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 11 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
11 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 76 42 42
Rank change year-on-year -34 0 -6
Contract jobs citing Firewall 811 717 756
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 2.96% 4.70% 4.13%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 27.80% 33.32% 27.13%
Number of daily rates quoted 527 412 472
10th Percentile £350 £319 £300
25th Percentile £413 £412 £420
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £505 £490 £515
Median % change year-on-year +3.17% -4.95% +8.42%
75th Percentile £600 £586 £615
90th Percentile £650 £638 £738
UK median daily rate £500 £500 £525
% change year-on-year - -4.76% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 41 25 25
10th Percentile £29.00 £14.20 £20.06
25th Percentile £44.86 £15.13 £23.92
Median hourly rate £65.45 £30.00 £60.00
Median % change year-on-year +118.17% -50.00% -11.76%
75th Percentile £78.50 £43.25 £85.65
90th Percentile £98.82 £89.63 £87.46
UK median hourly rate £65.23 £30.00 £27.50
% change year-on-year +117.42% +9.09% -59.56%

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 2,917 2,152 2,787
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 10.66% 14.11% 15.23%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,638 1,303 1,632
10th Percentile £225 £203 £206
25th Percentile £374 £325 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £492 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.63% -5.00% +9.78%
75th Percentile £582 £575 £606
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 308 137 273
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.99 £14.16
25th Percentile £19.33 £20.00 £20.00
Median hourly rate £26.14 £45.00 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -41.91% -18.18% -3.36%
75th Percentile £65.06 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £87.70 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £26.07 £46.88 £49.50
% change year-on-year -44.38% -5.30% -3.24%

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 11 August 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 11 August 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 11 August 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 -15 281 £500 +5.26% 94
South East -35 224 £520 +4.00% 147
North West -1 181 £528 +11.16% 52
Yorkshire -43 82 £438 -9.79% 30
South West -27 80 £550 +13.11% 52
East of England -5 76 £525 -4.55% 31
Midlands -73 76 £468 -1.47% 63
Scotland +6 65 £425 -5.56% 17
West Midlands -76 59 £450 -5.26% 36
North East -20 24 £625 +4.17% 15
Wales -13 16 £425 +30.77% 7
East Midlands -18 14 £500 +1.63% 27
Northern Ireland -4 1 - - 7
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 19 (2.34%) Microsoft Exchange
2 16 (1.97%) Confluence
3 10 (1.23%) Apache
4 9 (1.11%) SharePoint
5 8 (0.99%) nginx
6 4 (0.49%) FactoryTalk
7 3 (0.37%) CICS
7 3 (0.37%) IIS
7 3 (0.37%) SAS
7 3 (0.37%) Skype for Business
7 3 (0.37%) Tomcat
8 2 (0.25%) CloudStack
8 2 (0.25%) CMS
8 2 (0.25%) IBM HTTP Server
8 2 (0.25%) Oracle HTTP Server
8 2 (0.25%) Umbraco
8 2 (0.25%) WebSphere
8 2 (0.25%) WebSphere Application Server
8 2 (0.25%) WebSphere Portal
Applications
1 20 (2.47%) MS Visio
2 12 (1.48%) Microsoft Office
3 7 (0.86%) Microsoft Excel
4 5 (0.62%) Spreadsheet
5 3 (0.37%) Microsoft Project
6 1 (0.12%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 5 (0.62%) Dynamics CRM
2 2 (0.25%) Dynamics GP
2 2 (0.25%) Teamcenter
3 1 (0.12%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 278 (34.28%) Azure
2 175 (21.58%) AWS
3 74 (9.12%) Entra ID
4 62 (7.64%) GCP
5 59 (7.27%) Microsoft 365
6 37 (4.56%) Azure DevOps
7 32 (3.95%) GitHub
8 31 (3.82%) OCI
9 29 (3.58%) SaaS
10 28 (3.45%) IaaS
11 27 (3.33%) Azure Monitor
11 27 (3.33%) Virtual Private Cloud
12 26 (3.21%) Google Kubernetes Engine
13 24 (2.96%) Azure Sentinel
14 22 (2.71%) Azure ExpressRoute
15 17 (2.10%) GitHub Actions
16 16 (1.97%) Serverless
17 14 (1.73%) AWS CloudFormation
17 14 (1.73%) AWS Direct Connect
17 14 (1.73%) Azure AKS
Communications & Networking
1 243 (29.96%) WAN
2 225 (27.74%) DNS
3 217 (26.76%) VPN
4 213 (26.26%) Network Security
5 205 (25.28%) LAN
6 149 (18.37%) BGP
7 146 (18.00%) DHCP
8 132 (16.28%) OSPF
9 131 (16.15%) TCP/IP
10 117 (14.43%) VLAN
11 116 (14.30%) Wireless
12 94 (11.59%) SD-WAN
13 89 (10.97%) Wi-Fi
14 79 (9.74%) BIG-IP
15 64 (7.89%) VXLAN
16 61 (7.52%) IPsec
17 57 (7.03%) MPLS
18 54 (6.66%) Ethernet VPN
19 53 (6.54%) SSL
20 51 (6.29%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (1.60%) SQL Server
2 12 (1.48%) PostgreSQL
3 10 (1.23%) Relational Database
4 7 (0.86%) Azure SQL Database
5 6 (0.74%) Power BI
6 5 (0.62%) Oracle Database
7 4 (0.49%) Amazon RDS
7 4 (0.49%) Data Lake
7 4 (0.49%) Delta Lake
7 4 (0.49%) MySQL
7 4 (0.49%) NoSQL
8 3 (0.37%) DataStage
9 2 (0.25%) EDRMS
10 1 (0.12%) Oracle Reports
10 1 (0.12%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 1 (0.12%) TimescaleDB
Development Applications
1 68 (8.38%) JIRA
2 37 (4.56%) GitLab
3 33 (4.07%) Jenkins
4 18 (2.22%) Git
5 9 (1.11%) Bitbucket
6 8 (0.99%) Sonatype Nexus
7 6 (0.74%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 5 (0.62%) Browser DevTools
9 4 (0.49%) Burp Suite
10 2 (0.25%) Cucumber
10 2 (0.25%) Gatling
10 2 (0.25%) Gradle
10 2 (0.25%) Introscope
10 2 (0.25%) LoadRunner
10 2 (0.25%) Metasploit
10 2 (0.25%) REST Assured
10 2 (0.25%) SonarQube
10 2 (0.25%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
10 2 (0.25%) Team Foundation Server
11 1 (0.12%) Ant
General
1 173 (21.33%) Social Skills
2 79 (9.74%) Analytical Skills
2 79 (9.74%) Finance
3 70 (8.63%) Public Sector
4 31 (3.82%) Documentation Skills
5 28 (3.45%) Banking
6 23 (2.84%) Telecoms
7 19 (2.34%) Manufacturing
8 18 (2.22%) Military
9 15 (1.85%) Legal
10 10 (1.23%) Organisational Skills
11 8 (0.99%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 7 (0.86%) Police
12 7 (0.86%) Retail
13 6 (0.74%) Aerospace
13 6 (0.74%) Law
14 5 (0.62%) Financial Institution
14 5 (0.62%) Influencing Skills
15 4 (0.49%) Pharmaceutical
16 2 (0.25%) Automotive
Job Titles
1 258 (31.81%) Network Engineer
2 117 (14.43%) Senior
3 107 (13.19%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 99 (12.21%) Architect
5 57 (7.03%) Security Engineer
6 54 (6.66%) Senior Network Engineer
7 41 (5.06%) Cloud Engineer
8 36 (4.44%) Network Architect
9 35 (4.32%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
10 33 (4.07%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
11 32 (3.95%) Lead
12 23 (2.84%) Consultant
13 22 (2.71%) Platform Engineer
13 22 (2.71%) Technical Architect
14 21 (2.59%) Network Security Engineer
15 18 (2.22%) Firewall Specialist
15 18 (2.22%) Network Specialist
15 18 (2.22%) Solutions Architect
16 16 (1.97%) Analyst
16 16 (1.97%) Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 52 (6.41%) 802.1X
2 17 (2.10%) SAML
3 16 (1.97%) ARM Templates
4 12 (1.48%) LDAP
5 10 (1.23%) Kafka
5 10 (1.23%) React
6 9 (1.11%) LangChain
6 9 (1.11%) PyTorch
6 9 (1.11%) scikit-learn
7 8 (0.99%) Middleware
8 7 (0.86%) OAuth
8 7 (0.86%) YAML
9 6 (0.74%) OAuth2
9 6 (0.74%) OpenID
9 6 (0.74%) SailPoint
10 5 (0.62%) ModSecurity
10 5 (0.62%) OpenTelemetry
11 4 (0.49%) gRPC
11 4 (0.49%) Redfish
11 4 (0.49%) WebSockets
Miscellaneous
1 189 (23.30%) Data Centre
2 68 (8.38%) Cloud Native
2 68 (8.38%) PKI
3 61 (7.52%) Hybrid Cloud
4 45 (5.55%) Security Posture
5 36 (4.44%) Operational Technology
6 29 (3.58%) Clustering
7 24 (2.96%) SCADA
8 21 (2.59%) Management Information System
8 21 (2.59%) Onboarding
9 18 (2.22%) Enterprise Storage
9 18 (2.22%) Public Cloud
10 17 (2.10%) Driving Licence
11 16 (1.97%) Data Protection Act
12 15 (1.85%) IoT
12 15 (1.85%) Self-Motivation
13 12 (1.48%) Enterprise Software
14 11 (1.36%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
14 11 (1.36%) Private Cloud
14 11 (1.36%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 233 (28.73%) Windows
2 148 (18.25%) Linux
3 88 (10.85%) Windows Server
4 31 (3.82%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 21 (2.59%) Unix
6 11 (1.36%) Mac OS
7 10 (1.23%) CentOS
8 9 (1.11%) Ubuntu
9 8 (0.99%) VMS
10 7 (0.86%) Rocky
11 6 (0.74%) Windows 10
12 5 (0.62%) Windows Server 2019
13 4 (0.49%) Solaris
13 4 (0.49%) Windows Server 2012
13 4 (0.49%) Windows Server 2016
14 3 (0.37%) AIX
14 3 (0.37%) Android
14 3 (0.37%) Check Point GAiA
14 3 (0.37%) Data ONTAP
15 2 (0.25%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 152 (18.74%) CI/CD
2 145 (17.88%) Load Balancing
3 144 (17.76%) Infrastructure Engineering
4 140 (17.26%) DevOps
5 135 (16.65%) Infrastructure as Code
6 127 (15.66%) Problem-Solving
7 124 (15.29%) Cybersecurity
8 120 (14.80%) High Availability
9 118 (14.55%) ITIL
10 98 (12.08%) Agile
11 88 (10.85%) SIEM
12 82 (10.11%) Zero Trust
13 81 (9.99%) Migration
14 80 (9.86%) Observability
15 76 (9.37%) Change Management
15 76 (9.37%) Technical Leadership
16 70 (8.63%) Roadmaps
17 68 (8.38%) Validation
18 67 (8.26%) Network Segmentation
19 66 (8.14%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 153 (18.87%) Python
2 116 (14.30%) PowerShell
3 78 (9.62%) Bash
4 32 (3.95%) Bicep
5 29 (3.58%) SQL
6 26 (3.21%) Java
7 9 (1.11%) ActionScript
8 5 (0.62%) Go
9 4 (0.49%) JavaScript
9 4 (0.49%) Kusto Query Language
9 4 (0.49%) Perl
9 4 (0.49%) Search Processing Language
9 4 (0.49%) TypeScript
10 3 (0.37%) COBOL
10 3 (0.37%) PL/SQL
11 2 (0.25%) C++
11 2 (0.25%) Groovy
11 2 (0.25%) Jython
11 2 (0.25%) T-SQL
12 1 (0.12%) Korn
Qualifications
1 321 (39.58%) Security Cleared
2 200 (24.66%) SC Cleared
3 166 (20.47%) Cisco Certification
4 108 (13.32%) CCNP
5 100 (12.33%) DV Cleared
6 86 (10.60%) CCNA
7 66 (8.14%) Degree
8 46 (5.67%) CISSP
9 37 (4.56%) AWS Certification
10 32 (3.95%) Azure Certification
11 21 (2.59%) Microsoft Certification
12 20 (2.47%) Network+ Certification
13 16 (1.97%) CCIE
14 15 (1.85%) JNCIS
14 15 (1.85%) Server+ Certification
14 15 (1.85%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
15 13 (1.60%) CISM
15 13 (1.60%) JNCIA
16 12 (1.48%) Computer Science Degree
17 11 (1.36%) VCAP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 44 (5.43%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 33 (4.07%) NIST
3 26 (3.21%) GDPR
4 25 (3.08%) NCSC
5 16 (1.97%) QA
6 14 (1.73%) PCI DSS
7 11 (1.36%) Cyber Essentials
7 11 (1.36%) JSP 440
8 8 (0.99%) Data Quality
8 8 (0.99%) Disclosure Scotland
8 8 (0.99%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 6 (0.74%) GxP
10 5 (0.62%) SLA
11 4 (0.49%) 21 CFR Part 11
11 4 (0.49%) HIPAA
11 4 (0.49%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 4 (0.49%) SOC 2
12 3 (0.37%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 3 (0.37%) ISA99
12 3 (0.37%) NIST 800
System Software
1 151 (18.62%) Active Directory
2 131 (16.15%) VMware Infrastructure
3 53 (6.54%) VMware NSX
4 49 (6.04%) Hyper-V
5 44 (5.43%) Docker
6 34 (4.19%) vSphere
7 22 (2.71%) VMware ESXi
8 18 (2.22%) Firmware
8 18 (2.22%) Virtual Machines
9 7 (0.86%) Virtual Desktop
10 4 (0.49%) Virtual Servers
11 3 (0.37%) Dovecot
11 3 (0.37%) FreeRADIUS
11 3 (0.37%) Postfix
11 3 (0.37%) VirtualBox
12 2 (0.25%) BitLocker
12 2 (0.25%) Microsoft Virtual Server
12 2 (0.25%) Squid
13 1 (0.12%) iptables
13 1 (0.12%) KVM
Systems Management
1 162 (19.98%) Terraform
2 120 (14.80%) Ansible
3 74 (9.12%) Kubernetes
4 55 (6.78%) FortiGate
5 27 (3.33%) Microsoft Intune
6 21 (2.59%) Progress Chef
7 19 (2.34%) Single Sign-On
8 18 (2.22%) CASB
8 18 (2.22%) Grafana
9 17 (2.10%) Prometheus
10 13 (1.60%) VxRail
11 11 (1.36%) SCCM
11 11 (1.36%) vCenter Server
12 9 (1.11%) Argo
13 8 (0.99%) Active Directory Federation Services
14 7 (0.86%) Cisco Prime
14 7 (0.86%) NetBackup
14 7 (0.86%) Packer
15 6 (0.74%) Nessus
16 5 (0.62%) Nagios
Vendors
1 294 (36.25%) Cisco
2 187 (23.06%) Microsoft
3 164 (20.22%) VMware
4 145 (17.88%) Palo Alto
5 122 (15.04%) F5
6 97 (11.96%) Juniper
7 69 (8.51%) Fortinet
8 62 (7.64%) SolarWinds
9 60 (7.40%) Splunk
10 57 (7.03%) CheckPoint
11 52 (6.41%) Aruba
11 52 (6.41%) ServiceNow
12 45 (5.55%) Google
13 28 (3.45%) Arista
14 26 (3.21%) Red Hat
15 25 (3.08%) Extreme Networks
15 25 (3.08%) Meraki
16 22 (2.71%) Zscaler
17 18 (2.22%) CyberArk
17 18 (2.22%) Veeam