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 30 May 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
30 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 265 225 110
Rank change year-on-year -40 -115 +123
Contract jobs citing PKI 178 115 394
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 0.71% 0.89% 1.90%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.40% 2.68% 6.58%
Number of daily rates quoted 121 98 273
10th Percentile £413 £394 £363
25th Percentile £463 £494 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £575 £550
Median % change year-on-year -4.35% +4.55% -
75th Percentile £625 £611 £625
90th Percentile £700 £649 £675
UK median daily rate £550 £575 £550
% change year-on-year -4.35% +4.55% -4.35%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 0 1
10th Percentile £47.22 - -
25th Percentile £56.01 - £36.75
Median hourly rate £71.33 - £38.50
75th Percentile £72.27 - £40.25
90th Percentile £72.43 - -
UK median hourly rate £71.33 - £23.80
% change year-on-year - - -63.38%

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 7,426 4,298 5,986
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 29.66% 33.39% 28.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 4,554 2,636 3,586
10th Percentile £268 £210 £208
25th Percentile £396 £363 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £488 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.63% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £575 £600
90th Percentile £675 £650 £688
UK median daily rate £513 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -2.38% -2.42% -2.18%
Number of hourly rates quoted 599 300 746
10th Percentile £15.60 £16.61 £12.15
25th Percentile £19.34 £18.87 £14.17
Median hourly rate £45.00 £31.76 £32.12
Median % change year-on-year +41.69% -1.11% +48.20%
75th Percentile £70.00 £64.52 £61.30
90th Percentile £85.08 £82.28 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £41.46 £32.43 £34.21
% change year-on-year +27.84% -5.20% +55.50%

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 30 May 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 30 May 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 30 May 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 -2 102 £600 +4.35% 18
North of England -54 31 £482 -2.03% 3
Scotland +12 18 £540 +0.93%
North West -34 18 £418 -15.04% 2
Midlands -66 14 £466 +6.51% 8
West Midlands -74 14 £466 +6.51% 4
Yorkshire -52 13 £485 -33.17% 2
South West -64 13 £538 -8.12% 4
East of England -31 4 £400 -23.81% 4
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 7 (3.93%) SharePoint
2 6 (3.37%) IIS
3 4 (2.25%) Confluence
4 3 (1.69%) Apache
4 3 (1.69%) Tomcat
4 3 (1.69%) WebSphere
5 1 (0.56%) ArcGIS
5 1 (0.56%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 4 (2.25%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 10 (5.62%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.56%) Cloudability
2 1 (0.56%) Dynamics GP
Cloud Services
1 44 (24.72%) Azure
2 25 (14.04%) AWS
2 25 (14.04%) Entra ID
3 15 (8.43%) Power Platform
4 11 (6.18%) GCP
5 9 (5.06%) Microsoft 365
5 9 (5.06%) OpenShift
6 6 (3.37%) Azure Key Vault
7 4 (2.25%) AWS KMS
8 3 (1.69%) Azure DevOps
9 2 (1.12%) GitHub
9 2 (1.12%) OneDrive
10 1 (0.56%) Anthos
10 1 (0.56%) Azure Logic Apps
10 1 (0.56%) Azure Sentinel
10 1 (0.56%) GitHub Actions
10 1 (0.56%) Google Kubernetes Engine
10 1 (0.56%) Google Workspace
10 1 (0.56%) Power Automate
10 1 (0.56%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 48 (26.97%) DNS
2 40 (22.47%) Firewall
3 34 (19.10%) DHCP
4 33 (18.54%) BGP
5 32 (17.98%) WAN
6 28 (15.73%) LAN
7 25 (14.04%) OSPF
8 24 (13.48%) Junos
9 23 (12.92%) BIG-IP
9 23 (12.92%) Cisco ISE
9 23 (12.92%) Ethernet VPN
9 23 (12.92%) VXLAN
10 22 (12.36%) VPN
11 16 (8.99%) SSL
12 15 (8.43%) Network Security
13 10 (5.62%) Cisco ASA
14 8 (4.49%) IPsec
14 8 (4.49%) MPLS
15 7 (3.93%) Cisco IOS
16 6 (3.37%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (6.18%) SQL Server
2 10 (5.62%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 6 (3.37%) JIRA
1 6 (3.37%) Robot Framework
2 5 (2.81%) Sonatype Nexus
3 3 (1.69%) Jenkins
4 2 (1.12%) Git
4 2 (1.12%) GitLab
4 2 (1.12%) MSI
5 1 (0.56%) Burp Suite
5 1 (0.56%) Cucumber
5 1 (0.56%) Gatling
5 1 (0.56%) Gradle
5 1 (0.56%) LoadRunner
5 1 (0.56%) REST Assured
5 1 (0.56%) SonarQube
General
1 24 (13.48%) Social Skills
2 18 (10.11%) Public Sector
3 15 (8.43%) Finance
4 9 (5.06%) Analytical Skills
5 4 (2.25%) Banking
5 4 (2.25%) Documentation Skills
5 4 (2.25%) Military
6 2 (1.12%) Financial Institution
6 2 (1.12%) Retail
7 1 (0.56%) Back Office
7 1 (0.56%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 1 (0.56%) Law
7 1 (0.56%) Legal
Job Titles
1 39 (21.91%) Senior
2 29 (16.29%) Architect
3 27 (15.17%) Infrastructure Engineer
4 19 (10.67%) Network Engineer
5 14 (7.87%) Firewall Specialist
5 14 (7.87%) Network Specialist
6 13 (7.30%) Senior Network Engineer
7 11 (6.18%) 3rd Line Engineer
7 11 (6.18%) Security Engineer
8 10 (5.62%) Support Engineer
9 9 (5.06%) Senior Architect
10 8 (4.49%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
10 8 (4.49%) Storage Engineer
11 6 (3.37%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
11 6 (3.37%) ITSM Architect
12 5 (2.81%) Citrix Engineer
12 5 (2.81%) Citrix Infrastructure Engineer
12 5 (2.81%) Identity Management Engineer
12 5 (2.81%) Linux Infrastructure Engineer
12 5 (2.81%) VMware Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 31 (17.42%) 802.1X
2 11 (6.18%) OpenID
2 11 (6.18%) REST
3 9 (5.06%) LDAP
3 9 (5.06%) OAuth
3 9 (5.06%) SAML
4 4 (2.25%) JSON
4 4 (2.25%) OAuth2
5 3 (1.69%) RabbitMQ
5 3 (1.69%) SailPoint
6 2 (1.12%) Microsoft Graph
7 1 (0.56%) FIDO
7 1 (0.56%) Node.js
7 1 (0.56%) OpenTelemetry
7 1 (0.56%) Playwright
7 1 (0.56%) React
7 1 (0.56%) Spring
7 1 (0.56%) Spring Boot
7 1 (0.56%) Web Services
7 1 (0.56%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 33 (18.54%) Clustering
2 23 (12.92%) Data Centre
3 8 (4.49%) Hybrid Cloud
4 7 (3.93%) Algorithms
4 7 (3.93%) Public Cloud
5 5 (2.81%) Operational Technology
5 5 (2.81%) Smartcard
6 4 (2.25%) Linux Command Line
6 4 (2.25%) Management Information System
6 4 (2.25%) Onboarding
7 3 (1.69%) Data Protection Act
7 3 (1.69%) Distributed Systems
7 3 (1.69%) Enterprise Cloud
7 3 (1.69%) Enterprise Software
7 3 (1.69%) Legacy Systems
7 3 (1.69%) Private Cloud
7 3 (1.69%) Tandem
8 2 (1.12%) Fat Client
8 2 (1.12%) SCADA
8 2 (1.12%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 87 (48.88%) Windows
2 43 (24.16%) Windows Server
3 36 (20.22%) Linux
4 6 (3.37%) Debian
4 6 (3.37%) Ubuntu
5 5 (2.81%) Windows Server 2019
6 3 (1.69%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 3 (1.69%) Unix
6 3 (1.69%) Windows Server 2016
7 2 (1.12%) CentOS
7 2 (1.12%) Windows 7
7 2 (1.12%) Windows Server 2012
8 1 (0.56%) Data ONTAP
8 1 (0.56%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 64 (35.96%) Identity Access Management
2 44 (24.72%) Agile
3 36 (20.22%) ITIL
4 34 (19.10%) High Availability
5 33 (18.54%) Infrastructure Engineering
6 29 (16.29%) Problem-Solving
7 27 (15.17%) ITSM
8 26 (14.61%) Observability
9 25 (14.04%) Key Management
9 25 (14.04%) Load Balancing
10 23 (12.92%) Service Management
11 21 (11.80%) Cybersecurity
12 20 (11.24%) Change Management
12 20 (11.24%) Zero Trust
13 19 (10.67%) RBAC
14 18 (10.11%) Identity Management
15 17 (9.55%) CI/CD
15 17 (9.55%) DevOps
16 16 (8.99%) Cloud Security
16 16 (8.99%) Migration
Programming Languages
1 37 (20.79%) PowerShell
2 31 (17.42%) Python
3 12 (6.74%) SQL
4 10 (5.62%) JavaScript
5 7 (3.93%) Bash
6 4 (2.25%) C#
6 4 (2.25%) Java
6 4 (2.25%) PHP
7 1 (0.56%) Go
7 1 (0.56%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 111 (62.36%) Security Cleared
2 79 (44.38%) DV Cleared
3 35 (19.66%) SC Cleared
4 25 (14.04%) Cisco Certification
5 18 (10.11%) CISSP
6 17 (9.55%) CISM
7 11 (6.18%) Degree
7 11 (6.18%) GIAC
8 7 (3.93%) CompTIA Security+
8 7 (3.93%) JNCIA
8 7 (3.93%) JNCIP
8 7 (3.93%) JNCIS
9 6 (3.37%) MCSE
9 6 (3.37%) Microsoft Certification
10 4 (2.25%) APMG
10 4 (2.25%) Azure Certification
10 4 (2.25%) CCNA
10 4 (2.25%) CCNP
10 4 (2.25%) Computer Science Degree
10 4 (2.25%) SSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (15.73%) NIST
2 21 (11.80%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 10 (5.62%) Cyber Essentials
4 8 (4.49%) NCSC
5 7 (3.93%) PCI DSS
6 6 (3.37%) SLA
7 4 (2.25%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 3 (1.69%) GDPR
9 2 (1.12%) ISA99
9 2 (1.12%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 1 (0.56%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 1 (0.56%) SOC 2
System Software
1 52 (29.21%) Active Directory
2 34 (19.10%) VMware Infrastructure
3 16 (8.99%) VMware NSX
4 7 (3.93%) Hyper-V
5 6 (3.37%) VMware ESXi
6 4 (2.25%) Docker
6 4 (2.25%) Firmware
7 2 (1.12%) KVM
7 2 (1.12%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (1.12%) vSphere
7 2 (1.12%) XenApp
7 2 (1.12%) XenDesktop
8 1 (0.56%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 26 (14.61%) Terraform
2 25 (14.04%) Ansible
3 23 (12.92%) FortiGate
4 17 (9.55%) Kubernetes
5 16 (8.99%) vCenter Server
6 14 (7.87%) Single Sign-On
7 12 (6.74%) SCOM
8 10 (5.62%) Microsoft Intune
9 8 (4.49%) Avamar
10 7 (3.93%) SCCM
11 5 (2.81%) WMI
12 4 (2.25%) Prometheus
13 3 (1.69%) Grafana
14 2 (1.12%) Active Directory Federation Services
14 2 (1.12%) Failover Clustering
14 2 (1.12%) Istio
14 2 (1.12%) WSUS
15 1 (0.56%) Argo
15 1 (0.56%) CA Single Sign-On
15 1 (0.56%) Puppet
Vendors
1 54 (30.34%) VMware
2 50 (28.09%) Microsoft
3 46 (25.84%) Cisco
4 29 (16.29%) SolarWinds
5 28 (15.73%) Juniper
6 25 (14.04%) F5
7 23 (12.92%) Splunk
8 22 (12.36%) Extreme Networks
9 18 (10.11%) Thales
10 17 (9.55%) ServiceNow
11 10 (5.62%) BMC
11 10 (5.62%) Citrix
11 10 (5.62%) Remedy
12 9 (5.06%) Okta
12 9 (5.06%) Palo Alto
13 8 (4.49%) Dell
14 7 (3.93%) IBM
15 5 (2.81%) BeyondTrust
15 5 (2.81%) ForeScout
16 3 (1.69%) Becrypt