Network Security Contract Job Trends in Reading

Network Security
Berkshire > Reading

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in Reading requiring Network Security skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 2 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
2 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 66 46 71
Rank change year-on-year -20 +25 0
Contract jobs citing Network Security 23 19 20
As % of all contract jobs in Reading 2.15% 3.25% 1.81%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 16.79% 25.33% 10.53%
Number of daily rates quoted 19 15 7
10th Percentile £359 £408 £408
25th Percentile £380 - £431
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £462 £450 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.56% -10.00% -1.96%
75th Percentile £555 £498 £606
90th Percentile £642 £550 £635
Berkshire median daily rate £488 £450 £488
% change year-on-year +8.33% -7.69% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 0 2
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile - - £56.25
Median hourly rate - - £57.50
75th Percentile - - £58.75
90th Percentile - - -
Berkshire median hourly rate £42.25 - £57.50
% change year-on-year - - +202.63%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
Reading

Network Security falls under the Communications and Computer Networking category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring communications or computer networking skills in Reading.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 137 75 190
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in Reading 12.78% 12.82% 17.15%
Number of daily rates quoted 64 44 77
10th Percentile £340 £247 £340
25th Percentile £397 £406 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £463 £475 £583
Median % change year-on-year -2.41% -18.58% +18.98%
75th Percentile £595 £550 £608
90th Percentile £657 £620 £650
Berkshire median daily rate £450 £450 £500
% change year-on-year - -10.00% +11.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 21 1 8
10th Percentile £16.01 - £56.25
25th Percentile £19.34 - £71.81
Median hourly rate £32.50 £55.00 £87.46
Median % change year-on-year -40.91% -37.11% +18.99%
75th Percentile £65.22 - -
90th Percentile £70.50 - -
Berkshire median hourly rate £32.50 £55.00 £83.50
% change year-on-year -40.91% -34.13% +13.61%

Network Security
Job Vacancy Trend in Reading

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Network Security relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Reading.

Network Security job vacancy trend in Reading

Network Security
Daily Rate Trend in Reading

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Reading citing Network Security.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in Reading citing Network Security

Network Security
Daily Rate Histogram in Reading

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Network Security in Reading over the 6 months to 2 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Network Security in Reading

Network Security
Hourly Rate Trend in Reading

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Reading citing Network Security.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in Reading citing Network Security

Network Security
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Reading 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 1 (4.35%) SharePoint
Applications
1 1 (4.35%) InfoPath
1 1 (4.35%) Microsoft Office
1 1 (4.35%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Cloud Services
1 5 (21.74%) Azure
2 3 (13.04%) AWS
3 2 (8.70%) Azure DevOps
3 2 (8.70%) GCP
3 2 (8.70%) SaaS
3 2 (8.70%) Serverless
4 1 (4.35%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 12 (52.17%) Firewall
2 5 (21.74%) VPN
3 4 (17.39%) DNS
3 4 (17.39%) SSL
3 4 (17.39%) WAN
3 4 (17.39%) Wireless
4 3 (13.04%) Cisco ASA
4 3 (13.04%) DMVPN
4 3 (13.04%) Intrusion Detection
4 3 (13.04%) IPsec
5 2 (8.70%) Cisco IPT
5 2 (8.70%) Cisco Nexus
5 2 (8.70%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
5 2 (8.70%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
5 2 (8.70%) Junos
5 2 (8.70%) MPLS
5 2 (8.70%) VoIP
6 1 (4.35%) DHCP
6 1 (4.35%) Internet
6 1 (4.35%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 1 (4.35%) Data Mining
General
1 10 (43.48%) Social Skills
2 4 (17.39%) Telecoms
3 2 (8.70%) Analytical Skills
4 1 (4.35%) Documentation Skills
4 1 (4.35%) Manufacturing
4 1 (4.35%) Organisational Skills
Job Titles
1 9 (39.13%) Security Engineer
2 6 (26.09%) Architect
2 6 (26.09%) Network Engineer
2 6 (26.09%) Network Security Engineer
3 4 (17.39%) Project Manager
4 3 (13.04%) Security Architect
4 3 (13.04%) Solutions Architect
5 2 (8.70%) Analyst
5 2 (8.70%) Business Analyst
5 2 (8.70%) Cloud Architect
5 2 (8.70%) Cybersecurity Analyst
5 2 (8.70%) Implementation Engineer
5 2 (8.70%) Network Architect
5 2 (8.70%) Network Implementation Engineer
5 2 (8.70%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
5 2 (8.70%) Security Analyst
5 2 (8.70%) Security Manager
5 2 (8.70%) Security Project Manager
5 2 (8.70%) Senior Manager
5 2 (8.70%) Senior Project Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 4 (17.39%) 802.1X
Miscellaneous
1 4 (17.39%) Data Protection Act
2 3 (13.04%) Cyber Threat
2 3 (13.04%) Operational Technology
2 3 (13.04%) Security Posture
3 2 (8.70%) Hybrid Cloud
4 1 (4.35%) Data Centre
4 1 (4.35%) Management Information System
4 1 (4.35%) Onboarding
4 1 (4.35%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 1 (4.35%) Linux
1 1 (4.35%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 11 (47.83%) Cybersecurity
2 10 (43.48%) Data Protection
3 6 (26.09%) Change Management
3 6 (26.09%) Stakeholder Management
4 5 (21.74%) Continuous Improvement
4 5 (21.74%) Network Architecture
5 4 (17.39%) Data Loss Prevention
5 4 (17.39%) DevOps
5 4 (17.39%) Incident Response
5 4 (17.39%) Security Operations
5 4 (17.39%) SIEM
6 3 (13.04%) Agile
6 3 (13.04%) Cloud Security
6 3 (13.04%) Inventory Management
6 3 (13.04%) Network Monitoring
6 3 (13.04%) Network Segmentation
6 3 (13.04%) Privileged Access Management
6 3 (13.04%) Threat Modelling
6 3 (13.04%) Vulnerability Management
6 3 (13.04%) Workshop Facilitation
Programming Languages
1 3 (13.04%) Bash
1 3 (13.04%) PowerShell
2 2 (8.70%) Python
Qualifications
1 8 (34.78%) SC Cleared
1 8 (34.78%) Security Cleared
2 4 (17.39%) CISSP
3 3 (13.04%) (ISC)2 CCSP
3 3 (13.04%) CCSP
3 3 (13.04%) Cisco Certification
4 2 (8.70%) AWS Certification
4 2 (8.70%) Azure Certification
4 2 (8.70%) CISM
4 2 (8.70%) Degree
5 1 (4.35%) Computer Science Degree
5 1 (4.35%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 3 (13.04%) GRC
1 3 (13.04%) NIST
2 1 (4.35%) NCSC
System Software
1 1 (4.35%) Active Directory
1 1 (4.35%) Hyper-V
1 1 (4.35%) Virtual Servers
1 1 (4.35%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 3 (13.04%) CASB
2 2 (8.70%) Kubernetes
3 1 (4.35%) FortiGate
3 1 (4.35%) NetBackup
3 1 (4.35%) SCCM
3 1 (4.35%) SCOM
Vendors
1 9 (39.13%) Cisco
2 7 (30.43%) F5
3 6 (26.09%) CheckPoint
4 5 (21.74%) Juniper
5 4 (17.39%) Palo Alto
6 3 (13.04%) Blue Coat
6 3 (13.04%) Zscaler
7 2 (8.70%) Fortinet
7 2 (8.70%) Google
7 2 (8.70%) Tufin
8 1 (4.35%) Aruba
8 1 (4.35%) Citrix
8 1 (4.35%) CyberArk
8 1 (4.35%) Infoblox
8 1 (4.35%) Microsoft
8 1 (4.35%) SolarWinds
8 1 (4.35%) Splunk
8 1 (4.35%) VMware