29%) Bash
4 19 (3.65%) Bicep
5 13 (2.50%) SQL
6 10 (1.92%) Kusto Query Language
7 6 (1.15%) Java
7 6 (1.15%) Perl
8 5 (0.96%) JavaScript
9 3 (0.58%) C#
9 3 (0.58%) Go
9 3 (0.58%) Shell Script
10 2 (0.38%) C
10 2 (0.38%) C++
11 1 (0.19%) Rust
11 1 (0.19%) T-SQL
11 1 (0.19%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 142 (27.26%) Security Cleared
2 95 (18.23%) SC Cleared
3 85 (16.31%) Cisco Certification
4 70 (13.44%) CISSP
5 63 (12.09%) CCNP
6 44 (8.45%) Degree
7 43 (8.25%) DV Cleared
8 39 (7.49%) CISM
9 26 (4.99%) CCIE
10 22 (4.22%) GIAC
11 20 (3.84%) CEH
12 17 (3.26%) Computer Science Degree
13 15 (2.88%) CompTIA Security+
14 14 (2.69%) CCSP
15 13 (2.50%) (ISC)2 CCSP
15 13 (2.50%) CCNA
15 13 (2.50%) CCSA
16 12 (2.30%) AWS Certification
16 12 (2.30%) Azure Certification
17 8 (1.54%) CISA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 67 (12.86%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 56 (10.75%) NIST
3 49 (9.40%) GDPR
4 31 (5.95%) PCI DSS
5 15 (2.88%) NCSC
6 14 (2.69%) GRC
7 13 (2.50%) HIPAA
8 12 (2.30%) Cyber Essentials
9 8 (1.54%) SLA
10 5 (0.96%) PSD2
10 5 (0.96%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 5 (0.96%) SOC 2
11 4 (0.77%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 3 (0.58%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 3 (0.58%) JSP 440
13 2 (0.38%) GxP
13 2 (0.38%) ISO/IEC 27005
13 2 (0.38%) QA
14 1 (0.19%) Def Stans
14 1 (0.19%) ISO 22301
System Software
1 37 (7.10%) Docker
2 35 (6.72%) Active Directory
3 34 (6.53%) VMware Infrastructure
4 11 (2.11%) Virtual Machines
5 9 (1.73%) Firmware
6 5 (0.96%) VMware NSX
7 4 (0.77%) Hyper-V
8 3 (0.58%) ProxySG
8 3 (0.58%) Virtual Servers
8 3 (0.58%) vSphere
9 1 (0.19%) KVM
9 1 (0.19%) XenApp
9 1 (0.19%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 72 (13.82%) Terraform
2 49 (9.40%) Ansible
3 29 (5.57%) Kubernetes
4 20 (3.84%) FortiGate
5 11 (2.11%) QRadar
6 7 (1.34%) Microsoft Intune
7 6 (1.15%) CASB
7 6 (1.15%) Grafana
7 6 (1.15%) Prometheus
7 6 (1.15%) Single Sign-On
8 5 (0.96%) Kibana
9 4 (0.77%) CA Spectrum
9 4 (0.77%) OpenView
10 3 (0.58%) Nessus
10 3 (0.58%) Progress Chef
10 3 (0.58%) SCCM
11 2 (0.38%) HP Fortify
11 2 (0.38%) Jamf Pro
11 2 (0.38%) Puppet
12 1 (0.19%) WSUS
Vendors
1 127 (24.38%) Cisco
2 97 (18.62%) F5
3 94 (18.04%) Palo Alto
4 93 (17.85%) Microsoft
5 58 (11.13%) CheckPoint
6 45 (8.64%) VMware
7 44 (8.45%) Fortinet
7 44 (8.45%) Zscaler
8 42 (8.06%) Juniper
9 32 (6.14%) Splunk
10 24 (4.61%) CrowdStrike
10 24 (4.61%) Meraki
11 23 (4.41%) SolarWinds
12 21 (4.03%) Google
13 13 (2.50%) Tenable
14 12 (2.30%) Qualys
14 12 (2.30%) ServiceNow
15 11 (2.11%) Blue Coat
15 11 (2.11%) Forcepoint
16 9 (1.73%) ArcSight