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 26 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 272 378 439
Rank change year-on-year +106 +61 +26
Contract jobs citing GRC 504 175 132
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.92% 0.53% 0.34%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 5.21% 3.08% 2.57%
Number of daily rates quoted 326 95 81
10th Percentile £413 £350 £370
25th Percentile £476 £410 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £567 £513 £575
Median % change year-on-year +10.59% -10.87% -
75th Percentile £650 £591 £656
90th Percentile £763 £660 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £533 £424 £500
% change year-on-year +25.78% -15.25% -9.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 16 13 0
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile £64.09 - -
Median hourly rate £76.00 £33.50 -
Median % change year-on-year +126.87% - -
75th Percentile £85.00 - -
90th Percentile £90.50 £58.97 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £76.00 £33.50 -
% change year-on-year +126.87% - -

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 9,667 5,681 5,146
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 17.62% 17.17% 13.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 6,089 3,642 3,011
10th Percentile £325 £300 £276
25th Percentile £413 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £505 £500 £504
Median % change year-on-year +1.00% -0.79% -4.00%
75th Percentile £601 £606 £625
90th Percentile £700 £706 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £488 £475 £475
% change year-on-year +2.63% - -5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 641 269 249
10th Percentile £13.86 £13.60 £12.69
25th Percentile £16.60 £16.92 £15.50
Median hourly rate £32.40 £30.00 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +7.98% +9.09% -22.54%
75th Percentile £65.00 £62.25 £62.24
90th Percentile £75.00 £80.55 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £32.40 £27.86 £27.50
% change year-on-year +16.28% +1.31% -23.61%

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 26 September 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 26 September 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 26 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 +98 450 £571 +11.34% 644
London +62 232 £600 +14.29% 360
UK excluding London +26 221 £533 +25.78% 312
Work from Home +47 138 £550 +29.79% 330
North of England -10 84 £546 +24.73% 102
South East -14 67 £525 +5.00% 82
North West +1 61 £552 +32.43% 59
Midlands -28 35 £585 +46.25% 43
West Midlands -15 33 £588 +2.17% 31
Scotland -4 22 £533 +33.25% 20
Yorkshire -22 22 £475 -9.52% 38
South West -44 14 £563 -6.25% 33
East of England -36 6 £650 +23.81% 18
East Midlands -28 2 £402 +0.50% 12

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 (5.56%) SAS
2 10 (1.98%) Confluence
2 10 (1.98%) IIS
3 7 (1.39%) SharePoint
4 1 (0.20%) Apache Airflow
4 1 (0.20%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.20%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.20%) NetWeaver
4 1 (0.20%) Oracle Coherence
Applications
1 14 (2.78%) Microsoft Excel
2 10 (1.98%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 8 (1.59%) Microsoft Office
3 8 (1.59%) MS Visio
4 1 (0.20%) InfoPath
Business Applications
1 45 (8.93%) SAP GRC
2 43 (8.53%) SAP S/4HANA
3 3 (0.60%) SAP FI
4 2 (0.40%) Oracle Payables
4 2 (0.40%) SAP CO
4 2 (0.40%) SAP FI/CO
5 1 (0.20%) Oracle ERP
5 1 (0.20%) SAP CCM
5 1 (0.20%) SAP FI-AR
5 1 (0.20%) SAP FI-GL
5 1 (0.20%) SAP MM
5 1 (0.20%) Workfront
Cloud Services
1 85 (16.87%) Azure
2 56 (11.11%) AWS
3 29 (5.75%) GCP
4 19 (3.77%) Power Platform
5 17 (3.37%) SaaS
6 16 (3.17%) Microsoft 365
7 15 (2.98%) Entra ID
8 10 (1.98%) Azure DevOps
9 9 (1.79%) Microsoft Copilot
10 7 (1.39%) Azure Key Vault
10 7 (1.39%) Azure Sentinel
10 7 (1.39%) GitHub
10 7 (1.39%) Microsoft Purview
10 7 (1.39%) Tricentis Tosca
11 6 (1.19%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 4 (0.79%) Copilot Studio
12 4 (0.79%) Dynamics 365
12 4 (0.79%) GitHub Actions
12 4 (0.79%) Snowflake
13 3 (0.60%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 13 (2.58%) Network Security
2 5 (0.99%) Firewall
2 5 (0.99%) HTTPS
3 4 (0.79%) Cisco IPT
4 3 (0.60%) LAN
4 3 (0.60%) WAN
5 2 (0.40%) Internet
5 2 (0.40%) NGFW
6 1 (0.20%) HTTP
6 1 (0.20%) Intrusion Detection
6 1 (0.20%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 19 (3.77%) Power BI
2 7 (1.39%) Data Lake
2 7 (1.39%) SAP BW
3 6 (1.19%) Power Query
4 5 (0.99%) Data Warehouse
4 5 (0.99%) SAP HANA
5 4 (0.79%) Metadata
6 3 (0.60%) Data Mining
7 2 (0.40%) Delta Lake
7 2 (0.40%) PostgreSQL
7 2 (0.40%) SQL Server
8 1 (0.20%) Amazon QuickSight
8 1 (0.20%) OLAP
8 1 (0.20%) OLTP
8 1 (0.20%) Parquet
8 1 (0.20%) Pinecone
8 1 (0.20%) Relational Database
8 1 (0.20%) Spark SQL
8 1 (0.20%) Weaviate
Development Applications
1 21 (4.17%) JIRA
2 8 (1.59%) Git
3 3 (0.60%) Zephyr
4 2 (0.40%) Claude Code
4 2 (0.40%) Jenkins
4 2 (0.40%) Tricentis qTest
5 1 (0.20%) Cypress.io
5 1 (0.20%) GitLab
5 1 (0.20%) Hudson
5 1 (0.20%) Jaeger
5 1 (0.20%) JMeter
5 1 (0.20%) Postman
5 1 (0.20%) Selenium
5 1 (0.20%) Snyk
General
1 171 (33.93%) Social Skills
2 126 (25.00%) Finance
3 62 (12.30%) Analytical Skills
4 50 (9.92%) Legal
5 45 (8.93%) Banking
6 43 (8.53%) Public Sector
7 21 (4.17%) Influencing Skills
8 20 (3.97%) Telecoms
9 17 (3.37%) Documentation Skills
10 16 (3.17%) Aerospace
11 13 (2.58%) Organisational Skills
12 10 (1.98%) Pharmaceutical
12 10 (1.98%) Presentation Skills
13 9 (1.79%) Law
14 6 (1.19%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 5 (0.99%) General Ledger
15 5 (0.99%) Manufacturing
15 5 (0.99%) Military
16 4 (0.79%) Police
17 3 (0.60%) Retail
Job Titles
1 86 (17.06%) Consultant
2 83 (16.47%) Architect
3 75 (14.88%) Analyst
4 50 (9.92%) Lead
5 45 (8.93%) Security Consultant
6 32 (6.35%) Security Architect
7 30 (5.95%) Senior
8 24 (4.76%) Security Analyst
9 23 (4.56%) Cybersecurity Consultant
10 22 (4.37%) Project Manager
11 17 (3.37%) IT Manager
12 15 (2.98%) SAP Consultant
13 14 (2.78%) Business Analyst
13 14 (2.78%) Cybersecurity Analyst
13 14 (2.78%) Security Manager
14 12 (2.38%) Compliance Analyst
14 12 (2.38%) Delivery Manager
15 11 (2.18%) SAP GRC Consultant
15 11 (2.18%) ServiceNow Architect
16 10 (1.98%) Risk Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 30 (5.95%) SAP Fiori
2 25 (4.96%) REST
3 12 (2.38%) SOAP
4 9 (1.79%) JSON
4 9 (1.79%) Middleware
5 5 (0.99%) LDAP
5 5 (0.99%) Terraform
5 5 (0.99%) XML
6 4 (0.79%) Web Services
7 3 (0.60%) SailPoint
8 2 (0.40%) .NET
8 2 (0.40%) ADO
8 2 (0.40%) CSS
8 2 (0.40%) FastAPI
8 2 (0.40%) HTML
8 2 (0.40%) Kafka
8 2 (0.40%) OpenTelemetry
8 2 (0.40%) Oracle Fusion
8 2 (0.40%) Playwright
8 2 (0.40%) PySpark
Miscellaneous
1 56 (11.11%) Onboarding
2 30 (5.95%) Management Information System
3 26 (5.16%) Security Posture
4 19 (3.77%) CMDB
4 19 (3.77%) Operational Technology
5 18 (3.57%) Cloud Native
6 15 (2.98%) Product Ownership
7 13 (2.58%) Data Centre
7 13 (2.58%) Enterprise Software
8 9 (1.79%) AI Agents
9 7 (1.39%) Cyber Threat
9 7 (1.39%) Legacy Systems
9 7 (1.39%) PKI
9 7 (1.39%) Taxonomies
10 6 (1.19%) Data Structures
11 5 (0.99%) Embedded Systems
11 5 (0.99%) Mobile Payment
11 5 (0.99%) Security Operations Centre
11 5 (0.99%) Smartcard
12 4 (0.79%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 17 (3.37%) Linux
2 16 (3.17%) Windows
3 6 (1.19%) Windows Server
4 5 (0.99%) AIX
4 5 (0.99%) HPUX
4 5 (0.99%) Oracle Linux
4 5 (0.99%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 5 (0.99%) Solaris
4 5 (0.99%) SUSE
4 5 (0.99%) Unix
5 1 (0.20%) Android
5 1 (0.20%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 204 (40.48%) Risk Management
2 202 (40.08%) Cybersecurity
3 160 (31.75%) Stakeholder Management
4 120 (23.81%) Information Security
5 103 (20.44%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 98 (19.44%) Continuous Improvement
7 73 (14.48%) Agile
8 69 (13.69%) Problem-Solving
8 69 (13.69%) Vulnerability Management
9 66 (13.10%) Decision-Making
10 62 (12.30%) Analytics
11 57 (11.31%) Roadmaps
12 54 (10.71%) Data Protection
13 50 (9.92%) Enterprise Architecture
14 48 (9.52%) Security Operations
15 45 (8.93%) AI
15 45 (8.93%) Security Architecture
16 42 (8.33%) Migration
16 42 (8.33%) Regulatory Compliance
16 42 (8.33%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 12 (2.38%) JavaScript
2 11 (2.18%) SQL
3 7 (1.39%) Python
4 5 (0.99%) Korn
5 4 (0.79%) Bicep
6 3 (0.60%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 2 (0.40%) PowerShell
8 1 (0.20%) Bash
8 1 (0.20%) C#
8 1 (0.20%) Go
8 1 (0.20%) Java
8 1 (0.20%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 169 (33.53%) Security Cleared
2 135 (26.79%) SC Cleared
3 75 (14.88%) CISSP
4 61 (12.10%) CISM
5 35 (6.94%) CRISC
6 30 (5.95%) Degree
7 29 (5.75%) CISA
8 24 (4.76%) DV Cleared
9 16 (3.17%) Cisco Certification
10 15 (2.98%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 15 (2.98%) PMI Certification
11 14 (2.78%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
11 14 (2.78%) PMP
12 13 (2.58%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
13 12 (2.38%) CCSP
14 10 (1.98%) Azure Certification
14 10 (1.98%) BPSS Clearance
15 7 (1.39%) CompTIA Security+
16 5 (0.99%) IISP
16 5 (0.99%) RHCE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 147 (29.17%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 130 (25.79%) NIST
3 49 (9.72%) GDPR
4 41 (8.13%) NCSC
5 27 (5.36%) Cyber Essentials
6 26 (5.16%) Data Quality
7 25 (4.96%) QA
8 21 (4.17%) PCI DSS
9 19 (3.77%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 16 (3.17%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 15 (2.98%) COBIT
12 10 (1.98%) NIST 800
13 8 (1.59%) ISO/IEC 27005
13 8 (1.59%) ITGC
13 8 (1.59%) SOC 2
14 7 (1.39%) ISO 31000
15 6 (1.19%) JSP 440
16 5 (0.99%) Government Security Classifications
16 5 (0.99%) HIPAA
16 5 (0.99%) PMO
System Software
1 12 (2.38%) Active Directory
2 8 (1.59%) IAG
3 4 (0.79%) ISA Server
4 3 (0.60%) VMware Infrastructure
4 3 (0.60%) vSphere
5 2 (0.40%) Docker
5 2 (0.40%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 5 (0.99%) CASB
1 5 (0.99%) Kubernetes
2 2 (0.40%) Grafana
2 2 (0.40%) RSA Archer
2 2 (0.40%) Single Sign-On
3 1 (0.20%) Control-M
3 1 (0.20%) Istio
3 1 (0.20%) Nessus
3 1 (0.20%) Prometheus
3 1 (0.20%) QRadar
3 1 (0.20%) Rancher
3 1 (0.20%) SCCM
Vendors
1 67 (13.29%) ServiceNow
2 63 (12.50%) Microsoft
3 52 (10.32%) SAP
4 44 (8.73%) Oracle
5 10 (1.98%) Google
6 8 (1.59%) CyberArk
6 8 (1.59%) Databricks
7 7 (1.39%) OpenAI
8 6 (1.19%) Red Hat
9 5 (0.99%) Cisco
9 5 (0.99%) CrowdStrike
9 5 (0.99%) F5
9 5 (0.99%) HP
9 5 (0.99%) Palo Alto
9 5 (0.99%) Splunk
10 4 (0.79%) Centrify
10 4 (0.79%) Qualys
10 4 (0.79%) Snow
10 4 (0.79%) Tripwire
11 3 (0.60%) Atlassian