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

6 months to
14 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 264 250 165
Rank change year-on-year -14 -85 +13
Contract jobs citing PKI 244 135 221
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 0.86% 0.85% 1.28%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.68% 2.44% 4.40%
Number of daily rates quoted 175 111 132
10th Percentile £417 £313 £364
25th Percentile £463 £406 £436
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £538
Median % change year-on-year - +2.33% -10.04%
75th Percentile £626 £600 £608
90th Percentile £700 £649 £650
UK median daily rate £558 £550 £542
% change year-on-year +1.36% +1.48% -7.04%
Number of hourly rates quoted 11 0 0
10th Percentile £85.00 - -
25th Percentile - - -
Median hourly rate £96.00 - -
75th Percentile £98.82 - -
90th Percentile £100.00 - -
UK median hourly rate £96.00 - £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 9,109 5,528 5,018
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 31.99% 34.74% 29.12%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,113 3,330 2,764
10th Percentile £275 £220 £209
25th Percentile £402 £363 £360
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £494
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -3.75% -1.30%
75th Percentile £600 £575 £600
90th Percentile £694 £663 £688
UK median daily rate £525 £519 £529
% change year-on-year +1.25% -1.94% -3.86%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,073 454 315
10th Percentile £13.51 £13.46 £15.33
25th Percentile £17.17 £17.30 £22.50
Median hourly rate £35.00 £26.75 £52.50
Median % change year-on-year +30.84% -49.05% +2.46%
75th Percentile £67.50 £54.38 £70.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £72.85 £75.09
UK median hourly rate £35.91 £27.50 £46.18
% change year-on-year +30.58% -40.45% +2.62%

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 October 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 October 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 October 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 -18 77 £575 - 25
North of England -12 70 £525 +5.00% 21
Scotland +9 40 £481 -10.51% 9
North West -24 36 £522 +7.08% 5
South West -47 36 £670 +21.82% 21
Yorkshire -2 32 £570 -5.00% 13
Midlands -75 10 £475 +18.75% 15
East of England - 8 £610 - 7
West Midlands -72 7 £475 +18.75% 12
Wales - 6 £463 - 3
East Midlands -15 3 £475 - 3
North East - 2 £426 - 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 13 (5.33%) Microsoft Exchange
2 12 (4.92%) Confluence
3 7 (2.87%) SharePoint
4 3 (1.23%) Exchange Server 2010
4 3 (1.23%) IIS
5 2 (0.82%) nginx
6 1 (0.41%) Apache
6 1 (0.41%) Tomcat
6 1 (0.41%) Traefik
6 1 (0.41%) WebSphere
Applications
1 4 (1.64%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 7 (2.87%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.41%) Dynamics GP
Cloud Services
1 62 (25.41%) Azure
2 51 (20.90%) Entra ID
3 41 (16.80%) AWS
4 23 (9.43%) GCP
5 10 (4.10%) Microsoft 365
5 10 (4.10%) Power Platform
6 6 (2.46%) GitHub
7 5 (2.05%) Azure DevOps
7 5 (2.05%) Azure Monitor
8 4 (1.64%) Azure Key Vault
8 4 (1.64%) OpenShift
9 3 (1.23%) GitHub Actions
10 2 (0.82%) Apigee
10 2 (0.82%) AWS KMS
10 2 (0.82%) Azure Sentinel
10 2 (0.82%) Google Kubernetes Engine
10 2 (0.82%) Kong
11 1 (0.41%) Amazon ECS
11 1 (0.41%) Azure Logic Apps
11 1 (0.41%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 73 (29.92%) DNS
2 54 (22.13%) Firewall
3 49 (20.08%) DHCP
4 27 (11.07%) TCP/IP
5 25 (10.25%) VPN
6 17 (6.97%) SSL
7 16 (6.56%) LAN
8 15 (6.15%) IPsec
8 15 (6.15%) Network Security
8 15 (6.15%) WAN
9 14 (5.74%) VSAN
10 13 (5.33%) BGP
10 13 (5.33%) Cisco ASA
10 13 (5.33%) Cisco Firepower
11 12 (4.92%) Cisco Nexus
12 11 (4.51%) OSPF
12 11 (4.51%) VLAN
12 11 (4.51%) Wireless
13 10 (4.10%) VoIP
14 9 (3.69%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 20 (8.20%) SQL Server
2 7 (2.87%) Power BI
3 2 (0.82%) Amazon RDS
3 2 (0.82%) Metadata
4 1 (0.41%) MongoDB
4 1 (0.41%) NoSQL
4 1 (0.41%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 15 (6.15%) JIRA
2 6 (2.46%) GitLab
2 6 (2.46%) Jenkins
3 5 (2.05%) Git
4 3 (1.23%) Sonatype Nexus
5 2 (0.82%) Burp Suite
5 2 (0.82%) Cucumber
5 2 (0.82%) Gatling
5 2 (0.82%) Gradle
5 2 (0.82%) LoadRunner
5 2 (0.82%) REST Assured
5 2 (0.82%) SonarQube
6 1 (0.41%) Claude Code
6 1 (0.41%) MSI
6 1 (0.41%) Robot Framework
General
1 51 (20.90%) Social Skills
2 26 (10.66%) Finance
3 23 (9.43%) Analytical Skills
4 20 (8.20%) Public Sector
5 13 (5.33%) Documentation Skills
6 11 (4.51%) Banking
7 6 (2.46%) Military
7 6 (2.46%) Police
8 4 (1.64%) Legal
9 3 (1.23%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 3 (1.23%) Investment Banking
9 3 (1.23%) Retail
10 2 (0.82%) Aerospace
10 2 (0.82%) Corporate Banking
10 2 (0.82%) Retail Banking
11 1 (0.41%) Influencing Skills
11 1 (0.41%) Law
11 1 (0.41%) Organisational Skills
11 1 (0.41%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 51 (20.90%) Senior
2 38 (15.57%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 24 (9.84%) Architect
4 20 (8.20%) Network Engineer
5 18 (7.38%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
6 17 (6.97%) Platform Engineer
6 17 (6.97%) Support Engineer
7 14 (5.74%) 3rd Line Engineer
7 14 (5.74%) Consultant
7 14 (5.74%) Senior Network Engineer
7 14 (5.74%) Storage Engineer
8 11 (4.51%) Solutions Architect
9 9 (3.69%) Lead
10 7 (2.87%) Integration Engineer
10 7 (2.87%) Principal Engineer
11 6 (2.46%) Security Architect
11 6 (2.46%) Security Engineer
12 5 (2.05%) Security Specialist
12 5 (2.05%) VMware Engineer
12 5 (2.05%) Wintel Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 38 (15.57%) Terraform
2 22 (9.02%) LDAP
3 18 (7.38%) OpenID
4 16 (6.56%) OAuth
4 16 (6.56%) SAML
5 15 (6.15%) 802.1X
5 15 (6.15%) REST
6 12 (4.92%) OAuth2
7 8 (3.28%) .NET
7 8 (3.28%) .NET Framework
7 8 (3.28%) XML
8 6 (2.46%) FIDO
9 5 (2.05%) RabbitMQ
9 5 (2.05%) WebAuthn
10 3 (1.23%) Spring
10 3 (1.23%) Spring Boot
11 2 (0.82%) Kafka
11 2 (0.82%) ModSecurity
11 2 (0.82%) Quarkus
11 2 (0.82%) React
Miscellaneous
1 23 (9.43%) Data Centre
2 19 (7.79%) Clustering
3 11 (4.51%) Onboarding
4 10 (4.10%) Public Cloud
5 9 (3.69%) Cloud Native
5 9 (3.69%) Legacy Systems
6 8 (3.28%) Management Information System
6 8 (3.28%) Self-Motivation
7 7 (2.87%) Distributed Systems
7 7 (2.87%) Linux Command Line
7 7 (2.87%) Replication
8 6 (2.46%) Enterprise Software
8 6 (2.46%) Security Posture
9 4 (1.64%) Data Protection Act
9 4 (1.64%) Enterprise Storage
9 4 (1.64%) Fat Client
9 4 (1.64%) SCADA
9 4 (1.64%) Smartcard
9 4 (1.64%) Tandem
9 4 (1.64%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 122 (50.00%) Windows
2 75 (30.74%) Windows Server
3 65 (26.64%) Linux
4 13 (5.33%) Windows Server 2016
5 8 (3.28%) Unix
6 7 (2.87%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 7 (2.87%) Windows Server 2012
6 7 (2.87%) Windows Server 2019
7 4 (1.64%) Android
7 4 (1.64%) Apple iOS
7 4 (1.64%) Debian
7 4 (1.64%) macOS
7 4 (1.64%) Windows 10
8 3 (1.23%) CentOS
9 2 (0.82%) Data ONTAP
9 2 (0.82%) Ubuntu
10 1 (0.41%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 79 (32.38%) Identity Access Management
2 56 (22.95%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 49 (20.08%) Cybersecurity
4 44 (18.03%) Technical Leadership
5 43 (17.62%) ITIL
6 42 (17.21%) Problem-Solving
7 36 (14.75%) Agile
7 36 (14.75%) Zero Trust
8 35 (14.34%) Stakeholder Management
9 34 (13.93%) Continuous Improvement
10 33 (13.52%) Key Management
11 31 (12.70%) CI/CD
11 31 (12.70%) Infrastructure as Code
12 29 (11.89%) Platform Engineering
13 28 (11.48%) DevSecOps
13 28 (11.48%) Mentoring
13 28 (11.48%) Service Management
14 27 (11.07%) Change Management
14 27 (11.07%) High Availability
15 25 (10.25%) ITSM
Programming Languages
1 81 (33.20%) PowerShell
2 50 (20.49%) Python
3 23 (9.43%) Bash
4 10 (4.10%) SQL
5 8 (3.28%) C#
6 7 (2.87%) JavaScript
7 5 (2.05%) Java
8 3 (1.23%) Go
9 1 (0.41%) Bicep
9 1 (0.41%) Ruby
9 1 (0.41%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 139 (56.97%) Security Cleared
2 87 (35.66%) DV Cleared
3 64 (26.23%) SC Cleared
4 17 (6.97%) Degree
4 17 (6.97%) Microsoft Certification
5 16 (6.56%) Cisco Certification
6 14 (5.74%) CISSP
7 13 (5.33%) CCNP
7 13 (5.33%) MCSE
8 12 (4.92%) VCAP
9 10 (4.10%) AWS Certification
10 7 (2.87%) CISM
11 6 (2.46%) Azure Certification
11 6 (2.46%) MCSA
12 5 (2.05%) Computer Science Degree
12 5 (2.05%) GIAC
12 5 (2.05%) ISTQB
12 5 (2.05%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
13 4 (1.64%) Master's Degree
14 3 (1.23%) CompTIA Security+
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (8.61%) NIST
2 16 (6.56%) NCSC
3 12 (4.92%) SLA
4 10 (4.10%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 8 (3.28%) JSP 440
6 6 (2.46%) GRC
7 2 (0.82%) GDPR
7 2 (0.82%) QA
System Software
1 128 (52.46%) Active Directory
2 61 (25.00%) VMware Infrastructure
3 28 (11.48%) Hyper-V
4 27 (11.07%) VMware NSX
5 22 (9.02%) Docker
6 21 (8.61%) vSphere
7 10 (4.10%) VMware ESXi
8 5 (2.05%) Virtual Desktop
9 4 (1.64%) Virtual Servers
10 3 (1.23%) OpenAM
10 3 (1.23%) UAG
11 2 (0.82%) DFS Replication
11 2 (0.82%) Firmware
11 2 (0.82%) Virtual Machines
11 2 (0.82%) XenApp
11 2 (0.82%) XenDesktop
12 1 (0.41%) Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services
12 1 (0.41%) Microsoft Virtual Server
Systems Management
1 42 (17.21%) Kubernetes
2 34 (13.93%) Ansible
3 22 (9.02%) Single Sign-On
4 20 (8.20%) vCenter Server
5 18 (7.38%) VxRail
6 15 (6.15%) SCOM
7 14 (5.74%) Avamar
8 12 (4.92%) SCCM
9 10 (4.10%) WSUS
10 9 (3.69%) Microsoft Intune
11 8 (3.28%) Failover Clustering
11 8 (3.28%) Istio
12 4 (1.64%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 4 (1.64%) Cisco CUCM
12 4 (1.64%) McAfee ePO
12 4 (1.64%) Nessus
12 4 (1.64%) WMI
13 3 (1.23%) OPNET
14 2 (0.82%) FortiGate
14 2 (0.82%) Microsoft Clustering
Vendors
1 108 (44.26%) Microsoft
2 75 (30.74%) VMware
3 31 (12.70%) Cisco
4 26 (10.66%) Thales
5 24 (9.84%) Okta
6 20 (8.20%) ServiceNow
7 19 (7.79%) BeyondTrust
8 18 (7.38%) Dell
9 10 (4.10%) Citrix
10 9 (3.69%) CheckPoint
10 9 (3.69%) Fortinet
10 9 (3.69%) Palo Alto
10 9 (3.69%) SolarWinds
11 7 (2.87%) BMC
11 7 (2.87%) McAfee
11 7 (2.87%) NetApp
11 7 (2.87%) Remedy
12 6 (2.46%) CyberArk
12 6 (2.46%) Google
12 6 (2.46%) Juniper