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 3 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
3 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 151 153 185
Rank change year-on-year +2 +32 -19
Contract jobs citing Network Security 776 484 495
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.77% 1.85% 1.32%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 18.59% 14.61% 10.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 535 299 336
10th Percentile £400 £375 £363
25th Percentile £447 £450 £458
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £535 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year +1.90% -4.55% -2.44%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £665
90th Percentile £725 £728 £738
UK median daily rate £530 £523 £550
% change year-on-year +1.34% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 17 10 16
10th Percentile £22.20 £70.16 -
25th Percentile £35.75 £80.34 £7.43
Median hourly rate £67.50 £81.35 £16.25
Median % change year-on-year -17.03% +400.62% -69.66%
75th Percentile £74.00 £83.53 £41.25
90th Percentile - £100.55 -
UK median hourly rate £67.50 £81.35 £21.00
% change year-on-year -17.03% +287.38% -67.19%

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 4,174 3,312 4,832
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 9.50% 12.69% 12.93%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,572 2,046 2,882
10th Percentile £250 £235 £213
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £492 £500
Median % change year-on-year +1.63% -1.60% -2.44%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £608
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK median daily rate £500 £480 £500
% change year-on-year +4.17% -4.00% -1.19%
Number of hourly rates quoted 289 143 391
10th Percentile £16.03 £14.75 £13.87
25th Percentile £20.75 £20.84 £17.69
Median hourly rate £26.72 £40.00 £45.88
Median % change year-on-year -33.20% -12.82% +121.59%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.00 £81.35 £74.00
UK median hourly rate £26.44 £44.50 £45.00
% change year-on-year -40.58% -1.11% +114.29%

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 3 July 2026.

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 3 July 2026.

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 3 July 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 +7 337 £550 - 93
North of England +11 187 £527 +7.47% 47
South East -19 111 £525 +7.14% 68
North West +3 100 £530 +11.18% 33
Yorkshire +6 85 £500 +1.83% 13
Midlands -51 56 £500 -13.98% 27
West Midlands -70 35 £435 -25.16% 13
East of England -11 32 £525 -0.94% 15
South West -26 30 £550 -8.33% 26
East Midlands +3 20 £569 - 14
North East -36 2 £675 +8.00% 2
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 17 (2.19%) Confluence
2 12 (1.55%) Microsoft Exchange
3 9 (1.16%) SharePoint
4 2 (0.26%) Apache
5 1 (0.13%) NetWeaver
Applications
1 17 (2.19%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (1.42%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.52%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.39%) Microsoft Excel
5 1 (0.13%) InfoPath
5 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 6 (0.77%) Oracle ERP
1 6 (0.77%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 231 (29.77%) Azure
2 176 (22.68%) AWS
3 107 (13.79%) GCP
4 69 (8.89%) Entra ID
5 30 (3.87%) GitHub
6 25 (3.22%) Azure Sentinel
7 24 (3.09%) Azure DevOps
7 24 (3.09%) GitHub Actions
7 24 (3.09%) SaaS
8 23 (2.96%) Microsoft 365
8 23 (2.96%) Serverless
9 21 (2.71%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 17 (2.19%) Google Kubernetes Engine
10 17 (2.19%) OCI
11 16 (2.06%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 15 (1.93%) Azure Key Vault
12 15 (1.93%) Azure Monitor
13 14 (1.80%) Akamai
13 14 (1.80%) AWS CloudFormation
13 14 (1.80%) Azure AKS
Communications & Networking
1 348 (44.85%) Firewall
2 162 (20.88%) VPN
3 155 (19.97%) WAN
4 109 (14.05%) LAN
5 107 (13.79%) DNS
6 94 (12.11%) BGP
7 86 (11.08%) Wireless
8 76 (9.79%) SD-WAN
9 74 (9.54%) OSPF
10 73 (9.41%) TCP/IP
11 67 (8.63%) VLAN
12 51 (6.57%) DHCP
13 49 (6.31%) MPLS
14 39 (5.03%) SSL
15 37 (4.77%) Cisco ISE
16 35 (4.51%) Cisco ASA
16 35 (4.51%) IPsec
17 32 (4.12%) NGFW
18 30 (3.87%) Internet
19 29 (3.74%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (1.03%) SQL Server
2 6 (0.77%) Azure SQL Database
3 4 (0.52%) Amazon RDS
3 4 (0.52%) Data Lake
3 4 (0.52%) Elasticsearch
3 4 (0.52%) Neo4j
3 4 (0.52%) Power BI
4 3 (0.39%) Amazon Athena
4 3 (0.39%) PostgreSQL
5 2 (0.26%) Oracle Database
6 1 (0.13%) BigQuery
6 1 (0.13%) Data Mining
6 1 (0.13%) Data Warehouse
6 1 (0.13%) Delta Lake
6 1 (0.13%) InfluxDB
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Reports
6 1 (0.13%) Relational Database
6 1 (0.13%) Snowflake Schema
6 1 (0.13%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 37 (4.77%) JIRA
2 27 (3.48%) Git
3 21 (2.71%) GitLab
4 18 (2.32%) Jenkins
5 6 (0.77%) Sonatype Nexus
6 5 (0.64%) Browser DevTools
7 4 (0.52%) Snyk
7 4 (0.52%) SonarQube
8 3 (0.39%) Artifactory
8 3 (0.39%) MSBuild
8 3 (0.39%) Visual Studio
9 1 (0.13%) Burp Suite
9 1 (0.13%) Postman
9 1 (0.13%) SoapUI
9 1 (0.13%) Subversion
General
1 186 (23.97%) Social Skills
2 132 (17.01%) Finance
3 66 (8.51%) Analytical Skills
4 59 (7.60%) Public Sector
5 58 (7.47%) Banking
6 30 (3.87%) Documentation Skills
7 24 (3.09%) Financial Institution
8 19 (2.45%) Telecoms
9 12 (1.55%) Legal
9 12 (1.55%) Retail
10 10 (1.29%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 10 (1.29%) Organisational Skills
11 9 (1.16%) Influencing Skills
11 9 (1.16%) Manufacturing
11 9 (1.16%) Police
12 6 (0.77%) Law
12 6 (0.77%) Local Government
13 5 (0.64%) Military
14 3 (0.39%) Presentation Skills
15 2 (0.26%) Billing
Job Titles
1 196 (25.26%) Network Engineer
2 172 (22.16%) Architect
3 101 (13.02%) Security Engineer
4 81 (10.44%) Security Architect
5 77 (9.92%) Senior
6 62 (7.99%) Network Architect
7 56 (7.22%) Network Security Engineer
8 40 (5.15%) Project Manager
9 37 (4.77%) Consultant
10 33 (4.25%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 31 (3.99%) Lead
12 26 (3.35%) Cloud Engineer
13 25 (3.22%) Network Security Architect
14 23 (2.96%) Senior Network Engineer
15 22 (2.84%) Network Manager
15 22 (2.84%) Solutions Architect
16 21 (2.71%) Senior Architect
17 20 (2.58%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
18 19 (2.45%) Cloud Architect
19 18 (2.32%) Azure Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 35 (4.51%) 802.1X
2 14 (1.80%) SAML
3 9 (1.16%) Kafka
3 9 (1.16%) REST
4 8 (1.03%) LDAP
5 7 (0.90%) ARM Templates
5 7 (0.90%) OAuth
5 7 (0.90%) OpenID
6 6 (0.77%) CSS
7 5 (0.64%) HTML
7 5 (0.64%) OAuth2
8 4 (0.52%) .NET
8 4 (0.52%) gRPC
8 4 (0.52%) JSON
8 4 (0.52%) Keycloak
8 4 (0.52%) Protocol Buffers
8 4 (0.52%) RESTful
9 3 (0.39%) ModSecurity
9 3 (0.39%) SailPoint
9 3 (0.39%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 90 (11.60%) Data Centre
2 63 (8.12%) Security Posture
3 45 (5.80%) Cloud Native
4 41 (5.28%) Hybrid Cloud
5 32 (4.12%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
6 24 (3.09%) Operational Technology
7 23 (2.96%) Onboarding
7 23 (2.96%) PKI
8 20 (2.58%) Cyber Threat
8 20 (2.58%) Public Cloud
9 19 (2.45%) Data Protection Act
9 19 (2.45%) Management Information System
9 19 (2.45%) Product Ownership
10 17 (2.19%) Security Operations Centre
11 16 (2.06%) IoT
12 13 (1.68%) Self-Motivation
13 9 (1.16%) Enterprise Cloud
13 9 (1.16%) Replication
13 9 (1.16%) Virtual Team
14 8 (1.03%) Linux Command Line
Operating Systems
1 64 (8.25%) Linux
2 58 (7.47%) Windows
3 21 (2.71%) Windows Server
4 10 (1.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 8 (1.03%) Unix
6 7 (0.90%) Ubuntu
7 5 (0.64%) Mac OS
7 5 (0.64%) VMS
7 5 (0.64%) Windows 10
8 3 (0.39%) Android
8 3 (0.39%) Check Point GAiA
8 3 (0.39%) SUSE
9 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2003
9 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2012
9 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 163 (21.01%) Cybersecurity
2 132 (17.01%) Cloud Security
3 125 (16.11%) Zero Trust
4 113 (14.56%) CI/CD
5 107 (13.79%) SIEM
6 102 (13.14%) Continuous Improvement
6 102 (13.14%) DevOps
6 102 (13.14%) Security Architecture
7 100 (12.89%) Infrastructure as Code
7 100 (12.89%) Migration
8 91 (11.73%) Stakeholder Management
9 83 (10.70%) Problem-Solving
10 79 (10.18%) Application Security
11 76 (9.79%) Agile
11 76 (9.79%) Network Segmentation
12 75 (9.66%) Load Balancing
13 74 (9.54%) Change Management
13 74 (9.54%) Data Protection
13 74 (9.54%) High Availability
14 73 (9.41%) Threat Modelling
Programming Languages
1 98 (12.63%) Python
2 51 (6.57%) PowerShell
3 39 (5.03%) Bash
4 26 (3.35%) Bicep
5 20 (2.58%) SQL
6 18 (2.32%) JavaScript
7 8 (1.03%) Shell Script
8 6 (0.77%) Java
9 4 (0.52%) Kusto Query Language
9 4 (0.52%) Perl
9 4 (0.52%) PHP
9 4 (0.52%) Rust
10 2 (0.26%) C
10 2 (0.26%) Ruby
11 1 (0.13%) ActionScript
11 1 (0.13%) C++
11 1 (0.13%) Search Processing Language
11 1 (0.13%) VBA
Qualifications
1 225 (28.99%) Security Cleared
2 158 (20.36%) SC Cleared
3 144 (18.56%) Cisco Certification
4 88 (11.34%) CISSP
5 84 (10.82%) CCNP
6 77 (9.92%) DV Cleared
7 62 (7.99%) Degree
8 57 (7.35%) CCNA
9 53 (6.83%) CISM
10 37 (4.77%) CCSP
11 36 (4.64%) (ISC)2 CCSP
12 26 (3.35%) Azure Certification
13 21 (2.71%) CCIE
14 19 (2.45%) AWS Certification
15 15 (1.93%) CompTIA Security+
15 15 (1.93%) Computer Science Degree
16 12 (1.55%) BPSS Clearance
16 12 (1.55%) GIAC
17 9 (1.16%) PMP
18 8 (1.03%) CEH
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 78 (10.05%) NIST
2 63 (8.12%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 35 (4.51%) GDPR
4 27 (3.48%) PCI DSS
5 26 (3.35%) NCSC
6 19 (2.45%) GRC
7 14 (1.80%) Cyber Essentials
8 11 (1.42%) QA
9 10 (1.29%) SLA
10 8 (1.03%) Actionable Recommendations
10 8 (1.03%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 8 (1.03%) NIST 800
10 8 (1.03%) SOC 2
11 6 (0.77%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 6 (0.77%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 4 (0.52%) PMO
13 3 (0.39%) HMG Security Policy Framework
13 3 (0.39%) ISA99
13 3 (0.39%) JSP 440
13 3 (0.39%) RMADS
System Software
1 61 (7.86%) Active Directory
2 53 (6.83%) VMware Infrastructure
3 23 (2.96%) Docker
4 22 (2.84%) Virtual Machines
5 20 (2.58%) VMware NSX
6 13 (1.68%) VMware ESXi
7 9 (1.16%) Hyper-V
8 8 (1.03%) vSphere
9 6 (0.77%) Firmware
10 5 (0.64%) Squid
11 3 (0.39%) NFS
12 2 (0.26%) Postfix
12 2 (0.26%) Sendmail
12 2 (0.26%) Varnish
12 2 (0.26%) Virtual Desktop
12 2 (0.26%) VMware Workstation
13 1 (0.13%) OpenSSH
13 1 (0.13%) ProxySG
13 1 (0.13%) Samba
Systems Management
1 104 (13.40%) Terraform
2 70 (9.02%) Ansible
3 68 (8.76%) Kubernetes
4 41 (5.28%) FortiGate
5 18 (2.32%) Grafana
5 18 (2.32%) Single Sign-On
6 13 (1.68%) vCenter Server
7 11 (1.42%) Microsoft Intune
7 11 (1.42%) Prometheus
8 8 (1.03%) CASB
9 7 (0.90%) Puppet
10 6 (0.77%) QRadar
11 5 (0.64%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 5 (0.64%) Suricata
11 5 (0.64%) WSUS
12 4 (0.52%) Istio
12 4 (0.52%) Kustomize
12 4 (0.52%) Podman
12 4 (0.52%) SCCM
12 4 (0.52%) SCOM
Vendors
1 218 (28.09%) Cisco
2 117 (15.08%) Microsoft
3 114 (14.69%) Palo Alto
4 68 (8.76%) Fortinet
5 65 (8.38%) VMware
6 64 (8.25%) F5
7 54 (6.96%) CheckPoint
8 49 (6.31%) Zscaler
9 48 (6.19%) Juniper
10 34 (4.38%) ServiceNow
11 31 (3.99%) Splunk
12 24 (3.09%) Google
12 24 (3.09%) SolarWinds
13 22 (2.84%) Citrix
14 19 (2.45%) Aruba
15 17 (2.19%) ForeScout
15 17 (2.19%) Tenable
16 12 (1.55%) CyberArk
16 12 (1.55%) Infoblox
17 11 (1.42%) Meraki