Network Architect Contract Job Trends in Manchester

Network Architect
North West > Manchester

The median Network Architect daily rate in Manchester is £575, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 25 December 2025.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
25 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 89 72 98
Rank change year-on-year -17 +26 +23
Contract jobs requiring a Network Architect 2 5 5
As % of all contract jobs in Manchester 0.16% 0.47% 0.32%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.18% 0.50% 0.35%
Number of daily rates quoted 2 4 5
10th Percentile £553 £533 -
25th Percentile £556 £544 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £575 £650 £450
Median % change year-on-year -11.54% +44.44% -25.00%
75th Percentile £606 £750 £688
90th Percentile £618 - £695
North West median daily rate £600 £550 £615
% change year-on-year +9.09% -10.57% +33.70%

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
Manchester

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in Manchester. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in Manchester with a recognized job title 1,115 1,003 1,447
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.92% 93.91% 93.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 734 600 1,051
10th Percentile £310 £313 £306
25th Percentile £381 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £470 £500
Median % change year-on-year -4.26% -6.00% -
75th Percentile £575 £575 £588
90th Percentile £650 £676 £675
North West median daily rate £450 £475 £500
% change year-on-year -5.26% -5.00% +2.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 89 37 63
10th Percentile £17.30 £15.96 £14.91
25th Percentile £19.75 £21.25 £17.29
Median hourly rate £24.62 £32.50 £20.00
Median % change year-on-year -24.25% +62.50% -42.86%
75th Percentile £50.75 £33.75 £60.00
90th Percentile £63.50 £65.00 £73.75
North West median hourly rate £30.99 £25.94 £35.50
% change year-on-year +19.46% -26.92% +68.65%

Network Architect
Job Vacancy Trend in Manchester

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Network Architect' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Manchester.

Network Architect job vacancy trend in Manchester

Network Architect
Daily Rate Trend in Manchester

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Network Architect job vacancies in Manchester.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Network Architect job vacancies in Manchester

Network Architect
Hourly Rate Trend in Manchester

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Network Architect job vacancies in Manchester.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Network Architect job vacancies in Manchester

Network Architect Skill Set
Top 20 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Manchester

For the 6 months to 25 December 2025, Network Architect contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the Manchester region featuring Network Architect in the job title.

1 2 (100.00%) Network Security
2 1 (50.00%) Architecture Roadmap
2 1 (50.00%) Azure
2 1 (50.00%) CCIE
2 1 (50.00%) Cisco Certification
2 1 (50.00%) Containerisation
2 1 (50.00%) Cybersecurity
2 1 (50.00%) Ethernet VPN
2 1 (50.00%) Firewall
2 1 (50.00%) Internet
2 1 (50.00%) Migration
2 1 (50.00%) MPLS
2 1 (50.00%) Network Architecture
2 1 (50.00%) Network Segmentation
2 1 (50.00%) Roadmaps
2 1 (50.00%) SAP
2 1 (50.00%) SD-WAN
2 1 (50.00%) Threat Modelling
2 1 (50.00%) WAN
2 1 (50.00%) Zero Trust

Network Architect Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Manchester 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:

Cloud Services
1 1 (50.00%) Azure
Communications & Networking
1 2 (100.00%) Network Security
2 1 (50.00%) Ethernet VPN
2 1 (50.00%) Firewall
2 1 (50.00%) Internet
2 1 (50.00%) MPLS
2 1 (50.00%) SD-WAN
2 1 (50.00%) WAN
General
1 1 (50.00%) Finance
1 1 (50.00%) Social Skills
Miscellaneous
1 1 (50.00%) Data Centre
1 1 (50.00%) Hybrid Cloud
1 1 (50.00%) Onboarding
Processes & Methodologies
1 1 (50.00%) Architecture Roadmap
1 1 (50.00%) Containerisation
1 1 (50.00%) Cybersecurity
1 1 (50.00%) Migration
1 1 (50.00%) Network Architecture
1 1 (50.00%) Network Segmentation
1 1 (50.00%) Roadmaps
1 1 (50.00%) Threat Modelling
1 1 (50.00%) Zero Trust
Qualifications
1 1 (50.00%) CCIE
1 1 (50.00%) Cisco Certification
Vendors
1 1 (50.00%) SAP