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 25 September 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
25 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 257 241 169
Rank change year-on-year -16 -72 +10
Contract jobs citing PKI 242 135 236
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 0.85% 0.87% 1.32%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.74% 2.52% 4.57%
Number of daily rates quoted 173 114 162
10th Percentile £419 £333 £410
25th Percentile £463 £431 £443
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year - - -4.35%
75th Percentile £625 £600 £608
90th Percentile £700 £649 £672
UK median daily rate £550 £550 £550
% change year-on-year - - -4.35%
Number of hourly rates quoted 10 0 1
10th Percentile £94.90 - -
25th Percentile £96.00 - £36.75
Median hourly rate £97.41 - £38.50
75th Percentile £98.82 - £40.25
90th Percentile £100.00 - -
UK median hourly rate £97.41 - £23.80
% change year-on-year - - -56.73%

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 8,830 5,364 5,167
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 31.17% 34.55% 29.01%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,047 3,202 2,902
10th Percentile £278 £225 £210
25th Percentile £403 £363 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £600 £580 £600
90th Percentile £689 £663 £700
UK median daily rate £525 £520 £538
% change year-on-year +0.96% -3.35% -2.18%
Number of hourly rates quoted 961 435 361
10th Percentile £13.53 £14.55 £14.06
25th Percentile £17.36 £18.36 £21.25
Median hourly rate £38.53 £30.00 £57.35
Median % change year-on-year +28.42% -47.69% +14.70%
75th Percentile £68.75 £57.50 £70.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £73.75 £75.16
UK median hourly rate £37.50 £29.27 £50.00
% change year-on-year +28.12% -41.46% +12.36%

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 25 September 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 25 September 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 25 September 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 -24 80 £575 - 36
North of England -6 68 £525 +6.71% 27
Scotland +6 39 £481 -12.55% 6
North West -30 36 £525 +6.71% 15
South West -53 36 £648 +17.73% 33
Yorkshire -8 30 £568 -5.42% 10
East of England -28 8 £500 -4.76% 12
Midlands -63 8 £475 +18.75% 12
West Midlands -57 7 £475 +18.75% 10
Wales - 6 £463 - 1
North East - 2 £426 - 2
East Midlands -11 1 £475 - 2
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 13 (5.37%) Microsoft Exchange
2 12 (4.96%) Confluence
3 9 (3.72%) SharePoint
4 4 (1.65%) IIS
5 3 (1.24%) Exchange Server 2010
6 2 (0.83%) Apache
6 2 (0.83%) nginx
6 2 (0.83%) Tomcat
6 2 (0.83%) WebSphere
7 1 (0.41%) Traefik
Applications
1 4 (1.65%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 8 (3.31%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.41%) Dynamics GP
Cloud Services
1 60 (24.79%) Azure
2 46 (19.01%) Entra ID
3 40 (16.53%) AWS
4 23 (9.50%) GCP
5 12 (4.96%) Power Platform
6 10 (4.13%) Microsoft 365
7 6 (2.48%) Azure Key Vault
8 5 (2.07%) Azure Monitor
9 4 (1.65%) AWS KMS
9 4 (1.65%) Azure DevOps
9 4 (1.65%) GitHub
9 4 (1.65%) OpenShift
10 2 (0.83%) Azure Sentinel
10 2 (0.83%) GitHub Actions
10 2 (0.83%) Google Kubernetes Engine
11 1 (0.41%) Amazon ECS
11 1 (0.41%) AWS Fargate
11 1 (0.41%) Azure ExpressRoute
11 1 (0.41%) Kong
11 1 (0.41%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 73 (30.17%) DNS
2 55 (22.73%) Firewall
3 50 (20.66%) DHCP
4 27 (11.16%) TCP/IP
5 26 (10.74%) VPN
6 17 (7.02%) LAN
6 17 (7.02%) SSL
7 16 (6.61%) WAN
8 15 (6.20%) IPsec
8 15 (6.20%) Network Security
9 14 (5.79%) BGP
9 14 (5.79%) VSAN
10 13 (5.37%) Cisco ASA
10 13 (5.37%) Cisco Firepower
10 13 (5.37%) Cisco Nexus
11 12 (4.96%) OSPF
11 12 (4.96%) VLAN
11 12 (4.96%) Wireless
12 10 (4.13%) VoIP
12 10 (4.13%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 21 (8.68%) SQL Server
2 8 (3.31%) Power BI
3 2 (0.83%) Metadata
4 1 (0.41%) MongoDB
4 1 (0.41%) NoSQL
4 1 (0.41%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 15 (6.20%) JIRA
2 5 (2.07%) Jenkins
3 4 (1.65%) Git
3 4 (1.65%) GitLab
4 3 (1.24%) Sonatype Nexus
5 2 (0.83%) Burp Suite
5 2 (0.83%) Cucumber
5 2 (0.83%) Gatling
5 2 (0.83%) Gradle
5 2 (0.83%) LoadRunner
5 2 (0.83%) MSI
5 2 (0.83%) REST Assured
5 2 (0.83%) SonarQube
6 1 (0.41%) Robot Framework
General
1 51 (21.07%) Social Skills
2 25 (10.33%) Finance
3 24 (9.92%) Analytical Skills
4 18 (7.44%) Public Sector
5 14 (5.79%) Documentation Skills
6 10 (4.13%) Banking
7 6 (2.48%) Military
7 6 (2.48%) Police
8 3 (1.24%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 3 (1.24%) Investment Banking
8 3 (1.24%) Retail
9 2 (0.83%) Aerospace
9 2 (0.83%) Corporate Banking
9 2 (0.83%) Legal
9 2 (0.83%) Retail Banking
10 1 (0.41%) Influencing Skills
10 1 (0.41%) Law
10 1 (0.41%) Organisational Skills
10 1 (0.41%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 52 (21.49%) Senior
2 40 (16.53%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 23 (9.50%) Architect
4 20 (8.26%) Network Engineer
5 19 (7.85%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
6 17 (7.02%) Platform Engineer
6 17 (7.02%) Support Engineer
7 14 (5.79%) 3rd Line Engineer
7 14 (5.79%) Consultant
7 14 (5.79%) Senior Network Engineer
7 14 (5.79%) Storage Engineer
8 11 (4.55%) Solutions Architect
9 8 (3.31%) Lead
10 7 (2.89%) Integration Engineer
10 7 (2.89%) Principal Engineer
11 6 (2.48%) VMware Engineer
12 5 (2.07%) Cloud Engineer
12 5 (2.07%) Cybersecurity Specialist
12 5 (2.07%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
12 5 (2.07%) Security Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 38 (15.70%) Terraform
2 20 (8.26%) LDAP
3 18 (7.44%) OpenID
4 17 (7.02%) SAML
5 16 (6.61%) 802.1X
5 16 (6.61%) OAuth
6 15 (6.20%) REST
7 9 (3.72%) OAuth2
8 8 (3.31%) .NET
8 8 (3.31%) .NET Framework
8 8 (3.31%) XML
9 5 (2.07%) RabbitMQ
10 4 (1.65%) FIDO
11 3 (1.24%) WebAuthn
12 2 (0.83%) A2A Protocol
12 2 (0.83%) Model Context Protocol
12 2 (0.83%) Node.js
12 2 (0.83%) Playwright
12 2 (0.83%) Quarkus
12 2 (0.83%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 24 (9.92%) Data Centre
2 19 (7.85%) Clustering
3 10 (4.13%) Public Cloud
4 9 (3.72%) Legacy Systems
4 9 (3.72%) Onboarding
5 8 (3.31%) Cloud Native
5 8 (3.31%) Management Information System
5 8 (3.31%) Self-Motivation
6 7 (2.89%) Linux Command Line
7 6 (2.48%) Distributed Systems
7 6 (2.48%) Security Posture
8 5 (2.07%) Enterprise Software
8 5 (2.07%) Enterprise Storage
9 4 (1.65%) Data Protection Act
9 4 (1.65%) Fibre Optics
9 4 (1.65%) Operational Technology
9 4 (1.65%) Private Cloud
9 4 (1.65%) Product Ownership
9 4 (1.65%) Replication
9 4 (1.65%) Tandem
Operating Systems
1 123 (50.83%) Windows
2 73 (30.17%) Windows Server
3 65 (26.86%) Linux
4 12 (4.96%) Windows Server 2016
5 8 (3.31%) Unix
6 7 (2.89%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 7 (2.89%) Windows Server 2012
7 6 (2.48%) Windows Server 2019
8 5 (2.07%) Debian
9 4 (1.65%) Android
9 4 (1.65%) Apple iOS
9 4 (1.65%) Mac OS
9 4 (1.65%) Windows 10
10 3 (1.24%) CentOS
10 3 (1.24%) Data ONTAP
11 2 (0.83%) Ubuntu
12 1 (0.41%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 77 (31.82%) Identity Access Management
2 55 (22.73%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 45 (18.60%) Cybersecurity
3 45 (18.60%) Problem-Solving
4 43 (17.77%) ITIL
5 42 (17.36%) Technical Leadership
6 37 (15.29%) Agile
7 33 (13.64%) Continuous Improvement
8 32 (13.22%) Key Management
8 32 (13.22%) Zero Trust
9 31 (12.81%) Stakeholder Management
10 30 (12.40%) Service Management
11 29 (11.98%) High Availability
11 29 (11.98%) Infrastructure as Code
11 29 (11.98%) Platform Engineering
12 28 (11.57%) CI/CD
12 28 (11.57%) DevSecOps
13 27 (11.16%) ITSM
13 27 (11.16%) Mentoring
14 25 (10.33%) Change Management
Programming Languages
1 77 (31.82%) PowerShell
2 47 (19.42%) Python
3 22 (9.09%) Bash
4 11 (4.55%) SQL
5 8 (3.31%) C#
5 8 (3.31%) JavaScript
6 5 (2.07%) Java
7 3 (1.24%) Go
8 1 (0.41%) Bicep
8 1 (0.41%) Ruby
8 1 (0.41%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 143 (59.09%) Security Cleared
2 89 (36.78%) DV Cleared
3 65 (26.86%) SC Cleared
4 18 (7.44%) Cisco Certification
5 16 (6.61%) Degree
6 15 (6.20%) Microsoft Certification
7 14 (5.79%) CISSP
8 13 (5.37%) CCNP
9 12 (4.96%) VCAP
10 11 (4.55%) MCSE
11 9 (3.72%) AWS Certification
12 7 (2.89%) Azure Certification
13 6 (2.48%) CISM
14 5 (2.07%) Computer Science Degree
14 5 (2.07%) GIAC
14 5 (2.07%) ISTQB
14 5 (2.07%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
15 4 (1.65%) Master's Degree
15 4 (1.65%) MCSA
16 3 (1.24%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (8.68%) NIST
2 16 (6.61%) NCSC
3 12 (4.96%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 12 (4.96%) SLA
4 8 (3.31%) JSP 440
5 6 (2.48%) GRC
6 2 (0.83%) GDPR
6 2 (0.83%) QA
7 1 (0.41%) Cyber Essentials
7 1 (0.41%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 123 (50.83%) Active Directory
2 60 (24.79%) VMware Infrastructure
3 28 (11.57%) VMware NSX
4 27 (11.16%) Hyper-V
5 20 (8.26%) Docker
6 19 (7.85%) vSphere
7 10 (4.13%) VMware ESXi
8 5 (2.07%) Virtual Desktop
9 4 (1.65%) Virtual Servers
10 3 (1.24%) OpenAM
10 3 (1.24%) UAG
11 2 (0.83%) Firmware
11 2 (0.83%) XenApp
11 2 (0.83%) XenDesktop
12 1 (0.41%) Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services
12 1 (0.41%) Microsoft Virtual Server
Systems Management
1 41 (16.94%) Kubernetes
2 34 (14.05%) Ansible
3 20 (8.26%) vCenter Server
4 19 (7.85%) Single Sign-On
5 18 (7.44%) VxRail
6 15 (6.20%) SCOM
7 14 (5.79%) Avamar
8 10 (4.13%) Microsoft Intune
8 10 (4.13%) SCCM
9 8 (3.31%) Istio
9 8 (3.31%) WSUS
10 6 (2.48%) Failover Clustering
11 4 (1.65%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 4 (1.65%) Cisco CUCM
11 4 (1.65%) McAfee ePO
11 4 (1.65%) Nessus
11 4 (1.65%) WMI
12 3 (1.24%) FortiGate
12 3 (1.24%) OPNET
13 2 (0.83%) Kibana
Vendors
1 102 (42.15%) Microsoft
2 74 (30.58%) VMware
3 33 (13.64%) Cisco
4 26 (10.74%) Thales
5 23 (9.50%) Okta
6 22 (9.09%) ServiceNow
7 18 (7.44%) Dell
8 17 (7.02%) BeyondTrust
9 10 (4.13%) SolarWinds
10 9 (3.72%) CheckPoint
10 9 (3.72%) Citrix
10 9 (3.72%) Fortinet
10 9 (3.72%) Palo Alto
11 8 (3.31%) BMC
11 8 (3.31%) Juniper
11 8 (3.31%) NetApp
11 8 (3.31%) Remedy
12 7 (2.89%) McAfee
13 6 (2.48%) Google
13 6 (2.48%) IBM