PKI Contract Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Public-Key Infrastructure (PKI)
UK > UK excluding London

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term PKI in contract job vacancies in the UK excluding London. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited PKI over the 6 months leading up to 8 February 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
8 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 253 198 142
Rank change year-on-year -55 -56 +105
Contract jobs citing PKI 159 155 342
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 0.81% 1.14% 1.62%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.56% 3.51% 5.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 117 84 195
10th Percentile £308 £413 £410
25th Percentile £425 £501 £519
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £560 £575
Median % change year-on-year -1.79% -2.61% +2.68%
75th Percentile £650 £649 £650
90th Percentile £725 £725 £700
UK median daily rate £550 £575 £595
% change year-on-year -4.35% -3.36% -0.83%
Number of hourly rates quoted 6 0 5
10th Percentile £71.27 - £46.38
25th Percentile £74.91 - -
Median hourly rate £87.00 - £55.00
75th Percentile £98.75 - £56.40
90th Percentile £102.75 - £63.06
UK median hourly rate £87.00 - £55.00

All Generic Skills
UK excluding London

PKI 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 6,208 4,417 6,375
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 31.77% 32.48% 30.16%
Number of daily rates quoted 3,899 2,496 3,905
10th Percentile £200 £200 £207
25th Percentile £353 £356 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - -
75th Percentile £575 £600 £594
90th Percentile £675 £676 £680
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £530
% change year-on-year -4.76% -0.94% -3.64%
Number of hourly rates quoted 498 232 622
10th Percentile £14.20 £19.25 £12.86
25th Percentile £17.87 £23.30 £15.79
Median hourly rate £29.24 £32.50 £33.61
Median % change year-on-year -10.03% -3.29% +58.07%
75th Percentile £64.19 £65.25 £60.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £82.25 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £29.00 £35.00 £32.12
% change year-on-year -17.14% +8.98% +42.83%

PKI
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

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

PKI job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

PKI
Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

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

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

PKI
Daily Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing PKI in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 8 February 2026.

Daily rate histogram for PKI in the UK excluding London

PKI
Hourly Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

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

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

PKI
Hourly Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing PKI in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 8 February 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for PKI in the UK excluding London

PKI
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 PKI within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 8 February 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
South East +8 67 £600 - 28
South West -35 39 £550 - 7
West Midlands -26 29 £400 -16.67% 4
Midlands -29 29 £400 -16.67% 8
North of England -65 16 £482 -33.52% 5
Yorkshire -52 9 £485 -33.17% 4
North West -24 7 £379 -22.31% 1
Scotland -20 6 £650 +48.57% 1
East of England - 3 £550 - 3
Wales +1 1 £550 +20.22%
PKI
UK

PKI
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 25 (15.72%) Microsoft Exchange
2 11 (6.92%) SharePoint
3 6 (3.77%) Skype for Business
4 4 (2.52%) SharePoint Server
5 3 (1.89%) Confluence
5 3 (1.89%) Exchange Server 2010
6 1 (0.63%) Apache
6 1 (0.63%) IIS
6 1 (0.63%) JBoss
Applications
1 9 (5.66%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 1 (0.63%) Cloudability
Cloud Services
1 26 (16.35%) Azure
2 25 (15.72%) AWS
3 10 (6.29%) Entra ID
4 9 (5.66%) OpenShift
5 7 (4.40%) Microsoft 365
6 5 (3.14%) AWS CloudFormation
6 5 (3.14%) GCP
7 4 (2.52%) Power Platform
7 4 (2.52%) SaaS
8 3 (1.89%) AWS KMS
8 3 (1.89%) Azure DevOps
8 3 (1.89%) Azure Key Vault
8 3 (1.89%) GitHub
8 3 (1.89%) Power Automate
9 2 (1.26%) Google Workspace
10 1 (0.63%) Anthos
10 1 (0.63%) Azure Sentinel
10 1 (0.63%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 34 (21.38%) Firewall
2 30 (18.87%) DNS
3 29 (18.24%) VPN
4 25 (15.72%) BGP
5 23 (14.47%) MPLS
6 20 (12.58%) WAN
7 19 (11.95%) IPsec
8 16 (10.06%) DHCP
9 14 (8.81%) Skype
10 13 (8.18%) SSL
11 11 (6.92%) Network Security
12 9 (5.66%) Cisco IOS
12 9 (5.66%) TCP/IP
13 6 (3.77%) Junos
14 5 (3.14%) Cisco ASA
14 5 (3.14%) Cisco Firepower
14 5 (3.14%) TACACS
14 5 (3.14%) Unified Communications
15 4 (2.52%) Internet
15 4 (2.52%) S/MIME
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (6.29%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 7 (4.40%) JIRA
2 4 (2.52%) Robot Framework
2 4 (2.52%) Sonatype Nexus
3 3 (1.89%) GitLab
4 1 (0.63%) CircleCI
4 1 (0.63%) Jenkins
General
1 34 (21.38%) Social Skills
2 24 (15.09%) Public Sector
3 15 (9.43%) Analytical Skills
4 5 (3.14%) Finance
5 3 (1.89%) Banking
5 3 (1.89%) Military
5 3 (1.89%) Presentation Skills
6 2 (1.26%) Financial Institution
6 2 (1.26%) Legal
7 1 (0.63%) Aerospace
7 1 (0.63%) Back Office
7 1 (0.63%) Documentation Skills
7 1 (0.63%) Influencing Skills
7 1 (0.63%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 44 (27.67%) Architect
2 22 (13.84%) Support Engineer
3 21 (13.21%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 20 (12.58%) 3rd Line Engineer
5 17 (10.69%) 3rd Line Support
6 16 (10.06%) 3rd Line Support Engineer
6 16 (10.06%) Senior
7 11 (6.92%) Wintel Engineer
8 9 (5.66%) 2nd Line Engineer
8 9 (5.66%) Network Engineer
8 9 (5.66%) Security Engineer
8 9 (5.66%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
9 8 (5.03%) Cloud Engineer
10 7 (4.40%) Platform Engineer
10 7 (4.40%) WAN Engineer
11 5 (3.14%) Administrator
11 5 (3.14%) Azure Engineer
11 5 (3.14%) Infrastructure Support
11 5 (3.14%) Wintel Administrator
11 5 (3.14%) Wintel Systems Administrator
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (3.14%) LDAP
2 3 (1.89%) REST
3 2 (1.26%) OpenID
4 1 (0.63%) Elastic Stack
4 1 (0.63%) Kafka
4 1 (0.63%) Middleware
4 1 (0.63%) OAuth
4 1 (0.63%) OAuth2
4 1 (0.63%) OpenTelemetry
4 1 (0.63%) SAML
Miscellaneous
1 11 (6.92%) Fat Client
1 11 (6.92%) Thin Client
2 6 (3.77%) Algorithms
3 5 (3.14%) Public Cloud
3 5 (3.14%) Smartcard
4 4 (2.52%) Cloud Native
4 4 (2.52%) Security Operations Centre
5 3 (1.89%) Onboarding
5 3 (1.89%) Security Posture
6 2 (1.26%) Data Centre
6 2 (1.26%) Management Information System
6 2 (1.26%) Self-Motivation
6 2 (1.26%) SWIFT Messaging Network
7 1 (0.63%) CMDB
7 1 (0.63%) Cyber Defence
7 1 (0.63%) Data Protection Act
7 1 (0.63%) Legacy Systems
7 1 (0.63%) Private Cloud
7 1 (0.63%) Replication
7 1 (0.63%) Tandem
Operating Systems
1 62 (38.99%) Windows
2 34 (21.38%) Linux
3 31 (19.50%) Windows Server
4 11 (6.92%) Windows 10
4 11 (6.92%) Windows 7
5 8 (5.03%) Windows Server 2012
6 5 (3.14%) Ubuntu
6 5 (3.14%) Windows Server 2016
7 3 (1.89%) CentOS
8 2 (1.26%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 2 (1.26%) VMS
8 2 (1.26%) Windows Server 2008
8 2 (1.26%) Windows Server 2019
9 1 (0.63%) Solaris
9 1 (0.63%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 44 (27.67%) Agile
2 25 (15.72%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 22 (13.84%) Key Management
4 21 (13.21%) Change Management
5 19 (11.95%) CI/CD
5 19 (11.95%) ITIL
5 19 (11.95%) Platform Engineering
5 19 (11.95%) Problem-Solving
6 17 (10.69%) DevOps
7 16 (10.06%) Cybersecurity
7 16 (10.06%) Identity Access Management
7 16 (10.06%) Service Management
8 15 (9.43%) Prototyping
9 14 (8.81%) Knowledge Transfer
10 13 (8.18%) Cloud Security
10 13 (8.18%) Infrastructure as Code
10 13 (8.18%) SIEM
11 12 (7.55%) Cryptography
11 12 (7.55%) Load Balancing
11 12 (7.55%) Open Source
Programming Languages
1 32 (20.13%) Python
2 31 (19.50%) PowerShell
3 14 (8.81%) SQL
4 10 (6.29%) Bash
5 3 (1.89%) PHP
6 1 (0.63%) Bicep
6 1 (0.63%) C
6 1 (0.63%) Go
6 1 (0.63%) Perl
6 1 (0.63%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 122 (76.73%) Security Cleared
2 73 (45.91%) DV Cleared
3 52 (32.70%) SC Cleared
4 16 (10.06%) Degree
5 15 (9.43%) CISM
5 15 (9.43%) CISSP
6 14 (8.81%) Microsoft Certification
7 12 (7.55%) MCSE
8 7 (4.40%) CCNP
8 7 (4.40%) Cisco Certification
8 7 (4.40%) GIAC
9 6 (3.77%) CCNA
9 6 (3.77%) ITIL Certification
9 6 (3.77%) Master's Degree
10 5 (3.14%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 4 (2.52%) AWS Certification
12 3 (1.89%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
12 3 (1.89%) CompTIA Security+
12 3 (1.89%) Computer Science Degree
12 3 (1.89%) GSEC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 12 (7.55%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 12 (7.55%) NIST
2 5 (3.14%) PCI DSS
3 4 (2.52%) Cyber Essentials
3 4 (2.52%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
3 4 (2.52%) GDPR
3 4 (2.52%) NCSC
3 4 (2.52%) SLA
4 1 (0.63%) JSP 440
4 1 (0.63%) NIST 800
4 1 (0.63%) RMADS
4 1 (0.63%) SOC 2
System Software
1 58 (36.48%) Active Directory
2 35 (22.01%) VMware Infrastructure
3 9 (5.66%) VMware NSX
4 8 (5.03%) Docker
4 8 (5.03%) Hyper-V
5 7 (4.40%) VMware ESXi
6 6 (3.77%) Firmware
7 5 (3.14%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 5 (3.14%) Virtual Servers
8 4 (2.52%) Virtual Machines
9 3 (1.89%) Sendmail
9 3 (1.89%) vSphere
10 1 (0.63%) KVM
10 1 (0.63%) NFS
Systems Management
1 21 (13.21%) Ansible
1 21 (13.21%) Terraform
2 18 (11.32%) vCenter Server
3 16 (10.06%) Kubernetes
4 11 (6.92%) SCCM
4 11 (6.92%) Single Sign-On
4 11 (6.92%) WMI
4 11 (6.92%) WSUS
5 9 (5.66%) Microsoft Intune
6 8 (5.03%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 7 (4.40%) SCOM
8 4 (2.52%) Podman
8 4 (2.52%) Prometheus
8 4 (2.52%) QRadar
9 3 (1.89%) Grafana
9 3 (1.89%) Proxmox
10 1 (0.63%) Host Intrusion Detection System
10 1 (0.63%) Progress Chef
10 1 (0.63%) Red Hat Satellite
10 1 (0.63%) SCOrch
Vendors
1 63 (39.62%) Microsoft
2 56 (35.22%) VMware
3 29 (18.24%) Cisco
4 23 (14.47%) Juniper
5 15 (9.43%) SolarWinds
6 13 (8.18%) Veeam
7 9 (5.66%) Splunk
7 9 (5.66%) Thales
8 7 (4.40%) Google
9 5 (3.14%) Broadcom
9 5 (3.14%) Red Hat
10 3 (1.89%) CheckPoint
10 3 (1.89%) Citrix
10 3 (1.89%) ServiceNow
10 3 (1.89%) Zscaler
11 2 (1.26%) CyberArk
11 2 (1.26%) IBM
11 2 (1.26%) Palo Alto
11 2 (1.26%) Wyse
12 1 (0.63%) Dynatrace