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 27 November 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
27 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 162 112 98
Rank change year-on-year -50 -14 +40
Contract jobs citing Information Security 642 775 1,102
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.78% 2.11% 2.43%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.99% 2.43% 2.74%
Number of daily rates quoted 328 468 777
10th Percentile £347 £400 £400
25th Percentile £423 £488 £500
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £536 £594 £575
Median % change year-on-year -9.72% +3.30% -
75th Percentile £653 £688 £688
90th Percentile £775 £797 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £592 £551
% change year-on-year -19.70% +7.28% +0.25%
Number of hourly rates quoted 68 25 54
10th Percentile £18.82 £15.27 £16.00
25th Percentile £20.71 £16.06 £42.25
Median hourly rate £33.50 £22.09 £53.25
Median % change year-on-year +51.65% -58.52% -18.39%
75th Percentile £45.00 £35.00 £83.40
90th Percentile £80.20 £44.50 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.50 £21.14 £73.31
% change year-on-year +58.47% -71.16% +4.73%

All Process and 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 32,304 31,906 40,162
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 89.43% 86.97% 88.53%
Number of daily rates quoted 20,227 19,221 26,955
10th Percentile £300 £310 £308
25th Percentile £404 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £533
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -1.50% -3.09%
75th Percentile £619 £638 £650
90th Percentile £725 £738 £745
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,107 1,156 1,551
10th Percentile £14.52 £15.22 £14.36
25th Percentile £17.52 £20.24 £19.06
Median hourly rate £25.15 £34.75 £44.00
Median % change year-on-year -27.63% -21.02% +25.71%
75th Percentile £45.46 £63.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £67.50 £73.75 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.00 £32.50 £44.50
% change year-on-year -29.23% -26.97% +41.14%

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 27 November 2025.

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 27 November 2025.

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 27 November 2025. 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 -37 572 £538 -10.42% 422
UK excluding London -59 308 £475 -19.70% 341
London -32 262 £578 -0.34% 169
Work from Home -20 189 £531 -3.41% 201
South East -37 85 £600 +7.14% 146
North of England -36 78 £475 -17.39% 56
Midlands -36 53 £400 -38.46% 40
South West -18 45 £425 -37.65% 42
North West -32 44 £448 -25.29% 31
Yorkshire -28 31 £475 -13.64% 20
East Midlands +9 30 £400 -49.04% 9
East of England 0 27 £500 -16.67% 30
West Midlands -53 23 £413 -36.54% 31
Scotland -18 19 £425 -10.53% 27
Wales +1 5 £388 -44.64% 7
North East -7 3 £550 -32.52% 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 36 (5.61%) SharePoint
2 20 (3.12%) Confluence
3 18 (2.80%) Microsoft Exchange
4 7 (1.09%) Mattermost
4 7 (1.09%) Skype for Business
5 6 (0.93%) IIS
6 3 (0.47%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
7 2 (0.31%) Tomcat
8 1 (0.16%) Apache
8 1 (0.16%) Apache Airflow
8 1 (0.16%) WebSphere
8 1 (0.16%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 50 (7.79%) Microsoft Office
2 22 (3.43%) Microsoft Excel
3 9 (1.40%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.78%) MS Visio
5 4 (0.62%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.47%) Navisworks
6 3 (0.47%) Revit
7 2 (0.31%) ProjectWise
8 1 (0.16%) 1Password
8 1 (0.16%) GNU Octave
Business Applications
1 15 (2.34%) Remedy ITSM
2 6 (0.93%) Oracle EBS
3 2 (0.31%) assyst
3 2 (0.31%) SAP GRC
4 1 (0.16%) NEC Housing
4 1 (0.16%) Salesforce CRM
4 1 (0.16%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 121 (18.85%) Azure
2 74 (11.53%) AWS
3 44 (6.85%) Microsoft 365
4 36 (5.61%) Entra ID
5 29 (4.52%) GCP
6 25 (3.89%) Power Platform
7 19 (2.96%) Azure Sentinel
8 16 (2.49%) SaaS
9 12 (1.87%) Microsoft Purview
10 8 (1.25%) OneDrive
11 7 (1.09%) OCI
12 6 (0.93%) AWS CloudFormation
12 6 (0.93%) Azure DevOps
12 6 (0.93%) Cloud Computing
12 6 (0.93%) OpenShift
13 3 (0.47%) Amazon EC2
13 3 (0.47%) Amazon S3
13 3 (0.47%) GitHub
13 3 (0.47%) IaaS
13 3 (0.47%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 73 (11.37%) Firewall
2 45 (7.01%) Network Security
3 28 (4.36%) DNS
4 19 (2.96%) HTTP
5 17 (2.65%) SSH
6 16 (2.49%) TCP/IP
7 13 (2.02%) WAN
8 12 (1.87%) DHCP
8 12 (1.87%) SMTP
8 12 (1.87%) SSL
9 11 (1.71%) Intrusion Detection
9 11 (1.71%) VPN
10 10 (1.56%) FTP
11 9 (1.40%) Internet
11 9 (1.40%) Wi-Fi
12 7 (1.09%) Skype
12 7 (1.09%) Wireless
13 6 (0.93%) LAN
14 4 (0.62%) OSPF
14 4 (0.62%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 20 (3.12%) Power BI
2 7 (1.09%) GIS
3 5 (0.78%) Tableau
4 4 (0.62%) Big Data
4 4 (0.62%) Data Warehouse
4 4 (0.62%) NoSQL
4 4 (0.62%) Oracle BI Publisher
4 4 (0.62%) Oracle Reports
4 4 (0.62%) Redis
5 3 (0.47%) Data Lake
5 3 (0.47%) Metadata
5 3 (0.47%) SQL Server
6 2 (0.31%) Amazon Aurora
6 2 (0.31%) Amazon RDS
6 2 (0.31%) BigQuery
6 2 (0.31%) EDRMS
6 2 (0.31%) Power Query
6 2 (0.31%) Relational Database
7 1 (0.16%) Amazon Redshift
7 1 (0.16%) Electronic Patient Records
Development Applications
1 32 (4.98%) JIRA
2 12 (1.87%) Jenkins
3 8 (1.25%) Artifactory
4 5 (0.78%) Burp Suite
4 5 (0.78%) Git
5 3 (0.47%) Metasploit
6 2 (0.31%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 2 (0.31%) Snyk
6 2 (0.31%) SonarQube
7 1 (0.16%) Balsamiq
7 1 (0.16%) Eclipse
7 1 (0.16%) GCC
7 1 (0.16%) Log4j
7 1 (0.16%) MSI
General
1 262 (40.81%) Social Skills
2 157 (24.45%) Finance
3 76 (11.84%) Public Sector
4 75 (11.68%) Analytical Skills
5 44 (6.85%) Banking
5 44 (6.85%) Legal
6 30 (4.67%) Organisational Skills
7 18 (2.80%) Manufacturing
8 17 (2.65%) Military
9 15 (2.34%) Presentation Skills
10 14 (2.18%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 14 (2.18%) Police
11 13 (2.02%) Telecoms
12 12 (1.87%) Retail
13 11 (1.71%) Documentation Skills
13 11 (1.71%) Influencing Skills
14 9 (1.40%) Law
15 7 (1.09%) Local Government
16 6 (0.93%) Spanish Language
17 5 (0.78%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 168 (26.17%) Analyst
2 61 (9.50%) Consultant
3 60 (9.35%) Security Analyst
4 47 (7.32%) Architect
4 47 (7.32%) Senior
5 44 (6.85%) Security Manager
6 43 (6.70%) Support Analyst
7 39 (6.07%) Lead
8 37 (5.76%) Security Engineer
9 35 (5.45%) Security Architect
10 29 (4.52%) Security Consultant
11 28 (4.36%) Information Analyst
11 28 (4.36%) Information Security Analyst
12 21 (3.27%) Security Specialist
13 19 (2.96%) SOC Analyst
14 18 (2.80%) Information Security Manager
15 17 (2.65%) Project Manager
16 16 (2.49%) Developer
16 16 (2.49%) IT Support
17 15 (2.34%) Cybersecurity Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 15 (2.34%) SailPoint
2 14 (2.18%) LDAP
3 10 (1.56%) OAuth
3 10 (1.56%) Oracle Fusion
4 8 (1.25%) Middleware
4 8 (1.25%) REST
4 8 (1.25%) SAML
5 7 (1.09%) OpenID
6 6 (0.93%) Qt
7 5 (0.78%) Kafka
7 5 (0.78%) OAuth2
7 5 (0.78%) PyTorch
7 5 (0.78%) TensorFlow
8 4 (0.62%) FastAPI
8 4 (0.62%) HATEOAS
8 4 (0.62%) Hugging Face
8 4 (0.62%) LangChain
8 4 (0.62%) LangGraph
8 4 (0.62%) Loki
8 4 (0.62%) OpenTelemetry
Miscellaneous
1 130 (20.25%) Management Information System
2 79 (12.31%) Security Posture
3 29 (4.52%) Cyber Threat
4 27 (4.21%) PKI
5 21 (3.27%) Security Operations Centre
6 20 (3.12%) Onboarding
7 15 (2.34%) Data Centre
8 14 (2.18%) Analytical Mindset
8 14 (2.18%) Cloud Native
9 13 (2.02%) CSOC
9 13 (2.02%) Data Protection Act
9 13 (2.02%) Operational Technology
9 13 (2.02%) Tandem
10 11 (1.71%) Enterprise Software
10 11 (1.71%) Product Ownership
11 10 (1.56%) Cyberattack
11 10 (1.56%) Legacy Systems
12 9 (1.40%) Cyber Defence
12 9 (1.40%) Greenfield Project
13 7 (1.09%) Cloud Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 72 (11.21%) Windows
2 46 (7.17%) Linux
3 16 (2.49%) Unix
4 12 (1.87%) Windows Server
5 6 (0.93%) Windows 10
6 3 (0.47%) Kali Linux
6 3 (0.47%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.16%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 1 (0.16%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 237 (36.92%) Cybersecurity
2 156 (24.30%) Risk Management
3 117 (18.22%) Problem-Solving
4 113 (17.60%) Stakeholder Management
5 100 (15.58%) Incident Response
6 97 (15.11%) Data Protection
7 86 (13.40%) ITIL
8 78 (12.15%) Cloud Security
9 77 (11.99%) Security Operations
10 76 (11.84%) Agile
11 68 (10.59%) Continuous Improvement
12 66 (10.28%) Security Management
13 61 (9.50%) SIEM
13 61 (9.50%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 59 (9.19%) Computer Science
15 53 (8.26%) Information Security Management
16 51 (7.94%) Threat Modelling
17 50 (7.79%) Vulnerability Management
18 49 (7.63%) Project Management
19 48 (7.48%) ITSM
Programming Languages
1 51 (7.94%) Python
2 47 (7.32%) PowerShell
3 39 (6.07%) SQL
4 10 (1.56%) Java
5 8 (1.25%) Bash
6 6 (0.93%) C#
6 6 (0.93%) C++
7 5 (0.78%) Perl
8 2 (0.31%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 2 (0.31%) JavaScript
8 2 (0.31%) Kusto Query Language
8 2 (0.31%) PHP
8 2 (0.31%) R
8 2 (0.31%) Rust
8 2 (0.31%) Solidity
8 2 (0.31%) TypeScript
9 1 (0.16%) ANSI SQL
9 1 (0.16%) Bicep
9 1 (0.16%) Go
9 1 (0.16%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 143 (22.27%) Security Cleared
2 121 (18.85%) CISSP
3 114 (17.76%) Degree
4 108 (16.82%) SC Cleared
5 91 (14.17%) CISM
6 44 (6.85%) Computer Science Degree
7 39 (6.07%) CISA
8 32 (4.98%) DV Cleared
9 26 (4.05%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
10 25 (3.89%) Master's Degree
11 24 (3.74%) Cisco Certification
12 22 (3.43%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
13 20 (3.12%) ITIL Certification
14 18 (2.80%) BPSS Clearance
14 18 (2.80%) CRISC
15 16 (2.49%) (ISC)2 CCSP
15 16 (2.49%) Azure Certification
16 15 (2.34%) CEH
17 12 (1.87%) CCSP
18 10 (1.56%) A+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 189 (29.44%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 166 (25.86%) NIST
3 110 (17.13%) GDPR
4 62 (9.66%) GRC
5 36 (5.61%) COBIT
6 34 (5.30%) Cyber Essentials
7 32 (4.98%) PCI DSS
8 22 (3.43%) NCSC
9 20 (3.12%) NIST 800
10 16 (2.49%) Accessibility
10 16 (2.49%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 16 (2.49%) SLA
11 14 (2.18%) Def Stans
11 14 (2.18%) PMO
12 12 (1.87%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 12 (1.87%) QA
13 11 (1.71%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 9 (1.40%) JSP 440
15 8 (1.25%) ISO/IEC 27005
16 7 (1.09%) PSD2
System Software
1 52 (8.10%) Active Directory
2 14 (2.18%) Virtual Machines
3 11 (1.71%) Docker
4 4 (0.62%) VMware Infrastructure
5 1 (0.16%) BitLocker
5 1 (0.16%) Hyper-V
5 1 (0.16%) Microsoft App-V
5 1 (0.16%) Virtual Desktop
5 1 (0.16%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 22 (3.43%) Microsoft Intune
2 20 (3.12%) Kubernetes
3 18 (2.80%) QRadar
4 16 (2.49%) SCCM
5 15 (2.34%) HP SiteScope
5 15 (2.34%) SCOM
6 13 (2.02%) Ansible
7 12 (1.87%) Terraform
8 8 (1.25%) CASB
9 7 (1.09%) Grafana
9 7 (1.09%) Prometheus
9 7 (1.09%) SCOrch
10 6 (0.93%) RSA Archer
11 4 (0.62%) CSIRT
11 4 (0.62%) Kustomize
11 4 (0.62%) Nmap
11 4 (0.62%) WSUS
12 2 (0.31%) FTK
12 2 (0.31%) Nessus
12 2 (0.31%) Puppet
Vendors
1 144 (22.43%) Microsoft
2 36 (5.61%) Splunk
3 26 (4.05%) ServiceNow
4 25 (3.89%) Cisco
5 16 (2.49%) CyberArk
5 16 (2.49%) Remedy
6 15 (2.34%) IBM
6 15 (2.34%) Oracle
7 12 (1.87%) CrowdStrike
7 12 (1.87%) Rapid7
8 11 (1.71%) Fortinet
8 11 (1.71%) Palo Alto
8 11 (1.71%) Salesforce
9 9 (1.40%) Qualys
9 9 (1.40%) SAP
9 9 (1.40%) Thales
10 8 (1.25%) Darktrace
10 8 (1.25%) Databricks
10 8 (1.25%) Gemalto
10 8 (1.25%) Google