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 12 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
12 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 159 136 180
Rank change year-on-year -23 +44 +14
Contract jobs citing Network Security 670 492 487
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.65% 2.02% 1.32%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 17.52% 15.42% 10.02%
Number of daily rates quoted 470 298 339
10th Percentile £398 £379 £359
25th Percentile £438 £455 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £532 £575
Median % change year-on-year -2.30% -7.52% -
75th Percentile £617 £624 £671
90th Percentile £702 £700 £775
UK median daily rate £515 £522 £575
% change year-on-year -1.34% -9.30% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 17 8 15
10th Percentile £32.65 £17.83 -
25th Percentile £42.13 £64.88 £7.43
Median hourly rate £65.00 £81.01 £13.50
Median % change year-on-year -19.77% +500.09% -74.10%
75th Percentile £74.00 £81.54 £41.25
90th Percentile £75.00 £82.67 -
UK median hourly rate £65.00 £80.68 £19.00
% change year-on-year -19.43% +324.61% -64.53%

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 3,824 3,191 4,859
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 9.42% 13.13% 13.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,389 1,975 2,932
10th Percentile £250 £220 £208
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £498
Median % change year-on-year - +0.50% -5.24%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £700
UK median daily rate £495 £488 £495
% change year-on-year +1.54% -1.52% -4.16%
Number of hourly rates quoted 222 119 392
10th Percentile £16.52 £14.20 £13.50
25th Percentile £21.33 £15.44 £16.72
Median hourly rate £42.10 £29.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +45.16% -27.50% +116.22%
75th Percentile £65.88 £63.75 £63.75
90th Percentile £75.00 £81.08 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £41.94 £31.79 £40.00
% change year-on-year +31.93% -20.53% +116.22%

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 12 May 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 12 May 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 12 May 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 -16 290 £536 -6.74% 92
North of England -12 134 £481 -3.75% 61
South East -28 98 £500 +2.04% 62
North West 0 82 £481 -4.70% 44
Midlands -29 57 £500 -9.09% 25
Yorkshire -28 50 £485 -0.10% 16
West Midlands -54 37 £475 -9.52% 18
East of England -19 36 £515 -8.44% 14
South West -34 29 £545 -0.91% 17
East Midlands -18 19 £638 -1.92% 7
North East -16 3 £538 -14.00% 5
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 13 (1.94%) Confluence
2 10 (1.49%) Microsoft Exchange
3 4 (0.60%) SharePoint
4 3 (0.45%) Apache
Applications
1 15 (2.24%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (1.64%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.60%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.15%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 5 (0.75%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 205 (30.60%) Azure
2 144 (21.49%) AWS
3 83 (12.39%) GCP
4 49 (7.31%) Entra ID
5 25 (3.73%) GitHub
6 24 (3.58%) Azure Sentinel
7 23 (3.43%) Azure DevOps
8 22 (3.28%) GitHub Actions
9 18 (2.69%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 17 (2.54%) Azure Key Vault
11 15 (2.24%) AWS CloudFormation
11 15 (2.24%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 14 (2.09%) Azure AKS
12 14 (2.09%) Microsoft 365
13 13 (1.94%) SaaS
14 12 (1.79%) Akamai
14 12 (1.79%) Amazon S3
14 12 (1.79%) Google Kubernetes Engine
15 11 (1.64%) Azure Monitor
16 10 (1.49%) AWS Direct Connect
Communications & Networking
1 314 (46.87%) Firewall
2 126 (18.81%) VPN
3 120 (17.91%) WAN
4 89 (13.28%) LAN
5 85 (12.69%) BGP
6 84 (12.54%) DNS
7 74 (11.04%) OSPF
8 67 (10.00%) VLAN
9 63 (9.40%) SD-WAN
10 56 (8.36%) TCP/IP
11 51 (7.61%) Wireless
12 41 (6.12%) MPLS
13 38 (5.67%) DHCP
14 31 (4.63%) Cisco ASA
14 31 (4.63%) Cisco ISE
15 30 (4.48%) SSL
16 28 (4.18%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
17 25 (3.73%) Internet
17 25 (3.73%) Wi-Fi
18 24 (3.58%) NGFW
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (0.90%) Amazon RDS
2 5 (0.75%) Azure SQL Database
2 5 (0.75%) InfluxDB
2 5 (0.75%) Relational Database
2 5 (0.75%) SQL Server
3 3 (0.45%) Amazon Athena
3 3 (0.45%) Power BI
4 2 (0.30%) Data Lake
4 2 (0.30%) Oracle Database
4 2 (0.30%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 26 (3.88%) JIRA
2 18 (2.69%) Jenkins
3 14 (2.09%) GitLab
4 11 (1.64%) Git
5 5 (0.75%) Browser DevTools
6 4 (0.60%) Snyk
6 4 (0.60%) Sonatype Nexus
7 1 (0.15%) Artifactory
7 1 (0.15%) Burp Suite
7 1 (0.15%) Postman
7 1 (0.15%) SoapUI
General
1 156 (23.28%) Social Skills
2 103 (15.37%) Finance
3 66 (9.85%) Analytical Skills
4 51 (7.61%) Public Sector
5 39 (5.82%) Banking
6 26 (3.88%) Documentation Skills
7 24 (3.58%) Telecoms
8 20 (2.99%) Financial Institution
9 9 (1.34%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 8 (1.19%) Legal
11 7 (1.04%) Organisational Skills
12 5 (0.75%) Law
12 5 (0.75%) Local Government
12 5 (0.75%) Military
12 5 (0.75%) Presentation Skills
12 5 (0.75%) Retail
13 4 (0.60%) Manufacturing
13 4 (0.60%) Police
14 3 (0.45%) Electronics
14 3 (0.45%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 164 (24.48%) Network Engineer
2 148 (22.09%) Architect
3 88 (13.13%) Security Engineer
4 73 (10.90%) Security Architect
5 61 (9.10%) Senior
6 50 (7.46%) Network Architect
7 45 (6.72%) Network Security Engineer
8 26 (3.88%) Lead
9 25 (3.73%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 23 (3.43%) Analyst
10 23 (3.43%) Consultant
11 22 (3.28%) Network Security Architect
12 21 (3.13%) Project Manager
12 21 (3.13%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
13 20 (2.99%) Cloud Engineer
14 18 (2.69%) Solutions Architect
15 17 (2.54%) Cloud Architect
15 17 (2.54%) Senior Architect
16 16 (2.39%) Senior Network Engineer
17 15 (2.24%) Azure Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (3.73%) 802.1X
2 14 (2.09%) LDAP
3 10 (1.49%) SAML
4 5 (0.75%) Node.js
4 5 (0.75%) OAuth
4 5 (0.75%) RabbitMQ
5 4 (0.60%) HTML
5 4 (0.60%) OpenID
5 4 (0.60%) REST
6 3 (0.45%) .NET
6 3 (0.45%) CSS
6 3 (0.45%) Elastic Stack
6 3 (0.45%) JSON
6 3 (0.45%) Lambda Expressions
6 3 (0.45%) OAuth2
6 3 (0.45%) Plotly
7 2 (0.30%) .NET Core
7 2 (0.30%) AngularJS
7 2 (0.30%) PyTorch
7 2 (0.30%) React
Miscellaneous
1 95 (14.18%) Data Centre
2 38 (5.67%) Hybrid Cloud
3 36 (5.37%) Security Posture
4 35 (5.22%) Cloud Native
5 26 (3.88%) PKI
6 24 (3.58%) Onboarding
7 22 (3.28%) Cyber Threat
7 22 (3.28%) Public Cloud
8 20 (2.99%) IoT
9 17 (2.54%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
9 17 (2.54%) Management Information System
10 16 (2.39%) Data Protection Act
10 16 (2.39%) Operational Technology
11 15 (2.24%) Product Ownership
12 13 (1.94%) Security Operations Centre
13 11 (1.64%) Virtual Team
14 10 (1.49%) Analytical Mindset
14 10 (1.49%) Cyber Security Posture
15 9 (1.34%) Clustering
16 8 (1.19%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 61 (9.10%) Windows
2 52 (7.76%) Linux
3 23 (3.43%) Windows Server
4 8 (1.19%) Unix
5 7 (1.04%) VMS
6 6 (0.90%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 6 (0.90%) Ubuntu
7 5 (0.75%) Windows 10
8 4 (0.60%) Mac OS
9 3 (0.45%) SUSE
10 1 (0.15%) Android
10 1 (0.15%) Data ONTAP
Processes & Methodologies
1 143 (21.34%) Cybersecurity
2 111 (16.57%) Cloud Security
3 109 (16.27%) Zero Trust
4 98 (14.63%) Security Architecture
5 90 (13.43%) SIEM
6 89 (13.28%) CI/CD
7 88 (13.13%) Migration
8 86 (12.84%) DevOps
9 77 (11.49%) Infrastructure as Code
9 77 (11.49%) Problem-Solving
10 70 (10.45%) Continuous Improvement
11 66 (9.85%) Network Segmentation
12 63 (9.40%) Stakeholder Management
13 62 (9.25%) Threat Modelling
14 60 (8.96%) Incident Response
15 59 (8.81%) Security Operations
16 58 (8.66%) High Availability
17 57 (8.51%) Change Management
17 57 (8.51%) ITIL
18 56 (8.36%) Agile
Programming Languages
1 88 (13.13%) Python
2 58 (8.66%) PowerShell
3 25 (3.73%) Bash
4 22 (3.28%) JavaScript
5 20 (2.99%) SQL
6 16 (2.39%) Bicep
7 9 (1.34%) Kusto Query Language
8 8 (1.19%) Java
8 8 (1.19%) Shell Script
9 7 (1.04%) Go
10 4 (0.60%) C
10 4 (0.60%) PHP
11 3 (0.45%) C++
12 2 (0.30%) C#
12 2 (0.30%) Ruby
13 1 (0.15%) ActionScript
13 1 (0.15%) C-shell
13 1 (0.15%) Korn
13 1 (0.15%) Perl
13 1 (0.15%) VBA
Qualifications
1 208 (31.04%) Security Cleared
2 148 (22.09%) SC Cleared
3 126 (18.81%) Cisco Certification
4 90 (13.43%) CCNP
5 76 (11.34%) CISSP
6 69 (10.30%) DV Cleared
7 47 (7.01%) CCNA
8 42 (6.27%) Degree
9 40 (5.97%) CISM
10 27 (4.03%) Azure Certification
11 26 (3.88%) CCSP
12 25 (3.73%) (ISC)2 CCSP
13 17 (2.54%) AWS Certification
13 17 (2.54%) CCIE
13 17 (2.54%) GIAC
14 14 (2.09%) CEH
14 14 (2.09%) CompTIA Security+
15 10 (1.49%) BPSS Clearance
16 9 (1.34%) Network+ Certification
17 7 (1.04%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 66 (9.85%) NIST
2 57 (8.51%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 36 (5.37%) GDPR
4 27 (4.03%) PCI DSS
5 16 (2.39%) GRC
5 16 (2.39%) NCSC
6 14 (2.09%) Cyber Essentials
7 11 (1.64%) SLA
8 9 (1.34%) QA
9 8 (1.19%) Actionable Recommendations
9 8 (1.19%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
9 8 (1.19%) SOC 2
10 6 (0.90%) PMO
10 6 (0.90%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 5 (0.75%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 5 (0.75%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 4 (0.60%) RMADS
13 3 (0.45%) ISA99
13 3 (0.45%) JSP 440
14 2 (0.30%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 48 (7.16%) VMware Infrastructure
2 45 (6.72%) Active Directory
3 18 (2.69%) Virtual Machines
3 18 (2.69%) VMware NSX
4 14 (2.09%) Docker
5 12 (1.79%) Hyper-V
6 10 (1.49%) VMware ESXi
7 7 (1.04%) vSphere
8 5 (0.75%) Firmware
9 4 (0.60%) Virtual Desktop
10 3 (0.45%) Squid
11 2 (0.30%) NFS
11 2 (0.30%) Postfix
11 2 (0.30%) Sendmail
11 2 (0.30%) Varnish
12 1 (0.15%) ProxySG
12 1 (0.15%) RHEV
12 1 (0.15%) Xen
12 1 (0.15%) XenApp
12 1 (0.15%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 98 (14.63%) Terraform
2 60 (8.96%) Ansible
3 50 (7.46%) Kubernetes
4 30 (4.48%) FortiGate
5 15 (2.24%) Single Sign-On
6 14 (2.09%) Nagios
7 10 (1.49%) Grafana
7 10 (1.49%) vCenter Server
8 9 (1.34%) Microsoft Clustering
8 9 (1.34%) Microsoft Intune
9 8 (1.19%) Kibana
10 6 (0.90%) Prometheus
11 5 (0.75%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 5 (0.75%) Progress Chef
11 5 (0.75%) QRadar
11 5 (0.75%) WSUS
12 4 (0.60%) CASB
12 4 (0.60%) Istio
13 3 (0.45%) Docker Swarm
13 3 (0.45%) VxRail
Vendors
1 192 (28.66%) Cisco
2 115 (17.16%) Palo Alto
3 98 (14.63%) Microsoft
4 63 (9.40%) F5
5 61 (9.10%) VMware
6 48 (7.16%) Fortinet
7 47 (7.01%) Juniper
8 45 (6.72%) CheckPoint
9 44 (6.57%) Zscaler
10 31 (4.63%) ServiceNow
11 25 (3.73%) Splunk
12 21 (3.13%) Google
13 20 (2.99%) SolarWinds
14 19 (2.84%) ForeScout
15 15 (2.24%) Citrix
16 14 (2.09%) Aruba
17 13 (1.94%) Meraki
18 11 (1.64%) Okta
18 11 (1.64%) SAP
18 11 (1.64%) Tenable