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 13 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
13 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 170 135 147
Rank change year-on-year -35 +12 +101
Contract jobs citing Network Security 564 493 621
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.65% 1.89% 1.64%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 16.07% 14.50% 11.72%
Number of daily rates quoted 360 310 428
10th Percentile £350 £354 £400
25th Percentile £420 £450 £470
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £544 £550
Median % change year-on-year -8.13% -1.05% -
75th Percentile £588 £627 £650
90th Percentile £700 £725 £745
UK median daily rate £500 £516 £550
% change year-on-year -3.15% -6.14% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 11 5 18
10th Percentile £36.00 £17.16 -
25th Percentile £52.63 £18.50 £7.43
Median hourly rate £66.00 £35.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +88.57% -12.50% +6.67%
75th Percentile £79.38 £41.50 £57.19
90th Percentile £93.75 £45.10 £76.25
UK median hourly rate £66.00 £41.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year +60.98% +2.50% +6.67%

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 3,510 3,400 5,297
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 10.28% 13.05% 14.01%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,282 1,986 3,179
10th Percentile £204 £211 £205
25th Percentile £353 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £486 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year -2.80% +5.26% -9.52%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £680 £680 £700
UK median daily rate £475 £500 £488
% change year-on-year -5.00% +2.56% -6.25%
Number of hourly rates quoted 158 99 382
10th Percentile £15.50 £15.17 £14.48
25th Percentile £18.59 £20.30 £21.25
Median hourly rate £31.44 £32.50 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year -3.26% -31.58% +138.93%
75th Percentile £65.00 £62.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £71.75 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £31.44 £32.50 £47.50
% change year-on-year -3.26% -31.58% +143.59%

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 13 February 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 13 February 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 13 February 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 -18 246 £525 -4.55% 88
North of England -32 106 £475 -5.00% 40
South East -21 78 £458 -12.76% 57
North West -13 64 £481 -3.75% 26
Midlands -28 62 £500 -14.13% 36
West Midlands -16 54 £500 -14.13% 28
Yorkshire -44 51 £350 -16.96% 12
South West -16 31 £535 +1.90% 28
East of England -16 25 £475 -19.15% 19
East Midlands -35 8 £442 +92.28% 8
North East -12 2 £475 - 2
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 12 (2.13%) Confluence
2 5 (0.89%) Microsoft Exchange
2 5 (0.89%) SharePoint
3 4 (0.71%) Apache
4 1 (0.18%) IIS
4 1 (0.18%) nginx
4 1 (0.18%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 19 (3.37%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (1.95%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.71%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.35%) Microsoft Excel
5 1 (0.18%) Windchill
Cloud Services
1 152 (26.95%) Azure
2 113 (20.04%) AWS
3 53 (9.40%) GCP
4 31 (5.50%) Entra ID
5 27 (4.79%) GitHub
6 25 (4.43%) GitHub Actions
7 23 (4.08%) Virtual Private Cloud
8 20 (3.55%) Amazon S3
8 20 (3.55%) Azure DevOps
9 17 (3.01%) Azure Key Vault
9 17 (3.01%) Azure Sentinel
10 15 (2.66%) Amazon EC2
11 14 (2.48%) Amazon CloudWatch
11 14 (2.48%) Microsoft 365
11 14 (2.48%) Serverless
12 13 (2.30%) AWS CloudFormation
13 11 (1.95%) Amazon ELB
13 11 (1.95%) Azure Monitor
13 11 (1.95%) Google Workspace
14 10 (1.77%) Amazon GuardDuty
Communications & Networking
1 282 (50.00%) Firewall
2 125 (22.16%) VPN
3 92 (16.31%) WAN
4 85 (15.07%) DNS
5 71 (12.59%) LAN
6 68 (12.06%) BGP
7 57 (10.11%) TCP/IP
8 52 (9.22%) OSPF
8 52 (9.22%) VLAN
9 42 (7.45%) SSL
10 37 (6.56%) SD-WAN
11 33 (5.85%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
11 33 (5.85%) Wireless
12 30 (5.32%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
13 28 (4.96%) DMZ
14 27 (4.79%) Cisco ASA
15 26 (4.61%) MPLS
16 20 (3.55%) DHCP
16 20 (3.55%) Internet
17 19 (3.37%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (0.71%) Amazon RDS
1 4 (0.71%) InfluxDB
1 4 (0.71%) Relational Database
2 3 (0.53%) Azure SQL Database
3 2 (0.35%) Amazon Athena
3 2 (0.35%) Data Lake
3 2 (0.35%) Oracle Database
3 2 (0.35%) Power BI
3 2 (0.35%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 1 (0.18%) Redis
4 1 (0.18%) SQL Server
4 1 (0.18%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 25 (4.43%) Jenkins
2 21 (3.72%) GitLab
3 16 (2.84%) Git
4 13 (2.30%) JIRA
5 3 (0.53%) Sonatype Nexus
6 1 (0.18%) Metasploit
6 1 (0.18%) Subversion
General
1 168 (29.79%) Social Skills
2 80 (14.18%) Analytical Skills
3 67 (11.88%) Finance
4 50 (8.87%) Public Sector
5 34 (6.03%) Banking
6 25 (4.43%) Telecoms
7 23 (4.08%) Documentation Skills
8 13 (2.30%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 12 (2.13%) Investment Banking
10 9 (1.60%) Financial Institution
11 8 (1.42%) Military
12 7 (1.24%) Legal
12 7 (1.24%) Presentation Skills
13 6 (1.06%) Pharmaceutical
14 5 (0.89%) Influencing Skills
14 5 (0.89%) Manufacturing
15 4 (0.71%) Local Government
15 4 (0.71%) Marketing
15 4 (0.71%) Organisational Skills
16 3 (0.53%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 121 (21.45%) Network Engineer
2 109 (19.33%) Architect
3 85 (15.07%) Security Engineer
4 58 (10.28%) Security Architect
5 47 (8.33%) Network Architect
6 46 (8.16%) Senior
7 38 (6.74%) Network Security Engineer
8 29 (5.14%) Analyst
9 26 (4.61%) Network Security Architect
10 21 (3.72%) Administrator
11 18 (3.19%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
11 18 (3.19%) Security Analyst
12 17 (3.01%) Cloud Engineer
12 17 (3.01%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 16 (2.84%) Lead
14 15 (2.66%) Cloud Architect
14 15 (2.66%) IT Support
15 14 (2.48%) DevOps Engineer
15 14 (2.48%) IT Engineer
15 14 (2.48%) Operations Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 18 (3.19%) 802.1X
2 14 (2.48%) LDAP
3 9 (1.60%) SAML
4 8 (1.42%) Node.js
5 7 (1.24%) .NET
6 5 (0.89%) .NET Core
6 5 (0.89%) AngularJS
6 5 (0.89%) OAuth
6 5 (0.89%) OAuth2
6 5 (0.89%) OpenID
6 5 (0.89%) PyTorch
6 5 (0.89%) RabbitMQ
6 5 (0.89%) React
6 5 (0.89%) TensorFlow
7 4 (0.71%) ARM Templates
7 4 (0.71%) Elastic Stack
7 4 (0.71%) HTML
8 3 (0.53%) CSS
8 3 (0.53%) REST
9 2 (0.35%) Lambda Expressions
Miscellaneous
1 76 (13.48%) Data Centre
2 35 (6.21%) Security Posture
3 33 (5.85%) Hybrid Cloud
4 30 (5.32%) PKI
5 27 (4.79%) Cloud Native
6 25 (4.43%) Management Information System
7 17 (3.01%) Onboarding
7 17 (3.01%) Public Cloud
8 16 (2.84%) Operational Technology
8 16 (2.84%) Security Operations Centre
9 14 (2.48%) Analytical Mindset
9 14 (2.48%) Cyber Threat
9 14 (2.48%) IoT
10 12 (2.13%) Cyber Security Posture
10 12 (2.13%) Product Ownership
11 10 (1.77%) Virtual Team
12 9 (1.60%) Data Protection Act
13 8 (1.42%) CSOC
13 8 (1.42%) SCADA
14 7 (1.24%) Clustering
Operating Systems
1 81 (14.36%) Windows
2 67 (11.88%) Linux
3 31 (5.50%) Windows Server
4 8 (1.42%) VMS
5 7 (1.24%) Ubuntu
5 7 (1.24%) Unix
6 5 (0.89%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 3 (0.53%) Mac OS
8 2 (0.35%) Windows Server 2019
9 1 (0.18%) Data ONTAP
9 1 (0.18%) Windows 10
9 1 (0.18%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 132 (23.40%) Cybersecurity
2 103 (18.26%) Problem-Solving
3 86 (15.25%) CI/CD
3 86 (15.25%) SIEM
4 81 (14.36%) DevOps
4 81 (14.36%) Infrastructure as Code
5 80 (14.18%) Zero Trust
6 79 (14.01%) Cloud Security
7 73 (12.94%) Incident Response
8 70 (12.41%) Security Architecture
9 67 (11.88%) Migration
10 59 (10.46%) Change Management
11 56 (9.93%) Continuous Improvement
12 53 (9.40%) Network Segmentation
13 50 (8.87%) Agile
14 48 (8.51%) Identity Access Management
14 48 (8.51%) Load Balancing
15 45 (7.98%) Security Operations
16 44 (7.80%) Network Architecture
17 43 (7.62%) Infrastructure Automation
Programming Languages
1 104 (18.44%) Python
2 62 (10.99%) PowerShell
3 31 (5.50%) Bash
4 18 (3.19%) SQL
5 17 (3.01%) Bicep
6 15 (2.66%) JavaScript
7 14 (2.48%) Kusto Query Language
8 9 (1.60%) Java
9 7 (1.24%) Go
10 5 (0.89%) C#
10 5 (0.89%) Shell Script
11 4 (0.71%) C
11 4 (0.71%) C++
11 4 (0.71%) PHP
12 2 (0.35%) Perl
13 1 (0.18%) ActionScript
13 1 (0.18%) C-shell
13 1 (0.18%) Korn
13 1 (0.18%) TypeScript
13 1 (0.18%) VBA
Qualifications
1 195 (34.57%) Security Cleared
2 137 (24.29%) SC Cleared
3 100 (17.73%) Cisco Certification
4 78 (13.83%) CCNP
5 71 (12.59%) CISSP
6 66 (11.70%) DV Cleared
7 40 (7.09%) Degree
8 35 (6.21%) CCNA
9 30 (5.32%) CISM
10 27 (4.79%) GIAC
11 25 (4.43%) CCIE
12 23 (4.08%) CEH
13 21 (3.72%) CompTIA Security+
14 18 (3.19%) Azure Certification
15 15 (2.66%) AWS Certification
16 14 (2.48%) Computer Science Degree
17 11 (1.95%) CCSP
18 10 (1.77%) (ISC)2 CCSP
18 10 (1.77%) BPSS Clearance
18 10 (1.77%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 62 (10.99%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 59 (10.46%) NIST
3 38 (6.74%) GDPR
4 25 (4.43%) PCI DSS
5 23 (4.08%) Cyber Essentials
6 14 (2.48%) NCSC
7 12 (2.13%) GRC
8 8 (1.42%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 8 (1.42%) SOC 2
9 6 (1.06%) SLA
10 5 (0.89%) Actionable Recommendations
10 5 (0.89%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 4 (0.71%) HIPAA
11 4 (0.71%) JSP 440
11 4 (0.71%) RMADS
12 3 (0.53%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 3 (0.53%) PMO
13 2 (0.35%) ISO/IEC 27005
13 2 (0.35%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 2 (0.35%) PSD2
System Software
1 44 (7.80%) VMware Infrastructure
2 38 (6.74%) Active Directory
3 31 (5.50%) Docker
4 16 (2.84%) VMware NSX
5 10 (1.77%) Virtual Machines
6 9 (1.60%) Hyper-V
7 6 (1.06%) VMware ESXi
8 4 (0.71%) Firmware
8 4 (0.71%) ProxySG
8 4 (0.71%) vSphere
9 3 (0.53%) Virtual Servers
10 2 (0.35%) Virtual Desktop
11 1 (0.18%) KVM
11 1 (0.18%) RHEV
11 1 (0.18%) Xen
11 1 (0.18%) XenApp
11 1 (0.18%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 107 (18.97%) Terraform
2 62 (10.99%) Ansible
3 42 (7.45%) Kubernetes
4 20 (3.55%) FortiGate
5 13 (2.30%) Kibana
5 13 (2.30%) Nagios
6 10 (1.77%) Microsoft Intune
7 9 (1.60%) Single Sign-On
8 7 (1.24%) vCenter Server
9 6 (1.06%) Grafana
9 6 (1.06%) Microsoft Clustering
9 6 (1.06%) Prometheus
10 4 (0.71%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 4 (0.71%) CASB
10 4 (0.71%) Progress Chef
10 4 (0.71%) Puppet
10 4 (0.71%) QRadar
11 3 (0.53%) Istio
11 3 (0.53%) SCCM
11 3 (0.53%) SCOM
Vendors
1 154 (27.30%) Cisco
2 109 (19.33%) Palo Alto
3 95 (16.84%) Microsoft
4 75 (13.30%) F5
5 55 (9.75%) CheckPoint
6 54 (9.57%) VMware
7 46 (8.16%) Juniper
8 45 (7.98%) Fortinet
9 32 (5.67%) Zscaler
10 26 (4.61%) Splunk
11 25 (4.43%) Google
12 22 (3.90%) SolarWinds
13 17 (3.01%) ServiceNow
14 16 (2.84%) Meraki
15 14 (2.48%) Databricks
16 13 (2.30%) FireEye
16 13 (2.30%) Tanium
16 13 (2.30%) Tenable
17 11 (1.95%) Aruba
18 10 (1.77%) Blue Coat