Operational Technology Contracts in the UK excluding London

Operational Technology (OT)
UK > UK excluding London

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Operational Technology in contract job vacancies in the UK excluding London. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Operational Technology over the 6 months leading up to 23 May 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
23 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 244 278 306
Rank change year-on-year +34 +28 +130
Contract jobs citing Operational Technology 98 114 140
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 0.77% 0.56% 0.61%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.30% 1.94% 1.89%
Number of daily rates quoted 72 79 89
10th Percentile £433 £359 £343
25th Percentile £513 £463 £453
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £600 £575 £550
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -4.35%
75th Percentile £646 £660 £650
90th Percentile £725 £800 £700
UK median daily rate £600 £575 £570
% change year-on-year +4.35% +0.88% -4.20%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1 2 0
Median hourly rate £83.20 £65.00 -
Median % change year-on-year +28.00% - -
UK median hourly rate £83.20 £65.00 -
% change year-on-year +28.00% - -

All Generic Skills
UK excluding London

Operational Technology falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring generic IT skills in the UK excluding London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills 4,261 5,876 7,420
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 33.47% 29.00% 32.41%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,593 3,533 4,968
10th Percentile £205 £210 £220
25th Percentile £363 £378 £388
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - +5.26%
75th Percentile £584 £595 £610
90th Percentile £650 £688 £700
UK median daily rate £525 £538 £550
% change year-on-year -2.42% -2.18% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 292 726 423
10th Percentile £16.10 £12.15 £9.80
25th Percentile £18.87 £14.06 £10.63
Median hourly rate £29.27 £31.25 £21.75
Median % change year-on-year -6.34% +43.68% +2.96%
75th Percentile £64.50 £61.30 £64.13
90th Percentile £82.24 £70.00 £73.95
UK median hourly rate £31.29 £32.12 £22.08
% change year-on-year -2.58% +45.45% -19.71%

Operational Technology
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Job postings citing Operational Technology as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Job vacancy trend for Operational Technology in the UK excluding London

Operational Technology
Contractor Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Operational Technology in the UK excluding London.

Daily rate trend for Operational Technology in the UK excluding London

Operational Technology
Daily Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Operational Technology in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 23 May 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Operational Technology in the UK excluding London

Operational Technology
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Operational Technology in the UK excluding London.

Hourly rate trend for Operational Technology in the UK excluding London

Operational Technology
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 Operational Technology within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 23 May 2025. 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
Midlands +36 39 £600 +17.07% 132
West Midlands +31 39 £600 +17.07% 70
South East +46 28 £600 +19.88% 168
North of England +12 13 £550 -15.38% 145
East of England +30 8 £450 +12.50% 70
Scotland -1 8 £486 -22.24% 28
North West +8 6 £400 -58.44% 59
North East +1 5 £550 -8.33% 21
Yorkshire +12 3 £613 -5.77% 67
South West +17 2 £663 +13.25% 68
Wales - 1 £650 - 15
Operational Technology
UK

Operational Technology
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the UK excluding London by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 3 (3.06%) ThingWorx
2 1 (1.02%) SAS
2 1 (1.02%) SharePoint
Applications
1 7 (7.14%) Microsoft Excel
2 3 (3.06%) Microsoft Project
3 1 (1.02%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 11 (11.22%) Azure
2 6 (6.12%) AWS
3 2 (2.04%) Azure Sentinel
3 2 (2.04%) Entra ID
3 2 (2.04%) GCP
3 2 (2.04%) Microsoft 365
4 1 (1.02%) IaaS
4 1 (1.02%) OpenShift
4 1 (1.02%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 15 (15.31%) Firewall
2 6 (6.12%) Modbus
3 4 (4.08%) Intrusion Detection
3 4 (4.08%) Network Security
4 3 (3.06%) 4G
4 3 (3.06%) MQTT
4 3 (3.06%) VPN
5 2 (2.04%) 5G
5 2 (2.04%) ADSL
5 2 (2.04%) Ethernet
5 2 (2.04%) Internet
5 2 (2.04%) LAN
5 2 (2.04%) LoRaWAN
5 2 (2.04%) WAN
6 1 (1.02%) Cisco Firepower
6 1 (1.02%) DKIM
6 1 (1.02%) DMZ
6 1 (1.02%) ISDN
6 1 (1.02%) MPLS
6 1 (1.02%) SD-WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (7.14%) GIS
2 3 (3.06%) SQL Server
2 3 (3.06%) SQL Server Reporting Services
3 2 (2.04%) Big Data
General
1 39 (39.80%) Social Skills
2 20 (20.41%) Analytical Skills
3 14 (14.29%) Presentation Skills
4 8 (8.16%) Finance
5 7 (7.14%) Organisational Skills
6 6 (6.12%) Manufacturing
7 5 (5.10%) Pharmaceutical
8 4 (4.08%) Legal
8 4 (4.08%) Public Sector
9 2 (2.04%) Automotive
10 1 (1.02%) Documentation Skills
10 1 (1.02%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 1 (1.02%) Military
Job Titles
1 21 (21.43%) Architect
2 18 (18.37%) Analyst
3 11 (11.22%) Consultant
4 9 (9.18%) Project Manager
4 9 (9.18%) Security Architect
5 8 (8.16%) Security Analyst
6 6 (6.12%) Security Manager
6 6 (6.12%) Solutions Architect
6 6 (6.12%) Solutions Consultant
7 4 (4.08%) Change Analyst
7 4 (4.08%) Cybersecurity Manager
7 4 (4.08%) Security Project Manager
7 4 (4.08%) Senior
8 3 (3.06%) Business Analyst
8 3 (3.06%) Business Change Analyst
8 3 (3.06%) Cybersecurity Architect
8 3 (3.06%) Delivery Manager
8 3 (3.06%) Lead
8 3 (3.06%) Network Architect
8 3 (3.06%) Systems Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 6 (6.12%) SOAP
2 1 (1.02%) ADO
Miscellaneous
1 38 (38.78%) SCADA
2 11 (11.22%) IoT
3 10 (10.20%) Industrial Internet of Things
3 10 (10.20%) Management Information System
4 4 (4.08%) Security Posture
5 3 (3.06%) CCTV
5 3 (3.06%) Cyber Threat
5 3 (3.06%) Data Structures
5 3 (3.06%) Replication
6 2 (2.04%) Data Centre
6 2 (2.04%) Data Protection Act
6 2 (2.04%) NB-IoT
6 2 (2.04%) Onboarding
6 2 (2.04%) PMI
6 2 (2.04%) Renewable Energy
7 1 (1.02%) Analytical Mindset
7 1 (1.02%) Industry 4.0
7 1 (1.02%) Legacy Systems
7 1 (1.02%) Product Ownership
7 1 (1.02%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 11 (11.22%) Linux
2 7 (7.14%) Apple iOS
2 7 (7.14%) Windows
3 1 (1.02%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 52 (53.06%) Cybersecurity
2 24 (24.49%) Stakeholder Management
3 17 (17.35%) Project Delivery
4 13 (13.27%) Change Management
5 11 (11.22%) Agile
5 11 (11.22%) Risk Management
6 10 (10.20%) Incident Management
7 9 (9.18%) Cyber Resilience
7 9 (9.18%) Problem-Solving
7 9 (9.18%) Programme Management
7 9 (9.18%) Security Management
7 9 (9.18%) Validation
8 8 (8.16%) Coaching
8 8 (8.16%) Project Management
8 8 (8.16%) Roadmaps
8 8 (8.16%) Security Architecture
9 7 (7.14%) Business Analysis
9 7 (7.14%) Computer Security
9 7 (7.14%) Software Testing
9 7 (7.14%) Vulnerability Management
Programming Languages
1 8 (8.16%) Perl
1 8 (8.16%) PL/SQL
1 8 (8.16%) SQL
2 1 (1.02%) Kusto Query Language
Qualifications
1 12 (12.24%) Security Cleared
2 11 (11.22%) Degree
3 10 (10.20%) SC Cleared
4 9 (9.18%) CISSP
5 5 (5.10%) CISM
6 4 (4.08%) CISA
7 3 (3.06%) Cisco Certification
7 3 (3.06%) Computer Science Degree
7 3 (3.06%) PMI Certification
8 2 (2.04%) APMG
8 2 (2.04%) Azure Certification
8 2 (2.04%) CCNA
8 2 (2.04%) CompTIA Security+
8 2 (2.04%) SANS
9 1 (1.02%) CREST Certified
9 1 (1.02%) CRISC
9 1 (1.02%) DV Cleared
9 1 (1.02%) OSCE
9 1 (1.02%) PMP
9 1 (1.02%) SSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 17 (17.35%) NIST
2 14 (14.29%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 12 (12.24%) NCSC
4 7 (7.14%) GxP
5 5 (5.10%) NIST 800
6 4 (4.08%) GRC
7 2 (2.04%) Actionable Recommendations
7 2 (2.04%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
8 1 (1.02%) Cyber Essentials
8 1 (1.02%) GDPR
8 1 (1.02%) IEC 61508
8 1 (1.02%) PCI DSS
8 1 (1.02%) PMO
8 1 (1.02%) QA
System Software
1 10 (10.20%) Active Directory
2 3 (3.06%) VMware Infrastructure
3 1 (1.02%) Virtual Machines
3 1 (1.02%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 2 (2.04%) CSIRT
1 2 (2.04%) Kubernetes
2 1 (1.02%) Ansible
2 1 (1.02%) SCCM
2 1 (1.02%) VxRail
Vendors
1 17 (17.35%) Microsoft
2 7 (7.14%) ServiceNow
3 3 (3.06%) Cisco
3 3 (3.06%) NEC
3 3 (3.06%) VMware
4 1 (1.02%) CheckPoint
4 1 (1.02%) DataCore
4 1 (1.02%) Dell
4 1 (1.02%) Meraki
4 1 (1.02%) Palo Alto
4 1 (1.02%) Siemens
4 1 (1.02%) Veeam