Kubernetes Contract Job Trends in the South East

Kubernetes (k8s)
England > South East

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

6 months to
22 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 68 50 58
Rank change year-on-year -18 +8 -5
Contract jobs citing Kubernetes 208 133 174
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 3.16% 3.89% 3.24%
As % of the Systems Management category 27.62% 27.88% 22.89%
Number of daily rates quoted 150 84 123
10th Percentile £358 £320 £425
25th Percentile £433 £413 £474
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £500 £550
Median % change year-on-year +2.45% -9.05% -8.33%
75th Percentile £580 £588 £628
90th Percentile £701 £619 £675
England median daily rate £538 £550 £550
% change year-on-year -2.27% - -10.35%
Number of hourly rates quoted 17 0 2
10th Percentile £62.50 - £37.70
25th Percentile - - £39.13
Median hourly rate £70.00 - £43.00
75th Percentile - - £46.63
90th Percentile - - £47.90
England median hourly rate £70.00 £67.00 £67.25
% change year-on-year +4.48% -0.37% -7.88%

All Systems Management Skills
South East

Kubernetes falls under the Systems Management category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring systems management skills in the South East.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for systems management skills 753 477 760
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 11.44% 13.96% 14.15%
Number of daily rates quoted 521 320 556
10th Percentile £309 £250 £280
25th Percentile £407 £400 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £500 £515
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% -2.91% -6.36%
75th Percentile £600 £584 £608
90th Percentile £700 £620 £675
England median daily rate £520 £513 £525
% change year-on-year +1.46% -2.38% -8.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 43 7 10
10th Percentile £18.10 £18.87 £15.80
25th Percentile £31.25 £23.44 £24.19
Median hourly rate £65.00 £32.77 £37.33
Median % change year-on-year +98.35% -12.22% -32.12%
75th Percentile £70.00 £69.00 £49.69
90th Percentile - £85.65 £53.45
England median hourly rate £65.00 £55.50 £30.00
% change year-on-year +17.12% +85.00% -45.45%

Kubernetes
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

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

Kubernetes job vacancy trend in the South East

Kubernetes
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

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

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

Kubernetes
Daily Rate Histogram in the South East

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Kubernetes in the South East over the 6 months to 22 July 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Kubernetes in the South East

Kubernetes
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

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

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

Kubernetes
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 Kubernetes within the South East region over the 6 months to 22 July 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 -35 77 £425 -10.53% 36
Hampshire -13 76 £550 +7.32% 38
Berkshire -27 53 £425 -12.87% 9
Surrey +3 41 £500 -11.11% 12
Buckinghamshire -23 19 £398 +28.02% 13
West Sussex -22 6 £400 +33.33% 2
Middlesex -9 5 £475 -25.20% 1
Oxfordshire -18 5 £825 +57.14% 14
East Sussex 0 2 £330 -28.65% 1
Home Counties - 1 - -
Kubernetes
England

Kubernetes
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 9 (4.33%) Apache Spark
2 7 (3.37%) Apache Airflow
2 7 (3.37%) OpenStack
3 3 (1.44%) Confluence
3 3 (1.44%) Palantir Foundry
4 2 (0.96%) Apache Pulsar
5 1 (0.48%) IIS
5 1 (0.48%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 6 (2.88%) CPLEX
Business Applications
1 1 (0.48%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 109 (52.40%) AWS
2 104 (50.00%) Azure
3 47 (22.60%) OpenShift
4 44 (21.15%) GCP
5 28 (13.46%) Azure DevOps
6 25 (12.02%) GitHub
7 18 (8.65%) GitHub Actions
8 15 (7.21%) Serverless
9 14 (6.73%) Amazon CloudWatch
10 13 (6.25%) Amazon EKS
11 12 (5.77%) Azure AKS
12 10 (4.81%) Entra ID
13 8 (3.85%) Azure Monitor
13 8 (3.85%) SaaS
14 7 (3.37%) Amazon S3
14 7 (3.37%) AWS CloudFormation
14 7 (3.37%) AWS Lambda
15 6 (2.88%) Snowflake
16 5 (2.40%) Azure API Management
16 5 (2.40%) Datadog
Communications & Networking
1 9 (4.33%) Firewall
2 8 (3.85%) DNS
2 8 (3.85%) Network Security
3 7 (3.37%) VPN
4 6 (2.88%) 5G
4 6 (2.88%) Diameter Protocol
4 6 (2.88%) LTE
4 6 (2.88%) Radio Access Network
4 6 (2.88%) VoLTE
4 6 (2.88%) VoWiFi
4 6 (2.88%) Wireshark
5 4 (1.92%) HTTP
5 4 (1.92%) MQTT
6 3 (1.44%) TCP/IP
7 2 (0.96%) BGP
7 2 (0.96%) Intrusion Detection
7 2 (0.96%) SNMP
8 1 (0.48%) HTTPS
8 1 (0.48%) SAN
8 1 (0.48%) SSH
Database & Business Intelligence
1 28 (13.46%) PostgreSQL
2 18 (8.65%) NoSQL
3 11 (5.29%) Big Data
4 10 (4.81%) Relational Database
5 9 (4.33%) Data Warehouse
6 6 (2.88%) MongoDB
7 5 (2.40%) DynamoDB
7 5 (2.40%) Elasticsearch
7 5 (2.40%) Oracle Database
8 3 (1.44%) DocumentDB
8 3 (1.44%) Redis
9 2 (0.96%) Amazon Aurora
9 2 (0.96%) Amazon RDS
9 2 (0.96%) Data Lake
9 2 (0.96%) Spark SQL
9 2 (0.96%) SQL Server
10 1 (0.48%) Amazon Redshift
10 1 (0.48%) Hadoop
10 1 (0.48%) InfluxDB
10 1 (0.48%) MySQL
Development Applications
1 30 (14.42%) Git
2 28 (13.46%) SonarQube
3 27 (12.98%) GitLab
4 24 (11.54%) Jenkins
5 9 (4.33%) MLflow
6 5 (2.40%) NUnit
7 4 (1.92%) Jaeger
7 4 (1.92%) JIRA
8 3 (1.44%) JUnit
8 3 (1.44%) Sonatype Nexus
9 1 (0.48%) Cucumber
9 1 (0.48%) Gradle
9 1 (0.48%) JMeter
9 1 (0.48%) LoadRunner
9 1 (0.48%) Maven
9 1 (0.48%) Mockito
9 1 (0.48%) NeoLoad
9 1 (0.48%) Selenium
9 1 (0.48%) Subversion
General
1 47 (22.60%) Social Skills
2 20 (9.62%) Public Sector
3 19 (9.13%) Finance
4 14 (6.73%) Analytical Skills
5 8 (3.85%) Telecoms
6 7 (3.37%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 5 (2.40%) Documentation Skills
8 3 (1.44%) Banking
8 3 (1.44%) Manufacturing
8 3 (1.44%) Publishing
9 2 (0.96%) Aerospace
9 2 (0.96%) Automotive
9 2 (0.96%) Financial Institution
9 2 (0.96%) Military
9 2 (0.96%) Organisational Skills
9 2 (0.96%) Retail
10 1 (0.48%) Advertising
10 1 (0.48%) Health Technology
10 1 (0.48%) Pharmaceutical
10 1 (0.48%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 43 (20.67%) Developer
2 26 (12.50%) Platform Engineer
3 25 (12.02%) Architect
4 19 (9.13%) Java Developer
5 16 (7.69%) DevOps Engineer
6 12 (5.77%) Site Reliability Engineer
6 12 (5.77%) Software Engineer
7 11 (5.29%) Java Engineer
7 11 (5.29%) Senior
8 10 (4.81%) Analyst
8 10 (4.81%) Azure Engineer
8 10 (4.81%) DevSecOps Engineer
8 10 (4.81%) Security Analyst
9 9 (4.33%) Site Engineer
10 8 (3.85%) Cloud Architect
11 7 (3.37%) Azure DevOps Engineer
11 7 (3.37%) Python Developer
12 5 (2.40%) .NET Developer
12 5 (2.40%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 5 (2.40%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 38 (18.27%) Kafka
2 28 (13.46%) AngularJS
3 24 (11.54%) RESTful
4 21 (10.10%) Quarkus
4 21 (10.10%) REST
5 16 (7.69%) React
6 15 (7.21%) .NET
7 14 (6.73%) Spring
8 13 (6.25%) Spring Boot
9 10 (4.81%) YAML
10 9 (4.33%) Django
10 9 (4.33%) Loki
10 9 (4.33%) OAuth
10 9 (4.33%) OAuth2
10 9 (4.33%) OpenAPI
10 9 (4.33%) Swagger
11 8 (3.85%) pytest
11 8 (3.85%) RabbitMQ
12 7 (3.37%) Node.js
12 7 (3.37%) NumPy
Miscellaneous
1 34 (16.35%) Cloud Native
2 25 (12.02%) Distributed Systems
3 13 (6.25%) Hybrid Cloud
4 10 (4.81%) Data Structures
4 10 (4.81%) Onboarding
5 8 (3.85%) Algorithms
6 6 (2.88%) Enterprise Cloud
6 6 (2.88%) Enterprise Software
6 6 (2.88%) Product Ownership
7 4 (1.92%) CMDB
7 4 (1.92%) Public Cloud
7 4 (1.92%) Security Posture
8 3 (1.44%) AI Agents
9 2 (0.96%) Data Protection Act
9 2 (0.96%) Distributed Computing
9 2 (0.96%) FMCG
9 2 (0.96%) Linux Command Line
9 2 (0.96%) Operational Technology
9 2 (0.96%) PKI
9 2 (0.96%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 49 (23.56%) Linux
2 17 (8.17%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
3 9 (4.33%) Unix
4 4 (1.92%) Windows
5 1 (0.48%) Android
5 1 (0.48%) Apple iOS
5 1 (0.48%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 137 (65.87%) CI/CD
2 92 (44.23%) Containerisation
2 92 (44.23%) DevOps
3 81 (38.94%) Agile
4 57 (27.40%) DevSecOps
5 54 (25.96%) Infrastructure as Code
6 46 (22.12%) Software Engineering
7 42 (20.19%) Problem-Solving
8 41 (19.71%) Platform Engineering
9 39 (18.75%) Scrum
10 36 (17.31%) AI
10 36 (17.31%) Machine Learning
11 34 (16.35%) Site Reliability Engineering
12 33 (15.87%) Microservices
13 32 (15.38%) Continuous Improvement
13 32 (15.38%) Test Automation
14 28 (13.46%) Observability
15 27 (12.98%) SDLC
16 25 (12.02%) Analytics
16 25 (12.02%) Unit Testing
Programming Languages
1 95 (45.67%) Python
2 49 (23.56%) Java
3 41 (19.71%) Bash
4 26 (12.50%) PowerShell
5 20 (9.62%) SQL
6 18 (8.65%) Go
6 18 (8.65%) JavaScript
7 12 (5.77%) TypeScript
8 10 (4.81%) Bicep
8 10 (4.81%) C#
9 4 (1.92%) Rust
9 4 (1.92%) Shell Script
10 2 (0.96%) Groovy
10 2 (0.96%) Scala
11 1 (0.48%) C
11 1 (0.48%) C++
11 1 (0.48%) Korn
11 1 (0.48%) Kotlin
Qualifications
1 101 (48.56%) Security Cleared
2 85 (40.87%) SC Cleared
3 15 (7.21%) Degree
4 13 (6.25%) DV Cleared
5 11 (5.29%) Azure Certification
6 9 (4.33%) Computer Science Degree
7 7 (3.37%) RHCE
8 6 (2.88%) BPSS Clearance
9 4 (1.92%) AWS Certification
9 4 (1.92%) ITIL Certification
9 4 (1.92%) Master's Degree
10 3 (1.44%) Cisco Certification
10 3 (1.44%) CISSP
11 2 (0.96%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 2 (0.96%) CCSP
11 2 (0.96%) Microsoft Certification
12 1 (0.48%) CCNA
12 1 (0.48%) CCNP
12 1 (0.48%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
12 1 (0.48%) OCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (14.90%) QA
2 8 (3.85%) NIST
2 8 (3.85%) PCI DSS
3 6 (2.88%) Cyber Essentials
3 6 (2.88%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
3 6 (2.88%) GDPR
3 6 (2.88%) SLA
4 5 (2.40%) GRC
4 5 (2.40%) IASME
4 5 (2.40%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
4 5 (2.40%) NCSC
4 5 (2.40%) NIST 800
5 3 (1.44%) Data Quality
6 2 (0.96%) Accessibility
6 2 (0.96%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 1 (0.48%) ISO 20022
7 1 (0.48%) ISO 8583
7 1 (0.48%) JSP 440
System Software
1 90 (43.27%) Docker
2 8 (3.85%) VMware Infrastructure
3 4 (1.92%) IAG
4 3 (1.44%) Active Directory
5 2 (0.96%) Hyper-V
5 2 (0.96%) Slurm Workload Manager
5 2 (0.96%) VMware ESXi
6 1 (0.48%) Citrix Hypervisor
6 1 (0.48%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 55 (26.44%) Terraform
2 31 (14.90%) Grafana
3 30 (14.42%) Prometheus
4 27 (12.98%) Argo
5 24 (11.54%) Ansible
6 10 (4.81%) Rancher
7 6 (2.88%) Istio
7 6 (2.88%) Puppet
8 5 (2.40%) Podman
9 3 (1.44%) Kustomize
10 2 (0.96%) CASB
10 2 (0.96%) Kibana
10 2 (0.96%) linkerd
10 2 (0.96%) Single Sign-On
11 1 (0.48%) Fluentd
11 1 (0.48%) Kubeflow
11 1 (0.48%) Nessus
11 1 (0.48%) QRadar
Vendors
1 36 (17.31%) Red Hat
2 20 (9.62%) Microsoft
3 15 (7.21%) Google
4 10 (4.81%) Oracle
5 9 (4.33%) VMware
6 7 (3.37%) Ericsson
7 6 (2.88%) BT
7 6 (2.88%) Dynatrace
7 6 (2.88%) Huawei
7 6 (2.88%) Nokia
7 6 (2.88%) Splunk
8 5 (2.40%) Tenable
9 4 (1.92%) Ab Initio
9 4 (1.92%) Foundry
9 4 (1.92%) Nexthink
9 4 (1.92%) NVIDIA
9 4 (1.92%) OpenAI
9 4 (1.92%) ServiceNow
9 4 (1.92%) Teradata
10 3 (1.44%) Palantir