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 2 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
2 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 181 162 223
Rank change year-on-year -19 +61 -13
Contract jobs citing NIST 332 240 173
As % of all contract jobs in London 1.63% 1.78% 1.07%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 8.43% 10.25% 7.82%
Number of daily rates quoted 235 157 123
10th Percentile £433 £400 £475
25th Percentile £500 £495 £519
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £575 £575 £650
Median % change year-on-year - -11.54% -
75th Percentile £675 £688 £775
90th Percentile £790 £775 -
England median daily rate £564 £571 £625
% change year-on-year -1.23% -8.64% -1.96%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 1 0
Median hourly rate - £90.00 -
England median hourly rate £65.69 £90.00 £80.00
% change year-on-year -27.01% +12.50% +71.12%

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 3,936 2,342 2,213
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in London 19.34% 17.38% 13.65%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,676 1,551 1,390
10th Percentile £350 £325 £319
25th Percentile £430 £413 £420
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% -2.65%
75th Percentile £638 £650 £684
90th Percentile £725 £750 £800
England median daily rate £513 £500 £520
% change year-on-year +2.50% -3.85% -3.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 49 54 39
10th Percentile £15.93 £23.47 £18.13
25th Percentile £21.33 £25.15 £23.80
Median hourly rate £28.00 £34.00 £31.62
Median % change year-on-year -17.65% +7.53% +12.43%
75th Percentile £40.00 £44.37 £50.88
90th Percentile £59.15 £62.60 £73.25
England median hourly rate £32.40 £32.74 £33.93
% change year-on-year -1.04% -3.52% -13.93%

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 2 October 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 2 October 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 -20 42 £570 +1.33% 53
West London -21 5 £488 +14.71% 10
East London +1 3 £750 +33.33% 6
South London -7 3 £495 -23.85% 4
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 (2.11%) SharePoint
2 5 (1.51%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (0.90%) Confluence
4 1 (0.30%) IIS
4 1 (0.30%) OpenStack
4 1 (0.30%) Red Hat Fuse
Applications
1 7 (2.11%) Microsoft Excel
2 5 (1.51%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 3 (0.90%) Microsoft Office
4 2 (0.60%) Microsoft Project
Cloud Services
1 136 (40.96%) Azure
2 101 (30.42%) AWS
3 63 (18.98%) Entra ID
4 52 (15.66%) GCP
5 24 (7.23%) Microsoft 365
6 22 (6.63%) Azure Sentinel
7 20 (6.02%) SaaS
8 19 (5.72%) Azure DevOps
9 18 (5.42%) OCI
10 14 (4.22%) GitHub
10 14 (4.22%) Microsoft Purview
11 10 (3.01%) AWS Control Tower
11 10 (3.01%) Azure Key Vault
12 9 (2.71%) Amazon S3
13 8 (2.41%) Amazon EC2
13 8 (2.41%) GitHub Actions
14 6 (1.81%) AWS KMS
14 6 (1.81%) Azure Monitor
14 6 (1.81%) Microsoft Copilot
15 5 (1.51%) Amazon Bedrock
Communications & Networking
1 29 (8.73%) Network Security
2 20 (6.02%) Firewall
3 11 (3.31%) VPN
4 9 (2.71%) X.509
5 8 (2.41%) DNS
5 8 (2.41%) IPsec
6 7 (2.11%) SSH
7 5 (1.51%) Modbus
7 5 (1.51%) NGFW
8 4 (1.20%) TCP/IP
9 3 (0.90%) Internet
9 3 (0.90%) Kerberos
9 3 (0.90%) SSL
9 3 (0.90%) Wireless
10 2 (0.60%) 4G
10 2 (0.60%) Cisco ASA
10 2 (0.60%) Cisco Firepower
10 2 (0.60%) Cisco IOS
10 2 (0.60%) DHCP
10 2 (0.60%) HTTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (1.81%) Amazon RDS
1 6 (1.81%) DynamoDB
2 4 (1.20%) Power BI
3 3 (0.90%) Azure SQL Database
3 3 (0.90%) Metadata
4 1 (0.30%) Data Hub
4 1 (0.30%) Data Lake
4 1 (0.30%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 10 (3.01%) GitLab
2 9 (2.71%) JIRA
3 8 (2.41%) Jenkins
4 6 (1.81%) Snyk
5 5 (1.51%) Git
6 4 (1.20%) Burp Suite
6 4 (1.20%) SonarQube
7 3 (0.90%) Robot Framework
7 3 (0.90%) Selenium
7 3 (0.90%) TestRail
8 2 (0.60%) MSI
General
1 105 (31.63%) Social Skills
2 84 (25.30%) Finance
3 34 (10.24%) Public Sector
4 33 (9.94%) Analytical Skills
5 23 (6.93%) Banking
5 23 (6.93%) Legal
6 18 (5.42%) Manufacturing
7 11 (3.31%) Documentation Skills
7 11 (3.31%) Influencing Skills
8 4 (1.20%) Investment Banking
8 4 (1.20%) Organisational Skills
9 3 (0.90%) Cyber-Physical System
9 3 (0.90%) Financial Institution
9 3 (0.90%) Local Government
9 3 (0.90%) Presentation Skills
9 3 (0.90%) Retail
10 2 (0.60%) German Language
10 2 (0.60%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 2 (0.60%) Law
10 2 (0.60%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 80 (24.10%) Architect
2 53 (15.96%) Analyst
3 47 (14.16%) Consultant
3 47 (14.16%) Security Architect
4 33 (9.94%) Lead
5 29 (8.73%) Senior
6 26 (7.83%) Security Analyst
7 23 (6.93%) Security Consultant
7 23 (6.93%) Security Engineer
8 20 (6.02%) Security Manager
9 17 (5.12%) Business Analyst
9 17 (5.12%) Cybersecurity Consultant
10 15 (4.52%) Cybersecurity Analyst
11 12 (3.61%) Senior Architect
12 11 (3.31%) Project Manager
13 10 (3.01%) Solutions Architect
14 9 (2.71%) Security Project Manager
14 9 (2.71%) Senior Analyst
15 8 (2.41%) Cybersecurity Manager
16 7 (2.11%) Cybersecurity Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 33 (9.94%) Terraform
2 14 (4.22%) SailPoint
3 13 (3.92%) OAuth
4 11 (3.31%) REST
5 9 (2.71%) JSON
6 8 (2.41%) LDAP
6 8 (2.41%) SAML
7 4 (1.20%) JDBC
7 4 (1.20%) Playwright
7 4 (1.20%) SOAP
8 3 (0.90%) OpenID
8 3 (0.90%) pytest
8 3 (0.90%) SLSA
8 3 (0.90%) SPIFFE
8 3 (0.90%) YAML
9 2 (0.60%) Azure Blueprints
9 2 (0.60%) Microsoft Graph
10 1 (0.30%) FastAPI
10 1 (0.30%) LangChain
10 1 (0.30%) OpenTelemetry
Miscellaneous
1 35 (10.54%) Onboarding
2 34 (10.24%) Cloud Native
3 31 (9.34%) Operational Technology
3 31 (9.34%) Security Posture
4 17 (5.12%) Cyber Threat
5 16 (4.82%) Management Information System
5 16 (4.82%) PKI
6 13 (3.92%) SCADA
7 10 (3.01%) AI Agents
8 7 (2.11%) Hybrid Cloud
9 6 (1.81%) Cloud Security Posture
9 6 (1.81%) CMDB
9 6 (1.81%) Data Centre
9 6 (1.81%) Enterprise Software
9 6 (1.81%) IoT
10 5 (1.51%) Taxonomies
11 4 (1.20%) Algorithms
11 4 (1.20%) Data Protection Act
11 4 (1.20%) Legacy Systems
11 4 (1.20%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 18 (5.42%) Windows
2 16 (4.82%) Linux
3 10 (3.01%) Windows Server
4 8 (2.41%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 3 (0.90%) Ubuntu
6 2 (0.60%) Alpine Linux
7 1 (0.30%) Android
7 1 (0.30%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.30%) CentOS
7 1 (0.30%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.30%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 200 (60.24%) Cybersecurity
2 85 (25.60%) Risk Management
3 83 (25.00%) Security Architecture
3 83 (25.00%) Stakeholder Management
4 71 (21.39%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 69 (20.78%) Cloud Security
6 61 (18.37%) Identity Access Management
6 61 (18.37%) Vulnerability Management
7 60 (18.07%) Roadmaps
8 55 (16.57%) Incident Response
9 51 (15.36%) Threat Modelling
10 50 (15.06%) Information Security
11 44 (13.25%) AI
12 43 (12.95%) Continuous Improvement
13 42 (12.65%) Zero Trust
14 41 (12.35%) CI/CD
15 40 (12.05%) SIEM
16 39 (11.75%) Security Operations
17 37 (11.14%) Infrastructure as Code
18 36 (10.84%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 42 (12.65%) Python
2 39 (11.75%) PowerShell
3 18 (5.42%) SQL
4 17 (5.12%) Bash
5 8 (2.41%) Bicep
6 7 (2.11%) Java
7 6 (1.81%) Kusto Query Language
8 4 (1.20%) BeanShell
9 3 (0.90%) Korn
10 2 (0.60%) C#
10 2 (0.60%) Go
10 2 (0.60%) Objective-C
11 1 (0.30%) C
11 1 (0.30%) CodeQL
Qualifications
1 109 (32.83%) CISSP
2 82 (24.70%) Security Cleared
3 75 (22.59%) CISM
4 68 (20.48%) SC Cleared
5 33 (9.94%) CRISC
6 26 (7.83%) Cisco Certification
7 22 (6.63%) Degree
8 21 (6.33%) (ISC)2 CCSP
9 19 (5.72%) Azure Certification
9 19 (5.72%) CISA
10 18 (5.42%) AWS Certification
10 18 (5.42%) GIAC
11 16 (4.82%) CompTIA Security+
11 16 (4.82%) DV Cleared
12 12 (3.61%) CCSP
12 12 (3.61%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
12 12 (3.61%) PMI Certification
12 12 (3.61%) PMP
13 11 (3.31%) CEH
14 10 (3.01%) FFIEC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 213 (64.16%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 53 (15.96%) GRC
3 44 (13.25%) NCSC
4 43 (12.95%) GDPR
5 31 (9.34%) NIST 800
6 28 (8.43%) COBIT
7 23 (6.93%) Cyber Essentials
7 23 (6.93%) PCI DSS
8 22 (6.63%) SOC 2
9 12 (3.61%) ISO/IEC 42001
9 12 (3.61%) QA
10 11 (3.31%) EU AI Act
10 11 (3.31%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 8 (2.41%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 7 (2.11%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 7 (2.11%) ITGC
13 5 (1.51%) Data Quality
13 5 (1.51%) HMG Security Policy Framework
13 5 (1.51%) SLA
14 4 (1.20%) HIPAA
System Software
1 43 (12.95%) Active Directory
2 15 (4.52%) Docker
3 5 (1.51%) VMware Infrastructure
4 2 (0.60%) Hyper-V
4 2 (0.60%) OpenSSH
5 1 (0.30%) Firmware
5 1 (0.30%) ISA Server
5 1 (0.30%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 20 (6.02%) Kubernetes
2 13 (3.92%) Microsoft Intune
3 12 (3.61%) Ansible
4 7 (2.11%) Single Sign-On
5 3 (0.90%) Argo
5 3 (0.90%) HP Fortify
6 2 (0.60%) CASB
6 2 (0.60%) Docker Swarm
6 2 (0.60%) Nessus
6 2 (0.60%) Nexpose
6 2 (0.60%) Puppet
6 2 (0.60%) SCCM
7 1 (0.30%) QRadar
Vendors
1 82 (24.70%) Microsoft
2 21 (6.33%) CyberArk
3 19 (5.72%) ServiceNow
4 18 (5.42%) CrowdStrike
5 17 (5.12%) Google
5 17 (5.12%) Splunk
6 14 (4.22%) Qualys
7 11 (3.31%) Palo Alto
7 11 (3.31%) Tenable
8 10 (3.01%) Okta
8 10 (3.01%) Rapid7
9 9 (2.71%) Cisco
10 6 (1.81%) VMware
11 5 (1.51%) Zscaler
12 4 (1.20%) ForgeRock
12 4 (1.20%) OpenAI
12 4 (1.20%) Oracle
12 4 (1.20%) SAP
12 4 (1.20%) Siemens
12 4 (1.20%) Veracode