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 14 June 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 285 226 116
Rank change year-on-year -59 -110 +109
Contract jobs citing PKI 171 115 389
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 0.67% 0.86% 1.82%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.26% 2.56% 6.41%
Number of daily rates quoted 115 97 269
10th Percentile £405 £388 £363
25th Percentile £463 £492 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £575 £550
Median % change year-on-year -4.35% +4.55% -2.48%
75th Percentile £626 £603 £608
90th Percentile £675 £642 £673
UK median daily rate £550 £559 £550
% change year-on-year -1.57% +1.59% -5.17%
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 7,576 4,491 6,070
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 29.64% 33.62% 28.44%
Number of daily rates quoted 4,611 2,732 3,570
10th Percentile £275 £220 £210
25th Percentile £400 £363 £373
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £580 £600
90th Percentile £681 £650 £688
UK median daily rate £518 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -1.43% -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 644 332 767
10th Percentile £15.72 £15.50 £12.15
25th Percentile £19.43 £18.87 £14.41
Median hourly rate £43.96 £32.43 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +35.55% -7.34% +59.09%
75th Percentile £70.00 £63.75 £62.50
90th Percentile £85.00 £82.25 £71.11
UK median hourly rate £41.00 £33.05 £35.65
% change year-on-year +24.05% -7.29% +59.08%

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 14 June 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 14 June 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 14 June 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 97 £595 +3.48% 26
North of England -43 30 £425 -13.62% 1
North West -26 21 £422 -14.33%
Scotland -7 19 £533 -0.47% 1
South West -53 13 £538 -8.12% 9
West Midlands -63 10 £400 -8.57% 3
Midlands -66 10 £400 -8.57% 5
Yorkshire - 9 £650 - 1
East of England -28 4 £400 -23.81% 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 9 (5.26%) SharePoint
2 6 (3.51%) Confluence
3 5 (2.92%) IIS
4 3 (1.75%) Apache
4 3 (1.75%) Tomcat
4 3 (1.75%) WebSphere
5 1 (0.58%) ArcGIS
5 1 (0.58%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 4 (2.34%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 10 (5.85%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.58%) Cloudability
2 1 (0.58%) Dynamics GP
Cloud Services
1 43 (25.15%) Azure
2 25 (14.62%) Entra ID
3 22 (12.87%) AWS
4 15 (8.77%) Power Platform
5 12 (7.02%) GCP
6 9 (5.26%) Microsoft 365
7 6 (3.51%) Azure Key Vault
8 4 (2.34%) AWS KMS
8 4 (2.34%) Azure DevOps
9 3 (1.75%) GitHub
10 2 (1.17%) Azure Monitor
10 2 (1.17%) Google Kubernetes Engine
10 2 (1.17%) OneDrive
11 1 (0.58%) Anthos
11 1 (0.58%) Apigee
11 1 (0.58%) Azure Logic Apps
11 1 (0.58%) Azure Sentinel
11 1 (0.58%) GitHub Actions
11 1 (0.58%) Google Workspace
11 1 (0.58%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 46 (26.90%) DNS
2 40 (23.39%) Firewall
3 34 (19.88%) BGP
4 33 (19.30%) DHCP
4 33 (19.30%) WAN
5 29 (16.96%) LAN
6 26 (15.20%) OSPF
7 23 (13.45%) BIG-IP
7 23 (13.45%) Ethernet VPN
7 23 (13.45%) Junos
7 23 (13.45%) VXLAN
8 22 (12.87%) Cisco ISE
8 22 (12.87%) VPN
9 15 (8.77%) Network Security
10 11 (6.43%) SSL
11 10 (5.85%) Cisco ASA
11 10 (5.85%) MPLS
12 8 (4.68%) IPsec
13 7 (4.09%) SSH
14 6 (3.51%) Cisco IOS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (6.43%) SQL Server
2 10 (5.85%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 7 (4.09%) JIRA
2 5 (2.92%) Robot Framework
2 5 (2.92%) Sonatype Nexus
3 4 (2.34%) Jenkins
4 3 (1.75%) Git
5 2 (1.17%) Burp Suite
5 2 (1.17%) Cucumber
5 2 (1.17%) Gatling
5 2 (1.17%) GitLab
5 2 (1.17%) Gradle
5 2 (1.17%) LoadRunner
5 2 (1.17%) MSI
5 2 (1.17%) REST Assured
5 2 (1.17%) SonarQube
General
1 23 (13.45%) Social Skills
2 18 (10.53%) Public Sector
3 17 (9.94%) Finance
4 10 (5.85%) Analytical Skills
5 7 (4.09%) Banking
6 4 (2.34%) Military
7 3 (1.75%) Documentation Skills
7 3 (1.75%) Legal
8 2 (1.17%) Corporate Banking
8 2 (1.17%) Financial Institution
8 2 (1.17%) Investment Banking
8 2 (1.17%) Retail
8 2 (1.17%) Retail Banking
9 1 (0.58%) Back Office
9 1 (0.58%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 1 (0.58%) Law
Job Titles
1 39 (22.81%) Senior
2 28 (16.37%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 25 (14.62%) Architect
4 19 (11.11%) Network Engineer
5 14 (8.19%) Firewall Specialist
5 14 (8.19%) Network Specialist
6 12 (7.02%) Senior Network Engineer
7 11 (6.43%) Security Engineer
8 10 (5.85%) Support Engineer
9 9 (5.26%) 3rd Line Engineer
9 9 (5.26%) Senior Architect
9 9 (5.26%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
10 8 (4.68%) Storage Engineer
11 6 (3.51%) ITSM Architect
12 5 (2.92%) Citrix Engineer
12 5 (2.92%) Citrix Infrastructure Engineer
12 5 (2.92%) DV Cleared Network Engineer
12 5 (2.92%) Integration Engineer
12 5 (2.92%) Linux Infrastructure Engineer
12 5 (2.92%) VMware Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 31 (18.13%) 802.1X
2 11 (6.43%) REST
3 10 (5.85%) OpenID
4 9 (5.26%) LDAP
5 8 (4.68%) OAuth
5 8 (4.68%) SAML
6 5 (2.92%) RabbitMQ
7 4 (2.34%) JSON
8 3 (1.75%) OAuth2
8 3 (1.75%) SailPoint
9 2 (1.17%) Microsoft Graph
9 2 (1.17%) Node.js
9 2 (1.17%) Playwright
9 2 (1.17%) Quarkus
9 2 (1.17%) React
9 2 (1.17%) Spring
9 2 (1.17%) Spring Boot
10 1 (0.58%) FIDO
10 1 (0.58%) Web Services
10 1 (0.58%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 33 (19.30%) Clustering
2 23 (13.45%) Data Centre
3 8 (4.68%) Hybrid Cloud
4 7 (4.09%) Linux Command Line
4 7 (4.09%) Public Cloud
5 5 (2.92%) Algorithms
5 5 (2.92%) Operational Technology
6 4 (2.34%) Management Information System
6 4 (2.34%) Onboarding
7 3 (1.75%) Data Protection Act
7 3 (1.75%) Distributed Systems
7 3 (1.75%) Enterprise Cloud
7 3 (1.75%) Enterprise Software
7 3 (1.75%) Legacy Systems
7 3 (1.75%) Private Cloud
7 3 (1.75%) Smartcard
7 3 (1.75%) Tandem
8 2 (1.17%) Cyber Threat
8 2 (1.17%) SCADA
8 2 (1.17%) SWIFT Messaging Network
Operating Systems
1 88 (51.46%) Windows
2 43 (25.15%) Windows Server
3 39 (22.81%) Linux
4 6 (3.51%) Debian
4 6 (3.51%) Ubuntu
5 4 (2.34%) Windows Server 2019
6 3 (1.75%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 3 (1.75%) Unix
7 2 (1.17%) Android
7 2 (1.17%) Apple iOS
7 2 (1.17%) CentOS
7 2 (1.17%) Mac OS
7 2 (1.17%) Windows 10
7 2 (1.17%) Windows Server 2012
7 2 (1.17%) Windows Server 2016
8 1 (0.58%) Data ONTAP
8 1 (0.58%) VMS
8 1 (0.58%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 59 (34.50%) Identity Access Management
2 39 (22.81%) ITIL
3 38 (22.22%) Agile
4 34 (19.88%) High Availability
5 31 (18.13%) Problem-Solving
6 30 (17.54%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 26 (15.20%) ITSM
7 26 (15.20%) Observability
8 25 (14.62%) Load Balancing
8 25 (14.62%) Service Management
9 23 (13.45%) Cybersecurity
10 20 (11.70%) Zero Trust
11 19 (11.11%) RBAC
12 18 (10.53%) Key Management
13 15 (8.77%) Identity Management
14 14 (8.19%) Project Delivery
15 13 (7.60%) Change Management
15 13 (7.60%) DevOps
16 12 (7.02%) Continuous Improvement
16 12 (7.02%) Cryptography
Programming Languages
1 41 (23.98%) PowerShell
2 31 (18.13%) Python
3 11 (6.43%) SQL
4 10 (5.85%) JavaScript
5 6 (3.51%) Bash
6 5 (2.92%) Java
7 4 (2.34%) C#
7 4 (2.34%) PHP
8 1 (0.58%) Go
8 1 (0.58%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 104 (60.82%) Security Cleared
2 73 (42.69%) DV Cleared
3 33 (19.30%) SC Cleared
4 26 (15.20%) Cisco Certification
5 12 (7.02%) Degree
6 9 (5.26%) GIAC
7 8 (4.68%) CISSP
8 7 (4.09%) CISM
8 7 (4.09%) CompTIA Security+
8 7 (4.09%) JNCIA
8 7 (4.09%) JNCIP
8 7 (4.09%) JNCIS
9 6 (3.51%) MCSE
9 6 (3.51%) Microsoft Certification
10 5 (2.92%) CCNP
11 4 (2.34%) APMG
11 4 (2.34%) Azure Certification
11 4 (2.34%) SSCP
12 3 (1.75%) Computer Science Degree
12 3 (1.75%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (15.20%) NIST
2 18 (10.53%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 10 (5.85%) Cyber Essentials
4 8 (4.68%) NCSC
5 6 (3.51%) SLA
6 4 (2.34%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 4 (2.34%) PCI DSS
7 2 (1.17%) GDPR
7 2 (1.17%) ISA99
7 2 (1.17%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
8 1 (0.58%) HMG Security Policy Framework
8 1 (0.58%) SOC 2
System Software
1 50 (29.24%) Active Directory
2 35 (20.47%) VMware Infrastructure
3 16 (9.36%) VMware NSX
4 8 (4.68%) Hyper-V
5 7 (4.09%) VMware ESXi
6 6 (3.51%) Docker
7 5 (2.92%) Firmware
8 2 (1.17%) KVM
8 2 (1.17%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (1.17%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (1.17%) XenApp
8 2 (1.17%) XenDesktop
9 1 (0.58%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 24 (14.04%) Ansible
2 23 (13.45%) FortiGate
2 23 (13.45%) Terraform
3 16 (9.36%) vCenter Server
4 13 (7.60%) Single Sign-On
5 12 (7.02%) Kubernetes
5 12 (7.02%) SCOM
6 11 (6.43%) Microsoft Intune
7 8 (4.68%) Avamar
7 8 (4.68%) SCCM
8 5 (2.92%) WMI
9 3 (1.75%) Istio
10 2 (1.17%) Failover Clustering
10 2 (1.17%) Prometheus
10 2 (1.17%) WSUS
11 1 (0.58%) CA Single Sign-On
11 1 (0.58%) Cisco CUCM
11 1 (0.58%) Grafana
11 1 (0.58%) Progress Chef
11 1 (0.58%) Puppet
Vendors
1 52 (30.41%) VMware
2 49 (28.65%) Microsoft
3 46 (26.90%) Cisco
4 29 (16.96%) Juniper
5 27 (15.79%) F5
5 27 (15.79%) SolarWinds
6 23 (13.45%) Splunk
7 22 (12.87%) Extreme Networks
8 19 (11.11%) ServiceNow
9 18 (10.53%) Thales
10 10 (5.85%) BMC
10 10 (5.85%) Remedy
11 9 (5.26%) Citrix
11 9 (5.26%) Okta
12 8 (4.68%) Dell
12 8 (4.68%) Palo Alto
13 7 (4.09%) IBM
14 5 (2.92%) ForeScout
15 4 (2.34%) BeyondTrust
15 4 (2.34%) Fortinet