DevOps Contract Job Trends in the South West

DevOps
England > South West

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the South West requiring DevOps skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 14 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 12 18 19
Rank change year-on-year +6 +1 -8
Contract jobs citing DevOps 236 161 199
As % of all contract jobs in the South West 9.64% 8.25% 6.88%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.76% 9.37% 8.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 178 113 147
10th Percentile £400 £440 £416
25th Percentile £450 £500 £506
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £590 £625
Median % change year-on-year -11.02% -5.60% +8.70%
75th Percentile £625 £685 £700
90th Percentile £700 £721 £753
England median daily rate £525 £575 £575
% change year-on-year -8.70% - -4.17%
Number of hourly rates quoted 6 4 9
10th Percentile £84.00 - -
25th Percentile £85.00 £66.25 £35.00
Median hourly rate £90.00 £70.75 £77.50
Median % change year-on-year +27.21% -8.71% +18.13%
75th Percentile £94.69 £74.11 £78.00
90th Percentile £95.00 £74.31 £81.25
England median hourly rate £47.50 £67.50 £65.00
% change year-on-year -29.63% +3.85% -0.92%

All Process & Methodology Skills
South West

DevOps 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 West.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 2,006 1,719 2,457
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the South West 81.98% 88.06% 84.93%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,162 1,045 1,615
10th Percentile £263 £248 £275
25th Percentile £413 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% +4.76%
75th Percentile £629 £638 £650
90th Percentile £738 £714 £725
England median daily rate £500 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -4.76% -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 318 106 262
10th Percentile £15.62 £18.51 £17.46
25th Percentile £20.82 £46.56 £44.44
Median hourly rate £38.94 £65.00 £59.84
Median % change year-on-year -40.09% +8.62% -2.70%
75th Percentile £65.00 £68.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £65.30 £74.22 £83.40
England median hourly rate £25.15 £34.50 £42.50
% change year-on-year -27.10% -18.82% +21.43%

DevOps
Job Vacancy Trend in the South West

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

DevOps job vacancy trend in the South West

DevOps
Daily Rate Trend in the South West

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing DevOps.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing DevOps

DevOps
Daily Rate Histogram in the South West

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing DevOps in the South West over the 6 months to 14 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for DevOps in the South West

DevOps
Hourly Rate Trend in the South West

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing DevOps.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the South West citing DevOps

DevOps
Contract Job Locations in the South West

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing DevOps within the South West region over the 6 months to 14 January 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
Gloucestershire +8 92 £500 -18.70% 51
Bristol -2 58 £531 -2.97% 44
Wiltshire +2 50 £568 -3.81% 21
Dorset - 15 £513 - 19
Somerset +1 13 £550 -7.17% 31
Devon -15 5 £550 -19.71% 21
DevOps
England

DevOps
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South West 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 20 (8.47%) Confluence
2 11 (4.66%) Apache
3 6 (2.54%) SharePoint
4 3 (1.27%) Microsoft Exchange
5 2 (0.85%) Apache Airflow
5 2 (0.85%) Apache Spark
Applications
1 2 (0.85%) Microsoft Project
2 1 (0.42%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.42%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 6 (2.54%) NEC Housing
2 5 (2.12%) Maximo
3 2 (0.85%) Primavera
4 1 (0.42%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 139 (58.90%) Azure
2 81 (34.32%) Azure DevOps
3 54 (22.88%) AWS
4 48 (20.34%) GitHub
5 18 (7.63%) GCP
6 15 (6.36%) Entra ID
7 14 (5.93%) Azure Data Factory
7 14 (5.93%) Serverless
8 13 (5.51%) GitHub Actions
9 10 (4.24%) Azure AKS
9 10 (4.24%) Azure Key Vault
9 10 (4.24%) OpenShift
10 9 (3.81%) AWS CloudFormation
10 9 (3.81%) Azure Monitor
11 8 (3.39%) IaaS
12 7 (2.97%) Amazon EC2
12 7 (2.97%) Azure Sentinel
12 7 (2.97%) Dynamics 365
13 6 (2.54%) Amazon S3
13 6 (2.54%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 9 (3.81%) VPN
2 7 (2.97%) Network Security
3 5 (2.12%) Firewall
4 4 (1.69%) TCP/IP
5 3 (1.27%) DNS
5 3 (1.27%) SSL
6 2 (0.85%) HTTP
6 2 (0.85%) WAAS
6 2 (0.85%) WAN
7 1 (0.42%) DHCP
7 1 (0.42%) LAN
7 1 (0.42%) NAS
7 1 (0.42%) NGFW
7 1 (0.42%) SAN
7 1 (0.42%) SD-WAN
7 1 (0.42%) Software-Defined Networking
7 1 (0.42%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (9.75%) PostgreSQL
2 14 (5.93%) Elasticsearch
3 7 (2.97%) Redis
4 5 (2.12%) Oracle Database
5 4 (1.69%) Amazon RDS
5 4 (1.69%) Metadata
6 3 (1.27%) Data Warehouse
6 3 (1.27%) Power BI
6 3 (1.27%) SQL Server
7 2 (0.85%) Azure SQL Database
7 2 (0.85%) Big Data
7 2 (0.85%) DynamoDB
7 2 (0.85%) Hadoop
7 2 (0.85%) MongoDB
7 2 (0.85%) NoSQL
7 2 (0.85%) Oracle Database 12c
7 2 (0.85%) Power Query
8 1 (0.42%) Amazon Aurora
8 1 (0.42%) CockroachDB
8 1 (0.42%) Oracle Exadata
Development Applications
1 32 (13.56%) JIRA
2 31 (13.14%) Oracle APEX
3 29 (12.29%) GitLab
4 25 (10.59%) Git
5 20 (8.47%) Jenkins
6 14 (5.93%) SonarQube
7 11 (4.66%) Artifactory
8 5 (2.12%) MSI
9 2 (0.85%) AdminStudio
9 2 (0.85%) Bitbucket
9 2 (0.85%) InstallShield
9 2 (0.85%) Maven
9 2 (0.85%) Sonatype Nexus
10 1 (0.42%) Cucumber
10 1 (0.42%) JUnit
10 1 (0.42%) Mocha
10 1 (0.42%) Oracle Forms
10 1 (0.42%) REST Assured
10 1 (0.42%) SoapUI
10 1 (0.42%) TestNG
General
1 73 (30.93%) Social Skills
2 25 (10.59%) Public Sector
3 16 (6.78%) Finance
4 12 (5.08%) Analytical Skills
5 6 (2.54%) Telecoms
6 5 (2.12%) Aerospace
6 5 (2.12%) Documentation Skills
6 5 (2.12%) Military
7 4 (1.69%) Back Office
8 2 (0.85%) Law
8 2 (0.85%) Local Government
9 1 (0.42%) Banking
9 1 (0.42%) Electronics
9 1 (0.42%) Manufacturing
9 1 (0.42%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 64 (27.12%) Senior
2 61 (25.85%) Developer
3 42 (17.80%) DevOps Engineer
4 38 (16.10%) Senior Developer
5 16 (6.78%) Data Engineer
6 14 (5.93%) Architect
7 12 (5.08%) Senior Data Engineer
8 11 (4.66%) DevSecOps Engineer
9 9 (3.81%) Consultant
9 9 (3.81%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 9 (3.81%) Python Developer
10 8 (3.39%) Azure Engineer
10 8 (3.39%) Lead
10 8 (3.39%) Platform Engineer
11 7 (2.97%) Analyst
11 7 (2.97%) Backend Developer
11 7 (2.97%) Cloud Engineer
11 7 (2.97%) GCP Engineer
12 6 (2.54%) Azure DevOps Engineer
12 6 (2.54%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 37 (15.68%) REST
2 15 (6.36%) ARM Templates
2 15 (6.36%) Kafka
3 14 (5.93%) YAML
4 13 (5.51%) Node.js
4 13 (5.51%) React
5 12 (5.08%) Keycloak
6 9 (3.81%) Apache NiFi
7 8 (3.39%) GraphQL
8 7 (2.97%) FastAPI
8 7 (2.97%) Flask
8 7 (2.97%) gRPC
8 7 (2.97%) HTML
8 7 (2.97%) Spring
8 7 (2.97%) WebSockets
9 6 (2.54%) .NET
9 6 (2.54%) AngularJS
9 6 (2.54%) CSS
9 6 (2.54%) RESTful
10 5 (2.12%) Elastic Stack
Miscellaneous
1 29 (12.29%) Cloud Native
2 19 (8.05%) Hybrid Cloud
3 14 (5.93%) Product Ownership
4 7 (2.97%) Legacy Systems
5 6 (2.54%) Enterprise Software
6 4 (1.69%) Onboarding
6 4 (1.69%) Public Cloud
7 3 (1.27%) CMDB
7 3 (1.27%) Mobile App
7 3 (1.27%) Operational Technology
7 3 (1.27%) Security Posture
8 2 (0.85%) Data Centre
8 2 (0.85%) FPGA
8 2 (0.85%) Legacy Applications
8 2 (0.85%) Private Cloud
8 2 (0.85%) Self-Motivation
8 2 (0.85%) Verilog
8 2 (0.85%) VHDL
8 2 (0.85%) Wiki
9 1 (0.42%) Analytical Mindset
Operating Systems
1 33 (13.98%) Windows
2 18 (7.63%) Linux
3 7 (2.97%) Windows 10
4 4 (1.69%) Ubuntu
5 3 (1.27%) Windows Server
6 2 (0.85%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 2 (0.85%) Windows Server 2016
7 1 (0.42%) Android
7 1 (0.42%) Apple iOS
7 1 (0.42%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.42%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 110 (46.61%) Agile
2 102 (43.22%) CI/CD
3 52 (22.03%) Containerisation
4 51 (21.61%) Infrastructure as Code
5 49 (20.76%) Scrum
6 43 (18.22%) Problem-Solving
7 36 (15.25%) Validation
8 35 (14.83%) Collaborative Working
9 30 (12.71%) ITIL
9 30 (12.71%) Software Delivery
10 28 (11.86%) Microservices
10 28 (11.86%) Requirements Analysis
11 27 (11.44%) Web Application Development
12 22 (9.32%) Continuous Improvement
12 22 (9.32%) DevSecOps
13 21 (8.90%) User Experience
14 20 (8.47%) Platform Engineering
14 20 (8.47%) Workflow
15 19 (8.05%) ETL
15 19 (8.05%) Migration
Programming Languages
1 79 (33.47%) Python
2 56 (23.73%) SQL
3 48 (20.34%) JavaScript
3 48 (20.34%) PowerShell
4 39 (16.53%) PL/SQL
5 22 (9.32%) Go
6 19 (8.05%) Java
7 16 (6.78%) TypeScript
8 15 (6.36%) Bash
8 15 (6.36%) Bicep
9 9 (3.81%) C#
10 4 (1.69%) VBScript
11 3 (1.27%) C
11 3 (1.27%) Ruby
11 3 (1.27%) T-SQL
12 2 (0.85%) Apex Code
12 2 (0.85%) C++
12 2 (0.85%) Data Analysis Expressions
13 1 (0.42%) SOQL
Qualifications
1 176 (74.58%) Security Cleared
2 155 (65.68%) SC Cleared
3 46 (19.49%) DV Cleared
4 25 (10.59%) Azure Certification
5 18 (7.63%) Degree
6 14 (5.93%) Microsoft Certification
7 11 (4.66%) Computer Science Degree
8 6 (2.54%) AWS Certification
8 6 (2.54%) CISM
8 6 (2.54%) CISSP
9 5 (2.12%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
9 5 (2.12%) MCSA
10 3 (1.27%) AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
10 3 (1.27%) Master's Degree
11 2 (0.85%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
11 2 (0.85%) Cisco Certification
11 2 (0.85%) OCA
11 2 (0.85%) OCP
11 2 (0.85%) Oracle Certification
12 1 (0.42%) CCSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 18 (7.63%) QA
2 16 (6.78%) NCSC
3 13 (5.51%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 13 (5.51%) NIST
4 5 (2.12%) NIST 800
5 2 (0.85%) Accessibility
5 2 (0.85%) Data Quality
5 2 (0.85%) GDPR
5 2 (0.85%) Government Security Classifications
6 1 (0.42%) Cyber Essentials
6 1 (0.42%) JSP 440
6 1 (0.42%) PCI DSS
6 1 (0.42%) WCAG
System Software
1 61 (25.85%) Docker
2 18 (7.63%) Active Directory
3 10 (4.24%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (2.54%) Virtual Machines
5 5 (2.12%) Virtual Desktop
6 4 (1.69%) Microsoft App-V
7 2 (0.85%) Hyper-V
7 2 (0.85%) Oracle RAC
7 2 (0.85%) vSphere
8 1 (0.42%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 78 (33.05%) Kubernetes
2 74 (31.36%) Terraform
3 39 (16.53%) Ansible
4 15 (6.36%) Grafana
5 14 (5.93%) Prometheus
6 8 (3.39%) Packer
7 7 (2.97%) SCCM
8 6 (2.54%) Single Sign-On
9 4 (1.69%) Argo
9 4 (1.69%) Nessus
10 3 (1.27%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 3 (1.27%) Podman
10 3 (1.27%) Proxmox
10 3 (1.27%) Puppet
11 2 (0.85%) Data Guard
11 2 (0.85%) Istio
11 2 (0.85%) Kibana
11 2 (0.85%) Microsoft Intune
11 2 (0.85%) Oracle RMAN
11 2 (0.85%) Rancher
Vendors
1 43 (18.22%) Oracle
2 42 (17.80%) Microsoft
3 18 (7.63%) Red Hat
4 16 (6.78%) VMware
5 14 (5.93%) Atlassian
6 10 (4.24%) Google
7 6 (2.54%) NEC
8 5 (2.12%) Cisco
8 5 (2.12%) IBM
8 5 (2.12%) NetApp
8 5 (2.12%) ServiceNow
9 4 (1.69%) Salesforce
10 3 (1.27%) HP
11 2 (0.85%) CheckPoint
11 2 (0.85%) Databricks
11 2 (0.85%) F5
11 2 (0.85%) Palo Alto
12 1 (0.42%) Dynatrace
12 1 (0.42%) MuleSoft
12 1 (0.42%) Splunk