Network Optimisation Contract Job Trends in the South East

Network Optimisation
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the South East requiring Network Optimisation skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 20 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
20 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 202 148 212
Rank change year-on-year -54 +64 +9
Contract jobs citing Network Optimisation 8 5 1
As % of all contract jobs in the South East 0.15% 0.17% 0.018%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.18% 0.18% 0.020%
Number of daily rates quoted 2 4 1
10th Percentile £410 - -
25th Percentile £411 - -
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £420 £400 £200
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% +100.00% -51.22%
75th Percentile £426 £456 -
90th Percentile - £558 -
England median daily rate £469 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -10.71% - +40.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2 0 0
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile £42.13 - -
Median hourly rate £42.25 - -
75th Percentile £42.38 - -
90th Percentile - - -
England median hourly rate £42.25 - £14.00
% change year-on-year - - -30.00%

All Process & Methodology Skills
South East

Network Optimisation 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 4,440 2,703 4,886
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South East 82.91% 91.97% 86.85%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,914 1,720 2,915
10th Percentile £275 £257 £213
25th Percentile £406 £405 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £512 £500
Median % change year-on-year -2.25% +2.30% -0.40%
75th Percentile £600 £613 £613
90th Percentile £700 £675 £688
England median daily rate £503 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.19% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 384 149 390
10th Percentile £15.23 £14.84 £13.00
25th Percentile £18.46 £20.30 £18.20
Median hourly rate £33.75 £35.00 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year -3.57% -6.67% -16.67%
75th Percentile £80.12 £62.50 £62.47
90th Percentile £88.00 £75.00 £75.16
England median hourly rate £32.50 £33.26 £32.50
% change year-on-year -2.27% +2.32% -12.87%

Network Optimisation
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

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

Network Optimisation job vacancy trend in the South East

Network Optimisation
Daily Rate Trend in the South East

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

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

Network Optimisation
Hourly Rate Trend in the South East

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

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

Network Optimisation
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 Network Optimisation within the South East region over the 6 months to 20 March 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
Berkshire -32 4 £423 +5.63% 1
Thames Valley -42 4 £423 +5.63% 1
Hampshire - 3 - -
East Sussex - 1 £418 -
Network Optimisation
England

Network Optimisation
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:

Communications & Networking
1 7 (87.50%) MPLS
2 5 (62.50%) VPN
3 4 (50.00%) BGP
3 4 (50.00%) OSPF
3 4 (50.00%) SD-WAN
3 4 (50.00%) WAN
4 3 (37.50%) Firewall
5 2 (25.00%) Broadband
5 2 (25.00%) Internet
5 2 (25.00%) NaaS
5 2 (25.00%) Network Security
6 1 (12.50%) Junos
General
1 4 (50.00%) Telecoms
2 3 (37.50%) Social Skills
3 2 (25.00%) Analytical Skills
3 2 (25.00%) Billing
3 2 (25.00%) Finance
4 1 (12.50%) Public Sector
Job Titles
1 4 (50.00%) Network Engineer
2 3 (37.50%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
2 3 (37.50%) IP Engineer
2 3 (37.50%) IP Network Engineer
3 2 (25.00%) Infrastructure Specialist
3 2 (25.00%) Senior
3 2 (25.00%) Senior Data Warehouse Specialist
3 2 (25.00%) Telecoms Specialist
4 1 (12.50%) Architect
4 1 (12.50%) Enterprise Architect
4 1 (12.50%) Juniper Engineer
4 1 (12.50%) Senior Architect
4 1 (12.50%) Senior Enterprise Architect
4 1 (12.50%) Telecoms Architect
Miscellaneous
1 2 (25.00%) Cloud Native
2 1 (12.50%) TM Forum
Processes & Methodologies
1 4 (50.00%) Problem-Solving
1 4 (50.00%) Strategic Planning
2 3 (37.50%) Integration Testing
2 3 (37.50%) Performance Tuning
2 3 (37.50%) Validation
3 2 (25.00%) AI
3 2 (25.00%) Change Management
3 2 (25.00%) Continuous Improvement
3 2 (25.00%) Cost Optimisation
3 2 (25.00%) Cost Reduction
3 2 (25.00%) Inventory Management
3 2 (25.00%) ITIL
3 2 (25.00%) Network Architecture
3 2 (25.00%) Observability
3 2 (25.00%) Presales
3 2 (25.00%) Project Management
3 2 (25.00%) Roadmaps
3 2 (25.00%) Service Delivery
3 2 (25.00%) Stakeholder Management
3 2 (25.00%) Test Automation
Programming Languages
1 3 (37.50%) Python
Qualifications
1 4 (50.00%) Security Cleared
2 3 (37.50%) DV Cleared
3 2 (25.00%) BPSS Clearance
3 2 (25.00%) ITIL Certification
4 1 (12.50%) CCIE
4 1 (12.50%) Cisco Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 2 (25.00%) SLA
Systems Management
1 3 (37.50%) Ansible
Vendors
1 5 (62.50%) Cisco
2 3 (37.50%) Juniper
2 3 (37.50%) Nokia
2 3 (37.50%) Palo Alto
3 2 (25.00%) Fortinet