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 6 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
6 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 170 134 149
Rank change year-on-year -36 +15 +113
Contract jobs citing Network Security 527 527 608
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.67% 1.93% 1.69%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 15.69% 15.09% 12.06%
Number of daily rates quoted 309 336 434
10th Percentile £340 £357 £413
25th Percentile £413 £450 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £526 £550
Median % change year-on-year -4.90% -4.41% -
75th Percentile £576 £625 £650
90th Percentile £682 £725 £743
UK median daily rate £500 £520 £550
% change year-on-year -3.89% -5.41% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 18 8 5
10th Percentile £42.30 £17.83 £65.00
25th Percentile £46.31 £30.88 £68.75
Median hourly rate £65.00 £43.00 £72.50
Median % change year-on-year +51.16% -40.69% +93.33%
75th Percentile £81.56 £52.19 £76.25
90th Percentile £87.63 £76.78 -
UK median hourly rate £65.00 £41.00 £72.50
% change year-on-year +58.54% -43.45% +93.33%

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 3,358 3,493 5,041
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 10.64% 12.79% 14.01%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,172 2,039 3,127
10th Percentile £204 £220 £207
25th Percentile £358 £375 £356
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £492 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -1.60% - -2.44%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £680 £687 £700
UK median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -1.32%
Number of hourly rates quoted 165 103 311
10th Percentile £15.50 £14.99 £18.93
25th Percentile £20.00 £20.24 £24.13
Median hourly rate £37.50 £35.00 £56.49
Median % change year-on-year +7.14% -38.04% +112.53%
75th Percentile £65.00 £62.50 £65.98
90th Percentile £76.50 £73.25 £75.67
UK median hourly rate £36.75 £32.50 £56.49
% change year-on-year +13.08% -42.47% +119.72%

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 6 January 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 6 January 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 6 January 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 -24 231 £525 -2.42% 67
North of England -30 104 £460 -8.00% 52
North West +1 73 £475 -1.30% 30
South East -19 72 £430 -21.82% 68
Midlands -24 59 £500 -14.24% 35
West Midlands -10 54 £500 -16.87% 20
Yorkshire -50 44 £205 -59.00% 17
East of England -15 28 £475 -14.80% 35
South West -16 21 £533 +1.43% 30
East Midlands -31 5 £650 +73.33% 14
North East -12 2 £475 -41.72% 5
South Coast - 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 6 (1.14%) Confluence
2 5 (0.95%) Microsoft Exchange
2 5 (0.95%) SharePoint
3 4 (0.76%) Apache
4 1 (0.19%) IIS
4 1 (0.19%) nginx
4 1 (0.19%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 16 (3.04%) Microsoft Office
2 8 (1.52%) MS Visio
3 3 (0.57%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.38%) Microsoft Excel
4 2 (0.38%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.19%) Windchill
Cloud Services
1 151 (28.65%) Azure
2 112 (21.25%) AWS
3 46 (8.73%) GCP
4 30 (5.69%) Entra ID
5 25 (4.74%) Virtual Private Cloud
6 23 (4.36%) Microsoft 365
7 22 (4.17%) Amazon S3
8 21 (3.98%) Azure DevOps
9 20 (3.80%) Amazon EC2
9 20 (3.80%) GitHub
10 18 (3.42%) GitHub Actions
11 16 (3.04%) Amazon CloudWatch
11 16 (3.04%) Amazon ELB
12 13 (2.47%) Azure Key Vault
12 13 (2.47%) Azure Sentinel
12 13 (2.47%) Serverless
13 11 (2.09%) Azure Monitor
13 11 (2.09%) Google Workspace
14 10 (1.90%) IaaS
15 9 (1.71%) Cloud Computing
Communications & Networking
1 265 (50.28%) Firewall
2 111 (21.06%) VPN
3 96 (18.22%) DNS
4 86 (16.32%) WAN
5 61 (11.57%) SSL
6 59 (11.20%) LAN
6 59 (11.20%) TCP/IP
7 53 (10.06%) BGP
8 45 (8.54%) VLAN
9 40 (7.59%) OSPF
9 40 (7.59%) SD-WAN
10 35 (6.64%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
11 34 (6.45%) DMZ
12 33 (6.26%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
13 29 (5.50%) Wireless
14 24 (4.55%) HTTP
15 21 (3.98%) Internet
16 19 (3.61%) Intrusion Detection
17 18 (3.42%) Wi-Fi
18 17 (3.23%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (0.76%) Amazon RDS
1 4 (0.76%) InfluxDB
1 4 (0.76%) Relational Database
2 3 (0.57%) Azure SQL Database
3 2 (0.38%) Data Lake
3 2 (0.38%) Power BI
3 2 (0.38%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 1 (0.19%) Amazon Athena
4 1 (0.19%) Redis
4 1 (0.19%) SQL Server
4 1 (0.19%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 28 (5.31%) Jenkins
2 22 (4.17%) GitLab
3 21 (3.98%) Git
4 6 (1.14%) JIRA
5 1 (0.19%) Metasploit
5 1 (0.19%) Sonatype Nexus
5 1 (0.19%) Subversion
General
1 164 (31.12%) Social Skills
2 93 (17.65%) Analytical Skills
3 56 (10.63%) Finance
4 44 (8.35%) Public Sector
5 34 (6.45%) Banking
6 21 (3.98%) Telecoms
7 19 (3.61%) Documentation Skills
8 16 (3.04%) Investment Banking
9 13 (2.47%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 8 (1.52%) Pharmaceutical
11 7 (1.33%) Legal
11 7 (1.33%) Military
11 7 (1.33%) Presentation Skills
12 6 (1.14%) Manufacturing
13 5 (0.95%) Financial Institution
13 5 (0.95%) Influencing Skills
14 4 (0.76%) Aerospace
14 4 (0.76%) Marketing
14 4 (0.76%) Organisational Skills
15 3 (0.57%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 110 (20.87%) Network Engineer
2 85 (16.13%) Security Engineer
3 84 (15.94%) Architect
4 52 (9.87%) Security Architect
5 43 (8.16%) Analyst
5 43 (8.16%) Senior
6 41 (7.78%) Network Architect
7 40 (7.59%) Network Security Engineer
8 21 (3.98%) Network Security Architect
9 20 (3.80%) Security Analyst
9 20 (3.80%) SOC Analyst
10 19 (3.61%) Administrator
10 19 (3.61%) Cybersecurity Engineer
11 17 (3.23%) Operations Engineer
12 16 (3.04%) Consultant
13 15 (2.85%) Platform Manager
13 15 (2.85%) Systems Administrator
13 15 (2.85%) Systems Manager
13 15 (2.85%) Wintel Administrator
13 15 (2.85%) Wintel Systems Administrator
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 18 (3.42%) LDAP
2 13 (2.47%) 802.1X
3 8 (1.52%) .NET
3 8 (1.52%) Node.js
4 6 (1.14%) SAML
5 5 (0.95%) .NET Core
5 5 (0.95%) AngularJS
5 5 (0.95%) Elastic Stack
5 5 (0.95%) PyTorch
5 5 (0.95%) RabbitMQ
5 5 (0.95%) React
5 5 (0.95%) TensorFlow
6 4 (0.76%) ARM Templates
7 2 (0.38%) HTML
7 2 (0.38%) OAuth
7 2 (0.38%) OAuth2
7 2 (0.38%) OpenID
7 2 (0.38%) REST
8 1 (0.19%) CSS
8 1 (0.19%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 58 (11.01%) Data Centre
2 44 (8.35%) Management Information System
3 35 (6.64%) Security Posture
4 33 (6.26%) Hybrid Cloud
5 26 (4.93%) Cloud Native
6 23 (4.36%) Security Operations Centre
7 22 (4.17%) Analytical Mindset
7 22 (4.17%) Cyber Threat
7 22 (4.17%) PKI
8 17 (3.23%) Public Cloud
9 16 (3.04%) CSOC
9 16 (3.04%) Cyberattack
10 15 (2.85%) Onboarding
10 15 (2.85%) Operational Technology
11 12 (2.28%) Cyber Security Posture
12 10 (1.90%) Cloud Security Posture
12 10 (1.90%) Virtual Team
13 7 (1.33%) Data Protection Act
13 7 (1.33%) Enterprise Software
13 7 (1.33%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 83 (15.75%) Windows
2 59 (11.20%) Linux
3 22 (4.17%) Windows Server
4 8 (1.52%) VMS
5 7 (1.33%) Unix
6 4 (0.76%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 3 (0.57%) Mac OS
8 2 (0.38%) Windows Server 2019
9 1 (0.19%) Data ONTAP
9 1 (0.19%) Ubuntu
9 1 (0.19%) Windows 10
9 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 136 (25.81%) Cybersecurity
2 106 (20.11%) SIEM
3 102 (19.35%) Problem-Solving
4 96 (18.22%) Incident Response
5 81 (15.37%) Cloud Security
6 75 (14.23%) CI/CD
7 74 (14.04%) DevOps
8 69 (13.09%) Infrastructure as Code
9 59 (11.20%) Change Management
9 59 (11.20%) Zero Trust
10 55 (10.44%) Migration
11 52 (9.87%) Security Architecture
11 52 (9.87%) Security Operations
12 49 (9.30%) Continuous Improvement
12 49 (9.30%) Load Balancing
13 45 (8.54%) Identity Access Management
13 45 (8.54%) Network Architecture
13 45 (8.54%) Threat Modelling
14 43 (8.16%) Infrastructure Automation
15 41 (7.78%) Threat Detection
Programming Languages
1 110 (20.87%) Python
2 73 (13.85%) PowerShell
3 34 (6.45%) Bash
4 17 (3.23%) SQL
5 13 (2.47%) Bicep
6 12 (2.28%) Kusto Query Language
7 11 (2.09%) JavaScript
8 9 (1.71%) Java
9 7 (1.33%) Go
10 5 (0.95%) C#
11 4 (0.76%) C
11 4 (0.76%) C++
11 4 (0.76%) Perl
11 4 (0.76%) Shell Script
12 1 (0.19%) C-shell
12 1 (0.19%) Korn
12 1 (0.19%) Rust
12 1 (0.19%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 166 (31.50%) Security Cleared
2 122 (23.15%) SC Cleared
3 92 (17.46%) Cisco Certification
4 72 (13.66%) CISSP
5 70 (13.28%) CCNP
6 52 (9.87%) DV Cleared
7 39 (7.40%) Degree
8 29 (5.50%) CISM
9 25 (4.74%) CCNA
10 24 (4.55%) CCIE
11 23 (4.36%) CEH
11 23 (4.36%) GIAC
12 19 (3.61%) Azure Certification
13 18 (3.42%) CompTIA Security+
14 14 (2.66%) Computer Science Degree
15 13 (2.47%) AWS Certification
15 13 (2.47%) CCSP
16 12 (2.28%) (ISC)2 CCSP
17 9 (1.71%) Microsoft Certification
18 8 (1.52%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 60 (11.39%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 54 (10.25%) NIST
3 42 (7.97%) GDPR
4 26 (4.93%) PCI DSS
5 16 (3.04%) Cyber Essentials
6 11 (2.09%) NCSC
7 9 (1.71%) GRC
8 8 (1.52%) HIPAA
9 6 (1.14%) SLA
10 5 (0.95%) PSD2
10 5 (0.95%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 4 (0.76%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 4 (0.76%) JSP 440
11 4 (0.76%) SOC 2
12 2 (0.38%) GxP
12 2 (0.38%) ISO/IEC 27005
12 2 (0.38%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 2 (0.38%) PMO
13 1 (0.19%) California Consumer Privacy Act
13 1 (0.19%) ISO 22301
System Software
1 39 (7.40%) VMware Infrastructure
2 38 (7.21%) Active Directory
3 37 (7.02%) Docker
4 10 (1.90%) VMware NSX
5 9 (1.71%) Hyper-V
6 8 (1.52%) Virtual Machines
7 4 (0.76%) Firmware
7 4 (0.76%) ProxySG
7 4 (0.76%) vSphere
8 3 (0.57%) Virtual Servers
9 2 (0.38%) KVM
9 2 (0.38%) Virtual Desktop
10 1 (0.19%) RHEV
10 1 (0.19%) Xen
10 1 (0.19%) XenApp
10 1 (0.19%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 92 (17.46%) Terraform
2 62 (11.76%) Ansible
3 34 (6.45%) Kubernetes
4 21 (3.98%) FortiGate
5 12 (2.28%) Nagios
6 10 (1.90%) Kibana
7 9 (1.71%) QRadar
8 8 (1.52%) Microsoft Intune
9 7 (1.33%) Grafana
9 7 (1.33%) Prometheus
10 6 (1.14%) Microsoft Clustering
10 6 (1.14%) Single Sign-On
11 5 (0.95%) CASB
12 4 (0.76%) Progress Chef
13 3 (0.57%) Icinga
13 3 (0.57%) Puppet
13 3 (0.57%) SCCM
14 2 (0.38%) Docker Swarm
14 2 (0.38%) Jamf Pro
15 1 (0.19%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 129 (24.48%) Cisco
2 108 (20.49%) Palo Alto
3 92 (17.46%) Microsoft
4 81 (15.37%) F5
5 53 (10.06%) CheckPoint
6 47 (8.92%) VMware
7 44 (8.35%) Juniper
8 42 (7.97%) Fortinet
9 37 (7.02%) Zscaler
10 29 (5.50%) Splunk
11 23 (4.36%) Google
12 21 (3.98%) SolarWinds
13 20 (3.80%) Meraki
14 16 (3.04%) CrowdStrike
15 15 (2.85%) ServiceNow
15 15 (2.85%) Tenable
16 12 (2.28%) Blue Coat
17 11 (2.09%) Qualys
18 10 (1.90%) Forcepoint
18 10 (1.90%) Tanium