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

6 months to
25 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 150 136 169
Rank change year-on-year -14 +33 +38
Contract jobs citing Network Security 683 487 526
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.71% 1.98% 1.41%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 18.02% 15.14% 10.35%
Number of daily rates quoted 474 299 368
10th Percentile £356 £375 £362
25th Percentile £425 £450 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £540 £555
Median % change year-on-year -7.41% -2.70% -3.48%
75th Percentile £600 £625 £666
90th Percentile £700 £703 £775
UK median daily rate £500 £521 £575
% change year-on-year -3.94% -9.48% -
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% -63.55%

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 3,790 3,217 5,081
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 9.51% 13.08% 13.65%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,381 2,001 3,073
10th Percentile £238 £220 £205
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £488
Median % change year-on-year - +2.56% -7.14%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £700
UK median daily rate £500 £490 £490
% change year-on-year +2.04% - -5.77%
Number of hourly rates quoted 196 124 403
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.20 £13.57
25th Percentile £21.25 £16.30 £17.69
Median hourly rate £42.60 £36.57 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +16.49% -8.57% +111.30%
75th Percentile £68.07 £65.00 £63.75
90th Percentile £75.00 £81.01 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £42.25 £37.50 £40.00
% change year-on-year +12.67% -6.25% +110.53%

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 25 April 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 25 April 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 25 April 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 -24 281 £525 -4.55% 69
North of England -7 136 £475 -5.00% 42
South East -21 110 £500 +2.04% 51
North West +2 85 £481 -3.75% 26
Midlands -17 70 £500 -13.04% 20
Yorkshire -29 52 £436 +8.94% 11
West Midlands -30 51 £500 -9.09% 15
East of England -31 35 £525 -6.67% 13
South West -41 30 £550 - 8
East Midlands -19 18 £638 -1.92% 5
North East -17 2 £538 -14.00% 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 12 (1.76%) Confluence
2 11 (1.61%) Microsoft Exchange
3 6 (0.88%) Apache
4 4 (0.59%) SharePoint
5 1 (0.15%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 21 (3.07%) 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
1 207 (30.31%) Azure
2 142 (20.79%) AWS
3 78 (11.42%) GCP
4 52 (7.61%) Entra ID
5 29 (4.25%) GitHub
6 26 (3.81%) GitHub Actions
7 25 (3.66%) Azure DevOps
8 23 (3.37%) Azure Sentinel
9 20 (2.93%) Azure Key Vault
10 17 (2.49%) Azure ExpressRoute
11 16 (2.34%) Azure AKS
11 16 (2.34%) Virtual Private Cloud
12 15 (2.20%) AWS CloudFormation
13 14 (2.05%) Azure Monitor
13 14 (2.05%) Microsoft 365
14 13 (1.90%) Serverless
15 12 (1.76%) Amazon S3
15 12 (1.76%) Google Kubernetes Engine
16 11 (1.61%) Akamai
16 11 (1.61%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 323 (47.29%) Firewall
2 132 (19.33%) VPN
3 119 (17.42%) WAN
4 90 (13.18%) LAN
5 85 (12.45%) DNS
6 84 (12.30%) BGP
7 74 (10.83%) OSPF
8 67 (9.81%) VLAN
9 64 (9.37%) SD-WAN
10 51 (7.47%) TCP/IP
11 49 (7.17%) Wireless
12 39 (5.71%) MPLS
13 37 (5.42%) DHCP
14 35 (5.12%) Cisco ASA
15 29 (4.25%) Cisco ISE
15 29 (4.25%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
16 28 (4.10%) Internet
16 28 (4.10%) Wi-Fi
17 27 (3.95%) SSL
18 22 (3.22%) HTTP
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 25 (3.66%) JIRA
2 18 (2.64%) Jenkins
3 12 (1.76%) GitLab
4 7 (1.02%) 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
1 165 (24.16%) Social Skills
2 100 (14.64%) Finance
3 75 (10.98%) Analytical Skills
4 54 (7.91%) Public Sector
5 35 (5.12%) Banking
6 25 (3.66%) Documentation Skills
6 25 (3.66%) Telecoms
7 20 (2.93%) Financial Institution
8 8 (1.17%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 8 (1.17%) Legal
9 7 (1.02%) Organisational Skills
10 5 (0.73%) Local Government
10 5 (0.73%) Manufacturing
11 4 (0.59%) Electronics
11 4 (0.59%) Influencing Skills
11 4 (0.59%) Law
11 4 (0.59%) Military
12 3 (0.44%) Pharmaceutical
12 3 (0.44%) Presentation Skills
12 3 (0.44%) Retail
Job Titles
1 161 (23.57%) Network Engineer
2 147 (21.52%) Architect
3 84 (12.30%) Security Engineer
4 70 (10.25%) Security Architect
5 56 (8.20%) Senior
6 52 (7.61%) Network Architect
7 43 (6.30%) Network Security Engineer
8 25 (3.66%) Analyst
9 24 (3.51%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 23 (3.37%) Lead
11 22 (3.22%) Network Security Architect
12 21 (3.07%) Consultant
13 20 (2.93%) Project Manager
13 20 (2.93%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
14 17 (2.49%) Cloud Engineer
14 17 (2.49%) Solutions Architect
15 16 (2.34%) Azure Architect
15 16 (2.34%) Cloud Architect
15 16 (2.34%) Security Specialist
15 16 (2.34%) Senior Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (3.66%) 802.1X
2 13 (1.90%) LDAP
3 10 (1.46%) SAML
4 8 (1.17%) Node.js
5 6 (0.88%) .NET
6 5 (0.73%) .NET Core
6 5 (0.73%) AngularJS
6 5 (0.73%) OAuth
6 5 (0.73%) PyTorch
6 5 (0.73%) RabbitMQ
6 5 (0.73%) React
6 5 (0.73%) TensorFlow
7 4 (0.59%) OpenID
8 3 (0.44%) CSS
8 3 (0.44%) Elastic Stack
8 3 (0.44%) HTML
8 3 (0.44%) Lambda Expressions
8 3 (0.44%) OAuth2
8 3 (0.44%) Plotly
8 3 (0.44%) REST
Miscellaneous
1 88 (12.88%) Data Centre
2 40 (5.86%) Security Posture
3 38 (5.56%) Cloud Native
3 38 (5.56%) Hybrid Cloud
4 27 (3.95%) PKI
5 24 (3.51%) Onboarding
6 22 (3.22%) Public Cloud
7 21 (3.07%) IoT
8 20 (2.93%) Management Information System
9 19 (2.78%) Cyber Threat
10 17 (2.49%) Operational Technology
11 15 (2.20%) Data Protection Act
11 15 (2.20%) Product Ownership
12 14 (2.05%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
13 13 (1.90%) Virtual Team
14 12 (1.76%) Analytical Mindset
14 12 (1.76%) Cyber Security Posture
14 12 (1.76%) Security Operations Centre
15 9 (1.32%) Clustering
16 8 (1.17%) AI Agents
Operating Systems
1 71 (10.40%) Windows
2 58 (8.49%) Linux
3 27 (3.95%) Windows Server
4 11 (1.61%) Unix
5 8 (1.17%) VMS
6 6 (0.88%) Mac OS
6 6 (0.88%) Ubuntu
7 5 (0.73%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 5 (0.73%) Windows 10
8 3 (0.44%) SUSE
9 1 (0.15%) Android
9 1 (0.15%) Data ONTAP
Processes & Methodologies
1 146 (21.38%) Cybersecurity
2 105 (15.37%) Cloud Security
3 103 (15.08%) Zero Trust
4 97 (14.20%) Problem-Solving
5 95 (13.91%) Security Architecture
6 88 (12.88%) Migration
7 87 (12.74%) SIEM
8 84 (12.30%) CI/CD
9 82 (12.01%) DevOps
10 78 (11.42%) Infrastructure as Code
11 71 (10.40%) Continuous Improvement
12 66 (9.66%) Network Segmentation
13 63 (9.22%) Change Management
14 61 (8.93%) Security Operations
15 59 (8.64%) Agile
15 59 (8.64%) Stakeholder Management
15 59 (8.64%) Threat Modelling
16 58 (8.49%) High Availability
16 58 (8.49%) Incident Response
17 57 (8.35%) ITIL
Programming Languages
1 89 (13.03%) Python
2 60 (8.78%) PowerShell
3 24 (3.51%) JavaScript
4 23 (3.37%) SQL
5 21 (3.07%) Bicep
6 20 (2.93%) Bash
7 14 (2.05%) Kusto Query Language
8 8 (1.17%) Shell Script
9 7 (1.02%) Go
9 7 (1.02%) Java
10 5 (0.73%) C#
11 4 (0.59%) C
11 4 (0.59%) PHP
12 3 (0.44%) C++
13 2 (0.29%) Ruby
14 1 (0.15%) ActionScript
14 1 (0.15%) C-shell
14 1 (0.15%) Korn
14 1 (0.15%) Perl
14 1 (0.15%) VBA
Qualifications
1 213 (31.19%) Security Cleared
2 152 (22.25%) SC Cleared
3 122 (17.86%) Cisco Certification
4 91 (13.32%) CCNP
5 80 (11.71%) CISSP
6 71 (10.40%) DV Cleared
7 49 (7.17%) CCNA
8 43 (6.30%) Degree
9 41 (6.00%) CISM
10 29 (4.25%) Azure Certification
11 23 (3.37%) GIAC
12 22 (3.22%) CCIE
13 21 (3.07%) CCSP
14 20 (2.93%) (ISC)2 CCSP
15 19 (2.78%) CEH
15 19 (2.78%) CompTIA Security+
16 17 (2.49%) AWS Certification
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 58 (8.49%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 37 (5.42%) GDPR
4 26 (3.81%) PCI DSS
5 16 (2.34%) NCSC
6 15 (2.20%) GRC
7 14 (2.05%) Cyber Essentials
8 13 (1.90%) SLA
9 9 (1.32%) SOC 2
10 8 (1.17%) Actionable Recommendations
10 8 (1.17%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 7 (1.02%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 6 (0.88%) PMO
12 6 (0.88%) QA
13 5 (0.73%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 5 (0.73%) ISO/IEC 42001
14 4 (0.59%) RMADS
15 3 (0.44%) ISA99
15 3 (0.44%) JSP 440
16 2 (0.29%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 52 (7.61%) VMware Infrastructure
2 45 (6.59%) Active Directory
3 19 (2.78%) VMware NSX
4 18 (2.64%) Docker
5 14 (2.05%) Virtual Machines
6 12 (1.76%) Hyper-V
7 10 (1.46%) VMware ESXi
8 9 (1.32%) vSphere
9 6 (0.88%) Firmware
10 4 (0.59%) Virtual Desktop
11 2 (0.29%) NFS
11 2 (0.29%) Postfix
11 2 (0.29%) ProxySG
11 2 (0.29%) Sendmail
11 2 (0.29%) Varnish
12 1 (0.15%) KVM
12 1 (0.15%) Squid
12 1 (0.15%) Xen
12 1 (0.15%) XenApp
12 1 (0.15%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 101 (14.79%) Terraform
2 60 (8.78%) Ansible
3 52 (7.61%) Kubernetes
4 28 (4.10%) FortiGate
5 14 (2.05%) Nagios
5 14 (2.05%) Single Sign-On
6 12 (1.76%) Kibana
7 11 (1.61%) Microsoft Intune
7 11 (1.61%) vCenter Server
8 9 (1.32%) Microsoft Clustering
9 7 (1.02%) Grafana
10 6 (0.88%) Prometheus
11 5 (0.73%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 5 (0.73%) Progress Chef
11 5 (0.73%) WSUS
12 4 (0.59%) CASB
12 4 (0.59%) Istio
12 4 (0.59%) Puppet
13 3 (0.44%) Docker Swarm
13 3 (0.44%) VxRail
Vendors
1 194 (28.40%) Cisco
2 111 (16.25%) Microsoft
3 108 (15.81%) Palo Alto
4 65 (9.52%) F5
4 65 (9.52%) VMware
5 50 (7.32%) Fortinet
6 48 (7.03%) Juniper
7 45 (6.59%) CheckPoint
8 40 (5.86%) Zscaler
9 30 (4.39%) ServiceNow
10 26 (3.81%) Splunk
11 23 (3.37%) Google
12 20 (2.93%) SolarWinds
13 19 (2.78%) ForeScout
14 15 (2.20%) Aruba
14 15 (2.20%) Citrix
14 15 (2.20%) Meraki
15 13 (1.90%) Okta
16 12 (1.76%) Databricks
16 12 (1.76%) SAP