GRC Contract Job Trends

Governance, Risk Management and Compliance (GRC)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring GRC skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 1 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 327 372 450
Rank change year-on-year +45 +78 +93
Contract jobs citing GRC 326 155 132
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.69% 0.53% 0.30%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 4.08% 3.39% 2.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 224 96 96
10th Percentile £363 £357 £359
25th Percentile £450 £495 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £600 £575
Median % change year-on-year -12.50% +4.35% -4.17%
75th Percentile £625 £700 £738
90th Percentile £713 £794 £894
UK excluding London median daily rate £513 £500 £585
% change year-on-year +2.50% -14.53% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4 0 0
Median hourly rate £36.00 - -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £36.00 - -

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
UK

GRC falls under the Quality Assurance and Compliance category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring quality assurance or compliance skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 7,981 4,570 6,260
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 16.89% 15.62% 14.37%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,163 2,926 3,959
10th Percentile £334 £264 £297
25th Percentile £413 £400 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £510
Median % change year-on-year - -1.96% -2.86%
75th Percentile £600 £625 £625
90th Percentile £700 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +5.26% -2.56% +2.63%
Number of hourly rates quoted 461 179 384
10th Percentile £14.02 £18.04 £10.95
25th Percentile £18.50 £22.21 £13.18
Median hourly rate £33.98 £34.50 £21.06
Median % change year-on-year -1.51% +63.84% -44.22%
75th Percentile £67.25 £65.00 £45.00
90th Percentile £81.00 £83.01 £66.66
UK excluding London median hourly rate £36.00 £40.78 £18.00
% change year-on-year -11.71% +126.53% -52.00%

GRC
Job Vacancy Trend

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

GRC job vacancy trend in the UK

GRC
Daily Rate Trend

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

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

GRC
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing GRC over the 6 months to 1 May 2026.

Daily rate histogram for GRC in the UK

GRC
Hourly Rate Trend

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

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

GRC
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 GRC within the UK over the 6 months to 1 May 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 +46 293 £525 -16.67% 121
UK excluding London +6 160 £513 +2.50% 89
London 0 137 £525 -22.22% 53
Work from Home +30 105 £525 -12.50% 96
South East -20 48 £525 -4.55% 24
North of England -32 43 £475 +10.59% 12
Midlands -56 34 £550 -8.33% 21
North West -24 24 £503 +38.57% 9
Yorkshire -34 19 £475 -9.52% 1
West Midlands -53 18 £525 -12.50% 9
East Midlands -19 16 £631 +76.33% 11
East of England -14 15 £575 +4.55% 9
Scotland -5 11 £475 +3.26% 6
South West -25 9 £500 +20.34% 16

GRC
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 17 (5.21%) Confluence
2 10 (3.07%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.61%) IIS
4 1 (0.31%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.31%) NetWeaver
Applications
1 13 (3.99%) Microsoft Excel
2 3 (0.92%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 3 (0.92%) Microsoft Project
2 3 (0.92%) MS Visio
3 1 (0.31%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (0.31%) Spreadsheet
3 1 (0.31%) Trello
Business Applications
1 22 (6.75%) SAP S/4HANA
2 20 (6.13%) SAP GRC
3 2 (0.61%) SAP FI
4 1 (0.31%) Oracle Payables
4 1 (0.31%) SAP CCM
4 1 (0.31%) SAP EWM
4 1 (0.31%) SAP FI-AR
4 1 (0.31%) SAP FI-GL
4 1 (0.31%) SAP HR
Cloud Services
1 48 (14.72%) Azure
2 38 (11.66%) AWS
3 21 (6.44%) GCP
4 17 (5.21%) Power Platform
5 13 (3.99%) Microsoft 365
6 9 (2.76%) GitHub
6 9 (2.76%) SuccessFactors
7 8 (2.45%) Entra ID
7 8 (2.45%) Microsoft Copilot
7 8 (2.45%) Microsoft Purview
8 7 (2.15%) Azure DevOps
8 7 (2.15%) SaaS
9 6 (1.84%) Power Automate
10 5 (1.53%) Amazon CloudWatch
10 5 (1.53%) AWS CloudFormation
11 4 (1.23%) Amazon GuardDuty
11 4 (1.23%) Copilot Studio
11 4 (1.23%) GitHub Actions
12 3 (0.92%) Azure Sentinel
12 3 (0.92%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 16 (4.91%) Network Security
2 5 (1.53%) Firewall
3 3 (0.92%) NGFW
3 3 (0.92%) Reverse Proxy
4 2 (0.61%) HTTPS
4 2 (0.61%) Internet
4 2 (0.61%) VPN
5 1 (0.31%) BGP
5 1 (0.31%) Cisco ASA
5 1 (0.31%) DMZ
5 1 (0.31%) iSCSI
5 1 (0.31%) LAN
5 1 (0.31%) MPLS
5 1 (0.31%) NAS
5 1 (0.31%) OSPF
5 1 (0.31%) SAN
5 1 (0.31%) TCP/IP
5 1 (0.31%) VLAN
5 1 (0.31%) WAN
5 1 (0.31%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (4.60%) Power BI
2 11 (3.37%) Metadata
3 7 (2.15%) Data Warehouse
3 7 (2.15%) SAP HANA
4 5 (1.53%) Power Query
5 4 (1.23%) SAP BW
6 2 (0.61%) SQL Server
7 1 (0.31%) Data Lake
7 1 (0.31%) Data Mining
7 1 (0.31%) MongoDB
7 1 (0.31%) Oracle Database
7 1 (0.31%) Oracle Exadata
7 1 (0.31%) PostgreSQL
7 1 (0.31%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 1 (0.31%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 17 (5.21%) JIRA
2 4 (1.23%) Jaeger
3 2 (0.61%) Git
4 1 (0.31%) Flyway
4 1 (0.31%) GitLab
4 1 (0.31%) Liquibase
General
1 115 (35.28%) Social Skills
2 78 (23.93%) Finance
3 50 (15.34%) Analytical Skills
4 37 (11.35%) Legal
5 36 (11.04%) Public Sector
6 29 (8.90%) Banking
7 9 (2.76%) Influencing Skills
8 8 (2.45%) Telecoms
9 7 (2.15%) Law
10 6 (1.84%) Organisational Skills
11 5 (1.53%) Marketing
11 5 (1.53%) Presentation Skills
12 4 (1.23%) Aerospace
12 4 (1.23%) Documentation Skills
12 4 (1.23%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 4 (1.23%) Military
12 4 (1.23%) Pharmaceutical
13 3 (0.92%) Financial Institution
14 2 (0.61%) Arabic Language
14 2 (0.61%) Retail
Job Titles
1 59 (18.10%) Consultant
2 56 (17.18%) Analyst
3 34 (10.43%) Architect
4 29 (8.90%) Lead
5 26 (7.98%) Senior
6 25 (7.67%) Security Consultant
7 21 (6.44%) Security Analyst
8 20 (6.13%) Risk Manager
9 14 (4.29%) Security Architect
9 14 (4.29%) Senior Consultant
10 13 (3.99%) Governance Manager
10 13 (3.99%) Project Manager
10 13 (3.99%) Risk Analyst
10 13 (3.99%) Security Manager
11 12 (3.68%) Developer
11 12 (3.68%) IT Manager
11 12 (3.68%) ServiceNow Architect
12 11 (3.37%) Business Analyst
13 10 (3.07%) SAP Consultant
13 10 (3.07%) Security Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (6.13%) REST
2 15 (4.60%) SAP Fiori
2 15 (4.60%) SOAP
3 5 (1.53%) .NET
4 4 (1.23%) Loki
4 4 (1.23%) OpenTelemetry
5 3 (0.92%) ADO
5 3 (0.92%) OAuth
5 3 (0.92%) OAuth2
5 3 (0.92%) OpenID
5 3 (0.92%) SAML
6 2 (0.61%) JSON
6 2 (0.61%) Middleware
6 2 (0.61%) Web Services
7 1 (0.31%) AngularJS
7 1 (0.31%) ARM Templates
7 1 (0.31%) IDoc
7 1 (0.31%) LDAP
7 1 (0.31%) SailPoint
7 1 (0.31%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 31 (9.51%) Security Posture
2 23 (7.06%) Management Information System
3 21 (6.44%) Product Ownership
4 18 (5.52%) CMDB
5 16 (4.91%) Onboarding
5 16 (4.91%) Operational Technology
6 8 (2.45%) Cyber Threat
6 8 (2.45%) Data Centre
6 8 (2.45%) Virtual Team
7 7 (2.15%) Data Protection Act
7 7 (2.15%) Taxonomies
8 6 (1.84%) Cloud Native
8 6 (1.84%) Hybrid Cloud
9 5 (1.53%) Distributed Systems
9 5 (1.53%) IoT
9 5 (1.53%) Legacy Systems
9 5 (1.53%) Public Cloud
10 4 (1.23%) AI Agents
10 4 (1.23%) Data Structures
10 4 (1.23%) PropTech
Operating Systems
1 9 (2.76%) Linux
2 6 (1.84%) Windows
3 4 (1.23%) AIX
3 4 (1.23%) HPUX
3 4 (1.23%) Oracle Linux
3 4 (1.23%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
3 4 (1.23%) Solaris
3 4 (1.23%) SUSE
3 4 (1.23%) Unix
4 1 (0.31%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 131 (40.18%) Risk Management
2 92 (28.22%) Cybersecurity
3 90 (27.61%) Information Security
4 80 (24.54%) Stakeholder Management
5 57 (17.48%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 50 (15.34%) Problem-Solving
7 48 (14.72%) Continuous Improvement
8 42 (12.88%) Roadmaps
9 41 (12.58%) Agile
9 41 (12.58%) Security Operations
10 38 (11.66%) Risk Assessment
11 34 (10.43%) Data Protection
12 33 (10.12%) Cloud Security
13 32 (9.82%) Vulnerability Management
14 31 (9.51%) Risk Register
15 29 (8.90%) Regulatory Compliance
16 28 (8.59%) AI
16 28 (8.59%) Identity Access Management
16 28 (8.59%) Incident Response
17 27 (8.28%) ITSM
Programming Languages
1 10 (3.07%) SQL
2 9 (2.76%) Python
3 8 (2.45%) JavaScript
4 7 (2.15%) Bash
5 6 (1.84%) Data Analysis Expressions
5 6 (1.84%) PowerShell
6 4 (1.23%) Bicep
6 4 (1.23%) Go
7 1 (0.31%) ABAP
7 1 (0.31%) Java
7 1 (0.31%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 70 (21.47%) Security Cleared
2 55 (16.87%) CISSP
3 43 (13.19%) SC Cleared
4 39 (11.96%) CISM
5 26 (7.98%) Degree
6 24 (7.36%) CISA
7 23 (7.06%) CRISC
7 23 (7.06%) DV Cleared
8 12 (3.68%) PMI Certification
9 11 (3.37%) PMP
10 9 (2.76%) Cisco Certification
10 9 (2.76%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
10 9 (2.76%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
11 8 (2.45%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 8 (2.45%) CCSP
11 8 (2.45%) CompTIA Security+
12 7 (2.15%) BPSS Clearance
13 5 (1.53%) Azure Certification
13 5 (1.53%) CSSLP
14 4 (1.23%) CGEIT
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 95 (29.14%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 78 (23.93%) NIST
3 46 (14.11%) GDPR
4 22 (6.75%) PCI DSS
5 16 (4.91%) COBIT
6 14 (4.29%) SOC 2
7 13 (3.99%) NCSC
7 13 (3.99%) QA
8 11 (3.37%) Cyber Essentials
8 11 (3.37%) ISO/IEC 27005
9 10 (3.07%) SLA
10 7 (2.15%) Actionable Recommendations
10 7 (2.15%) ISO 31000
10 7 (2.15%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 7 (2.15%) PMO
11 6 (1.84%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 6 (1.84%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 5 (1.53%) Data Quality
12 5 (1.53%) ISO 22301
12 5 (1.53%) ITGC
System Software
1 7 (2.15%) Active Directory
2 3 (0.92%) IAG
3 2 (0.61%) Docker
4 1 (0.31%) Oracle RAC
Systems Management
1 13 (3.99%) Terraform
2 11 (3.37%) Kubernetes
2 11 (3.37%) Single Sign-On
3 5 (1.53%) RSA Archer
4 4 (1.23%) Grafana
4 4 (1.23%) Istio
4 4 (1.23%) Prometheus
5 3 (0.92%) Rancher
6 2 (0.61%) Ansible
6 2 (0.61%) QRadar
7 1 (0.31%) Cisco Prime
7 1 (0.31%) Data Guard
7 1 (0.31%) Fluentd
7 1 (0.31%) Iperf
7 1 (0.31%) logstash
7 1 (0.31%) Microsoft Intune
7 1 (0.31%) NetBackup
7 1 (0.31%) Nmap
7 1 (0.31%) Oracle RMAN
Vendors
1 47 (14.42%) ServiceNow
2 31 (9.51%) Microsoft
3 30 (9.20%) SAP
4 8 (2.45%) Oracle
5 5 (1.53%) Atlassian
5 5 (1.53%) Google
5 5 (1.53%) Palo Alto
5 5 (1.53%) Splunk
6 4 (1.23%) Ariba
6 4 (1.23%) Fortinet
6 4 (1.23%) HP
6 4 (1.23%) Rapid7
6 4 (1.23%) Red Hat
7 2 (0.61%) CheckPoint
7 2 (0.61%) CrowdStrike
7 2 (0.61%) IBM
7 2 (0.61%) Okta
7 2 (0.61%) OneTrust
8 1 (0.31%) Carbon Black
8 1 (0.31%) OpenAI