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 11 May 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
11 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 56 48 53
Rank change year-on-year -8 +5 +27
Contract jobs citing Cybersecurity 1,129 1,670 2,402
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 3.83% 3.88% 4.15%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 4.21% 4.50% 4.62%
Number of daily rates quoted 714 1,163 1,649
10th Percentile £375 £406 £425
25th Percentile £463 £500 £500
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £575 £600
Median % change year-on-year -4.35% -4.17% +4.35%
75th Percentile £638 £688 £700
90th Percentile £725 £788 £792
UK excluding London median daily rate £550 £570 £575
% change year-on-year -3.51% -0.87% +4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 27 46 49
10th Percentile £34.05 £26.75 £25.00
25th Percentile £43.25 £43.44 £35.00
Median hourly rate £54.50 £83.77 £65.50
Median % change year-on-year -34.94% +27.89% +55.12%
75th Percentile £81.73 £87.51 £83.31
90th Percentile £86.00 £87.90 £83.40
UK excluding London median hourly rate £52.50 £83.77 £65.50
% change year-on-year -37.32% +27.89% +15.49%

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 26,789 37,090 51,996
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 90.94% 86.26% 89.82%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,213 23,884 36,030
10th Percentile £306 £300 £325
25th Percentile £411 £413 £438
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year -0.95% -4.55% +3.77%
75th Percentile £630 £638 £650
90th Percentile £745 £750 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £479 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -4.20% - +5.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,097 2,438 1,721
10th Percentile £14.20 £12.75 £11.00
25th Percentile £18.22 £16.00 £16.13
Median hourly rate £28.41 £36.50 £36.25
Median % change year-on-year -22.16% +0.69% +41.16%
75th Percentile £60.00 £60.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £72.50 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.34 £38.06 £35.00
% change year-on-year -30.81% +8.74% +75.00%

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 11 May 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 11 May 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Cybersecurity in the UK

Cybersecurity
Top 16 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 11 May 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 -7 925 £550 -5.38% 2,283
UK excluding London -16 548 £550 -3.51% 1,618
London -6 428 £538 -10.42% 997
Work from Home -13 333 £525 -8.70% 1,879
South East +11 165 £548 -7.05% 561
North of England -6 101 £563 -2.04% 379
Midlands -2 83 £538 -10.42% 214
Scotland -2 83 £500 -13.04% 121
West Midlands -7 73 £550 -10.57% 143
North West +2 63 £573 +0.44% 207
South West -41 58 £650 +20.82% 179
East of England +22 36 £600 - 137
Yorkshire -11 27 £550 -10.57% 136
Wales +12 26 £381 -36.46% 41
North East -3 11 £534 -2.91% 42
East Midlands +7 10 £500 +25.00% 65

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 23 (2.04%) Microsoft Exchange
1 23 (2.04%) SharePoint
2 19 (1.68%) Confluence
3 7 (0.62%) CMS
4 3 (0.27%) IIS
5 2 (0.18%) Apache
5 2 (0.18%) JBoss
5 2 (0.18%) TPMS
5 2 (0.18%) WebLogic
5 2 (0.18%) WebSphere
5 2 (0.18%) WebSphere Application Server
6 1 (0.089%) Apache Airflow
6 1 (0.089%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.089%) CICS
6 1 (0.089%) nginx
6 1 (0.089%) Oracle Workflow
6 1 (0.089%) SAS
6 1 (0.089%) Tomcat
Applications
1 30 (2.66%) Microsoft Office
2 23 (2.04%) Microsoft Excel
3 16 (1.42%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 15 (1.33%) MS Visio
5 14 (1.24%) Microsoft Project
6 5 (0.44%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.089%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 1 (0.089%) Simulink
7 1 (0.089%) SPSS
7 1 (0.089%) Stata
7 1 (0.089%) Trello
Business Applications
1 4 (0.35%) SAP S/4HANA
2 3 (0.27%) Remedy ITSM
3 2 (0.18%) Dynamics CRM
3 2 (0.18%) Dynamics GP
3 2 (0.18%) Salesforce CRM
4 1 (0.089%) Maximo
4 1 (0.089%) NetSuite
4 1 (0.089%) Primavera
4 1 (0.089%) SAP BPC
4 1 (0.089%) SAP CO
4 1 (0.089%) SAP ERP
4 1 (0.089%) SAP FI
4 1 (0.089%) SAP FI/CO
Cloud Services
1 268 (23.74%) Azure
2 138 (12.22%) AWS
3 93 (8.24%) Microsoft 365
4 64 (5.67%) GCP
5 54 (4.78%) Entra ID
6 53 (4.69%) Power Platform
7 41 (3.63%) IaaS
8 39 (3.45%) Azure Sentinel
9 34 (3.01%) Cloud Computing
10 27 (2.39%) PaaS
11 23 (2.04%) SaaS
12 22 (1.95%) Microsoft Purview
13 18 (1.59%) GitHub
14 11 (0.97%) Serverless
15 10 (0.89%) Google Workspace
16 7 (0.62%) Amazon S3
17 6 (0.53%) Akamai
17 6 (0.53%) AWS Lambda
18 5 (0.44%) AWS KMS
18 5 (0.44%) Dynamics 365
Communications & Networking
1 144 (12.75%) Firewall
2 106 (9.39%) Network Security
3 46 (4.07%) DNS
4 40 (3.54%) Intrusion Detection
5 34 (3.01%) VPN
6 24 (2.13%) HTTP
7 23 (2.04%) DHCP
7 23 (2.04%) SSL
8 22 (1.95%) TCP/IP
9 21 (1.86%) SMTP
10 18 (1.59%) WAN
11 16 (1.42%) LAN
12 14 (1.24%) FTP
12 14 (1.24%) Internet
13 11 (0.97%) SAN
13 11 (0.97%) Wireless
14 10 (0.89%) SD-WAN
14 10 (0.89%) Wi-Fi
15 9 (0.80%) Ethernet
16 7 (0.62%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 42 (3.72%) Power BI
2 24 (2.13%) SQL Server
3 18 (1.59%) Tableau
4 12 (1.06%) Big Data
5 11 (0.97%) MongoDB
6 10 (0.89%) Data Lake
7 4 (0.35%) Data Warehouse
7 4 (0.35%) NoSQL
7 4 (0.35%) PostgreSQL
7 4 (0.35%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 3 (0.27%) DynamoDB
8 3 (0.27%) GIS
9 2 (0.18%) Metadata
9 2 (0.18%) Relational Database
9 2 (0.18%) SAP Data Services
10 1 (0.089%) BigQuery
10 1 (0.089%) Flink
10 1 (0.089%) Oracle Database
10 1 (0.089%) QGIS
10 1 (0.089%) SQLite
Development Applications
1 30 (2.66%) JIRA
2 22 (1.95%) Git
3 13 (1.15%) Jenkins
4 5 (0.44%) JUnit
5 4 (0.35%) Cucumber
5 4 (0.35%) Gradle
5 4 (0.35%) HP UFT
5 4 (0.35%) IntelliJ
5 4 (0.35%) Maven
5 4 (0.35%) Rational Rhapsody
5 4 (0.35%) Selenium
5 4 (0.35%) Visual Studio Code
6 3 (0.27%) Bitbucket
6 3 (0.27%) Cypress.io
6 3 (0.27%) GitLab
6 3 (0.27%) Mocha
6 3 (0.27%) MSI
6 3 (0.27%) Postman
6 3 (0.27%) Xcode
7 2 (0.18%) Burp Suite
General
1 358 (31.71%) Social Skills
2 218 (19.31%) Finance
3 187 (16.56%) Analytical Skills
4 103 (9.12%) Public Sector
5 90 (7.97%) Banking
6 64 (5.67%) Legal
7 40 (3.54%) Presentation Skills
8 34 (3.01%) Telecoms
9 33 (2.92%) Organisational Skills
10 30 (2.66%) Manufacturing
11 19 (1.68%) Documentation Skills
11 19 (1.68%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 18 (1.59%) Investment Banking
13 17 (1.51%) Law
14 15 (1.33%) Military
15 13 (1.15%) Financial Institution
15 13 (1.15%) Marketing
16 12 (1.06%) Retail
17 11 (0.97%) Automotive
18 9 (0.80%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 216 (19.13%) Analyst
2 188 (16.65%) Architect
3 103 (9.12%) Security Architect
4 95 (8.41%) Security Analyst
5 90 (7.97%) Senior
6 82 (7.26%) Consultant
7 80 (7.09%) Lead
8 72 (6.38%) Security Manager
9 70 (6.20%) Cybersecurity Analyst
10 69 (6.11%) Security Engineer
11 61 (5.40%) Project Manager
12 46 (4.07%) Cybersecurity Manager
13 43 (3.81%) Security Consultant
14 41 (3.63%) Cybersecurity Engineer
15 39 (3.45%) SOC Analyst
16 38 (3.37%) Solutions Architect
17 37 (3.28%) Cybersecurity Architect
18 36 (3.19%) Security Project Manager
19 34 (3.01%) Business Analyst
20 31 (2.75%) IT Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (1.86%) REST
2 20 (1.77%) LDAP
3 17 (1.51%) Kafka
4 14 (1.24%) HTML
5 13 (1.15%) CSS
6 11 (0.97%) SailPoint
7 10 (0.89%) .NET
8 9 (0.80%) AngularJS
8 9 (0.80%) Elastic Stack
8 9 (0.80%) SAML
9 8 (0.71%) Middleware
9 8 (0.71%) Node.js
10 7 (0.62%) JSON
11 6 (0.53%) .NET Core
11 6 (0.53%) JBoss Seam
11 6 (0.53%) OAuth
12 5 (0.44%) OpenID
12 5 (0.44%) UIKit
12 5 (0.44%) Web Services
13 4 (0.35%) Express.js
Miscellaneous
1 92 (8.15%) Management Information System
2 90 (7.97%) Security Posture
3 85 (7.53%) Cyber Threat
4 73 (6.47%) Operational Technology
5 45 (3.99%) Security Operations Centre
6 40 (3.54%) Onboarding
7 25 (2.21%) Self-Motivation
8 24 (2.13%) Cyberattack
8 24 (2.13%) SCADA
9 23 (2.04%) Algorithms
9 23 (2.04%) Data Centre
10 19 (1.68%) PKI
11 18 (1.59%) Product Ownership
12 17 (1.51%) Cyber Defence
13 16 (1.42%) CSOC
14 15 (1.33%) Analytical Mindset
14 15 (1.33%) Hybrid Cloud
15 14 (1.24%) Enterprise Software
16 12 (1.06%) Data Structures
17 11 (0.97%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 136 (12.05%) Windows
2 85 (7.53%) Linux
3 33 (2.92%) Windows Server
4 21 (1.86%) Mac OS
5 19 (1.68%) Windows 10
6 17 (1.51%) Unix
7 15 (1.33%) Apple iOS
8 11 (0.97%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 9 (0.80%) Android
10 5 (0.44%) AIX
11 4 (0.35%) Solaris
12 2 (0.18%) Kali Linux
12 2 (0.18%) Windows 7
12 2 (0.18%) Windows Server 2016
12 2 (0.18%) Windows Server 2019
12 2 (0.18%) Windows XP
13 1 (0.089%) HPUX
13 1 (0.089%) Mac OS X
13 1 (0.089%) VMS
13 1 (0.089%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 234 (20.73%) Problem-Solving
2 187 (16.56%) Risk Management
3 170 (15.06%) Incident Response
4 160 (14.17%) SIEM
5 157 (13.91%) Information Security
6 156 (13.82%) Security Operations
7 140 (12.40%) Agile
8 121 (10.72%) Stakeholder Management
9 118 (10.45%) Vulnerability Management
10 112 (9.92%) Cloud Security
11 111 (9.83%) Project Management
12 110 (9.74%) Security Architecture
13 104 (9.21%) Continuous Improvement
14 97 (8.59%) Roadmaps
15 87 (7.71%) Analytics
16 79 (7.00%) ITIL
17 77 (6.82%) DevOps
17 77 (6.82%) Stakeholder Engagement
18 75 (6.64%) Identity Access Management
19 72 (6.38%) Decision-Making
Programming Languages
1 110 (9.74%) Python
2 88 (7.79%) PowerShell
3 42 (3.72%) SQL
4 26 (2.30%) Bash
5 25 (2.21%) Kusto Query Language
6 17 (1.51%) JavaScript
7 13 (1.15%) Java
8 9 (0.80%) Rust
9 6 (0.53%) C++
9 6 (0.53%) TypeScript
10 5 (0.44%) C#
10 5 (0.44%) Objective-C
10 5 (0.44%) Ruby
10 5 (0.44%) Swift
11 4 (0.35%) Groovy
11 4 (0.35%) PHP
12 3 (0.27%) R
13 2 (0.18%) Go
13 2 (0.18%) Perl
13 2 (0.18%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 239 (21.17%) Security Cleared
2 184 (16.30%) CISSP
2 184 (16.30%) SC Cleared
3 148 (13.11%) Degree
4 105 (9.30%) CISM
5 72 (6.38%) DV Cleared
6 51 (4.52%) CEH
6 51 (4.52%) Cisco Certification
7 45 (3.99%) Microsoft Certification
8 37 (3.28%) CompTIA Security+
9 33 (2.92%) Computer Science Degree
10 30 (2.66%) Azure Certification
11 29 (2.57%) CISA
11 29 (2.57%) GIAC
12 28 (2.48%) (ISC)2 CCSP
13 25 (2.21%) CRISC
13 25 (2.21%) PMI Certification
14 24 (2.13%) Master's Degree
14 24 (2.13%) OSCP
15 22 (1.95%) CCSP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 198 (17.54%) NIST
2 153 (13.55%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 86 (7.62%) GDPR
4 45 (3.99%) NCSC
5 43 (3.81%) GRC
6 39 (3.45%) PCI DSS
7 32 (2.83%) QA
8 29 (2.57%) Cyber Essentials
9 27 (2.39%) Data Quality
10 24 (2.13%) NIST 800
11 22 (1.95%) HIPAA
12 21 (1.86%) SLA
13 19 (1.68%) COBIT
14 13 (1.15%) SOC 2
15 11 (0.97%) California Consumer Privacy Act
15 11 (0.97%) Disclosure Scotland
16 10 (0.89%) Accessibility
16 10 (0.89%) Def Stans
16 10 (0.89%) Sarbanes-Oxley
17 9 (0.80%) PMO
System Software
1 97 (8.59%) Active Directory
2 43 (3.81%) VMware Infrastructure
3 18 (1.59%) vSphere
4 15 (1.33%) Hyper-V
5 11 (0.97%) Docker
6 10 (0.89%) Virtual Machines
7 6 (0.53%) DFS Replication
8 3 (0.27%) Microsoft App-V
8 3 (0.27%) Virtual Servers
8 3 (0.27%) VMware NSX
9 2 (0.18%) RACF
9 2 (0.18%) Virtual Desktop
10 1 (0.089%) BitLocker
10 1 (0.089%) Firmware
10 1 (0.089%) Veritas Cluster Server
10 1 (0.089%) VMware Workstation
10 1 (0.089%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 50 (4.43%) Microsoft Intune
2 27 (2.39%) SCCM
3 24 (2.13%) Kubernetes
4 20 (1.77%) Ansible
5 18 (1.59%) Terraform
6 14 (1.24%) QRadar
7 13 (1.15%) CASB
8 11 (0.97%) Single Sign-On
9 7 (0.62%) CSIRT
10 6 (0.53%) Grafana
10 6 (0.53%) Jamf Pro
11 5 (0.44%) Nessus
11 5 (0.44%) Prometheus
12 4 (0.35%) FortiGate
12 4 (0.35%) Puppet
12 4 (0.35%) WSUS
13 3 (0.27%) Podman
13 3 (0.27%) Progress Chef
14 2 (0.18%) Argo
14 2 (0.18%) Autotask
Vendors
1 266 (23.56%) Microsoft
2 56 (4.96%) Splunk
3 55 (4.87%) VMware
4 36 (3.19%) Cisco
4 36 (3.19%) Google
4 36 (3.19%) ServiceNow
5 27 (2.39%) CyberArk
6 25 (2.21%) Palo Alto
7 24 (2.13%) Qualys
7 24 (2.13%) SAP
8 21 (1.86%) CrowdStrike
9 20 (1.77%) Oracle
10 15 (1.33%) Tenable
11 14 (1.24%) IBM
12 13 (1.15%) Darktrace
12 13 (1.15%) Okta
13 12 (1.06%) LogRhythm
13 12 (1.06%) Veritas
14 11 (0.97%) ArcSight
14 11 (0.97%) Fortinet