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 13 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
13 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 377 323 247
Rank change year-on-year -54 -76 +136
Contract jobs citing F5 318 249 377
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.58% 0.76% 0.98%
As % of the Vendors category 1.40% 1.60% 2.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 157 140 251
10th Percentile £380 £380 £400
25th Percentile £419 £422 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £491 £525
Median % change year-on-year +6.92% -6.48% -
75th Percentile £600 £622 £588
90th Percentile £680 £715 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £528 £490 £550
% change year-on-year +7.76% -11.00% +12.24%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1 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 22,742 15,523 17,042
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 41.83% 47.16% 44.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,950 9,507 10,289
10th Percentile £313 £275 £290
25th Percentile £413 £400 £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 £730
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £476 £500
% change year-on-year +5.04% -4.80% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,256 789 693
10th Percentile £14.00 £14.68 £14.25
25th Percentile £16.72 £17.30 £15.62
Median hourly rate £27.44 £25.15 £31.00
Median % change year-on-year +9.11% -18.87% -27.06%
75th Percentile £62.13 £43.21 £63.75
90th Percentile £81.25 £67.60 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.14 £21.00 £30.00
% change year-on-year +24.48% -30.00% -25.00%

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 13 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 13 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 -63 282 £525 +7.14% 71
UK excluding London -36 218 £528 +7.76% 47
North of England -22 113 £575 +17.47% 21
Work from Home -36 89 £550 +2.33% 30
North West -7 81 £575 +21.05% 14
Midlands -15 71 £581 +38.33% 3
West Midlands -20 70 £581 +38.33% 3
London -106 67 £525 +2.94% 35
South East -42 43 £433 -17.62% 10
Yorkshire -50 25 £488 -0.41% 7
Scotland -20 18 £513 -2.38% 8
South West -40 18 £495 -13.91% 4
North East -29 13 £650 +18.18%
East of England -18 5 £530 +1.92%
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 6 (1.89%) IIS
1 6 (1.89%) SharePoint
2 5 (1.57%) nginx
2 5 (1.57%) OpenStack
3 3 (0.94%) Apache
3 3 (0.94%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (0.94%) Tomcat
4 2 (0.63%) Confluence
5 1 (0.31%) CMS
Applications
1 7 (2.20%) Microsoft Excel
1 7 (2.20%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 6 (1.89%) MS Visio
3 4 (1.26%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 58 (18.24%) Azure
2 48 (15.09%) AWS
3 23 (7.23%) OCI
4 22 (6.92%) GitHub
5 15 (4.72%) SaaS
6 13 (4.09%) IaaS
7 10 (3.14%) GCP
8 9 (2.83%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 7 (2.20%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 6 (1.89%) Cloudflare
10 6 (1.89%) OpenShift
11 4 (1.26%) Entra ID
12 3 (0.94%) Microsoft 365
12 3 (0.94%) Mimecast
12 3 (0.94%) OneDrive
13 1 (0.31%) Akamai
13 1 (0.31%) AWS CloudFormation
13 1 (0.31%) Azure DevOps
13 1 (0.31%) Google Ads
13 1 (0.31%) Route 53
Communications & Networking
1 173 (54.40%) Firewall
2 130 (40.88%) BGP
3 127 (39.94%) DNS
4 116 (36.48%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
5 113 (35.53%) BIG-IP
6 105 (33.02%) VPN
7 94 (29.56%) WAN
8 87 (27.36%) OSPF
9 81 (25.47%) Network Security
10 71 (22.33%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
11 58 (18.24%) VXLAN
12 57 (17.92%) LAN
13 56 (17.61%) TCP/IP
14 54 (16.98%) SSL
15 50 (15.72%) Cisco Nexus
15 50 (15.72%) VLAN
16 47 (14.78%) Wireless
17 46 (14.47%) Multicast
18 45 (14.15%) SD-WAN
19 37 (11.64%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (0.94%) MySQL
1 3 (0.94%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.31%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 26 (8.18%) JIRA
2 20 (6.29%) GitLab
3 14 (4.40%) Fiddler
3 14 (4.40%) Jenkins
4 7 (2.20%) Sonatype Nexus
5 4 (1.26%) Git
6 1 (0.31%) MSI
6 1 (0.31%) Robot Framework
6 1 (0.31%) Visual Studio
General
1 54 (16.98%) Social Skills
2 44 (13.84%) Banking
3 40 (12.58%) Finance
4 28 (8.81%) Investment Banking
5 27 (8.49%) Analytical Skills
6 20 (6.29%) Public Sector
7 19 (5.97%) Telecoms
8 8 (2.52%) Legal
9 7 (2.20%) Retail
10 6 (1.89%) Documentation Skills
11 3 (0.94%) Financial Institution
11 3 (0.94%) Influencing Skills
12 2 (0.63%) Military
12 2 (0.63%) 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
1 159 (50.00%) Network Engineer
2 60 (18.87%) Security Engineer
3 51 (16.04%) Senior
4 48 (15.09%) Network Security Engineer
5 36 (11.32%) Cisco Engineer
6 35 (11.01%) Architect
7 34 (10.69%) Cisco Network Engineer
7 34 (10.69%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 27 (8.49%) Data Network Engineer
9 25 (7.86%) Cisco Security Engineer
9 25 (7.86%) Data Engineer
9 25 (7.86%) Web Engineer
10 20 (6.29%) Senior Network Engineer
11 19 (5.97%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
12 18 (5.66%) Network Architect
13 15 (4.72%) Consultant
13 15 (4.72%) IP Network Engineer
14 13 (4.09%) Blue Coat Engineer
14 13 (4.09%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
15 10 (3.14%) Automation Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 42 (13.21%) Terraform
2 25 (7.86%) 802.1X
3 9 (2.83%) YAML
4 8 (2.52%) JSON
5 6 (1.89%) NETCONF
5 6 (1.89%) RESTCONF
5 6 (1.89%) SAML
6 5 (1.57%) REST
7 4 (1.26%) OpenConfig
7 4 (1.26%) YANG
8 3 (0.94%) LAMP
8 3 (0.94%) LDAP
8 3 (0.94%) LEMP Stack
9 2 (0.63%) eBPF
9 2 (0.63%) gRPC
10 1 (0.31%) .NET Framework
10 1 (0.31%) Bun
10 1 (0.31%) JWT
10 1 (0.31%) OpenID
10 1 (0.31%) React
Miscellaneous
1 108 (33.96%) Data Centre
2 40 (12.58%) Hybrid Cloud
3 23 (7.23%) Management Information System
4 21 (6.60%) Cloud Native
5 14 (4.40%) Data Protection Act
5 14 (4.40%) Public Cloud
6 11 (3.46%) Onboarding
7 8 (2.52%) PKI
7 8 (2.52%) Private Cloud
8 7 (2.20%) Distributed Applications
8 7 (2.20%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
9 6 (1.89%) Clustering
9 6 (1.89%) Digital Signage
10 4 (1.26%) Analytical Mindset
10 4 (1.26%) Enterprise Software
11 3 (0.94%) Algorithms
11 3 (0.94%) Embedded Systems
11 3 (0.94%) Legacy Systems
11 3 (0.94%) Linux Command Line
11 3 (0.94%) Mobile Payment
Operating Systems
1 39 (12.26%) Linux
2 37 (11.64%) Windows
3 9 (2.83%) Unix
4 7 (2.20%) Windows Server
5 3 (0.94%) CentOS
5 3 (0.94%) Ubuntu
6 2 (0.63%) Windows Server 2012
6 2 (0.63%) 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
1 145 (45.60%) Load Balancing
2 55 (17.30%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 49 (15.41%) CI/CD
4 47 (14.78%) High Availability
5 46 (14.47%) Zero Trust
6 44 (13.84%) Project Delivery
7 41 (12.89%) Migration
8 37 (11.64%) Network Design
9 32 (10.06%) Agile
10 31 (9.75%) Change Management
11 29 (9.12%) Infrastructure as Code
12 28 (8.81%) Network Architecture
12 28 (8.81%) Stakeholder Management
13 25 (7.86%) Problem-Solving
14 24 (7.55%) ITIL
14 24 (7.55%) Roadmaps
15 23 (7.23%) DevOps
16 20 (6.29%) Cloud Security
16 20 (6.29%) Network Management
16 20 (6.29%) Site Reliability Engineering
Programming Languages
1 88 (27.67%) Python
2 13 (4.09%) ActionScript
3 11 (3.46%) SQL
4 10 (3.14%) JavaScript
5 8 (2.52%) Perl
5 8 (2.52%) PowerShell
6 7 (2.20%) VBA
7 5 (1.57%) Bash
8 4 (1.26%) Shell Script
9 3 (0.94%) Lisp
10 1 (0.31%) C++
10 1 (0.31%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 77 (24.21%) Security Cleared
2 57 (17.92%) SC Cleared
3 55 (17.30%) Cisco Certification
4 33 (10.38%) CCNP
5 21 (6.60%) CCIE
6 16 (5.03%) Degree
7 12 (3.77%) DV Cleared
8 6 (1.89%) CCNA
8 6 (1.89%) CISSP
8 6 (1.89%) JNCIE
9 4 (1.26%) CCIE Security
10 3 (0.94%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 3 (0.94%) BPSS Clearance
10 3 (0.94%) CEH
10 3 (0.94%) CISA
10 3 (0.94%) CISM
10 3 (0.94%) CLAS
10 3 (0.94%) CREST Certified
10 3 (0.94%) GIAC
10 3 (0.94%) IISP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 8 (2.52%) QA
2 5 (1.57%) Disclosure Scotland
2 5 (1.57%) GDPR
2 5 (1.57%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 5 (1.57%) NIST
3 4 (1.26%) GRC
3 4 (1.26%) NCSC
4 3 (0.94%) ISO 31000
4 3 (0.94%) ISO 9001
4 3 (0.94%) ISO/IEC 27005
4 3 (0.94%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 40 (12.58%) VMware Infrastructure
2 22 (6.92%) VMware NSX
3 16 (5.03%) Firmware
4 15 (4.72%) Active Directory
5 4 (1.26%) Virtual Servers
6 3 (0.94%) Docker
6 3 (0.94%) Dovecot
6 3 (0.94%) ISA Server
6 3 (0.94%) Postfix
6 3 (0.94%) vSphere
7 1 (0.31%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.31%) ProxySG
7 1 (0.31%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 71 (22.33%) Ansible
2 31 (9.75%) FortiGate
3 9 (2.83%) Cisco Prime
4 8 (2.52%) WMI
5 5 (1.57%) Kubernetes
6 4 (1.26%) Microsoft Intune
6 4 (1.26%) Single Sign-On
7 3 (0.94%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 3 (0.94%) CASB
7 3 (0.94%) HAProxy
7 3 (0.94%) vCenter Server
8 2 (0.63%) Avamar
9 1 (0.31%) Grafana
9 1 (0.31%) Istio
9 1 (0.31%) Network Intrusion Detection System
9 1 (0.31%) Progress Chef
9 1 (0.31%) Prometheus
9 1 (0.31%) Puppet
9 1 (0.31%) SCCM
9 1 (0.31%) vRealize
Vendors
1 192 (60.38%) Cisco
2 122 (38.36%) Palo Alto
3 70 (22.01%) Fortinet
4 55 (17.30%) VMware
5 49 (15.41%) Juniper
6 43 (13.52%) CheckPoint
7 38 (11.95%) Arista
8 31 (9.75%) Aruba
9 30 (9.43%) SolarWinds
10 29 (9.12%) Microsoft
11 27 (8.49%) Blue Coat
12 21 (6.60%) Infoblox
13 19 (5.97%) Splunk
14 18 (5.66%) Zscaler
15 13 (4.09%) McAfee
15 13 (4.09%) NetApp
15 13 (4.09%) ServiceNow
16 11 (3.46%) Meraki
17 8 (2.52%) Citrix
18 5 (1.57%) Google