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

6 months to
6 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 154 153 182
Rank change year-on-year -1 +29 -15
Contract jobs citing Network Security 776 491 496
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.76% 1.85% 1.33%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 18.52% 14.61% 10.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 534 304 335
10th Percentile £400 £375 £363
25th Percentile £447 £450 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £535 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year +1.90% -4.55% -2.22%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £666
90th Percentile £725 £725 £738
UK median daily rate £532 £515 £550
% change year-on-year +3.36% -6.36% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 17 10 16
10th Percentile £22.20 £70.16 -
25th Percentile £35.75 £80.34 £7.43
Median hourly rate £67.50 £81.35 £16.25
Median % change year-on-year -17.03% +400.62% -70.45%
75th Percentile £74.00 £83.53 £41.25
90th Percentile - £100.55 -
UK median hourly rate £67.50 £81.35 £21.00
% change year-on-year -17.03% +287.38% -67.69%

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 4,190 3,361 4,819
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 9.49% 12.66% 12.95%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,583 2,079 2,868
10th Percentile £250 £235 £214
25th Percentile £400 £363 £359
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £492 £500
Median % change year-on-year +1.63% -1.60% -2.44%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £608
90th Percentile £675 £675 £688
UK median daily rate £500 £480 £500
% change year-on-year +4.17% -4.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 293 145 390
10th Percentile £16.04 £14.81 £13.87
25th Percentile £20.50 £20.85 £17.69
Median hourly rate £26.66 £40.00 £45.44
Median % change year-on-year -33.35% -11.97% +101.96%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.00 £81.35 £74.10
UK median hourly rate £26.00 £44.50 £45.00
% change year-on-year -41.57% -1.11% +100.00%

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 July 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 July 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 July 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 -10 334 £550 - 93
North of England +15 186 £528 +7.76% 47
South East -10 114 £525 +7.14% 68
North West 0 99 £531 +11.50% 33
Yorkshire +6 85 £500 +1.83% 13
Midlands -49 57 £500 -13.98% 27
West Midlands -64 36 £435 -25.16% 13
East of England -18 32 £525 -0.94% 15
South West -28 30 £550 -8.33% 26
East Midlands -1 20 £569 - 14
North East -35 2 £675 +8.00% 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 17 (2.19%) Confluence
2 12 (1.55%) Microsoft Exchange
3 9 (1.16%) SharePoint
4 2 (0.26%) Apache
5 1 (0.13%) NetWeaver
Applications
1 17 (2.19%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (1.42%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.52%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.39%) Microsoft Excel
5 1 (0.13%) InfoPath
5 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 6 (0.77%) Oracle ERP
1 6 (0.77%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 229 (29.51%) Azure
2 176 (22.68%) AWS
3 105 (13.53%) GCP
4 70 (9.02%) Entra ID
5 27 (3.48%) GitHub
6 25 (3.22%) Azure DevOps
6 25 (3.22%) Azure Sentinel
7 24 (3.09%) Microsoft 365
7 24 (3.09%) SaaS
8 23 (2.96%) Serverless
9 21 (2.71%) GitHub Actions
9 21 (2.71%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 17 (2.19%) Google Kubernetes Engine
10 17 (2.19%) OCI
11 16 (2.06%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 15 (1.93%) Azure Key Vault
12 15 (1.93%) Azure Monitor
13 14 (1.80%) Akamai
13 14 (1.80%) AWS CloudFormation
13 14 (1.80%) Azure AKS
Communications & Networking
1 347 (44.72%) Firewall
2 163 (21.01%) VPN
3 156 (20.10%) WAN
4 110 (14.18%) LAN
5 108 (13.92%) DNS
6 94 (12.11%) BGP
7 86 (11.08%) Wireless
8 77 (9.92%) SD-WAN
9 74 (9.54%) OSPF
9 74 (9.54%) TCP/IP
10 67 (8.63%) VLAN
11 52 (6.70%) DHCP
12 49 (6.31%) MPLS
13 40 (5.15%) SSL
14 37 (4.77%) Cisco ISE
15 36 (4.64%) Cisco ASA
16 35 (4.51%) IPsec
17 32 (4.12%) NGFW
18 31 (3.99%) Internet
19 29 (3.74%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (1.03%) SQL Server
2 6 (0.77%) Azure SQL Database
3 4 (0.52%) Amazon RDS
3 4 (0.52%) Data Lake
3 4 (0.52%) Elasticsearch
3 4 (0.52%) Neo4j
3 4 (0.52%) Power BI
4 3 (0.39%) Amazon Athena
4 3 (0.39%) PostgreSQL
5 2 (0.26%) Oracle Database
6 1 (0.13%) BigQuery
6 1 (0.13%) Data Mining
6 1 (0.13%) Data Warehouse
6 1 (0.13%) Delta Lake
6 1 (0.13%) InfluxDB
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Reports
6 1 (0.13%) Relational Database
6 1 (0.13%) Snowflake Schema
6 1 (0.13%) Star Schema
Development Applications
1 38 (4.90%) JIRA
2 27 (3.48%) Git
3 21 (2.71%) GitLab
4 16 (2.06%) Jenkins
5 6 (0.77%) Browser DevTools
5 6 (0.77%) Sonatype Nexus
6 4 (0.52%) Snyk
6 4 (0.52%) SonarQube
7 3 (0.39%) Artifactory
7 3 (0.39%) MSBuild
7 3 (0.39%) Visual Studio
8 1 (0.13%) Burp Suite
8 1 (0.13%) Postman
8 1 (0.13%) SoapUI
8 1 (0.13%) Subversion
General
1 188 (24.23%) Social Skills
2 133 (17.14%) Finance
3 66 (8.51%) Analytical Skills
4 59 (7.60%) Public Sector
5 58 (7.47%) Banking
6 30 (3.87%) Documentation Skills
7 24 (3.09%) Financial Institution
8 19 (2.45%) Telecoms
9 12 (1.55%) Legal
9 12 (1.55%) Retail
10 10 (1.29%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 10 (1.29%) Organisational Skills
11 9 (1.16%) Influencing Skills
11 9 (1.16%) Manufacturing
11 9 (1.16%) Police
12 6 (0.77%) Law
12 6 (0.77%) Local Government
13 5 (0.64%) Military
14 3 (0.39%) Presentation Skills
15 2 (0.26%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 196 (25.26%) Network Engineer
2 172 (22.16%) Architect
3 102 (13.14%) Security Engineer
4 81 (10.44%) Security Architect
5 77 (9.92%) Senior
6 62 (7.99%) Network Architect
7 57 (7.35%) Network Security Engineer
8 40 (5.15%) Project Manager
9 37 (4.77%) Consultant
10 33 (4.25%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 31 (3.99%) Lead
12 25 (3.22%) Cloud Engineer
12 25 (3.22%) Network Security Architect
13 23 (2.96%) Senior Network Engineer
14 22 (2.84%) Network Manager
14 22 (2.84%) Solutions Architect
15 21 (2.71%) Senior Architect
16 20 (2.58%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
17 19 (2.45%) Cloud Architect
18 18 (2.32%) Azure Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 35 (4.51%) 802.1X
2 15 (1.93%) SAML
3 9 (1.16%) Kafka
3 9 (1.16%) REST
4 8 (1.03%) LDAP
5 7 (0.90%) ARM Templates
5 7 (0.90%) OAuth
5 7 (0.90%) OpenID
6 6 (0.77%) CSS
7 5 (0.64%) HTML
7 5 (0.64%) OAuth2
8 4 (0.52%) .NET
8 4 (0.52%) gRPC
8 4 (0.52%) JSON
8 4 (0.52%) Keycloak
8 4 (0.52%) Protocol Buffers
8 4 (0.52%) RESTful
9 3 (0.39%) Lambda Expressions
9 3 (0.39%) ModSecurity
9 3 (0.39%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 90 (11.60%) Data Centre
2 63 (8.12%) Security Posture
3 43 (5.54%) Cloud Native
4 41 (5.28%) Hybrid Cloud
5 32 (4.12%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
6 26 (3.35%) Operational Technology
7 25 (3.22%) Onboarding
8 23 (2.96%) PKI
9 22 (2.84%) Cyber Threat
10 19 (2.45%) Data Protection Act
10 19 (2.45%) Management Information System
10 19 (2.45%) Product Ownership
11 18 (2.32%) Public Cloud
12 17 (2.19%) Security Operations Centre
13 16 (2.06%) IoT
14 14 (1.80%) Self-Motivation
15 10 (1.29%) Enterprise Software
16 9 (1.16%) Enterprise Cloud
16 9 (1.16%) Replication
16 9 (1.16%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 64 (8.25%) Linux
2 59 (7.60%) Windows
3 21 (2.71%) Windows Server
4 10 (1.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 8 (1.03%) Unix
6 7 (0.90%) Ubuntu
7 6 (0.77%) Mac OS
8 5 (0.64%) Windows 10
9 3 (0.39%) Android
9 3 (0.39%) Check Point GAiA
9 3 (0.39%) SUSE
9 3 (0.39%) VMS
10 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2003
10 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2012
10 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 162 (20.88%) Cybersecurity
2 132 (17.01%) Cloud Security
3 125 (16.11%) Zero Trust
4 110 (14.18%) CI/CD
5 109 (14.05%) SIEM
6 102 (13.14%) Security Architecture
7 101 (13.02%) Continuous Improvement
8 100 (12.89%) DevOps
9 97 (12.50%) Infrastructure as Code
9 97 (12.50%) Migration
10 91 (11.73%) Stakeholder Management
11 84 (10.82%) Problem-Solving
12 79 (10.18%) Application Security
13 76 (9.79%) Network Segmentation
14 75 (9.66%) Agile
14 75 (9.66%) Change Management
15 74 (9.54%) Data Protection
15 74 (9.54%) High Availability
16 73 (9.41%) Incident Response
16 73 (9.41%) Threat Modelling
Programming Languages
1 98 (12.63%) Python
2 51 (6.57%) PowerShell
3 39 (5.03%) Bash
4 26 (3.35%) Bicep
5 20 (2.58%) SQL
6 18 (2.32%) JavaScript
7 8 (1.03%) Shell Script
8 6 (0.77%) Java
9 4 (0.52%) Kusto Query Language
9 4 (0.52%) Perl
9 4 (0.52%) PHP
9 4 (0.52%) Rust
10 2 (0.26%) C
10 2 (0.26%) Ruby
11 1 (0.13%) ActionScript
11 1 (0.13%) C++
11 1 (0.13%) Search Processing Language
11 1 (0.13%) VBA
Qualifications
1 225 (28.99%) Security Cleared
2 159 (20.49%) SC Cleared
3 144 (18.56%) Cisco Certification
4 88 (11.34%) CISSP
5 84 (10.82%) CCNP
6 76 (9.79%) DV Cleared
7 62 (7.99%) Degree
8 57 (7.35%) CCNA
9 53 (6.83%) CISM
10 37 (4.77%) CCSP
11 36 (4.64%) (ISC)2 CCSP
12 27 (3.48%) Azure Certification
13 21 (2.71%) CCIE
14 19 (2.45%) AWS Certification
15 15 (1.93%) CompTIA Security+
15 15 (1.93%) Computer Science Degree
16 12 (1.55%) BPSS Clearance
16 12 (1.55%) GIAC
17 9 (1.16%) PMP
18 8 (1.03%) JNCIS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 78 (10.05%) NIST
2 65 (8.38%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 35 (4.51%) GDPR
4 28 (3.61%) NCSC
5 27 (3.48%) PCI DSS
6 19 (2.45%) GRC
7 14 (1.80%) Cyber Essentials
8 11 (1.42%) QA
9 10 (1.29%) SLA
10 8 (1.03%) Actionable Recommendations
10 8 (1.03%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 8 (1.03%) NIST 800
10 8 (1.03%) SOC 2
11 6 (0.77%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 6 (0.77%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 4 (0.52%) PMO
13 3 (0.39%) HMG Security Policy Framework
13 3 (0.39%) ISA99
13 3 (0.39%) JSP 440
13 3 (0.39%) RMADS
System Software
1 62 (7.99%) Active Directory
2 53 (6.83%) VMware Infrastructure
3 23 (2.96%) Docker
4 21 (2.71%) Virtual Machines
5 20 (2.58%) VMware NSX
6 13 (1.68%) VMware ESXi
7 9 (1.16%) Hyper-V
8 8 (1.03%) vSphere
9 6 (0.77%) Firmware
10 5 (0.64%) Squid
11 3 (0.39%) NFS
12 2 (0.26%) Postfix
12 2 (0.26%) Sendmail
12 2 (0.26%) Varnish
12 2 (0.26%) Virtual Desktop
12 2 (0.26%) VMware Workstation
13 1 (0.13%) OpenSSH
13 1 (0.13%) ProxySG
13 1 (0.13%) Samba
Systems Management
1 101 (13.02%) Terraform
2 67 (8.63%) Ansible
3 65 (8.38%) Kubernetes
4 41 (5.28%) FortiGate
5 19 (2.45%) Single Sign-On
6 18 (2.32%) Grafana
7 13 (1.68%) vCenter Server
8 11 (1.42%) Microsoft Intune
8 11 (1.42%) Prometheus
9 8 (1.03%) CASB
10 7 (0.90%) Puppet
11 6 (0.77%) QRadar
12 5 (0.64%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 5 (0.64%) Suricata
12 5 (0.64%) WSUS
13 4 (0.52%) Kustomize
13 4 (0.52%) Nagios
13 4 (0.52%) Podman
13 4 (0.52%) SCCM
13 4 (0.52%) SCOM
Vendors
1 218 (28.09%) Cisco
2 115 (14.82%) Microsoft
3 114 (14.69%) Palo Alto
4 69 (8.89%) Fortinet
5 65 (8.38%) VMware
6 64 (8.25%) F5
7 55 (7.09%) CheckPoint
8 50 (6.44%) Zscaler
9 49 (6.31%) Juniper
10 34 (4.38%) ServiceNow
11 31 (3.99%) Splunk
12 24 (3.09%) SolarWinds
13 23 (2.96%) Citrix
14 22 (2.84%) Google
15 19 (2.45%) Aruba
16 17 (2.19%) ForeScout
16 17 (2.19%) Tenable
17 12 (1.55%) CyberArk
17 12 (1.55%) Infoblox
18 11 (1.42%) Blue Coat