Firewall Contract Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Firewall
UK > UK excluding London

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

6 months to
6 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 72 42 40
Rank change year-on-year -30 -2 -4
Contract jobs citing Firewall 794 689 867
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 2.99% 4.79% 4.12%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 27.44% 32.58% 26.45%
Number of daily rates quoted 531 392 543
10th Percentile £340 £300 £275
25th Percentile £413 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £485 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.09% -3.00% +4.05%
75th Percentile £588 £584 £608
90th Percentile £643 £638 £686
UK median daily rate £500 £500 £513
% change year-on-year - -2.44% -2.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 22 22 34
10th Percentile £13.79 £14.20 £22.85
25th Percentile £38.27 £14.43 £26.25
Median hourly rate £56.00 £30.00 £82.38
Median % change year-on-year +86.67% -63.58% +31.71%
75th Percentile £70.17 £32.33 £87.46
90th Percentile £74.03 £44.83 £87.53
UK median hourly rate £57.37 £30.00 £60.00
% change year-on-year +91.23% -50.00% -4.08%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
UK excluding London

Firewall falls under the Communications and Computer Networking category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring communications or computer networking skills in the UK excluding London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 2,894 2,115 3,278
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 10.91% 14.70% 15.57%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,686 1,284 1,846
10th Percentile £213 £200 £203
25th Percentile £375 £325 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £488 £470 £490
Median % change year-on-year +3.83% -4.08% +3.16%
75th Percentile £582 £575 £600
90th Percentile £650 £638 £675
UK median daily rate £500 £480 £500
% change year-on-year +4.17% -4.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 265 128 367
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.75 £13.50
25th Percentile £19.34 £17.30 £17.69
Median hourly rate £26.00 £36.57 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year -28.91% -23.01% +79.25%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.00 £82.67 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £26.00 £44.50 £45.00
% change year-on-year -41.57% -1.11% +100.00%

Firewall
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Firewall relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Firewall job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Firewall
Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Firewall.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Firewall

Firewall
Daily Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Firewall in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 6 July 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Firewall in the UK excluding London

Firewall
Hourly Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Firewall.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Firewall

Firewall
Hourly Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Firewall in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 6 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Firewall in the UK excluding London

Firewall
Contract Job Locations in the UK excluding London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Firewall within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 6 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
North of England -14 286 £500 +5.26% 88
South East -27 208 £500 - 165
North West -1 186 £528 +11.16% 43
Yorkshire -40 84 £450 -8.07% 36
Midlands -63 82 £438 -7.89% 67
East of England -12 71 £525 +0.48% 48
Scotland +12 67 £450 +4.35% 23
West Midlands -56 67 £425 -19.05% 42
South West -46 61 £525 +5.00% 63
Wales -19 25 £425 +30.77% 13
North East -17 22 £625 +25.00% 11
East Midlands -32 12 £500 +11.11% 25
Northern Ireland -4 2 £385 - 18
Firewall
UK

Firewall
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London 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 (1.64%) Confluence
2 11 (1.39%) Microsoft Exchange
3 9 (1.13%) CICS
3 9 (1.13%) SharePoint
4 6 (0.76%) Apache
5 5 (0.63%) nginx
6 3 (0.38%) IIS
6 3 (0.38%) SAS
6 3 (0.38%) Skype for Business
6 3 (0.38%) Tomcat
7 2 (0.25%) Apache Pulsar
7 2 (0.25%) CloudStack
7 2 (0.25%) CMS
7 2 (0.25%) IBM HTTP Server
7 2 (0.25%) Oracle HTTP Server
7 2 (0.25%) Umbraco
7 2 (0.25%) WebSphere
7 2 (0.25%) WebSphere Application Server
7 2 (0.25%) WebSphere Portal
Applications
1 20 (2.52%) MS Visio
2 13 (1.64%) Microsoft Office
3 6 (0.76%) Microsoft Excel
4 3 (0.38%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.13%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 1 (0.13%) Dynamics GP
1 1 (0.13%) Payment Gateway
1 1 (0.13%) Remedy ITSM
1 1 (0.13%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 260 (32.75%) Azure
2 150 (18.89%) AWS
3 66 (8.31%) Entra ID
4 63 (7.93%) GCP
5 52 (6.55%) Microsoft 365
6 33 (4.16%) Azure DevOps
7 31 (3.90%) GitHub
8 30 (3.78%) OCI
9 29 (3.65%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 27 (3.40%) IaaS
11 26 (3.27%) Google Kubernetes Engine
12 24 (3.02%) SaaS
13 20 (2.52%) Azure Sentinel
14 18 (2.27%) Azure Monitor
15 16 (2.02%) Azure ExpressRoute
16 14 (1.76%) AWS CloudFormation
16 14 (1.76%) GitHub Actions
17 13 (1.64%) Microsoft Purview
18 12 (1.51%) Azure AKS
18 12 (1.51%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 248 (31.23%) WAN
2 216 (27.20%) Network Security
3 204 (25.69%) LAN
4 194 (24.43%) VPN
5 177 (22.29%) DNS
6 145 (18.26%) BGP
7 132 (16.62%) OSPF
8 119 (14.99%) Wireless
9 107 (13.48%) DHCP
10 104 (13.10%) VLAN
11 100 (12.59%) SD-WAN
12 87 (10.96%) TCP/IP
13 84 (10.58%) Wi-Fi
14 78 (9.82%) BIG-IP
15 67 (8.44%) VXLAN
16 61 (7.68%) Ethernet VPN
17 59 (7.43%) IPsec
18 52 (6.55%) Cisco ISE
18 52 (6.55%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
18 52 (6.55%) MPLS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (1.26%) PostgreSQL
1 10 (1.26%) SQL Server
2 9 (1.13%) DataStage
3 7 (0.88%) Azure SQL Database
3 7 (0.88%) Data Lake
3 7 (0.88%) Power BI
3 7 (0.88%) Relational Database
4 5 (0.63%) NoSQL
5 4 (0.50%) Amazon RDS
5 4 (0.50%) Delta Lake
5 4 (0.50%) MySQL
5 4 (0.50%) Oracle Database
6 1 (0.13%) Amazon Athena
6 1 (0.13%) Amazon QuickSight
6 1 (0.13%) Amazon Redshift
6 1 (0.13%) EDRMS
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Reports
6 1 (0.13%) Redis
6 1 (0.13%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 1 (0.13%) TimescaleDB
Development Applications
1 71 (8.94%) JIRA
2 32 (4.03%) GitLab
3 29 (3.65%) Jenkins
4 17 (2.14%) Git
5 12 (1.51%) Sonatype Nexus
6 5 (0.63%) Browser DevTools
7 4 (0.50%) Burp Suite
7 4 (0.50%) Jaeger
8 3 (0.38%) Bitbucket
8 3 (0.38%) Chocolatey
9 2 (0.25%) Cucumber
9 2 (0.25%) Gatling
9 2 (0.25%) Gradle
9 2 (0.25%) Introscope
9 2 (0.25%) LoadRunner
9 2 (0.25%) Metasploit
9 2 (0.25%) REST Assured
9 2 (0.25%) SonarQube
9 2 (0.25%) Team Foundation Server
10 1 (0.13%) MSI
General
1 172 (21.66%) Social Skills
2 86 (10.83%) Finance
3 64 (8.06%) Analytical Skills
4 62 (7.81%) Public Sector
5 40 (5.04%) Documentation Skills
6 24 (3.02%) Banking
7 22 (2.77%) Telecoms
8 18 (2.27%) Legal
9 16 (2.02%) Manufacturing
10 14 (1.76%) Military
11 13 (1.64%) Influencing Skills
12 8 (1.01%) Organisational Skills
13 7 (0.88%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 7 (0.88%) Retail
14 5 (0.63%) Police
15 4 (0.50%) Financial Institution
15 4 (0.50%) Law
16 3 (0.38%) Aerospace
17 2 (0.25%) Aviation
17 2 (0.25%) Back Office
Job Titles
1 265 (33.38%) Network Engineer
2 114 (14.36%) Architect
3 100 (12.59%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 97 (12.22%) Senior
5 61 (7.68%) Security Engineer
6 47 (5.92%) Network Architect
7 44 (5.54%) Senior Network Engineer
8 37 (4.66%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
9 34 (4.28%) Cloud Engineer
10 29 (3.65%) Lead
11 27 (3.40%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
12 24 (3.02%) Technical Architect
13 23 (2.90%) Consultant
14 20 (2.52%) Designer
15 19 (2.39%) Network Specialist
16 18 (2.27%) Firewall Specialist
16 18 (2.27%) Network Security Engineer
16 18 (2.27%) Security Architect
17 17 (2.14%) Cisco Engineer
17 17 (2.14%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 59 (7.43%) 802.1X
2 21 (2.64%) LDAP
3 15 (1.89%) Middleware
4 14 (1.76%) SAML
5 12 (1.51%) Kafka
6 9 (1.13%) LangChain
6 9 (1.13%) PyTorch
6 9 (1.13%) scikit-learn
7 7 (0.88%) OpenTelemetry
8 6 (0.76%) ARM Templates
8 6 (0.76%) OAuth
8 6 (0.76%) OAuth2
8 6 (0.76%) SailPoint
8 6 (0.76%) Spring Boot
8 6 (0.76%) YAML
9 5 (0.63%) React
10 4 (0.50%) OpenID
10 4 (0.50%) Redfish
11 3 (0.38%) .NET
11 3 (0.38%) Spring
Miscellaneous
1 207 (26.07%) Data Centre
2 69 (8.69%) Cloud Native
3 51 (6.42%) Security Posture
4 50 (6.30%) Hybrid Cloud
5 44 (5.54%) PKI
6 28 (3.53%) Clustering
6 28 (3.53%) Operational Technology
7 21 (2.64%) Onboarding
8 19 (2.39%) Management Information System
9 18 (2.27%) Enterprise Storage
9 18 (2.27%) IoT
10 17 (2.14%) Public Cloud
10 17 (2.14%) SCADA
11 15 (1.89%) Data Protection Act
12 14 (1.76%) BYOD
12 14 (1.76%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
13 13 (1.64%) Private Cloud
14 12 (1.51%) NHS
15 11 (1.39%) Enterprise Software
15 11 (1.39%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 193 (24.31%) Windows
2 116 (14.61%) Linux
3 69 (8.69%) Windows Server
4 25 (3.15%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 24 (3.02%) Unix
6 10 (1.26%) Solaris
7 9 (1.13%) AIX
7 9 (1.13%) Ubuntu
8 8 (1.01%) VMS
9 7 (0.88%) CentOS
9 7 (0.88%) Windows Server 2019
10 6 (0.76%) Mac OS
11 5 (0.63%) Windows Server 2016
12 4 (0.50%) Rocky
12 4 (0.50%) Windows Server 2012
13 3 (0.38%) Check Point GAiA
13 3 (0.38%) Data ONTAP
13 3 (0.38%) Windows 10
14 2 (0.25%) CatOS
14 2 (0.25%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 136 (17.13%) Load Balancing
2 129 (16.25%) DevOps
3 126 (15.87%) CI/CD
3 126 (15.87%) Infrastructure Engineering
4 120 (15.11%) High Availability
5 110 (13.85%) Infrastructure as Code
6 105 (13.22%) ITIL
7 103 (12.97%) Problem-Solving
8 99 (12.47%) Cybersecurity
9 91 (11.46%) Agile
10 87 (10.96%) Zero Trust
11 86 (10.83%) Migration
12 77 (9.70%) Change Management
13 72 (9.07%) Observability
14 71 (8.94%) Network Segmentation
14 71 (8.94%) Roadmaps
15 66 (8.31%) SIEM
16 60 (7.56%) Validation
17 59 (7.43%) Network Design
17 59 (7.43%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 129 (16.25%) Python
2 78 (9.82%) PowerShell
3 44 (5.54%) Bash
4 26 (3.27%) Bicep
4 26 (3.27%) SQL
5 23 (2.90%) Java
6 9 (1.13%) ActionScript
6 9 (1.13%) COBOL
7 5 (0.63%) Perl
8 4 (0.50%) Go
9 3 (0.38%) JavaScript
9 3 (0.38%) PL/SQL
9 3 (0.38%) Rust
10 2 (0.25%) C++
10 2 (0.25%) Groovy
10 2 (0.25%) Jython
11 1 (0.13%) C
11 1 (0.13%) Korn
11 1 (0.13%) TypeScript
11 1 (0.13%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 287 (36.15%) Security Cleared
2 192 (24.18%) SC Cleared
3 183 (23.05%) Cisco Certification
4 126 (15.87%) CCNP
5 95 (11.96%) CCNA
6 71 (8.94%) DV Cleared
7 64 (8.06%) Degree
8 39 (4.91%) CISSP
9 29 (3.65%) AWS Certification
10 26 (3.27%) Azure Certification
11 19 (2.39%) CCIE
11 19 (2.39%) Microsoft Certification
12 18 (2.27%) Network+ Certification
13 15 (1.89%) CISM
13 15 (1.89%) JNCIS
13 15 (1.89%) Server+ Certification
14 14 (1.76%) JNCIA
15 13 (1.64%) PMP
16 11 (1.39%) BPSS Clearance
17 10 (1.26%) Computer Science Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 45 (5.67%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 33 (4.16%) NIST
3 24 (3.02%) NCSC
4 22 (2.77%) GDPR
5 15 (1.89%) QA
6 14 (1.76%) Cyber Essentials
7 13 (1.64%) PCI DSS
8 8 (1.01%) Data Quality
8 8 (1.01%) Disclosure Scotland
9 7 (0.88%) SLA
10 6 (0.76%) JSP 440
11 4 (0.50%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 4 (0.50%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 4 (0.50%) SOC 2
12 3 (0.38%) HIPAA
12 3 (0.38%) ISA99
12 3 (0.38%) NIST 800
12 3 (0.38%) RMADS
13 2 (0.25%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 2 (0.25%) GxP
System Software
1 132 (16.62%) Active Directory
2 96 (12.09%) VMware Infrastructure
3 35 (4.41%) VMware NSX
4 29 (3.65%) Docker
5 24 (3.02%) vSphere
6 19 (2.39%) Firmware
6 19 (2.39%) VMware ESXi
7 16 (2.02%) Hyper-V
8 15 (1.89%) Virtual Machines
9 10 (1.26%) Virtual Desktop
10 3 (0.38%) BitLocker
10 3 (0.38%) Dovecot
10 3 (0.38%) Postfix
11 2 (0.25%) Squid
11 2 (0.25%) VirtualBox
12 1 (0.13%) Citrix Hypervisor
12 1 (0.13%) FreeRADIUS
12 1 (0.13%) iptables
12 1 (0.13%) KVM
12 1 (0.13%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 127 (15.99%) Terraform
2 84 (10.58%) Ansible
3 55 (6.93%) FortiGate
4 47 (5.92%) Kubernetes
5 24 (3.02%) Microsoft Intune
6 20 (2.52%) Grafana
6 20 (2.52%) Single Sign-On
7 18 (2.27%) Prometheus
8 15 (1.89%) CASB
9 13 (1.64%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 12 (1.51%) Progress Chef
11 9 (1.13%) vCenter Server
12 8 (1.01%) Cisco Prime
12 8 (1.01%) SCCM
13 7 (0.88%) Nessus
14 6 (0.76%) Argo
14 6 (0.76%) Nagios
15 4 (0.50%) Istio
15 4 (0.50%) Packer
15 4 (0.50%) QRadar
Vendors
1 294 (37.03%) Cisco
2 160 (20.15%) Microsoft
3 141 (17.76%) Palo Alto
4 132 (16.62%) VMware
5 121 (15.24%) F5
6 105 (13.22%) Juniper
7 77 (9.70%) Fortinet
8 66 (8.31%) CheckPoint
9 61 (7.68%) SolarWinds
10 58 (7.30%) Aruba
11 55 (6.93%) Splunk
12 51 (6.42%) ServiceNow
13 43 (5.42%) Google
14 34 (4.28%) Arista
15 27 (3.40%) Extreme Networks
16 23 (2.90%) Red Hat
17 22 (2.77%) Meraki
18 21 (2.64%) Zscaler
19 18 (2.27%) Citrix
19 18 (2.27%) IBM