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

6 months to
6 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 159 141 145
Rank change year-on-year -18 +4 +86
Contract jobs citing Network Security 604 500 631
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.66% 1.96% 1.67%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 16.48% 14.71% 11.91%
Number of daily rates quoted 405 307 436
10th Percentile £350 £369 £400
25th Percentile £423 £450 £469
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £549 £550
Median % change year-on-year -8.84% -0.27% -3.08%
75th Percentile £600 £626 £650
90th Percentile £708 £700 £745
UK median daily rate £500 £518 £550
% change year-on-year -3.38% -5.91% -2.22%
Number of hourly rates quoted 10 7 17
10th Percentile £34.30 £17.60 -
25th Percentile £51.44 £26.75 £7.43
Median hourly rate £65.50 £41.00 £23.00
Median % change year-on-year +59.76% +78.26% -46.51%
75th Percentile £81.56 £64.26 £41.25
90th Percentile £93.88 £81.45 £68.00
UK median hourly rate £65.50 £41.00 £23.00
% change year-on-year +59.76% +78.26% -46.51%

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 3,665 3,398 5,299
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 10.07% 13.30% 14.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,357 2,044 3,190
10th Percentile £204 £210 £205
25th Percentile £366 £366 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year - +5.26% -9.52%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £676 £700
UK median daily rate £480 £500 £480
% change year-on-year -4.00% +4.17% -7.69%
Number of hourly rates quoted 166 103 367
10th Percentile £15.50 £15.22 £14.27
25th Percentile £19.00 £21.11 £19.99
Median hourly rate £34.50 £35.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -1.43% -12.50% +108.88%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £75.00 £74.40
UK median hourly rate £34.50 £35.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year -1.43% -12.50% +108.88%

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 March 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 March 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 March 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 -23 262 £525 -4.55% 83
North of England -34 114 £475 -5.00% 41
South East -27 89 £500 -4.76% 54
North West -1 70 £490 -1.95% 27
Midlands -19 70 £500 -14.02% 36
West Midlands -12 59 £500 -14.02% 25
Yorkshire -37 51 £335 -2.33% 9
South West -33 27 £538 +2.38% 29
East of England -23 25 £475 -19.15% 28
East Midlands -23 11 £638 +50.00% 11
North East -13 2 £475 -24.00% 5
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 13 (2.15%) Confluence
2 5 (0.83%) Apache
2 5 (0.83%) SharePoint
3 4 (0.66%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.17%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 18 (2.98%) Microsoft Office
2 10 (1.66%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.66%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.17%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.17%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 4 (0.66%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 175 (28.97%) Azure
2 127 (21.03%) AWS
3 64 (10.60%) GCP
4 45 (7.45%) Entra ID
5 27 (4.47%) GitHub
6 25 (4.14%) GitHub Actions
6 25 (4.14%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 21 (3.48%) Azure Sentinel
8 20 (3.31%) Amazon S3
8 20 (3.31%) Azure DevOps
9 17 (2.81%) Azure Key Vault
10 14 (2.32%) Amazon EC2
10 14 (2.32%) AWS CloudFormation
10 14 (2.32%) Microsoft 365
11 13 (2.15%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 12 (1.99%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 12 (1.99%) Azure Monitor
13 11 (1.82%) Azure AKS
13 11 (1.82%) Power Platform
13 11 (1.82%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 301 (49.83%) Firewall
2 127 (21.03%) VPN
3 98 (16.23%) WAN
4 82 (13.58%) DNS
5 79 (13.08%) BGP
6 77 (12.75%) LAN
7 64 (10.60%) OSPF
8 56 (9.27%) VLAN
9 55 (9.11%) TCP/IP
10 45 (7.45%) SD-WAN
11 39 (6.46%) SSL
12 37 (6.13%) Wireless
13 32 (5.30%) Cisco ASA
14 31 (5.13%) MPLS
15 30 (4.97%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
16 27 (4.47%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
17 25 (4.14%) DMZ
18 22 (3.64%) NGFW
19 21 (3.48%) DHCP
20 20 (3.31%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (0.99%) Azure SQL Database
2 4 (0.66%) Amazon RDS
2 4 (0.66%) InfluxDB
2 4 (0.66%) Power BI
2 4 (0.66%) Relational Database
3 3 (0.50%) Amazon Athena
4 2 (0.33%) Data Lake
4 2 (0.33%) Oracle Database
4 2 (0.33%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 1 (0.17%) Redis
5 1 (0.17%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 24 (3.97%) Jenkins
2 20 (3.31%) GitLab
3 17 (2.81%) Git
3 17 (2.81%) JIRA
4 4 (0.66%) Sonatype Nexus
5 3 (0.50%) Snyk
6 1 (0.17%) Browser DevTools
6 1 (0.17%) Metasploit
General
1 169 (27.98%) Social Skills
2 84 (13.91%) Finance
3 76 (12.58%) Analytical Skills
4 50 (8.28%) Public Sector
5 34 (5.63%) Banking
6 25 (4.14%) Documentation Skills
7 24 (3.97%) Telecoms
8 18 (2.98%) Financial Institution
9 11 (1.82%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 10 (1.66%) Investment Banking
11 7 (1.16%) Legal
11 7 (1.16%) Military
11 7 (1.16%) Presentation Skills
12 5 (0.83%) Influencing Skills
12 5 (0.83%) Manufacturing
12 5 (0.83%) Organisational Skills
12 5 (0.83%) Pharmaceutical
13 4 (0.66%) Local Government
14 3 (0.50%) Electronics
14 3 (0.50%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 132 (21.85%) Network Engineer
2 126 (20.86%) Architect
3 81 (13.41%) Security Engineer
4 65 (10.76%) Security Architect
5 48 (7.95%) Network Architect
5 48 (7.95%) Senior
6 38 (6.29%) Network Security Engineer
7 30 (4.97%) Analyst
8 26 (4.30%) Network Security Architect
9 19 (3.15%) Cloud Engineer
10 18 (2.98%) Lead
10 18 (2.98%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
11 17 (2.81%) Administrator
11 17 (2.81%) Cloud Architect
11 17 (2.81%) Security Analyst
12 16 (2.65%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 15 (2.48%) Azure Architect
13 15 (2.48%) IT Support
14 14 (2.32%) DevOps Engineer
14 14 (2.32%) Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (3.64%) 802.1X
2 13 (2.15%) LDAP
3 10 (1.66%) SAML
4 8 (1.32%) .NET
4 8 (1.32%) Node.js
5 5 (0.83%) .NET Core
5 5 (0.83%) AngularJS
5 5 (0.83%) OAuth
5 5 (0.83%) OAuth2
5 5 (0.83%) OpenID
5 5 (0.83%) PyTorch
5 5 (0.83%) RabbitMQ
5 5 (0.83%) React
5 5 (0.83%) TensorFlow
6 4 (0.66%) ARM Templates
6 4 (0.66%) Elastic Stack
7 3 (0.50%) HTML
7 3 (0.50%) Lambda Expressions
7 3 (0.50%) Plotly
7 3 (0.50%) REST
Miscellaneous
1 79 (13.08%) Data Centre
2 39 (6.46%) Hybrid Cloud
3 37 (6.13%) Security Posture
4 29 (4.80%) Cloud Native
5 27 (4.47%) Management Information System
5 27 (4.47%) PKI
6 23 (3.81%) Public Cloud
7 18 (2.98%) Product Ownership
8 17 (2.81%) Onboarding
8 17 (2.81%) Operational Technology
9 16 (2.65%) Cyber Threat
10 15 (2.48%) Security Operations Centre
11 14 (2.32%) Analytical Mindset
12 13 (2.15%) IoT
13 11 (1.82%) Cyber Security Posture
13 11 (1.82%) Data Protection Act
14 8 (1.32%) CSOC
14 8 (1.32%) Virtual Team
15 7 (1.16%) Legacy Systems
16 6 (0.99%) Cyberattack
Operating Systems
1 68 (11.26%) Windows
2 60 (9.93%) Linux
3 25 (4.14%) Windows Server
4 9 (1.49%) Unix
5 7 (1.16%) Ubuntu
5 7 (1.16%) VMS
6 5 (0.83%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 3 (0.50%) Mac OS
8 1 (0.17%) Android
8 1 (0.17%) Data ONTAP
8 1 (0.17%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 137 (22.68%) Cybersecurity
2 102 (16.89%) Problem-Solving
3 97 (16.06%) SIEM
4 92 (15.23%) CI/CD
5 90 (14.90%) Cloud Security
6 89 (14.74%) Zero Trust
7 86 (14.24%) Infrastructure as Code
8 83 (13.74%) DevOps
8 83 (13.74%) Security Architecture
9 74 (12.25%) Incident Response
9 74 (12.25%) Migration
10 60 (9.93%) Change Management
11 58 (9.60%) Continuous Improvement
11 58 (9.60%) Identity Access Management
12 54 (8.94%) Agile
12 54 (8.94%) Network Segmentation
12 54 (8.94%) Security Operations
13 48 (7.95%) Vulnerability Management
14 46 (7.62%) Load Balancing
14 46 (7.62%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 99 (16.39%) Python
2 58 (9.60%) PowerShell
3 31 (5.13%) Bash
4 20 (3.31%) SQL
5 19 (3.15%) Bicep
6 18 (2.98%) JavaScript
7 14 (2.32%) Kusto Query Language
8 9 (1.49%) Java
9 7 (1.16%) Go
10 6 (0.99%) Shell Script
11 5 (0.83%) C#
12 4 (0.66%) C
12 4 (0.66%) PHP
13 3 (0.50%) C++
14 1 (0.17%) ActionScript
14 1 (0.17%) C-shell
14 1 (0.17%) Korn
14 1 (0.17%) Perl
14 1 (0.17%) Ruby
14 1 (0.17%) VBA
Qualifications
1 203 (33.61%) Security Cleared
2 141 (23.34%) SC Cleared
3 108 (17.88%) Cisco Certification
4 83 (13.74%) CCNP
5 76 (12.58%) CISSP
6 70 (11.59%) DV Cleared
7 42 (6.95%) Degree
8 37 (6.13%) CCNA
9 35 (5.79%) CISM
10 26 (4.30%) CCIE
11 25 (4.14%) GIAC
12 20 (3.31%) Azure Certification
12 20 (3.31%) CEH
13 18 (2.98%) CompTIA Security+
14 15 (2.48%) AWS Certification
14 15 (2.48%) CCSP
15 14 (2.32%) (ISC)2 CCSP
16 12 (1.99%) Computer Science Degree
17 10 (1.66%) JNCIS
17 10 (1.66%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 71 (11.75%) NIST
2 66 (10.93%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 41 (6.79%) GDPR
4 32 (5.30%) PCI DSS
5 21 (3.48%) Cyber Essentials
6 16 (2.65%) NCSC
7 15 (2.48%) GRC
8 13 (2.15%) SLA
9 10 (1.66%) SOC 2
10 8 (1.32%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 7 (1.16%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 6 (0.99%) Actionable Recommendations
12 6 (0.99%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
13 4 (0.66%) HIPAA
13 4 (0.66%) JSP 440
13 4 (0.66%) PMO
13 4 (0.66%) QA
13 4 (0.66%) RMADS
14 2 (0.33%) GxP
14 2 (0.33%) PSD2
System Software
1 42 (6.95%) VMware Infrastructure
2 40 (6.62%) Active Directory
3 32 (5.30%) Docker
4 16 (2.65%) VMware NSX
5 9 (1.49%) Virtual Machines
6 8 (1.32%) Hyper-V
7 6 (0.99%) VMware ESXi
8 5 (0.83%) Firmware
8 5 (0.83%) vSphere
9 4 (0.66%) ProxySG
10 2 (0.33%) Virtual Desktop
11 1 (0.17%) KVM
11 1 (0.17%) NFS
11 1 (0.17%) Postfix
11 1 (0.17%) RHEV
11 1 (0.17%) Sendmail
11 1 (0.17%) Varnish
11 1 (0.17%) Xen
11 1 (0.17%) XenApp
11 1 (0.17%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 106 (17.55%) Terraform
2 64 (10.60%) Ansible
3 47 (7.78%) Kubernetes
4 27 (4.47%) FortiGate
5 14 (2.32%) Microsoft Intune
5 14 (2.32%) Nagios
5 14 (2.32%) Single Sign-On
6 12 (1.99%) Kibana
7 8 (1.32%) Grafana
8 7 (1.16%) Prometheus
8 7 (1.16%) vCenter Server
9 6 (0.99%) Microsoft Clustering
10 5 (0.83%) CASB
11 4 (0.66%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 4 (0.66%) Progress Chef
11 4 (0.66%) Puppet
12 3 (0.50%) Icinga
12 3 (0.50%) QRadar
12 3 (0.50%) SCCM
12 3 (0.50%) SCOM
Vendors
1 173 (28.64%) Cisco
2 106 (17.55%) Microsoft
2 106 (17.55%) Palo Alto
3 77 (12.75%) F5
4 54 (8.94%) CheckPoint
5 52 (8.61%) VMware
6 51 (8.44%) Juniper
7 45 (7.45%) Fortinet
8 41 (6.79%) Zscaler
9 34 (5.63%) Splunk
10 27 (4.47%) Google
11 25 (4.14%) ServiceNow
12 18 (2.98%) SolarWinds
13 17 (2.81%) Meraki
14 14 (2.32%) Databricks
14 14 (2.32%) Tenable
15 13 (2.15%) Aruba
16 12 (1.99%) ForeScout
17 11 (1.82%) Okta
17 11 (1.82%) Tanium