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 20 July 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
20 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 194 176 107
Rank change year-on-year -18 -69 -7
Contract jobs citing Information Security 741 513 874
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.40% 1.56% 2.09%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.65% 1.73% 2.45%
Number of daily rates quoted 416 286 538
10th Percentile £351 £344 £375
25th Percentile £450 £413 £481
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £530 £575
Median % change year-on-year +3.77% -7.83% -4.17%
75th Percentile £675 £688 £688
90th Percentile £803 £838 £800
UK excluding London median daily rate £515 £521 £583
% change year-on-year -1.15% -10.63% +6.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 64 38 26
10th Percentile £16.35 £22.10 £12.75
25th Percentile £17.60 £22.14 £15.80
Median hourly rate £52.50 £24.66 £19.50
Median % change year-on-year +112.90% +26.46% -75.60%
75th Percentile £77.50 £75.00 £22.50
90th Percentile £80.00 £85.00 £25.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £52.50 £27.53 £18.00
% change year-on-year +90.70% +52.94% -78.39%

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 44,857 29,633 35,662
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.99% 90.35% 85.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,817 18,625 22,863
10th Percentile £325 £300 £306
25th Percentile £419 £405 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% -4.76% -4.02%
75th Percentile £625 £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 2,658 1,571 2,253
10th Percentile £14.84 £14.20 £13.00
25th Percentile £20.00 £17.44 £16.82
Median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £38.12
Median % change year-on-year +74.79% -34.02% -10.31%
75th Percentile £68.50 £51.05 £62.00
90th Percentile £82.41 £70.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £24.00 £38.12
% change year-on-year +87.50% -37.04% -6.09%

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 20 July 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 20 July 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 20 July 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 -13 676 £550 +4.76% 446
UK excluding London -13 385 £515 -1.15% 266
London -14 313 £600 +14.29% 218
Work from Home -29 189 £573 +14.50% 176
South East -14 123 £525 -16.00% 94
North of England -45 91 £483 +13.53% 68
North West -15 63 £483 +13.53% 45
Midlands -13 59 £516 +29.06% 48
South West -14 48 £500 -14.53% 27
West Midlands -29 44 £471 -0.84% 28
Scotland -5 33 £387 -13.15% 11
East of England -9 30 £530 - 18
Yorkshire -54 24 £540 +30.91% 17
East Midlands -15 15 £557 +39.19% 20
North East -36 4 £450 -15.73% 6
Wales -14 3 £645 +55.42% 8

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 34 (4.59%) Confluence
2 27 (3.64%) SharePoint
3 8 (1.08%) Microsoft Exchange
4 5 (0.67%) IIS
5 4 (0.54%) Apache Spark
6 3 (0.40%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
7 1 (0.13%) Adobe Experience Manager
7 1 (0.13%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 26 (3.51%) Microsoft Office
2 17 (2.29%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (1.48%) Microsoft Project
4 6 (0.81%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.54%) Spreadsheet
6 2 (0.27%) MS Visio
7 1 (0.13%) Adobe After Effects
7 1 (0.13%) Adobe Illustrator
7 1 (0.13%) Adobe Premiere
7 1 (0.13%) Camtasia
Business Applications
1 8 (1.08%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (0.81%) Remedy ITSM
3 5 (0.67%) Oracle EBS
4 4 (0.54%) NEC Housing
5 2 (0.27%) Oracle ERP
5 2 (0.27%) SAP S/4HANA
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Applications
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Payables
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Receivables
6 1 (0.13%) SAP MDG
6 1 (0.13%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 161 (21.73%) Azure
2 107 (14.44%) AWS
3 60 (8.10%) Entra ID
4 42 (5.67%) SaaS
5 39 (5.26%) Microsoft 365
6 33 (4.45%) GCP
7 23 (3.10%) Microsoft Purview
8 22 (2.97%) GitHub
9 20 (2.70%) Power Platform
10 19 (2.56%) Azure Sentinel
11 18 (2.43%) OCI
12 14 (1.89%) Azure DevOps
13 11 (1.48%) Power Automate
14 10 (1.35%) Serverless
15 9 (1.21%) Dynamics 365
15 9 (1.21%) IaaS
15 9 (1.21%) Microsoft Copilot
15 9 (1.21%) PaaS
16 8 (1.08%) Azure Key Vault
16 8 (1.08%) Cloud Computing
Communications & Networking
1 40 (5.40%) Firewall
2 39 (5.26%) Network Security
3 12 (1.62%) SSH
3 12 (1.62%) VPN
3 12 (1.62%) Wireless
4 10 (1.35%) DNS
4 10 (1.35%) WAN
5 9 (1.21%) HTTP
5 9 (1.21%) LAN
5 9 (1.21%) NGFW
5 9 (1.21%) TCP/IP
6 7 (0.94%) DHCP
6 7 (0.94%) HTTPS
7 6 (0.81%) Internet
8 5 (0.67%) Structured Cabling
9 4 (0.54%) Intrusion Detection
10 3 (0.40%) BGP
10 3 (0.40%) Cisco IPT
11 2 (0.27%) OSPF
11 2 (0.27%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (3.10%) SQL Server
2 17 (2.29%) Power BI
3 10 (1.35%) Metadata
4 6 (0.81%) Data Lake
4 6 (0.81%) NoSQL
4 6 (0.81%) Oracle Reports
5 4 (0.54%) Big Data
5 4 (0.54%) Hadoop
6 3 (0.40%) MongoDB
6 3 (0.40%) PostgreSQL
7 2 (0.27%) Data Warehouse
7 2 (0.27%) DynamoDB
7 2 (0.27%) MySQL
7 2 (0.27%) Oracle BI Publisher
8 1 (0.13%) Elasticsearch
8 1 (0.13%) MariaDB
8 1 (0.13%) Neo4j
8 1 (0.13%) Oracle Database
8 1 (0.13%) SAP HANA
8 1 (0.13%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 35 (4.72%) JIRA
2 7 (0.94%) Cypress.io
2 7 (0.94%) Git
2 7 (0.94%) Postman
2 7 (0.94%) Selenium
2 7 (0.94%) WebDriver
3 4 (0.54%) Burp Suite
3 4 (0.54%) Cucumber
4 3 (0.40%) git-flow
4 3 (0.40%) Metasploit
4 3 (0.40%) Protractor
5 2 (0.27%) JMeter
6 1 (0.13%) AppScan
6 1 (0.13%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.13%) GitLab
6 1 (0.13%) Jenkins
6 1 (0.13%) LSMW
6 1 (0.13%) ScriptRunner
6 1 (0.13%) SoapUI
6 1 (0.13%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 245 (33.06%) Social Skills
2 167 (22.54%) Finance
3 129 (17.41%) Public Sector
4 78 (10.53%) Analytical Skills
5 62 (8.37%) Banking
6 58 (7.83%) Legal
7 43 (5.80%) Documentation Skills
8 24 (3.24%) Organisational Skills
9 21 (2.83%) Influencing Skills
9 21 (2.83%) Local Government
10 14 (1.89%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 13 (1.75%) Billing
11 13 (1.75%) Presentation Skills
11 13 (1.75%) Retail
12 12 (1.62%) Military
13 11 (1.48%) Law
13 11 (1.48%) Marketing
14 10 (1.35%) Aerospace
15 9 (1.21%) Telecoms
16 7 (0.94%) Police
Job Titles
1 94 (12.69%) Analyst
2 78 (10.53%) Consultant
2 78 (10.53%) Senior
3 66 (8.91%) Architect
4 61 (8.23%) Lead
5 58 (7.83%) Security Consultant
6 50 (6.75%) Security Engineer
7 44 (5.94%) Security Architect
8 37 (4.99%) Security Analyst
9 32 (4.32%) Security Manager
10 26 (3.51%) Project Manager
11 25 (3.37%) IT Manager
12 21 (2.83%) Developer
12 21 (2.83%) Senior Manager
13 19 (2.56%) Security Officer
14 18 (2.43%) Information Officer
15 17 (2.29%) Cybersecurity Manager
16 16 (2.16%) Business Analyst
16 16 (2.16%) Cybersecurity Consultant
16 16 (2.16%) Information Security Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (3.64%) Oracle Fusion
2 23 (3.10%) OAuth
2 23 (3.10%) SailPoint
3 17 (2.29%) SAML
4 16 (2.16%) OAuth2
4 16 (2.16%) OpenID
5 15 (2.02%) LDAP
6 13 (1.75%) Web Services
7 10 (1.35%) REST
7 10 (1.35%) XML
8 7 (0.94%) Gherkin
9 6 (0.81%) .NET
9 6 (0.81%) JSON
10 4 (0.54%) ASP.NET
10 4 (0.54%) Jakarta EE
10 4 (0.54%) JSP
10 4 (0.54%) Kafka
10 4 (0.54%) Middleware
10 4 (0.54%) Node.js
10 4 (0.54%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 124 (16.73%) Management Information System
2 82 (11.07%) Onboarding
3 58 (7.83%) Security Posture
4 39 (5.26%) Operational Technology
5 20 (2.70%) Cyber Threat
6 19 (2.56%) Cloud Native
6 19 (2.56%) Security Operations Centre
7 18 (2.43%) Data Centre
7 18 (2.43%) Data Protection Act
8 16 (2.16%) Self-Motivation
8 16 (2.16%) Virtual Team
9 15 (2.02%) Enterprise Software
10 13 (1.75%) Legacy Systems
10 13 (1.75%) PKI
10 13 (1.75%) SCADA
11 12 (1.62%) Product Ownership
12 11 (1.48%) BYOD
13 10 (1.35%) Public Cloud
14 9 (1.21%) Driving Licence
15 8 (1.08%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 80 (10.80%) Windows
2 44 (5.94%) Linux
3 34 (4.59%) Windows Server
4 23 (3.10%) Unix
5 10 (1.35%) Android
6 9 (1.21%) Apple iOS
7 8 (1.08%) Mac OS
8 5 (0.67%) Windows 10
9 4 (0.54%) Ubuntu
10 2 (0.27%) Alpine Linux
10 2 (0.27%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 1 (0.13%) Kali Linux
11 1 (0.13%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 258 (34.82%) Cybersecurity
2 201 (27.13%) Risk Management
3 138 (18.62%) Stakeholder Management
4 122 (16.46%) Data Protection
5 119 (16.06%) Continuous Improvement
6 110 (14.84%) Problem-Solving
7 89 (12.01%) Security Operations
8 88 (11.88%) Roadmaps
9 87 (11.74%) Agile
10 84 (11.34%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 79 (10.66%) Cloud Security
11 79 (10.66%) Incident Response
12 75 (10.12%) Change Management
13 69 (9.31%) Decision-Making
14 65 (8.77%) Computer Science
15 63 (8.50%) AI
15 63 (8.50%) DevOps
15 63 (8.50%) Vulnerability Management
16 62 (8.37%) Security Management
16 62 (8.37%) SIEM
Programming Languages
1 81 (10.93%) Python
2 67 (9.04%) PowerShell
3 26 (3.51%) Bash
4 23 (3.10%) SQL
5 16 (2.16%) Java
6 10 (1.35%) C#
7 7 (0.94%) Bicep
7 7 (0.94%) JavaScript
8 5 (0.67%) PL/SQL
9 4 (0.54%) Apex Code
9 4 (0.54%) Kusto Query Language
10 3 (0.40%) Go
10 3 (0.40%) Kotlin
11 2 (0.27%) TypeScript
12 1 (0.13%) BeanShell
12 1 (0.13%) C++
12 1 (0.13%) Lisp
12 1 (0.13%) Scala
12 1 (0.13%) VBA
Qualifications
1 157 (21.19%) Security Cleared
2 145 (19.57%) Degree
3 131 (17.68%) CISSP
4 125 (16.87%) SC Cleared
5 87 (11.74%) CISM
6 36 (4.86%) DV Cleared
7 32 (4.32%) CISA
8 31 (4.18%) Cisco Certification
9 26 (3.51%) (ISC)2 CCSP
9 26 (3.51%) CRISC
10 20 (2.70%) Microsoft Certification
11 19 (2.56%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
12 18 (2.43%) CEH
12 18 (2.43%) Computer Science Degree
13 16 (2.16%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
14 15 (2.02%) PMP
15 14 (1.89%) AWS Certification
15 14 (1.89%) Master's Degree
15 14 (1.89%) PMI Certification
16 11 (1.48%) Azure Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 218 (29.42%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 151 (20.38%) NIST
3 127 (17.14%) GDPR
4 101 (13.63%) GRC
5 49 (6.61%) PCI DSS
6 35 (4.72%) Cyber Essentials
7 32 (4.32%) NCSC
8 26 (3.51%) Data Quality
9 24 (3.24%) QA
10 21 (2.83%) Accessibility
11 20 (2.70%) COBIT
12 19 (2.56%) NIST 800
12 19 (2.56%) SOC 2
13 18 (2.43%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 14 (1.89%) HIPAA
14 14 (1.89%) SLA
15 13 (1.75%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
15 13 (1.75%) PMO
16 11 (1.48%) ISO/IEC 27005
17 10 (1.35%) Government Security Classifications
System Software
1 77 (10.39%) Active Directory
2 8 (1.08%) Docker
3 6 (0.81%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (0.67%) Hyper-V
5 3 (0.40%) OpenAM
5 3 (0.40%) Squid
6 2 (0.27%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.27%) Virtual Servers
7 1 (0.13%) BitLocker
7 1 (0.13%) Ceph
7 1 (0.13%) Firmware
7 1 (0.13%) RACF
Systems Management
1 20 (2.70%) Terraform
2 17 (2.29%) Microsoft Intune
3 15 (2.02%) Single Sign-On
4 14 (1.89%) Kubernetes
5 12 (1.62%) Ansible
6 7 (0.94%) SCCM
7 4 (0.54%) QRadar
8 3 (0.40%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 3 (0.40%) Podman
8 3 (0.40%) RSA Archer
9 2 (0.27%) Computer Incident Response Team
9 2 (0.27%) Nmap
10 1 (0.13%) CASB
10 1 (0.13%) Host Intrusion Detection System
10 1 (0.13%) logstash
10 1 (0.13%) Nessus
10 1 (0.13%) Progress Chef
10 1 (0.13%) Prometheus
10 1 (0.13%) Red Hat Satellite
10 1 (0.13%) WSUS
Vendors
1 150 (20.24%) Microsoft
2 46 (6.21%) Oracle
3 44 (5.94%) ServiceNow
4 24 (3.24%) CyberArk
5 22 (2.97%) BeyondTrust
6 18 (2.43%) Cisco
6 18 (2.43%) Google
7 17 (2.29%) SAP
8 16 (2.16%) Splunk
9 14 (1.89%) Apple
10 13 (1.75%) Palo Alto
11 12 (1.62%) Ariba
12 11 (1.48%) CrowdStrike
13 9 (1.21%) VMware
13 9 (1.21%) Zscaler
14 8 (1.08%) IBM
15 7 (0.94%) Remedy
16 6 (0.81%) Atlassian
16 6 (0.81%) Computacenter
16 6 (0.81%) Thales