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 17 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 190 181 114
Rank change year-on-year -9 -67 -8
Contract jobs citing Information Security 702 463 849
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.40% 1.56% 1.95%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.64% 1.71% 2.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 415 259 519
10th Percentile £400 £310 £363
25th Percentile £457 £413 £481
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £582
Median % change year-on-year - -5.50% -3.00%
75th Percentile £675 £681 £688
90th Percentile £800 £825 £778
UK excluding London median daily rate £525 £534 £582
% change year-on-year -1.69% -8.25% +5.82%
Number of hourly rates quoted 52 27 23
10th Percentile £16.35 - £12.75
25th Percentile £17.60 £22.14 £17.86
Median hourly rate £25.50 £24.66 £19.50
Median % change year-on-year +3.41% +26.46% -74.26%
75th Percentile £63.38 £64.79 £23.59
90th Percentile £84.25 £84.95 £35.74
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.50 £23.65 £19.50
% change year-on-year +7.85% +21.26% -75.60%

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 42,679 27,009 37,072
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.81% 91.00% 85.05%
Number of daily rates quoted 26,607 17,137 23,609
10th Percentile £325 £300 £300
25th Percentile £413 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £508 £525
Median % change year-on-year +0.99% -3.33% -4.55%
75th Percentile £619 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,567 1,242 2,598
10th Percentile £14.82 £14.20 £12.75
25th Percentile £20.09 £17.87 £16.03
Median hourly rate £43.96 £26.27 £37.34
Median % change year-on-year +67.37% -29.66% +6.69%
75th Percentile £68.00 £55.25 £61.30
90th Percentile £81.25 £73.75 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £44.50 £25.15 £38.12
% change year-on-year +76.94% -34.02% +17.29%

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 17 June 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 17 June 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Information Security in the UK

Information Security
Top 16 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 17 June 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 -12 639 £550 +3.00% 609
UK excluding London +1 363 £525 -1.69% 536
London -4 294 £590 +12.38% 194
Work from Home -46 167 £550 +4.76% 436
South East -8 129 £525 -15.66% 135
North of England -47 78 £525 +23.53% 121
North West -12 55 £525 +27.27% 59
Midlands -33 51 £540 +35.00% 73
South West -3 45 £500 -14.71% 61
West Midlands -25 39 £540 +35.00% 44
Scotland +3 31 £415 -6.69% 54
East of England -18 28 £575 +1.77% 55
Yorkshire -57 20 £540 +30.91% 48
East Midlands -25 12 £557 +39.19% 29
Wales -10 3 £645 +55.42% 24
North East -37 3 £450 -15.73% 14

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 28 (3.99%) Confluence
2 22 (3.13%) SharePoint
3 7 (1.00%) Microsoft Exchange
4 5 (0.71%) IIS
5 4 (0.57%) Apache Spark
5 4 (0.57%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
6 1 (0.14%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 1 (0.14%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 31 (4.42%) Microsoft Office
2 27 (3.85%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (1.85%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 11 (1.57%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.28%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.14%) Adobe After Effects
6 1 (0.14%) Adobe Illustrator
6 1 (0.14%) Adobe Premiere
6 1 (0.14%) Camtasia
6 1 (0.14%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 6 (0.85%) Oracle EBS
1 6 (0.85%) Remedy ITSM
2 4 (0.57%) NEC Housing
3 2 (0.28%) Dynamics CRM
4 1 (0.14%) Oracle Applications
4 1 (0.14%) Oracle ERP
4 1 (0.14%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 145 (20.66%) Azure
2 105 (14.96%) AWS
3 45 (6.41%) Entra ID
4 39 (5.56%) SaaS
5 38 (5.41%) Microsoft 365
6 35 (4.99%) GCP
7 23 (3.28%) Microsoft Purview
8 22 (3.13%) Power Platform
9 19 (2.71%) GitHub
10 15 (2.14%) Azure Sentinel
11 14 (1.99%) OCI
12 9 (1.28%) Microsoft Copilot
13 8 (1.14%) IaaS
13 8 (1.14%) PaaS
14 7 (1.00%) Azure DevOps
14 7 (1.00%) Power Automate
15 6 (0.85%) Azure Key Vault
15 6 (0.85%) Azure Logic Apps
15 6 (0.85%) OneDrive
16 5 (0.71%) AWS CloudFormation
Communications & Networking
1 40 (5.70%) Firewall
2 36 (5.13%) Network Security
3 11 (1.57%) SSH
3 11 (1.57%) VPN
4 10 (1.42%) Wireless
5 9 (1.28%) HTTP
5 9 (1.28%) Internet
5 9 (1.28%) TCP/IP
6 8 (1.14%) DNS
7 7 (1.00%) HTTPS
8 5 (0.71%) DHCP
8 5 (0.71%) Intrusion Detection
9 4 (0.57%) WAN
10 3 (0.43%) Cisco IPT
10 3 (0.43%) NGFW
11 2 (0.28%) LAN
11 2 (0.28%) Multicast
11 2 (0.28%) NAS
11 2 (0.28%) Reverse Proxy
11 2 (0.28%) SD-WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 19 (2.71%) Power BI
2 15 (2.14%) SQL Server
3 9 (1.28%) Metadata
4 5 (0.71%) Data Lake
4 5 (0.71%) Oracle Reports
5 4 (0.57%) Big Data
5 4 (0.57%) Hadoop
6 3 (0.43%) MongoDB
6 3 (0.43%) NoSQL
6 3 (0.43%) PostgreSQL
7 2 (0.28%) Data Warehouse
7 2 (0.28%) DynamoDB
7 2 (0.28%) Elasticsearch
7 2 (0.28%) MySQL
7 2 (0.28%) Oracle BI Publisher
7 2 (0.28%) Tableau
8 1 (0.14%) GIS
8 1 (0.14%) MariaDB
8 1 (0.14%) Oracle Database 10g
8 1 (0.14%) RDBMS
Development Applications
1 30 (4.27%) JIRA
2 10 (1.42%) Git
3 9 (1.28%) Burp Suite
4 7 (1.00%) Metasploit
5 3 (0.43%) git-flow
6 2 (0.28%) Cypress.io
6 2 (0.28%) GitLab
6 2 (0.28%) JMeter
6 2 (0.28%) Postman
6 2 (0.28%) Selenium
6 2 (0.28%) WebDriver
7 1 (0.14%) AppScan
7 1 (0.14%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 1 (0.14%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.14%) Cucumber
7 1 (0.14%) Protractor
7 1 (0.14%) ScriptRunner
7 1 (0.14%) SoapUI
7 1 (0.14%) SonarQube
General
1 234 (33.33%) Social Skills
2 162 (23.08%) Finance
3 110 (15.67%) Public Sector
4 79 (11.25%) Analytical Skills
5 61 (8.69%) Legal
6 60 (8.55%) Banking
7 36 (5.13%) Documentation Skills
8 24 (3.42%) Organisational Skills
9 18 (2.56%) Influencing Skills
10 16 (2.28%) Local Government
11 14 (1.99%) Presentation Skills
12 12 (1.71%) Retail
13 10 (1.42%) Marketing
14 7 (1.00%) Aviation
14 7 (1.00%) Billing
14 7 (1.00%) Investment Banking
14 7 (1.00%) Military
14 7 (1.00%) Pharmaceutical
14 7 (1.00%) Police
15 6 (0.85%) Law
Job Titles
1 97 (13.82%) Analyst
2 72 (10.26%) Consultant
3 61 (8.69%) Senior
4 56 (7.98%) Security Engineer
5 54 (7.69%) Security Consultant
6 53 (7.55%) Architect
6 53 (7.55%) Lead
7 39 (5.56%) Security Analyst
8 37 (5.27%) Security Architect
9 36 (5.13%) Security Manager
10 30 (4.27%) Security Officer
11 28 (3.99%) Project Manager
12 27 (3.85%) IT Manager
13 22 (3.13%) Information Security Officer
13 22 (3.13%) Senior Manager
14 19 (2.71%) Cybersecurity Manager
15 18 (2.56%) Information Officer
16 17 (2.42%) Business Analyst
17 15 (2.14%) Information Architect
17 15 (2.14%) Security Specialist
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (3.13%) Oracle Fusion
2 20 (2.85%) OAuth
3 19 (2.71%) SailPoint
4 15 (2.14%) OAuth2
5 14 (1.99%) SAML
6 13 (1.85%) OpenID
7 11 (1.57%) LDAP
8 10 (1.42%) Web Services
9 8 (1.14%) REST
10 7 (1.00%) .NET
10 7 (1.00%) J2EE
10 7 (1.00%) JSP
10 7 (1.00%) XML
11 5 (0.71%) Elastic Stack
11 5 (0.71%) Middleware
11 5 (0.71%) Node.js
11 5 (0.71%) RESTful
12 4 (0.57%) Kafka
12 4 (0.57%) Lightning Web Components
13 3 (0.43%) OpenTelemetry
Miscellaneous
1 116 (16.52%) Management Information System
2 67 (9.54%) Onboarding
3 58 (8.26%) Security Posture
4 37 (5.27%) Operational Technology
5 18 (2.56%) Cloud Native
6 17 (2.42%) Cyber Threat
6 17 (2.42%) Data Protection Act
7 16 (2.28%) Security Operations Centre
8 13 (1.85%) Data Centre
8 13 (1.85%) PKI
9 12 (1.71%) Enterprise Software
9 12 (1.71%) Legacy Systems
9 12 (1.71%) SCADA
9 12 (1.71%) Self-Motivation
9 12 (1.71%) Virtual Team
10 11 (1.57%) BYOD
11 10 (1.42%) Product Ownership
11 10 (1.42%) Public Cloud
12 8 (1.14%) Analytical Mindset
12 8 (1.14%) Insider Threat
Operating Systems
1 81 (11.54%) Windows
2 45 (6.41%) Linux
3 33 (4.70%) Windows Server
4 19 (2.71%) Unix
5 9 (1.28%) Android
6 8 (1.14%) Apple iOS
7 7 (1.00%) Mac OS
8 4 (0.57%) Windows 10
9 3 (0.43%) zOS
10 2 (0.28%) Alpine Linux
10 2 (0.28%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 2 (0.28%) Ubuntu
11 1 (0.14%) Kali Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 245 (34.90%) Cybersecurity
2 193 (27.49%) Risk Management
3 122 (17.38%) Continuous Improvement
4 121 (17.24%) Data Protection
5 112 (15.95%) Stakeholder Management
6 104 (14.81%) Problem-Solving
7 82 (11.68%) Agile
8 81 (11.54%) Cloud Security
9 74 (10.54%) Change Management
9 74 (10.54%) Security Operations
10 73 (10.40%) Incident Response
10 73 (10.40%) Roadmaps
11 69 (9.83%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 67 (9.54%) Decision-Making
13 65 (9.26%) Computer Science
14 61 (8.69%) Security Management
15 58 (8.26%) SIEM
16 56 (7.98%) AI
17 53 (7.55%) Risk Assessment
18 52 (7.41%) Vulnerability Management
Programming Languages
1 81 (11.54%) Python
2 62 (8.83%) PowerShell
3 22 (3.13%) Java
4 21 (2.99%) Bash
5 14 (1.99%) SQL
6 7 (1.00%) C#
7 6 (0.85%) Kusto Query Language
8 5 (0.71%) Bicep
9 4 (0.57%) JavaScript
10 3 (0.43%) Apex Code
10 3 (0.43%) Go
10 3 (0.43%) Kotlin
10 3 (0.43%) RPG
11 1 (0.14%) BeanShell
11 1 (0.14%) C++
11 1 (0.14%) Lisp
11 1 (0.14%) TypeScript
11 1 (0.14%) VBA
Qualifications
1 166 (23.65%) Security Cleared
2 152 (21.65%) Degree
3 126 (17.95%) CISSP
4 123 (17.52%) SC Cleared
5 86 (12.25%) CISM
6 40 (5.70%) DV Cleared
7 36 (5.13%) CISA
8 32 (4.56%) Cisco Certification
9 31 (4.42%) CRISC
10 27 (3.85%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 23 (3.28%) Computer Science Degree
12 17 (2.42%) CEH
13 16 (2.28%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
14 14 (1.99%) AWS Certification
14 14 (1.99%) PMP
15 13 (1.85%) CREST Certified
15 13 (1.85%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
15 13 (1.85%) Master's Degree
15 13 (1.85%) Microsoft Certification
15 13 (1.85%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 217 (30.91%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 154 (21.94%) NIST
3 116 (16.52%) GDPR
4 95 (13.53%) GRC
5 58 (8.26%) PCI DSS
6 30 (4.27%) Cyber Essentials
7 26 (3.70%) NCSC
8 25 (3.56%) COBIT
9 23 (3.28%) Data Quality
9 23 (3.28%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 21 (2.99%) QA
11 20 (2.85%) PMO
12 17 (2.42%) NIST 800
12 17 (2.42%) SOC 2
13 14 (1.99%) HIPAA
14 13 (1.85%) Accessibility
14 13 (1.85%) SLA
15 12 (1.71%) ISO/IEC 27005
16 10 (1.42%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
17 8 (1.14%) Government Security Classifications
System Software
1 63 (8.97%) Active Directory
2 9 (1.28%) Docker
3 5 (0.71%) Hyper-V
3 5 (0.71%) VMware Infrastructure
4 3 (0.43%) Squid
5 2 (0.28%) Virtual Machines
5 2 (0.28%) Virtual Servers
6 1 (0.14%) BitLocker
6 1 (0.14%) Ceph
6 1 (0.14%) Firmware
6 1 (0.14%) OpenAM
6 1 (0.14%) RACF
Systems Management
1 15 (2.14%) Terraform
2 13 (1.85%) Microsoft Intune
3 12 (1.71%) Ansible
3 12 (1.71%) Kubernetes
4 9 (1.28%) Single Sign-On
5 6 (0.85%) Nmap
5 6 (0.85%) SCCM
6 5 (0.71%) Functional Safety
7 3 (0.43%) Podman
7 3 (0.43%) QRadar
8 2 (0.28%) Computer Incident Response Team
8 2 (0.28%) FortiGate
8 2 (0.28%) Prometheus
8 2 (0.28%) Red Hat Satellite
8 2 (0.28%) RSA Archer
9 1 (0.14%) HP Fortify
9 1 (0.14%) logstash
9 1 (0.14%) Nessus
9 1 (0.14%) Progress Chef
9 1 (0.14%) WSUS
Vendors
1 129 (18.38%) Microsoft
2 40 (5.70%) ServiceNow
3 35 (4.99%) Oracle
4 23 (3.28%) Google
5 21 (2.99%) CyberArk
6 19 (2.71%) BeyondTrust
7 15 (2.14%) Cisco
7 15 (2.14%) SAP
8 12 (1.71%) Apple
8 12 (1.71%) Ariba
8 12 (1.71%) CrowdStrike
8 12 (1.71%) Splunk
9 7 (1.00%) IBM
9 7 (1.00%) Palo Alto
9 7 (1.00%) Remedy
10 6 (0.85%) VMware
11 5 (0.71%) Computacenter
11 5 (0.71%) Okta
11 5 (0.71%) Rapid7
11 5 (0.71%) Thales