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 24 July 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
24 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 266 227 111
Rank change year-on-year -39 -116 +112
Contract jobs citing PKI 214 134 370
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 0.79% 0.90% 1.89%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.60% 2.67% 6.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 147 110 260
10th Percentile £413 £350 £363
25th Percentile £463 £463 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £548 £550
Median % change year-on-year +0.46% -0.45% -1.92%
75th Percentile £610 £600 £608
90th Percentile £650 £638 £652
UK median daily rate £550 £550 £548
% change year-on-year - +0.46% -4.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 8 0 1
10th Percentile £61.87 - -
25th Percentile £72.07 - £36.75
Median hourly rate £91.91 - £38.50
75th Percentile £99.12 - £40.25
90th Percentile £100.00 - -
UK median hourly rate £91.91 - £23.80
% change year-on-year - - -68.05%

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 8,223 5,013 5,731
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 30.47% 33.58% 29.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,014 2,979 3,418
10th Percentile £281 £225 £220
25th Percentile £400 £363 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £595 £575 £600
90th Percentile £685 £650 £688
UK median daily rate £525 £525 £540
% change year-on-year - -2.78% -1.82%
Number of hourly rates quoted 699 402 596
10th Percentile £15.72 £15.09 £12.15
25th Percentile £20.41 £18.51 £15.00
Median hourly rate £43.96 £30.25 £41.25
Median % change year-on-year +45.32% -26.67% -9.16%
75th Percentile £70.41 £62.25 £65.00
90th Percentile £87.16 £80.00 £73.75
UK median hourly rate £43.96 £30.00 £40.00
% change year-on-year +46.53% -25.00% +11.11%

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 24 July 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 24 July 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 24 July 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 +2 107 £590 +2.61% 18
North of England -40 36 £471 -4.22% 12
Scotland +10 28 £481 -10.09% 3
South West -66 24 £550 -4.35% 13
North West -32 22 £418 -15.14% 5
Yorkshire - 14 £500 - 7
Midlands -65 11 £450 +5.88% 6
West Midlands -74 10 £450 +5.88% 3
Wales - 6 £463 - 1
East of England -19 4 £400 -23.81% 1
East Midlands -11 1 £475 - 3
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 10 (4.67%) SharePoint
2 7 (3.27%) Confluence
2 7 (3.27%) Microsoft Exchange
3 5 (2.34%) IIS
4 3 (1.40%) Apache
4 3 (1.40%) Exchange Server 2010
4 3 (1.40%) Tomcat
4 3 (1.40%) WebSphere
5 1 (0.47%) ArcGIS
Applications
1 5 (2.34%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 13 (6.07%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.47%) Cloudability
2 1 (0.47%) Dynamics GP
Cloud Services
1 54 (25.23%) Azure
2 39 (18.22%) Entra ID
3 31 (14.49%) AWS
4 18 (8.41%) Power Platform
5 14 (6.54%) Microsoft 365
6 10 (4.67%) GCP
7 5 (2.34%) Azure Key Vault
8 4 (1.87%) Azure DevOps
8 4 (1.87%) OpenShift
9 3 (1.40%) AWS KMS
9 3 (1.40%) GitHub
10 2 (0.93%) Azure Monitor
10 2 (0.93%) Google Kubernetes Engine
10 2 (0.93%) OneDrive
11 1 (0.47%) Anthos
11 1 (0.47%) Apigee
11 1 (0.47%) Azure Sentinel
11 1 (0.47%) GitHub Actions
11 1 (0.47%) Google Workspace
11 1 (0.47%) OCI
Communications & Networking
1 75 (35.05%) DNS
2 62 (28.97%) Firewall
3 55 (25.70%) DHCP
4 36 (16.82%) BGP
5 35 (16.36%) LAN
5 35 (16.36%) WAN
6 31 (14.49%) OSPF
7 24 (11.21%) VPN
8 23 (10.75%) BIG-IP
8 23 (10.75%) Ethernet VPN
8 23 (10.75%) Junos
8 23 (10.75%) VXLAN
9 22 (10.28%) Cisco ISE
10 18 (8.41%) TCP/IP
11 17 (7.94%) SSL
12 16 (7.48%) IPsec
13 15 (7.01%) Cisco ASA
13 15 (7.01%) Network Security
14 12 (5.61%) Cisco Firepower
14 12 (5.61%) VSAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (10.75%) SQL Server
2 13 (6.07%) Power BI
3 1 (0.47%) NoSQL
Development Applications
1 10 (4.67%) JIRA
2 4 (1.87%) Jenkins
3 3 (1.40%) Git
3 3 (1.40%) Robot Framework
3 3 (1.40%) Sonatype Nexus
4 2 (0.93%) Burp Suite
4 2 (0.93%) Cucumber
4 2 (0.93%) Gatling
4 2 (0.93%) GitLab
4 2 (0.93%) Gradle
4 2 (0.93%) LoadRunner
4 2 (0.93%) MSI
4 2 (0.93%) REST Assured
4 2 (0.93%) SonarQube
General
1 31 (14.49%) Social Skills
2 21 (9.81%) Public Sector
3 16 (7.48%) Finance
4 13 (6.07%) Analytical Skills
5 6 (2.80%) Documentation Skills
5 6 (2.80%) Military
6 5 (2.34%) Banking
7 4 (1.87%) Police
8 3 (1.40%) Retail
9 2 (0.93%) Corporate Banking
9 2 (0.93%) Investment Banking
9 2 (0.93%) Legal
9 2 (0.93%) Retail Banking
10 1 (0.47%) Back Office
10 1 (0.47%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 1 (0.47%) Law
Job Titles
1 59 (27.57%) Senior
2 40 (18.69%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 27 (12.62%) Network Engineer
4 22 (10.28%) Architect
5 20 (9.35%) Senior Network Engineer
6 18 (8.41%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
7 14 (6.54%) Firewall Specialist
7 14 (6.54%) Network Specialist
8 13 (6.07%) Support Engineer
9 12 (5.61%) 3rd Line Engineer
9 12 (5.61%) Storage Engineer
10 10 (4.67%) Lead
11 9 (4.21%) Senior Architect
12 6 (2.80%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
12 6 (2.80%) ITSM Architect
12 6 (2.80%) VMware Engineer
13 5 (2.34%) Citrix Infrastructure Engineer
13 5 (2.34%) Linux Infrastructure Engineer
13 5 (2.34%) Platform Engineer
13 5 (2.34%) VMware Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 31 (14.49%) 802.1X
2 17 (7.94%) LDAP
3 14 (6.54%) OpenID
3 14 (6.54%) REST
4 12 (5.61%) OAuth
4 12 (5.61%) SAML
5 6 (2.80%) .NET
5 6 (2.80%) .NET Framework
5 6 (2.80%) XML
6 5 (2.34%) RabbitMQ
7 4 (1.87%) JSON
7 4 (1.87%) OAuth2
8 3 (1.40%) SailPoint
9 2 (0.93%) FIDO
9 2 (0.93%) Microsoft Graph
9 2 (0.93%) Node.js
9 2 (0.93%) Playwright
9 2 (0.93%) React
9 2 (0.93%) Spring
9 2 (0.93%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 40 (18.69%) Clustering
2 36 (16.82%) Data Centre
3 9 (4.21%) Public Cloud
4 8 (3.74%) Hybrid Cloud
5 7 (3.27%) Linux Command Line
6 6 (2.80%) Legacy Systems
6 6 (2.80%) Onboarding
6 6 (2.80%) Self-Motivation
7 5 (2.34%) Management Information System
7 5 (2.34%) Operational Technology
8 4 (1.87%) Distributed Systems
8 4 (1.87%) Enterprise Software
8 4 (1.87%) Fat Client
8 4 (1.87%) Fibre Optics
8 4 (1.87%) Security Posture
8 4 (1.87%) Thin Client
9 3 (1.40%) Data Protection Act
9 3 (1.40%) Enterprise Cloud
9 3 (1.40%) Private Cloud
9 3 (1.40%) Tandem
Operating Systems
1 120 (56.07%) Windows
2 60 (28.04%) Windows Server
3 53 (24.77%) Linux
4 7 (3.27%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 6 (2.80%) Debian
5 6 (2.80%) Windows Server 2016
6 5 (2.34%) Unix
6 5 (2.34%) Windows Server 2012
6 5 (2.34%) Windows Server 2019
7 3 (1.40%) Ubuntu
8 2 (0.93%) Android
8 2 (0.93%) Apple iOS
8 2 (0.93%) CentOS
8 2 (0.93%) Mac OS
8 2 (0.93%) Windows 10
9 1 (0.47%) Data ONTAP
9 1 (0.47%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 80 (37.38%) Identity Access Management
2 48 (22.43%) ITIL
3 44 (20.56%) Infrastructure Engineering
4 42 (19.63%) Problem-Solving
5 38 (17.76%) High Availability
6 37 (17.29%) Agile
7 33 (15.42%) ITSM
8 30 (14.02%) Cybersecurity
8 30 (14.02%) Service Management
9 26 (12.15%) Observability
9 26 (12.15%) Zero Trust
10 24 (11.21%) Load Balancing
11 23 (10.75%) Technical Leadership
12 22 (10.28%) Infrastructure as Code
13 21 (9.81%) Continuous Improvement
14 20 (9.35%) CI/CD
14 20 (9.35%) RBAC
15 19 (8.88%) Identity Management
15 19 (8.88%) Project Delivery
16 18 (8.41%) Change Management
Programming Languages
1 63 (29.44%) PowerShell
2 40 (18.69%) Python
3 15 (7.01%) Bash
4 13 (6.07%) JavaScript
4 13 (6.07%) SQL
5 10 (4.67%) C#
6 6 (2.80%) Java
7 3 (1.40%) PHP
8 1 (0.47%) Go
8 1 (0.47%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 131 (61.21%) Security Cleared
2 87 (40.65%) DV Cleared
3 50 (23.36%) SC Cleared
4 32 (14.95%) Cisco Certification
5 15 (7.01%) Degree
6 14 (6.54%) Microsoft Certification
7 11 (5.14%) CCNP
7 11 (5.14%) MCSE
8 9 (4.21%) CISSP
9 7 (3.27%) GIAC
9 7 (3.27%) JNCIA
9 7 (3.27%) JNCIP
9 7 (3.27%) JNCIS
9 7 (3.27%) VCAP
10 6 (2.80%) Azure Certification
10 6 (2.80%) CompTIA Security+
11 4 (1.87%) Computer Science Degree
11 4 (1.87%) Master's Degree
11 4 (1.87%) MCSA
11 4 (1.87%) SSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (10.28%) NIST
2 12 (5.61%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 12 (5.61%) NCSC
3 10 (4.67%) SLA
4 9 (4.21%) Cyber Essentials
5 3 (1.40%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 2 (0.93%) GDPR
6 2 (0.93%) ISA99
6 2 (0.93%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
6 2 (0.93%) JSP 440
6 2 (0.93%) PCI DSS
7 1 (0.47%) HMG Security Policy Framework
System Software
1 92 (42.99%) Active Directory
2 53 (24.77%) VMware Infrastructure
3 28 (13.08%) VMware NSX
4 22 (10.28%) Hyper-V
5 17 (7.94%) Docker
6 9 (4.21%) vSphere
7 5 (2.34%) VMware ESXi
8 3 (1.40%) Firmware
8 3 (1.40%) OpenAM
9 2 (0.93%) KVM
9 2 (0.93%) Virtual Desktop
9 2 (0.93%) Virtual Machines
9 2 (0.93%) XenApp
9 2 (0.93%) XenDesktop
10 1 (0.47%) Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services
Systems Management
1 33 (15.42%) Ansible
2 31 (14.49%) Terraform
3 23 (10.75%) FortiGate
3 23 (10.75%) Kubernetes
4 18 (8.41%) vCenter Server
5 17 (7.94%) Single Sign-On
6 15 (7.01%) SCOM
7 12 (5.61%) Avamar
8 9 (4.21%) Microsoft Intune
9 8 (3.74%) SCCM
9 8 (3.74%) VxRail
10 5 (2.34%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 5 (2.34%) Failover Clustering
10 5 (2.34%) WSUS
11 4 (1.87%) Cisco CUCM
11 4 (1.87%) WMI
12 3 (1.40%) Istio
13 2 (0.93%) Kibana
13 2 (0.93%) Prometheus
14 1 (0.47%) Progress Chef
Vendors
1 77 (35.98%) Microsoft
2 67 (31.31%) VMware
3 54 (25.23%) Cisco
4 30 (14.02%) SolarWinds
5 28 (13.08%) Juniper
6 26 (12.15%) F5
7 23 (10.75%) Splunk
8 22 (10.28%) Extreme Networks
8 22 (10.28%) ServiceNow
9 21 (9.81%) Thales
10 19 (8.88%) Okta
11 13 (6.07%) BeyondTrust
11 13 (6.07%) BMC
11 13 (6.07%) Remedy
12 12 (5.61%) Dell
13 11 (5.14%) Palo Alto
14 9 (4.21%) Citrix
15 7 (3.27%) IBM
16 5 (2.34%) CheckPoint
16 5 (2.34%) NetApp