Information Security Contract Job Trends

Information Security (InfoSec)
UK

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

6 months to
1 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 201 170 109
Rank change year-on-year -31 -61 -18
Contract jobs citing Information Security 743 559 833
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.38% 1.71% 2.16%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.64% 1.89% 2.52%
Number of daily rates quoted 385 317 538
10th Percentile £328 £333 £375
25th Percentile £438 £418 £486
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £530 £600
Median % change year-on-year +3.77% -11.67% +1.14%
75th Percentile £656 £688 £688
90th Percentile £813 £825 £777
UK excluding London median daily rate £493 £500 £600
% change year-on-year -1.50% -16.67% +9.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 78 35 17
10th Percentile £15.97 £19.29 £12.75
25th Percentile £19.03 £22.14 £13.00
Median hourly rate £62.25 £27.53 £16.19
Median % change year-on-year +126.12% +70.04% -77.93%
75th Percentile £77.50 £65.00 £21.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £83.54 £46.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £62.25 £32.74 £15.73
% change year-on-year +90.16% +108.11% -78.97%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

Information Security falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 45,369 29,617 32,996
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.56% 90.44% 85.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,730 18,446 20,728
10th Percentile £325 £300 £310
25th Percentile £425 £402 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -3.67%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,902 1,758 1,607
10th Percentile £14.10 £14.20 £14.16
25th Percentile £17.78 £17.30 £18.82
Median hourly rate £41.09 £25.15 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year +63.39% -40.82% +2.41%
75th Percentile £67.88 £47.09 £65.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £67.25 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.56 £22.63 £43.00
% change year-on-year +92.49% -47.37% +14.67%

Information Security
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Information Security job vacancy trend in the UK

Information Security
Daily Rate Trend

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

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Information Security

Information Security
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Information Security over the 6 months to 1 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Information Security in the UK

Information Security
Hourly Rate Trend

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

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Information Security

Information Security
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Information Security over the 6 months to 1 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Information Security in the UK

Information Security
Top 17 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Information Security within the UK over the 6 months to 1 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 -31 677 £551 +3.57% 1,349
UK excluding London -7 395 £493 -1.50% 720
London -47 299 £600 +7.38% 753
Work from Home -43 181 £575 +15.00% 595
North of England -23 113 £483 +2.60% 174
South East -29 105 £500 -20.00% 200
North West -20 78 £518 +16.77% 102
Midlands -28 65 £450 +12.50% 85
West Midlands -9 53 £425 -10.53% 52
South West -18 53 £600 +9.34% 103
Scotland -10 31 £533 +21.16% 57
East of England -15 30 £538 +48.48% 76
Yorkshire -36 23 £533 +7.85% 54
East Midlands -27 12 £533 +33.13% 33
North East -37 11 £425 -21.59% 21
Wales -11 4 £645 -0.77% 11
Northern Ireland +3 1 £550 - 24

Information Security
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 31 (4.17%) SharePoint
2 23 (3.10%) Confluence
3 9 (1.21%) Microsoft Exchange
4 5 (0.67%) IIS
5 2 (0.27%) Apache
5 2 (0.27%) Apache Airflow
5 2 (0.27%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.27%) Jupyter
6 1 (0.13%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Workflow
6 1 (0.13%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 19 (2.56%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (1.75%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (1.08%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 8 (1.08%) Spreadsheet
4 6 (0.81%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.27%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.13%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 12 (1.62%) Dynamics CRM
2 7 (0.94%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.40%) Oracle Payroll
4 2 (0.27%) Oracle ERP
4 2 (0.27%) SAP S/4HANA
5 1 (0.13%) Oracle Applications
5 1 (0.13%) Oracle Payables
5 1 (0.13%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 1 (0.13%) Oracle Receivables
5 1 (0.13%) SAP GRC
5 1 (0.13%) SAP MDG
5 1 (0.13%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 177 (23.82%) Azure
2 118 (15.88%) AWS
3 67 (9.02%) Entra ID
4 48 (6.46%) SaaS
5 45 (6.06%) Microsoft 365
6 33 (4.44%) GCP
7 26 (3.50%) GitHub
8 25 (3.36%) Power Platform
9 23 (3.10%) Azure Sentinel
9 23 (3.10%) Microsoft Purview
10 16 (2.15%) OCI
10 16 (2.15%) Power Automate
10 16 (2.15%) Serverless
11 15 (2.02%) Azure DevOps
11 15 (2.02%) Dynamics 365
12 10 (1.35%) IaaS
12 10 (1.35%) PaaS
13 9 (1.21%) GitHub Actions
14 8 (1.08%) Azure Functions
14 8 (1.08%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 46 (6.19%) Firewall
2 44 (5.92%) Network Security
3 19 (2.56%) WAN
4 16 (2.15%) LAN
5 14 (1.88%) DNS
6 13 (1.75%) VPN
7 11 (1.48%) DHCP
8 10 (1.35%) SSH
8 10 (1.35%) Wireless
9 9 (1.21%) TCP/IP
10 8 (1.08%) Internet
10 8 (1.08%) NGFW
11 7 (0.94%) HTTPS
12 5 (0.67%) HTTP
12 5 (0.67%) SD-WAN
12 5 (0.67%) Structured Cabling
13 4 (0.54%) Cisco IPT
13 4 (0.54%) Intrusion Detection
14 3 (0.40%) Wi-Fi
15 2 (0.27%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 26 (3.50%) SQL Server
2 18 (2.42%) Power BI
3 9 (1.21%) MongoDB
4 8 (1.08%) Metadata
5 4 (0.54%) Data Lake
5 4 (0.54%) NoSQL
5 4 (0.54%) Oracle Reports
6 2 (0.27%) Amazon RDS
6 2 (0.27%) Data Warehouse
6 2 (0.27%) Relational Database
7 1 (0.13%) MariaDB
7 1 (0.13%) Neo4j
7 1 (0.13%) Oracle Database
7 1 (0.13%) Oracle Database 10g
7 1 (0.13%) PostgreSQL
7 1 (0.13%) RDBMS
7 1 (0.13%) SAP HANA
7 1 (0.13%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 26 (3.50%) JIRA
2 9 (1.21%) Cypress.io
2 9 (1.21%) Postman
2 9 (1.21%) Selenium
2 9 (1.21%) WebDriver
3 6 (0.81%) Cucumber
3 6 (0.81%) Git
4 3 (0.40%) Protractor
5 2 (0.27%) Atlassian Bamboo
5 2 (0.27%) Bitbucket
5 2 (0.27%) Burp Suite
5 2 (0.27%) git-flow
5 2 (0.27%) GitLab
5 2 (0.27%) JMeter
6 1 (0.13%) Jenkins
6 1 (0.13%) LSMW
6 1 (0.13%) Metasploit
6 1 (0.13%) ScalaTest
6 1 (0.13%) SoapUI
6 1 (0.13%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 260 (34.99%) Social Skills
2 164 (22.07%) Finance
3 139 (18.71%) Public Sector
4 95 (12.79%) Analytical Skills
5 62 (8.34%) Legal
6 49 (6.59%) Banking
7 45 (6.06%) Documentation Skills
8 30 (4.04%) Influencing Skills
9 28 (3.77%) Organisational Skills
10 27 (3.63%) Local Government
11 25 (3.36%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 21 (2.83%) Military
12 21 (2.83%) Presentation Skills
13 15 (2.02%) Aerospace
14 14 (1.88%) Law
15 13 (1.75%) Retail
16 12 (1.62%) Billing
17 10 (1.35%) Manufacturing
17 10 (1.35%) Marketing
18 9 (1.21%) Police
Job Titles
1 104 (14.00%) Analyst
2 78 (10.50%) Architect
2 78 (10.50%) Senior
3 72 (9.69%) Consultant
4 63 (8.48%) Lead
5 57 (7.67%) Security Architect
6 47 (6.33%) Security Consultant
7 42 (5.65%) Security Engineer
8 37 (4.98%) Security Manager
9 34 (4.58%) Security Analyst
10 28 (3.77%) Developer
11 24 (3.23%) IT Manager
12 23 (3.10%) Information Manager
12 23 (3.10%) Project Manager
12 23 (3.10%) Security Officer
13 21 (2.83%) Information Security Officer
14 20 (2.69%) Cybersecurity Manager
15 19 (2.56%) Information Officer
16 18 (2.42%) Business Analyst
17 17 (2.29%) Senior Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 32 (4.31%) Terraform
2 26 (3.50%) SailPoint
3 24 (3.23%) Oracle Fusion
4 22 (2.96%) OAuth
5 17 (2.29%) SAML
6 16 (2.15%) LDAP
7 15 (2.02%) OAuth2
7 15 (2.02%) OpenID
7 15 (2.02%) Web Services
8 12 (1.62%) XML
9 10 (1.35%) REST
10 9 (1.21%) Gherkin
11 8 (1.08%) JSON
12 5 (0.67%) .NET
12 5 (0.67%) Play Framework
12 5 (0.67%) XSLT
13 4 (0.54%) Jakarta EE
13 4 (0.54%) JSP
14 3 (0.40%) .NET Framework
14 3 (0.40%) Spring
Miscellaneous
1 137 (18.44%) Management Information System
2 74 (9.96%) Onboarding
3 52 (7.00%) Security Posture
4 28 (3.77%) Operational Technology
5 27 (3.63%) Cyber Threat
6 24 (3.23%) Security Operations Centre
7 20 (2.69%) Data Centre
7 20 (2.69%) PKI
8 18 (2.42%) Cloud Native
9 15 (2.02%) Enterprise Software
10 13 (1.75%) NHS
11 12 (1.62%) Self-Motivation
12 11 (1.48%) Cyber Defence
12 11 (1.48%) Data Protection Act
13 9 (1.21%) CSOC
13 9 (1.21%) Freedom of Information
13 9 (1.21%) Legacy Systems
13 9 (1.21%) Product Ownership
14 8 (1.08%) Analytical Mindset
14 8 (1.08%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 84 (11.31%) Windows
2 45 (6.06%) Linux
3 37 (4.98%) Windows Server
4 20 (2.69%) Unix
5 10 (1.35%) Android
6 9 (1.21%) Mac OS
7 8 (1.08%) Apple iOS
8 6 (0.81%) Ubuntu
9 5 (0.67%) Windows 10
10 3 (0.40%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 2 (0.27%) Alpine Linux
12 1 (0.13%) CentOS
12 1 (0.13%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 257 (34.59%) Cybersecurity
2 205 (27.59%) Risk Management
3 178 (23.96%) Stakeholder Management
4 138 (18.57%) Data Protection
5 128 (17.23%) Continuous Improvement
6 106 (14.27%) Problem-Solving
7 105 (14.13%) Incident Response
8 95 (12.79%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 93 (12.52%) Security Operations
10 86 (11.57%) Vulnerability Management
11 85 (11.44%) Roadmaps
12 83 (11.17%) Decision-Making
13 81 (10.90%) Agile
13 81 (10.90%) Cloud Security
14 68 (9.15%) ITIL
15 66 (8.88%) SIEM
16 65 (8.75%) AI
16 65 (8.75%) Security Architecture
17 64 (8.61%) Computer Science
17 64 (8.61%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 75 (10.09%) Python
2 68 (9.15%) PowerShell
3 30 (4.04%) Bash
4 21 (2.83%) SQL
5 12 (1.62%) C#
5 12 (1.62%) Java
6 11 (1.48%) JavaScript
7 9 (1.21%) PL/SQL
8 7 (0.94%) Bicep
8 7 (0.94%) Kusto Query Language
9 6 (0.81%) Scala
10 3 (0.40%) Apex Code
10 3 (0.40%) Kotlin
11 1 (0.13%) BeanShell
11 1 (0.13%) Go
11 1 (0.13%) R
11 1 (0.13%) Search Processing Language
11 1 (0.13%) Shell Script
11 1 (0.13%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 161 (21.67%) Security Cleared
2 127 (17.09%) Degree
3 123 (16.55%) CISSP
4 114 (15.34%) SC Cleared
5 83 (11.17%) CISM
6 45 (6.06%) DV Cleared
7 31 (4.17%) Microsoft Certification
8 30 (4.04%) CISA
9 29 (3.90%) CRISC
10 25 (3.36%) Cisco Certification
11 20 (2.69%) (ISC)2 CCSP
12 17 (2.29%) Azure Certification
12 17 (2.29%) Computer Science Degree
13 16 (2.15%) AWS Certification
14 15 (2.02%) CEH
15 14 (1.88%) PMP
16 13 (1.75%) CCSP
16 13 (1.75%) PMI Certification
17 12 (1.62%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
17 12 (1.62%) OSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 190 (25.57%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 123 (16.55%) NIST
3 117 (15.75%) GDPR
4 110 (14.80%) GRC
5 41 (5.52%) Cyber Essentials
6 38 (5.11%) NCSC
7 37 (4.98%) PCI DSS
8 27 (3.63%) Data Quality
9 25 (3.36%) Accessibility
10 22 (2.96%) QA
11 19 (2.56%) NIST 800
11 19 (2.56%) SLA
12 18 (2.42%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 15 (2.02%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 14 (1.88%) HIPAA
15 13 (1.75%) WCAG
16 12 (1.62%) HMG Security Policy Framework
16 12 (1.62%) SOC 2
17 10 (1.35%) COBIT
17 10 (1.35%) Government Security Classifications
System Software
1 82 (11.04%) Active Directory
2 10 (1.35%) Docker
3 9 (1.21%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (0.81%) Hyper-V
5 5 (0.67%) Firmware
6 3 (0.40%) OpenAM
6 3 (0.40%) Squid
7 2 (0.27%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.27%) Virtual Servers
8 1 (0.13%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.13%) Ceph
8 1 (0.13%) RACF
8 1 (0.13%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.13%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 22 (2.96%) Kubernetes
1 22 (2.96%) Microsoft Intune
2 19 (2.56%) Single Sign-On
3 12 (1.62%) Ansible
4 6 (0.81%) SCCM
5 5 (0.67%) Grafana
5 5 (0.67%) QRadar
6 4 (0.54%) Podman
7 3 (0.40%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 3 (0.40%) RSA Archer
8 2 (0.27%) CASB
8 2 (0.27%) Computer Incident Response Team
8 2 (0.27%) Jamf Pro
9 1 (0.13%) Control-M
9 1 (0.13%) Host Intrusion Detection System
9 1 (0.13%) Istio
9 1 (0.13%) Nmap
9 1 (0.13%) WSUS
Vendors
1 178 (23.96%) Microsoft
2 45 (6.06%) Oracle
3 40 (5.38%) ServiceNow
4 26 (3.50%) Splunk
5 24 (3.23%) Google
6 23 (3.10%) CyberArk
7 21 (2.83%) SAP
8 19 (2.56%) BeyondTrust
8 19 (2.56%) Cisco
9 16 (2.15%) Palo Alto
10 15 (2.02%) Apple
10 15 (2.02%) VMware
11 12 (1.62%) Ariba
12 10 (1.35%) Remedy
12 10 (1.35%) Zscaler
13 9 (1.21%) CrowdStrike
14 7 (0.94%) Qualys
14 7 (0.94%) Thales
15 6 (0.81%) Atlassian
15 6 (0.81%) Computacenter