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

6 months to
12 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 166 138 147
Rank change year-on-year -28 +9 +92
Contract jobs citing Network Security 614 490 628
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.69% 1.99% 1.65%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 16.86% 14.73% 11.75%
Number of daily rates quoted 414 304 440
10th Percentile £350 £363 £399
25th Percentile £425 £425 £469
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £544 £550
Median % change year-on-year -8.13% -1.05% -1.12%
75th Percentile £600 £625 £650
90th Percentile £700 £700 £750
UK median daily rate £500 £515 £550
% change year-on-year -2.91% -6.36% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 11 9 17
10th Percentile £36.00 £18.05 -
25th Percentile £46.19 £35.00 £7.43
Median hourly rate £65.00 £80.68 £23.00
Median % change year-on-year -19.43% +250.76% -42.21%
75th Percentile £79.38 £81.35 £41.25
90th Percentile £93.75 £82.48 £68.00
UK median hourly rate £65.00 £41.00 £23.00
% change year-on-year +58.54% +78.26% -42.21%

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 3,641 3,327 5,344
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 10.00% 13.50% 14.06%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,341 2,038 3,226
10th Percentile £205 £210 £205
25th Percentile £368 £363 £338
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 £675 £700
UK median daily rate £487 £500 £475
% change year-on-year -2.60% +5.26% -9.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 167 113 377
10th Percentile £15.50 £15.04 £14.26
25th Percentile £20.09 £21.46 £19.00
Median hourly rate £37.50 £35.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +7.14% -12.50% +110.53%
75th Percentile £65.50 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £76.00 £75.00 £72.90
UK median hourly rate £38.50 £35.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year +10.00% -12.50% +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 12 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 12 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 12 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 -20 263 £525 -4.55% 90
North of England -27 116 £475 -5.00% 44
South East -16 99 £500 -6.10% 45
North West -14 70 £490 -1.95% 36
Midlands -26 65 £500 -14.02% 30
West Midlands -29 53 £500 -14.02% 22
Yorkshire -36 53 £335 +5.85% 6
South West -22 29 £538 -2.27% 24
East of England -28 26 £475 -13.64% 29
East Midlands -29 12 £638 +50.00% 7
North East -13 2 £475 -24.00% 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 13 (2.12%) Confluence
2 5 (0.81%) Apache
2 5 (0.81%) SharePoint
3 4 (0.65%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.16%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 18 (2.93%) Microsoft Office
2 10 (1.63%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.65%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.16%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (0.16%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 5 (0.81%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 179 (29.15%) Azure
2 123 (20.03%) AWS
3 68 (11.07%) GCP
4 47 (7.65%) Entra ID
5 28 (4.56%) GitHub
6 25 (4.07%) GitHub Actions
7 23 (3.75%) Azure DevOps
8 20 (3.26%) Azure Sentinel
9 19 (3.09%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 18 (2.93%) Azure Key Vault
11 16 (2.61%) Microsoft 365
12 14 (2.28%) AWS CloudFormation
13 13 (2.12%) Amazon S3
14 12 (1.95%) Azure ExpressRoute
14 12 (1.95%) Azure Monitor
14 12 (1.95%) Google Kubernetes Engine
14 12 (1.95%) Power Platform
15 11 (1.79%) Akamai
15 11 (1.79%) Azure AKS
15 11 (1.79%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 299 (48.70%) Firewall
2 115 (18.73%) VPN
3 107 (17.43%) WAN
4 87 (14.17%) LAN
5 86 (14.01%) BGP
6 75 (12.21%) DNS
7 71 (11.56%) OSPF
8 58 (9.45%) VLAN
9 51 (8.31%) SD-WAN
10 50 (8.14%) TCP/IP
11 41 (6.68%) Wireless
12 36 (5.86%) Cisco ASA
12 36 (5.86%) MPLS
13 34 (5.54%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
14 28 (4.56%) SSL
15 27 (4.40%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
16 25 (4.07%) DMZ
17 24 (3.91%) NGFW
18 23 (3.75%) DHCP
18 23 (3.75%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (0.98%) Azure SQL Database
2 5 (0.81%) Power BI
3 4 (0.65%) Amazon RDS
3 4 (0.65%) InfluxDB
3 4 (0.65%) Relational Database
4 3 (0.49%) Amazon Athena
4 3 (0.49%) Data Lake
5 2 (0.33%) Oracle Database
5 2 (0.33%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 1 (0.16%) Redis
6 1 (0.16%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 20 (3.26%) JIRA
2 17 (2.77%) Jenkins
3 14 (2.28%) GitLab
4 10 (1.63%) Git
5 4 (0.65%) Snyk
5 4 (0.65%) Sonatype Nexus
6 3 (0.49%) Browser DevTools
7 1 (0.16%) Metasploit
General
1 165 (26.87%) Social Skills
2 87 (14.17%) Finance
3 83 (13.52%) Analytical Skills
4 52 (8.47%) Public Sector
5 32 (5.21%) Banking
6 26 (4.23%) Documentation Skills
7 23 (3.75%) Telecoms
8 20 (3.26%) Financial Institution
9 11 (1.79%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 9 (1.47%) Investment Banking
11 7 (1.14%) Legal
11 7 (1.14%) Presentation Skills
12 5 (0.81%) Influencing Skills
12 5 (0.81%) Local Government
12 5 (0.81%) Manufacturing
12 5 (0.81%) Organisational Skills
12 5 (0.81%) Pharmaceutical
13 4 (0.65%) Military
14 3 (0.49%) Electronics
14 3 (0.49%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 133 (21.66%) Network Engineer
2 126 (20.52%) Architect
3 77 (12.54%) Security Engineer
4 64 (10.42%) Security Architect
5 47 (7.65%) Network Architect
5 47 (7.65%) Senior
6 34 (5.54%) Network Security Engineer
7 30 (4.89%) Analyst
8 24 (3.91%) Network Security Architect
9 20 (3.26%) Lead
10 19 (3.09%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
11 18 (2.93%) Cloud Engineer
12 17 (2.77%) Administrator
12 17 (2.77%) Cloud Architect
12 17 (2.77%) Security Analyst
13 15 (2.44%) Azure Architect
13 15 (2.44%) Consultant
13 15 (2.44%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 15 (2.44%) IT Support
14 13 (2.12%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (3.58%) 802.1X
2 13 (2.12%) LDAP
3 8 (1.30%) .NET
3 8 (1.30%) Node.js
3 8 (1.30%) SAML
4 5 (0.81%) .NET Core
4 5 (0.81%) AngularJS
4 5 (0.81%) OAuth
4 5 (0.81%) OAuth2
4 5 (0.81%) OpenID
4 5 (0.81%) PyTorch
4 5 (0.81%) RabbitMQ
4 5 (0.81%) React
4 5 (0.81%) TensorFlow
5 4 (0.65%) ARM Templates
5 4 (0.65%) Elastic Stack
6 3 (0.49%) CSS
6 3 (0.49%) Lambda Expressions
6 3 (0.49%) Plotly
6 3 (0.49%) REST
Miscellaneous
1 80 (13.03%) Data Centre
2 38 (6.19%) Hybrid Cloud
3 37 (6.03%) Security Posture
4 29 (4.72%) Cloud Native
5 28 (4.56%) Management Information System
6 27 (4.40%) PKI
7 24 (3.91%) Public Cloud
8 18 (2.93%) Onboarding
8 18 (2.93%) Operational Technology
9 17 (2.77%) Product Ownership
10 16 (2.61%) Analytical Mindset
10 16 (2.61%) Cyber Threat
11 15 (2.44%) IoT
11 15 (2.44%) Security Operations Centre
12 12 (1.95%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
13 11 (1.79%) Cyber Security Posture
13 11 (1.79%) Data Protection Act
14 8 (1.30%) CSOC
14 8 (1.30%) Virtual Team
15 7 (1.14%) BYOD
Operating Systems
1 72 (11.73%) Windows
2 56 (9.12%) Linux
3 26 (4.23%) Windows Server
4 9 (1.47%) Unix
5 7 (1.14%) Ubuntu
6 6 (0.98%) VMS
7 5 (0.81%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 4 (0.65%) Mac OS
9 1 (0.16%) Android
9 1 (0.16%) Data ONTAP
9 1 (0.16%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 143 (23.29%) Cybersecurity
2 102 (16.61%) Problem-Solving
3 98 (15.96%) SIEM
4 90 (14.66%) Cloud Security
5 86 (14.01%) CI/CD
5 86 (14.01%) Zero Trust
6 84 (13.68%) Security Architecture
7 82 (13.36%) Migration
8 80 (13.03%) DevOps
9 79 (12.87%) Infrastructure as Code
10 68 (11.07%) Incident Response
11 60 (9.77%) Continuous Improvement
11 60 (9.77%) Security Operations
12 59 (9.61%) Change Management
13 56 (9.12%) Identity Access Management
14 54 (8.79%) Network Segmentation
15 53 (8.63%) Agile
16 51 (8.31%) Stakeholder Management
17 49 (7.98%) Load Balancing
17 49 (7.98%) Vulnerability Management
Programming Languages
1 92 (14.98%) Python
2 58 (9.45%) PowerShell
3 24 (3.91%) JavaScript
4 22 (3.58%) Bash
4 22 (3.58%) SQL
5 19 (3.09%) Bicep
6 14 (2.28%) Kusto Query Language
7 9 (1.47%) Java
8 7 (1.14%) Go
9 6 (0.98%) Shell Script
10 5 (0.81%) C#
11 4 (0.65%) C
11 4 (0.65%) PHP
12 3 (0.49%) C++
13 1 (0.16%) ActionScript
13 1 (0.16%) C-shell
13 1 (0.16%) Korn
13 1 (0.16%) Perl
13 1 (0.16%) Ruby
13 1 (0.16%) VBA
Qualifications
1 202 (32.90%) Security Cleared
2 140 (22.80%) SC Cleared
3 109 (17.75%) Cisco Certification
4 83 (13.52%) CCNP
5 77 (12.54%) CISSP
6 74 (12.05%) DV Cleared
7 42 (6.84%) Degree
8 38 (6.19%) CCNA
9 36 (5.86%) CISM
10 25 (4.07%) CCIE
10 25 (4.07%) GIAC
11 21 (3.42%) Azure Certification
12 20 (3.26%) CEH
13 18 (2.93%) CompTIA Security+
14 16 (2.61%) CCSP
15 15 (2.44%) (ISC)2 CCSP
15 15 (2.44%) AWS Certification
16 12 (1.95%) Computer Science Degree
17 10 (1.63%) BPSS Clearance
17 10 (1.63%) JNCIS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 70 (11.40%) NIST
2 66 (10.75%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 42 (6.84%) GDPR
4 34 (5.54%) PCI DSS
5 20 (3.26%) Cyber Essentials
6 15 (2.44%) GRC
6 15 (2.44%) NCSC
7 13 (2.12%) SLA
8 9 (1.47%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 9 (1.47%) SOC 2
9 7 (1.14%) Actionable Recommendations
9 7 (1.14%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 6 (0.98%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 5 (0.81%) QA
12 4 (0.65%) HIPAA
12 4 (0.65%) JSP 440
12 4 (0.65%) PMO
12 4 (0.65%) RMADS
13 2 (0.33%) ISO/IEC 27005
13 2 (0.33%) PSD2
System Software
1 45 (7.33%) VMware Infrastructure
2 41 (6.68%) Active Directory
3 25 (4.07%) Docker
4 19 (3.09%) VMware NSX
5 8 (1.30%) Virtual Machines
6 7 (1.14%) Hyper-V
7 6 (0.98%) VMware ESXi
7 6 (0.98%) vSphere
8 5 (0.81%) Firmware
9 4 (0.65%) ProxySG
10 2 (0.33%) Virtual Desktop
11 1 (0.16%) KVM
11 1 (0.16%) NFS
11 1 (0.16%) Postfix
11 1 (0.16%) RHEV
11 1 (0.16%) Sendmail
11 1 (0.16%) Varnish
11 1 (0.16%) Xen
11 1 (0.16%) XenApp
11 1 (0.16%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 98 (15.96%) Terraform
2 59 (9.61%) Ansible
3 48 (7.82%) Kubernetes
4 25 (4.07%) FortiGate
5 14 (2.28%) Microsoft Intune
5 14 (2.28%) Nagios
5 14 (2.28%) Single Sign-On
6 12 (1.95%) Kibana
7 8 (1.30%) Grafana
8 7 (1.14%) Prometheus
8 7 (1.14%) vCenter Server
9 6 (0.98%) Microsoft Clustering
10 5 (0.81%) CASB
11 4 (0.65%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 4 (0.65%) Progress Chef
11 4 (0.65%) Puppet
12 3 (0.49%) Icinga
12 3 (0.49%) QRadar
12 3 (0.49%) SCCM
12 3 (0.49%) SCOM
Vendors
1 176 (28.66%) Cisco
2 108 (17.59%) Microsoft
3 102 (16.61%) Palo Alto
4 71 (11.56%) F5
5 58 (9.45%) VMware
6 51 (8.31%) Juniper
7 45 (7.33%) Fortinet
8 43 (7.00%) CheckPoint
9 37 (6.03%) Zscaler
10 29 (4.72%) Splunk
11 28 (4.56%) Google
12 27 (4.40%) ServiceNow
13 18 (2.93%) SolarWinds
14 17 (2.77%) Meraki
15 15 (2.44%) Tenable
16 14 (2.28%) Aruba
16 14 (2.28%) Databricks
17 12 (1.95%) ForeScout
17 12 (1.95%) Okta
17 12 (1.95%) SAP