Information Security Contract Job Trends in the South East

Information Security (InfoSec)
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the South East requiring Information Security skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 22 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
22 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 89 83 76
Rank change year-on-year -6 -7 +26
Contract jobs citing Information Security 107 84 142
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 2.23% 2.65% 2.57%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 2.66% 2.92% 2.94%
Number of daily rates quoted 48 35 104
10th Percentile £408 £414 £441
25th Percentile £463 £500 £500
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £600 £560
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +7.14% -2.18%
75th Percentile £642 £650 £623
90th Percentile £704 £688 £667
England median daily rate £535 £600 £575
% change year-on-year -10.83% +4.35% -4.17%
Number of hourly rates quoted 28 1 12
10th Percentile - - £18.13
25th Percentile £20.71 £68.26 £19.25
Median hourly rate £20.79 £73.31 £19.50
Median % change year-on-year -71.64% +275.95% -
75th Percentile £36.00 £78.36 £79.31
90th Percentile £93.23 - £83.29
England median hourly rate £28.00 £24.18 £44.50
% change year-on-year +15.80% -45.66% -36.43%

All Process & Methodology Skills
South East

Information Security 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 4,020 2,879 4,827
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 83.66% 90.76% 87.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,637 1,777 2,935
10th Percentile £259 £250 £213
25th Percentile £400 £400 £394
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £501 £500
Median % change year-on-year -0.10% +0.10% -
75th Percentile £600 £610 £613
90th Percentile £694 £670 £688
England median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 355 110 357
10th Percentile £14.50 £17.28 £13.25
25th Percentile £17.00 £24.18 £19.25
Median hourly rate £25.15 £43.94 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year -42.76% -7.49% +5.56%
75th Percentile £59.00 £62.50 £63.00
90th Percentile £83.45 £75.05 £76.92
England median hourly rate £27.21 £35.00 £35.00
% change year-on-year -22.26% - -

Information Security
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

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

Information Security job vacancy trend in the South East

Information Security
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

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

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

Information Security
Daily Rate Histogram in the South East

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Information Security in the South East over the 6 months to 22 February 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Information Security in the South East

Information Security
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

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

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

Information Security
Hourly Rate Histogram in the South East

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Information Security in the South East over the 6 months to 22 February 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Information Security in the South East

Information Security
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 Information Security within the South East region over the 6 months to 22 February 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
Thames Valley -13 61 £575 -8.00% 16
Berkshire -20 43 £627 +0.24% 7
Hampshire -4 33 £563 -8.16% 18
Surrey -4 13 £475 -9.52% 14
Oxfordshire - 12 £415 - 5
Buckinghamshire -6 6 £625 - 4
West Sussex -13 1 - - 2
Home Counties - 1 - -
Information Security
England

Information Security
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 6 (5.61%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
2 4 (3.74%) Mattermost
2 4 (3.74%) Skype for Business
3 2 (1.87%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 17 (15.89%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (10.28%) Microsoft Excel
3 10 (9.35%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 11 (10.28%) Oracle EBS
2 4 (3.74%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 15 (14.02%) AWS
2 13 (12.15%) Azure
3 12 (11.21%) OCI
4 3 (2.80%) Entra ID
4 3 (2.80%) Microsoft 365
5 2 (1.87%) GCP
5 2 (1.87%) Google Workspace
5 2 (1.87%) SaaS
6 1 (0.93%) Cloud Computing
6 1 (0.93%) IaaS
6 1 (0.93%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 11 (10.28%) Wireless
2 10 (9.35%) Firewall
3 4 (3.74%) Network Security
3 4 (3.74%) Skype
4 3 (2.80%) HTTP
4 3 (2.80%) SSH
5 1 (0.93%) Internet
5 1 (0.93%) Intranet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (3.74%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.93%) Metadata
2 1 (0.93%) Oracle BI Publisher
2 1 (0.93%) Oracle Reports
2 1 (0.93%) Semantic Layer
Development Applications
1 12 (11.21%) Burp Suite
2 10 (9.35%) Metasploit
3 1 (0.93%) JIRA
General
1 42 (39.25%) Social Skills
2 19 (17.76%) Public Sector
3 15 (14.02%) Finance
4 9 (8.41%) Legal
5 6 (5.61%) Manufacturing
6 4 (3.74%) Telecoms
7 3 (2.80%) Documentation Skills
8 2 (1.87%) Analytical Skills
9 1 (0.93%) Aerospace
9 1 (0.93%) Digital Health
9 1 (0.93%) Electronics
9 1 (0.93%) Influencing Skills
9 1 (0.93%) Law
9 1 (0.93%) Marketing
9 1 (0.93%) Pharmaceutical
9 1 (0.93%) Retail
Job Titles
1 23 (21.50%) Analyst
2 13 (12.15%) Consultant
3 11 (10.28%) 1st Line Support
3 11 (10.28%) Penetration Tester
3 11 (10.28%) Tester
4 9 (8.41%) Support Analyst
5 8 (7.48%) Lead
5 8 (7.48%) Security Analyst
6 7 (6.54%) Information Officer
7 6 (5.61%) Information Security Officer
7 6 (5.61%) Security Consultant
7 6 (5.61%) Security Officer
8 5 (4.67%) Functional Consultant
8 5 (4.67%) IT Analyst
8 5 (4.67%) IT Support
8 5 (4.67%) IT Support Analyst
8 5 (4.67%) Oracle Consultant
8 5 (4.67%) Oracle Functional Consultant
9 4 (3.74%) Information Manager
9 4 (3.74%) Security Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (11.21%) Oracle Fusion
Miscellaneous
1 17 (15.89%) Management Information System
2 13 (12.15%) Security Posture
3 7 (6.54%) Onboarding
3 7 (6.54%) Operational Technology
4 3 (2.80%) BYOD
4 3 (2.80%) Cyber Defence
5 2 (1.87%) IoT
6 1 (0.93%) CESG
6 1 (0.93%) Cyber Threat
6 1 (0.93%) Data Centre
6 1 (0.93%) Data Protection Act
6 1 (0.93%) Driving Licence
6 1 (0.93%) Enterprise Software
6 1 (0.93%) MISP
6 1 (0.93%) NHS
6 1 (0.93%) PKI
6 1 (0.93%) Private Cloud
6 1 (0.93%) Self-Motivation
6 1 (0.93%) STIX
6 1 (0.93%) TAXII
Operating Systems
1 21 (19.63%) Windows
2 13 (12.15%) Linux
3 6 (5.61%) Unix
4 4 (3.74%) Windows Server
5 2 (1.87%) Kali Linux
5 2 (1.87%) Mac OS
Processes & Methodologies
1 43 (40.19%) Cybersecurity
2 26 (24.30%) Security Management
3 22 (20.56%) Data Protection
3 22 (20.56%) Risk Management
4 20 (18.69%) Customer Service
4 20 (18.69%) Problem-Solving
5 18 (16.82%) Regulatory Compliance
6 17 (15.89%) Validation
7 16 (14.95%) Cloud Security
7 16 (14.95%) Information Security Management
7 16 (14.95%) Stakeholder Management
8 14 (13.08%) ITSM
8 14 (13.08%) Penetration Testing
9 12 (11.21%) Migration
10 11 (10.28%) Data Migration
10 11 (10.28%) Data Validation
10 11 (10.28%) ITIL
10 11 (10.28%) Service Delivery
11 10 (9.35%) Business Development
11 10 (9.35%) Line Management
Programming Languages
1 8 (7.48%) PowerShell
2 5 (4.67%) Python
2 5 (4.67%) SQL
3 1 (0.93%) Kusto Query Language
Qualifications
1 39 (36.45%) Security Cleared
2 35 (32.71%) SC Cleared
3 32 (29.91%) Degree
4 11 (10.28%) CREST Certified
5 10 (9.35%) CHECK Team Member
5 10 (9.35%) CISSP
5 10 (9.35%) Cyber Scheme
5 10 (9.35%) Postgraduate
6 6 (5.61%) CISM
7 5 (4.67%) A+ Certification
8 4 (3.74%) (ISC)2 CCSP
8 4 (3.74%) BPSS Clearance
8 4 (3.74%) Cisco Certification
8 4 (3.74%) DV Cleared
8 4 (3.74%) ITIL Certification
9 3 (2.80%) CCSP
9 3 (2.80%) GCIH
10 2 (1.87%) GCFA
10 2 (1.87%) GCFE
10 2 (1.87%) GREM
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 53 (49.53%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 43 (40.19%) NIST
3 23 (21.50%) GDPR
4 17 (15.89%) PCI DSS
5 16 (14.95%) QA
6 13 (12.15%) PMO
7 12 (11.21%) COBIT
8 9 (8.41%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 6 (5.61%) GRC
9 6 (5.61%) NCSC
10 5 (4.67%) Cyber Essentials
10 5 (4.67%) RMADS
11 4 (3.74%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 3 (2.80%) ISO/IEC 27005
13 2 (1.87%) JSP 440
14 1 (0.93%) Data Quality
14 1 (0.93%) EU AI Act
14 1 (0.93%) NIST 800
System Software
1 10 (9.35%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 12 (11.21%) Nmap
2 4 (3.74%) HP SiteScope
2 4 (3.74%) SCOM
3 2 (1.87%) EnCase
3 2 (1.87%) FTK
4 1 (0.93%) Nessus
Vendors
1 20 (18.69%) Microsoft
2 15 (14.02%) Oracle
3 7 (6.54%) CyberArk
4 6 (5.61%) Cisco
5 5 (4.67%) Splunk
6 4 (3.74%) BeyondTrust
6 4 (3.74%) Remedy
7 3 (2.80%) CrowdStrike
8 2 (1.87%) Darktrace
8 2 (1.87%) IBM
9 1 (0.93%) Google
9 1 (0.93%) Salesforce
9 1 (0.93%) SAP
9 1 (0.93%) ServiceNow