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

6 months to
2 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 165 151 177
Rank change year-on-year -14 +26 -6
Contract jobs citing Network Security 765 521 467
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.68% 1.90% 1.41%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 17.75% 15.67% 11.55%
Number of daily rates quoted 515 307 326
10th Percentile £400 £365 £363
25th Percentile £463 £448 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% -4.55% -
75th Percentile £643 £619 £669
90th Percentile £735 £738 £738
UK median daily rate £550 £525 £550
% change year-on-year +4.76% -4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 22 17 5
10th Percentile £26.20 £45.00 £31.10
25th Percentile £42.13 £55.00 £50.00
Median hourly rate £73.00 £70.16 £57.50
Median % change year-on-year +4.05% +22.02% -19.01%
75th Percentile £74.00 £84.00 £58.75
90th Percentile - £91.00 £94.82
UK median hourly rate £73.00 £70.16 £53.75
% change year-on-year +4.05% +30.53% -20.07%

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 4,310 3,324 4,042
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 9.45% 12.14% 12.23%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,604 2,065 2,418
10th Percentile £259 £238 £250
25th Percentile £400 £363 £383
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £490 £505
Median % change year-on-year +2.04% -2.97% +1.00%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £613
90th Percentile £676 £685 £700
UK median daily rate £500 £481 £500
% change year-on-year +3.95% -3.80% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 345 167 253
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £14.16
25th Percentile £19.50 £25.15 £21.37
Median hourly rate £27.50 £42.50 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year -35.29% -25.89% +1.52%
75th Percentile £65.88 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £82.01 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £26.00 £45.00 £50.00
% change year-on-year -42.22% -10.00% -9.09%

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 September 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 September 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 September 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 -4 339 £550 - 332
North of England +9 201 £531 +8.48% 65
North West -7 114 £531 +11.79% 37
South East -34 105 £550 +17.18% 104
Yorkshire +14 84 £526 +6.00% 23
Midlands -69 44 £463 -11.90% 46
East of England -10 39 £525 -2.78% 26
West Midlands -72 29 £406 -22.62% 30
South West -57 17 £588 -8.20% 47
East Midlands -5 14 £500 - 16
North East - 2 £675 - 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 17 (2.22%) Microsoft Exchange
2 13 (1.70%) SharePoint
3 10 (1.31%) Confluence
4 3 (0.39%) Apache
4 3 (0.39%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.13%) Apache Spark
5 1 (0.13%) NetWeaver
5 1 (0.13%) nginx
Applications
1 21 (2.75%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (0.78%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.52%) Microsoft Excel
4 3 (0.39%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.13%) InfoPath
5 1 (0.13%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 6 (0.78%) Oracle ERP
2 2 (0.26%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 275 (35.95%) Azure
2 187 (24.44%) AWS
3 102 (13.33%) GCP
4 84 (10.98%) Entra ID
5 41 (5.36%) Microsoft 365
6 39 (5.10%) Azure DevOps
7 31 (4.05%) GitHub
8 30 (3.92%) Azure Monitor
9 28 (3.66%) Serverless
10 25 (3.27%) SaaS
11 24 (3.14%) Azure Sentinel
12 21 (2.75%) Google Kubernetes Engine
13 18 (2.35%) Azure ExpressRoute
13 18 (2.35%) GitHub Actions
14 16 (2.09%) Amazon EKS
14 16 (2.09%) Virtual Private Cloud
15 15 (1.96%) Amazon CloudWatch
15 15 (1.96%) OCI
16 13 (1.70%) AWS Direct Connect
16 13 (1.70%) Azure AKS
Communications & Networking
1 356 (46.54%) Firewall
2 180 (23.53%) VPN
3 171 (22.35%) WAN
4 125 (16.34%) DNS
5 108 (14.12%) LAN
6 96 (12.55%) Wireless
7 87 (11.37%) BGP
8 84 (10.98%) TCP/IP
9 71 (9.28%) SD-WAN
10 70 (9.15%) DHCP
10 70 (9.15%) VLAN
11 61 (7.97%) OSPF
12 48 (6.27%) SSL
13 44 (5.75%) MPLS
14 43 (5.62%) Cisco ISE
15 42 (5.49%) IPsec
16 39 (5.10%) Wi-Fi
17 36 (4.71%) Cisco ASA
18 31 (4.05%) Internet
19 30 (3.92%) NGFW
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (1.70%) SQL Server
2 5 (0.65%) BigQuery
3 4 (0.52%) Amazon RDS
3 4 (0.52%) Elasticsearch
3 4 (0.52%) Neo4j
4 3 (0.39%) Azure SQL Database
4 3 (0.39%) Data Lake
4 3 (0.39%) PostgreSQL
4 3 (0.39%) Power BI
5 2 (0.26%) Delta Lake
6 1 (0.13%) Data Mining
6 1 (0.13%) Data Warehouse
6 1 (0.13%) InfluxDB
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Reports
6 1 (0.13%) Qlik Sense
6 1 (0.13%) Relational Database
6 1 (0.13%) Snowflake Schema
6 1 (0.13%) Star Schema
6 1 (0.13%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 34 (4.44%) Git
2 30 (3.92%) GitLab
3 28 (3.66%) JIRA
4 23 (3.01%) Jenkins
5 6 (0.78%) Sonatype Nexus
6 5 (0.65%) Browser DevTools
7 4 (0.52%) MSBuild
7 4 (0.52%) SonarQube
7 4 (0.52%) Visual Studio
8 3 (0.39%) Artifactory
9 2 (0.26%) IBM UrbanCode
10 1 (0.13%) Burp Suite
10 1 (0.13%) Postman
10 1 (0.13%) Snyk
10 1 (0.13%) SoapUI
10 1 (0.13%) Subversion
General
1 201 (26.27%) Social Skills
2 141 (18.43%) Finance
3 75 (9.80%) Analytical Skills
4 57 (7.45%) Banking
5 42 (5.49%) Public Sector
6 32 (4.18%) Documentation Skills
7 22 (2.88%) Telecoms
8 19 (2.48%) Financial Institution
8 19 (2.48%) Legal
9 15 (1.96%) Retail
10 12 (1.57%) Manufacturing
11 11 (1.44%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 11 (1.44%) Influencing Skills
12 9 (1.18%) Organisational Skills
13 8 (1.05%) Police
14 7 (0.92%) Local Government
15 6 (0.78%) Automotive
15 6 (0.78%) Military
15 6 (0.78%) Presentation Skills
16 5 (0.65%) Law
Job Titles
1 208 (27.19%) Network Engineer
2 139 (18.17%) Architect
3 101 (13.20%) Senior
4 96 (12.55%) Security Engineer
5 72 (9.41%) Security Architect
6 54 (7.06%) Consultant
6 54 (7.06%) Network Security Engineer
7 51 (6.67%) Network Architect
8 46 (6.01%) Senior Network Engineer
9 44 (5.75%) Project Manager
10 39 (5.10%) Cloud Engineer
11 37 (4.84%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 32 (4.18%) Lead
13 26 (3.40%) Security Consultant
14 23 (3.01%) Network Manager
15 21 (2.75%) Analyst
15 21 (2.75%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
16 20 (2.61%) DevSecOps Consultant
16 20 (2.61%) Solutions Architect
17 19 (2.48%) Network Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 110 (14.38%) Terraform
2 34 (4.44%) 802.1X
3 16 (2.09%) REST
4 14 (1.83%) ARM Templates
4 14 (1.83%) SAML
5 10 (1.31%) Kafka
6 8 (1.05%) NETCONF
7 6 (0.78%) gRPC
8 5 (0.65%) Azure Blueprints
8 5 (0.65%) JSON
8 5 (0.65%) Keycloak
8 5 (0.65%) OpenID
8 5 (0.65%) SLSA
9 4 (0.52%) .NET
9 4 (0.52%) CSS
9 4 (0.52%) OAuth
9 4 (0.52%) Protocol Buffers
9 4 (0.52%) RESTful
9 4 (0.52%) XML
10 3 (0.39%) SailPoint
Miscellaneous
1 88 (11.50%) Data Centre
2 73 (9.54%) Security Posture
3 50 (6.54%) Cloud Native
4 39 (5.10%) Hybrid Cloud
4 39 (5.10%) Onboarding
5 37 (4.84%) Management Information System
6 33 (4.31%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
7 27 (3.53%) Cyber Threat
8 26 (3.40%) Operational Technology
9 23 (3.01%) PKI
10 19 (2.48%) Cloud Security Posture
11 18 (2.35%) Security Operations Centre
11 18 (2.35%) Self-Motivation
12 14 (1.83%) Data Protection Act
13 13 (1.70%) Linux Command Line
13 13 (1.70%) Public Cloud
14 12 (1.57%) Enterprise Software
15 10 (1.31%) Replication
16 9 (1.18%) IoT
17 8 (1.05%) Enterprise Cloud
Operating Systems
1 82 (10.72%) Windows
2 67 (8.76%) Linux
3 31 (4.05%) Windows Server
4 15 (1.96%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 8 (1.05%) Windows 10
6 6 (0.78%) Mac OS
6 6 (0.78%) Ubuntu
6 6 (0.78%) Unix
7 3 (0.39%) Check Point GAiA
7 3 (0.39%) SUSE
7 3 (0.39%) VMS
8 2 (0.26%) Android
8 2 (0.26%) Windows Server 2016
8 2 (0.26%) zOS
9 1 (0.13%) Oracle Linux
9 1 (0.13%) Rocky
9 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2003
9 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2012
9 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 156 (20.39%) Cybersecurity
2 155 (20.26%) Cloud Security
3 126 (16.47%) Stakeholder Management
4 119 (15.56%) Zero Trust
5 117 (15.29%) Continuous Improvement
6 116 (15.16%) CI/CD
7 106 (13.86%) DevOps
7 106 (13.86%) Migration
8 104 (13.59%) Change Management
9 102 (13.33%) Infrastructure as Code
10 100 (13.07%) Incident Response
11 95 (12.42%) SIEM
12 88 (11.50%) Problem-Solving
13 85 (11.11%) Security Architecture
14 80 (10.46%) High Availability
14 80 (10.46%) Threat Modelling
15 79 (10.33%) Load Balancing
15 79 (10.33%) Security Operations
16 78 (10.20%) Identity Access Management
17 76 (9.93%) DevSecOps
Programming Languages
1 121 (15.82%) Python
2 76 (9.93%) PowerShell
3 63 (8.24%) Bash
4 33 (4.31%) Bicep
5 24 (3.14%) SQL
6 11 (1.44%) Go
7 9 (1.18%) Java
7 9 (1.18%) JavaScript
8 7 (0.92%) Search Processing Language
9 6 (0.78%) Shell Script
10 5 (0.65%) Kusto Query Language
11 4 (0.52%) Rust
12 3 (0.39%) Perl
12 3 (0.39%) VBScript
13 1 (0.13%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 205 (26.80%) Security Cleared
2 147 (19.22%) Cisco Certification
3 146 (19.08%) SC Cleared
4 98 (12.81%) CISSP
5 86 (11.24%) CCNP
6 63 (8.24%) Degree
6 63 (8.24%) DV Cleared
7 49 (6.41%) CISM
8 47 (6.14%) CCNA
9 43 (5.62%) CCSP
10 41 (5.36%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 33 (4.31%) Azure Certification
12 27 (3.53%) AWS Certification
13 26 (3.40%) CCIE
14 16 (2.09%) Computer Science Degree
15 12 (1.57%) PMP
16 11 (1.44%) PMI Certification
17 9 (1.18%) CompTIA Security+
17 9 (1.18%) GIAC
17 9 (1.18%) JNCIS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 60 (7.84%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 58 (7.58%) NIST
3 34 (4.44%) GDPR
4 25 (3.27%) NCSC
5 22 (2.88%) PCI DSS
6 13 (1.70%) GRC
7 11 (1.44%) Cyber Essentials
8 9 (1.18%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 8 (1.05%) NIST 800
9 8 (1.05%) SLA
10 7 (0.92%) QA
11 6 (0.78%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 4 (0.52%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 3 (0.39%) Actionable Recommendations
13 3 (0.39%) HMG Security Policy Framework
13 3 (0.39%) ISA99
13 3 (0.39%) SOC 2
14 2 (0.26%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
14 2 (0.26%) JSP 440
14 2 (0.26%) PMO
System Software
1 71 (9.28%) Active Directory
2 54 (7.06%) VMware Infrastructure
3 27 (3.53%) Docker
4 20 (2.61%) Virtual Machines
5 19 (2.48%) VMware NSX
6 11 (1.44%) Hyper-V
6 11 (1.44%) vSphere
7 8 (1.05%) Virtual Desktop
7 8 (1.05%) VMware ESXi
8 5 (0.65%) Firmware
8 5 (0.65%) Squid
9 2 (0.26%) FreeRADIUS
9 2 (0.26%) NFS
9 2 (0.26%) VMware Workstation
10 1 (0.13%) OpenSSH
10 1 (0.13%) Postfix
10 1 (0.13%) ProxySG
10 1 (0.13%) Samba
10 1 (0.13%) Sendmail
10 1 (0.13%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 85 (11.11%) Ansible
2 71 (9.28%) Kubernetes
3 42 (5.49%) FortiGate
4 22 (2.88%) Microsoft Intune
5 20 (2.61%) Grafana
6 15 (1.96%) Single Sign-On
7 14 (1.83%) Progress Chef
8 13 (1.70%) Prometheus
9 12 (1.57%) SCCM
10 10 (1.31%) CASB
11 7 (0.92%) Puppet
11 7 (0.92%) vCenter Server
12 6 (0.78%) Cisco CUCM
12 6 (0.78%) QRadar
13 5 (0.65%) Suricata
13 5 (0.65%) WSUS
14 4 (0.52%) Cisco Prime
14 4 (0.52%) Nagios
14 4 (0.52%) Podman
14 4 (0.52%) systemd
Vendors
1 220 (28.76%) Cisco
2 147 (19.22%) Microsoft
3 131 (17.12%) Palo Alto
4 73 (9.54%) Fortinet
5 72 (9.41%) VMware
6 66 (8.63%) F5
7 50 (6.54%) Zscaler
8 49 (6.41%) CheckPoint
9 43 (5.62%) Juniper
10 27 (3.53%) SolarWinds
10 27 (3.53%) Splunk
11 26 (3.40%) Google
12 25 (3.27%) ServiceNow
13 20 (2.61%) Citrix
14 19 (2.48%) Aruba
15 14 (1.83%) Meraki
16 13 (1.70%) Tenable
17 12 (1.57%) Blue Coat
17 12 (1.57%) CyberArk
18 11 (1.44%) ForeScout