Cybersecurity Contract Job Trends in the South East

Cybersecurity
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the South East requiring Cybersecurity skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 21 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
21 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 33 42 32
Rank change year-on-year +9 -10 +46
Contract jobs citing Cybersecurity 258 174 292
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 5.91% 4.72% 5.85%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 6.95% 5.34% 6.52%
Number of daily rates quoted 166 126 141
10th Percentile £340 £406 £400
25th Percentile £431 £475 £500
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £540 £591
Median % change year-on-year -7.41% -8.57% +12.50%
75th Percentile £576 £624 £650
90th Percentile £675 £675 £667
England median daily rate £535 £575 £600
% change year-on-year -6.96% -4.17% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 14 2 7
10th Percentile £19.19 £57.45 £35.00
25th Percentile £20.79 £59.25 £42.50
Median hourly rate £47.90 £65.41 £73.31
Median % change year-on-year -26.77% -10.78% +62.91%
75th Percentile £95.00 £73.46 £80.74
90th Percentile £103.45 £76.40 £84.11
England median hourly rate £45.46 £55.25 £72.50
% change year-on-year -17.72% -23.79% +10.69%

All Process and Methodology Skills
South East

Cybersecurity falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in the South East.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 3,713 3,258 4,478
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 85.10% 88.29% 89.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,428 2,030 2,900
10th Percentile £221 £250 £213
25th Percentile £400 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £510 £520
Median % change year-on-year -2.01% -1.88% +1.46%
75th Percentile £600 £625 £614
90th Percentile £675 £682 £688
England median daily rate £505 £525 £540
% change year-on-year -3.81% -2.78% -1.82%
Number of hourly rates quoted 368 124 223
10th Percentile £14.75 £19.55 £18.59
25th Percentile £17.00 £26.00 £26.13
Median hourly rate £22.38 £47.51 £54.56
Median % change year-on-year -52.89% -12.92% +45.49%
75th Percentile £48.75 £63.11 £66.13
90th Percentile £75.00 £74.53 £76.53
England median hourly rate £25.15 £35.00 £44.50
% change year-on-year -28.14% -21.35% +19.85%

Cybersecurity
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Cybersecurity relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East.

Cybersecurity job vacancy trend in the South East

Cybersecurity
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Cybersecurity.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity
Daily Rate Histogram in the South East

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Cybersecurity in the South East over the 6 months to 21 December 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Cybersecurity in the South East

Cybersecurity
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Cybersecurity.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South East

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Cybersecurity in the South East over the 6 months to 21 December 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Cybersecurity in the South East

Cybersecurity
Contract Job Locations in the South East

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Cybersecurity within the South East region over the 6 months to 21 December 2025. 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
Thames Valley +23 178 £492 -9.72% 72
Berkshire +39 142 £490 -16.07% 32
Hampshire -13 37 £533 -7.39% 42
Buckinghamshire -4 18 £584 +10.97% 25
Oxfordshire -4 18 £425 +1.49% 15
Surrey -15 15 £488 +2.63% 23
West Sussex +3 13 £525 +16.67% 13
East Sussex +3 7 £600 -4.00% 14
Kent +3 5 £568 -7.72% 28
Home Counties - 2 - -
Cybersecurity
England

Cybersecurity
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East 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 4 (1.55%) Confluence
2 3 (1.16%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.39%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 8 (3.10%) Microsoft Project
2 6 (2.33%) Microsoft Excel
2 6 (2.33%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (2.33%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 1 (0.39%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 9 (3.49%) Oracle EBS
2 2 (0.78%) Oracle EBS R12
3 1 (0.39%) NetSuite
3 1 (0.39%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 84 (32.56%) Azure
2 62 (24.03%) AWS
3 35 (13.57%) GCP
4 16 (6.20%) Microsoft 365
5 12 (4.65%) Entra ID
5 12 (4.65%) SaaS
6 10 (3.88%) Azure DevOps
7 9 (3.49%) IaaS
7 9 (3.49%) OCI
8 8 (3.10%) PaaS
9 6 (2.33%) Azure Sentinel
9 6 (2.33%) Microsoft Purview
9 6 (2.33%) OpenShift
10 5 (1.94%) Cloud Computing
10 5 (1.94%) GitHub
11 4 (1.55%) AWS CloudFormation
11 4 (1.55%) GitHub Actions
12 2 (0.78%) Apple Pay
12 2 (0.78%) Google Pay
12 2 (0.78%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 43 (16.67%) Firewall
2 35 (13.57%) Network Security
3 16 (6.20%) DNS
4 11 (4.26%) TCP/IP
4 11 (4.26%) VPN
5 10 (3.88%) Wireless
6 8 (3.10%) DHCP
7 6 (2.33%) LAN
7 6 (2.33%) SD-WAN
7 6 (2.33%) WAN
8 5 (1.94%) NGFW
9 4 (1.55%) HTTP
9 4 (1.55%) Intranet
9 4 (1.55%) IPsec
10 3 (1.16%) Internet
10 3 (1.16%) Intrusion Detection
10 3 (1.16%) IPv6
10 3 (1.16%) SAN
11 2 (0.78%) Fibre Channel
11 2 (0.78%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (2.71%) Oracle Reports
2 4 (1.55%) SQL Server
3 3 (1.16%) MongoDB
3 3 (1.16%) Oracle BI Publisher
3 3 (1.16%) Oracle Database
3 3 (1.16%) RDBMS
3 3 (1.16%) Relational Database
3 3 (1.16%) Tableau
4 2 (0.78%) Power BI
5 1 (0.39%) Oracle BI EE
Development Applications
1 9 (3.49%) Burp Suite
2 8 (3.10%) JIRA
3 7 (2.71%) Metasploit
4 4 (1.55%) GitLab
5 3 (1.16%) Maven
6 2 (0.78%) Git
General
1 128 (49.61%) Social Skills
2 31 (12.02%) Analytical Skills
3 20 (7.75%) Documentation Skills
4 16 (6.20%) Finance
5 11 (4.26%) Public Sector
6 7 (2.71%) Aerospace
6 7 (2.71%) Legal
6 7 (2.71%) Manufacturing
6 7 (2.71%) Retail
7 4 (1.55%) Telecoms
8 3 (1.16%) Marketing
8 3 (1.16%) Organisational Skills
9 2 (0.78%) Advertising
9 2 (0.78%) Presentation Skills
10 1 (0.39%) Automotive
10 1 (0.39%) Electronics
10 1 (0.39%) French Language
10 1 (0.39%) Games
10 1 (0.39%) German Language
10 1 (0.39%) Law
Job Titles
1 44 (17.05%) Analyst
2 36 (13.95%) Architect
3 24 (9.30%) Senior
4 21 (8.14%) Security Analyst
5 20 (7.75%) Consultant
6 18 (6.98%) Lead
7 16 (6.20%) SOC Analyst
8 15 (5.81%) IT Support
8 15 (5.81%) SIEM Engineer
9 13 (5.04%) Security Architect
9 13 (5.04%) Security Consultant
10 12 (4.65%) Project Manager
10 12 (4.65%) Security Engineer
10 12 (4.65%) Security Manager
11 10 (3.88%) Cybersecurity Consultant
11 10 (3.88%) Cybersecurity Manager
11 10 (3.88%) Solutions Architect
11 10 (3.88%) Support Engineer
12 9 (3.49%) Penetration Tester
12 9 (3.49%) Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 19 (7.36%) LDAP
2 5 (1.94%) ADO
3 4 (1.55%) Elastic Stack
4 3 (1.16%) CSS
4 3 (1.16%) HTML
4 3 (1.16%) Kafka
4 3 (1.16%) Spring Boot
5 2 (0.78%) Oracle Fusion
6 1 (0.39%) Azure Blueprints
6 1 (0.39%) Keycloak
6 1 (0.39%) Middleware
6 1 (0.39%) OAuth
6 1 (0.39%) ODBC
6 1 (0.39%) OpenID
6 1 (0.39%) SailPoint
6 1 (0.39%) SAML
6 1 (0.39%) Unreal Engine
Miscellaneous
1 25 (9.69%) Security Operations Centre
2 21 (8.14%) Operational Technology
3 20 (7.75%) Security Posture
4 13 (5.04%) Management Information System
5 12 (4.65%) Cyber Security Posture
6 11 (4.26%) Cyber Threat
6 11 (4.26%) Onboarding
6 11 (4.26%) SCADA
7 10 (3.88%) CSOC
8 8 (3.10%) Cloud Native
8 8 (3.10%) Data Structures
8 8 (3.10%) Hybrid Cloud
9 6 (2.33%) Cyber Defence
9 6 (2.33%) Self-Motivation
10 4 (1.55%) Cyberattack
10 4 (1.55%) PKI
11 3 (1.16%) BYOD
11 3 (1.16%) Data Centre
11 3 (1.16%) Legacy Systems
12 2 (0.78%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 37 (14.34%) Windows
2 22 (8.53%) Linux
3 4 (1.55%) Unix
4 3 (1.16%) Kali Linux
4 3 (1.16%) Mac OS
5 2 (0.78%) Android
6 1 (0.39%) Apple iOS
6 1 (0.39%) Windows 10
6 1 (0.39%) Windows Server
6 1 (0.39%) Windows Server 2016
6 1 (0.39%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 82 (31.78%) SIEM
2 51 (19.77%) Problem-Solving
3 47 (18.22%) DevOps
4 41 (15.89%) Agile
5 36 (13.95%) Security Operations
6 33 (12.79%) DevSecOps
6 33 (12.79%) Incident Response
7 31 (12.02%) CI/CD
8 29 (11.24%) Project Management
9 28 (10.85%) Risk Management
9 28 (10.85%) Stakeholder Management
10 27 (10.47%) Information Security
11 26 (10.08%) Data Protection
11 26 (10.08%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 25 (9.69%) Penetration Testing
13 23 (8.91%) Migration
14 22 (8.53%) Continuous Improvement
14 22 (8.53%) Vulnerability Management
15 21 (8.14%) Roadmaps
15 21 (8.14%) Threat Detection
Programming Languages
1 52 (20.16%) Python
2 51 (19.77%) PowerShell
3 11 (4.26%) Kusto Query Language
4 9 (3.49%) Bash
5 4 (1.55%) Search Processing Language
6 3 (1.16%) Bicep
6 3 (1.16%) Java
6 3 (1.16%) JavaScript
7 1 (0.39%) C
7 1 (0.39%) C++
7 1 (0.39%) SQL
Qualifications
1 95 (36.82%) Security Cleared
2 84 (32.56%) SC Cleared
3 67 (25.97%) CISSP
4 36 (13.95%) Degree
5 34 (13.18%) CISM
6 25 (9.69%) CEH
7 23 (8.91%) GIAC
8 19 (7.36%) DV Cleared
9 12 (4.65%) Azure Certification
10 11 (4.26%) CREST Certified
10 11 (4.26%) PMP
11 10 (3.88%) AWS Certification
11 10 (3.88%) PMI Certification
12 9 (3.49%) TOGAF Certification
13 8 (3.10%) Computer Science Degree
14 7 (2.71%) Microsoft Certification
15 6 (2.33%) CHECK Team Member
15 6 (2.33%) DBS Check
15 6 (2.33%) GCFA
15 6 (2.33%) GCIH
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 65 (25.19%) NIST
2 61 (23.64%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 53 (20.54%) GDPR
4 12 (4.65%) PCI DSS
5 11 (4.26%) PMO
6 9 (3.49%) NCSC
6 9 (3.49%) QA
7 7 (2.71%) GRC
7 7 (2.71%) HIPAA
7 7 (2.71%) NIST 800
7 7 (2.71%) SLA
8 6 (2.33%) Cyber Essentials
9 5 (1.94%) Actionable Recommendations
9 5 (1.94%) Data Quality
9 5 (1.94%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
9 5 (1.94%) SOC 2
10 4 (1.55%) RMADS
10 4 (1.55%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 3 (1.16%) Def Stans
11 3 (1.16%) JSP 440
System Software
1 46 (17.83%) Active Directory
2 7 (2.71%) VMware Infrastructure
3 6 (2.33%) Docker
4 5 (1.94%) Hyper-V
5 3 (1.16%) DFS Replication
5 3 (1.16%) VMware NSX
5 3 (1.16%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 11 (4.26%) Kibana
1 11 (4.26%) Terraform
2 10 (3.88%) Kubernetes
3 9 (3.49%) Ansible
3 9 (3.49%) Nmap
4 6 (2.33%) Jamf Pro
4 6 (2.33%) QRadar
5 4 (1.55%) Grafana
6 3 (1.16%) Microsoft Intune
6 3 (1.16%) Prometheus
6 3 (1.16%) SCCM
6 3 (1.16%) Single Sign-On
7 2 (0.78%) CSIRT
8 1 (0.39%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 1 (0.39%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
8 1 (0.39%) Failover Clustering
8 1 (0.39%) Nessus
8 1 (0.39%) Podman
8 1 (0.39%) Puppet
8 1 (0.39%) RSA Archer
Vendors
1 70 (27.13%) Microsoft
2 24 (9.30%) Splunk
3 19 (7.36%) CyberArk
4 18 (6.98%) BeyondTrust
4 18 (6.98%) VMware
5 14 (5.43%) CrowdStrike
5 14 (5.43%) Oracle
6 12 (4.65%) Palo Alto
6 12 (4.65%) Tanium
7 11 (4.26%) FireEye
8 10 (3.88%) Cisco
9 9 (3.49%) ServiceNow
10 8 (3.10%) ArcSight
11 7 (2.71%) F5
11 7 (2.71%) Qualys
12 6 (2.33%) SAP
12 6 (2.33%) Tenable
13 5 (1.94%) Fortinet
13 5 (1.94%) Zscaler
14 4 (1.55%) Google