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 5 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
5 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 326 354 262
Rank change year-on-year +28 -92 +110
Contract jobs citing F5 372 204 380
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.72% 0.64% 0.88%
As % of the Vendors category 1.75% 1.35% 2.04%
Number of daily rates quoted 162 118 262
10th Percentile £380 £386 £378
25th Percentile £413 £420 £432
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £498 £484 £500
Median % change year-on-year +2.84% -3.25% -3.38%
75th Percentile £586 £575 £581
90th Percentile £675 £627 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £520 £500 £506
% change year-on-year +4.00% -1.23% +1.25%
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 21,226 15,102 18,636
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.02% 47.57% 42.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,218 9,258 11,588
10th Percentile £313 £281 £270
25th Percentile £413 £402 £408
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £503 £500 £513
Median % change year-on-year +0.50% -2.44% -2.38%
75th Percentile £600 £613 £625
90th Percentile £700 £713 £734
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £480 £500
% change year-on-year +4.17% -4.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,093 713 1,154
10th Percentile £15.76 £14.84 £12.43
25th Percentile £19.22 £17.30 £15.00
Median hourly rate £33.99 £25.15 £24.93
Median % change year-on-year +35.15% +0.89% -38.52%
75th Percentile £63.00 £53.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £81.02 £68.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £32.50 £22.63 £24.18
% change year-on-year +43.61% -6.41% -25.14%

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 5 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 5 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 5 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 +2 324 £505 +3.17% 41
UK excluding London +14 263 £520 +4.00% 22
North of England +26 129 £542 +12.35% 7
North West +30 93 £575 +21.05% 4
Work from Home -7 93 £550 +20.55% 26
Midlands +5 82 £565 +4.63% 3
West Midlands +4 82 £565 +4.92% 3
South East -12 67 £525 -4.55% 6
London -85 66 £475 +2.70% 26
Yorkshire -37 29 £478 -2.45% 1
Scotland -3 21 £419 -6.94% 2
South West -33 17 £495 -9.09% 2
North East -24 13 £650 +18.18% 2
East of England -31 4 £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 11 (2.96%) SharePoint
2 6 (1.61%) Confluence
3 4 (1.08%) nginx
4 3 (0.81%) Apache
4 3 (0.81%) IIS
4 3 (0.81%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (0.81%) Tomcat
5 2 (0.54%) OpenStack
6 1 (0.27%) CMS
Applications
1 15 (4.03%) MS Visio
2 10 (2.69%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 8 (2.15%) Microsoft Excel
4 4 (1.08%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 57 (15.32%) Azure
2 53 (14.25%) AWS
3 22 (5.91%) OCI
4 15 (4.03%) GitHub
4 15 (4.03%) SaaS
5 10 (2.69%) IaaS
6 7 (1.88%) GCP
6 7 (1.88%) Microsoft 365
6 7 (1.88%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 5 (1.34%) Entra ID
8 4 (1.08%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 4 (1.08%) Mimecast
8 4 (1.08%) OpenShift
9 3 (0.81%) Amazon S3
9 3 (0.81%) Cloudflare
9 3 (0.81%) Nutanix
9 3 (0.81%) OneDrive
10 2 (0.54%) Amazon OpenSearch
11 1 (0.27%) Amazon GuardDuty
11 1 (0.27%) Google Ads
Communications & Networking
1 196 (52.69%) Firewall
2 160 (43.01%) BGP
3 158 (42.47%) DNS
4 148 (39.78%) BIG-IP
5 122 (32.80%) WAN
6 119 (31.99%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
7 113 (30.38%) OSPF
8 103 (27.69%) VPN
9 95 (25.54%) LAN
10 80 (21.51%) Network Security
11 78 (20.97%) VXLAN
12 70 (18.82%) TCP/IP
13 65 (17.47%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
14 62 (16.67%) Multicast
15 57 (15.32%) Ethernet VPN
16 53 (14.25%) Cisco Nexus
17 52 (13.98%) SD-WAN
18 50 (13.44%) DHCP
19 49 (13.17%) SSL
20 43 (11.56%) DMZ
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (1.08%) SQL Server
2 3 (0.81%) MySQL
3 2 (0.54%) Elasticsearch
4 1 (0.27%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 34 (9.14%) JIRA
2 22 (5.91%) Fiddler
2 22 (5.91%) GitLab
3 12 (3.23%) Jenkins
4 5 (1.34%) Sonatype Nexus
5 4 (1.08%) Git
6 1 (0.27%) MSI
6 1 (0.27%) Visual Studio
General
1 49 (13.17%) Banking
2 48 (12.90%) Social Skills
3 46 (12.37%) Finance
4 36 (9.68%) Investment Banking
5 27 (7.26%) Public Sector
6 18 (4.84%) Analytical Skills
7 15 (4.03%) Telecoms
8 12 (3.23%) Financial Institution
9 6 (1.61%) Military
10 4 (1.08%) Documentation Skills
10 4 (1.08%) Legal
10 4 (1.08%) Retail
11 3 (0.81%) Influencing Skills
11 3 (0.81%) Organisational Skills
12 1 (0.27%) Billing
12 1 (0.27%) Law
12 1 (0.27%) Police
12 1 (0.27%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 183 (49.19%) Network Engineer
2 66 (17.74%) Senior
3 57 (15.32%) Security Engineer
4 53 (14.25%) Network Security Engineer
5 43 (11.56%) Cisco Engineer
6 41 (11.02%) Cisco Network Engineer
7 40 (10.75%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 39 (10.48%) Architect
8 39 (10.48%) Data Network Engineer
8 39 (10.48%) Web Engineer
9 36 (9.68%) Data Engineer
10 34 (9.14%) Cisco Security Engineer
11 28 (7.53%) Senior Network Engineer
12 22 (5.91%) IP Network Engineer
13 20 (5.38%) Network Architect
14 19 (5.11%) Network Specialist
14 19 (5.11%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
15 17 (4.57%) Blue Coat Engineer
16 14 (3.76%) Firewall Specialist
17 10 (2.69%) Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 35 (9.41%) 802.1X
2 10 (2.69%) JSON
3 7 (1.88%) LDAP
3 7 (1.88%) SAML
4 6 (1.61%) YAML
5 4 (1.08%) NETCONF
5 4 (1.08%) OpenConfig
5 4 (1.08%) REST
5 4 (1.08%) RESTCONF
5 4 (1.08%) YANG
6 3 (0.81%) LAMP
6 3 (0.81%) LEMP Stack
7 1 (0.27%) .NET
7 1 (0.27%) .NET Framework
7 1 (0.27%) Bun
7 1 (0.27%) Elastic Stack
7 1 (0.27%) React
Miscellaneous
1 116 (31.18%) Data Centre
2 35 (9.41%) Hybrid Cloud
3 28 (7.53%) PKI
4 25 (6.72%) Clustering
5 20 (5.38%) Management Information System
6 19 (5.11%) Cloud Native
7 17 (4.57%) Public Cloud
8 13 (3.49%) Onboarding
9 12 (3.23%) Data Protection Act
10 10 (2.69%) Private Cloud
11 6 (1.61%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
12 4 (1.08%) Algorithms
12 4 (1.08%) Analytical Mindset
13 3 (0.81%) iSeries
13 3 (0.81%) Legacy Systems
13 3 (0.81%) Self-Motivation
13 3 (0.81%) Virtual Team
14 2 (0.54%) Cyber Threat
14 2 (0.54%) Digital Signage
14 2 (0.54%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 59 (15.86%) Windows
2 38 (10.22%) Linux
3 9 (2.42%) Unix
4 6 (1.61%) Windows Server
4 6 (1.61%) Windows Server 2012
4 6 (1.61%) Windows Server 2019
5 3 (0.81%) CatOS
5 3 (0.81%) CentOS
5 3 (0.81%) Ubuntu
6 2 (0.54%) Windows Server 2016
7 1 (0.27%) Check Point GAiA
Processes & Methodologies
1 174 (46.77%) Load Balancing
2 76 (20.43%) High Availability
3 51 (13.71%) Infrastructure Engineering
4 50 (13.44%) Migration
5 43 (11.56%) Problem-Solving
6 41 (11.02%) CI/CD
7 40 (10.75%) Project Delivery
8 38 (10.22%) Zero Trust
9 37 (9.95%) Agile
9 37 (9.95%) Network Design
10 33 (8.87%) Observability
11 31 (8.33%) Change Management
12 30 (8.06%) ITIL
13 29 (7.80%) Stakeholder Management
14 28 (7.53%) Roadmaps
15 27 (7.26%) Infrastructure as Code
16 26 (6.99%) Identity Access Management
16 26 (6.99%) Network Architecture
17 25 (6.72%) Network Management
18 24 (6.45%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 90 (24.19%) Python
2 14 (3.76%) ActionScript
3 11 (2.96%) Bash
3 11 (2.96%) SQL
4 10 (2.69%) JavaScript
5 9 (2.42%) VBA
6 8 (2.15%) PowerShell
7 3 (0.81%) C++
7 3 (0.81%) Lisp
8 1 (0.27%) Kusto Query Language
8 1 (0.27%) Perl
8 1 (0.27%) Shell Script
8 1 (0.27%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 95 (25.54%) Security Cleared
2 73 (19.62%) Cisco Certification
3 53 (14.25%) SC Cleared
4 40 (10.75%) CCNP
5 28 (7.53%) DV Cleared
6 18 (4.84%) CCIE
7 16 (4.30%) Degree
8 9 (2.42%) JNCIP
9 8 (2.15%) CCNA
9 8 (2.15%) JNCIS
10 7 (1.88%) JNCIA
11 6 (1.61%) JNCIE
12 4 (1.08%) CCIE Security
12 4 (1.08%) Computer Science Degree
13 3 (0.81%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
14 2 (0.54%) AWS Certification
14 2 (0.54%) BPSS Clearance
14 2 (0.54%) CCDP
14 2 (0.54%) CCSE
15 1 (0.27%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 9 (2.42%) QA
2 6 (1.61%) Disclosure Scotland
2 6 (1.61%) NCSC
3 3 (0.81%) JSP 440
3 3 (0.81%) SLA
4 2 (0.54%) GDPR
4 2 (0.54%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 2 (0.54%) NIST
5 1 (0.27%) GRC
5 1 (0.27%) RMADS
System Software
1 42 (11.29%) VMware Infrastructure
2 25 (6.72%) VMware NSX
3 19 (5.11%) Firmware
4 18 (4.84%) Active Directory
5 4 (1.08%) Virtual Servers
5 4 (1.08%) vSphere
6 3 (0.81%) Docker
6 3 (0.81%) Dovecot
6 3 (0.81%) Postfix
7 2 (0.54%) Virtual Desktop
7 2 (0.54%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.27%) IAG
8 1 (0.27%) KVM
8 1 (0.27%) ProxySG
Systems Management
1 81 (21.77%) Ansible
2 53 (14.25%) FortiGate
3 39 (10.48%) Terraform
4 11 (2.96%) Prometheus
5 10 (2.69%) Grafana
6 9 (2.42%) Single Sign-On
7 8 (2.15%) WMI
8 7 (1.88%) Microsoft Intune
9 5 (1.34%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 4 (1.08%) Salt
10 4 (1.08%) SCCM
11 3 (0.81%) Cisco Prime
11 3 (0.81%) HAProxy
11 3 (0.81%) Kubernetes
12 2 (0.54%) Avamar
12 2 (0.54%) Red Hat Satellite
13 1 (0.27%) Argo
13 1 (0.27%) Nagios
13 1 (0.27%) NetBackup
13 1 (0.27%) Puppet
Vendors
1 223 (59.95%) Cisco
2 130 (34.95%) Palo Alto
3 69 (18.55%) Juniper
4 63 (16.94%) Fortinet
5 60 (16.13%) VMware
6 52 (13.98%) CheckPoint
7 47 (12.63%) SolarWinds
8 46 (12.37%) Arista
9 40 (10.75%) Splunk
10 33 (8.87%) Aruba
11 28 (7.53%) Microsoft
12 27 (7.26%) Blue Coat
13 26 (6.99%) ServiceNow
14 25 (6.72%) Infoblox
15 23 (6.18%) Extreme Networks
16 22 (5.91%) McAfee
17 17 (4.57%) NetApp
18 11 (2.96%) Zscaler
19 8 (2.15%) Meraki
20 7 (1.88%) Citrix