DevOps Contract Job Trends in the Thames Valley

DevOps
South East > Thames Valley

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the Thames Valley requiring DevOps skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 23 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
23 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 15 16 9
Rank change year-on-year +1 -7 +5
Contract jobs citing DevOps 273 147 303
As % of all contract jobs in the Thames Valley 9.09% 10.10% 11.61%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 11.17% 10.88% 13.31%
Number of daily rates quoted 209 91 200
10th Percentile £358 £360 £450
25th Percentile £417 £413 £500
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £594
Median % change year-on-year - -15.82% +3.30%
75th Percentile £600 £588 £650
90th Percentile £670 £638 £688
South East median daily rate £513 £500 £550
% change year-on-year +2.65% -9.13% -5.21%
Number of hourly rates quoted 16 2 28
10th Percentile £80.25 £35.98 £56.65
25th Percentile £80.75 £44.56 £61.60
Median hourly rate £82.50 £60.75 £83.77
Median % change year-on-year +35.80% -27.48% +5.78%
75th Percentile £102.88 £77.56 £87.46
90th Percentile £104.00 £86.53 £87.53
South East median hourly rate £63.73 £60.75 £83.77
% change year-on-year +4.91% -27.48% +5.78%

All Process & Methodology Skills
Thames Valley

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 Thames Valley.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 2,443 1,351 2,276
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the Thames Valley 81.32% 92.85% 87.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,605 836 1,262
10th Percentile £303 £300 £213
25th Percentile £403 £402 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £507 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year +1.30% - -
75th Percentile £600 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £675
South East median daily rate £515 £500 £500
% change year-on-year +3.00% -0.05% -0.65%
Number of hourly rates quoted 201 64 167
10th Percentile £16.35 £14.20 £14.17
25th Percentile £28.00 £14.28 £19.25
Median hourly rate £81.50 £25.23 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year +223.09% -43.94% -11.85%
75th Percentile £88.00 £62.24 £63.85
90th Percentile £103.75 £76.68 £85.65
South East median hourly rate £52.50 £25.82 £47.50
% change year-on-year +103.35% -45.65% -5.00%

DevOps
Job Vacancy Trend in the Thames Valley

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

DevOps job vacancy trend in the Thames Valley

DevOps
Daily Rate Trend in the Thames Valley

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the Thames Valley citing DevOps.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the Thames Valley citing DevOps

DevOps
Daily Rate Histogram in the Thames Valley

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing DevOps in the Thames Valley over the 6 months to 23 May 2026.

Daily rate histogram for DevOps in the Thames Valley

DevOps
Hourly Rate Trend in the Thames Valley

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the Thames Valley citing DevOps.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the Thames Valley citing DevOps

DevOps
Hourly Rate Histogram in the Thames Valley

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing DevOps in the Thames Valley over the 6 months to 23 May 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for DevOps in the Thames Valley

DevOps
Contract Job Locations in the Thames Valley

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing DevOps within the Thames Valley region over the 6 months to 23 May 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 +2 194 £500 - 50
Buckinghamshire +5 70 £492 +31.20% 17
Oxfordshire -16 9 £550 - 20
DevOps
South East

DevOps
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the Thames Valley 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 13 (4.76%) SharePoint
2 11 (4.03%) Confluence
3 4 (1.47%) IIS
3 4 (1.47%) OpenStack
3 4 (1.47%) WebSphere
3 4 (1.47%) WebSphere Application Server
4 3 (1.10%) Apache Spark
4 3 (1.10%) ArcGIS
5 2 (0.73%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 2 (0.73%) GeoServer
5 2 (0.73%) IBM HTTP Server
5 2 (0.73%) JBoss
5 2 (0.73%) Oracle HTTP Server
5 2 (0.73%) Smallworld
5 2 (0.73%) WebSphere Portal
6 1 (0.37%) Apache
6 1 (0.37%) CMS
6 1 (0.37%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 8 (2.93%) Microsoft Excel
2 4 (1.47%) CPLEX
2 4 (1.47%) Microsoft Project
3 2 (0.73%) MS Visio
4 1 (0.37%) Microsoft Office
4 1 (0.37%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 4 (1.47%) Oracle EBS
1 4 (1.47%) SAP S/4HANA
2 1 (0.37%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 215 (78.75%) Azure
2 131 (47.99%) Azure DevOps
3 72 (26.37%) AWS
4 40 (14.65%) GCP
5 38 (13.92%) Power Platform
6 25 (9.16%) Entra ID
7 23 (8.42%) GitHub
8 20 (7.33%) Azure Monitor
9 16 (5.86%) GitHub Actions
9 16 (5.86%) SaaS
10 14 (5.13%) Microsoft 365
11 13 (4.76%) Azure Key Vault
11 13 (4.76%) OCI
11 13 (4.76%) OpenShift
12 10 (3.66%) Azure AKS
12 10 (3.66%) IaaS
12 10 (3.66%) PaaS
13 9 (3.30%) Serverless
14 6 (2.20%) Azure Functions
14 6 (2.20%) Google App Engine
Communications & Networking
1 19 (6.96%) Firewall
2 10 (3.66%) LAN
2 10 (3.66%) SD-WAN
2 10 (3.66%) WAN
3 8 (2.93%) BGP
4 7 (2.56%) DNS
4 7 (2.56%) MPLS
5 6 (2.20%) Network Security
6 5 (1.83%) TCP/IP
6 5 (1.83%) VPN
7 4 (1.47%) IPsec
7 4 (1.47%) MQTT
7 4 (1.47%) OSPF
8 3 (1.10%) DHCP
8 3 (1.10%) SSL
9 2 (0.73%) HTTP
9 2 (0.73%) Internet
9 2 (0.73%) VXLAN
10 1 (0.37%) 5G
10 1 (0.37%) NGFW
Database & Business Intelligence
1 31 (11.36%) Power BI
2 11 (4.03%) NoSQL
3 9 (3.30%) SQL Server
4 8 (2.93%) Oracle BI Publisher
4 8 (2.93%) Oracle Reports
5 7 (2.56%) Data Warehouse
5 7 (2.56%) PostgreSQL
6 6 (2.20%) Azure SQL Database
6 6 (2.20%) Tableau
7 5 (1.83%) Metadata
8 4 (1.47%) Amazon RDS
8 4 (1.47%) MongoDB
9 3 (1.10%) Delta Lake
9 3 (1.10%) DocumentDB
9 3 (1.10%) GIS
9 3 (1.10%) Oracle Database
9 3 (1.10%) Parquet
9 3 (1.10%) Relational Database
10 2 (0.73%) QGIS
10 2 (0.73%) Spatial Data
Development Applications
1 34 (12.45%) Git
2 28 (10.26%) JIRA
3 25 (9.16%) Jenkins
4 13 (4.76%) GitLab
5 7 (2.56%) Bitbucket
6 5 (1.83%) HP UFT
7 4 (1.47%) Jaeger
7 4 (1.47%) NUnit
7 4 (1.47%) Visual Studio
8 3 (1.10%) JUnit
8 3 (1.10%) Postman
8 3 (1.10%) Selenium
8 3 (1.10%) SpecFlow
8 3 (1.10%) TeamCity
8 3 (1.10%) WebDriver
9 2 (0.73%) Balsamiq
9 2 (0.73%) Introscope
9 2 (0.73%) Mockito
9 2 (0.73%) MSTest
9 2 (0.73%) ScriptRunner
General
1 74 (27.11%) Social Skills
2 31 (11.36%) Analytical Skills
3 23 (8.42%) Public Sector
4 20 (7.33%) Documentation Skills
5 19 (6.96%) Finance
6 13 (4.76%) Aerospace
7 10 (3.66%) Influencing Skills
8 9 (3.30%) Organisational Skills
9 4 (1.47%) Billing
10 3 (1.10%) Telecoms
11 2 (0.73%) Legal
11 2 (0.73%) Marketing
11 2 (0.73%) Military
12 1 (0.37%) Advertising
12 1 (0.37%) Health Technology
12 1 (0.37%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 1 (0.37%) Law
12 1 (0.37%) Pharmaceutical
12 1 (0.37%) Retail
Job Titles
1 45 (16.48%) DevOps Engineer
2 40 (14.65%) Azure Engineer
3 37 (13.55%) Architect
4 34 (12.45%) Developer
5 31 (11.36%) Analyst
6 29 (10.62%) Senior
7 26 (9.52%) Azure DevOps Engineer
8 22 (8.06%) Cloud Engineer
9 17 (6.23%) Lead
10 14 (5.13%) Platform Engineer
11 13 (4.76%) Test Analyst
12 12 (4.40%) Project Manager
13 11 (4.03%) Test Engineer
14 10 (3.66%) Business Analyst
14 10 (3.66%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 10 (3.66%) Solutions Architect
15 9 (3.30%) Data Engineer
15 9 (3.30%) Oracle Analyst
15 9 (3.30%) Technical Architect
16 8 (2.93%) .NET Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (8.06%) .NET
2 20 (7.33%) REST
3 16 (5.86%) ADO
4 15 (5.49%) React
5 13 (4.76%) LDAP
6 10 (3.66%) OAuth
7 9 (3.30%) Middleware
7 9 (3.30%) RESTful
8 8 (2.93%) .NET Framework
8 8 (2.93%) ARM Templates
8 8 (2.93%) SOAP
9 7 (2.56%) CSS
9 7 (2.56%) Entity Framework
9 7 (2.56%) Kafka
10 6 (2.20%) JSON
10 6 (2.20%) RabbitMQ
10 6 (2.20%) Swagger
11 5 (1.83%) ASP.NET
11 5 (1.83%) pytest
11 5 (1.83%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 36 (13.19%) Cloud Native
2 13 (4.76%) Enterprise Software
3 10 (3.66%) Distributed Systems
3 10 (3.66%) Hybrid Cloud
4 8 (2.93%) Product Ownership
5 7 (2.56%) Public Cloud
6 6 (2.20%) Data Centre
6 6 (2.20%) Operational Technology
6 6 (2.20%) Security Posture
7 5 (1.83%) Data Protection Act
7 5 (1.83%) Virtual Team
8 4 (1.47%) Algorithms
8 4 (1.47%) Analytical Mindset
8 4 (1.47%) Data Structures
8 4 (1.47%) Onboarding
9 3 (1.10%) Greenfield Project
9 3 (1.10%) PKI
9 3 (1.10%) Self-Motivation
10 2 (0.73%) Clustering
10 2 (0.73%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 31 (11.36%) Linux
2 21 (7.69%) Windows
3 12 (4.40%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 2 (0.73%) Oracle Linux
4 2 (0.73%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
4 2 (0.73%) Unix
4 2 (0.73%) Windows Server
5 1 (0.37%) Mac OS
Processes & Methodologies
1 130 (47.62%) CI/CD
2 90 (32.97%) Agile
3 54 (19.78%) Infrastructure as Code
3 54 (19.78%) Problem-Solving
4 42 (15.38%) Cybersecurity
5 34 (12.45%) Stakeholder Management
6 33 (12.09%) Analytics
7 31 (11.36%) Business Intelligence
8 29 (10.62%) Containerisation
8 29 (10.62%) Microservices
8 29 (10.62%) Root Cause Analysis
9 26 (9.52%) ITIL
10 25 (9.16%) Scrum
11 24 (8.79%) Data Modelling
11 24 (8.79%) DevSecOps
11 24 (8.79%) Test Automation
12 23 (8.42%) Observability
12 23 (8.42%) Platform Engineering
13 21 (7.69%) Migration
14 20 (7.33%) Mentoring
Programming Languages
1 65 (23.81%) Python
2 44 (16.12%) PowerShell
3 41 (15.02%) SQL
4 24 (8.79%) JavaScript
5 23 (8.42%) Bash
6 20 (7.33%) C#
7 16 (5.86%) Bicep
8 14 (5.13%) Java
9 13 (4.76%) TypeScript
10 7 (2.56%) Go
11 5 (1.83%) Shell Script
11 5 (1.83%) VBScript
12 4 (1.47%) Perl
13 3 (1.10%) X++
14 2 (0.73%) Apex Code
14 2 (0.73%) BeanShell
14 2 (0.73%) C++
14 2 (0.73%) Jython
14 2 (0.73%) T-SQL
15 1 (0.37%) SOQL
Qualifications
1 122 (44.69%) Security Cleared
2 103 (37.73%) SC Cleared
3 17 (6.23%) CISSP
4 16 (5.86%) CISM
4 16 (5.86%) DV Cleared
5 13 (4.76%) Azure Certification
6 11 (4.03%) Cisco Certification
6 11 (4.03%) RHCE
7 10 (3.66%) Degree
8 7 (2.56%) CCNP
9 6 (2.20%) CCIE
10 5 (1.83%) BPSS Clearance
10 5 (1.83%) MCSE
10 5 (1.83%) Microsoft Certification
10 5 (1.83%) PMP
11 4 (1.47%) JNCIE
11 4 (1.47%) OCP
11 4 (1.47%) Oracle Certification
11 4 (1.47%) PMI Certification
12 3 (1.10%) GIAC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (9.52%) NIST
2 22 (8.06%) GDPR
3 19 (6.96%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 17 (6.23%) QA
5 16 (5.86%) NCSC
6 7 (2.56%) Data Quality
7 5 (1.83%) GRC
7 5 (1.83%) PCI DSS
8 4 (1.47%) Accessibility
8 4 (1.47%) NIST 800
9 3 (1.10%) PMO
10 1 (0.37%) Actionable Recommendations
10 1 (0.37%) OpenSCAP
10 1 (0.37%) SLA
System Software
1 29 (10.62%) Active Directory
2 26 (9.52%) Docker
3 9 (3.30%) Virtual Machines
4 2 (0.73%) VMware ESXi
4 2 (0.73%) VMware Infrastructure
4 2 (0.73%) VMware NSX
5 1 (0.37%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 52 (19.05%) Terraform
2 44 (16.12%) Kubernetes
3 21 (7.69%) Ansible
4 14 (5.13%) Grafana
4 14 (5.13%) Prometheus
5 5 (1.83%) Single Sign-On
6 4 (1.47%) Istio
6 4 (1.47%) Rancher
7 3 (1.10%) Data Guard
7 3 (1.10%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
7 3 (1.10%) Oracle RMAN
8 2 (0.73%) CA Wily
8 2 (0.73%) HP ALM
8 2 (0.73%) systemd
8 2 (0.73%) Tivoli
9 1 (0.37%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 1 (0.37%) Fluentd
9 1 (0.37%) Microsoft Intune
9 1 (0.37%) Packer
9 1 (0.37%) Red Hat Satellite
Vendors
1 47 (17.22%) Microsoft
2 31 (11.36%) Oracle
3 20 (7.33%) Red Hat
4 17 (6.23%) ServiceNow
5 13 (4.76%) BeyondTrust
5 13 (4.76%) CyberArk
6 10 (3.66%) Databricks
6 10 (3.66%) VMware
7 6 (2.20%) AppDynamics
7 6 (2.20%) Splunk
8 5 (1.83%) BiZZdesign
9 4 (1.47%) Cisco
9 4 (1.47%) Dynatrace
9 4 (1.47%) IBM
9 4 (1.47%) SAP
10 3 (1.10%) ESRI
10 3 (1.10%) Fortinet
10 3 (1.10%) Google
10 3 (1.10%) HP
10 3 (1.10%) OpenAI