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 29 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 162 142 178
Rank change year-on-year -20 +36 -5
Contract jobs citing Network Security 779 537 459
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.70% 1.94% 1.39%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 17.95% 15.90% 11.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 524 317 320
10th Percentile £400 £372 £387
25th Percentile £463 £450 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% -4.55% -
75th Percentile £648 £613 £671
90th Percentile £735 £730 £738
UK median daily rate £550 £525 £550
% change year-on-year +4.76% -4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 22 17 5
10th Percentile £26.20 £45.00 £31.10
25th Percentile £42.13 £55.00 £50.00
Median hourly rate £73.00 £70.16 £57.50
Median % change year-on-year +4.05% +22.02% -19.01%
75th Percentile £74.00 £84.00 £58.75
90th Percentile - £91.00 £94.82
UK median hourly rate £73.00 £70.16 £53.75
% change year-on-year +4.05% +30.53% -20.07%

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 4,339 3,378 4,039
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 9.45% 12.17% 12.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,614 2,100 2,422
10th Percentile £263 £242 £250
25th Percentile £400 £364 £383
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £492 £505
Median % change year-on-year +1.63% -2.57% +1.00%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £613
90th Percentile £676 £681 £700
UK median daily rate £500 £485 £500
% change year-on-year +3.09% -3.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 344 169 259
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £14.16
25th Percentile £19.50 £25.15 £21.37
Median hourly rate £27.11 £42.50 £56.49
Median % change year-on-year -36.21% -24.77% -
75th Percentile £65.88 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £81.68 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £26.00 £45.00 £50.00
% change year-on-year -42.22% -10.00% -9.62%

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 29 August 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 29 August 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 29 August 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 -10 347 £550 - 189
North of England +11 202 £528 +7.81% 43
North West -16 114 £531 +11.79% 25
South East -36 106 £557 +18.67% 84
Yorkshire +8 85 £514 +3.63% 15
Midlands -57 47 £500 -4.76% 32
East of England -9 40 £525 -2.78% 21
West Midlands -63 29 £406 -22.62% 20
East Midlands -1 17 £638 - 12
South West -56 16 £575 -10.16% 35
North East -36 2 £675 +8.00% 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 17 (2.18%) Microsoft Exchange
2 13 (1.67%) SharePoint
3 11 (1.41%) Confluence
4 2 (0.26%) Apache
4 2 (0.26%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.13%) Apache Spark
5 1 (0.13%) NetWeaver
5 1 (0.13%) nginx
Applications
1 21 (2.70%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (0.77%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.51%) Microsoft Excel
4 3 (0.39%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.13%) InfoPath
5 1 (0.13%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 6 (0.77%) Oracle ERP
2 5 (0.64%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 280 (35.94%) Azure
2 187 (24.01%) AWS
3 100 (12.84%) GCP
4 86 (11.04%) Entra ID
5 43 (5.52%) Microsoft 365
6 38 (4.88%) Azure DevOps
7 31 (3.98%) GitHub
8 30 (3.85%) Azure Monitor
9 27 (3.47%) SaaS
9 27 (3.47%) Serverless
10 24 (3.08%) Azure Sentinel
11 20 (2.57%) Google Kubernetes Engine
12 19 (2.44%) Azure ExpressRoute
13 18 (2.31%) GitHub Actions
13 18 (2.31%) Virtual Private Cloud
14 16 (2.05%) OCI
15 15 (1.93%) Amazon EKS
15 15 (1.93%) Azure AKS
16 14 (1.80%) AWS Direct Connect
17 13 (1.67%) Amazon CloudWatch
Communications & Networking
1 363 (46.60%) Firewall
2 180 (23.11%) VPN
3 173 (22.21%) WAN
4 125 (16.05%) DNS
5 110 (14.12%) LAN
6 96 (12.32%) Wireless
7 90 (11.55%) BGP
8 86 (11.04%) TCP/IP
9 72 (9.24%) SD-WAN
10 71 (9.11%) VLAN
11 70 (8.99%) DHCP
12 64 (8.22%) OSPF
13 47 (6.03%) SSL
14 43 (5.52%) Cisco ISE
14 43 (5.52%) MPLS
15 41 (5.26%) IPsec
16 39 (5.01%) Wi-Fi
17 36 (4.62%) Cisco ASA
18 30 (3.85%) Internet
18 30 (3.85%) NGFW
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (1.67%) SQL Server
2 6 (0.77%) Azure SQL Database
3 5 (0.64%) BigQuery
4 4 (0.51%) Amazon RDS
4 4 (0.51%) Elasticsearch
4 4 (0.51%) Neo4j
4 4 (0.51%) Power BI
5 3 (0.39%) Data Lake
5 3 (0.39%) PostgreSQL
6 2 (0.26%) Delta Lake
7 1 (0.13%) Data Mining
7 1 (0.13%) Data Warehouse
7 1 (0.13%) InfluxDB
7 1 (0.13%) Oracle Reports
7 1 (0.13%) Qlik Sense
7 1 (0.13%) Relational Database
7 1 (0.13%) Snowflake Schema
7 1 (0.13%) Star Schema
7 1 (0.13%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 35 (4.49%) Git
2 31 (3.98%) JIRA
3 30 (3.85%) GitLab
4 23 (2.95%) Jenkins
5 7 (0.90%) Sonatype Nexus
6 5 (0.64%) Browser DevTools
7 4 (0.51%) MSBuild
7 4 (0.51%) SonarQube
7 4 (0.51%) Visual Studio
8 3 (0.39%) Artifactory
9 2 (0.26%) IBM UrbanCode
10 1 (0.13%) Burp Suite
10 1 (0.13%) Postman
10 1 (0.13%) Snyk
10 1 (0.13%) SoapUI
10 1 (0.13%) Subversion
General
1 204 (26.19%) Social Skills
2 143 (18.36%) Finance
3 76 (9.76%) Analytical Skills
4 59 (7.57%) Banking
5 44 (5.65%) Public Sector
6 33 (4.24%) Documentation Skills
7 21 (2.70%) Telecoms
8 19 (2.44%) Financial Institution
8 19 (2.44%) Legal
9 15 (1.93%) Retail
10 12 (1.54%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 12 (1.54%) Manufacturing
11 11 (1.41%) Influencing Skills
12 9 (1.16%) Organisational Skills
13 8 (1.03%) Police
14 6 (0.77%) Automotive
14 6 (0.77%) Local Government
14 6 (0.77%) Military
14 6 (0.77%) Presentation Skills
15 5 (0.64%) Law
Job Titles
1 212 (27.21%) Network Engineer
2 144 (18.49%) Architect
3 102 (13.09%) Senior
4 95 (12.20%) Security Engineer
5 72 (9.24%) Security Architect
6 55 (7.06%) Consultant
7 54 (6.93%) Network Security Engineer
8 53 (6.80%) Network Architect
9 47 (6.03%) Senior Network Engineer
10 44 (5.65%) Project Manager
11 39 (5.01%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 38 (4.88%) Cloud Engineer
13 34 (4.36%) Lead
14 27 (3.47%) Security Consultant
15 25 (3.21%) Analyst
16 23 (2.95%) Network Manager
17 21 (2.70%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
18 20 (2.57%) Solutions Architect
19 19 (2.44%) DevSecOps Consultant
19 19 (2.44%) Network Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 112 (14.38%) Terraform
2 35 (4.49%) 802.1X
3 15 (1.93%) REST
4 14 (1.80%) SAML
5 13 (1.67%) ARM Templates
6 10 (1.28%) Kafka
7 7 (0.90%) NETCONF
8 5 (0.64%) .NET
8 5 (0.64%) gRPC
8 5 (0.64%) JSON
8 5 (0.64%) Keycloak
8 5 (0.64%) OpenID
8 5 (0.64%) SLSA
9 4 (0.51%) Azure Blueprints
9 4 (0.51%) CSS
9 4 (0.51%) OAuth
9 4 (0.51%) Protocol Buffers
9 4 (0.51%) RESTful
9 4 (0.51%) XML
10 3 (0.39%) ModSecurity
Miscellaneous
1 92 (11.81%) Data Centre
2 72 (9.24%) Security Posture
3 49 (6.29%) Cloud Native
4 43 (5.52%) Hybrid Cloud
5 37 (4.75%) Onboarding
6 36 (4.62%) Management Information System
7 33 (4.24%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
8 27 (3.47%) Cyber Threat
9 25 (3.21%) Operational Technology
10 23 (2.95%) PKI
11 18 (2.31%) Cloud Security Posture
11 18 (2.31%) Security Operations Centre
11 18 (2.31%) Self-Motivation
12 16 (2.05%) Data Protection Act
12 16 (2.05%) Public Cloud
13 13 (1.67%) Linux Command Line
14 12 (1.54%) Enterprise Software
15 10 (1.28%) Replication
16 9 (1.16%) Enterprise Cloud
16 9 (1.16%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 80 (10.27%) Windows
2 66 (8.47%) Linux
3 30 (3.85%) Windows Server
4 14 (1.80%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 8 (1.03%) Windows 10
6 6 (0.77%) Mac OS
6 6 (0.77%) Ubuntu
6 6 (0.77%) Unix
7 3 (0.39%) Check Point GAiA
7 3 (0.39%) SUSE
7 3 (0.39%) VMS
8 2 (0.26%) Android
8 2 (0.26%) Windows Server 2016
8 2 (0.26%) zOS
9 1 (0.13%) Oracle Linux
9 1 (0.13%) Rocky
9 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2003
9 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2012
9 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 161 (20.67%) Cybersecurity
2 159 (20.41%) Cloud Security
3 129 (16.56%) Stakeholder Management
4 123 (15.79%) Zero Trust
5 117 (15.02%) CI/CD
5 117 (15.02%) Continuous Improvement
6 106 (13.61%) Migration
7 105 (13.48%) Change Management
7 105 (13.48%) DevOps
7 105 (13.48%) Infrastructure as Code
8 99 (12.71%) Incident Response
9 95 (12.20%) SIEM
10 89 (11.42%) Problem-Solving
11 85 (10.91%) Security Architecture
12 82 (10.53%) High Availability
12 82 (10.53%) Identity Access Management
13 81 (10.40%) Security Operations
14 79 (10.14%) ITIL
14 79 (10.14%) Load Balancing
14 79 (10.14%) Threat Modelling
Programming Languages
1 120 (15.40%) Python
2 77 (9.88%) PowerShell
3 62 (7.96%) Bash
4 34 (4.36%) Bicep
5 28 (3.59%) SQL
6 11 (1.41%) Go
7 9 (1.16%) JavaScript
8 8 (1.03%) Java
9 7 (0.90%) Search Processing Language
10 6 (0.77%) Kusto Query Language
10 6 (0.77%) Shell Script
11 4 (0.51%) Rust
12 3 (0.39%) Perl
12 3 (0.39%) VBScript
13 1 (0.13%) C
13 1 (0.13%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 205 (26.32%) Security Cleared
2 146 (18.74%) Cisco Certification
2 146 (18.74%) SC Cleared
3 96 (12.32%) CISSP
4 86 (11.04%) CCNP
5 65 (8.34%) Degree
6 63 (8.09%) DV Cleared
7 49 (6.29%) CISM
8 48 (6.16%) CCNA
9 42 (5.39%) CCSP
10 40 (5.13%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 35 (4.49%) Azure Certification
12 26 (3.34%) AWS Certification
13 24 (3.08%) CCIE
14 16 (2.05%) Computer Science Degree
15 11 (1.41%) PMP
16 10 (1.28%) PMI Certification
17 9 (1.16%) CompTIA Security+
17 9 (1.16%) GIAC
17 9 (1.16%) JNCIS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 63 (8.09%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 63 (8.09%) NIST
2 37 (4.75%) GDPR
3 27 (3.47%) NCSC
4 24 (3.08%) PCI DSS
5 14 (1.80%) GRC
6 12 (1.54%) SLA
7 11 (1.41%) Cyber Essentials
8 10 (1.28%) QA
8 10 (1.28%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 8 (1.03%) NIST 800
10 6 (0.77%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 4 (0.51%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 3 (0.39%) Actionable Recommendations
12 3 (0.39%) HMG Security Policy Framework
12 3 (0.39%) ISA99
12 3 (0.39%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 3 (0.39%) SOC 2
13 2 (0.26%) JSP 440
13 2 (0.26%) PMO
System Software
1 76 (9.76%) Active Directory
2 56 (7.19%) VMware Infrastructure
3 27 (3.47%) Docker
4 20 (2.57%) Virtual Machines
5 19 (2.44%) VMware NSX
6 12 (1.54%) Hyper-V
7 11 (1.41%) vSphere
8 8 (1.03%) Virtual Desktop
8 8 (1.03%) VMware ESXi
9 6 (0.77%) Firmware
10 5 (0.64%) Squid
11 2 (0.26%) FreeRADIUS
11 2 (0.26%) NFS
11 2 (0.26%) VMware Workstation
12 1 (0.13%) OpenSSH
12 1 (0.13%) Postfix
12 1 (0.13%) ProxySG
12 1 (0.13%) Samba
12 1 (0.13%) Sendmail
12 1 (0.13%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 85 (10.91%) Ansible
2 71 (9.11%) Kubernetes
3 42 (5.39%) FortiGate
4 23 (2.95%) Microsoft Intune
5 21 (2.70%) Grafana
6 17 (2.18%) Single Sign-On
7 13 (1.67%) Progress Chef
7 13 (1.67%) Prometheus
8 12 (1.54%) SCCM
9 10 (1.28%) CASB
10 7 (0.90%) Puppet
10 7 (0.90%) vCenter Server
11 6 (0.77%) Cisco CUCM
11 6 (0.77%) QRadar
12 5 (0.64%) Suricata
12 5 (0.64%) WSUS
13 4 (0.51%) Cisco Prime
13 4 (0.51%) Kustomize
13 4 (0.51%) Nagios
13 4 (0.51%) systemd
Vendors
1 226 (29.01%) Cisco
2 153 (19.64%) Microsoft
3 131 (16.82%) Palo Alto
4 74 (9.50%) Fortinet
4 74 (9.50%) VMware
5 66 (8.47%) F5
6 52 (6.68%) Zscaler
7 49 (6.29%) CheckPoint
8 45 (5.78%) Juniper
9 30 (3.85%) Splunk
10 28 (3.59%) ServiceNow
10 28 (3.59%) SolarWinds
11 25 (3.21%) Google
12 20 (2.57%) Citrix
13 19 (2.44%) Aruba
14 15 (1.93%) Meraki
15 13 (1.67%) Tenable
16 12 (1.54%) Blue Coat
16 12 (1.54%) CyberArk
16 12 (1.54%) ForeScout