F5 Contract Job Trends

F5
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies requiring knowledge or experience of F5 products and/or services. It includes a benchmarking guide to contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited F5 over the 6 months leading up to 29 July 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

The figures below represent the IT contractor job market in general and are not representative of contractor rates within F5 Networks, Inc.

6 months to
29 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 334 341 263
Rank change year-on-year +7 -78 +115
Contract jobs citing F5 366 212 363
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.70% 0.65% 0.91%
As % of the Vendors category 1.69% 1.37% 2.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 163 126 250
10th Percentile £382 £382 £368
25th Percentile £422 £413 £440
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £478 £513
Median % change year-on-year +4.71% -6.83% -2.38%
75th Percentile £585 £582 £584
90th Percentile £675 £638 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £520 £490 £544
% change year-on-year +6.13% -9.98% +8.75%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2 0 3
10th Percentile £44.28 - -
25th Percentile £48.68 - -
Median hourly rate £57.02 - £23.80
75th Percentile £65.01 - -
90th Percentile £69.20 - -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £57.02 - -

All Vendors
UK

F5 falls under the Vendor Products and Services category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring knowledge or experience of all vendor products and services.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for knowledge or experience of vendor products and services 21,715 15,498 17,304
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.32% 47.23% 43.44%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,497 9,498 10,855
10th Percentile £313 £280 £280
25th Percentile £413 £400 £412
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £505 £500 £520
Median % change year-on-year +1.00% -3.85% -0.95%
75th Percentile £601 £613 £625
90th Percentile £700 £706 £732
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £476 £500
% change year-on-year +4.99% -4.75% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,093 774 891
10th Percentile £15.85 £14.66 £13.50
25th Percentile £19.33 £17.02 £15.62
Median hourly rate £35.00 £25.15 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +39.17% -8.55% -34.21%
75th Percentile £65.25 £50.00 £61.30
90th Percentile £85.00 £68.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.99 £22.32 £25.30
% change year-on-year +52.32% -11.80% -27.19%

F5
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing F5 relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

F5 job vacancy trend in the UK

F5
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing F5.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing F5

F5
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing F5 over the 6 months to 29 July 2026.

Daily rate histogram for F5 in the UK

F5
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing F5.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing F5

F5
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing F5 over the 6 months to 29 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for F5 in the UK

F5
Top 14 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing F5 within the UK over the 6 months to 29 July 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 -3 321 £513 +5.13% 37
UK excluding London +17 256 £520 +6.13% 22
North of England +13 124 £534 +12.34% 8
Work from Home -21 92 £550 +22.22% 13
North West +17 85 £575 +21.05% 6
West Midlands +2 77 £573 +6.70% 4
Midlands 0 77 £573 +6.41% 4
London -67 71 £500 +11.73% 21
South East -27 66 £520 -0.95% 6
Yorkshire -30 32 £478 +6.11% 2
Scotland -8 21 £419 -8.47% 2
South West -47 17 £495 -9.09% 3
North East - 13 £650 -
East of England -17 5 £530 +1.92%

F5
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 7 (1.91%) SharePoint
2 5 (1.37%) OpenStack
3 4 (1.09%) nginx
4 3 (0.82%) Apache
4 3 (0.82%) Confluence
4 3 (0.82%) IIS
4 3 (0.82%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (0.82%) Tomcat
5 1 (0.27%) CMS
Applications
1 9 (2.46%) Microsoft Excel
1 9 (2.46%) Microsoft PowerPoint
1 9 (2.46%) MS Visio
2 6 (1.64%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 61 (16.67%) Azure
2 52 (14.21%) AWS
3 23 (6.28%) OCI
4 20 (5.46%) GitHub
5 15 (4.10%) SaaS
6 10 (2.73%) IaaS
7 9 (2.46%) GCP
8 8 (2.19%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 7 (1.91%) OpenShift
9 7 (1.91%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 6 (1.64%) Cloudflare
11 5 (1.37%) Microsoft 365
12 4 (1.09%) Entra ID
13 3 (0.82%) Mimecast
13 3 (0.82%) OneDrive
14 2 (0.55%) Nutanix
15 1 (0.27%) Amazon GuardDuty
15 1 (0.27%) AWS Direct Connect
15 1 (0.27%) GitHub Actions
15 1 (0.27%) Google Ads
Communications & Networking
1 197 (53.83%) Firewall
2 166 (45.36%) BGP
3 149 (40.71%) DNS
4 136 (37.16%) BIG-IP
5 119 (32.51%) WAN
6 117 (31.97%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
7 116 (31.69%) OSPF
8 109 (29.78%) VPN
9 87 (23.77%) LAN
10 81 (22.13%) VXLAN
11 79 (21.58%) Network Security
12 65 (17.76%) TCP/IP
13 60 (16.39%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
13 60 (16.39%) Multicast
14 58 (15.85%) Ethernet VPN
15 53 (14.48%) Cisco Nexus
16 51 (13.93%) DHCP
17 48 (13.11%) SD-WAN
17 48 (13.11%) SSL
18 46 (12.57%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (1.09%) SQL Server
2 3 (0.82%) MySQL
3 1 (0.27%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 30 (8.20%) JIRA
2 20 (5.46%) GitLab
3 19 (5.19%) Fiddler
4 13 (3.55%) Jenkins
5 7 (1.91%) Sonatype Nexus
6 5 (1.37%) Git
7 1 (0.27%) MSI
7 1 (0.27%) Robot Framework
7 1 (0.27%) Visual Studio
General
1 49 (13.39%) Banking
2 48 (13.11%) Social Skills
3 44 (12.02%) Finance
4 34 (9.29%) Investment Banking
5 25 (6.83%) Public Sector
6 23 (6.28%) Analytical Skills
7 19 (5.19%) Telecoms
8 10 (2.73%) Financial Institution
9 7 (1.91%) Retail
10 6 (1.64%) Military
11 4 (1.09%) Documentation Skills
11 4 (1.09%) Legal
12 3 (0.82%) Influencing Skills
13 2 (0.55%) Organisational Skills
14 1 (0.27%) Law
14 1 (0.27%) Police
14 1 (0.27%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 188 (51.37%) Network Engineer
2 64 (17.49%) Senior
3 60 (16.39%) Security Engineer
4 54 (14.75%) Network Security Engineer
5 42 (11.48%) Cisco Engineer
6 40 (10.93%) Cisco Network Engineer
7 37 (10.11%) Data Network Engineer
7 37 (10.11%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 35 (9.56%) Architect
9 34 (9.29%) Web Engineer
10 33 (9.02%) Data Engineer
11 31 (8.47%) Cisco Security Engineer
12 29 (7.92%) Senior Network Engineer
13 21 (5.74%) IP Network Engineer
14 19 (5.19%) Network Architect
14 19 (5.19%) Network Specialist
14 19 (5.19%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
15 16 (4.37%) Blue Coat Engineer
16 14 (3.83%) Firewall Specialist
17 13 (3.55%) Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 38 (10.38%) 802.1X
2 11 (3.01%) JSON
3 7 (1.91%) SAML
3 7 (1.91%) YAML
4 6 (1.64%) NETCONF
4 6 (1.64%) OpenConfig
4 6 (1.64%) RESTCONF
4 6 (1.64%) YANG
5 5 (1.37%) REST
6 4 (1.09%) LDAP
7 3 (0.82%) LAMP
7 3 (0.82%) LEMP Stack
8 2 (0.55%) eBPF
9 1 (0.27%) .NET
9 1 (0.27%) .NET Framework
9 1 (0.27%) Bun
9 1 (0.27%) Elastic Stack
9 1 (0.27%) React
Miscellaneous
1 122 (33.33%) Data Centre
2 42 (11.48%) Hybrid Cloud
3 26 (7.10%) PKI
4 25 (6.83%) Clustering
5 21 (5.74%) Cloud Native
6 20 (5.46%) Management Information System
7 15 (4.10%) Public Cloud
8 13 (3.55%) Onboarding
9 12 (3.28%) Data Protection Act
10 9 (2.46%) Private Cloud
11 6 (1.64%) Analytical Mindset
11 6 (1.64%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
12 4 (1.09%) Digital Signage
13 3 (0.82%) Algorithms
13 3 (0.82%) Distributed Applications
13 3 (0.82%) Legacy Systems
13 3 (0.82%) Linux Command Line
13 3 (0.82%) Self-Motivation
13 3 (0.82%) Virtual Team
14 2 (0.55%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 58 (15.85%) Windows
2 39 (10.66%) Linux
3 10 (2.73%) Unix
4 5 (1.37%) Windows Server
5 4 (1.09%) Windows Server 2012
5 4 (1.09%) Windows Server 2019
6 3 (0.82%) CentOS
6 3 (0.82%) Ubuntu
7 1 (0.27%) CatOS
7 1 (0.27%) Check Point GAiA
7 1 (0.27%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 174 (47.54%) Load Balancing
2 75 (20.49%) High Availability
3 53 (14.48%) Infrastructure Engineering
4 46 (12.57%) Migration
4 46 (12.57%) Project Delivery
5 45 (12.30%) CI/CD
6 44 (12.02%) Zero Trust
7 41 (11.20%) Network Design
7 41 (11.20%) Problem-Solving
8 35 (9.56%) Agile
9 33 (9.02%) Observability
10 30 (8.20%) Change Management
10 30 (8.20%) Stakeholder Management
11 29 (7.92%) Infrastructure as Code
11 29 (7.92%) ITIL
12 26 (7.10%) Identity Access Management
12 26 (7.10%) Network Architecture
13 25 (6.83%) Network Management
13 25 (6.83%) Roadmaps
14 22 (6.01%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 93 (25.41%) Python
2 13 (3.55%) ActionScript
3 11 (3.01%) SQL
4 10 (2.73%) JavaScript
5 9 (2.46%) Bash
5 9 (2.46%) VBA
6 8 (2.19%) PowerShell
7 3 (0.82%) C++
7 3 (0.82%) Lisp
7 3 (0.82%) Shell Script
8 2 (0.55%) Perl
9 1 (0.27%) Kusto Query Language
9 1 (0.27%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 97 (26.50%) Security Cleared
2 71 (19.40%) Cisco Certification
3 55 (15.03%) SC Cleared
4 37 (10.11%) CCNP
5 28 (7.65%) DV Cleared
6 19 (5.19%) CCIE
7 14 (3.83%) Degree
8 7 (1.91%) CCNA
8 7 (1.91%) JNCIA
8 7 (1.91%) JNCIP
8 7 (1.91%) JNCIS
9 6 (1.64%) JNCIE
10 4 (1.09%) CCIE Security
10 4 (1.09%) Computer Science Degree
11 3 (0.82%) CISSP
11 3 (0.82%) GIAC
11 3 (0.82%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 2 (0.55%) AWS Certification
12 2 (0.55%) BPSS Clearance
12 2 (0.55%) CEH
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 9 (2.46%) QA
2 6 (1.64%) Disclosure Scotland
3 5 (1.37%) NCSC
4 3 (0.82%) SLA
5 2 (0.55%) GDPR
5 2 (0.55%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 2 (0.55%) JSP 440
5 2 (0.55%) NIST
6 1 (0.27%) GRC
System Software
1 40 (10.93%) VMware Infrastructure
2 20 (5.46%) VMware NSX
3 18 (4.92%) Firmware
4 13 (3.55%) Active Directory
5 5 (1.37%) Virtual Servers
6 4 (1.09%) Docker
6 4 (1.09%) vSphere
7 3 (0.82%) Dovecot
7 3 (0.82%) Postfix
8 1 (0.27%) IAG
8 1 (0.27%) KVM
8 1 (0.27%) ProxySG
8 1 (0.27%) Virtual Desktop
8 1 (0.27%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 84 (22.95%) Ansible
2 50 (13.66%) FortiGate
3 43 (11.75%) Terraform
4 9 (2.46%) Grafana
5 8 (2.19%) Prometheus
5 8 (2.19%) WMI
6 7 (1.91%) Cisco Prime
7 6 (1.64%) Kubernetes
8 5 (1.37%) Microsoft Intune
8 5 (1.37%) Single Sign-On
9 4 (1.09%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 3 (0.82%) HAProxy
10 3 (0.82%) Salt
11 2 (0.55%) Avamar
11 2 (0.55%) Puppet
11 2 (0.55%) SCCM
11 2 (0.55%) vCenter Server
12 1 (0.27%) NetBackup
12 1 (0.27%) Progress Chef
12 1 (0.27%) vRealize
Vendors
1 230 (62.84%) Cisco
2 137 (37.43%) Palo Alto
3 73 (19.95%) Fortinet
3 73 (19.95%) Juniper
4 54 (14.75%) VMware
5 50 (13.66%) Arista
5 50 (13.66%) CheckPoint
6 47 (12.84%) SolarWinds
7 40 (10.93%) Splunk
8 34 (9.29%) Aruba
9 29 (7.92%) Microsoft
10 27 (7.38%) Blue Coat
11 26 (7.10%) Infoblox
12 22 (6.01%) Extreme Networks
13 21 (5.74%) ServiceNow
14 19 (5.19%) McAfee
15 16 (4.37%) NetApp
16 14 (3.83%) Zscaler
17 8 (2.19%) Citrix
17 8 (2.19%) Meraki