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

6 months to
1 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 181 165 227
Rank change year-on-year -16 +62 -9
Contract jobs citing NIST 328 225 172
As % of all contract jobs in London 1.63% 1.68% 1.06%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 8.60% 9.84% 7.71%
Number of daily rates quoted 220 157 134
10th Percentile £430 £419 £475
25th Percentile £500 £506 £550
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £589 £585 £650
Median % change year-on-year +0.64% -10.00% -3.70%
75th Percentile £701 £700 £775
90th Percentile £791 £818 £780
England median daily rate £575 £590 £650
% change year-on-year -2.54% -9.23% -

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 3,814 2,287 2,232
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in London 19.00% 17.09% 13.74%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,569 1,524 1,467
10th Percentile £350 £325 £338
25th Percentile £426 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% -4.35%
75th Percentile £638 £650 £688
90th Percentile £738 £756 £800
England median daily rate £510 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +2.00% -4.76% -2.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 45 51 40
10th Percentile £19.76 - £18.13
25th Percentile £23.50 £25.15 £23.35
Median hourly rate £28.55 £34.00 £27.92
Median % change year-on-year -16.03% +21.78% +1.53%
75th Percentile £40.00 £43.98 £50.44
90th Percentile £58.25 £55.00 £72.56
England median hourly rate £36.07 £31.64 £27.50
% change year-on-year +14.00% +15.05% -21.43%

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 1 September 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 1 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
Central London -6 47 £575 -6.20% 34
West London -16 4 £431 +1.47% 15
East London -1 3 £750 +33.33% 1
South London -15 3 £744 +35.18% 3
North London - 1 £650 -
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 7 (2.13%) SharePoint
2 5 (1.52%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (0.91%) Confluence
4 1 (0.30%) OpenStack
4 1 (0.30%) Red Hat Fuse
Applications
1 7 (2.13%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (1.22%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 2 (0.61%) Microsoft Project
4 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 147 (44.82%) Azure
2 108 (32.93%) AWS
3 65 (19.82%) Entra ID
4 53 (16.16%) GCP
5 22 (6.71%) Azure Sentinel
6 19 (5.79%) Azure DevOps
6 19 (5.79%) SaaS
7 18 (5.49%) Microsoft 365
8 15 (4.57%) OCI
9 13 (3.96%) GitHub
10 12 (3.66%) Microsoft Purview
11 9 (2.74%) AWS Control Tower
11 9 (2.74%) Azure Key Vault
12 8 (2.44%) Datadog
12 8 (2.44%) GitHub Actions
13 7 (2.13%) Azure Monitor
14 6 (1.83%) Amazon S3
14 6 (1.83%) AWS KMS
14 6 (1.83%) Serverless
15 5 (1.52%) Amazon EC2
Communications & Networking
1 24 (7.32%) Network Security
2 17 (5.18%) Firewall
3 13 (3.96%) DNS
4 10 (3.05%) VPN
5 8 (2.44%) X.509
6 7 (2.13%) IPsec
7 6 (1.83%) TCP/IP
8 5 (1.52%) Kerberos
8 5 (1.52%) NGFW
9 4 (1.22%) DHCP
9 4 (1.22%) HTTP
9 4 (1.22%) Modbus
9 4 (1.22%) SSH
9 4 (1.22%) SSL
10 3 (0.91%) Internet
10 3 (0.91%) Wireless
11 2 (0.61%) IPv4
11 2 (0.61%) IPv6
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 (1.22%) Big Data
3 3 (0.91%) Azure SQL Database
3 3 (0.91%) Power BI
4 1 (0.30%) Data Hub
4 1 (0.30%) Data Lake
4 1 (0.30%) Metadata
4 1 (0.30%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 9 (2.74%) JIRA
2 8 (2.44%) GitLab
3 7 (2.13%) Jenkins
4 6 (1.83%) Snyk
5 4 (1.22%) Burp Suite
5 4 (1.22%) Git
5 4 (1.22%) 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 (32.01%) Social Skills
2 88 (26.83%) Finance
3 42 (12.80%) Analytical Skills
4 28 (8.54%) Public Sector
5 25 (7.62%) Banking
6 23 (7.01%) Legal
7 15 (4.57%) Documentation Skills
8 11 (3.35%) Influencing Skills
9 8 (2.44%) Manufacturing
10 6 (1.83%) Financial Institution
11 4 (1.22%) Law
11 4 (1.22%) Presentation Skills
12 3 (0.91%) Investment Banking
12 3 (0.91%) Local Government
12 3 (0.91%) Organisational Skills
12 3 (0.91%) Retail
12 3 (0.91%) Telecoms
13 2 (0.61%) German Language
13 2 (0.61%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 2 (0.61%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 91 (27.74%) Architect
2 55 (16.77%) Analyst
3 50 (15.24%) Security Architect
4 38 (11.59%) Consultant
5 28 (8.54%) Senior
6 27 (8.23%) Lead
7 25 (7.62%) Security Analyst
8 22 (6.71%) Security Consultant
9 20 (6.10%) Security Engineer
10 19 (5.79%) Business Analyst
11 15 (4.57%) Cybersecurity Consultant
11 15 (4.57%) Security Manager
12 13 (3.96%) Cybersecurity Analyst
12 13 (3.96%) Solutions Architect
13 12 (3.66%) Project Manager
14 11 (3.35%) Senior Architect
15 9 (2.74%) CyberArk Architect
15 9 (2.74%) Cybersecurity Architect
16 8 (2.44%) Artificial Intelligence Architect
16 8 (2.44%) Cloud Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (8.84%) Terraform
2 18 (5.49%) SailPoint
3 13 (3.96%) OAuth
4 10 (3.05%) REST
4 10 (3.05%) SAML
5 8 (2.44%) JSON
5 8 (2.44%) LDAP
6 6 (1.83%) SOAP
7 4 (1.22%) JDBC
7 4 (1.22%) OpenID
7 4 (1.22%) YAML
8 3 (0.91%) Playwright
8 3 (0.91%) SLSA
8 3 (0.91%) SPIFFE
9 2 (0.61%) Azure Blueprints
9 2 (0.61%) Elastic Stack
9 2 (0.61%) Kafka
9 2 (0.61%) Middleware
9 2 (0.61%) OAuth2
9 2 (0.61%) pytest
Miscellaneous
1 33 (10.06%) Cloud Native
2 31 (9.45%) Onboarding
3 27 (8.23%) Security Posture
4 22 (6.71%) Operational Technology
5 15 (4.57%) Hybrid Cloud
6 12 (3.66%) Management Information System
7 11 (3.35%) AI Agents
7 11 (3.35%) CMDB
8 10 (3.05%) PKI
9 9 (2.74%) Cyber Threat
9 9 (2.74%) SCADA
10 6 (1.83%) Data Centre
10 6 (1.83%) Enterprise Software
11 5 (1.52%) Cloud Security Posture
11 5 (1.52%) Self-Motivation
12 4 (1.22%) Algorithms
12 4 (1.22%) Data Protection Act
12 4 (1.22%) Legacy Systems
13 3 (0.91%) IoT
13 3 (0.91%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 21 (6.40%) Windows
2 17 (5.18%) Linux
3 8 (2.44%) Windows Server
4 6 (1.83%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 4 (1.22%) 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
1 181 (55.18%) Cybersecurity
2 80 (24.39%) Security Architecture
3 74 (22.56%) Stakeholder Management
4 72 (21.95%) Risk Management
5 64 (19.51%) Cloud Security
6 63 (19.21%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 59 (17.99%) Roadmaps
8 56 (17.07%) Identity Access Management
9 51 (15.55%) AI
9 51 (15.55%) Incident Response
10 50 (15.24%) Threat Modelling
11 49 (14.94%) CI/CD
12 48 (14.63%) Vulnerability Management
13 47 (14.33%) Information Security
14 44 (13.41%) Zero Trust
15 42 (12.80%) DevOps
15 42 (12.80%) SIEM
16 41 (12.50%) Continuous Improvement
17 36 (10.98%) SABSA
17 36 (10.98%) TOGAF
Programming Languages
1 42 (12.80%) Python
2 40 (12.20%) PowerShell
3 17 (5.18%) SQL
4 12 (3.66%) Bash
5 8 (2.44%) Java
6 7 (2.13%) Bicep
6 7 (2.13%) Kusto Query Language
7 4 (1.22%) 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 (29.57%) CISSP
2 72 (21.95%) Security Cleared
3 55 (16.77%) SC Cleared
4 54 (16.46%) CISM
5 30 (9.15%) Degree
6 23 (7.01%) Cisco Certification
7 22 (6.71%) CRISC
8 21 (6.40%) Azure Certification
9 20 (6.10%) GIAC
10 19 (5.79%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 18 (5.49%) CompTIA Security+
12 17 (5.18%) CISA
13 16 (4.88%) AWS Certification
13 16 (4.88%) CEH
14 15 (4.57%) DV Cleared
15 11 (3.35%) PMI Certification
15 11 (3.35%) PMP
16 10 (3.05%) FFIEC
17 8 (2.44%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
17 8 (2.44%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 201 (61.28%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 52 (15.85%) GDPR
3 44 (13.41%) GRC
4 37 (11.28%) NCSC
5 35 (10.67%) COBIT
6 27 (8.23%) NIST 800
7 19 (5.79%) Cyber Essentials
7 19 (5.79%) PCI DSS
7 19 (5.79%) SOC 2
8 17 (5.18%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 13 (3.96%) ISO/IEC 42001
9 13 (3.96%) QA
10 12 (3.66%) EU AI Act
11 11 (3.35%) ITGC
12 8 (2.44%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 6 (1.83%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
13 6 (1.83%) SLA
14 5 (1.52%) PMO
15 4 (1.22%) HIPAA
15 4 (1.22%) HMG Security Policy Framework
System Software
1 43 (13.11%) Active Directory
2 17 (5.18%) Docker
3 3 (0.91%) Hyper-V
3 3 (0.91%) VMware Infrastructure
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 (6.71%) Kubernetes
2 12 (3.66%) Single Sign-On
3 10 (3.05%) Ansible
3 10 (3.05%) Microsoft Intune
4 3 (0.91%) Nessus
5 2 (0.61%) Argo
5 2 (0.61%) Docker Swarm
5 2 (0.61%) Grafana
5 2 (0.61%) HP Fortify
5 2 (0.61%) Nexpose
5 2 (0.61%) Prometheus
5 2 (0.61%) Puppet
5 2 (0.61%) SCCM
6 1 (0.30%) CASB
6 1 (0.30%) QRadar
Vendors
1 73 (22.26%) Microsoft
2 29 (8.84%) CyberArk
3 22 (6.71%) ServiceNow
3 22 (6.71%) Splunk
4 17 (5.18%) CrowdStrike
5 15 (4.57%) Google
6 14 (4.27%) Tenable
7 12 (3.66%) Qualys
8 10 (3.05%) Okta
9 9 (2.74%) Palo Alto
10 7 (2.13%) Rapid7
11 6 (1.83%) ForgeRock
11 6 (1.83%) Zscaler
12 5 (1.52%) Cisco
13 4 (1.22%) OpenAI
13 4 (1.22%) Salesforce
13 4 (1.22%) SAP
13 4 (1.22%) Veracode
13 4 (1.22%) VMware
14 3 (0.91%) Workday