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

6 months to
20 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 175 170 120
Rank change year-on-year -5 -50 -4
Contract jobs citing Information Security 687 477 857
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.58% 1.63% 1.93%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.84% 1.80% 2.23%
Number of daily rates quoted 394 287 565
10th Percentile £400 £339 £391
25th Percentile £459 £473 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £600 £575
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +4.35% -4.17%
75th Percentile £653 £694 £675
90th Percentile £775 £818 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £525 £575 £550
% change year-on-year -8.70% +4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 68 30 39
10th Percentile £16.70 £16.23 £16.20
25th Percentile £20.61 £22.14 £18.47
Median hourly rate £25.50 £24.42 £24.97
Median % change year-on-year +4.42% -2.20% -66.71%
75th Percentile £46.64 £44.69 £50.00
90th Percentile £85.12 £81.05 £83.40
UK excluding London median hourly rate £24.98 £22.14 £35.95
% change year-on-year +12.83% -38.41% -52.54%

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 37,403 26,465 38,354
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 85.99% 90.45% 86.55%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,742 17,048 24,949
10th Percentile £313 £308 £300
25th Percentile £413 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £611 £638 £638
90th Percentile £725 £743 £745
UK excluding London median daily rate £480 £488 £500
% change year-on-year -1.54% -2.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,201 924 2,323
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.25 £12.99
25th Percentile £18.50 £21.00 £16.00
Median hourly rate £30.00 £32.50 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year -7.69% - -7.14%
75th Percentile £65.00 £64.50 £57.50
90th Percentile £75.00 £77.41 £70.66
UK excluding London median hourly rate £28.00 £31.64 £31.13
% change year-on-year -11.50% +1.65% -11.14%

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 March 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 March 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 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 +2 611 £550 -8.33% 302
UK excluding London -4 333 £525 -8.70% 226
London +10 287 £575 -4.17% 106
Work from Home -6 198 £550 - 162
South East -6 117 £563 -7.79% 82
North of England -56 71 £500 -4.76% 58
Midlands -38 49 £540 -11.84% 28
East of England +7 47 £544 -9.33% 21
North West -20 47 £540 +0.47% 33
West Midlands -46 37 £550 -20.58% 19
South West -25 22 £500 -19.19% 25
Scotland +8 21 £358 -25.26% 8
Yorkshire -53 20 £488 +13.04% 18
East Midlands -28 12 £400 +33.33% 9
Wales -5 6 £338 +87.50% 5
North East -18 4 £450 -15.73% 7

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 24 (3.49%) Confluence
2 17 (2.47%) SharePoint
3 10 (1.46%) Microsoft Exchange
4 7 (1.02%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
5 4 (0.58%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.15%) WebSphere
6 1 (0.15%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 38 (5.53%) Microsoft Office
2 35 (5.09%) Microsoft Excel
3 13 (1.89%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 8 (1.16%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.29%) MS Visio
5 2 (0.29%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.15%) Adobe After Effects
6 1 (0.15%) Adobe Illustrator
6 1 (0.15%) Adobe Premiere
6 1 (0.15%) Camtasia
6 1 (0.15%) Navisworks
6 1 (0.15%) Revit
Business Applications
1 12 (1.75%) Oracle EBS
2 4 (0.58%) NEC Housing
3 2 (0.29%) SAP GRC
3 2 (0.29%) Temenos T24
4 1 (0.15%) Salesforce CRM
Cloud Services
1 124 (18.05%) Azure
2 88 (12.81%) AWS
3 44 (6.40%) Microsoft 365
4 34 (4.95%) GCP
5 30 (4.37%) Entra ID
6 27 (3.93%) SaaS
7 25 (3.64%) Power Platform
8 18 (2.62%) Microsoft Purview
9 16 (2.33%) OCI
10 12 (1.75%) GitHub
11 11 (1.60%) Azure Sentinel
12 8 (1.16%) IaaS
12 8 (1.16%) Microsoft Copilot
12 8 (1.16%) Power Automate
13 7 (1.02%) PaaS
13 7 (1.02%) PowerApps
14 6 (0.87%) Azure Data Factory
15 5 (0.73%) Amazon S3
15 5 (0.73%) Azure DevOps
15 5 (0.73%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 62 (9.02%) Firewall
2 36 (5.24%) Network Security
3 19 (2.77%) DNS
4 16 (2.33%) HTTP
4 16 (2.33%) TCP/IP
5 14 (2.04%) Wireless
6 13 (1.89%) SSH
7 11 (1.60%) WAN
8 10 (1.46%) Internet
8 10 (1.46%) VPN
9 9 (1.31%) DHCP
10 7 (1.02%) SMTP
11 6 (0.87%) SSL
11 6 (0.87%) Wi-Fi
12 5 (0.73%) Cisco IPT
12 5 (0.73%) FTP
13 4 (0.58%) Intrusion Detection
13 4 (0.58%) SAN
14 3 (0.44%) OSPF
14 3 (0.44%) SD-WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 21 (3.06%) Power BI
2 10 (1.46%) Data Warehouse
3 9 (1.31%) Metadata
3 9 (1.31%) SQL Server
4 7 (1.02%) Data Lake
5 4 (0.58%) Big Data
5 4 (0.58%) Hadoop
5 4 (0.58%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 3 (0.44%) DynamoDB
6 3 (0.44%) MongoDB
6 3 (0.44%) NoSQL
6 3 (0.44%) Oracle Reports
6 3 (0.44%) PostgreSQL
6 3 (0.44%) Tableau
7 2 (0.29%) Amazon Redshift
7 2 (0.29%) Elasticsearch
7 2 (0.29%) Electronic Patient Records
7 2 (0.29%) Oracle BI Publisher
7 2 (0.29%) Power Query
7 2 (0.29%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 30 (4.37%) JIRA
2 15 (2.18%) Burp Suite
3 12 (1.75%) Metasploit
4 9 (1.31%) Git
5 2 (0.29%) GitLab
6 1 (0.15%) AppScan
6 1 (0.15%) GCC
6 1 (0.15%) git-flow
6 1 (0.15%) Jenkins
6 1 (0.15%) MSI
6 1 (0.15%) ScriptRunner
6 1 (0.15%) SonarQube
General
1 224 (32.61%) Social Skills
2 130 (18.92%) Finance
3 99 (14.41%) Public Sector
4 87 (12.66%) Analytical Skills
5 62 (9.02%) Legal
6 49 (7.13%) Banking
7 24 (3.49%) Organisational Skills
8 20 (2.91%) Presentation Skills
9 19 (2.77%) Documentation Skills
10 15 (2.18%) Influencing Skills
11 14 (2.04%) Retail
12 13 (1.89%) Telecoms
13 9 (1.31%) Law
13 9 (1.31%) Police
14 8 (1.16%) Manufacturing
15 7 (1.02%) Local Government
16 6 (0.87%) Marketing
17 5 (0.73%) Cyber-Physical System
17 5 (0.73%) Spanish Language
18 4 (0.58%) Military
Job Titles
1 116 (16.89%) Analyst
2 80 (11.64%) Consultant
3 53 (7.71%) Senior
4 51 (7.42%) Architect
5 47 (6.84%) Security Engineer
6 46 (6.70%) Lead
6 46 (6.70%) Security Analyst
6 46 (6.70%) Security Consultant
7 39 (5.68%) Security Manager
8 36 (5.24%) Security Architect
9 30 (4.37%) Security Officer
10 23 (3.35%) Developer
11 21 (3.06%) Security Specialist
12 20 (2.91%) Project Manager
13 18 (2.62%) Information Analyst
13 18 (2.62%) Information Security Analyst
14 17 (2.47%) Business Analyst
14 17 (2.47%) Cybersecurity Manager
15 16 (2.33%) Information Security Consultant
16 15 (2.18%) Information Security Officer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 15 (2.18%) OAuth
1 15 (2.18%) Oracle Fusion
2 11 (1.60%) OAuth2
3 10 (1.46%) OpenID
3 10 (1.46%) SAML
4 9 (1.31%) LDAP
5 7 (1.02%) Middleware
5 7 (1.02%) SailPoint
5 7 (1.02%) Spring
5 7 (1.02%) Spring Boot
6 5 (0.73%) Node.js
7 4 (0.58%) .NET
8 3 (0.44%) GraphQL
8 3 (0.44%) J2EE
8 3 (0.44%) JSP
8 3 (0.44%) JWT
8 3 (0.44%) Kafka
8 3 (0.44%) ModSecurity
8 3 (0.44%) REST
8 3 (0.44%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 114 (16.59%) Management Information System
2 65 (9.46%) Security Posture
3 35 (5.09%) Onboarding
4 32 (4.66%) Operational Technology
5 21 (3.06%) Cyber Threat
6 19 (2.77%) Data Protection Act
7 18 (2.62%) PKI
8 17 (2.47%) Cloud Native
9 15 (2.18%) Data Centre
10 14 (2.04%) Insider Threat
11 13 (1.89%) BYOD
11 13 (1.89%) Product Ownership
12 12 (1.75%) Security Operations Centre
12 12 (1.75%) Virtual Team
13 11 (1.60%) Analytical Mindset
13 11 (1.60%) Mobile App
14 9 (1.31%) Legacy Systems
14 9 (1.31%) Public Cloud
15 8 (1.16%) Greenfield Project
15 8 (1.16%) Hybrid Cloud
Operating Systems
1 65 (9.46%) Windows
2 32 (4.66%) Linux
3 21 (3.06%) Windows Server
4 15 (2.18%) Unix
5 3 (0.44%) Kali Linux
5 3 (0.44%) zOS
6 1 (0.15%) Apple iOS
6 1 (0.15%) Mac OS
6 1 (0.15%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 1 (0.15%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 259 (37.70%) Cybersecurity
2 169 (24.60%) Risk Management
3 116 (16.89%) Problem-Solving
4 112 (16.30%) Data Protection
5 109 (15.87%) Continuous Improvement
6 102 (14.85%) Stakeholder Management
7 86 (12.52%) Cloud Security
8 81 (11.79%) Security Management
9 68 (9.90%) Agile
10 67 (9.75%) Change Management
11 65 (9.46%) Incident Response
12 63 (9.17%) Security Operations
13 61 (8.88%) Information Security Management
14 55 (8.01%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 54 (7.86%) Threat Modelling
16 52 (7.57%) AI
17 51 (7.42%) Roadmaps
18 50 (7.28%) Regulatory Compliance
19 48 (6.99%) Decision-Making
19 48 (6.99%) SIEM
Programming Languages
1 58 (8.44%) Python
2 31 (4.51%) PowerShell
3 21 (3.06%) Java
3 21 (3.06%) SQL
4 12 (1.75%) Bash
5 7 (1.02%) Kotlin
6 6 (0.87%) Kusto Query Language
7 5 (0.73%) Go
8 4 (0.58%) C#
9 3 (0.44%) JavaScript
9 3 (0.44%) RPG
10 2 (0.29%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 2 (0.29%) Rust
10 2 (0.29%) Solidity
11 1 (0.15%) Apex Code
11 1 (0.15%) BeanShell
11 1 (0.15%) Bicep
11 1 (0.15%) R
11 1 (0.15%) TypeScript
11 1 (0.15%) VBA
Qualifications
1 199 (28.97%) Security Cleared
2 148 (21.54%) SC Cleared
3 133 (19.36%) Degree
4 119 (17.32%) CISSP
5 89 (12.95%) CISM
6 52 (7.57%) DV Cleared
7 30 (4.37%) Computer Science Degree
8 29 (4.22%) CISA
9 27 (3.93%) Cisco Certification
10 22 (3.20%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 21 (3.06%) CRISC
12 19 (2.77%) CEH
13 18 (2.62%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
13 18 (2.62%) Master's Degree
14 17 (2.47%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
15 16 (2.33%) CREST Certified
16 15 (2.18%) CTC Cleared
17 13 (1.89%) Postgraduate
18 12 (1.75%) CompTIA Security+
19 11 (1.60%) Cyber Scheme
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 227 (33.04%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 171 (24.89%) NIST
3 121 (17.61%) GDPR
4 72 (10.48%) GRC
5 51 (7.42%) PCI DSS
6 29 (4.22%) COBIT
6 29 (4.22%) NCSC
7 26 (3.78%) Cyber Essentials
7 26 (3.78%) QA
8 24 (3.49%) PMO
9 19 (2.77%) Data Quality
10 18 (2.62%) NIST 800
10 18 (2.62%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 13 (1.89%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 13 (1.89%) SOC 2
12 12 (1.75%) ISO/IEC 27005
13 10 (1.46%) Accessibility
13 10 (1.46%) JSP 440
14 8 (1.16%) RMADS
14 8 (1.16%) SLA
System Software
1 40 (5.82%) Active Directory
2 9 (1.31%) Virtual Machines
3 6 (0.87%) Docker
4 4 (0.58%) VMware Infrastructure
5 2 (0.29%) Hyper-V
6 1 (0.15%) Ceph
6 1 (0.15%) Microsoft App-V
6 1 (0.15%) RACF
6 1 (0.15%) Squid
6 1 (0.15%) Virtual Desktop
6 1 (0.15%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 22 (3.20%) Microsoft Intune
2 13 (1.89%) Kubernetes
2 13 (1.89%) Nmap
3 11 (1.60%) SCCM
4 10 (1.46%) Terraform
5 7 (1.02%) Ansible
6 6 (0.87%) QRadar
7 5 (0.73%) CASB
7 5 (0.73%) Functional Safety
7 5 (0.73%) SCOrch
7 5 (0.73%) Single Sign-On
8 4 (0.58%) WSUS
9 3 (0.44%) FortiGate
10 2 (0.29%) Nessus
10 2 (0.29%) Prometheus
10 2 (0.29%) Red Hat Satellite
11 1 (0.15%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 1 (0.15%) Cisco CUCM
11 1 (0.15%) logstash
11 1 (0.15%) Progress Chef
Vendors
1 108 (15.72%) Microsoft
2 34 (4.95%) ServiceNow
3 21 (3.06%) Oracle
4 15 (2.18%) Google
5 13 (1.89%) Cisco
5 13 (1.89%) CyberArk
5 13 (1.89%) IBM
6 9 (1.31%) CrowdStrike
6 9 (1.31%) Thales
7 8 (1.16%) Databricks
7 8 (1.16%) Gemalto
8 7 (1.02%) Fortinet
8 7 (1.02%) Palo Alto
9 6 (0.87%) BeyondTrust
9 6 (0.87%) Splunk
9 6 (0.87%) VMware
10 5 (0.73%) Ariba
10 5 (0.73%) Qualys
10 5 (0.73%) SAP
10 5 (0.73%) Sophos