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 19 September 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
19 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 389 316 240
Rank change year-on-year -73 -76 +129
Contract jobs citing F5 321 251 384
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.59% 0.76% 1.00%
As % of the Vendors category 1.40% 1.61% 2.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 160 138 256
10th Percentile £380 £380 £388
25th Percentile £418 £420 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £522 £490 £525
Median % change year-on-year +6.64% -6.76% -
75th Percentile £625 £613 £588
90th Percentile £688 £704 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £530 £490 £550
% change year-on-year +8.27% -11.00% +12.24%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2 1 4
10th Percentile - - £22.02
25th Percentile £61.00 £65.75 £23.16
Median hourly rate £62.00 £66.50 £23.80
Median % change year-on-year -6.77% +179.41% -67.17%
75th Percentile £63.00 £67.25 -
90th Percentile - - -
UK excluding London median hourly rate - £66.50 £22.50
% change year-on-year - +195.56% -68.97%

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 22,942 15,624 17,063
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.82% 47.42% 44.28%
Number of daily rates quoted 14,043 9,586 10,230
10th Percentile £310 £275 £285
25th Percentile £413 £402 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.50% -4.76% -
75th Percentile £613 £613 £625
90th Percentile £700 £700 £731
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £479 £500
% change year-on-year +4.30% -4.13% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,291 791 679
10th Percentile £14.00 £14.75 £14.38
25th Percentile £16.64 £17.45 £15.62
Median hourly rate £26.66 £25.15 £30.00
Median % change year-on-year +6.00% -16.17% -32.58%
75th Percentile £62.25 £43.75 £63.75
90th Percentile £78.75 £68.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.75 £21.35 £29.89
% change year-on-year +20.64% -28.58% -29.68%

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 19 September 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
Top 15 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 19 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 -68 286 £525 +7.25% 90
UK excluding London -62 219 £530 +8.27% 67
North of England -29 116 £575 +17.47% 23
Work from Home -37 88 £563 +12.50% 42
North West -10 82 £575 +21.05% 16
Midlands -27 70 £581 +38.33% 6
London -86 70 £513 +7.89% 39
West Midlands -28 69 £581 +38.33% 6
South East -40 42 £433 -17.62% 14
Yorkshire -50 27 £488 -0.41% 7
Scotland -17 18 £513 +2.50% 14
South West -33 18 £465 -19.13% 6
North East -38 13 £650 +18.18%
East of England -22 5 £530 +1.92% 1
East Midlands - 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 7 (2.18%) IIS
2 6 (1.87%) SharePoint
3 5 (1.56%) nginx
3 5 (1.56%) OpenStack
4 3 (0.93%) Apache
4 3 (0.93%) Microsoft Exchange
4 3 (0.93%) Tomcat
5 2 (0.62%) Confluence
6 1 (0.31%) CMS
Applications
1 7 (2.18%) Microsoft Excel
1 7 (2.18%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 6 (1.87%) MS Visio
3 4 (1.25%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 60 (18.69%) Azure
2 48 (14.95%) AWS
3 25 (7.79%) GitHub
4 23 (7.17%) OCI
5 16 (4.98%) IaaS
5 16 (4.98%) SaaS
6 11 (3.43%) GCP
7 9 (2.80%) Azure ExpressRoute
8 7 (2.18%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 6 (1.87%) Cloudflare
9 6 (1.87%) Entra ID
9 6 (1.87%) OpenShift
10 4 (1.25%) Microsoft 365
11 3 (0.93%) OneDrive
12 2 (0.62%) Mimecast
13 1 (0.31%) AWS CloudFormation
13 1 (0.31%) Azure DevOps
13 1 (0.31%) Google Ads
13 1 (0.31%) Kong
13 1 (0.31%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 176 (54.83%) Firewall
2 133 (41.43%) DNS
3 129 (40.19%) BGP
4 119 (37.07%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
5 115 (35.83%) BIG-IP
6 106 (33.02%) VPN
7 92 (28.66%) WAN
8 86 (26.79%) OSPF
9 82 (25.55%) Network Security
10 76 (23.68%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
11 59 (18.38%) TCP/IP
12 58 (18.07%) VXLAN
13 55 (17.13%) LAN
13 55 (17.13%) SSL
14 50 (15.58%) VLAN
15 49 (15.26%) Cisco Nexus
16 47 (14.64%) Wireless
17 45 (14.02%) Multicast
18 43 (13.40%) SD-WAN
19 37 (11.53%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (0.93%) MySQL
1 3 (0.93%) SQL Server
2 2 (0.62%) Amazon RDS
3 1 (0.31%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 26 (8.10%) JIRA
2 20 (6.23%) GitLab
3 17 (5.30%) Jenkins
4 14 (4.36%) Fiddler
5 7 (2.18%) Sonatype Nexus
6 4 (1.25%) Git
7 1 (0.31%) Cucumber
7 1 (0.31%) MSI
7 1 (0.31%) Robot Framework
7 1 (0.31%) Selenium
7 1 (0.31%) Visual Studio
General
1 56 (17.45%) Social Skills
2 45 (14.02%) Banking
3 42 (13.08%) Finance
4 29 (9.03%) Analytical Skills
5 28 (8.72%) Investment Banking
6 22 (6.85%) Public Sector
7 18 (5.61%) Telecoms
8 8 (2.49%) Legal
9 7 (2.18%) Retail
10 5 (1.56%) Documentation Skills
11 3 (0.93%) Influencing Skills
12 2 (0.62%) Financial Institution
12 2 (0.62%) Local Government
12 2 (0.62%) Military
12 2 (0.62%) Organisational Skills
13 1 (0.31%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 1 (0.31%) Law
13 1 (0.31%) Police
13 1 (0.31%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 158 (49.22%) Network Engineer
2 59 (18.38%) Security Engineer
3 48 (14.95%) Senior
4 46 (14.33%) Network Security Engineer
5 36 (11.21%) Architect
5 36 (11.21%) Cisco Engineer
6 35 (10.90%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 34 (10.59%) Cisco Network Engineer
8 27 (8.41%) Data Network Engineer
9 25 (7.79%) Cisco Security Engineer
9 25 (7.79%) Data Engineer
9 25 (7.79%) Web Engineer
10 19 (5.92%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
10 19 (5.92%) Senior Network Engineer
11 18 (5.61%) Network Architect
12 16 (4.98%) Consultant
13 15 (4.67%) IP Network Engineer
14 13 (4.05%) Blue Coat Engineer
15 12 (3.74%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
16 10 (3.12%) Automation Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 41 (12.77%) Terraform
2 25 (7.79%) 802.1X
3 9 (2.80%) YAML
4 8 (2.49%) JSON
5 7 (2.18%) SAML
6 6 (1.87%) NETCONF
6 6 (1.87%) RESTCONF
7 5 (1.56%) REST
8 4 (1.25%) LDAP
8 4 (1.25%) OpenConfig
8 4 (1.25%) YANG
9 3 (0.93%) LAMP
9 3 (0.93%) LEMP Stack
10 2 (0.62%) eBPF
10 2 (0.62%) gRPC
10 2 (0.62%) Software Packaging
11 1 (0.31%) .NET Framework
11 1 (0.31%) OpenID
11 1 (0.31%) Playwright
11 1 (0.31%) React
Miscellaneous
1 113 (35.20%) Data Centre
2 40 (12.46%) Hybrid Cloud
3 24 (7.48%) Management Information System
4 21 (6.54%) Cloud Native
5 18 (5.61%) Public Cloud
6 14 (4.36%) Data Protection Act
7 12 (3.74%) Onboarding
8 8 (2.49%) PKI
8 8 (2.49%) Private Cloud
9 7 (2.18%) Distributed Applications
10 6 (1.87%) Clustering
10 6 (1.87%) Digital Signage
10 6 (1.87%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
11 4 (1.25%) Analytical Mindset
11 4 (1.25%) Embedded Systems
11 4 (1.25%) Enterprise Software
11 4 (1.25%) Mobile Payment
11 4 (1.25%) Smartcard
12 3 (0.93%) Legacy Systems
12 3 (0.93%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 41 (12.77%) Linux
2 40 (12.46%) Windows
3 9 (2.80%) Unix
4 8 (2.49%) Windows Server
5 3 (0.93%) CentOS
5 3 (0.93%) Ubuntu
6 2 (0.62%) Windows 10
6 2 (0.62%) Windows Server 2012
6 2 (0.62%) Windows Server 2019
7 1 (0.31%) CatOS
7 1 (0.31%) Check Point GAiA
7 1 (0.31%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 144 (44.86%) Load Balancing
2 58 (18.07%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 53 (16.51%) CI/CD
4 49 (15.26%) Zero Trust
5 46 (14.33%) Project Delivery
6 45 (14.02%) High Availability
7 41 (12.77%) Migration
8 37 (11.53%) Network Design
9 33 (10.28%) Agile
9 33 (10.28%) Change Management
10 30 (9.35%) Infrastructure as Code
10 30 (9.35%) Problem-Solving
11 28 (8.72%) Network Architecture
11 28 (8.72%) Stakeholder Management
12 25 (7.79%) Roadmaps
13 24 (7.48%) DevOps
13 24 (7.48%) ITIL
14 20 (6.23%) Cloud Security
14 20 (6.23%) Network Management
14 20 (6.23%) Site Reliability Engineering
Programming Languages
1 92 (28.66%) Python
2 16 (4.98%) ActionScript
3 11 (3.43%) SQL
4 10 (3.12%) JavaScript
4 10 (3.12%) PowerShell
5 8 (2.49%) Perl
6 7 (2.18%) VBA
7 5 (1.56%) Bash
8 4 (1.25%) Shell Script
9 3 (0.93%) Lisp
10 1 (0.31%) C++
10 1 (0.31%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 74 (23.05%) Security Cleared
2 56 (17.45%) Cisco Certification
3 55 (17.13%) SC Cleared
4 32 (9.97%) CCNP
5 21 (6.54%) CCIE
6 17 (5.30%) Degree
7 10 (3.12%) DV Cleared
8 7 (2.18%) CCNA
8 7 (2.18%) CISSP
9 6 (1.87%) JNCIE
10 5 (1.56%) CCSP
11 4 (1.25%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 4 (1.25%) CCIE Security
11 4 (1.25%) CISA
11 4 (1.25%) CISM
11 4 (1.25%) CLAS
11 4 (1.25%) CREST Certified
11 4 (1.25%) IISP
12 3 (0.93%) BPSS Clearance
12 3 (0.93%) CEH
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 8 (2.49%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 8 (2.49%) QA
2 6 (1.87%) GDPR
2 6 (1.87%) NIST
3 5 (1.56%) Disclosure Scotland
3 5 (1.56%) GRC
4 4 (1.25%) ISO 31000
4 4 (1.25%) ISO 9001
4 4 (1.25%) ISO/IEC 27005
4 4 (1.25%) NCSC
4 4 (1.25%) PCI DSS
5 2 (0.62%) Cyber Essentials
5 2 (0.62%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
System Software
1 39 (12.15%) VMware Infrastructure
2 21 (6.54%) VMware NSX
3 17 (5.30%) Active Directory
4 16 (4.98%) Firmware
5 4 (1.25%) Docker
5 4 (1.25%) ISA Server
5 4 (1.25%) Virtual Servers
6 3 (0.93%) Dovecot
6 3 (0.93%) Postfix
6 3 (0.93%) vSphere
7 1 (0.31%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.31%) ProxySG
7 1 (0.31%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 71 (22.12%) Ansible
2 32 (9.97%) FortiGate
3 9 (2.80%) Cisco Prime
4 8 (2.49%) WMI
5 6 (1.87%) Microsoft Intune
6 5 (1.56%) Kubernetes
7 4 (1.25%) CASB
7 4 (1.25%) Single Sign-On
8 3 (0.93%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 3 (0.93%) HAProxy
8 3 (0.93%) vCenter Server
9 2 (0.62%) Avamar
10 1 (0.31%) Grafana
10 1 (0.31%) Istio
10 1 (0.31%) Network Intrusion Detection System
10 1 (0.31%) Progress Chef
10 1 (0.31%) Prometheus
10 1 (0.31%) Puppet
10 1 (0.31%) SCCM
10 1 (0.31%) vRealize
Vendors
1 190 (59.19%) Cisco
2 122 (38.01%) Palo Alto
3 69 (21.50%) Fortinet
4 56 (17.45%) VMware
5 48 (14.95%) Juniper
6 42 (13.08%) CheckPoint
7 38 (11.84%) Arista
8 32 (9.97%) Microsoft
9 31 (9.66%) Aruba
10 30 (9.35%) SolarWinds
11 28 (8.72%) Blue Coat
12 21 (6.54%) Infoblox
12 21 (6.54%) Splunk
13 20 (6.23%) Zscaler
14 13 (4.05%) McAfee
14 13 (4.05%) NetApp
15 12 (3.74%) ServiceNow
16 11 (3.43%) Meraki
17 8 (2.49%) Citrix
18 6 (1.87%) Google