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 11 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
11 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 327 350 272
Rank change year-on-year +23 -78 +109
Contract jobs citing F5 382 206 375
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.72% 0.63% 0.87%
As % of the Vendors category 1.75% 1.34% 2.02%
Number of daily rates quoted 166 120 260
10th Percentile £378 £387 £378
25th Percentile £413 £417 £433
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £498 £478 £500
Median % change year-on-year +4.19% -4.50% -4.76%
75th Percentile £586 £575 £584
90th Percentile £675 £626 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £520 £490 £514
% change year-on-year +6.23% -4.72% +2.75%
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 21,810 15,429 18,581
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.24% 47.54% 43.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,572 9,456 11,571
10th Percentile £313 £281 £270
25th Percentile £413 £402 £407
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £501 £500 £513
Median % change year-on-year +0.10% -2.44% -2.38%
75th Percentile £600 £613 £625
90th Percentile £700 £713 £728
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £480 £500
% change year-on-year +4.17% -4.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,110 733 1,125
10th Percentile £15.81 £14.75 £12.50
25th Percentile £19.25 £17.30 £15.00
Median hourly rate £34.30 £25.15 £25.00
Median % change year-on-year +36.39% +0.60% -38.34%
75th Percentile £63.75 £52.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £82.38 £68.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £32.50 £22.63 £24.18
% change year-on-year +43.61% -6.41% -20.72%

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 11 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 11 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 11 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 +13 332 £505 +3.59% 40
UK excluding London +22 269 £520 +6.23% 17
North of England +24 133 £542 +14.06% 4
North West +28 94 £575 +21.05% 2
Work from Home -11 94 £550 +22.22% 16
Midlands +7 82 £565 +5.21% 3
West Midlands +3 82 £565 +14.49% 3
South East -18 68 £523 -5.00% 6
London -60 67 £488 +5.41% 29
Yorkshire -34 32 £478 +6.11%
Scotland +3 21 £419 -6.94% 2
South West -44 17 £495 -9.09% 1
North East -20 13 £650 +18.18% 2
East of England -25 5 £530 +1.92% 1

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 10 (2.62%) SharePoint
2 5 (1.31%) Confluence
3 4 (1.05%) nginx
3 4 (1.05%) OpenStack
4 3 (0.79%) Apache
4 3 (0.79%) IIS
4 3 (0.79%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (0.79%) Tomcat
5 1 (0.26%) CMS
Applications
1 15 (3.93%) MS Visio
2 11 (2.88%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 10 (2.62%) Microsoft Excel
4 6 (1.57%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 58 (15.18%) Azure
2 53 (13.87%) AWS
3 22 (5.76%) OCI
4 16 (4.19%) GitHub
5 15 (3.93%) SaaS
6 10 (2.62%) IaaS
7 7 (1.83%) GCP
7 7 (1.83%) Microsoft 365
7 7 (1.83%) Virtual Private Cloud
8 6 (1.57%) Cloudflare
8 6 (1.57%) OpenShift
9 5 (1.31%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 5 (1.31%) Entra ID
10 4 (1.05%) Mimecast
11 3 (0.79%) Amazon S3
11 3 (0.79%) Nutanix
11 3 (0.79%) OneDrive
12 2 (0.52%) Amazon OpenSearch
13 1 (0.26%) Amazon GuardDuty
13 1 (0.26%) Google Ads
Communications & Networking
1 202 (52.88%) Firewall
2 165 (43.19%) BGP
3 159 (41.62%) DNS
4 149 (39.01%) BIG-IP
5 123 (32.20%) WAN
6 121 (31.68%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
7 116 (30.37%) OSPF
8 105 (27.49%) VPN
9 96 (25.13%) LAN
10 84 (21.99%) Network Security
11 79 (20.68%) VXLAN
12 71 (18.59%) TCP/IP
13 66 (17.28%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
14 62 (16.23%) Multicast
15 58 (15.18%) Ethernet VPN
16 54 (14.14%) Cisco Nexus
17 51 (13.35%) SD-WAN
18 50 (13.09%) DHCP
18 50 (13.09%) SSL
19 44 (11.52%) DMZ
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (1.05%) SQL Server
2 3 (0.79%) MySQL
3 2 (0.52%) Elasticsearch
4 1 (0.26%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 34 (8.90%) JIRA
2 22 (5.76%) Fiddler
2 22 (5.76%) GitLab
3 12 (3.14%) Jenkins
4 6 (1.57%) Sonatype Nexus
5 4 (1.05%) Git
6 1 (0.26%) MSI
6 1 (0.26%) Visual Studio
General
1 51 (13.35%) Social Skills
2 49 (12.83%) Banking
3 46 (12.04%) Finance
4 36 (9.42%) Investment Banking
5 27 (7.07%) Public Sector
6 23 (6.02%) Analytical Skills
7 17 (4.45%) Telecoms
8 12 (3.14%) Financial Institution
9 6 (1.57%) Military
10 5 (1.31%) Documentation Skills
11 4 (1.05%) Legal
11 4 (1.05%) Retail
12 3 (0.79%) Influencing Skills
12 3 (0.79%) Organisational Skills
13 1 (0.26%) Billing
13 1 (0.26%) Law
13 1 (0.26%) Police
13 1 (0.26%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 190 (49.74%) Network Engineer
2 66 (17.28%) Senior
3 61 (15.97%) Security Engineer
4 56 (14.66%) Network Security Engineer
5 43 (11.26%) Cisco Engineer
6 41 (10.73%) Cisco Network Engineer
7 40 (10.47%) Architect
7 40 (10.47%) Data Network Engineer
7 40 (10.47%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 39 (10.21%) Web Engineer
9 36 (9.42%) Data Engineer
10 34 (8.90%) Cisco Security Engineer
11 29 (7.59%) Senior Network Engineer
12 22 (5.76%) IP Network Engineer
13 21 (5.50%) Network Architect
14 19 (4.97%) Network Specialist
14 19 (4.97%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
15 17 (4.45%) Blue Coat Engineer
16 14 (3.66%) Firewall Specialist
17 13 (3.40%) Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 35 (9.16%) 802.1X
2 10 (2.62%) JSON
2 10 (2.62%) SAML
3 7 (1.83%) LDAP
4 6 (1.57%) NETCONF
4 6 (1.57%) OpenConfig
4 6 (1.57%) RESTCONF
4 6 (1.57%) YAML
4 6 (1.57%) YANG
5 4 (1.05%) REST
6 3 (0.79%) LAMP
6 3 (0.79%) LEMP Stack
7 1 (0.26%) .NET
7 1 (0.26%) .NET Framework
7 1 (0.26%) Bun
7 1 (0.26%) Elastic Stack
7 1 (0.26%) React
Miscellaneous
1 122 (31.94%) Data Centre
2 39 (10.21%) Hybrid Cloud
3 28 (7.33%) PKI
4 25 (6.54%) Clustering
5 20 (5.24%) Management Information System
6 19 (4.97%) Cloud Native
6 19 (4.97%) Public Cloud
7 13 (3.40%) Data Protection Act
7 13 (3.40%) Onboarding
8 12 (3.14%) Private Cloud
9 6 (1.57%) Analytical Mindset
9 6 (1.57%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
10 4 (1.05%) Algorithms
11 3 (0.79%) iSeries
11 3 (0.79%) Legacy Systems
11 3 (0.79%) Self-Motivation
11 3 (0.79%) Virtual Team
12 2 (0.52%) Cyber Threat
12 2 (0.52%) Digital Signage
12 2 (0.52%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 58 (15.18%) Windows
2 38 (9.95%) Linux
3 9 (2.36%) Unix
4 6 (1.57%) Windows Server
4 6 (1.57%) Windows Server 2012
4 6 (1.57%) Windows Server 2019
5 3 (0.79%) CatOS
5 3 (0.79%) CentOS
5 3 (0.79%) Ubuntu
6 2 (0.52%) Windows Server 2016
7 1 (0.26%) Check Point GAiA
Processes & Methodologies
1 176 (46.07%) Load Balancing
2 77 (20.16%) High Availability
3 52 (13.61%) Infrastructure Engineering
4 51 (13.35%) Migration
5 46 (12.04%) Problem-Solving
6 43 (11.26%) Project Delivery
7 41 (10.73%) CI/CD
8 40 (10.47%) Zero Trust
9 39 (10.21%) Network Design
10 37 (9.69%) Agile
11 33 (8.64%) Change Management
11 33 (8.64%) Observability
12 31 (8.12%) Stakeholder Management
13 30 (7.85%) ITIL
14 28 (7.33%) Infrastructure as Code
14 28 (7.33%) Roadmaps
15 27 (7.07%) Network Architecture
16 26 (6.81%) Identity Access Management
17 25 (6.54%) Network Management
18 24 (6.28%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 93 (24.35%) Python
2 14 (3.66%) ActionScript
3 11 (2.88%) Bash
3 11 (2.88%) SQL
4 10 (2.62%) JavaScript
5 9 (2.36%) VBA
6 8 (2.09%) PowerShell
7 3 (0.79%) C++
7 3 (0.79%) Lisp
8 1 (0.26%) Kusto Query Language
8 1 (0.26%) Perl
8 1 (0.26%) Shell Script
8 1 (0.26%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 97 (25.39%) Security Cleared
2 74 (19.37%) Cisco Certification
3 55 (14.40%) SC Cleared
4 39 (10.21%) CCNP
5 28 (7.33%) DV Cleared
6 20 (5.24%) CCIE
7 16 (4.19%) Degree
8 8 (2.09%) JNCIP
9 7 (1.83%) CCNA
9 7 (1.83%) JNCIA
9 7 (1.83%) JNCIE
9 7 (1.83%) JNCIS
10 5 (1.31%) CCIE Security
11 4 (1.05%) Computer Science Degree
12 3 (0.79%) CISSP
12 3 (0.79%) GIAC
12 3 (0.79%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
13 2 (0.52%) CCDP
13 2 (0.52%) CCSE
13 2 (0.52%) CEH
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 9 (2.36%) QA
2 6 (1.57%) Disclosure Scotland
2 6 (1.57%) NCSC
3 3 (0.79%) JSP 440
3 3 (0.79%) SLA
4 2 (0.52%) GDPR
4 2 (0.52%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 2 (0.52%) NIST
5 1 (0.26%) GRC
5 1 (0.26%) RMADS
System Software
1 43 (11.26%) VMware Infrastructure
2 26 (6.81%) VMware NSX
3 19 (4.97%) Firmware
4 18 (4.71%) Active Directory
5 5 (1.31%) Virtual Servers
6 4 (1.05%) vSphere
7 3 (0.79%) Docker
7 3 (0.79%) Dovecot
7 3 (0.79%) Postfix
8 2 (0.52%) Virtual Desktop
8 2 (0.52%) VMware ESXi
9 1 (0.26%) IAG
9 1 (0.26%) KVM
9 1 (0.26%) ProxySG
Systems Management
1 85 (22.25%) Ansible
2 53 (13.87%) FortiGate
3 40 (10.47%) Terraform
4 11 (2.88%) Prometheus
5 10 (2.62%) Grafana
6 9 (2.36%) Single Sign-On
7 8 (2.09%) WMI
8 7 (1.83%) Microsoft Intune
9 5 (1.31%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 4 (1.05%) Salt
10 4 (1.05%) SCCM
11 3 (0.79%) Cisco Prime
11 3 (0.79%) HAProxy
11 3 (0.79%) Kubernetes
12 2 (0.52%) Avamar
12 2 (0.52%) Red Hat Satellite
13 1 (0.26%) Argo
13 1 (0.26%) NetBackup
13 1 (0.26%) Puppet
13 1 (0.26%) vRealize
Vendors
1 232 (60.73%) Cisco
2 136 (35.60%) Palo Alto
3 71 (18.59%) Juniper
4 67 (17.54%) Fortinet
5 61 (15.97%) VMware
6 55 (14.40%) CheckPoint
7 46 (12.04%) Arista
7 46 (12.04%) SolarWinds
8 41 (10.73%) Splunk
9 33 (8.64%) Aruba
10 31 (8.12%) Microsoft
11 27 (7.07%) Blue Coat
12 25 (6.54%) Infoblox
12 25 (6.54%) ServiceNow
13 23 (6.02%) Extreme Networks
14 22 (5.76%) McAfee
15 17 (4.45%) NetApp
16 11 (2.88%) Zscaler
17 9 (2.36%) Meraki
18 8 (2.09%) Citrix