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 9 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
9 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 341 360 473
Rank change year-on-year +19 +113 +85
Contract jobs citing GRC 291 165 129
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.69% 0.55% 0.29%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 3.98% 3.68% 1.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 187 99 97
10th Percentile £370 £355 £385
25th Percentile £450 £513 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £650 £575
Median % change year-on-year -19.23% +13.04% +1.01%
75th Percentile £638 £728 £750
90th Percentile £725 £900 £910
UK excluding London median daily rate £525 £550 £575
% change year-on-year -4.55% -4.35% -4.17%
Number of hourly rates quoted 13 0 0
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile - - -
Median hourly rate £33.50 - -
75th Percentile £36.00 - -
90th Percentile - - -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.50 - -

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 7,306 4,480 6,494
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 17.30% 15.06% 14.52%
Number of daily rates quoted 4,711 2,816 4,147
10th Percentile £330 £260 £300
25th Percentile £413 £375 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £518
Median % change year-on-year - -3.38% -1.43%
75th Percentile £600 £625 £625
90th Percentile £700 £725 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £485
% change year-on-year +5.26% -2.06% +2.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 389 173 394
10th Percentile £15.54 £16.23 £11.06
25th Percentile £18.50 £22.00 £14.13
Median hourly rate £28.55 £31.76 £25.00
Median % change year-on-year -10.11% +27.04% -23.08%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £46.75
90th Percentile £79.17 £78.45 £70.01
UK excluding London median hourly rate £30.79 £31.76 £24.43
% change year-on-year -3.05% +30.00% -18.97%

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 9 March 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 9 March 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 +33 271 £525 -22.22% 105
London +16 143 £525 -22.22% 35
UK excluding London -9 129 £525 -4.55% 69
Work from Home +16 81 £525 -12.50% 67
South East -22 39 £525 -4.11% 28
North of England -34 29 £466 -11.33% 19
Midlands -48 23 £575 -4.17% 8
South West -12 18 £500 -23.08% 6
Yorkshire -40 18 £475 -9.52% 8
East of England -24 17 £575 -4.17% 4
East Midlands -21 16 £538 +19.44%
North West -20 11 £452 -8.97% 11
West Midlands -54 7 £575 -4.17% 8
Scotland +2 3 £331 -29.52% 4

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 12 (4.12%) Confluence
2 7 (2.41%) SharePoint
Applications
1 14 (4.81%) Microsoft Excel
2 6 (2.06%) Microsoft Project
3 3 (1.03%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 3 (1.03%) MS Visio
3 3 (1.03%) Trello
4 1 (0.34%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 15 (5.15%) SAP S/4HANA
2 12 (4.12%) SAP GRC
3 1 (0.34%) SAP BPC
3 1 (0.34%) SAP EWM
3 1 (0.34%) SAP FI
3 1 (0.34%) SAP HR
Cloud Services
1 37 (12.71%) Azure
2 29 (9.97%) AWS
3 21 (7.22%) GCP
4 13 (4.47%) Power Platform
5 11 (3.78%) GitHub
6 8 (2.75%) Entra ID
6 8 (2.75%) Microsoft 365
7 7 (2.41%) SaaS
7 7 (2.41%) SuccessFactors
8 6 (2.06%) Miro
9 5 (1.72%) Microsoft Purview
10 4 (1.37%) Amazon CloudWatch
10 4 (1.37%) Amazon GuardDuty
10 4 (1.37%) AWS CloudFormation
10 4 (1.37%) Azure DevOps
10 4 (1.37%) Azure Sentinel
11 3 (1.03%) Asana
11 3 (1.03%) GitHub Actions
11 3 (1.03%) OneDrive
12 2 (0.69%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 15 (5.15%) Network Security
2 12 (4.12%) Firewall
3 3 (1.03%) NGFW
3 3 (1.03%) Reverse Proxy
4 2 (0.69%) VPN
5 1 (0.34%) BGP
5 1 (0.34%) Cisco ASA
5 1 (0.34%) DMZ
5 1 (0.34%) Fibre Channel
5 1 (0.34%) Internet
5 1 (0.34%) iSCSI
5 1 (0.34%) LAN
5 1 (0.34%) MPLS
5 1 (0.34%) NAS
5 1 (0.34%) OSPF
5 1 (0.34%) SAN
5 1 (0.34%) TCP/IP
5 1 (0.34%) VLAN
5 1 (0.34%) WAN
5 1 (0.34%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (3.78%) Power BI
2 10 (3.44%) Metadata
3 4 (1.37%) SAP HANA
4 3 (1.03%) SAP BW
4 3 (1.03%) Tableau
5 2 (0.69%) Data Warehouse
6 1 (0.34%) Amazon Redshift
6 1 (0.34%) Data Vault
6 1 (0.34%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 13 (4.47%) JIRA
2 3 (1.03%) Jaeger
3 1 (0.34%) Git
General
1 115 (39.52%) Social Skills
2 70 (24.05%) Finance
3 37 (12.71%) Analytical Skills
4 33 (11.34%) Public Sector
5 28 (9.62%) Banking
6 25 (8.59%) Legal
7 13 (4.47%) Organisational Skills
8 10 (3.44%) Presentation Skills
9 9 (3.09%) Telecoms
10 8 (2.75%) Influencing Skills
11 6 (2.06%) Law
12 5 (1.72%) Financial Institution
12 5 (1.72%) Marketing
13 4 (1.37%) Documentation Skills
14 3 (1.03%) Aerospace
14 3 (1.03%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 2 (0.69%) Arabic Language
15 2 (0.69%) Investment Banking
15 2 (0.69%) Military
15 2 (0.69%) Police
Job Titles
1 62 (21.31%) Analyst
2 43 (14.78%) Consultant
3 33 (11.34%) Architect
4 24 (8.25%) Senior
5 22 (7.56%) Lead
6 20 (6.87%) Security Analyst
7 16 (5.50%) Risk Manager
8 15 (5.15%) Risk Analyst
9 14 (4.81%) ServiceNow Architect
10 13 (4.47%) Security Consultant
11 12 (4.12%) Governance Manager
11 12 (4.12%) Project Manager
11 12 (4.12%) Solutions Architect
12 11 (3.78%) Business Analyst
13 10 (3.44%) Compliance Manager
13 10 (3.44%) Security Engineer
13 10 (3.44%) Security Manager
13 10 (3.44%) Security Specialist
14 9 (3.09%) Information Analyst
14 9 (3.09%) Senior Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 18 (6.19%) REST
2 16 (5.50%) SOAP
3 6 (2.06%) SAP Fiori
4 4 (1.37%) .NET
5 3 (1.03%) Loki
5 3 (1.03%) OAuth
5 3 (1.03%) OAuth2
5 3 (1.03%) OpenID
5 3 (1.03%) OpenTelemetry
5 3 (1.03%) SAML
6 2 (0.69%) SailPoint
6 2 (0.69%) Web Services
7 1 (0.34%) ARM Templates
7 1 (0.34%) IDoc
7 1 (0.34%) JSON
7 1 (0.34%) LDAP
7 1 (0.34%) Middleware
7 1 (0.34%) SAP PI
7 1 (0.34%) Spring
Miscellaneous
1 31 (10.65%) Security Posture
2 27 (9.28%) Management Information System
3 21 (7.22%) Product Ownership
4 17 (5.84%) CMDB
5 11 (3.78%) Onboarding
6 10 (3.44%) Operational Technology
7 8 (2.75%) Virtual Team
8 7 (2.41%) Data Protection Act
9 6 (2.06%) Cloud Native
9 6 (2.06%) Taxonomies
10 5 (1.72%) Hybrid Cloud
10 5 (1.72%) IoT
11 4 (1.37%) Data Centre
11 4 (1.37%) Distributed Systems
11 4 (1.37%) PropTech
11 4 (1.37%) Public Cloud
12 3 (1.03%) Cyber Threat
12 3 (1.03%) Enterprise Software
13 2 (0.69%) Cyber Defence
13 2 (0.69%) Hedge funds
Operating Systems
1 4 (1.37%) Linux
2 3 (1.03%) Windows
3 1 (0.34%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 129 (44.33%) Risk Management
2 82 (28.18%) Stakeholder Management
3 80 (27.49%) Cybersecurity
4 79 (27.15%) Information Security
5 59 (20.27%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 40 (13.75%) Roadmaps
7 39 (13.40%) Agile
8 38 (13.06%) Continuous Improvement
8 38 (13.06%) Security Operations
9 34 (11.68%) Problem-Solving
10 31 (10.65%) Risk Assessment
11 29 (9.97%) Risk Register
12 28 (9.62%) Cloud Security
12 28 (9.62%) ITSM
13 26 (8.93%) Data Protection
14 25 (8.59%) ITIL
14 25 (8.59%) Regulatory Compliance
15 23 (7.90%) Identity Access Management
16 21 (7.22%) AI
16 21 (7.22%) Internal Audit
Programming Languages
1 10 (3.44%) JavaScript
2 7 (2.41%) Python
3 5 (1.72%) Bash
4 4 (1.37%) PowerShell
4 4 (1.37%) SQL
5 3 (1.03%) Bicep
5 3 (1.03%) Go
6 1 (0.34%) ABAP
6 1 (0.34%) Data Analysis Expressions
6 1 (0.34%) Java
6 1 (0.34%) Kusto Query Language
Qualifications
1 70 (24.05%) Security Cleared
2 44 (15.12%) SC Cleared
3 37 (12.71%) CISSP
4 34 (11.68%) CISM
5 31 (10.65%) Degree
6 22 (7.56%) CRISC
7 21 (7.22%) DV Cleared
8 17 (5.84%) CISA
9 16 (5.50%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
10 15 (5.15%) BPSS Clearance
11 14 (4.81%) Master's Degree
12 12 (4.12%) Computer Science Degree
13 11 (3.78%) PMI Certification
14 10 (3.44%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
14 10 (3.44%) PMP
15 7 (2.41%) FFIEC
16 4 (1.37%) CGEIT
16 4 (1.37%) Cisco Certification
16 4 (1.37%) CISMP
16 4 (1.37%) RIBA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 90 (30.93%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 73 (25.09%) NIST
3 38 (13.06%) GDPR
4 26 (8.93%) PCI DSS
5 18 (6.19%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 12 (4.12%) COBIT
6 12 (4.12%) SOC 2
7 10 (3.44%) ISO/IEC 27005
7 10 (3.44%) NCSC
8 9 (3.09%) Cyber Essentials
8 9 (3.09%) Def Stans
8 9 (3.09%) QA
9 8 (2.75%) Actionable Recommendations
10 7 (2.41%) SLA
11 6 (2.06%) PMO
12 5 (1.72%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 5 (1.72%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
13 4 (1.37%) ISO 22301
13 4 (1.37%) ISO 31000
13 4 (1.37%) ITGC
System Software
1 6 (2.06%) Active Directory
2 2 (0.69%) Docker
3 1 (0.34%) IAG
3 1 (0.34%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 14 (4.81%) Terraform
2 10 (3.44%) RSA Archer
3 9 (3.09%) Kubernetes
4 8 (2.75%) Single Sign-On
5 3 (1.03%) Grafana
5 3 (1.03%) Istio
5 3 (1.03%) Prometheus
6 2 (0.69%) QRadar
6 2 (0.69%) Rancher
7 1 (0.34%) Ansible
7 1 (0.34%) Cisco Prime
7 1 (0.34%) Fluentd
7 1 (0.34%) Iperf
7 1 (0.34%) logstash
7 1 (0.34%) Microsoft Intune
7 1 (0.34%) NetBackup
7 1 (0.34%) Nmap
Vendors
1 47 (16.15%) ServiceNow
2 23 (7.90%) Microsoft
3 22 (7.56%) SAP
4 9 (3.09%) Google
5 5 (1.72%) Ariba
5 5 (1.72%) Splunk
6 4 (1.37%) Fortinet
6 4 (1.37%) Palo Alto
6 4 (1.37%) Rapid7
7 2 (0.69%) CheckPoint
7 2 (0.69%) Commvault
7 2 (0.69%) CrowdStrike
7 2 (0.69%) CyberArk
7 2 (0.69%) IBM
7 2 (0.69%) Okta
7 2 (0.69%) Veeam
8 1 (0.34%) 3PAR
8 1 (0.34%) Isilon
8 1 (0.34%) SolarWinds
8 1 (0.34%) Tufin