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 5 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
5 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 285 383 469
Rank change year-on-year +98 +86 +10
Contract jobs citing GRC 447 168 103
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.84% 0.51% 0.26%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 4.90% 3.01% 1.93%
Number of daily rates quoted 300 102 72
10th Percentile £400 £350 £375
25th Percentile £463 £412 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £565 £531 £513
Median % change year-on-year +6.26% +3.66% -10.87%
75th Percentile £650 £658 £641
90th Percentile £738 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £525 £423 £500
% change year-on-year +24.26% -15.50% -12.28%
Number of hourly rates quoted 14 3 0
10th Percentile - £37.49 -
25th Percentile £64.09 £47.81 -
Median hourly rate £76.00 £65.00 -
Median % change year-on-year +16.92% - -
75th Percentile £85.00 £82.50 -
90th Percentile £90.70 £93.00 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £76.00 £66.37 -
% change year-on-year +14.51% - -

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 9,117 5,573 5,325
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 17.14% 16.94% 13.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,858 3,591 3,291
10th Percentile £331 £282 £291
25th Percentile £413 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £505
Median % change year-on-year - -0.99% -3.81%
75th Percentile £600 £606 £625
90th Percentile £700 £713 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £495 £475 £475
% change year-on-year +4.21% - -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 559 250 326
10th Percentile £14.00 £13.59 £11.26
25th Percentile £19.33 £17.38 £14.49
Median hourly rate £40.00 £26.93 £25.77
Median % change year-on-year +48.56% +4.50% -34.64%
75th Percentile £70.00 £60.00 £55.00
90th Percentile £81.97 £83.59 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.00 £24.66 £25.30
% change year-on-year +62.21% -2.53% -29.23%

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 5 August 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
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing GRC over the 6 months to 5 August 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for GRC in the UK

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 5 August 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 +79 400 £574 +9.29% 280
London +73 212 £600 - 166
UK excluding London +7 197 £525 +24.26% 148
Work from Home +25 133 £550 +8.06% 158
North of England -12 64 £492 +15.76% 35
South East -19 60 £475 -5.00% 51
North West -20 44 £518 +28.02% 25
Midlands -51 29 £638 +59.38% 11
West Midlands -43 23 £583 -2.92% 8
Yorkshire -28 19 £475 -9.52% 6
Scotland -3 18 £533 +25.41% 15
South West -37 15 £563 +35.38% 20
East of England -9 12 £575 +43.93% 13
East Midlands -18 6 £638 +59.38% 3

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 28 (6.26%) SAS
2 12 (2.68%) Confluence
2 12 (2.68%) SharePoint
3 5 (1.12%) IIS
4 1 (0.22%) Apache Airflow
4 1 (0.22%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.22%) NetWeaver
4 1 (0.22%) Oracle Coherence
Applications
1 9 (2.01%) Microsoft Excel
2 5 (1.12%) Microsoft Office
3 3 (0.67%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 3 (0.67%) MS Visio
4 1 (0.22%) InfoPath
4 1 (0.22%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 38 (8.50%) SAP S/4HANA
2 34 (7.61%) SAP GRC
3 3 (0.67%) SAP FI
4 2 (0.45%) Oracle Payables
4 2 (0.45%) SAP CO
4 2 (0.45%) SAP FI/CO
5 1 (0.22%) Oracle ERP
5 1 (0.22%) SAP CCM
5 1 (0.22%) SAP FI-AR
5 1 (0.22%) SAP FI-GL
5 1 (0.22%) Workfront
Cloud Services
1 75 (16.78%) Azure
2 50 (11.19%) AWS
3 20 (4.47%) GCP
4 15 (3.36%) SaaS
5 14 (3.13%) Entra ID
5 14 (3.13%) Microsoft 365
6 13 (2.91%) Power Platform
7 12 (2.68%) Azure DevOps
8 9 (2.01%) GitHub
8 9 (2.01%) Microsoft Copilot
9 7 (1.57%) Azure Sentinel
9 7 (1.57%) Microsoft Purview
9 7 (1.57%) SuccessFactors
10 6 (1.34%) GitHub Actions
10 6 (1.34%) Power Automate
11 5 (1.12%) Copilot Studio
12 4 (0.89%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 4 (0.89%) Azure Key Vault
12 4 (0.89%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 3 (0.67%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 15 (3.36%) Network Security
2 5 (1.12%) HTTPS
3 3 (0.67%) Firewall
4 2 (0.45%) Internet
4 2 (0.45%) LAN
4 2 (0.45%) NGFW
4 2 (0.45%) WAN
5 1 (0.22%) Cisco IPT
5 1 (0.22%) Fibre Channel
5 1 (0.22%) HTTP
5 1 (0.22%) Intrusion Detection
5 1 (0.22%) iSCSI
5 1 (0.22%) NAS
5 1 (0.22%) SAN
5 1 (0.22%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (2.91%) Power BI
2 8 (1.79%) Data Warehouse
3 6 (1.34%) Power Query
4 5 (1.12%) Data Lake
4 5 (1.12%) Metadata
5 4 (0.89%) SAP BW
5 4 (0.89%) SAP HANA
6 3 (0.67%) Data Mining
7 2 (0.45%) PostgreSQL
7 2 (0.45%) SQL Server
8 1 (0.22%) Amazon QuickSight
8 1 (0.22%) MongoDB
8 1 (0.22%) Oracle Database
8 1 (0.22%) Oracle Exadata
8 1 (0.22%) Pinecone
8 1 (0.22%) Relational Database
8 1 (0.22%) Weaviate
Development Applications
1 16 (3.58%) JIRA
2 5 (1.12%) Git
3 4 (0.89%) Jaeger
4 1 (0.22%) Claude Code
4 1 (0.22%) Cypress.io
4 1 (0.22%) Flyway
4 1 (0.22%) GitLab
4 1 (0.22%) Liquibase
4 1 (0.22%) Snyk
General
1 145 (32.44%) Social Skills
2 110 (24.61%) Finance
3 54 (12.08%) Analytical Skills
4 44 (9.84%) Legal
5 42 (9.40%) Public Sector
6 38 (8.50%) Banking
7 20 (4.47%) Telecoms
8 16 (3.58%) Aerospace
9 15 (3.36%) Documentation Skills
9 15 (3.36%) Influencing Skills
10 11 (2.46%) Organisational Skills
10 11 (2.46%) Pharmaceutical
11 9 (2.01%) Presentation Skills
12 7 (1.57%) Law
13 5 (1.12%) General Ledger
13 5 (1.12%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 5 (1.12%) Manufacturing
13 5 (1.12%) Marketing
14 4 (0.89%) Financial Institution
14 4 (0.89%) Police
Job Titles
1 73 (16.33%) Architect
2 66 (14.77%) Consultant
3 55 (12.30%) Analyst
4 49 (10.96%) Lead
5 34 (7.61%) Senior
6 33 (7.38%) Security Consultant
7 23 (5.15%) Project Manager
8 21 (4.70%) Security Architect
9 18 (4.03%) IT Manager
10 17 (3.80%) Risk Manager
10 17 (3.80%) Security Analyst
10 17 (3.80%) Security Manager
11 15 (3.36%) Business Analyst
11 15 (3.36%) Senior Consultant
12 13 (2.91%) Developer
13 12 (2.68%) SAP Consultant
13 12 (2.68%) ServiceNow Architect
14 10 (2.24%) Cybersecurity Consultant
14 10 (2.24%) Cybersecurity Manager
14 10 (2.24%) Governance Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (5.82%) SAP Fiori
2 21 (4.70%) REST
3 13 (2.91%) SOAP
4 5 (1.12%) OpenTelemetry
5 4 (0.89%) .NET
5 4 (0.89%) Loki
5 4 (0.89%) Middleware
5 4 (0.89%) Web Services
5 4 (0.89%) XML
6 3 (0.67%) ADO
6 3 (0.67%) JSON
6 3 (0.67%) SailPoint
7 2 (0.45%) CSS
7 2 (0.45%) HTML
7 2 (0.45%) LDAP
7 2 (0.45%) Oracle Fusion
8 1 (0.22%) Kafka
8 1 (0.22%) OpenID
8 1 (0.22%) RESTful
8 1 (0.22%) SAML
Miscellaneous
1 39 (8.72%) Onboarding
2 26 (5.82%) Security Posture
3 25 (5.59%) Management Information System
4 21 (4.70%) Operational Technology
4 21 (4.70%) Product Ownership
5 19 (4.25%) CMDB
6 13 (2.91%) Cloud Native
7 9 (2.01%) Cyber Threat
8 8 (1.79%) Data Protection Act
8 8 (1.79%) Virtual Team
9 7 (1.57%) AI Agents
9 7 (1.57%) Enterprise Software
9 7 (1.57%) Legacy Systems
10 6 (1.34%) Data Centre
10 6 (1.34%) Data Structures
11 5 (1.12%) Distributed Systems
11 5 (1.12%) Public Cloud
11 5 (1.12%) Security Operations Centre
11 5 (1.12%) Taxonomies
12 4 (0.89%) Analytical Mindset
Operating Systems
1 11 (2.46%) Linux
2 10 (2.24%) Windows
3 5 (1.12%) AIX
3 5 (1.12%) HPUX
3 5 (1.12%) Oracle Linux
3 5 (1.12%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
3 5 (1.12%) Solaris
3 5 (1.12%) SUSE
3 5 (1.12%) Unix
4 1 (0.22%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 171 (38.26%) Risk Management
2 146 (32.66%) Cybersecurity
3 123 (27.52%) Stakeholder Management
4 106 (23.71%) Information Security
5 86 (19.24%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 65 (14.54%) Analytics
6 65 (14.54%) Continuous Improvement
7 63 (14.09%) Problem-Solving
8 62 (13.87%) Agile
9 57 (12.75%) Roadmaps
10 53 (11.86%) Vulnerability Management
11 52 (11.63%) Security Operations
12 48 (10.74%) Enterprise Architecture
13 46 (10.29%) Decision-Making
14 45 (10.07%) Incident Response
15 44 (9.84%) Data Protection
16 38 (8.50%) ETL
17 36 (8.05%) Identity Access Management
17 36 (8.05%) Risk Assessment
18 35 (7.83%) AI
Programming Languages
1 13 (2.91%) JavaScript
2 8 (1.79%) SQL
3 7 (1.57%) Python
4 6 (1.34%) Data Analysis Expressions
5 5 (1.12%) Bash
5 5 (1.12%) PowerShell
6 4 (0.89%) Bicep
6 4 (0.89%) Go
7 1 (0.22%) Java
7 1 (0.22%) Korn
7 1 (0.22%) PL/SQL
7 1 (0.22%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 141 (31.54%) Security Cleared
2 112 (25.06%) SC Cleared
3 70 (15.66%) CISSP
4 47 (10.51%) CISM
5 26 (5.82%) CRISC
6 25 (5.59%) Degree
7 24 (5.37%) CISA
8 19 (4.25%) DV Cleared
9 15 (3.36%) PMI Certification
10 14 (3.13%) PMP
11 12 (2.68%) Cisco Certification
12 11 (2.46%) (ISC)2 CCSP
13 10 (2.24%) Azure Certification
13 10 (2.24%) BPSS Clearance
13 10 (2.24%) CCSP
13 10 (2.24%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
14 9 (2.01%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
15 8 (1.79%) CompTIA Security+
16 5 (1.12%) CSSLP
16 5 (1.12%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 124 (27.74%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 104 (23.27%) NIST
3 42 (9.40%) GDPR
4 26 (5.82%) Cyber Essentials
5 24 (5.37%) PCI DSS
6 20 (4.47%) QA
7 16 (3.58%) NCSC
8 15 (3.36%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 15 (3.36%) SOC 2
9 14 (3.13%) COBIT
9 14 (3.13%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 14 (3.13%) Data Quality
10 9 (2.01%) ITGC
10 9 (2.01%) SLA
11 8 (1.79%) NIST 800
12 7 (1.57%) ISO 31000
12 7 (1.57%) ISO/IEC 27005
13 5 (1.12%) Government Security Classifications
13 5 (1.12%) HIPAA
14 4 (0.89%) PMO
System Software
1 14 (3.13%) Active Directory
2 5 (1.12%) IAG
3 1 (0.22%) Docker
3 1 (0.22%) Oracle RAC
3 1 (0.22%) VMware Infrastructure
3 1 (0.22%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 11 (2.46%) Terraform
2 7 (1.57%) Kubernetes
2 7 (1.57%) Single Sign-On
3 5 (1.12%) Grafana
4 4 (0.89%) Istio
4 4 (0.89%) Prometheus
4 4 (0.89%) RSA Archer
5 3 (0.67%) Rancher
6 1 (0.22%) Ansible
6 1 (0.22%) Data Guard
6 1 (0.22%) Microsoft Intune
6 1 (0.22%) Nessus
6 1 (0.22%) NetBackup
6 1 (0.22%) Oracle RMAN
6 1 (0.22%) QRadar
6 1 (0.22%) SCCM
Vendors
1 58 (12.98%) ServiceNow
2 45 (10.07%) SAP
3 44 (9.84%) Oracle
4 43 (9.62%) Microsoft
5 6 (1.34%) Atlassian
5 6 (1.34%) Red Hat
6 5 (1.12%) CyberArk
6 5 (1.12%) Databricks
6 5 (1.12%) Google
6 5 (1.12%) HP
7 4 (0.89%) IBM
7 4 (0.89%) OpenAI
7 4 (0.89%) Palo Alto
8 3 (0.67%) Ericsson
8 3 (0.67%) Nokia
8 3 (0.67%) OneTrust
9 2 (0.45%) Okta
9 2 (0.45%) Salesforce
9 2 (0.45%) Snow
9 2 (0.45%) Zscaler