NIST Contract Job Trends in London

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
England > London

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in London requiring NIST skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 29 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 166 163 207
Rank change year-on-year -3 +44 +12
Contract jobs citing NIST 289 199 206
As % of all contract jobs in London 1.57% 1.64% 1.18%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 8.61% 10.15% 8.35%
Number of daily rates quoted 195 134 163
10th Percentile £430 £470 £375
25th Percentile £500 £525 £513
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £600 £641 £660
Median % change year-on-year -6.32% -2.95% -3.12%
75th Percentile £738 £725 £775
90th Percentile £900 £838 £825
England median daily rate £600 £600 £625
% change year-on-year - -4.00% -3.85%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 2 0
Median hourly rate - £78.40 -
England median hourly rate £73.60 £52.50 £67.50
% change year-on-year +40.18% -22.22% +5.23%

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
London

NIST falls under the Quality Assurance and Compliance category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring quality assurance or compliance skills in London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 3,358 1,960 2,466
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in London 18.26% 16.17% 14.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,256 1,305 1,746
10th Percentile £350 £317 £350
25th Percentile £425 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £530 £550
Median % change year-on-year -1.89% -3.64% -4.35%
75th Percentile £627 £675 £688
90th Percentile £738 £775 £800
England median daily rate £500 £505 £525
% change year-on-year -0.99% -3.81% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 41 27 63
10th Percentile £19.19 £20.75 £12.90
25th Percentile £25.25 £22.51 £17.94
Median hourly rate £28.00 £34.50 £24.18
Median % change year-on-year -18.84% +42.68% -8.75%
75th Percentile £41.92 £47.00 £46.25
90th Percentile £72.50 £70.36 £56.75
England median hourly rate £33.98 £34.50 £23.00
% change year-on-year -1.51% +50.00% -41.92%

NIST
Job Vacancy Trend in London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing NIST relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in London.

NIST job vacancy trend in London

NIST
Daily Rate Trend in London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in London citing NIST.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in London citing NIST

NIST
Daily Rate Histogram in London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing NIST in London over the 6 months to 29 May 2026.

Daily rate histogram for NIST in London

NIST
Hourly Rate Trend in London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in London citing NIST.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in London citing NIST

NIST
Contract Job Locations in London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing NIST within the London region over the 6 months to 29 May 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
Central London +10 49 £625 -3.85% 23
East London -10 4 £450 -23.08% 2
South London -15 2 £744 +35.18% 3
West London -28 2 £488 - 2
North London -2 1 £650 +48.57% 1
NIST
England

NIST
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in London 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 5 (1.73%) SharePoint
2 3 (1.04%) Confluence
2 3 (1.04%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.35%) nginx
3 1 (0.35%) OpenStack
Applications
1 4 (1.38%) Microsoft Excel
2 3 (1.04%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 1 (0.35%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (0.35%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 1 (0.35%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 111 (38.41%) Azure
2 93 (32.18%) AWS
3 43 (14.88%) GCP
4 32 (11.07%) Entra ID
5 17 (5.88%) AWS CloudFormation
6 16 (5.54%) Azure Sentinel
6 16 (5.54%) SaaS
7 13 (4.50%) GitHub
7 13 (4.50%) OpenShift
7 13 (4.50%) Serverless
8 11 (3.81%) Amazon ECS
9 9 (3.11%) Microsoft 365
9 9 (3.11%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 8 (2.77%) Amazon EKS
10 8 (2.77%) AWS Lambda
10 8 (2.77%) Azure DevOps
10 8 (2.77%) Datadog
10 8 (2.77%) Microsoft Purview
11 7 (2.42%) Amazon CloudWatch
11 7 (2.42%) Amazon MSK
Communications & Networking
1 21 (7.27%) Network Security
2 17 (5.88%) Firewall
3 14 (4.84%) DNS
4 6 (2.08%) Kerberos
4 6 (2.08%) VPN
5 5 (1.73%) NGFW
6 4 (1.38%) SD-WAN
6 4 (1.38%) TCP/IP
6 4 (1.38%) WAN
7 3 (1.04%) Cisco IPT
7 3 (1.04%) DHCP
7 3 (1.04%) HTTP
7 3 (1.04%) Internet
7 3 (1.04%) Intrusion Detection
7 3 (1.04%) SSL
7 3 (1.04%) Wi-Fi
7 3 (1.04%) X.509
8 2 (0.69%) IPsec
8 2 (0.69%) SSH
8 2 (0.69%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (2.77%) Amazon RDS
2 4 (1.38%) Amazon Aurora
2 4 (1.38%) Big Data
2 4 (1.38%) Data Lake
2 4 (1.38%) DocumentDB
2 4 (1.38%) DynamoDB
2 4 (1.38%) MySQL
2 4 (1.38%) NoSQL
2 4 (1.38%) PostgreSQL
2 4 (1.38%) Redis
3 3 (1.04%) Amazon Athena
3 3 (1.04%) Amazon Redshift
3 3 (1.04%) Star Schema
4 2 (0.69%) Azure SQL Database
5 1 (0.35%) Data Hub
5 1 (0.35%) EDRMS
5 1 (0.35%) Metadata
5 1 (0.35%) Oracle Database
5 1 (0.35%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 17 (5.88%) Jenkins
2 10 (3.46%) JIRA
3 5 (1.73%) GitLab
4 4 (1.38%) Git
4 4 (1.38%) Snyk
5 3 (1.04%) JMeter
6 2 (0.69%) Claude Code
7 1 (0.35%) MLflow
7 1 (0.35%) Postman
General
1 97 (33.56%) Social Skills
2 93 (32.18%) Finance
3 49 (16.96%) Analytical Skills
4 25 (8.65%) Documentation Skills
5 23 (7.96%) Banking
6 20 (6.92%) Influencing Skills
7 17 (5.88%) Legal
8 15 (5.19%) Financial Institution
9 13 (4.50%) Public Sector
10 8 (2.77%) Presentation Skills
11 5 (1.73%) Law
12 4 (1.38%) Retail
12 4 (1.38%) Telecoms
13 3 (1.04%) Organisational Skills
14 2 (0.69%) Investment Banking
14 2 (0.69%) Pharmaceutical
15 1 (0.35%) Back Office
15 1 (0.35%) Local Government
15 1 (0.35%) Military
Job Titles
1 72 (24.91%) Architect
2 34 (11.76%) Analyst
3 31 (10.73%) Security Architect
4 25 (8.65%) Consultant
4 25 (8.65%) Security Engineer
5 22 (7.61%) CyberArk Architect
6 21 (7.27%) Senior
7 20 (6.92%) Project Manager
8 19 (6.57%) Lead
9 18 (6.23%) Security Consultant
10 16 (5.54%) Security Manager
11 15 (5.19%) Security Specialist
12 12 (4.15%) Business Analyst
12 12 (4.15%) Cloud Architect
12 12 (4.15%) Security Analyst
13 10 (3.46%) Cloud Engineer
13 10 (3.46%) Cybersecurity Architect
13 10 (3.46%) Cybersecurity Consultant
13 10 (3.46%) Migration Manager
13 10 (3.46%) Migration Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (6.92%) SAML
2 19 (6.57%) OpenID
3 16 (5.54%) LDAP
4 11 (3.81%) SailPoint
5 9 (3.11%) Kafka
5 9 (3.11%) OAuth
6 7 (2.42%) REST
7 6 (2.08%) RESTful
8 5 (1.73%) OAuth2
8 5 (1.73%) OpenTelemetry
9 4 (1.38%) .NET
9 4 (1.38%) gRPC
9 4 (1.38%) Hibernate
9 4 (1.38%) JPA
9 4 (1.38%) JSON
9 4 (1.38%) Spring
9 4 (1.38%) Spring Boot
9 4 (1.38%) Spring Cloud
10 3 (1.04%) SPIFFE
11 2 (0.69%) Azure Blueprints
Miscellaneous
1 39 (13.49%) Onboarding
2 36 (12.46%) Cloud Native
3 24 (8.30%) Security Posture
4 19 (6.57%) Management Information System
5 17 (5.88%) Hybrid Cloud
6 12 (4.15%) Operational Technology
7 11 (3.81%) CMDB
8 7 (2.42%) AI Agents
9 6 (2.08%) Data Centre
9 6 (2.08%) Distributed Systems
10 5 (1.73%) Cloud Security Posture
11 4 (1.38%) BYOD
11 4 (1.38%) Data Protection Act
11 4 (1.38%) Legacy Applications
11 4 (1.38%) PKI
11 4 (1.38%) SCADA
11 4 (1.38%) Self-Motivation
11 4 (1.38%) Taxonomies
12 3 (1.04%) Mainframe
12 3 (1.04%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 17 (5.88%) Windows
2 14 (4.84%) Linux
3 6 (2.08%) Windows Server
4 4 (1.38%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 3 (1.04%) Unix
6 2 (0.69%) Alpine Linux
6 2 (0.69%) Ubuntu
7 1 (0.35%) Android
7 1 (0.35%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.35%) Mac OS
Processes & Methodologies
1 145 (50.17%) Cybersecurity
2 73 (25.26%) Stakeholder Management
3 64 (22.15%) Security Architecture
4 62 (21.45%) CI/CD
4 62 (21.45%) Risk Management
5 60 (20.76%) Cloud Security
5 60 (20.76%) Information Security
6 54 (18.69%) DevOps
7 53 (18.34%) SIEM
8 49 (16.96%) Threat Modelling
9 48 (16.61%) AI
10 47 (16.26%) Incident Response
11 46 (15.92%) Continuous Improvement
12 45 (15.57%) Infrastructure as Code
13 44 (15.22%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 43 (14.88%) Data Protection
15 41 (14.19%) Vulnerability Management
16 38 (13.15%) Agile
16 38 (13.15%) Identity Access Management
16 38 (13.15%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 33 (11.42%) Python
2 25 (8.65%) PowerShell
3 15 (5.19%) SQL
4 14 (4.84%) Java
5 11 (3.81%) Bash
6 4 (1.38%) Kusto Query Language
7 3 (1.04%) Bicep
8 2 (0.69%) Go
9 1 (0.35%) JavaScript
9 1 (0.35%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 83 (28.72%) CISSP
2 64 (22.15%) Security Cleared
3 52 (17.99%) SC Cleared
4 44 (15.22%) CISM
5 38 (13.15%) Degree
6 24 (8.30%) Cisco Certification
7 23 (7.96%) (ISC)2 CCSP
8 22 (7.61%) CompTIA Security+
8 22 (7.61%) CRISC
9 19 (6.57%) CISA
10 18 (6.23%) CEH
11 17 (5.88%) GIAC
12 16 (5.54%) PMI Certification
12 16 (5.54%) PMP
13 13 (4.50%) AWS Certification
13 13 (4.50%) CCSP
14 11 (3.81%) Computer Science Degree
15 10 (3.46%) Azure Certification
16 9 (3.11%) Master's Degree
17 8 (2.77%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 182 (62.98%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 60 (20.76%) GDPR
3 41 (14.19%) GRC
4 39 (13.49%) NCSC
5 38 (13.15%) COBIT
6 36 (12.46%) PCI DSS
7 28 (9.69%) NIST 800
8 15 (5.19%) SOC 2
9 14 (4.84%) Cyber Essentials
10 13 (4.50%) ITGC
11 11 (3.81%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 10 (3.46%) QA
13 7 (2.42%) EU AI Act
14 6 (2.08%) ISO/IEC 27005
14 6 (2.08%) SLA
15 5 (1.73%) HMG Security Policy Framework
16 4 (1.38%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
16 4 (1.38%) ISO 22301
16 4 (1.38%) ISO/IEC 42001
17 3 (1.04%) RMADS
System Software
1 25 (8.65%) Active Directory
2 13 (4.50%) Docker
3 2 (0.69%) Hyper-V
3 2 (0.69%) OpenSSH
3 2 (0.69%) VMware Infrastructure
4 1 (0.35%) Varnish
4 1 (0.35%) Virtual Machines
4 1 (0.35%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 35 (12.11%) Kubernetes
2 26 (9.00%) Terraform
3 8 (2.77%) Ansible
3 8 (2.77%) Single Sign-On
4 5 (1.73%) Microsoft Intune
5 3 (1.04%) Nessus
6 2 (0.69%) CASB
6 2 (0.69%) Grafana
6 2 (0.69%) Nexpose
6 2 (0.69%) Prometheus
6 2 (0.69%) Puppet
7 1 (0.35%) Network Intrusion Detection System
7 1 (0.35%) SELinux
7 1 (0.35%) VxRail
Vendors
1 49 (16.96%) Microsoft
2 41 (14.19%) CyberArk
3 34 (11.76%) Splunk
4 18 (6.23%) ServiceNow
5 13 (4.50%) Google
5 13 (4.50%) Tenable
6 10 (3.46%) Qualys
7 8 (2.77%) CrowdStrike
7 8 (2.77%) Rapid7
8 7 (2.42%) Palo Alto
9 5 (1.73%) Cisco
9 5 (1.73%) VMware
9 5 (1.73%) Zscaler
10 4 (1.38%) Fortinet
11 3 (1.04%) Commvault
11 3 (1.04%) Forcepoint
11 3 (1.04%) ForgeRock
11 3 (1.04%) Okta
11 3 (1.04%) Workday
12 2 (0.69%) TOWER Software