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

6 months to
11 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 195 180 115
Rank change year-on-year -15 -65 -12
Contract jobs citing Information Security 748 507 854
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.41% 1.56% 1.99%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.66% 1.73% 2.33%
Number of daily rates quoted 424 283 514
10th Percentile £351 £303 £375
25th Percentile £450 £413 £488
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £534 £582
Median % change year-on-year +3.00% -8.25% -3.00%
75th Percentile £675 £688 £689
90th Percentile £804 £838 £800
UK excluding London median daily rate £525 £530 £600
% change year-on-year -0.94% -11.67% +9.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 64 36 26
10th Percentile £16.35 - £12.75
25th Percentile £17.60 £22.14 £15.80
Median hourly rate £29.72 £24.66 £19.50
Median % change year-on-year +20.51% +26.46% -74.26%
75th Percentile £67.84 £75.00 £22.50
90th Percentile £80.00 £84.21 £25.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.72 £27.53 £18.00
% change year-on-year +7.95% +52.94% -77.47%

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 45,068 29,357 36,726
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 85.21% 90.46% 85.41%
Number of daily rates quoted 28,042 18,505 23,449
10th Percentile £325 £300 £300
25th Percentile £415 £405 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £518 £501 £525
Median % change year-on-year +3.40% -4.67% -4.55%
75th Percentile £624 £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 2,667 1,497 2,458
10th Percentile £14.85 £14.20 £12.79
25th Percentile £20.01 £17.45 £16.25
Median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £38.12
Median % change year-on-year +74.79% -34.02% -4.70%
75th Percentile £68.00 £53.75 £61.30
90th Percentile £82.25 £70.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £44.50 £24.66 £38.12
% change year-on-year +80.45% -35.31% -2.91%

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 11 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 11 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 11 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 -3 683 £550 +4.76% 394
UK excluding London -3 388 £525 -0.94% 281
London -5 317 £600 +14.29% 171
Work from Home -44 187 £573 +14.50% 159
South East -13 122 £525 -16.00% 100
North of England -42 92 £525 +23.53% 70
North West -17 63 £518 +21.92% 46
Midlands -24 59 £516 +29.06% 44
South West -12 48 £500 -14.53% 29
West Midlands -29 43 £496 -3.22% 28
East of England -13 34 £525 +5.63% 22
Scotland +5 32 £387 -13.63% 13
Yorkshire -50 25 £540 +30.91% 18
East Midlands -22 16 £557 +39.19% 16
North East -33 4 £450 -15.73% 6
Wales -13 3 £645 +55.42% 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 33 (4.41%) Confluence
2 25 (3.34%) SharePoint
3 8 (1.07%) Microsoft Exchange
4 5 (0.67%) IIS
5 4 (0.53%) Apache Spark
6 3 (0.40%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
7 1 (0.13%) Adobe Experience Manager
7 1 (0.13%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 28 (3.74%) Microsoft Office
2 22 (2.94%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (1.47%) Microsoft Project
4 9 (1.20%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 6 (0.80%) 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 6 (0.80%) Remedy ITSM
2 5 (0.67%) Dynamics CRM
2 5 (0.67%) Oracle EBS
3 4 (0.53%) NEC Housing
4 2 (0.27%) Oracle ERP
4 2 (0.27%) SAP S/4HANA
5 1 (0.13%) Oracle Applications
5 1 (0.13%) SAP MDG
Cloud Services
1 160 (21.39%) Azure
2 112 (14.97%) AWS
3 55 (7.35%) Entra ID
4 42 (5.61%) SaaS
5 40 (5.35%) Microsoft 365
6 38 (5.08%) GCP
7 23 (3.07%) GitHub
7 23 (3.07%) Microsoft Purview
8 20 (2.67%) OCI
8 20 (2.67%) Power Platform
9 18 (2.41%) Azure Sentinel
10 11 (1.47%) Azure DevOps
11 9 (1.20%) IaaS
11 9 (1.20%) Microsoft Copilot
11 9 (1.20%) PaaS
11 9 (1.20%) Serverless
12 8 (1.07%) Cloud Computing
12 8 (1.07%) Power Automate
13 6 (0.80%) Dynamics 365
13 6 (0.80%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 41 (5.48%) Firewall
2 40 (5.35%) Network Security
3 12 (1.60%) SSH
3 12 (1.60%) VPN
3 12 (1.60%) Wireless
4 10 (1.34%) DNS
4 10 (1.34%) WAN
5 9 (1.20%) HTTP
5 9 (1.20%) NGFW
5 9 (1.20%) TCP/IP
6 8 (1.07%) LAN
7 7 (0.94%) DHCP
7 7 (0.94%) HTTPS
8 6 (0.80%) Internet
9 5 (0.67%) Intrusion Detection
9 5 (0.67%) Structured Cabling
10 3 (0.40%) Cisco IPT
11 2 (0.27%) BGP
11 2 (0.27%) Multicast
11 2 (0.27%) Reverse Proxy
Database & Business Intelligence
1 21 (2.81%) SQL Server
2 17 (2.27%) Power BI
3 10 (1.34%) Metadata
4 6 (0.80%) Oracle Reports
5 5 (0.67%) NoSQL
6 4 (0.53%) Big Data
6 4 (0.53%) Data Lake
6 4 (0.53%) Hadoop
7 3 (0.40%) MongoDB
7 3 (0.40%) PostgreSQL
8 2 (0.27%) DynamoDB
8 2 (0.27%) Elasticsearch
8 2 (0.27%) MySQL
8 2 (0.27%) Oracle BI Publisher
9 1 (0.13%) Data Warehouse
9 1 (0.13%) GIS
9 1 (0.13%) Oracle Database
9 1 (0.13%) Oracle Database 10g
9 1 (0.13%) RDBMS
9 1 (0.13%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 35 (4.68%) JIRA
2 10 (1.34%) Git
3 5 (0.67%) Burp Suite
3 5 (0.67%) Cypress.io
3 5 (0.67%) Postman
3 5 (0.67%) Selenium
3 5 (0.67%) WebDriver
4 3 (0.40%) Cucumber
4 3 (0.40%) git-flow
4 3 (0.40%) Metasploit
5 2 (0.27%) GitLab
5 2 (0.27%) JMeter
5 2 (0.27%) Protractor
6 1 (0.13%) AppScan
6 1 (0.13%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 1 (0.13%) LSMW
6 1 (0.13%) ScriptRunner
6 1 (0.13%) SoapUI
6 1 (0.13%) SonarQube
6 1 (0.13%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 250 (33.42%) Social Skills
2 171 (22.86%) Finance
3 123 (16.44%) Public Sector
4 79 (10.56%) Analytical Skills
5 64 (8.56%) Banking
6 60 (8.02%) Legal
7 42 (5.61%) Documentation Skills
8 27 (3.61%) Organisational Skills
9 22 (2.94%) Influencing Skills
10 20 (2.67%) Local Government
11 15 (2.01%) Presentation Skills
12 13 (1.74%) Retail
13 12 (1.60%) Billing
14 11 (1.47%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 11 (1.47%) Marketing
14 11 (1.47%) Military
15 9 (1.20%) Aerospace
16 8 (1.07%) Aviation
16 8 (1.07%) Telecoms
17 7 (0.94%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 97 (12.97%) Analyst
2 81 (10.83%) Consultant
3 74 (9.89%) Senior
4 62 (8.29%) Security Consultant
5 60 (8.02%) Architect
6 58 (7.75%) Lead
7 54 (7.22%) Security Engineer
8 41 (5.48%) Security Architect
9 40 (5.35%) Security Analyst
10 35 (4.68%) Security Manager
11 29 (3.88%) Project Manager
12 27 (3.61%) IT Manager
13 22 (2.94%) Security Officer
14 21 (2.81%) Developer
14 21 (2.81%) Senior Manager
15 18 (2.41%) Cybersecurity Manager
15 18 (2.41%) Information Security Consultant
16 17 (2.27%) Information Officer
17 16 (2.14%) Business Analyst
17 16 (2.14%) Cybersecurity Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (3.61%) Oracle Fusion
2 22 (2.94%) OAuth
3 21 (2.81%) SailPoint
4 16 (2.14%) SAML
5 15 (2.01%) OAuth2
5 15 (2.01%) OpenID
6 13 (1.74%) LDAP
7 11 (1.47%) Web Services
8 9 (1.20%) REST
8 9 (1.20%) XML
9 8 (1.07%) .NET
10 7 (0.94%) J2EE
10 7 (0.94%) JSP
11 5 (0.67%) Gherkin
11 5 (0.67%) JSON
11 5 (0.67%) Middleware
11 5 (0.67%) Node.js
11 5 (0.67%) RESTful
12 4 (0.53%) ASP.NET
12 4 (0.53%) Kafka
Miscellaneous
1 122 (16.31%) Management Information System
2 81 (10.83%) Onboarding
3 60 (8.02%) Security Posture
4 38 (5.08%) Operational Technology
5 22 (2.94%) Cyber Threat
6 20 (2.67%) Data Protection Act
7 19 (2.54%) Cloud Native
8 18 (2.41%) Security Operations Centre
9 16 (2.14%) Data Centre
9 16 (2.14%) PKI
9 16 (2.14%) Self-Motivation
10 15 (2.01%) Enterprise Software
11 14 (1.87%) Virtual Team
12 13 (1.74%) Legacy Systems
12 13 (1.74%) SCADA
13 11 (1.47%) BYOD
13 11 (1.47%) Product Ownership
14 10 (1.34%) Public Cloud
15 9 (1.20%) Driving Licence
16 8 (1.07%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 80 (10.70%) Windows
2 46 (6.15%) Linux
3 34 (4.55%) Windows Server
4 22 (2.94%) Unix
5 10 (1.34%) Android
6 9 (1.20%) Apple iOS
7 8 (1.07%) Mac OS
8 4 (0.53%) Ubuntu
8 4 (0.53%) Windows 10
9 3 (0.40%) zOS
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
1 260 (34.76%) Cybersecurity
2 206 (27.54%) Risk Management
3 132 (17.65%) Stakeholder Management
4 131 (17.51%) Data Protection
5 125 (16.71%) Continuous Improvement
6 113 (15.11%) Problem-Solving
7 87 (11.63%) Agile
7 87 (11.63%) Security Operations
8 85 (11.36%) Roadmaps
9 84 (11.23%) Cloud Security
10 80 (10.70%) Incident Response
10 80 (10.70%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 74 (9.89%) Change Management
12 70 (9.36%) Decision-Making
13 68 (9.09%) Computer Science
14 63 (8.42%) AI
15 62 (8.29%) Security Management
16 61 (8.16%) ITIL
17 60 (8.02%) DevOps
17 60 (8.02%) Vulnerability Management
Programming Languages
1 85 (11.36%) Python
2 66 (8.82%) PowerShell
3 26 (3.48%) Bash
4 23 (3.07%) SQL
5 22 (2.94%) Java
6 9 (1.20%) C#
7 6 (0.80%) JavaScript
8 5 (0.67%) Bicep
8 5 (0.67%) Kusto Query Language
8 5 (0.67%) PL/SQL
9 4 (0.53%) Apex Code
9 4 (0.53%) Go
10 3 (0.40%) Kotlin
10 3 (0.40%) RPG
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
1 158 (21.12%) Security Cleared
2 151 (20.19%) Degree
3 133 (17.78%) CISSP
4 121 (16.18%) SC Cleared
5 86 (11.50%) CISM
6 40 (5.35%) DV Cleared
7 31 (4.14%) CISA
7 31 (4.14%) Cisco Certification
8 30 (4.01%) CRISC
9 26 (3.48%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 24 (3.21%) Computer Science Degree
11 20 (2.67%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
12 18 (2.41%) CEH
13 16 (2.14%) Master's Degree
14 15 (2.01%) Microsoft Certification
14 15 (2.01%) PMP
15 14 (1.87%) AWS Certification
15 14 (1.87%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
15 14 (1.87%) PMI Certification
16 13 (1.74%) OSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 223 (29.81%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 154 (20.59%) NIST
3 127 (16.98%) GDPR
4 102 (13.64%) GRC
5 52 (6.95%) PCI DSS
6 34 (4.55%) Cyber Essentials
7 30 (4.01%) NCSC
8 23 (3.07%) Data Quality
8 23 (3.07%) QA
9 20 (2.67%) COBIT
9 20 (2.67%) SOC 2
10 19 (2.54%) NIST 800
11 18 (2.41%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 17 (2.27%) Accessibility
13 15 (2.01%) HIPAA
13 15 (2.01%) SLA
14 13 (1.74%) PMO
15 12 (1.60%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
16 11 (1.47%) ISO/IEC 27005
17 8 (1.07%) Government Security Classifications
System Software
1 70 (9.36%) Active Directory
2 10 (1.34%) Docker
3 6 (0.80%) 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 (2.67%) Terraform
2 16 (2.14%) Kubernetes
2 16 (2.14%) Microsoft Intune
3 13 (1.74%) Ansible
4 12 (1.60%) Single Sign-On
5 7 (0.94%) SCCM
6 4 (0.53%) QRadar
7 3 (0.40%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 3 (0.40%) Podman
7 3 (0.40%) RSA Archer
8 2 (0.27%) Computer Incident Response Team
8 2 (0.27%) Nmap
8 2 (0.27%) Prometheus
8 2 (0.27%) Red Hat Satellite
9 1 (0.13%) FortiGate
9 1 (0.13%) Host Intrusion Detection System
9 1 (0.13%) logstash
9 1 (0.13%) Nessus
9 1 (0.13%) Progress Chef
9 1 (0.13%) WSUS
Vendors
1 147 (19.65%) Microsoft
2 45 (6.02%) Oracle
3 43 (5.75%) ServiceNow
4 24 (3.21%) CyberArk
5 21 (2.81%) BeyondTrust
5 21 (2.81%) Google
6 17 (2.27%) Cisco
7 16 (2.14%) SAP
8 15 (2.01%) Splunk
9 14 (1.87%) Apple
9 14 (1.87%) Palo Alto
10 12 (1.60%) Ariba
11 11 (1.47%) CrowdStrike
12 9 (1.20%) VMware
13 7 (0.94%) IBM
13 7 (0.94%) Remedy
13 7 (0.94%) Zscaler
14 6 (0.80%) Computacenter
14 6 (0.80%) Thales
15 5 (0.67%) Rapid7