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

6 months to
1 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 158 142 157
Rank change year-on-year -16 +15 +61
Contract jobs citing Network Security 662 480 590
As % of all contract jobs in England 1.73% 1.98% 1.57%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 17.59% 15.01% 11.23%
Number of daily rates quoted 452 307 414
10th Percentile £350 £369 £400
25th Percentile £425 £434 £469
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £534 £550
Median % change year-on-year -6.28% -3.00% -2.44%
75th Percentile £595 £625 £650
90th Percentile £688 £700 £750
UK median daily rate £500 £520 £550
% change year-on-year -3.85% -5.45% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 13 8 15
10th Percentile £37.23 £17.83 -
25th Percentile £42.13 £35.00 £7.43
Median hourly rate £65.00 £80.68 £13.50
Median % change year-on-year -19.43% +497.59% -74.10%
75th Percentile £75.00 £81.54 £41.25
90th Percentile £82.00 £82.67 -
UK median hourly rate £65.00 £45.00 £23.00
% change year-on-year +44.44% +95.65% -55.88%

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 3,763 3,197 5,255
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 9.86% 13.19% 13.95%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,412 1,991 3,181
10th Percentile £213 £220 £205
25th Percentile £392 £372 £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 £675 £700
UK median daily rate £500 £490 £475
% change year-on-year +2.04% +3.16% -9.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 178 121 384
10th Percentile £15.89 £14.20 £13.61
25th Percentile £19.59 £20.85 £17.72
Median hourly rate £41.94 £35.00 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +19.83% - +84.21%
75th Percentile £67.75 £65.00 £63.75
90th Percentile £75.00 £81.01 £69.59
UK median hourly rate £41.94 £35.00 £32.50
% change year-on-year +19.83% +7.69% +71.05%

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 1 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 1 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 1 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 -31 279 £520 -5.45% 73
North of England -18 130 £478 -4.50% 33
South East -16 103 £500 -3.85% 46
North West -2 84 £491 -1.90% 24
Midlands -31 67 £500 -13.53% 20
West Midlands -26 52 £500 -13.53% 14
Yorkshire -29 50 £335 -31.63% 8
East of England -22 31 £500 -13.04% 19
South West -25 31 £545 -0.91% 19
East Midlands -25 14 £638 +50.00% 6
North East -12 2 £475 -24.00% 1
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 (1.96%) Confluence
2 6 (0.91%) Apache
3 5 (0.76%) Microsoft Exchange
4 4 (0.60%) SharePoint
5 1 (0.15%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 22 (3.32%) Microsoft Office
2 10 (1.51%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.60%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.15%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 5 (0.76%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 200 (30.21%) Azure
2 137 (20.69%) AWS
3 77 (11.63%) GCP
4 49 (7.40%) Entra ID
5 30 (4.53%) GitHub
6 27 (4.08%) GitHub Actions
7 24 (3.63%) Azure DevOps
8 23 (3.47%) Azure Sentinel
9 22 (3.32%) Azure Key Vault
10 17 (2.57%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 16 (2.42%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 15 (2.27%) Azure Monitor
12 15 (2.27%) Microsoft 365
13 14 (2.11%) AWS CloudFormation
14 13 (1.96%) Serverless
15 12 (1.81%) Amazon S3
15 12 (1.81%) Google Kubernetes Engine
16 11 (1.66%) Azure AKS
16 11 (1.66%) Google Workspace
16 11 (1.66%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 328 (49.55%) Firewall
2 130 (19.64%) VPN
3 116 (17.52%) WAN
4 90 (13.60%) LAN
5 89 (13.44%) BGP
6 80 (12.08%) DNS
7 75 (11.33%) OSPF
8 67 (10.12%) VLAN
9 59 (8.91%) SD-WAN
10 53 (8.01%) TCP/IP
11 43 (6.50%) Wireless
12 38 (5.74%) Cisco ASA
12 38 (5.74%) MPLS
13 34 (5.14%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
14 31 (4.68%) DHCP
15 30 (4.53%) Wi-Fi
16 26 (3.93%) Internet
16 26 (3.93%) SSL
17 25 (3.78%) NGFW
18 24 (3.63%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (0.91%) Amazon RDS
1 6 (0.91%) Azure SQL Database
2 5 (0.76%) InfluxDB
2 5 (0.76%) Relational Database
3 3 (0.45%) Amazon Athena
3 3 (0.45%) Data Lake
3 3 (0.45%) Power BI
4 2 (0.30%) Oracle Database
4 2 (0.30%) SQL Server
4 2 (0.30%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 24 (3.63%) JIRA
2 19 (2.87%) Jenkins
3 13 (1.96%) GitLab
4 10 (1.51%) Git
5 4 (0.60%) Snyk
5 4 (0.60%) Sonatype Nexus
6 3 (0.45%) Browser DevTools
General
1 173 (26.13%) Social Skills
2 93 (14.05%) Finance
3 83 (12.54%) Analytical Skills
4 55 (8.31%) Public Sector
5 33 (4.98%) Banking
6 25 (3.78%) Documentation Skills
7 23 (3.47%) Telecoms
8 20 (3.02%) Financial Institution
9 8 (1.21%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 7 (1.06%) Legal
11 6 (0.91%) Presentation Skills
12 5 (0.76%) Influencing Skills
12 5 (0.76%) Investment Banking
12 5 (0.76%) Pharmaceutical
13 4 (0.60%) Local Government
13 4 (0.60%) Manufacturing
13 4 (0.60%) Military
13 4 (0.60%) Organisational Skills
14 3 (0.45%) Marketing
14 3 (0.45%) Police
Job Titles
1 146 (22.05%) Architect
1 146 (22.05%) Network Engineer
2 79 (11.93%) Security Engineer
3 73 (11.03%) Security Architect
4 55 (8.31%) Network Architect
5 50 (7.55%) Senior
6 36 (5.44%) Network Security Engineer
7 27 (4.08%) Analyst
8 25 (3.78%) Network Security Architect
9 21 (3.17%) Lead
10 19 (2.87%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 19 (2.87%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
11 18 (2.72%) Cloud Architect
11 18 (2.72%) Consultant
12 17 (2.57%) Azure Architect
12 17 (2.57%) Cloud Engineer
13 16 (2.42%) Administrator
13 16 (2.42%) Security Specialist
13 16 (2.42%) Solutions Architect
14 15 (2.27%) Security Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (3.17%) 802.1X
2 13 (1.96%) LDAP
3 8 (1.21%) Node.js
4 7 (1.06%) SAML
5 6 (0.91%) .NET
6 5 (0.76%) .NET Core
6 5 (0.76%) AngularJS
6 5 (0.76%) PyTorch
6 5 (0.76%) RabbitMQ
6 5 (0.76%) React
6 5 (0.76%) TensorFlow
7 4 (0.60%) ARM Templates
7 4 (0.60%) OAuth
7 4 (0.60%) OpenID
8 3 (0.45%) CSS
8 3 (0.45%) Elastic Stack
8 3 (0.45%) HTML
8 3 (0.45%) OAuth2
8 3 (0.45%) Plotly
8 3 (0.45%) REST
Miscellaneous
1 85 (12.84%) Data Centre
2 45 (6.80%) Hybrid Cloud
3 41 (6.19%) Security Posture
4 37 (5.59%) Cloud Native
5 25 (3.78%) PKI
6 23 (3.47%) Public Cloud
7 22 (3.32%) Management Information System
8 19 (2.87%) IoT
8 19 (2.87%) Onboarding
8 19 (2.87%) Operational Technology
9 18 (2.72%) Cyber Threat
9 18 (2.72%) Product Ownership
10 16 (2.42%) Security Operations Centre
11 15 (2.27%) Analytical Mindset
12 14 (2.11%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
13 13 (1.96%) Data Protection Act
14 11 (1.66%) Cyber Security Posture
15 10 (1.51%) Virtual Team
16 9 (1.36%) Clustering
17 8 (1.21%) CSOC
Operating Systems
1 75 (11.33%) Windows
2 62 (9.37%) Linux
3 26 (3.93%) Windows Server
4 10 (1.51%) Unix
5 9 (1.36%) VMS
6 7 (1.06%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 6 (0.91%) Ubuntu
8 4 (0.60%) Mac OS
9 3 (0.45%) SUSE
10 2 (0.30%) Windows 10
11 1 (0.15%) Android
11 1 (0.15%) Data ONTAP
Processes & Methodologies
1 149 (22.51%) Cybersecurity
2 103 (15.56%) Problem-Solving
3 101 (15.26%) Cloud Security
4 97 (14.65%) Zero Trust
5 94 (14.20%) Security Architecture
5 94 (14.20%) SIEM
6 87 (13.14%) DevOps
6 87 (13.14%) Migration
7 81 (12.24%) CI/CD
8 78 (11.78%) Infrastructure as Code
9 68 (10.27%) Continuous Improvement
10 67 (10.12%) Network Segmentation
11 66 (9.97%) Incident Response
12 65 (9.82%) Security Operations
13 64 (9.67%) Change Management
14 59 (8.91%) Threat Modelling
15 56 (8.46%) Load Balancing
16 55 (8.31%) Agile
17 54 (8.16%) Stakeholder Management
18 52 (7.85%) Identity Access Management
Programming Languages
1 90 (13.60%) Python
2 60 (9.06%) PowerShell
3 24 (3.63%) JavaScript
4 22 (3.32%) Bicep
4 22 (3.32%) SQL
5 21 (3.17%) Bash
6 14 (2.11%) Kusto Query Language
7 8 (1.21%) Shell Script
8 7 (1.06%) Go
8 7 (1.06%) Java
9 5 (0.76%) C#
10 4 (0.60%) C
10 4 (0.60%) PHP
11 3 (0.45%) C++
12 2 (0.30%) Ruby
13 1 (0.15%) ActionScript
13 1 (0.15%) C-shell
13 1 (0.15%) Korn
13 1 (0.15%) Perl
13 1 (0.15%) VBA
Qualifications
1 211 (31.87%) Security Cleared
2 144 (21.75%) SC Cleared
3 114 (17.22%) Cisco Certification
4 90 (13.60%) CCNP
5 82 (12.39%) CISSP
6 76 (11.48%) DV Cleared
7 44 (6.65%) CCNA
8 41 (6.19%) CISM
9 38 (5.74%) Degree
10 26 (3.93%) GIAC
11 25 (3.78%) Azure Certification
11 25 (3.78%) CCIE
12 22 (3.32%) CEH
13 19 (2.87%) CompTIA Security+
14 18 (2.72%) AWS Certification
15 15 (2.27%) CCSP
16 14 (2.11%) (ISC)2 CCSP
17 10 (1.51%) BPSS Clearance
17 10 (1.51%) JNCIS
18 9 (1.36%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 69 (10.42%) NIST
2 62 (9.37%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 42 (6.34%) GDPR
4 30 (4.53%) PCI DSS
5 17 (2.57%) Cyber Essentials
6 15 (2.27%) GRC
6 15 (2.27%) NCSC
7 12 (1.81%) SLA
8 9 (1.36%) SOC 2
9 8 (1.21%) Actionable Recommendations
9 8 (1.21%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
9 8 (1.21%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 6 (0.91%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 6 (0.91%) QA
11 5 (0.76%) PMO
12 4 (0.60%) JSP 440
12 4 (0.60%) RMADS
13 2 (0.30%) HIPAA
13 2 (0.30%) ISO/IEC 27005
13 2 (0.30%) PSD2
System Software
1 47 (7.10%) VMware Infrastructure
2 39 (5.89%) Active Directory
3 21 (3.17%) Docker
4 18 (2.72%) VMware NSX
5 12 (1.81%) Virtual Machines
6 10 (1.51%) Hyper-V
6 10 (1.51%) VMware ESXi
7 9 (1.36%) vSphere
8 7 (1.06%) Firmware
9 4 (0.60%) ProxySG
10 2 (0.30%) NFS
10 2 (0.30%) Postfix
10 2 (0.30%) Sendmail
10 2 (0.30%) Varnish
10 2 (0.30%) Virtual Desktop
11 1 (0.15%) KVM
11 1 (0.15%) RHEV
11 1 (0.15%) Xen
11 1 (0.15%) XenApp
11 1 (0.15%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 100 (15.11%) Terraform
2 59 (8.91%) Ansible
3 49 (7.40%) Kubernetes
4 26 (3.93%) FortiGate
5 14 (2.11%) Nagios
6 12 (1.81%) Kibana
6 12 (1.81%) Single Sign-On
7 11 (1.66%) Microsoft Intune
7 11 (1.66%) vCenter Server
8 9 (1.36%) Microsoft Clustering
9 8 (1.21%) Grafana
10 7 (1.06%) Prometheus
11 5 (0.76%) CASB
11 5 (0.76%) Progress Chef
12 4 (0.60%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 4 (0.60%) Puppet
13 3 (0.45%) Failover Clustering
13 3 (0.45%) Icinga
13 3 (0.45%) Istio
13 3 (0.45%) VxRail
Vendors
1 181 (27.34%) Cisco
2 113 (17.07%) Microsoft
3 103 (15.56%) Palo Alto
4 71 (10.73%) F5
5 60 (9.06%) VMware
6 50 (7.55%) Juniper
7 47 (7.10%) Fortinet
8 42 (6.34%) CheckPoint
9 37 (5.59%) Zscaler
10 31 (4.68%) Splunk
11 29 (4.38%) ServiceNow
12 28 (4.23%) Google
13 18 (2.72%) SolarWinds
14 16 (2.42%) Aruba
14 16 (2.42%) Tenable
15 15 (2.27%) ForeScout
15 15 (2.27%) Meraki
16 14 (2.11%) Databricks
16 14 (2.11%) Okta
17 12 (1.81%) SAP