Cybersecurity Contracts

Cybersecurity
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies requiring Cybersecurity skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Cybersecurity over the 6 months leading up to 19 February 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
19 Feb 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 54 46 56
Rank change year-on-year -8 +10 +26
Contract jobs citing Cybersecurity 1,160 1,790 2,601
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 3.76% 4.06% 3.91%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 4.20% 4.66% 4.35%
Number of daily rates quoted 697 1,138 1,822
10th Percentile £400 £413 £413
25th Percentile £463 £500 £500
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £585 £600
Median % change year-on-year -5.98% -2.50% +7.14%
75th Percentile £650 £675 £696
90th Percentile £750 £775 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £550 £570 £550
% change year-on-year -3.51% +3.64% +4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 22 66 51
10th Percentile £36.30 £26.75 £20.00
25th Percentile £45.00 £42.25 £32.08
Median hourly rate £46.81 £72.50 £65.50
Median % change year-on-year -35.43% +10.69% +19.17%
75th Percentile £78.39 £83.41 £77.50
90th Percentile £83.20 £87.27 £83.40
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £72.50 £65.50
% change year-on-year -37.93% +10.69% +11.33%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK

Cybersecurity falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 27,629 38,371 59,820
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 89.66% 87.02% 89.87%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,023 25,081 41,213
10th Percentile £306 £300 £325
25th Percentile £413 £413 £440
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% +4.76%
75th Percentile £638 £638 £650
90th Percentile £738 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £490 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -2.00% - +5.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 844 2,145 1,825
10th Percentile £15.62 £13.29 £11.00
25th Percentile £21.03 £16.25 £16.00
Median hourly rate £32.50 £35.00 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -7.14% - +45.83%
75th Percentile £63.75 £60.39 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £73.35 £70.78
UK excluding London median hourly rate £30.45 £35.00 £33.25
% change year-on-year -13.00% +5.26% +70.51%

Cybersecurity
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing Cybersecurity as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for Cybersecurity in the UK

Cybersecurity
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Cybersecurity.

Daily rate trend for Cybersecurity in the UK

Cybersecurity
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Cybersecurity over the 6 months to 19 February 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Cybersecurity in the UK

Cybersecurity
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Cybersecurity.

Hourly rate trend for Cybersecurity in the UK

Cybersecurity
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Cybersecurity over the 6 months to 19 February 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Cybersecurity in the UK

Cybersecurity
Top 18 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Cybersecurity within the UK over the 6 months to 19 February 2025. 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
England -9 974 £568 -2.43% 1,276
UK excluding London -14 563 £550 -3.51% 881
London -9 454 £558 -7.08% 535
Work from Home -19 354 £550 -4.35% 1,114
South East -5 161 £540 -10.00% 270
North of England -2 101 £573 +1.10% 226
Midlands -4 98 £525 -9.95% 101
West Midlands -1 86 £550 -9.47% 62
Scotland -9 65 £517 -7.26% 59
South West -42 64 £650 +18.18% 124
North West -12 57 £564 -1.05% 136
Wales +9 38 £450 -18.18% 22
East of England +20 37 £575 - 105
Yorkshire +16 35 £600 +10.34% 62
North East +1 12 £550 +37.50% 31
East Midlands -3 12 £500 +17.65% 39
Northern Ireland - 3 - - 5
Isle of Man - 2 - - 1

Cybersecurity
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 36 (3.10%) Confluence
2 32 (2.76%) SharePoint
3 26 (2.24%) Microsoft Exchange
4 6 (0.52%) Apache Airflow
4 6 (0.52%) CMS
5 2 (0.17%) IIS
6 1 (0.086%) Jupyter
6 1 (0.086%) SAS
Applications
1 33 (2.84%) Microsoft Office
2 26 (2.24%) Microsoft Excel
3 15 (1.29%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 15 (1.29%) MS Visio
4 14 (1.21%) Microsoft Project
5 5 (0.43%) Spreadsheet
6 3 (0.26%) Trello
7 1 (0.086%) CANalyzer
7 1 (0.086%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 4 (0.34%) Dynamics CRM
1 4 (0.34%) Dynamics GP
2 2 (0.17%) Salesforce CRM
3 1 (0.086%) NetSuite
3 1 (0.086%) Remedy ITSM
3 1 (0.086%) SAP CO
3 1 (0.086%) SAP ERP
3 1 (0.086%) SAP FI
3 1 (0.086%) SAP FI/CO
3 1 (0.086%) SAP S/4HANA
3 1 (0.086%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 236 (20.34%) Azure
2 119 (10.26%) AWS
3 117 (10.09%) Microsoft 365
4 65 (5.60%) Power Platform
5 52 (4.48%) Entra ID
6 48 (4.14%) GCP
7 37 (3.19%) SaaS
8 33 (2.84%) IaaS
9 24 (2.07%) PaaS
10 21 (1.81%) Microsoft Purview
11 19 (1.64%) GitHub
12 18 (1.55%) Cloud Computing
13 15 (1.29%) Azure Sentinel
14 11 (0.95%) Amazon S3
14 11 (0.95%) Azure DevOps
15 10 (0.86%) Power Automate
16 9 (0.78%) Google Workspace
16 9 (0.78%) PowerApps
16 9 (0.78%) Serverless
17 8 (0.69%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 147 (12.67%) Firewall
2 103 (8.88%) Network Security
3 45 (3.88%) DNS
4 29 (2.50%) VPN
5 28 (2.41%) Internet
5 28 (2.41%) WAN
6 25 (2.16%) DHCP
7 23 (1.98%) LAN
7 23 (1.98%) TCP/IP
8 21 (1.81%) Intrusion Detection
9 15 (1.29%) SMTP
9 15 (1.29%) Wireless
10 14 (1.21%) HTTP
10 14 (1.21%) SAN
11 13 (1.12%) Wi-Fi
12 11 (0.95%) SSL
13 10 (0.86%) NGFW
14 9 (0.78%) Radio Access Network
15 8 (0.69%) Ethernet
15 8 (0.69%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 50 (4.31%) Power BI
2 23 (1.98%) SQL Server
3 17 (1.47%) Tableau
4 9 (0.78%) MongoDB
5 7 (0.60%) PostgreSQL
5 7 (0.60%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 5 (0.43%) Elasticsearch
7 4 (0.34%) Amazon Athena
7 4 (0.34%) Amazon QuickSight
7 4 (0.34%) Data Hub
7 4 (0.34%) Data Lake
8 3 (0.26%) Big Data
8 3 (0.26%) Data Warehouse
8 3 (0.26%) DynamoDB
9 2 (0.17%) Relational Database
9 2 (0.17%) SAP Data Services
10 1 (0.086%) DTS
10 1 (0.086%) Oracle Database
10 1 (0.086%) RDBMS
10 1 (0.086%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 34 (2.93%) JIRA
2 12 (1.03%) Git
3 9 (0.78%) Jenkins
4 8 (0.69%) Rational Rhapsody
5 4 (0.34%) Selenium
6 3 (0.26%) Burp Suite
7 2 (0.17%) JMeter
7 2 (0.17%) JUnit
7 2 (0.17%) Metasploit
7 2 (0.17%) SonarQube
8 1 (0.086%) Appium
8 1 (0.086%) CANoe
8 1 (0.086%) CircleCI
8 1 (0.086%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.086%) GitLab
8 1 (0.086%) Gradle
8 1 (0.086%) HP UFT
8 1 (0.086%) IntelliJ
8 1 (0.086%) LabVIEW
8 1 (0.086%) Maven
General
1 348 (30.00%) Social Skills
2 213 (18.36%) Finance
3 139 (11.98%) Analytical Skills
4 119 (10.26%) Public Sector
5 65 (5.60%) Banking
6 54 (4.66%) Legal
7 40 (3.45%) Manufacturing
8 38 (3.28%) Telecoms
9 32 (2.76%) Presentation Skills
10 26 (2.24%) Marketing
11 22 (1.90%) Organisational Skills
12 19 (1.64%) Financial Institution
13 17 (1.47%) Electronics
14 16 (1.38%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 16 (1.38%) Military
15 15 (1.29%) Influencing Skills
16 13 (1.12%) Retail
17 11 (0.95%) Documentation Skills
18 10 (0.86%) Games
19 9 (0.78%) Law
Job Titles
1 224 (19.31%) Analyst
2 179 (15.43%) Architect
3 121 (10.43%) Security Architect
4 119 (10.26%) Security Analyst
5 108 (9.31%) Consultant
6 96 (8.28%) Lead
7 81 (6.98%) Senior
8 77 (6.64%) Security Manager
9 75 (6.47%) Cybersecurity Analyst
9 75 (6.47%) Security Engineer
10 69 (5.95%) Project Manager
11 63 (5.43%) Security Consultant
12 57 (4.91%) Cybersecurity Manager
13 55 (4.74%) Cybersecurity Architect
14 42 (3.62%) Business Analyst
14 42 (3.62%) Cybersecurity Consultant
15 34 (2.93%) Security Project Manager
16 31 (2.67%) Cybersecurity Engineer
17 30 (2.59%) Project Manager - Cybersecurity
18 27 (2.33%) SOC Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (1.03%) Kafka
1 12 (1.03%) LDAP
2 10 (0.86%) CSS
2 10 (0.86%) Elastic Stack
2 10 (0.86%) HTML
3 9 (0.78%) SailPoint
4 8 (0.69%) .NET
4 8 (0.69%) Node.js
4 8 (0.69%) REST
5 7 (0.60%) AngularJS
5 7 (0.60%) Microsoft Graph
6 6 (0.52%) SAML
6 6 (0.52%) YAML
7 5 (0.43%) .NET Core
7 5 (0.43%) Express.js
7 5 (0.43%) Regular Expression
8 4 (0.34%) OpenID
8 4 (0.34%) RESTful
9 3 (0.26%) OAuth
9 3 (0.26%) SPFx
Miscellaneous
1 90 (7.76%) Management Information System
2 79 (6.81%) Cyber Threat
3 71 (6.12%) Security Posture
4 52 (4.48%) Operational Technology
5 47 (4.05%) Onboarding
6 42 (3.62%) Security Operations Centre
7 31 (2.67%) Data Centre
8 25 (2.16%) Product Ownership
9 24 (2.07%) Cyber Defence
10 23 (1.98%) Cyberattack
10 23 (1.98%) Self-Motivation
11 17 (1.47%) Hybrid Cloud
12 16 (1.38%) CSOC
12 16 (1.38%) PKI
12 16 (1.38%) Private Cloud
13 14 (1.21%) Algorithms
13 14 (1.21%) Virtual Team
14 13 (1.12%) Analytical Mindset
14 13 (1.12%) Cyber Security Posture
15 12 (1.03%) Cyber Kill Chain
Operating Systems
1 134 (11.55%) Windows
2 67 (5.78%) Linux
3 41 (3.53%) Windows Server
4 20 (1.72%) Windows 10
5 14 (1.21%) Mac OS
6 13 (1.12%) Unix
7 12 (1.03%) Apple iOS
8 8 (0.69%) Android
9 4 (0.34%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 2 (0.17%) AIX
10 2 (0.17%) Solaris
10 2 (0.17%) Windows 7
10 2 (0.17%) Windows Server 2008
11 1 (0.086%) Check Point GAiA
11 1 (0.086%) Kali Linux
11 1 (0.086%) VMS
11 1 (0.086%) Windows Server 2012
11 1 (0.086%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 195 (16.81%) Problem-Solving
2 192 (16.55%) Information Security
3 187 (16.12%) Risk Management
4 159 (13.71%) Incident Response
5 157 (13.53%) Agile
6 152 (13.10%) SIEM
7 127 (10.95%) Project Management
8 123 (10.60%) Security Operations
9 114 (9.83%) Stakeholder Management
10 108 (9.31%) Roadmaps
11 102 (8.79%) Continuous Improvement
12 93 (8.02%) Vulnerability Management
13 90 (7.76%) Cloud Security
13 90 (7.76%) Security Architecture
14 79 (6.81%) ITIL
15 74 (6.38%) Identity Access Management
16 69 (5.95%) Analytics
17 65 (5.60%) Business Intelligence
18 59 (5.09%) Computer Science
18 59 (5.09%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 108 (9.31%) Python
2 81 (6.98%) PowerShell
3 45 (3.88%) SQL
4 18 (1.55%) JavaScript
5 15 (1.29%) Bash
5 15 (1.29%) Kusto Query Language
6 11 (0.95%) Java
7 10 (0.86%) Rust
8 8 (0.69%) C++
9 7 (0.60%) C#
9 7 (0.60%) Ruby
10 6 (0.52%) TypeScript
11 5 (0.43%) PHP
12 4 (0.34%) C
12 4 (0.34%) VBA
13 3 (0.26%) Go
13 3 (0.26%) Groovy
14 2 (0.17%) Embedded C
14 2 (0.17%) Embedded C++
14 2 (0.17%) FoxPro (VFP)
Qualifications
1 226 (19.48%) Security Cleared
2 191 (16.47%) CISSP
3 167 (14.40%) SC Cleared
4 158 (13.62%) Degree
5 139 (11.98%) CISM
6 63 (5.43%) DV Cleared
7 58 (5.00%) CEH
8 45 (3.88%) Cisco Certification
9 42 (3.62%) CISA
10 36 (3.10%) Microsoft Certification
11 34 (2.93%) OSCP
12 30 (2.59%) CompTIA Security+
13 29 (2.50%) CRISC
14 25 (2.16%) Master's Degree
15 24 (2.07%) Computer Science Degree
16 23 (1.98%) (ISC)2 CCSP
17 22 (1.90%) Azure Certification
18 20 (1.72%) CCNA
18 20 (1.72%) GIAC
18 20 (1.72%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 193 (16.64%) NIST
2 167 (14.40%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 68 (5.86%) GDPR
4 53 (4.57%) PCI DSS
5 51 (4.40%) GRC
6 42 (3.62%) Cyber Essentials
7 40 (3.45%) NCSC
8 36 (3.10%) NIST 800
9 28 (2.41%) COBIT
10 25 (2.16%) QA
10 25 (2.16%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 17 (1.47%) HIPAA
12 14 (1.21%) Data Quality
13 12 (1.03%) Actionable Recommendations
14 11 (0.95%) SOC 2
15 10 (0.86%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
15 10 (0.86%) PMO
15 10 (0.86%) SLA
16 8 (0.69%) ISO 22301
17 5 (0.43%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 86 (7.41%) Active Directory
2 26 (2.24%) VMware Infrastructure
3 15 (1.29%) Docker
4 12 (1.03%) vSphere
5 11 (0.95%) Hyper-V
6 10 (0.86%) Virtual Machines
7 8 (0.69%) VMware ESXi
8 7 (0.60%) Firmware
9 5 (0.43%) VMware NSX
10 4 (0.34%) DFS Replication
11 3 (0.26%) Microcode
11 3 (0.26%) RACF
12 1 (0.086%) KVM
12 1 (0.086%) Virtual Desktop
12 1 (0.086%) Virtual Servers
12 1 (0.086%) VMware Workstation
12 1 (0.086%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 36 (3.10%) Microsoft Intune
2 22 (1.90%) SCCM
3 20 (1.72%) Kubernetes
4 19 (1.64%) Ansible
4 19 (1.64%) Terraform
5 14 (1.21%) Single Sign-On
6 10 (0.86%) CASB
7 9 (0.78%) CSIRT
8 8 (0.69%) QRadar
9 7 (0.60%) Dell DRAC
9 7 (0.60%) Nessus
10 6 (0.52%) Puppet
10 6 (0.52%) WSUS
11 5 (0.43%) Computer Incident Response Team
11 5 (0.43%) Jamf Pro
11 5 (0.43%) Kibana
11 5 (0.43%) logstash
12 4 (0.34%) Grafana
12 4 (0.34%) Prometheus
13 3 (0.26%) Argo
Vendors
1 217 (18.71%) Microsoft
2 49 (4.22%) Splunk
3 45 (3.88%) Cisco
4 42 (3.62%) VMware
5 32 (2.76%) CyberArk
5 32 (2.76%) Google
6 29 (2.50%) Palo Alto
7 26 (2.24%) ServiceNow
8 24 (2.07%) CrowdStrike
9 22 (1.90%) SAP
10 18 (1.55%) Qualys
11 17 (1.47%) Oracle
12 15 (1.29%) IBM
13 13 (1.12%) F5
14 12 (1.03%) Zscaler
15 11 (0.95%) LogRhythm
16 10 (0.86%) Apple
16 10 (0.86%) Red Hat
16 10 (0.86%) Veritas
17 9 (0.78%) Okta