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

6 months to
5 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 154 139 173
Rank change year-on-year -15 +34 +22
Contract jobs citing Network Security 683 491 500
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.68% 2.01% 1.36%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 17.74% 15.41% 10.18%
Number of daily rates quoted 479 297 351
10th Percentile £379 £375 £350
25th Percentile £437 £450 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £508 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year -3.33% -4.55% -4.35%
75th Percentile £601 £620 £666
90th Percentile £700 £693 £775
UK median daily rate £505 £520 £575
% change year-on-year -2.88% -9.57% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 16 9 15
10th Percentile £32.00 £18.05 -
25th Percentile £42.13 £40.50 £7.43
Median hourly rate £65.50 £80.68 £13.50
Median % change year-on-year -18.81% +497.59% -74.10%
75th Percentile £74.07 £81.35 £41.25
90th Percentile £75.00 £82.48 -
UK median hourly rate £65.50 £62.84 £19.00
% change year-on-year +4.24% +230.72% -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 3,851 3,186 4,910
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 9.49% 13.07% 13.32%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,420 1,972 2,964
10th Percentile £250 £220 £206
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £495
Median % change year-on-year - +1.01% -5.71%
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% -4.81%
Number of hourly rates quoted 213 125 395
10th Percentile £16.50 £14.20 £13.50
25th Percentile £21.25 £16.26 £16.93
Median hourly rate £41.94 £32.50 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +29.05% -18.75% +116.22%
75th Percentile £65.88 £63.75 £63.75
90th Percentile £75.00 £81.01 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £41.94 £36.65 £40.00
% change year-on-year +14.45% -8.39% +111.30%

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 5 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 5 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 5 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 -23 287 £525 -4.55% 99
North of England +2 137 £481 -3.75% 49
South East -21 106 £500 +2.04% 65
North West +4 85 £481 -3.75% 31
Midlands -35 65 £500 -9.09% 23
Yorkshire -19 51 £465 +16.25% 14
West Midlands -39 45 £475 -9.52% 16
East of England -35 36 £515 -8.44% 13
South West -37 30 £550 - 12
East Midlands -18 19 £638 -1.92% 7
North East -16 3 £538 -14.00% 4
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 (1.76%) Confluence
2 10 (1.46%) Microsoft Exchange
3 6 (0.88%) Apache
4 4 (0.59%) SharePoint
Applications
1 18 (2.64%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (1.61%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.59%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.15%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 5 (0.73%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 211 (30.89%) Azure
2 147 (21.52%) AWS
3 81 (11.86%) GCP
4 49 (7.17%) Entra ID
5 26 (3.81%) GitHub
6 24 (3.51%) Azure DevOps
6 24 (3.51%) Azure Sentinel
7 23 (3.37%) GitHub Actions
8 18 (2.64%) Azure Key Vault
9 17 (2.49%) Azure ExpressRoute
10 16 (2.34%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 15 (2.20%) AWS CloudFormation
11 15 (2.20%) Azure AKS
12 14 (2.05%) Microsoft 365
13 13 (1.90%) SaaS
14 12 (1.76%) Amazon S3
14 12 (1.76%) Azure Monitor
14 12 (1.76%) Google Kubernetes Engine
15 11 (1.61%) Akamai
15 11 (1.61%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 322 (47.14%) Firewall
2 130 (19.03%) VPN
3 121 (17.72%) WAN
4 90 (13.18%) LAN
5 87 (12.74%) BGP
6 85 (12.45%) DNS
7 76 (11.13%) OSPF
8 69 (10.10%) VLAN
9 64 (9.37%) SD-WAN
10 53 (7.76%) TCP/IP
10 53 (7.76%) Wireless
11 41 (6.00%) MPLS
12 38 (5.56%) DHCP
13 32 (4.69%) Cisco ASA
14 30 (4.39%) Cisco ISE
15 29 (4.25%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
16 28 (4.10%) Internet
16 28 (4.10%) SSL
17 26 (3.81%) Wi-Fi
18 24 (3.51%) NGFW
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (0.88%) Amazon RDS
1 6 (0.88%) Azure SQL Database
2 5 (0.73%) InfluxDB
2 5 (0.73%) Relational Database
2 5 (0.73%) SQL Server
3 3 (0.44%) Amazon Athena
3 3 (0.44%) Data Lake
3 3 (0.44%) Power BI
4 2 (0.29%) Oracle Database
4 2 (0.29%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 26 (3.81%) JIRA
2 18 (2.64%) Jenkins
3 12 (1.76%) GitLab
4 9 (1.32%) Git
5 5 (0.73%) Browser DevTools
6 4 (0.59%) Snyk
6 4 (0.59%) Sonatype Nexus
7 1 (0.15%) Burp Suite
7 1 (0.15%) Postman
7 1 (0.15%) SoapUI
General
1 161 (23.57%) Social Skills
2 103 (15.08%) Finance
3 70 (10.25%) Analytical Skills
4 53 (7.76%) Public Sector
5 37 (5.42%) Banking
6 25 (3.66%) Documentation Skills
6 25 (3.66%) Telecoms
7 21 (3.07%) Financial Institution
8 9 (1.32%) Legal
9 8 (1.17%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 7 (1.02%) Organisational Skills
11 5 (0.73%) Law
11 5 (0.73%) Local Government
11 5 (0.73%) Manufacturing
12 4 (0.59%) Electronics
12 4 (0.59%) Military
12 4 (0.59%) Police
12 4 (0.59%) Retail
13 3 (0.44%) Pharmaceutical
13 3 (0.44%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 168 (24.60%) Network Engineer
2 146 (21.38%) Architect
3 89 (13.03%) Security Engineer
4 71 (10.40%) Security Architect
5 60 (8.78%) Senior
6 50 (7.32%) Network Architect
7 45 (6.59%) Network Security Engineer
8 26 (3.81%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 25 (3.66%) Lead
10 24 (3.51%) Analyst
11 22 (3.22%) Network Security Architect
12 21 (3.07%) Consultant
12 21 (3.07%) Project Manager
12 21 (3.07%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
13 18 (2.64%) Cloud Engineer
13 18 (2.64%) Solutions Architect
14 16 (2.34%) Cloud Architect
14 16 (2.34%) Senior Architect
14 16 (2.34%) Senior Network Engineer
15 15 (2.20%) Azure Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (3.66%) 802.1X
2 14 (2.05%) LDAP
3 10 (1.46%) SAML
4 6 (0.88%) Node.js
5 5 (0.73%) OAuth
5 5 (0.73%) RabbitMQ
6 4 (0.59%) .NET
6 4 (0.59%) HTML
6 4 (0.59%) OpenID
6 4 (0.59%) REST
7 3 (0.44%) .NET Core
7 3 (0.44%) AngularJS
7 3 (0.44%) CSS
7 3 (0.44%) Elastic Stack
7 3 (0.44%) JSON
7 3 (0.44%) Lambda Expressions
7 3 (0.44%) OAuth2
7 3 (0.44%) Plotly
7 3 (0.44%) React
7 3 (0.44%) TensorFlow
Miscellaneous
1 91 (13.32%) Data Centre
2 37 (5.42%) Hybrid Cloud
2 37 (5.42%) Security Posture
3 36 (5.27%) Cloud Native
4 27 (3.95%) PKI
5 25 (3.66%) Onboarding
6 22 (3.22%) Public Cloud
7 21 (3.07%) Cyber Threat
7 21 (3.07%) IoT
8 18 (2.64%) Management Information System
9 16 (2.34%) Data Protection Act
9 16 (2.34%) Operational Technology
10 15 (2.20%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
10 15 (2.20%) Product Ownership
11 13 (1.90%) Security Operations Centre
12 12 (1.76%) Analytical Mindset
12 12 (1.76%) Virtual Team
13 11 (1.61%) Cyber Security Posture
14 9 (1.32%) Clustering
15 8 (1.17%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 68 (9.96%) Windows
2 58 (8.49%) Linux
3 25 (3.66%) Windows Server
4 11 (1.61%) Unix
5 7 (1.02%) VMS
6 6 (0.88%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 6 (0.88%) Ubuntu
7 5 (0.73%) Mac OS
7 5 (0.73%) Windows 10
8 3 (0.44%) SUSE
9 1 (0.15%) Android
9 1 (0.15%) Data ONTAP
Processes & Methodologies
1 148 (21.67%) Cybersecurity
2 111 (16.25%) Cloud Security
3 108 (15.81%) Zero Trust
4 97 (14.20%) Security Architecture
5 90 (13.18%) SIEM
6 87 (12.74%) Problem-Solving
7 86 (12.59%) CI/CD
8 85 (12.45%) DevOps
8 85 (12.45%) Migration
9 76 (11.13%) Infrastructure as Code
10 74 (10.83%) Continuous Improvement
11 66 (9.66%) Network Segmentation
12 64 (9.37%) Stakeholder Management
13 62 (9.08%) Threat Modelling
14 61 (8.93%) Change Management
14 61 (8.93%) High Availability
15 60 (8.78%) Incident Response
15 60 (8.78%) Security Operations
16 58 (8.49%) Agile
17 56 (8.20%) ITIL
Programming Languages
1 88 (12.88%) Python
2 60 (8.78%) PowerShell
3 23 (3.37%) Bash
3 23 (3.37%) JavaScript
4 21 (3.07%) SQL
5 17 (2.49%) Bicep
6 10 (1.46%) Kusto Query Language
7 8 (1.17%) Java
7 8 (1.17%) Shell Script
8 7 (1.02%) Go
9 4 (0.59%) C
9 4 (0.59%) PHP
10 3 (0.44%) C#
10 3 (0.44%) C++
11 2 (0.29%) Ruby
12 1 (0.15%) ActionScript
12 1 (0.15%) C-shell
12 1 (0.15%) Korn
12 1 (0.15%) Perl
12 1 (0.15%) VBA
Qualifications
1 213 (31.19%) Security Cleared
2 152 (22.25%) SC Cleared
3 127 (18.59%) Cisco Certification
4 92 (13.47%) CCNP
5 80 (11.71%) CISSP
6 70 (10.25%) DV Cleared
7 49 (7.17%) CCNA
8 43 (6.30%) CISM
8 43 (6.30%) Degree
9 27 (3.95%) Azure Certification
10 25 (3.66%) CCSP
11 24 (3.51%) (ISC)2 CCSP
12 20 (2.93%) GIAC
13 19 (2.78%) CCIE
14 18 (2.64%) CompTIA Security+
15 17 (2.49%) AWS Certification
16 16 (2.34%) CEH
17 10 (1.46%) BPSS Clearance
17 10 (1.46%) PMP
18 9 (1.32%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 67 (9.81%) NIST
2 59 (8.64%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 36 (5.27%) GDPR
4 27 (3.95%) PCI DSS
5 16 (2.34%) GRC
5 16 (2.34%) NCSC
6 15 (2.20%) Cyber Essentials
7 12 (1.76%) SLA
8 8 (1.17%) Actionable Recommendations
8 8 (1.17%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
8 8 (1.17%) SOC 2
9 6 (0.88%) PMO
9 6 (0.88%) QA
9 6 (0.88%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 5 (0.73%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 5 (0.73%) ISO/IEC 42001
11 4 (0.59%) RMADS
12 3 (0.44%) ISA99
12 3 (0.44%) JSP 440
13 2 (0.29%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 49 (7.17%) VMware Infrastructure
2 47 (6.88%) Active Directory
3 18 (2.64%) VMware NSX
4 15 (2.20%) Docker
4 15 (2.20%) Virtual Machines
5 12 (1.76%) Hyper-V
6 10 (1.46%) VMware ESXi
7 7 (1.02%) vSphere
8 6 (0.88%) Firmware
9 4 (0.59%) Virtual Desktop
10 2 (0.29%) NFS
10 2 (0.29%) Postfix
10 2 (0.29%) Sendmail
10 2 (0.29%) Varnish
11 1 (0.15%) ProxySG
11 1 (0.15%) RHEV
11 1 (0.15%) Squid
11 1 (0.15%) Xen
11 1 (0.15%) XenApp
11 1 (0.15%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 98 (14.35%) Terraform
2 61 (8.93%) Ansible
3 50 (7.32%) Kubernetes
4 32 (4.69%) FortiGate
5 14 (2.05%) Nagios
5 14 (2.05%) Single Sign-On
6 10 (1.46%) Microsoft Intune
6 10 (1.46%) vCenter Server
7 9 (1.32%) Kibana
7 9 (1.32%) Microsoft Clustering
8 7 (1.02%) Grafana
9 6 (0.88%) Prometheus
10 5 (0.73%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 5 (0.73%) Progress Chef
10 5 (0.73%) QRadar
10 5 (0.73%) WSUS
11 4 (0.59%) CASB
11 4 (0.59%) Istio
11 4 (0.59%) Puppet
12 3 (0.44%) Docker Swarm
Vendors
1 195 (28.55%) Cisco
2 115 (16.84%) Palo Alto
3 107 (15.67%) Microsoft
4 65 (9.52%) F5
5 62 (9.08%) VMware
6 51 (7.47%) Fortinet
7 47 (6.88%) CheckPoint
7 47 (6.88%) Juniper
8 43 (6.30%) Zscaler
9 31 (4.54%) ServiceNow
10 26 (3.81%) Splunk
11 20 (2.93%) Google
11 20 (2.93%) SolarWinds
12 19 (2.78%) ForeScout
13 16 (2.34%) Aruba
13 16 (2.34%) Meraki
14 15 (2.20%) Citrix
15 12 (1.76%) Okta
15 12 (1.76%) SAP
15 12 (1.76%) Tenable