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

6 months to
28 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 177 160 221
Rank change year-on-year -17 +61 -10
Contract jobs citing NIST 330 219 172
As % of all contract jobs in London 1.64% 1.64% 1.06%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 8.66% 9.56% 7.77%
Number of daily rates quoted 224 152 136
10th Percentile £435 £422 £475
25th Percentile £500 £512 £536
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £586 £588 £650
Median % change year-on-year -0.21% -9.62% -3.70%
75th Percentile £700 £700 £775
90th Percentile £790 £824 £780
England median daily rate £575 £595 £650
% change year-on-year -3.28% -8.54% -

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 3,809 2,291 2,215
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in London 18.90% 17.14% 13.64%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,567 1,532 1,470
10th Percentile £350 £325 £338
25th Percentile £425 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% -4.35%
75th Percentile £638 £650 £675
90th Percentile £738 £762 £794
England median daily rate £510 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +2.00% -4.76% -2.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 47 49 41
10th Percentile £20.13 - £18.13
25th Percentile £23.16 £25.15 £22.00
Median hourly rate £28.55 £34.00 £27.84
Median % change year-on-year -16.03% +22.13% +1.24%
75th Percentile £40.00 £43.21 £50.00
90th Percentile £58.00 £54.00 £71.88
England median hourly rate £36.07 £31.64 £26.16
% change year-on-year +14.00% +20.94% -26.82%

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 28 August 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 28 August 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 -9 47 £575 -6.20% 31
West London -18 4 £431 +11.29% 15
East London 0 3 £750 +33.33% 1
South London -11 3 £744 +35.18% 3
North London - 1 £650 - 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 6 (1.82%) SharePoint
2 5 (1.52%) Microsoft Exchange
3 4 (1.21%) Confluence
4 1 (0.30%) OpenStack
4 1 (0.30%) Red Hat Fuse
Applications
1 7 (2.12%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (1.21%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 2 (0.61%) Microsoft Project
4 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 143 (43.33%) Azure
2 107 (32.42%) AWS
3 61 (18.48%) Entra ID
4 53 (16.06%) GCP
5 22 (6.67%) Azure Sentinel
6 19 (5.76%) SaaS
7 18 (5.45%) Azure DevOps
8 17 (5.15%) Microsoft 365
9 14 (4.24%) OCI
10 11 (3.33%) GitHub
10 11 (3.33%) Microsoft Purview
11 9 (2.73%) AWS Control Tower
12 8 (2.42%) Azure Key Vault
12 8 (2.42%) Datadog
13 6 (1.82%) Amazon S3
13 6 (1.82%) AWS KMS
13 6 (1.82%) Azure Monitor
13 6 (1.82%) GitHub Actions
13 6 (1.82%) Serverless
14 5 (1.52%) Azure Logic Apps
Communications & Networking
1 27 (8.18%) Network Security
2 17 (5.15%) Firewall
3 12 (3.64%) DNS
4 10 (3.03%) VPN
5 8 (2.42%) X.509
6 7 (2.12%) IPsec
6 7 (2.12%) TCP/IP
7 6 (1.82%) Kerberos
7 6 (1.82%) NGFW
8 5 (1.52%) HTTP
8 5 (1.52%) SSL
9 4 (1.21%) SSH
10 3 (0.91%) Cisco IPT
10 3 (0.91%) DHCP
10 3 (0.91%) Internet
10 3 (0.91%) Modbus
11 2 (0.61%) 4G
11 2 (0.61%) IPv4
11 2 (0.61%) S/MIME
11 2 (0.61%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (1.52%) Amazon RDS
1 5 (1.52%) DynamoDB
2 4 (1.21%) Big Data
3 3 (0.91%) Azure SQL Database
4 2 (0.61%) Power BI
5 1 (0.30%) Data Hub
5 1 (0.30%) Metadata
5 1 (0.30%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 10 (3.03%) JIRA
2 8 (2.42%) GitLab
3 7 (2.12%) Jenkins
4 6 (1.82%) Snyk
5 4 (1.21%) Burp Suite
5 4 (1.21%) Git
5 4 (1.21%) SonarQube
6 2 (0.61%) Claude Code
6 2 (0.61%) MSI
6 2 (0.61%) Robot Framework
6 2 (0.61%) Selenium
6 2 (0.61%) TestRail
7 1 (0.30%) Postman
General
1 105 (31.82%) Social Skills
2 90 (27.27%) Finance
3 43 (13.03%) Analytical Skills
4 28 (8.48%) Public Sector
5 25 (7.58%) Banking
6 23 (6.97%) Legal
7 16 (4.85%) Documentation Skills
8 11 (3.33%) Influencing Skills
9 7 (2.12%) Manufacturing
10 6 (1.82%) Financial Institution
11 5 (1.52%) Law
12 4 (1.21%) Presentation Skills
13 3 (0.91%) Investment Banking
13 3 (0.91%) Local Government
13 3 (0.91%) Organisational Skills
13 3 (0.91%) Retail
13 3 (0.91%) Telecoms
14 2 (0.61%) German Language
14 2 (0.61%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 2 (0.61%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 89 (26.97%) Architect
2 56 (16.97%) Analyst
3 50 (15.15%) Security Architect
4 39 (11.82%) Consultant
5 28 (8.48%) Senior
6 27 (8.18%) Lead
7 25 (7.58%) Security Analyst
8 23 (6.97%) Security Consultant
9 21 (6.36%) Business Analyst
10 20 (6.06%) Security Engineer
11 16 (4.85%) Cybersecurity Consultant
12 15 (4.55%) Security Manager
13 13 (3.94%) Cybersecurity Analyst
13 13 (3.94%) Solutions Architect
14 12 (3.64%) Project Manager
15 11 (3.33%) Senior Architect
16 9 (2.73%) CyberArk Architect
16 9 (2.73%) Cybersecurity Architect
17 8 (2.42%) Artificial Intelligence Architect
17 8 (2.42%) Cloud Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (8.18%) Terraform
2 16 (4.85%) SailPoint
3 13 (3.94%) OAuth
4 11 (3.33%) SAML
5 9 (2.73%) REST
6 8 (2.42%) JSON
7 7 (2.12%) LDAP
8 5 (1.52%) SOAP
9 4 (1.21%) OpenID
9 4 (1.21%) YAML
10 3 (0.91%) JDBC
10 3 (0.91%) Playwright
10 3 (0.91%) SLSA
10 3 (0.91%) SPIFFE
11 2 (0.61%) Azure Blueprints
11 2 (0.61%) Elastic Stack
11 2 (0.61%) Kafka
11 2 (0.61%) Middleware
11 2 (0.61%) pytest
11 2 (0.61%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 33 (10.00%) Cloud Native
2 29 (8.79%) Onboarding
3 27 (8.18%) Security Posture
4 21 (6.36%) Operational Technology
5 14 (4.24%) Hybrid Cloud
6 12 (3.64%) Management Information System
7 11 (3.33%) AI Agents
7 11 (3.33%) CMDB
8 9 (2.73%) Cyber Threat
8 9 (2.73%) PKI
8 9 (2.73%) SCADA
9 5 (1.52%) Cloud Security Posture
9 5 (1.52%) Data Centre
9 5 (1.52%) Enterprise Software
9 5 (1.52%) Self-Motivation
10 4 (1.21%) Algorithms
10 4 (1.21%) Data Protection Act
10 4 (1.21%) Legacy Systems
11 3 (0.91%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
11 3 (0.91%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 20 (6.06%) Windows
2 18 (5.45%) Linux
3 7 (2.12%) Windows Server
4 6 (1.82%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 4 (1.21%) Unix
6 3 (0.91%) Ubuntu
7 2 (0.61%) Alpine Linux
8 1 (0.30%) Android
8 1 (0.30%) Apple iOS
8 1 (0.30%) CentOS
8 1 (0.30%) Mac OS
Processes & Methodologies
1 184 (55.76%) Cybersecurity
2 81 (24.55%) Security Architecture
3 73 (22.12%) Stakeholder Management
4 71 (21.52%) Risk Management
5 66 (20.00%) Cloud Security
6 64 (19.39%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 59 (17.88%) Roadmaps
8 56 (16.97%) Identity Access Management
9 52 (15.76%) Threat Modelling
10 51 (15.45%) AI
10 51 (15.45%) Incident Response
11 48 (14.55%) CI/CD
11 48 (14.55%) Vulnerability Management
12 47 (14.24%) Information Security
13 45 (13.64%) Zero Trust
14 44 (13.33%) SIEM
15 42 (12.73%) Continuous Improvement
16 41 (12.42%) DevOps
17 35 (10.61%) Data Protection
17 35 (10.61%) SABSA
Programming Languages
1 41 (12.42%) Python
2 37 (11.21%) PowerShell
3 17 (5.15%) SQL
4 11 (3.33%) Bash
5 7 (2.12%) Java
6 6 (1.82%) Bicep
6 6 (1.82%) Kusto Query Language
7 3 (0.91%) BeanShell
8 2 (0.61%) C#
8 2 (0.61%) Go
8 2 (0.61%) Objective-C
9 1 (0.30%) C
9 1 (0.30%) JavaScript
9 1 (0.30%) Korn
Qualifications
1 97 (29.39%) CISSP
2 73 (22.12%) Security Cleared
3 55 (16.67%) SC Cleared
4 54 (16.36%) CISM
5 31 (9.39%) Degree
6 23 (6.97%) Cisco Certification
7 21 (6.36%) CRISC
8 20 (6.06%) (ISC)2 CCSP
8 20 (6.06%) Azure Certification
8 20 (6.06%) GIAC
9 18 (5.45%) CompTIA Security+
10 17 (5.15%) CEH
11 16 (4.85%) AWS Certification
11 16 (4.85%) CISA
11 16 (4.85%) DV Cleared
12 11 (3.33%) PMI Certification
12 11 (3.33%) PMP
13 10 (3.03%) FFIEC
14 9 (2.73%) CCSP
15 8 (2.42%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 200 (60.61%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 52 (15.76%) GDPR
3 43 (13.03%) GRC
4 37 (11.21%) COBIT
4 37 (11.21%) NCSC
5 27 (8.18%) NIST 800
6 21 (6.36%) PCI DSS
7 17 (5.15%) Cyber Essentials
7 17 (5.15%) SOC 2
8 15 (4.55%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 13 (3.94%) ISO/IEC 42001
9 13 (3.94%) QA
10 12 (3.64%) EU AI Act
10 12 (3.64%) ITGC
11 8 (2.42%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 8 (2.42%) SLA
12 7 (2.12%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
13 5 (1.52%) PMO
14 4 (1.21%) HIPAA
14 4 (1.21%) HMG Security Policy Framework
System Software
1 41 (12.42%) Active Directory
2 16 (4.85%) Docker
3 3 (0.91%) VMware Infrastructure
4 2 (0.61%) Hyper-V
4 2 (0.61%) OpenSSH
4 2 (0.61%) Virtual Machines
5 1 (0.30%) Firmware
5 1 (0.30%) Varnish
Systems Management
1 22 (6.67%) Kubernetes
2 12 (3.64%) Single Sign-On
3 10 (3.03%) Ansible
4 9 (2.73%) Microsoft Intune
5 3 (0.91%) Nessus
6 2 (0.61%) Argo
6 2 (0.61%) CASB
6 2 (0.61%) Docker Swarm
6 2 (0.61%) Grafana
6 2 (0.61%) HP Fortify
6 2 (0.61%) Nexpose
6 2 (0.61%) Prometheus
6 2 (0.61%) Puppet
6 2 (0.61%) SCCM
7 1 (0.30%) QRadar
Vendors
1 72 (21.82%) Microsoft
2 27 (8.18%) CyberArk
3 24 (7.27%) ServiceNow
3 24 (7.27%) Splunk
4 17 (5.15%) CrowdStrike
5 15 (4.55%) Google
6 14 (4.24%) Tenable
7 12 (3.64%) Qualys
8 9 (2.73%) Okta
8 9 (2.73%) Palo Alto
9 8 (2.42%) Zscaler
10 7 (2.12%) Rapid7
11 6 (1.82%) Cisco
12 5 (1.52%) ForgeRock
13 4 (1.21%) Veracode
14 3 (0.91%) BeyondTrust
14 3 (0.91%) Commvault
14 3 (0.91%) OpenAI
14 3 (0.91%) Salesforce
14 3 (0.91%) Workday