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

6 months to
4 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 173 151 106
Rank change year-on-year -22 -45 +11
Contract jobs citing Information Security 638 555 965
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.63% 1.79% 2.16%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.87% 2.01% 2.48%
Number of daily rates quoted 342 317 663
10th Percentile £351 £354 £388
25th Percentile £450 £479 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £536 £600 £575
Median % change year-on-year -10.63% +4.35% -4.17%
75th Percentile £647 £685 £675
90th Percentile £775 £797 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £496 £575 £550
% change year-on-year -13.74% +4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 76 18 56
10th Percentile £17.27 £16.19 £16.13
25th Percentile £20.71 £20.40 £19.25
Median hourly rate £33.50 £25.72 £44.75
Median % change year-on-year +30.27% -42.54% -31.15%
75th Percentile £46.64 £38.25 £83.40
90th Percentile £80.43 £46.07 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £30.75 £23.14 £45.00
% change year-on-year +32.92% -48.59% -33.58%

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 34,038 27,619 38,984
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 87.15% 89.27% 87.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 21,556 16,812 25,649
10th Percentile £306 £306 £300
25th Percentile £406 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £638
90th Percentile £719 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £480 £497 £500
% change year-on-year -3.34% -0.69% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,054 864 2,107
10th Percentile £14.50 £15.62 £13.29
25th Percentile £17.69 £21.00 £16.40
Median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -22.62% -7.14% +9.38%
75th Percentile £58.75 £62.50 £61.00
90th Percentile £70.00 £75.00 £73.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.00 £31.29 £35.00
% change year-on-year -20.10% -10.60% +20.69%

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 4 February 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 4 February 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 4 February 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 -26 570 £536 -10.63% 294
UK excluding London -18 307 £496 -13.74% 230
London -20 260 £565 -5.83% 105
Work from Home -6 188 £539 +2.62% 149
South East -23 88 £550 -8.33% 78
North of England -44 69 £488 -8.88% 62
Midlands -46 47 £437 -12.60% 35
North West -25 44 £470 -12.15% 40
South West -10 42 £475 -29.63% 26
East of England -3 39 £537 -10.58% 22
West Midlands -49 28 £463 -7.50% 21
Yorkshire -37 21 £494 +1.28% 17
East Midlands -13 19 £400 +33.33% 14
Scotland +12 17 £358 -24.95% 5
Wales +7 5 £388 - 6
North East -14 4 £550 - 5

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 25 (3.92%) SharePoint
2 18 (2.82%) Confluence
3 15 (2.35%) Microsoft Exchange
4 7 (1.10%) Mattermost
4 7 (1.10%) Skype for Business
5 5 (0.78%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
6 3 (0.47%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.16%) Apache
7 1 (0.16%) Apache Airflow
7 1 (0.16%) IIS
7 1 (0.16%) WebSphere
7 1 (0.16%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 54 (8.46%) Microsoft Office
2 32 (5.02%) Microsoft Excel
3 14 (2.19%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 6 (0.94%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (0.47%) MS Visio
5 3 (0.47%) Navisworks
5 3 (0.47%) Revit
6 2 (0.31%) ProjectWise
6 2 (0.31%) Spreadsheet
7 1 (0.16%) Adobe After Effects
7 1 (0.16%) Adobe Illustrator
7 1 (0.16%) Adobe Premiere
7 1 (0.16%) Camtasia
Business Applications
1 15 (2.35%) Remedy ITSM
2 9 (1.41%) Oracle EBS
3 2 (0.31%) assyst
3 2 (0.31%) NEC Housing
3 2 (0.31%) SAP GRC
3 2 (0.31%) Temenos T24
4 1 (0.16%) Salesforce CRM
Cloud Services
1 111 (17.40%) Azure
2 77 (12.07%) AWS
3 40 (6.27%) Microsoft 365
4 29 (4.55%) GCP
5 27 (4.23%) Entra ID
6 23 (3.61%) SaaS
7 21 (3.29%) Power Platform
8 12 (1.88%) OCI
9 11 (1.72%) Azure Sentinel
9 11 (1.72%) Microsoft Purview
10 10 (1.57%) OneDrive
11 9 (1.41%) GitHub
12 7 (1.10%) IaaS
12 7 (1.10%) PaaS
12 7 (1.10%) Power Automate
13 6 (0.94%) Azure DevOps
13 6 (0.94%) PowerApps
14 5 (0.78%) Amazon S3
14 5 (0.78%) AWS CloudFormation
14 5 (0.78%) Cloud Computing
Communications & Networking
1 65 (10.19%) Firewall
2 31 (4.86%) Network Security
3 20 (3.13%) TCP/IP
4 19 (2.98%) DNS
5 13 (2.04%) WAN
6 12 (1.88%) Wireless
7 11 (1.72%) Internet
8 10 (1.57%) DHCP
8 10 (1.57%) HTTP
8 10 (1.57%) SSH
9 9 (1.41%) VPN
10 8 (1.25%) Intrusion Detection
11 7 (1.10%) Skype
11 7 (1.10%) SMTP
11 7 (1.10%) Wi-Fi
12 6 (0.94%) SSL
13 5 (0.78%) FTP
13 5 (0.78%) SAN
14 4 (0.63%) LAN
14 4 (0.63%) NGFW
Database & Business Intelligence
1 19 (2.98%) Power BI
2 10 (1.57%) Data Warehouse
3 7 (1.10%) Metadata
4 6 (0.94%) GIS
4 6 (0.94%) SQL Server
5 4 (0.63%) Big Data
5 4 (0.63%) Data Lake
5 4 (0.63%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 3 (0.47%) Hadoop
6 3 (0.47%) NoSQL
6 3 (0.47%) Tableau
7 2 (0.31%) Amazon Redshift
7 2 (0.31%) BigQuery
7 2 (0.31%) DB2
7 2 (0.31%) DynamoDB
7 2 (0.31%) Elasticsearch
7 2 (0.31%) Electronic Patient Records
7 2 (0.31%) MongoDB
7 2 (0.31%) Power Query
7 2 (0.31%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 22 (3.45%) JIRA
2 14 (2.19%) Burp Suite
3 11 (1.72%) Git
3 11 (1.72%) Metasploit
4 4 (0.63%) Jenkins
5 3 (0.47%) Artifactory
6 2 (0.31%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 2 (0.31%) GitLab
7 1 (0.16%) AppScan
7 1 (0.16%) Balsamiq
7 1 (0.16%) GCC
7 1 (0.16%) MSI
7 1 (0.16%) ScriptRunner
7 1 (0.16%) SonarQube
General
1 234 (36.68%) Social Skills
2 134 (21.00%) Finance
3 82 (12.85%) Analytical Skills
4 81 (12.70%) Public Sector
5 55 (8.62%) Legal
6 41 (6.43%) Banking
7 34 (5.33%) Organisational Skills
8 20 (3.13%) Presentation Skills
9 18 (2.82%) Telecoms
10 16 (2.51%) Manufacturing
11 14 (2.19%) Documentation Skills
11 14 (2.19%) Influencing Skills
12 8 (1.25%) Law
13 7 (1.10%) Marketing
13 7 (1.10%) Military
13 7 (1.10%) Retail
14 6 (0.94%) Investment Banking
14 6 (0.94%) Local Government
14 6 (0.94%) Police
14 6 (0.94%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 133 (20.85%) Analyst
2 63 (9.87%) Consultant
3 46 (7.21%) Architect
4 44 (6.90%) Senior
5 42 (6.58%) Security Analyst
6 39 (6.11%) Security Engineer
7 34 (5.33%) Security Manager
8 33 (5.17%) Lead
9 32 (5.02%) Support Analyst
10 28 (4.39%) Security Architect
11 26 (4.08%) Security Consultant
12 25 (3.92%) Security Officer
13 22 (3.45%) Security Specialist
14 21 (3.29%) Information Analyst
14 21 (3.29%) Information Security Analyst
15 17 (2.66%) Developer
15 17 (2.66%) Project Manager
16 15 (2.35%) IT Analyst
16 15 (2.35%) Security Advisor
17 14 (2.19%) Information Security Officer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (1.88%) OAuth
2 11 (1.72%) Middleware
3 10 (1.57%) SailPoint
3 10 (1.57%) SAML
4 9 (1.41%) LDAP
4 9 (1.41%) OpenID
4 9 (1.41%) Oracle Fusion
5 8 (1.25%) OAuth2
6 6 (0.94%) Qt
7 4 (0.63%) .NET
7 4 (0.63%) Node.js
7 4 (0.63%) Spring
7 4 (0.63%) Spring Boot
8 3 (0.47%) ADO
8 3 (0.47%) J2EE
8 3 (0.47%) JSP
8 3 (0.47%) JWT
8 3 (0.47%) ModSecurity
8 3 (0.47%) RESTful
9 2 (0.31%) Kafka
Miscellaneous
1 121 (18.97%) Management Information System
2 76 (11.91%) Security Posture
3 29 (4.55%) Cyber Threat
4 21 (3.29%) PKI
5 20 (3.13%) Onboarding
6 19 (2.98%) Operational Technology
7 15 (2.35%) Insider Threat
8 14 (2.19%) Data Centre
9 13 (2.04%) Data Protection Act
10 12 (1.88%) Cloud Native
10 12 (1.88%) Product Ownership
10 12 (1.88%) Security Operations Centre
11 10 (1.57%) Analytical Mindset
11 10 (1.57%) Greenfield Project
12 9 (1.41%) Enterprise Software
12 9 (1.41%) Legacy Systems
13 8 (1.25%) Mobile App
13 8 (1.25%) NHS
13 8 (1.25%) Tandem
13 8 (1.25%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 69 (10.82%) Windows
2 44 (6.90%) Linux
3 16 (2.51%) Windows Server
4 14 (2.19%) Unix
5 4 (0.63%) Kali Linux
6 3 (0.47%) Mac OS
6 3 (0.47%) zOS
7 2 (0.31%) Windows 10
8 1 (0.16%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.16%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 215 (33.70%) Cybersecurity
2 155 (24.29%) Risk Management
3 118 (18.50%) Problem-Solving
4 102 (15.99%) Data Protection
5 99 (15.52%) Stakeholder Management
6 95 (14.89%) Continuous Improvement
7 81 (12.70%) Incident Response
8 70 (10.97%) Cloud Security
9 69 (10.82%) ITIL
10 65 (10.19%) Security Management
11 59 (9.25%) Agile
12 56 (8.78%) Stakeholder Engagement
13 54 (8.46%) SIEM
14 53 (8.31%) Computer Science
15 49 (7.68%) Security Operations
16 46 (7.21%) Information Security Management
17 44 (6.90%) Roadmaps
17 44 (6.90%) Threat Modelling
18 43 (6.74%) Change Management
18 43 (6.74%) Incident Management
Programming Languages
1 54 (8.46%) Python
2 45 (7.05%) PowerShell
3 35 (5.49%) SQL
4 14 (2.19%) Java
5 10 (1.57%) Bash
6 6 (0.94%) C++
7 5 (0.78%) Go
8 4 (0.63%) Kotlin
8 4 (0.63%) Kusto Query Language
9 3 (0.47%) C#
9 3 (0.47%) RPG
10 2 (0.31%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 2 (0.31%) JavaScript
10 2 (0.31%) R
10 2 (0.31%) Rust
10 2 (0.31%) Solidity
11 1 (0.16%) T-SQL
11 1 (0.16%) TypeScript
11 1 (0.16%) VBA
11 1 (0.16%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 179 (28.06%) Security Cleared
2 132 (20.69%) SC Cleared
3 126 (19.75%) Degree
4 102 (15.99%) CISSP
5 79 (12.38%) CISM
6 46 (7.21%) DV Cleared
7 42 (6.58%) Computer Science Degree
8 30 (4.70%) CISA
9 28 (4.39%) Master's Degree
10 21 (3.29%) BPSS Clearance
10 21 (3.29%) ITIL Certification
11 20 (3.13%) CRISC
12 17 (2.66%) Cisco Certification
12 17 (2.66%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
13 12 (1.88%) CEH
13 12 (1.88%) CREST Certified
13 12 (1.88%) CTC Cleared
13 12 (1.88%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
13 12 (1.88%) Postgraduate
14 11 (1.72%) CompTIA Security+
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 190 (29.78%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 134 (21.00%) NIST
3 98 (15.36%) GDPR
4 65 (10.19%) GRC
5 37 (5.80%) PCI DSS
6 24 (3.76%) COBIT
6 24 (3.76%) Cyber Essentials
7 22 (3.45%) PMO
7 22 (3.45%) QA
8 21 (3.29%) NCSC
9 17 (2.66%) Accessibility
10 14 (2.19%) Data Quality
10 14 (2.19%) Def Stans
11 13 (2.04%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 12 (1.88%) NIST 800
13 11 (1.72%) RMADS
14 10 (1.57%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
15 9 (1.41%) JSP 440
16 8 (1.25%) SLA
16 8 (1.25%) SOC 2
System Software
1 51 (7.99%) Active Directory
2 14 (2.19%) Virtual Machines
3 6 (0.94%) Docker
4 3 (0.47%) VMware Infrastructure
5 1 (0.16%) BitLocker
5 1 (0.16%) Microsoft App-V
5 1 (0.16%) Virtual Desktop
5 1 (0.16%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 22 (3.45%) Microsoft Intune
2 15 (2.35%) HP SiteScope
2 15 (2.35%) SCOM
3 14 (2.19%) SCCM
4 13 (2.04%) Kubernetes
5 11 (1.72%) Nmap
5 11 (1.72%) QRadar
5 11 (1.72%) Terraform
6 10 (1.57%) Ansible
7 6 (0.94%) CASB
7 6 (0.94%) SCOrch
8 5 (0.78%) Functional Safety
8 5 (0.78%) WSUS
9 4 (0.63%) FortiGate
10 3 (0.47%) Nessus
10 3 (0.47%) Prometheus
10 3 (0.47%) Single Sign-On
11 2 (0.31%) FTK
11 2 (0.31%) Jamf Pro
11 2 (0.31%) Red Hat Satellite
Vendors
1 130 (20.38%) Microsoft
2 26 (4.08%) Splunk
3 23 (3.61%) ServiceNow
4 21 (3.29%) Cisco
5 17 (2.66%) Remedy
6 16 (2.51%) Google
7 14 (2.19%) CyberArk
8 12 (1.88%) IBM
8 12 (1.88%) Oracle
9 10 (1.57%) CrowdStrike
9 10 (1.57%) Fortinet
10 9 (1.41%) Thales
11 8 (1.25%) Gemalto
12 7 (1.10%) Databricks
12 7 (1.10%) Palo Alto
12 7 (1.10%) Qualys
12 7 (1.10%) Salesforce
12 7 (1.10%) SAP
13 6 (0.94%) Sophos
14 5 (0.78%) VMware