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 27 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
27 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 73 40 39
Rank change year-on-year -33 -1 -2
Contract jobs citing Firewall 785 668 873
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 3.01% 4.91% 4.13%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 27.91% 32.81% 26.64%
Number of daily rates quoted 526 384 550
10th Percentile £350 £300 £275
25th Percentile £413 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £479 £500
Median % change year-on-year +4.44% -4.25% +2.88%
75th Percentile £588 £586 £608
90th Percentile £642 £638 £713
UK median daily rate £500 £500 £513
% change year-on-year - -2.44% -2.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 23 22 34
10th Percentile £15.37 £14.20 £22.85
25th Percentile £37.25 £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 £70.11 £32.33 £87.46
90th Percentile £73.81 £43.12 £87.53
UK median hourly rate £56.00 £30.00 £60.00
% change year-on-year +86.67% -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 2,813 2,036 3,277
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 10.79% 14.97% 15.51%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,648 1,233 1,839
10th Percentile £213 £200 £205
25th Percentile £375 £325 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £483 £470 £495
Median % change year-on-year +2.77% -5.05% +4.21%
75th Percentile £581 £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 256 127 367
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.67 £13.50
25th Percentile £20.46 £17.30 £17.69
Median hourly rate £26.66 £35.00 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year -23.83% -26.32% +115.91%
75th Percentile £65.00 £64.38 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.00 £81.65 £75.00
UK median hourly rate £27.69 £43.75 £45.00
% change year-on-year -36.71% -2.78% +114.29%

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 27 June 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 27 June 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 27 June 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 -18 277 £515 +8.42% 90
South East -29 212 £513 +2.50% 152
North West -5 178 £537 +13.70% 45
Yorkshire -31 83 £425 -13.18% 34
Midlands -61 80 £438 -9.51% 62
East of England -12 70 £515 -1.44% 53
Scotland +21 66 £456 +4.29% 12
West Midlands -60 65 £425 -19.05% 40
South West -50 61 £525 +6.33% 41
Wales -18 25 £425 +36.00% 4
North East -16 22 £625 +25.00% 13
East Midlands -26 12 £500 +11.11% 22
Northern Ireland -6 2 £385 - 13
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 12 (1.53%) Confluence
2 9 (1.15%) CICS
2 9 (1.15%) Microsoft Exchange
3 6 (0.76%) Apache
3 6 (0.76%) SharePoint
4 4 (0.51%) IIS
4 4 (0.51%) nginx
5 3 (0.38%) Skype for Business
5 3 (0.38%) Tomcat
6 2 (0.25%) Apache Pulsar
6 2 (0.25%) CloudStack
6 2 (0.25%) CMS
6 2 (0.25%) IBM HTTP Server
6 2 (0.25%) Oracle HTTP Server
6 2 (0.25%) Umbraco
6 2 (0.25%) WebSphere
6 2 (0.25%) WebSphere Application Server
6 2 (0.25%) WebSphere Portal
Applications
1 20 (2.55%) MS Visio
2 15 (1.91%) Microsoft Office
3 8 (1.02%) Microsoft Excel
4 3 (0.38%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.38%) Microsoft Project
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
1 257 (32.74%) Azure
2 151 (19.24%) AWS
3 65 (8.28%) Entra ID
4 58 (7.39%) GCP
5 47 (5.99%) Microsoft 365
6 32 (4.08%) Azure DevOps
7 30 (3.82%) GitHub
7 30 (3.82%) OCI
8 29 (3.69%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 28 (3.57%) IaaS
10 25 (3.18%) Google Kubernetes Engine
11 24 (3.06%) SaaS
12 21 (2.68%) Azure Sentinel
13 19 (2.42%) Azure Monitor
14 16 (2.04%) Azure ExpressRoute
15 14 (1.78%) AWS CloudFormation
16 13 (1.66%) GitHub Actions
16 13 (1.66%) PaaS
17 12 (1.53%) Azure AKS
17 12 (1.53%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 248 (31.59%) WAN
2 214 (27.26%) Network Security
3 202 (25.73%) LAN
4 179 (22.80%) VPN
5 168 (21.40%) DNS
6 137 (17.45%) BGP
7 124 (15.80%) OSPF
8 110 (14.01%) Wireless
9 104 (13.25%) VLAN
10 101 (12.87%) SD-WAN
11 99 (12.61%) DHCP
12 82 (10.45%) TCP/IP
12 82 (10.45%) Wi-Fi
13 77 (9.81%) BIG-IP
14 68 (8.66%) VXLAN
15 62 (7.90%) Ethernet VPN
16 61 (7.77%) IPsec
17 53 (6.75%) MPLS
18 52 (6.62%) Cisco ISE
19 51 (6.50%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (1.27%) PostgreSQL
2 9 (1.15%) DataStage
2 9 (1.15%) SQL Server
3 7 (0.89%) Data Lake
4 6 (0.76%) Azure SQL Database
4 6 (0.76%) Power BI
5 5 (0.64%) Relational Database
6 4 (0.51%) Amazon RDS
6 4 (0.51%) MySQL
6 4 (0.51%) NoSQL
7 3 (0.38%) Delta Lake
7 3 (0.38%) Oracle Database
8 1 (0.13%) Amazon Athena
8 1 (0.13%) Amazon QuickSight
8 1 (0.13%) Amazon Redshift
8 1 (0.13%) EDRMS
8 1 (0.13%) Oracle Reports
8 1 (0.13%) Redis
8 1 (0.13%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 1 (0.13%) TimescaleDB
Development Applications
1 69 (8.79%) JIRA
2 32 (4.08%) GitLab
3 29 (3.69%) Jenkins
4 17 (2.17%) Git
5 12 (1.53%) Sonatype Nexus
6 7 (0.89%) Burp Suite
7 5 (0.64%) Jaeger
7 5 (0.64%) Metasploit
8 4 (0.51%) Browser DevTools
9 3 (0.38%) Chocolatey
10 2 (0.25%) Bitbucket
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%) REST Assured
10 2 (0.25%) SonarQube
10 2 (0.25%) Team Foundation Server
11 1 (0.13%) MSI
General
1 171 (21.78%) Social Skills
2 82 (10.45%) Finance
3 63 (8.03%) Analytical Skills
4 59 (7.52%) Public Sector
5 43 (5.48%) Documentation Skills
6 22 (2.80%) Banking
6 22 (2.80%) Telecoms
7 19 (2.42%) Legal
8 16 (2.04%) Manufacturing
9 14 (1.78%) Military
10 13 (1.66%) Influencing Skills
11 8 (1.02%) Organisational Skills
12 7 (0.89%) Retail
13 6 (0.76%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 5 (0.64%) Financial Institution
14 5 (0.64%) Law
15 3 (0.38%) Aerospace
15 3 (0.38%) Police
16 2 (0.25%) Aviation
16 2 (0.25%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 264 (33.63%) Network Engineer
2 111 (14.14%) Architect
3 98 (12.48%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 96 (12.23%) Senior
5 60 (7.64%) Security Engineer
6 46 (5.86%) Network Architect
7 42 (5.35%) Senior Network Engineer
8 39 (4.97%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
9 34 (4.33%) Cloud Engineer
10 28 (3.57%) Lead
11 27 (3.44%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
12 24 (3.06%) Technical Architect
13 23 (2.93%) Cisco Engineer
14 21 (2.68%) Cisco Network Engineer
15 20 (2.55%) Consultant
15 20 (2.55%) Designer
16 19 (2.42%) Network Specialist
17 18 (2.29%) Firewall Specialist
18 17 (2.17%) Network Security Engineer
19 16 (2.04%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 60 (7.64%) 802.1X
2 21 (2.68%) LDAP
3 16 (2.04%) Middleware
4 13 (1.66%) SAML
5 12 (1.53%) Kafka
6 9 (1.15%) LangChain
6 9 (1.15%) PyTorch
6 9 (1.15%) scikit-learn
7 8 (1.02%) OpenTelemetry
8 7 (0.89%) ARM Templates
8 7 (0.89%) Spring Boot
9 6 (0.76%) OAuth
9 6 (0.76%) OAuth2
9 6 (0.76%) SailPoint
9 6 (0.76%) YAML
10 5 (0.64%) React
11 4 (0.51%) OpenID
11 4 (0.51%) Redfish
12 3 (0.38%) LAMP
12 3 (0.38%) REST
Miscellaneous
1 211 (26.88%) Data Centre
2 67 (8.54%) Cloud Native
3 53 (6.75%) Security Posture
4 50 (6.37%) Hybrid Cloud
5 41 (5.22%) PKI
6 28 (3.57%) Clustering
6 28 (3.57%) Operational Technology
7 24 (3.06%) Onboarding
8 20 (2.55%) Management Information System
9 18 (2.29%) Enterprise Storage
10 17 (2.17%) IoT
10 17 (2.17%) Public Cloud
11 16 (2.04%) SCADA
12 15 (1.91%) Data Protection Act
13 14 (1.78%) BYOD
13 14 (1.78%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
14 13 (1.66%) Private Cloud
15 12 (1.53%) NHS
16 11 (1.40%) Cyber Threat
17 10 (1.27%) Enterprise Software
Operating Systems
1 192 (24.46%) Windows
2 117 (14.90%) Linux
3 69 (8.79%) Windows Server
4 24 (3.06%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 24 (3.06%) Unix
5 10 (1.27%) Solaris
6 9 (1.15%) AIX
6 9 (1.15%) Ubuntu
7 7 (0.89%) VMS
7 7 (0.89%) Windows Server 2019
8 6 (0.76%) CentOS
9 5 (0.64%) Mac OS
9 5 (0.64%) Windows Server 2016
10 4 (0.51%) Windows Server 2012
11 3 (0.38%) Check Point GAiA
11 3 (0.38%) Data ONTAP
11 3 (0.38%) Rocky
12 2 (0.25%) CatOS
12 2 (0.25%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
12 2 (0.25%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 133 (16.94%) Load Balancing
2 126 (16.05%) DevOps
3 125 (15.92%) Infrastructure Engineering
4 124 (15.80%) CI/CD
5 119 (15.16%) High Availability
6 108 (13.76%) Infrastructure as Code
7 101 (12.87%) Cybersecurity
8 98 (12.48%) ITIL
9 96 (12.23%) Problem-Solving
10 89 (11.34%) Agile
11 87 (11.08%) Migration
12 86 (10.96%) Zero Trust
13 72 (9.17%) Change Management
13 72 (9.17%) Network Segmentation
14 71 (9.04%) Observability
15 70 (8.92%) Roadmaps
16 66 (8.41%) SIEM
17 59 (7.52%) Network Design
17 59 (7.52%) Validation
18 58 (7.39%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 126 (16.05%) Python
2 75 (9.55%) PowerShell
3 44 (5.61%) Bash
4 26 (3.31%) Bicep
4 26 (3.31%) SQL
5 22 (2.80%) Java
6 9 (1.15%) ActionScript
6 9 (1.15%) COBOL
7 5 (0.64%) Perl
8 4 (0.51%) Rust
9 3 (0.38%) Go
9 3 (0.38%) JavaScript
9 3 (0.38%) PL/SQL
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%) Kusto Query Language
11 1 (0.13%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 289 (36.82%) Security Cleared
2 194 (24.71%) SC Cleared
3 185 (23.57%) Cisco Certification
4 128 (16.31%) CCNP
5 98 (12.48%) CCNA
6 70 (8.92%) DV Cleared
7 68 (8.66%) Degree
8 38 (4.84%) CISSP
9 29 (3.69%) AWS Certification
10 26 (3.31%) Azure Certification
11 19 (2.42%) CCIE
12 18 (2.29%) Microsoft Certification
12 18 (2.29%) Network+ Certification
13 15 (1.91%) CISM
13 15 (1.91%) JNCIS
13 15 (1.91%) Server+ Certification
14 14 (1.78%) JNCIA
15 13 (1.66%) PMP
16 11 (1.40%) BPSS Clearance
17 10 (1.27%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 47 (5.99%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 32 (4.08%) NIST
3 24 (3.06%) GDPR
4 23 (2.93%) NCSC
5 17 (2.17%) QA
6 16 (2.04%) PCI DSS
7 15 (1.91%) Cyber Essentials
8 8 (1.02%) Disclosure Scotland
8 8 (1.02%) SLA
9 7 (0.89%) Data Quality
10 4 (0.51%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 4 (0.51%) JSP 440
10 4 (0.51%) PMO
10 4 (0.51%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 4 (0.51%) SOC 2
11 3 (0.38%) HIPAA
11 3 (0.38%) ISA99
11 3 (0.38%) RMADS
12 2 (0.25%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 2 (0.25%) NIST 800
System Software
1 128 (16.31%) Active Directory
2 95 (12.10%) VMware Infrastructure
3 35 (4.46%) VMware NSX
4 30 (3.82%) Docker
5 26 (3.31%) vSphere
6 20 (2.55%) VMware ESXi
7 19 (2.42%) Firmware
8 15 (1.91%) Virtual Machines
9 14 (1.78%) Hyper-V
10 9 (1.15%) Virtual Desktop
11 3 (0.38%) BitLocker
11 3 (0.38%) Dovecot
11 3 (0.38%) Postfix
12 2 (0.25%) Squid
12 2 (0.25%) VirtualBox
13 1 (0.13%) Citrix Hypervisor
13 1 (0.13%) FreeRADIUS
13 1 (0.13%) iptables
13 1 (0.13%) KVM
13 1 (0.13%) NFS
Systems Management
1 124 (15.80%) Terraform
2 82 (10.45%) Ansible
3 56 (7.13%) FortiGate
4 47 (5.99%) Kubernetes
5 22 (2.80%) Microsoft Intune
6 20 (2.55%) Grafana
7 19 (2.42%) Single Sign-On
8 18 (2.29%) Prometheus
9 15 (1.91%) CASB
10 13 (1.66%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 12 (1.53%) Progress Chef
12 10 (1.27%) vCenter Server
13 8 (1.02%) Cisco Prime
13 8 (1.02%) SCCM
14 7 (0.89%) Nessus
14 7 (0.89%) Nmap
15 5 (0.64%) Argo
15 5 (0.64%) Kiali
15 5 (0.64%) Nagios
16 4 (0.51%) Istio
Vendors
1 294 (37.45%) Cisco
2 156 (19.87%) Microsoft
3 142 (18.09%) Palo Alto
4 129 (16.43%) VMware
5 118 (15.03%) F5
6 103 (13.12%) Juniper
7 75 (9.55%) Fortinet
8 61 (7.77%) Aruba
8 61 (7.77%) SolarWinds
9 59 (7.52%) CheckPoint
10 55 (7.01%) Splunk
11 51 (6.50%) ServiceNow
12 42 (5.35%) Google
13 33 (4.20%) Arista
14 27 (3.44%) Extreme Networks
15 23 (2.93%) Red Hat
16 20 (2.55%) Meraki
16 20 (2.55%) Zscaler
17 18 (2.29%) IBM
17 18 (2.29%) Veeam