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

6 months to
2 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 170 170 161
Rank change year-on-year 0 -9 +8
Contract jobs citing Network Security 769 491 499
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.65% 1.75% 1.54%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 17.80% 14.91% 12.68%
Number of daily rates quoted 502 292 324
10th Percentile £400 £376 £363
25th Percentile £460 £450 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% -2.42% -2.18%
75th Percentile £650 £638 £638
90th Percentile £735 £738 £738
UK median daily rate £550 £533 £538
% change year-on-year +3.29% -0.93% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 25 16 7
10th Percentile £26.80 £45.00 £28.40
25th Percentile £67.50 £52.50 £38.75
Median hourly rate £73.00 £70.16 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year +4.05% +40.32% -31.03%
75th Percentile £74.00 £85.00 £58.75
90th Percentile £85.00 £97.50 £82.79
UK median hourly rate £73.00 £70.16 £45.00
% change year-on-year +4.05% +55.91% -37.93%

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 4,320 3,292 3,934
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 9.28% 11.76% 12.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,539 2,081 2,273
10th Percentile £261 £225 £237
25th Percentile £400 £363 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £485 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.09% -3.00% -
75th Percentile £590 £590 £608
90th Percentile £688 £688 £688
UK median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 386 173 172
10th Percentile £16.01 £15.50 £16.30
25th Percentile £21.33 £20.83 £25.94
Median hourly rate £41.75 £35.00 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +19.29% -38.97% +1.52%
75th Percentile £68.75 £65.00 £67.14
90th Percentile £92.52 £75.00 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £32.50 £41.94 £50.50
% change year-on-year -22.51% -16.95% -10.60%

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 2 October 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 2 October 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 2 October 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 -4 328 £550 - 385
North of England +12 207 £540 +10.32% 94
North West -10 110 £540 +13.68% 53
Yorkshire +20 92 £540 +8.87% 33
South East -37 90 £557 +23.78% 137
Midlands -66 54 £463 -11.90% 67
East of England -5 41 £525 +7.69% 40
West Midlands -62 41 £450 -14.29% 41
South West -40 27 £675 +5.47% 49
East Midlands -5 13 £500 - 26
North East - 4 £680 - 9
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 19 (2.47%) Microsoft Exchange
2 16 (2.08%) SharePoint
3 11 (1.43%) Confluence
4 4 (0.52%) Apache Airflow
5 3 (0.39%) Apache
6 1 (0.13%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.13%) CMS
6 1 (0.13%) IIS
6 1 (0.13%) NetWeaver
6 1 (0.13%) nginx
Applications
1 17 (2.21%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (0.78%) MS Visio
3 5 (0.65%) Microsoft Excel
4 3 (0.39%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.26%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 1 (0.13%) InfoPath
Business Applications
1 6 (0.78%) Oracle ERP
2 1 (0.13%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 262 (34.07%) Azure
2 184 (23.93%) AWS
3 98 (12.74%) GCP
4 91 (11.83%) Entra ID
5 51 (6.63%) Microsoft 365
6 40 (5.20%) GitHub
7 37 (4.81%) Azure DevOps
8 31 (4.03%) Azure Monitor
9 30 (3.90%) Serverless
10 23 (2.99%) SaaS
11 21 (2.73%) Azure Sentinel
12 18 (2.34%) GitHub Actions
13 17 (2.21%) Amazon CloudWatch
13 17 (2.21%) Amazon EKS
13 17 (2.21%) Google Kubernetes Engine
13 17 (2.21%) OCI
14 16 (2.08%) Azure ExpressRoute
14 16 (2.08%) Virtual Private Cloud
15 15 (1.95%) Azure AKS
16 14 (1.82%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 359 (46.68%) Firewall
2 179 (23.28%) VPN
3 170 (22.11%) WAN
4 129 (16.78%) DNS
5 113 (14.69%) LAN
6 94 (12.22%) Wireless
7 87 (11.31%) TCP/IP
8 84 (10.92%) BGP
9 70 (9.10%) DHCP
10 63 (8.19%) SD-WAN
10 63 (8.19%) VLAN
11 56 (7.28%) OSPF
12 55 (7.15%) SSL
13 44 (5.72%) MPLS
14 38 (4.94%) Cisco ISE
15 35 (4.55%) Cisco ASA
16 34 (4.42%) IPsec
17 32 (4.16%) Wi-Fi
18 27 (3.51%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
18 27 (3.51%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 12 (1.56%) SQL Server
2 7 (0.91%) Amazon RDS
3 6 (0.78%) BigQuery
4 5 (0.65%) Delta Lake
5 4 (0.52%) Elasticsearch
5 4 (0.52%) Neo4j
6 3 (0.39%) Azure SQL Database
6 3 (0.39%) PostgreSQL
6 3 (0.39%) Power BI
7 2 (0.26%) Data Lake
7 2 (0.26%) Relational Database
8 1 (0.13%) Amazon Athena
8 1 (0.13%) Amazon Aurora
8 1 (0.13%) Amazon Redshift
8 1 (0.13%) DynamoDB
8 1 (0.13%) InfluxDB
8 1 (0.13%) Looker
8 1 (0.13%) SAP Data Services
8 1 (0.13%) SAP HANA
8 1 (0.13%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 38 (4.94%) Git
2 31 (4.03%) GitLab
3 28 (3.64%) Jenkins
4 25 (3.25%) JIRA
5 6 (0.78%) Sonatype Nexus
6 4 (0.52%) MSBuild
6 4 (0.52%) SonarQube
6 4 (0.52%) Visual Studio
7 3 (0.39%) Artifactory
7 3 (0.39%) Browser DevTools
7 3 (0.39%) Claude Code
8 2 (0.26%) IBM UrbanCode
9 1 (0.13%) Burp Suite
9 1 (0.13%) Postman
9 1 (0.13%) REST Assured
9 1 (0.13%) SoapUI
9 1 (0.13%) Subversion
General
1 221 (28.74%) Social Skills
2 148 (19.25%) Finance
3 82 (10.66%) Analytical Skills
4 65 (8.45%) Banking
5 39 (5.07%) Public Sector
6 32 (4.16%) Documentation Skills
7 26 (3.38%) Legal
8 23 (2.99%) Telecoms
9 18 (2.34%) Financial Institution
10 15 (1.95%) Influencing Skills
11 14 (1.82%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 14 (1.82%) Retail
12 13 (1.69%) Manufacturing
13 11 (1.43%) Presentation Skills
14 10 (1.30%) Organisational Skills
15 8 (1.04%) Local Government
16 6 (0.78%) Automotive
16 6 (0.78%) Military
16 6 (0.78%) Pharmaceutical
16 6 (0.78%) Police
Job Titles
1 215 (27.96%) Network Engineer
2 129 (16.78%) Architect
3 112 (14.56%) Security Engineer
4 95 (12.35%) Senior
5 67 (8.71%) Security Architect
6 66 (8.58%) Network Security Engineer
7 58 (7.54%) Consultant
8 53 (6.89%) Network Architect
9 43 (5.59%) Senior Network Engineer
10 42 (5.46%) Cloud Engineer
10 42 (5.46%) Project Manager
11 41 (5.33%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 31 (4.03%) Lead
13 28 (3.64%) Security Consultant
14 27 (3.51%) Network Security Architect
15 24 (3.12%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
16 22 (2.86%) Analyst
16 22 (2.86%) Network Manager
17 21 (2.73%) DevSecOps Consultant
18 19 (2.47%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 133 (17.30%) Terraform
2 36 (4.68%) 802.1X
3 22 (2.86%) REST
4 14 (1.82%) ARM Templates
4 14 (1.82%) SAML
5 12 (1.56%) Kafka
6 8 (1.04%) NETCONF
7 7 (0.91%) JSON
8 6 (0.78%) gRPC
8 6 (0.78%) Keycloak
8 6 (0.78%) LDAP
9 5 (0.65%) Azure Blueprints
9 5 (0.65%) OpenID
9 5 (0.65%) SLSA
9 5 (0.65%) Software Packaging
9 5 (0.65%) YAML
10 4 (0.52%) CSS
10 4 (0.52%) OAuth
10 4 (0.52%) RESTful
10 4 (0.52%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 100 (13.00%) Data Centre
2 75 (9.75%) Security Posture
3 50 (6.50%) Onboarding
4 45 (5.85%) Cloud Native
5 36 (4.68%) Hybrid Cloud
5 36 (4.68%) Management Information System
6 33 (4.29%) Cyber Threat
7 32 (4.16%) Operational Technology
8 25 (3.25%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
9 24 (3.12%) PKI
10 22 (2.86%) Self-Motivation
11 19 (2.47%) Cloud Security Posture
11 19 (2.47%) Security Operations Centre
12 16 (2.08%) Public Cloud
13 15 (1.95%) Data Protection Act
14 13 (1.69%) Enterprise Software
15 10 (1.30%) Linux Command Line
15 10 (1.30%) Replication
15 10 (1.30%) SCADA
16 9 (1.17%) Video Conferencing
Operating Systems
1 94 (12.22%) Windows
2 77 (10.01%) Linux
3 43 (5.59%) Windows Server
4 18 (2.34%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 12 (1.56%) Unix
6 8 (1.04%) Windows 10
7 6 (0.78%) Ubuntu
8 5 (0.65%) Mac OS
9 3 (0.39%) Check Point GAiA
10 2 (0.26%) Android
10 2 (0.26%) SUSE
10 2 (0.26%) Windows Server 2016
10 2 (0.26%) zOS
11 1 (0.13%) Oracle Linux
11 1 (0.13%) Rocky
11 1 (0.13%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
11 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2003
11 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2012
11 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 165 (21.46%) Cybersecurity
2 154 (20.03%) Cloud Security
3 136 (17.69%) CI/CD
3 136 (17.69%) Stakeholder Management
4 123 (15.99%) Zero Trust
5 121 (15.73%) Infrastructure as Code
6 118 (15.34%) Continuous Improvement
7 109 (14.17%) Incident Response
8 108 (14.04%) Migration
9 107 (13.91%) DevOps
10 105 (13.65%) SIEM
11 102 (13.26%) Problem-Solving
12 101 (13.13%) Change Management
13 89 (11.57%) Infrastructure Engineering
14 85 (11.05%) Security Architecture
15 82 (10.66%) Identity Access Management
16 81 (10.53%) Vulnerability Management
17 80 (10.40%) Agile
18 77 (10.01%) Data Protection
18 77 (10.01%) Security Operations
Programming Languages
1 149 (19.38%) Python
2 84 (10.92%) PowerShell
3 69 (8.97%) Bash
4 32 (4.16%) Bicep
5 28 (3.64%) SQL
6 13 (1.69%) Go
7 11 (1.43%) Java
8 7 (0.91%) Search Processing Language
8 7 (0.91%) Shell Script
9 6 (0.78%) ActionScript
10 5 (0.65%) Kusto Query Language
11 4 (0.52%) Rust
12 3 (0.39%) JavaScript
12 3 (0.39%) Perl
12 3 (0.39%) VBScript
13 1 (0.13%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 221 (28.74%) Security Cleared
2 154 (20.03%) Cisco Certification
3 153 (19.90%) SC Cleared
4 96 (12.48%) CISSP
5 87 (11.31%) CCNP
6 74 (9.62%) DV Cleared
7 61 (7.93%) Degree
8 48 (6.24%) CCSP
9 45 (5.85%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 43 (5.59%) CCNA
11 40 (5.20%) CISM
12 33 (4.29%) CCIE
13 27 (3.51%) Azure Certification
14 24 (3.12%) AWS Certification
15 16 (2.08%) Computer Science Degree
16 12 (1.56%) PMI Certification
16 12 (1.56%) PMP
17 11 (1.43%) JNCIP
18 10 (1.30%) GIAC
18 10 (1.30%) JNCIS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 64 (8.32%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 61 (7.93%) NIST
3 29 (3.77%) GDPR
4 27 (3.51%) NCSC
5 26 (3.38%) PCI DSS
6 14 (1.82%) Cyber Essentials
6 14 (1.82%) GRC
7 12 (1.56%) NIST 800
8 8 (1.04%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 7 (0.91%) SLA
10 6 (0.78%) QA
10 6 (0.78%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 4 (0.52%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 4 (0.52%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 4 (0.52%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 3 (0.39%) SOC 2
13 2 (0.26%) Data Quality
13 2 (0.26%) JSP 440
14 1 (0.13%) Accessibility
14 1 (0.13%) GxP
System Software
1 85 (11.05%) Active Directory
2 55 (7.15%) VMware Infrastructure
3 32 (4.16%) Docker
4 16 (2.08%) Virtual Machines
4 16 (2.08%) VMware NSX
5 11 (1.43%) vSphere
6 10 (1.30%) Hyper-V
7 8 (1.04%) Virtual Desktop
7 8 (1.04%) VMware ESXi
8 5 (0.65%) Squid
8 5 (0.65%) Virtual Servers
9 4 (0.52%) FreeRADIUS
10 2 (0.26%) Firmware
10 2 (0.26%) Microsoft Virtual Server
10 2 (0.26%) VMware Workstation
11 1 (0.13%) NFS
11 1 (0.13%) OpenSSH
11 1 (0.13%) ProxySG
11 1 (0.13%) Samba
Systems Management
1 94 (12.22%) Ansible
2 75 (9.75%) Kubernetes
3 44 (5.72%) FortiGate
4 27 (3.51%) Grafana
4 27 (3.51%) Microsoft Intune
5 19 (2.47%) Prometheus
6 17 (2.21%) Progress Chef
7 13 (1.69%) SCCM
8 12 (1.56%) Single Sign-On
9 10 (1.30%) CASB
10 8 (1.04%) Nagios
10 8 (1.04%) QRadar
11 7 (0.91%) Cisco CUCM
11 7 (0.91%) Puppet
12 5 (0.65%) Suricata
13 4 (0.52%) Kustomize
13 4 (0.52%) Podman
13 4 (0.52%) systemd
13 4 (0.52%) VxRail
13 4 (0.52%) WSUS
Vendors
1 233 (30.30%) Cisco
2 157 (20.42%) Microsoft
3 148 (19.25%) Palo Alto
4 83 (10.79%) Fortinet
5 69 (8.97%) VMware
6 68 (8.84%) F5
7 61 (7.93%) Zscaler
8 50 (6.50%) CheckPoint
9 43 (5.59%) Juniper
10 33 (4.29%) SolarWinds
11 30 (3.90%) Splunk
12 28 (3.64%) Google
13 23 (2.99%) ServiceNow
14 21 (2.73%) Aruba
15 17 (2.21%) Citrix
16 16 (2.08%) Meraki
17 14 (1.82%) Blue Coat
18 12 (1.56%) AlgoSec
18 12 (1.56%) Tenable
19 11 (1.43%) Arista