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

6 months to
18 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 181 165 213
Rank change year-on-year -16 +48 +1
Contract jobs citing NIST 329 229 174
As % of all contract jobs in London 1.63% 1.70% 1.07%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 8.43% 9.82% 7.80%
Number of daily rates quoted 230 148 129
10th Percentile £447 £416 £475
25th Percentile £500 £500 £525
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £580 £585 £650
Median % change year-on-year -0.85% -10.00% -3.70%
75th Percentile £675 £688 £775
90th Percentile £790 £775 £780
England median daily rate £570 £575 £638
% change year-on-year -0.87% -9.80% -1.92%

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 3,904 2,332 2,232
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in London 19.33% 17.32% 13.69%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,650 1,552 1,437
10th Percentile £350 £325 £333
25th Percentile £430 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% -2.22%
75th Percentile £638 £650 £688
90th Percentile £725 £750 £800
England median daily rate £513 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +2.50% -4.76% -2.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 47 49 42
10th Percentile £15.82 - £18.13
25th Percentile £21.33 £25.15 £23.80
Median hourly rate £28.00 £34.00 £29.81
Median % change year-on-year -17.65% +14.06% +14.65%
75th Percentile £40.00 £42.75 £49.69
90th Percentile £56.20 £54.35 £71.88
England median hourly rate £33.00 £32.50 £31.62
% change year-on-year +1.54% +2.78% -15.68%

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 18 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 18 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 -9 46 £570 -2.56% 53
West London -20 4 £431 +1.47% 11
East London +1 3 £750 +33.33% 6
South London -7 3 £495 -23.85% 2
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 6 (1.82%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (1.22%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 2 (0.61%) Microsoft Project
4 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 141 (42.86%) Azure
2 102 (31.00%) AWS
3 69 (20.97%) Entra ID
4 47 (14.29%) GCP
5 23 (6.99%) Azure Sentinel
6 21 (6.38%) Microsoft 365
7 19 (5.78%) Azure DevOps
7 19 (5.78%) SaaS
8 16 (4.86%) OCI
9 14 (4.26%) Microsoft Purview
10 13 (3.95%) GitHub
11 10 (3.04%) AWS Control Tower
11 10 (3.04%) Azure Key Vault
12 8 (2.43%) GitHub Actions
13 7 (2.13%) Amazon S3
13 7 (2.13%) Azure Monitor
14 6 (1.82%) Amazon EC2
14 6 (1.82%) AWS KMS
14 6 (1.82%) Datadog
14 6 (1.82%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 27 (8.21%) Network Security
2 19 (5.78%) Firewall
3 12 (3.65%) DNS
3 12 (3.65%) VPN
4 8 (2.43%) X.509
5 7 (2.13%) IPsec
6 5 (1.52%) NGFW
6 5 (1.52%) TCP/IP
7 4 (1.22%) DHCP
7 4 (1.22%) Kerberos
7 4 (1.22%) Modbus
7 4 (1.22%) SSH
8 3 (0.91%) HTTP
8 3 (0.91%) Internet
8 3 (0.91%) SSL
8 3 (0.91%) Wireless
9 2 (0.61%) Cisco IOS
9 2 (0.61%) Intrusion Detection
9 2 (0.61%) S/MIME
9 2 (0.61%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (1.82%) Amazon RDS
1 6 (1.82%) DynamoDB
2 3 (0.91%) Azure SQL Database
2 3 (0.91%) Power BI
3 1 (0.30%) Big Data
3 1 (0.30%) Data Hub
3 1 (0.30%) Data Lake
3 1 (0.30%) Metadata
3 1 (0.30%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 9 (2.74%) JIRA
2 8 (2.43%) GitLab
3 7 (2.13%) Jenkins
4 6 (1.82%) 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
1 103 (31.31%) Social Skills
2 86 (26.14%) Finance
3 39 (11.85%) Analytical Skills
4 31 (9.42%) Public Sector
5 24 (7.29%) Banking
6 20 (6.08%) Legal
7 16 (4.86%) Manufacturing
8 11 (3.34%) Documentation Skills
9 10 (3.04%) Influencing Skills
10 5 (1.52%) Financial Institution
11 3 (0.91%) Cyber-Physical System
11 3 (0.91%) Law
11 3 (0.91%) Local Government
11 3 (0.91%) Organisational Skills
11 3 (0.91%) Presentation Skills
11 3 (0.91%) Retail
12 2 (0.61%) German Language
12 2 (0.61%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 2 (0.61%) Investment Banking
12 2 (0.61%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 89 (27.05%) Architect
2 56 (17.02%) Analyst
3 49 (14.89%) Security Architect
4 42 (12.77%) Consultant
5 30 (9.12%) Lead
6 29 (8.81%) Senior
7 26 (7.90%) Security Analyst
8 22 (6.69%) Security Engineer
9 21 (6.38%) Security Consultant
10 18 (5.47%) Business Analyst
11 16 (4.86%) Cybersecurity Consultant
11 16 (4.86%) Security Manager
12 15 (4.56%) Cybersecurity Analyst
13 12 (3.65%) Project Manager
13 12 (3.65%) Senior Architect
13 12 (3.65%) Solutions Architect
14 9 (2.74%) Security Project Manager
14 9 (2.74%) Senior Analyst
15 8 (2.43%) CyberArk Architect
15 8 (2.43%) Risk Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (8.81%) Terraform
2 18 (5.47%) SailPoint
3 13 (3.95%) OAuth
4 9 (2.74%) JSON
4 9 (2.74%) REST
4 9 (2.74%) SAML
5 8 (2.43%) LDAP
6 5 (1.52%) SOAP
7 4 (1.22%) JDBC
7 4 (1.22%) OpenID
8 3 (0.91%) Playwright
8 3 (0.91%) SLSA
8 3 (0.91%) SPIFFE
8 3 (0.91%) YAML
9 2 (0.61%) Azure Blueprints
9 2 (0.61%) Kafka
9 2 (0.61%) Microsoft Graph
9 2 (0.61%) OAuth2
9 2 (0.61%) pytest
10 1 (0.30%) Flask
Miscellaneous
1 34 (10.33%) Cloud Native
1 34 (10.33%) Onboarding
2 28 (8.51%) Operational Technology
2 28 (8.51%) Security Posture
3 15 (4.56%) PKI
4 13 (3.95%) Cyber Threat
4 13 (3.95%) SCADA
5 11 (3.34%) AI Agents
5 11 (3.34%) Management Information System
6 7 (2.13%) Hybrid Cloud
7 6 (1.82%) Cloud Security Posture
7 6 (1.82%) CMDB
7 6 (1.82%) Enterprise Software
7 6 (1.82%) IoT
8 5 (1.52%) Data Centre
8 5 (1.52%) Taxonomies
9 4 (1.22%) Algorithms
9 4 (1.22%) Data Protection Act
9 4 (1.22%) Legacy Systems
10 3 (0.91%) Security Operations Centre
Operating Systems
1 19 (5.78%) Windows
2 17 (5.17%) Linux
3 7 (2.13%) Windows Server
4 6 (1.82%) 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
1 192 (58.36%) Cybersecurity
2 81 (24.62%) Security Architecture
3 78 (23.71%) Stakeholder Management
4 77 (23.40%) Risk Management
5 71 (21.58%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 64 (19.45%) Cloud Security
7 61 (18.54%) Roadmaps
8 60 (18.24%) Identity Access Management
9 56 (17.02%) Vulnerability Management
10 55 (16.72%) Incident Response
11 49 (14.89%) Threat Modelling
12 46 (13.98%) AI
12 46 (13.98%) Zero Trust
13 44 (13.37%) CI/CD
13 44 (13.37%) Information Security
14 43 (13.07%) SIEM
15 41 (12.46%) DevOps
16 40 (12.16%) Continuous Improvement
17 39 (11.85%) Security Operations
18 36 (10.94%) SABSA
Programming Languages
1 40 (12.16%) Python
2 38 (11.55%) PowerShell
3 17 (5.17%) SQL
4 14 (4.26%) Bash
5 8 (2.43%) Java
6 7 (2.13%) Bicep
7 6 (1.82%) Kusto Query Language
8 4 (1.22%) BeanShell
9 3 (0.91%) Korn
10 2 (0.61%) C#
10 2 (0.61%) Go
10 2 (0.61%) Objective-C
11 1 (0.30%) C
11 1 (0.30%) JavaScript
Qualifications
1 104 (31.61%) CISSP
2 77 (23.40%) Security Cleared
3 65 (19.76%) CISM
4 62 (18.84%) SC Cleared
5 28 (8.51%) CRISC
6 23 (6.99%) Degree
7 22 (6.69%) Cisco Certification
8 20 (6.08%) Azure Certification
9 18 (5.47%) (ISC)2 CCSP
9 18 (5.47%) GIAC
10 16 (4.86%) AWS Certification
11 15 (4.56%) CISA
11 15 (4.56%) CompTIA Security+
11 15 (4.56%) DV Cleared
12 12 (3.65%) CEH
12 12 (3.65%) PMI Certification
12 12 (3.65%) PMP
13 10 (3.04%) FFIEC
14 9 (2.74%) CCSP
15 8 (2.43%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 208 (63.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 48 (14.59%) GRC
3 45 (13.68%) GDPR
4 39 (11.85%) NCSC
5 31 (9.42%) NIST 800
6 30 (9.12%) COBIT
7 22 (6.69%) SOC 2
8 21 (6.38%) Cyber Essentials
9 20 (6.08%) PCI DSS
10 17 (5.17%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 13 (3.95%) QA
12 12 (3.65%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 10 (3.04%) EU AI Act
14 9 (2.74%) ITGC
15 8 (2.43%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
15 8 (2.43%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
16 6 (1.82%) SLA
17 4 (1.22%) Data Quality
17 4 (1.22%) HIPAA
17 4 (1.22%) HMG Security Policy Framework
System Software
1 44 (13.37%) Active Directory
2 15 (4.56%) Docker
3 5 (1.52%) VMware Infrastructure
4 2 (0.61%) Hyper-V
4 2 (0.61%) OpenSSH
4 2 (0.61%) Virtual Machines
5 1 (0.30%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 21 (6.38%) Kubernetes
2 13 (3.95%) Microsoft Intune
3 12 (3.65%) Single Sign-On
4 11 (3.34%) Ansible
5 3 (0.91%) Nessus
6 2 (0.61%) Argo
6 2 (0.61%) Docker Swarm
6 2 (0.61%) HP Fortify
6 2 (0.61%) Nexpose
6 2 (0.61%) Puppet
6 2 (0.61%) SCCM
7 1 (0.30%) CASB
7 1 (0.30%) QRadar
Vendors
1 76 (23.10%) Microsoft
2 26 (7.90%) CyberArk
3 22 (6.69%) ServiceNow
4 19 (5.78%) Splunk
5 17 (5.17%) CrowdStrike
6 13 (3.95%) Qualys
6 13 (3.95%) Tenable
7 12 (3.65%) Google
8 10 (3.04%) Okta
8 10 (3.04%) Palo Alto
9 8 (2.43%) Rapid7
10 7 (2.13%) Cisco
11 6 (1.82%) VMware
12 5 (1.52%) ForgeRock
12 5 (1.52%) Zscaler
13 4 (1.22%) OpenAI
13 4 (1.22%) Salesforce
13 4 (1.22%) SAP
13 4 (1.22%) Veracode
14 3 (0.91%) Oracle