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 30 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
30 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 70 42 41
Rank change year-on-year -28 -1 -4
Contract jobs citing Firewall 817 711 794
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 3.02% 4.71% 4.18%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 28.17% 33.12% 27.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 536 404 492
10th Percentile £345 £307 £300
25th Percentile £413 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £489 £523
Median % change year-on-year +2.35% -6.51% +10.00%
75th Percentile £594 £588 £610
90th Percentile £650 £643 £713
UK median daily rate £500 £500 £525
% change year-on-year - -4.76% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 35 26 28
10th Percentile £28.40 £14.20 £21.23
25th Percentile £37.52 £15.18 £23.92
Median hourly rate £65.00 £30.00 £73.50
Median % change year-on-year +116.67% -59.18% +13.96%
75th Percentile £76.38 £42.93 £86.10
90th Percentile £98.82 £89.63 £87.46
UK median hourly rate £63.75 £30.00 £37.50
% change year-on-year +112.50% -20.00% -43.16%

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 2,900 2,147 2,878
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 10.72% 14.23% 15.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,642 1,297 1,677
10th Percentile £225 £200 £205
25th Percentile £374 £325 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £490 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.16% -5.00% +8.70%
75th Percentile £582 £575 £600
90th Percentile £650 £638 £675
UK median daily rate £500 £488 £500
% change year-on-year +2.56% -2.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 291 137 295
10th Percentile £15.75 £14.99 £14.16
25th Percentile £19.34 £17.30 £18.15
Median hourly rate £26.66 £44.00 £51.50
Median % change year-on-year -39.41% -14.56% -10.30%
75th Percentile £65.00 £67.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £87.70 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £26.29 £48.75 £45.44
% change year-on-year -46.07% +7.28% -9.12%

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 30 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 30 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 30 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 -14 292 £500 +5.26% 86
South East -32 225 £518 +3.50% 147
North West -6 188 £525 +10.53% 42
Yorkshire -36 88 £450 -7.64% 31
Midlands -71 76 £459 -6.71% 57
South West -38 75 £550 +11.39% 36
East of England -6 74 £525 -4.55% 32
Scotland +5 64 £425 -5.56% 15
West Midlands -73 60 £450 -10.00% 32
North East -24 22 £625 - 15
Wales -19 18 £425 +17.24% 12
East Midlands -21 13 £488 +3.50% 25
Northern Ireland -10 1 - - 4
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 16 (1.96%) Microsoft Exchange
2 14 (1.71%) Confluence
3 9 (1.10%) Apache
3 9 (1.10%) CICS
3 9 (1.10%) SharePoint
4 8 (0.98%) nginx
5 4 (0.49%) FactoryTalk
6 3 (0.37%) IIS
6 3 (0.37%) SAS
6 3 (0.37%) Skype for Business
6 3 (0.37%) Tomcat
7 2 (0.24%) Apache Pulsar
7 2 (0.24%) CloudStack
7 2 (0.24%) CMS
7 2 (0.24%) IBM HTTP Server
7 2 (0.24%) Oracle HTTP Server
7 2 (0.24%) Umbraco
7 2 (0.24%) WebSphere
7 2 (0.24%) WebSphere Application Server
7 2 (0.24%) WebSphere Portal
Applications
1 20 (2.45%) MS Visio
2 14 (1.71%) Microsoft Office
3 7 (0.86%) Microsoft Excel
4 3 (0.37%) Microsoft Project
4 3 (0.37%) Spreadsheet
5 1 (0.12%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 3 (0.37%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.24%) Dynamics GP
2 2 (0.24%) Teamcenter
3 1 (0.12%) Payment Gateway
3 1 (0.12%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 274 (33.54%) Azure
2 167 (20.44%) AWS
3 74 (9.06%) Entra ID
4 66 (8.08%) GCP
5 59 (7.22%) Microsoft 365
6 37 (4.53%) Azure DevOps
7 33 (4.04%) GitHub
8 31 (3.79%) OCI
9 29 (3.55%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 28 (3.43%) Google Kubernetes Engine
11 27 (3.30%) SaaS
12 26 (3.18%) IaaS
13 25 (3.06%) Azure Monitor
13 25 (3.06%) Azure Sentinel
14 20 (2.45%) Azure ExpressRoute
15 16 (1.96%) AWS CloudFormation
15 16 (1.96%) GitHub Actions
16 15 (1.84%) Serverless
17 14 (1.71%) Azure AKS
18 12 (1.47%) AWS Direct Connect
Communications & Networking
1 243 (29.74%) WAN
2 218 (26.68%) Network Security
3 217 (26.56%) VPN
4 210 (25.70%) DNS
5 208 (25.46%) LAN
6 151 (18.48%) BGP
7 133 (16.28%) DHCP
7 133 (16.28%) OSPF
8 121 (14.81%) TCP/IP
8 121 (14.81%) Wireless
9 115 (14.08%) VLAN
10 93 (11.38%) SD-WAN
11 88 (10.77%) Wi-Fi
12 79 (9.67%) BIG-IP
13 63 (7.71%) IPsec
14 62 (7.59%) VXLAN
15 59 (7.22%) MPLS
16 56 (6.85%) Ethernet VPN
17 55 (6.73%) Cisco ISE
17 55 (6.73%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (1.59%) SQL Server
2 12 (1.47%) PostgreSQL
3 9 (1.10%) DataStage
3 9 (1.10%) Relational Database
4 7 (0.86%) Azure SQL Database
5 6 (0.73%) Power BI
6 5 (0.61%) Data Lake
6 5 (0.61%) Oracle Database
7 4 (0.49%) Amazon RDS
7 4 (0.49%) Delta Lake
7 4 (0.49%) MySQL
7 4 (0.49%) NoSQL
8 1 (0.12%) EDRMS
8 1 (0.12%) Oracle Reports
8 1 (0.12%) Redis
8 1 (0.12%) TimescaleDB
Development Applications
1 67 (8.20%) JIRA
2 32 (3.92%) GitLab
3 31 (3.79%) Jenkins
4 17 (2.08%) Git
5 10 (1.22%) Sonatype Nexus
6 7 (0.86%) Bitbucket
7 5 (0.61%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 5 (0.61%) Browser DevTools
8 4 (0.49%) Burp Suite
9 2 (0.24%) Cucumber
9 2 (0.24%) Gatling
9 2 (0.24%) Gradle
9 2 (0.24%) Introscope
9 2 (0.24%) LoadRunner
9 2 (0.24%) Metasploit
9 2 (0.24%) REST Assured
9 2 (0.24%) SonarQube
9 2 (0.24%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
9 2 (0.24%) Team Foundation Server
10 1 (0.12%) Ant
General
1 172 (21.05%) Social Skills
2 85 (10.40%) Finance
3 76 (9.30%) Analytical Skills
4 70 (8.57%) Public Sector
5 34 (4.16%) Documentation Skills
6 28 (3.43%) Banking
7 26 (3.18%) Telecoms
8 19 (2.33%) Manufacturing
8 19 (2.33%) Military
9 14 (1.71%) Legal
10 12 (1.47%) Influencing Skills
11 10 (1.22%) Organisational Skills
12 8 (0.98%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 7 (0.86%) Police
13 7 (0.86%) Retail
14 6 (0.73%) Law
15 4 (0.49%) Financial Institution
15 4 (0.49%) Pharmaceutical
16 3 (0.37%) Advertising
16 3 (0.37%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 266 (32.56%) Network Engineer
2 114 (13.95%) Senior
3 107 (13.10%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 99 (12.12%) Architect
5 65 (7.96%) Security Engineer
6 53 (6.49%) Senior Network Engineer
7 41 (5.02%) Cloud Engineer
8 39 (4.77%) Network Architect
8 39 (4.77%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
9 32 (3.92%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
10 31 (3.79%) Lead
11 24 (2.94%) Consultant
11 24 (2.94%) Network Security Engineer
12 20 (2.45%) Designer
12 20 (2.45%) Technical Architect
13 19 (2.33%) Network Specialist
13 19 (2.33%) Platform Engineer
14 18 (2.20%) Firewall Specialist
14 18 (2.20%) Security Architect
15 16 (1.96%) Cisco Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 54 (6.61%) 802.1X
2 16 (1.96%) SAML
3 15 (1.84%) ARM Templates
4 12 (1.47%) LDAP
4 12 (1.47%) Middleware
5 11 (1.35%) Kafka
6 9 (1.10%) LangChain
6 9 (1.10%) PyTorch
6 9 (1.10%) React
6 9 (1.10%) scikit-learn
7 8 (0.98%) OAuth
8 7 (0.86%) OAuth2
8 7 (0.86%) YAML
9 6 (0.73%) OpenTelemetry
9 6 (0.73%) SailPoint
10 5 (0.61%) OpenID
11 4 (0.49%) CSS
11 4 (0.49%) HTML
11 4 (0.49%) ModSecurity
11 4 (0.49%) Redfish
Miscellaneous
1 199 (24.36%) Data Centre
2 70 (8.57%) Cloud Native
3 65 (7.96%) PKI
4 57 (6.98%) Hybrid Cloud
5 47 (5.75%) Security Posture
6 35 (4.28%) Operational Technology
7 29 (3.55%) Clustering
8 24 (2.94%) Onboarding
9 23 (2.82%) SCADA
10 21 (2.57%) Management Information System
11 19 (2.33%) Enterprise Storage
12 17 (2.08%) Public Cloud
13 16 (1.96%) Driving Licence
13 16 (1.96%) IoT
14 15 (1.84%) Data Protection Act
14 15 (1.84%) Self-Motivation
15 14 (1.71%) BYOD
16 13 (1.59%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
17 11 (1.35%) Enterprise Software
17 11 (1.35%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 225 (27.54%) Windows
2 142 (17.38%) Linux
3 82 (10.04%) Windows Server
4 33 (4.04%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 25 (3.06%) Unix
6 10 (1.22%) CentOS
6 10 (1.22%) Solaris
7 9 (1.10%) AIX
7 9 (1.10%) Mac OS
7 9 (1.10%) Ubuntu
7 9 (1.10%) VMS
8 7 (0.86%) Rocky
9 6 (0.73%) Windows Server 2019
10 5 (0.61%) Windows 10
10 5 (0.61%) Windows Server 2012
11 4 (0.49%) Windows Server 2016
12 3 (0.37%) Check Point GAiA
12 3 (0.37%) Data ONTAP
13 2 (0.24%) Oracle Linux
13 2 (0.24%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 148 (18.12%) CI/CD
2 145 (17.75%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 141 (17.26%) Load Balancing
4 137 (16.77%) DevOps
5 127 (15.54%) Infrastructure as Code
6 122 (14.93%) Problem-Solving
7 121 (14.81%) Cybersecurity
8 119 (14.57%) High Availability
9 110 (13.46%) ITIL
10 96 (11.75%) Agile
11 83 (10.16%) SIEM
11 83 (10.16%) Zero Trust
12 82 (10.04%) Migration
13 79 (9.67%) Observability
14 76 (9.30%) Change Management
15 71 (8.69%) Roadmaps
16 70 (8.57%) Validation
17 68 (8.32%) Technical Leadership
18 66 (8.08%) Network Segmentation
18 66 (8.08%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 145 (17.75%) Python
2 103 (12.61%) PowerShell
3 69 (8.45%) Bash
4 35 (4.28%) Bicep
5 26 (3.18%) SQL
6 25 (3.06%) Java
7 9 (1.10%) ActionScript
7 9 (1.10%) COBOL
8 5 (0.61%) Go
8 5 (0.61%) JavaScript
8 5 (0.61%) Perl
9 3 (0.37%) PL/SQL
9 3 (0.37%) TypeScript
10 2 (0.24%) C++
10 2 (0.24%) Groovy
10 2 (0.24%) Jython
10 2 (0.24%) Kusto Query Language
10 2 (0.24%) T-SQL
11 1 (0.12%) Korn
11 1 (0.12%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 319 (39.05%) Security Cleared
2 199 (24.36%) SC Cleared
3 173 (21.18%) Cisco Certification
4 116 (14.20%) CCNP
5 97 (11.87%) DV Cleared
6 89 (10.89%) CCNA
7 67 (8.20%) Degree
8 43 (5.26%) CISSP
9 35 (4.28%) AWS Certification
10 30 (3.67%) Azure Certification
11 20 (2.45%) Microsoft Certification
12 19 (2.33%) Network+ Certification
13 17 (2.08%) CCIE
14 15 (1.84%) JNCIS
14 15 (1.84%) Server+ Certification
15 14 (1.71%) CISM
16 13 (1.59%) JNCIA
16 13 (1.59%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
17 12 (1.47%) PMP
18 11 (1.35%) Computer Science Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 47 (5.75%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 34 (4.16%) NIST
3 24 (2.94%) GDPR
3 24 (2.94%) NCSC
4 14 (1.71%) PCI DSS
4 14 (1.71%) QA
5 11 (1.35%) Cyber Essentials
6 8 (0.98%) Data Quality
6 8 (0.98%) Disclosure Scotland
7 7 (0.86%) JSP 440
8 6 (0.73%) GxP
9 5 (0.61%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 4 (0.49%) 21 CFR Part 11
10 4 (0.49%) HIPAA
10 4 (0.49%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 4 (0.49%) SLA
10 4 (0.49%) SOC 2
11 3 (0.37%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 3 (0.37%) ISA99
11 3 (0.37%) NIST 800
System Software
1 147 (17.99%) Active Directory
2 119 (14.57%) VMware Infrastructure
3 50 (6.12%) VMware NSX
4 40 (4.90%) Docker
5 37 (4.53%) Hyper-V
6 32 (3.92%) vSphere
7 22 (2.69%) VMware ESXi
8 19 (2.33%) Firmware
9 17 (2.08%) Virtual Machines
10 7 (0.86%) Virtual Desktop
11 3 (0.37%) Dovecot
11 3 (0.37%) Postfix
12 2 (0.24%) BitLocker
12 2 (0.24%) FreeRADIUS
12 2 (0.24%) Squid
12 2 (0.24%) Virtual Servers
12 2 (0.24%) VirtualBox
13 1 (0.12%) Citrix Hypervisor
13 1 (0.12%) iptables
13 1 (0.12%) KVM
Systems Management
1 159 (19.46%) Terraform
2 108 (13.22%) Ansible
3 65 (7.96%) Kubernetes
4 54 (6.61%) FortiGate
5 28 (3.43%) Microsoft Intune
6 17 (2.08%) Single Sign-On
7 16 (1.96%) CASB
7 16 (1.96%) Grafana
7 16 (1.96%) Progress Chef
8 15 (1.84%) Prometheus
9 12 (1.47%) SCCM
10 11 (1.35%) vCenter Server
10 11 (1.35%) VxRail
11 9 (1.10%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 8 (0.98%) Argo
12 8 (0.98%) Cisco Prime
13 7 (0.86%) Packer
14 6 (0.73%) Nessus
14 6 (0.73%) NetBackup
15 5 (0.61%) Nagios
Vendors
1 298 (36.47%) Cisco
2 177 (21.66%) Microsoft
3 157 (19.22%) VMware
4 146 (17.87%) Palo Alto
5 123 (15.06%) F5
6 101 (12.36%) Juniper
7 73 (8.94%) Fortinet
8 64 (7.83%) CheckPoint
9 62 (7.59%) SolarWinds
10 56 (6.85%) Splunk
11 55 (6.73%) Aruba
12 51 (6.24%) ServiceNow
13 47 (5.75%) Google
14 29 (3.55%) Arista
15 27 (3.30%) Red Hat
16 25 (3.06%) Extreme Networks
17 24 (2.94%) Meraki
17 24 (2.94%) Zscaler
18 20 (2.45%) Veeam
19 18 (2.20%) IBM