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

6 months to
26 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 204 169 108
Rank change year-on-year -35 -61 -14
Contract jobs citing Information Security 735 559 830
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.37% 1.71% 2.14%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.62% 1.89% 2.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 388 314 531
10th Percentile £329 £316 £375
25th Percentile £449 £413 £486
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £528 £600
Median % change year-on-year +4.27% -12.08% -
75th Percentile £666 £688 £688
90th Percentile £819 £825 £788
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £600
% change year-on-year - -16.67% +9.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 75 37 18
10th Percentile £15.21 £20.19 £12.75
25th Percentile £17.67 £22.14 £13.56
Median hourly rate £60.00 £25.15 £16.60
Median % change year-on-year +138.57% +51.55% -77.57%
75th Percentile £77.50 £65.00 £22.50
90th Percentile £80.00 £85.00 £44.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £62.25 £31.49 £15.73
% change year-on-year +97.68% +100.19% -79.78%

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 45,367 29,590 33,147
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.58% 90.44% 85.35%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,794 18,422 20,982
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 2,879 1,766 1,695
10th Percentile £14.22 £14.20 £13.86
25th Percentile £17.97 £17.30 £18.13
Median hourly rate £41.06 £25.15 £40.50
Median % change year-on-year +63.26% -37.90% -4.71%
75th Percentile £67.89 £47.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £67.50 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.96 £22.63 £42.50
% change year-on-year +94.26% -46.75% +6.25%

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 26 August 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 26 August 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 26 August 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 -25 671 £552 +4.15% 419
UK excluding London -12 387 £500 - 272
London -38 300 £600 +9.09% 180
Work from Home -50 182 £575 +15.00% 176
North of England -35 111 £483 +1.58% 65
South East -30 108 £500 -20.00% 71
North West -15 77 £511 +11.76% 35
Midlands -25 62 £450 +12.50% 40
South West -25 51 £600 +9.34% 50
West Midlands -19 50 £425 -12.82% 30
East of England -18 29 £550 +51.93% 31
Scotland -11 28 £565 +30.71% 18
Yorkshire -41 22 £540 +9.37% 22
East Midlands -27 12 £533 +33.13% 10
North East -34 11 £425 -21.59% 8
Wales -12 4 £645 +55.42% 2
Northern Ireland 0 1 £550 - 2

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 (3.81%) SharePoint
2 24 (3.27%) Confluence
3 9 (1.22%) Microsoft Exchange
4 5 (0.68%) 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 (0.14%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 1 (0.14%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 20 (2.72%) Microsoft Office
2 15 (2.04%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (1.09%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 8 (1.09%) Spreadsheet
4 5 (0.68%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.27%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 10 (1.36%) Dynamics CRM
2 7 (0.95%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.41%) Oracle Payroll
4 2 (0.27%) Oracle ERP
4 2 (0.27%) SAP S/4HANA
5 1 (0.14%) Oracle Applications
5 1 (0.14%) Oracle Payables
5 1 (0.14%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 1 (0.14%) Oracle Receivables
5 1 (0.14%) SAP GRC
5 1 (0.14%) SAP MDG
5 1 (0.14%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 174 (23.67%) Azure
2 117 (15.92%) AWS
3 66 (8.98%) Entra ID
4 48 (6.53%) SaaS
5 44 (5.99%) Microsoft 365
6 33 (4.49%) GCP
7 26 (3.54%) GitHub
8 23 (3.13%) Azure Sentinel
8 23 (3.13%) Microsoft Purview
8 23 (3.13%) Power Platform
9 16 (2.18%) OCI
10 14 (1.90%) Power Automate
10 14 (1.90%) Serverless
11 12 (1.63%) Azure DevOps
11 12 (1.63%) Dynamics 365
12 10 (1.36%) IaaS
12 10 (1.36%) PaaS
13 9 (1.22%) GitHub Actions
14 8 (1.09%) Cloud Computing
14 8 (1.09%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 45 (6.12%) Firewall
2 44 (5.99%) Network Security
3 19 (2.59%) WAN
4 16 (2.18%) LAN
5 13 (1.77%) DNS
5 13 (1.77%) VPN
6 10 (1.36%) DHCP
6 10 (1.36%) SSH
6 10 (1.36%) Wireless
7 9 (1.22%) TCP/IP
8 8 (1.09%) Internet
8 8 (1.09%) NGFW
9 7 (0.95%) HTTPS
10 6 (0.82%) HTTP
11 5 (0.68%) Cisco IPT
11 5 (0.68%) SD-WAN
11 5 (0.68%) Structured Cabling
12 4 (0.54%) Intrusion Detection
13 3 (0.41%) Wi-Fi
14 2 (0.27%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 24 (3.27%) SQL Server
2 19 (2.59%) Power BI
3 9 (1.22%) MongoDB
4 7 (0.95%) Metadata
5 4 (0.54%) Data Lake
5 4 (0.54%) NoSQL
5 4 (0.54%) Oracle Reports
6 3 (0.41%) Data Warehouse
7 2 (0.27%) Amazon RDS
7 2 (0.27%) Relational Database
8 1 (0.14%) MariaDB
8 1 (0.14%) Neo4j
8 1 (0.14%) Oracle Database
8 1 (0.14%) Oracle Database 10g
8 1 (0.14%) PostgreSQL
8 1 (0.14%) RDBMS
8 1 (0.14%) SAP HANA
8 1 (0.14%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 28 (3.81%) JIRA
2 9 (1.22%) Cypress.io
2 9 (1.22%) Postman
2 9 (1.22%) Selenium
2 9 (1.22%) WebDriver
3 6 (0.82%) Cucumber
4 4 (0.54%) Git
5 3 (0.41%) Protractor
6 2 (0.27%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 2 (0.27%) Bitbucket
6 2 (0.27%) Burp Suite
6 2 (0.27%) git-flow
6 2 (0.27%) GitLab
6 2 (0.27%) JMeter
7 1 (0.14%) Claude Code
7 1 (0.14%) Jenkins
7 1 (0.14%) LSMW
7 1 (0.14%) Metasploit
7 1 (0.14%) ScalaTest
7 1 (0.14%) SoapUI
General
1 253 (34.42%) Social Skills
2 161 (21.90%) Finance
3 134 (18.23%) Public Sector
4 91 (12.38%) Analytical Skills
5 61 (8.30%) Legal
6 52 (7.07%) Banking
7 44 (5.99%) Documentation Skills
8 29 (3.95%) Organisational Skills
9 28 (3.81%) Influencing Skills
10 26 (3.54%) Local Government
11 23 (3.13%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 19 (2.59%) Presentation Skills
13 18 (2.45%) Military
14 14 (1.90%) Aerospace
14 14 (1.90%) Law
15 13 (1.77%) Retail
16 12 (1.63%) Billing
17 10 (1.36%) Marketing
18 9 (1.22%) Police
19 8 (1.09%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 99 (13.47%) Analyst
2 76 (10.34%) Senior
3 75 (10.20%) Architect
4 71 (9.66%) Consultant
5 62 (8.44%) Lead
6 54 (7.35%) Security Architect
7 49 (6.67%) Security Consultant
8 42 (5.71%) Security Engineer
9 36 (4.90%) Security Manager
10 33 (4.49%) Security Analyst
11 25 (3.40%) Developer
11 25 (3.40%) IT Manager
11 25 (3.40%) Project Manager
12 23 (3.13%) Security Officer
13 22 (2.99%) Information Manager
14 20 (2.72%) Information Security Officer
15 19 (2.59%) Cybersecurity Manager
15 19 (2.59%) Information Officer
16 18 (2.45%) Business Analyst
16 18 (2.45%) Senior Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 32 (4.35%) Terraform
2 26 (3.54%) SailPoint
3 24 (3.27%) Oracle Fusion
4 22 (2.99%) OAuth
5 17 (2.31%) SAML
6 16 (2.18%) LDAP
7 15 (2.04%) OAuth2
7 15 (2.04%) OpenID
8 14 (1.90%) Web Services
9 10 (1.36%) REST
9 10 (1.36%) XML
10 9 (1.22%) Gherkin
11 6 (0.82%) JSON
12 5 (0.68%) .NET
12 5 (0.68%) Play Framework
13 4 (0.54%) Jakarta EE
13 4 (0.54%) JSP
14 3 (0.41%) ASP.NET
14 3 (0.41%) Spring Boot
14 3 (0.41%) XSLT
Miscellaneous
1 132 (17.96%) Management Information System
2 75 (10.20%) Onboarding
3 54 (7.35%) Security Posture
4 25 (3.40%) Cyber Threat
4 25 (3.40%) Operational Technology
5 24 (3.27%) Security Operations Centre
6 19 (2.59%) Data Centre
6 19 (2.59%) PKI
7 18 (2.45%) Cloud Native
8 15 (2.04%) Enterprise Software
9 14 (1.90%) Self-Motivation
10 13 (1.77%) NHS
11 11 (1.50%) Data Protection Act
12 9 (1.22%) CSOC
12 9 (1.22%) Cyber Defence
12 9 (1.22%) Product Ownership
13 8 (1.09%) Analytical Mindset
13 8 (1.09%) Driving Licence
13 8 (1.09%) Freedom of Information
13 8 (1.09%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 83 (11.29%) Windows
2 43 (5.85%) Linux
3 36 (4.90%) Windows Server
4 20 (2.72%) Unix
5 10 (1.36%) Android
6 9 (1.22%) Mac OS
7 8 (1.09%) Apple iOS
8 6 (0.82%) Ubuntu
9 5 (0.68%) Windows 10
10 3 (0.41%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 2 (0.27%) Alpine Linux
12 1 (0.14%) CentOS
12 1 (0.14%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 254 (34.56%) Cybersecurity
2 198 (26.94%) Risk Management
3 172 (23.40%) Stakeholder Management
4 140 (19.05%) Data Protection
5 129 (17.55%) Continuous Improvement
6 106 (14.42%) Problem-Solving
7 102 (13.88%) Incident Response
8 94 (12.79%) Security Operations
9 91 (12.38%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 84 (11.43%) Vulnerability Management
11 81 (11.02%) Cloud Security
11 81 (11.02%) Roadmaps
12 80 (10.88%) Agile
13 79 (10.75%) Decision-Making
14 65 (8.84%) ITIL
14 65 (8.84%) SIEM
15 63 (8.57%) Security Architecture
16 60 (8.16%) Computer Science
17 59 (8.03%) AI
17 59 (8.03%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 75 (10.20%) Python
2 67 (9.12%) PowerShell
3 30 (4.08%) Bash
4 21 (2.86%) SQL
5 12 (1.63%) Java
6 10 (1.36%) C#
7 9 (1.22%) PL/SQL
8 8 (1.09%) JavaScript
9 7 (0.95%) Bicep
10 6 (0.82%) Kusto Query Language
10 6 (0.82%) Scala
11 3 (0.41%) Apex Code
11 3 (0.41%) Kotlin
12 1 (0.14%) BeanShell
12 1 (0.14%) Go
12 1 (0.14%) R
12 1 (0.14%) Search Processing Language
12 1 (0.14%) Shell Script
12 1 (0.14%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 155 (21.09%) Security Cleared
2 123 (16.73%) CISSP
3 121 (16.46%) Degree
4 112 (15.24%) SC Cleared
5 84 (11.43%) CISM
6 45 (6.12%) DV Cleared
7 28 (3.81%) CISA
7 28 (3.81%) Microsoft Certification
8 27 (3.67%) Cisco Certification
9 26 (3.54%) CRISC
10 23 (3.13%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 16 (2.18%) AWS Certification
11 16 (2.18%) CEH
11 16 (2.18%) Computer Science Degree
12 15 (2.04%) Azure Certification
13 14 (1.90%) CCSP
13 14 (1.90%) PMP
14 13 (1.77%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
14 13 (1.77%) PMI Certification
15 12 (1.63%) OSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 194 (26.39%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 121 (16.46%) NIST
3 120 (16.33%) GDPR
4 107 (14.56%) GRC
5 40 (5.44%) Cyber Essentials
6 38 (5.17%) PCI DSS
7 37 (5.03%) NCSC
8 26 (3.54%) Data Quality
9 22 (2.99%) Accessibility
10 21 (2.86%) QA
11 18 (2.45%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 18 (2.45%) SLA
12 17 (2.31%) NIST 800
13 15 (2.04%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 14 (1.90%) HIPAA
15 12 (1.63%) HMG Security Policy Framework
15 12 (1.63%) SOC 2
16 11 (1.50%) WCAG
17 10 (1.36%) COBIT
17 10 (1.36%) Government Security Classifications
System Software
1 81 (11.02%) Active Directory
2 10 (1.36%) Docker
3 9 (1.22%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (0.82%) Hyper-V
5 3 (0.41%) OpenAM
5 3 (0.41%) Squid
6 2 (0.27%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.27%) Virtual Servers
7 1 (0.14%) BitLocker
7 1 (0.14%) Ceph
7 1 (0.14%) Firmware
7 1 (0.14%) RACF
7 1 (0.14%) VMware ESXi
7 1 (0.14%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 22 (2.99%) Kubernetes
2 21 (2.86%) Microsoft Intune
3 19 (2.59%) Single Sign-On
4 12 (1.63%) Ansible
5 6 (0.82%) SCCM
6 5 (0.68%) Grafana
6 5 (0.68%) QRadar
7 4 (0.54%) Podman
8 3 (0.41%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 3 (0.41%) RSA Archer
9 2 (0.27%) CASB
9 2 (0.27%) Computer Incident Response Team
9 2 (0.27%) Jamf Pro
10 1 (0.14%) Control-M
10 1 (0.14%) Host Intrusion Detection System
10 1 (0.14%) Istio
10 1 (0.14%) Nmap
10 1 (0.14%) WSUS
Vendors
1 173 (23.54%) Microsoft
2 44 (5.99%) Oracle
3 39 (5.31%) ServiceNow
4 24 (3.27%) Splunk
5 23 (3.13%) CyberArk
5 23 (3.13%) Google
6 21 (2.86%) SAP
7 19 (2.59%) BeyondTrust
8 18 (2.45%) Cisco
9 16 (2.18%) Palo Alto
10 15 (2.04%) Apple
10 15 (2.04%) VMware
11 12 (1.63%) Ariba
12 10 (1.36%) Remedy
12 10 (1.36%) Zscaler
13 9 (1.22%) CrowdStrike
14 7 (0.95%) IBM
14 7 (0.95%) Qualys
14 7 (0.95%) Thales
15 6 (0.82%) Computacenter