DNS Contract Job Trends

Domain Name System (DNS)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring DNS skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 30 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
30 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 152 140 146
Rank change year-on-year -12 +6 -11
Contract jobs citing DNS 1,003 690 649
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.83% 2.10% 1.73%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 19.60% 18.37% 14.47%
Number of daily rates quoted 626 441 408
10th Percentile £297 £214 £225
25th Percentile £413 £375 £348
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £500
75th Percentile £588 £588 £608
90th Percentile £650 £650 £715
UK excluding London median daily rate £510 £475 £445
% change year-on-year +7.37% +6.74% -8.72%
Number of hourly rates quoted 54 31 11
10th Percentile £26.20 £15.50 £21.25
25th Percentile £31.25 £29.00 £23.45
Median hourly rate £62.74 £45.00 £24.18
Median % change year-on-year +39.42% +86.10% -39.55%
75th Percentile £76.63 £78.18 £34.00
90th Percentile £97.67 £89.63 £48.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.24 £45.00 £27.10
% change year-on-year +44.98% +66.05% -42.95%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
UK

DNS falls under the Communications and Computer Networking category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring communications or computer networking skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 5,117 3,756 4,484
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.32% 11.44% 11.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,952 2,354 2,578
10th Percentile £235 £219 £225
25th Percentile £390 £363 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £588 £608
90th Percentile £675 £680 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £450 £488
% change year-on-year +5.56% -7.69% +5.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 430 202 207
10th Percentile £14.10 £15.50 £14.16
25th Percentile £19.50 £24.25 £24.18
Median hourly rate £34.75 £42.50 £51.50
Median % change year-on-year -18.24% -17.48% -8.83%
75th Percentile £68.75 £63.63 £65.00
90th Percentile £92.11 £72.72 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £28.50 £42.50 £57.35
% change year-on-year -32.94% -25.89% -0.26%

DNS
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing DNS relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

DNS job vacancy trend in the UK

DNS
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing DNS.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing DNS

DNS
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing DNS over the 6 months to 30 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for DNS in the UK

DNS
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing DNS.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing DNS

DNS
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing DNS over the 6 months to 30 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for DNS in the UK

DNS
Top 16 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing DNS within the UK over the 6 months to 30 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
England -20 909 £500 - 739
UK excluding London -16 616 £510 +7.37% 451
London -36 319 £500 -4.76% 307
Work from Home -26 244 £500 +3.95% 285
North of England +5 201 £500 +11.48% 99
South East +2 175 £538 +7.50% 119
North West +7 124 £500 +11.48% 70
Midlands -37 108 £450 - 64
South West 0 97 £567 +3.14% 71
West Midlands -47 91 £438 - 38
Yorkshire -6 63 £500 - 16
East of England -40 41 £475 -13.64% 40
Scotland +1 35 £475 +4.63% 34
East Midlands -6 16 £450 - 25
North East -37 14 £419 +23.16% 16
Wales -6 10 £440 +16.02% 13

DNS
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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
1 114 (11.37%) Microsoft Exchange
2 91 (9.07%) SharePoint
3 33 (3.29%) Confluence
4 16 (1.60%) Apache
5 14 (1.40%) IIS
5 14 (1.40%) nginx
6 8 (0.80%) Skype for Business
6 8 (0.80%) Tomcat
7 5 (0.50%) OpenStack
8 3 (0.30%) Exchange Server 2010
8 3 (0.30%) Exchange Server 2013
9 2 (0.20%) WebSphere
10 1 (0.100%) Apache Spark
10 1 (0.100%) CMS
10 1 (0.100%) Drupal
10 1 (0.100%) SharePoint Server
10 1 (0.100%) Traefik
10 1 (0.100%) WordPress
Applications
1 24 (2.39%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (1.10%) Microsoft Excel
2 11 (1.10%) MS Visio
3 3 (0.30%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.20%) Adobe Creative Suite
4 2 (0.20%) Houdini
4 2 (0.20%) NUKE
5 1 (0.100%) Chatbot
5 1 (0.100%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.100%) Mozilla Thunderbird
5 1 (0.100%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 15 (1.50%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.100%) Magento
2 1 (0.100%) Oracle EBS
2 1 (0.100%) Oracle ERP
2 1 (0.100%) Oracle Retail
Cloud Services
1 415 (41.38%) Azure
2 203 (20.24%) AWS
3 196 (19.54%) Microsoft 365
4 193 (19.24%) Entra ID
5 82 (8.18%) GCP
6 79 (7.88%) GitHub
7 56 (5.58%) IaaS
8 51 (5.08%) Azure DevOps
8 51 (5.08%) OneDrive
9 47 (4.69%) GitHub Actions
10 43 (4.29%) Azure Monitor
11 39 (3.89%) SaaS
12 32 (3.19%) PaaS
13 28 (2.79%) Azure ExpressRoute
14 25 (2.49%) Azure Key Vault
14 25 (2.49%) OpenShift
15 24 (2.39%) Serverless
16 23 (2.29%) Amazon EKS
17 22 (2.19%) AWS CloudFormation
17 22 (2.19%) Azure Sentinel
Communications & Networking
1 489 (48.75%) DHCP
2 365 (36.39%) Firewall
3 292 (29.11%) TCP/IP
4 282 (28.12%) VPN
5 139 (13.86%) Network Security
6 129 (12.86%) VLAN
7 113 (11.27%) WAN
8 102 (10.17%) SSL
9 88 (8.77%) LAN
10 82 (8.18%) BGP
11 81 (8.08%) Wireless
12 65 (6.48%) HTTP
13 64 (6.38%) BIG-IP
14 63 (6.28%) Wi-Fi
15 61 (6.08%) SAN
16 59 (5.88%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
17 55 (5.48%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
18 44 (4.39%) IPsec
19 43 (4.29%) OSPF
20 41 (4.09%) DMZ
Database & Business Intelligence
1 49 (4.89%) SQL Server
2 22 (2.19%) PostgreSQL
3 14 (1.40%) Amazon RDS
4 13 (1.30%) MySQL
5 12 (1.20%) MongoDB
6 9 (0.90%) Data Lake
7 8 (0.80%) NoSQL
7 8 (0.80%) Power BI
8 7 (0.70%) Azure SQL Database
8 7 (0.70%) Elasticsearch
8 7 (0.70%) Redis
9 5 (0.50%) Big Data
10 4 (0.40%) Db2
11 3 (0.30%) MariaDB
11 3 (0.30%) Metadata
12 2 (0.20%) Amazon Aurora
12 2 (0.20%) BigQuery
12 2 (0.20%) DynamoDB
12 2 (0.20%) Flink
12 2 (0.20%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 84 (8.37%) JIRA
2 57 (5.68%) Jenkins
3 54 (5.38%) Git
4 40 (3.99%) GitLab
5 13 (1.30%) Fiddler
6 11 (1.10%) Bitbucket
7 9 (0.90%) Sonatype Nexus
8 5 (0.50%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 5 (0.50%) Selenium
9 4 (0.40%) Artifactory
9 4 (0.40%) Chocolatey
10 3 (0.30%) Browser DevTools
10 3 (0.30%) MSI
11 2 (0.20%) Spinnaker
11 2 (0.20%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
11 2 (0.20%) Vagrant
12 1 (0.100%) Locust
12 1 (0.100%) Newman
12 1 (0.100%) Robot Framework
12 1 (0.100%) TestCafe
General
1 273 (27.22%) Social Skills
2 116 (11.57%) Analytical Skills
3 86 (8.57%) Finance
4 78 (7.78%) Public Sector
5 56 (5.58%) Banking
5 56 (5.58%) Documentation Skills
6 33 (3.29%) Telecoms
7 25 (2.49%) Investment Banking
8 17 (1.69%) Legal
9 14 (1.40%) Aerospace
10 13 (1.30%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 12 (1.20%) Police
12 11 (1.10%) Local Government
13 10 (1.00%) Military
14 9 (0.90%) Front Office
14 9 (0.90%) Manufacturing
14 9 (0.90%) Organisational Skills
15 8 (0.80%) Law
15 8 (0.80%) Pharmaceutical
16 7 (0.70%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 195 (19.44%) Infrastructure Engineer
2 166 (16.55%) Network Engineer
3 125 (12.46%) Senior
4 103 (10.27%) Support Engineer
5 85 (8.47%) Cloud Engineer
6 71 (7.08%) Architect
7 50 (4.99%) IT Support
8 49 (4.89%) Platform Engineer
9 48 (4.79%) Azure Engineer
10 47 (4.69%) IT Engineer
10 47 (4.69%) Security Engineer
11 46 (4.59%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
12 45 (4.49%) DevOps Engineer
13 44 (4.39%) Analyst
14 36 (3.59%) Senior Network Engineer
15 35 (3.49%) Administrator
16 33 (3.29%) Cisco Engineer
16 33 (3.29%) Network Security Engineer
17 32 (3.19%) IT Support Engineer
18 31 (3.09%) Cisco Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 216 (21.54%) Terraform
2 43 (4.29%) SAML
3 35 (3.49%) 802.1X
4 34 (3.39%) OAuth
5 30 (2.99%) REST
6 28 (2.79%) ARM Templates
6 28 (2.79%) OpenID
7 27 (2.69%) LDAP
8 21 (2.09%) Kafka
9 20 (1.99%) JSON
10 15 (1.50%) YAML
11 12 (1.20%) Elastic Stack
12 11 (1.10%) OAuth2
12 11 (1.10%) OpenTelemetry
13 10 (1.00%) CSS
14 8 (0.80%) React
15 7 (0.70%) .NET
15 7 (0.70%) Jinja
15 7 (0.70%) Software Packaging
16 6 (0.60%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 130 (12.96%) Data Centre
2 111 (11.07%) PKI
3 78 (7.78%) Onboarding
4 73 (7.28%) Hybrid Cloud
5 54 (5.38%) Management Information System
6 41 (4.09%) Cloud Native
7 30 (2.99%) Public Cloud
7 30 (2.99%) Replication
8 26 (2.59%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
9 23 (2.29%) Clustering
10 22 (2.19%) Self-Motivation
11 21 (2.09%) Linux Command Line
12 17 (1.69%) Distributed Systems
13 16 (1.60%) Driving Licence
13 16 (1.60%) Enterprise Software
14 15 (1.50%) Security Posture
15 14 (1.40%) Cyber Threat
16 12 (1.20%) Operational Technology
17 11 (1.10%) Data Protection Act
18 10 (1.00%) CMDB
Operating Systems
1 489 (48.75%) Windows
2 274 (27.32%) Windows Server
3 228 (22.73%) Linux
4 62 (6.18%) Windows 10
5 45 (4.49%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 43 (4.29%) Windows Server 2019
7 36 (3.59%) Mac OS
8 30 (2.99%) Unix
9 26 (2.59%) Windows Server 2012
10 24 (2.39%) Ubuntu
11 22 (2.19%) Apple iOS
12 20 (1.99%) CentOS
13 19 (1.89%) Android
13 19 (1.89%) VMS
14 15 (1.50%) Windows Server 2016
15 12 (1.20%) Windows 7
16 7 (0.70%) Rocky
16 7 (0.70%) Windows Server 2008
17 4 (0.40%) Data ONTAP
17 4 (0.40%) Windows Server 2003
Processes & Methodologies
1 267 (26.62%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 217 (21.64%) Problem-Solving
3 204 (20.34%) Infrastructure as Code
4 200 (19.94%) ITIL
5 172 (17.15%) DevOps
6 167 (16.65%) CI/CD
7 161 (16.05%) Load Balancing
8 157 (15.65%) Migration
9 128 (12.76%) ITSM
10 114 (11.37%) Continuous Improvement
11 107 (10.67%) Agile
11 107 (10.67%) High Availability
12 97 (9.67%) Technical Leadership
13 96 (9.57%) Cybersecurity
14 92 (9.17%) Disaster Recovery
14 92 (9.17%) Observability
15 90 (8.97%) Project Delivery
16 88 (8.77%) Platform Engineering
17 87 (8.67%) Root Cause Analysis
17 87 (8.67%) Runbook
Programming Languages
1 275 (27.42%) PowerShell
2 209 (20.84%) Python
3 138 (13.76%) Bash
4 69 (6.88%) SQL
5 52 (5.18%) Bicep
6 20 (1.99%) Shell Script
7 18 (1.79%) ActionScript
8 16 (1.60%) JavaScript
9 15 (1.50%) Go
10 14 (1.40%) Java
11 10 (1.00%) VBScript
12 8 (0.80%) Perl
13 7 (0.70%) TypeScript
13 7 (0.70%) VBA
14 6 (0.60%) Groovy
14 6 (0.60%) VB
15 4 (0.40%) C#
15 4 (0.40%) C++
15 4 (0.40%) Kusto Query Language
15 4 (0.40%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 388 (38.68%) Security Cleared
2 217 (21.64%) SC Cleared
3 171 (17.05%) DV Cleared
4 83 (8.28%) Degree
5 81 (8.08%) Cisco Certification
6 69 (6.88%) CCNP
7 57 (5.68%) Azure Certification
8 54 (5.38%) Microsoft Certification
9 42 (4.19%) CCNA
10 27 (2.69%) Network+ Certification
11 26 (2.59%) Computer Science Degree
12 24 (2.39%) AWS Certification
13 20 (1.99%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
14 17 (1.69%) BPSS Clearance
15 16 (1.60%) CCIE
15 16 (1.60%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
16 15 (1.50%) VCAP
17 11 (1.10%) A+ Certification
17 11 (1.10%) MCSE
17 11 (1.10%) Server+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 40 (3.99%) SLA
2 19 (1.89%) NIST
3 18 (1.79%) QA
4 17 (1.69%) NCSC
5 13 (1.30%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 7 (0.70%) Cyber Essentials
7 5 (0.50%) NIST 800
8 4 (0.40%) Disclosure Scotland
8 4 (0.40%) GDPR
8 4 (0.40%) HMG Security Policy Framework
9 3 (0.30%) JSP 440
9 3 (0.30%) SOC 2
10 2 (0.20%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 2 (0.20%) Data Quality
10 2 (0.20%) Government Security Classifications
10 2 (0.20%) HIPAA
10 2 (0.20%) PCI DSS
10 2 (0.20%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 452 (45.06%) Active Directory
2 282 (28.12%) VMware Infrastructure
3 126 (12.56%) Hyper-V
4 92 (9.17%) VMware ESXi
5 85 (8.47%) vSphere
6 66 (6.58%) Docker
6 66 (6.58%) VMware NSX
7 50 (4.99%) Virtual Machines
8 41 (4.09%) Virtual Desktop
9 21 (2.09%) Firmware
10 20 (1.99%) NFS
11 16 (1.60%) vCloud
12 12 (1.20%) Virtual Servers
13 11 (1.10%) BitLocker
14 9 (0.90%) Postfix
15 8 (0.80%) UAG
16 6 (0.60%) Microsoft App-V
16 6 (0.60%) Squid
16 6 (0.60%) VMware Workstation
17 5 (0.50%) Dovecot
Systems Management
1 150 (14.96%) Ansible
2 124 (12.36%) Kubernetes
3 113 (11.27%) Microsoft Intune
4 82 (8.18%) SCCM
5 69 (6.88%) vCenter Server
6 62 (6.18%) Grafana
7 57 (5.68%) Single Sign-On
8 53 (5.28%) Prometheus
9 42 (4.19%) SCOM
10 32 (3.19%) WSUS
11 21 (2.09%) FortiGate
12 18 (1.79%) NetBackup
13 17 (1.69%) Puppet
14 16 (1.60%) Jamf Pro
14 16 (1.60%) Packer
14 16 (1.60%) VxRail
15 14 (1.40%) Istio
16 13 (1.30%) Argo
17 12 (1.20%) Active Directory Federation Services
17 12 (1.20%) Progress Chef
Vendors
1 413 (41.18%) Microsoft
2 343 (34.20%) VMware
3 181 (18.05%) Cisco
4 128 (12.76%) F5
5 88 (8.77%) ServiceNow
6 54 (5.38%) Citrix
6 54 (5.38%) Palo Alto
7 52 (5.18%) Google
8 51 (5.08%) SolarWinds
9 50 (4.99%) Infoblox
10 42 (4.19%) Splunk
11 40 (3.99%) Juniper
12 38 (3.79%) NetApp
12 38 (3.79%) Red Hat
13 34 (3.39%) Dynatrace
14 33 (3.29%) CheckPoint
15 31 (3.09%) Fortinet
16 30 (2.99%) Zscaler
17 25 (2.49%) Veeam
18 24 (2.39%) CyberArk