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

6 months to
13 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 199 168 106
Rank change year-on-year -31 -62 -14
Contract jobs citing Information Security 766 561 839
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.41% 1.70% 2.18%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.67% 1.88% 2.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 406 308 535
10th Percentile £328 £313 £371
25th Percentile £425 £413 £481
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £530 £575
Median % change year-on-year +3.77% -7.83% -3.08%
75th Percentile £650 £675 £688
90th Percentile £825 £779 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £470 £500 £600
% change year-on-year -6.10% -16.67% +9.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 81 35 17
10th Percentile £16.62 £22.06 £12.75
25th Percentile £21.35 £22.14 £13.00
Median hourly rate £62.25 £33.50 £16.19
Median % change year-on-year +85.82% +106.92% -78.24%
75th Percentile £80.00 £65.00 £21.00
90th Percentile - £81.00 £46.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £62.25 £33.50 £15.73
% change year-on-year +85.82% +112.97% -80.53%

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 45,937 29,792 32,994
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.50% 90.51% 85.60%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,939 18,514 20,418
10th Percentile £325 £300 £310
25th Percentile £425 £403 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -2.78%
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 3,060 1,790 1,498
10th Percentile £13.85 £14.23 £14.84
25th Percentile £17.44 £17.30 £20.00
Median hourly rate £40.00 £25.15 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +59.05% -41.51% +1.18%
75th Percentile £67.50 £43.94 £65.00
90th Percentile £79.10 £67.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.13 £22.50 £43.00
% change year-on-year +78.36% -47.67% +7.50%

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 13 September 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 13 September 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 13 September 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 -39 690 £550 +4.27% 1,076
UK excluding London -3 408 £470 -6.10% 547
London -51 302 £600 +9.09% 611
Work from Home -46 188 £558 +23.89% 559
North of England -22 115 £470 +1.73% 141
South East -29 102 £455 -30.00% 166
North West -23 75 £511 +19.60% 80
Midlands -11 71 £450 +12.50% 77
West Midlands +1 59 £418 -14.36% 48
South West -29 54 £600 +17.07% 65
Scotland -8 35 £565 +29.89% 32
East of England -8 33 £538 +48.48% 41
Yorkshire -36 25 £540 +8.00% 39
North East -28 14 £425 -22.73% 24
East Midlands -30 12 £533 +33.13% 29
Wales -12 4 £645 +5.31% 13
Northern Ireland +2 1 £550 - 21

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 35 (4.57%) SharePoint
2 24 (3.13%) Confluence
3 8 (1.04%) IIS
3 8 (1.04%) Microsoft Exchange
4 2 (0.26%) Apache
4 2 (0.26%) Apache Airflow
4 2 (0.26%) Apache Spark
4 2 (0.26%) Jupyter
5 1 (0.13%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 1 (0.13%) Oracle Workflow
5 1 (0.13%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 19 (2.48%) Microsoft Office
2 12 (1.57%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (1.04%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 8 (1.04%) Spreadsheet
4 7 (0.91%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.26%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.13%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 17 (2.22%) Dynamics CRM
2 7 (0.91%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.39%) Oracle Payroll
4 2 (0.26%) Oracle ERP
4 2 (0.26%) SAP S/4HANA
5 1 (0.13%) Oracle Applications
5 1 (0.13%) Oracle Payables
5 1 (0.13%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 1 (0.13%) Oracle Receivables
5 1 (0.13%) SAP GRC
5 1 (0.13%) SAP MDG
5 1 (0.13%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 180 (23.50%) Azure
2 121 (15.80%) AWS
3 64 (8.36%) Entra ID
4 47 (6.14%) Microsoft 365
4 47 (6.14%) SaaS
5 36 (4.70%) GCP
6 29 (3.79%) Power Platform
7 28 (3.66%) GitHub
8 23 (3.00%) Azure Sentinel
9 21 (2.74%) Azure DevOps
9 21 (2.74%) Dynamics 365
9 21 (2.74%) Power Automate
10 20 (2.61%) Microsoft Purview
10 20 (2.61%) Serverless
11 16 (2.09%) OCI
12 13 (1.70%) Azure Functions
13 12 (1.57%) GitHub Actions
13 12 (1.57%) PaaS
14 11 (1.44%) IaaS
15 8 (1.04%) Cloud Computing
Communications & Networking
1 49 (6.40%) Network Security
2 43 (5.61%) Firewall
3 20 (2.61%) WAN
4 17 (2.22%) DNS
4 17 (2.22%) LAN
5 11 (1.44%) TCP/IP
6 10 (1.31%) DHCP
6 10 (1.31%) SSH
7 9 (1.17%) Internet
7 9 (1.17%) VPN
7 9 (1.17%) Wireless
8 8 (1.04%) HTTP
8 8 (1.04%) NGFW
9 7 (0.91%) HTTPS
10 5 (0.65%) SD-WAN
10 5 (0.65%) SMTP
10 5 (0.65%) SSL
10 5 (0.65%) Structured Cabling
11 4 (0.52%) Cisco IPT
11 4 (0.52%) Intrusion Detection
Database & Business Intelligence
1 31 (4.05%) SQL Server
2 17 (2.22%) Power BI
3 12 (1.57%) MongoDB
4 8 (1.04%) Metadata
5 4 (0.52%) Data Lake
5 4 (0.52%) NoSQL
5 4 (0.52%) Oracle Reports
6 2 (0.26%) Amazon RDS
6 2 (0.26%) Data Warehouse
6 2 (0.26%) Relational Database
7 1 (0.13%) Ataccama
7 1 (0.13%) Chroma
7 1 (0.13%) Neo4j
7 1 (0.13%) Oracle Database
7 1 (0.13%) Oracle Database 10g
7 1 (0.13%) Pinecone
7 1 (0.13%) PostgreSQL
7 1 (0.13%) RDBMS
7 1 (0.13%) SAP HANA
7 1 (0.13%) Weaviate
Development Applications
1 27 (3.52%) JIRA
2 11 (1.44%) Git
3 10 (1.31%) Cypress.io
3 10 (1.31%) Postman
3 10 (1.31%) Selenium
3 10 (1.31%) WebDriver
4 7 (0.91%) Cucumber
5 3 (0.39%) Protractor
5 3 (0.39%) ScalaTest
6 2 (0.26%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 2 (0.26%) Bitbucket
6 2 (0.26%) Claude Code
6 2 (0.26%) git-flow
6 2 (0.26%) GitLab
6 2 (0.26%) JMeter
7 1 (0.13%) Burp Suite
7 1 (0.13%) Jenkins
7 1 (0.13%) LSMW
7 1 (0.13%) SoapUI
7 1 (0.13%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 285 (37.21%) Social Skills
2 170 (22.19%) Finance
3 145 (18.93%) Public Sector
4 100 (13.05%) Analytical Skills
5 63 (8.22%) Legal
6 51 (6.66%) Banking
7 44 (5.74%) Documentation Skills
8 35 (4.57%) Influencing Skills
9 33 (4.31%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 30 (3.92%) Organisational Skills
11 28 (3.66%) Military
12 27 (3.52%) Local Government
13 26 (3.39%) Presentation Skills
14 16 (2.09%) Aerospace
15 14 (1.83%) Law
16 12 (1.57%) Billing
16 12 (1.57%) Manufacturing
17 10 (1.31%) Marketing
17 10 (1.31%) Retail
18 9 (1.17%) Police
Job Titles
1 111 (14.49%) Analyst
2 86 (11.23%) Senior
3 82 (10.70%) Architect
4 72 (9.40%) Lead
5 68 (8.88%) Consultant
6 61 (7.96%) Security Architect
7 45 (5.87%) Security Engineer
8 43 (5.61%) Security Consultant
9 41 (5.35%) Security Analyst
10 35 (4.57%) Security Manager
11 33 (4.31%) Developer
12 29 (3.79%) Project Manager
13 25 (3.26%) IT Manager
14 24 (3.13%) Security Officer
15 23 (3.00%) Information Manager
16 22 (2.87%) Information Security Officer
17 19 (2.48%) Cybersecurity Manager
17 19 (2.48%) Information Officer
18 18 (2.35%) Chief Information Security Officer
18 18 (2.35%) Senior Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 36 (4.70%) Terraform
2 26 (3.39%) Oracle Fusion
3 25 (3.26%) SailPoint
4 19 (2.48%) OAuth
5 18 (2.35%) LDAP
6 16 (2.09%) SAML
6 16 (2.09%) XML
7 15 (1.96%) OpenID
7 15 (1.96%) Web Services
8 13 (1.70%) OAuth2
9 12 (1.57%) JSON
10 10 (1.31%) Gherkin
11 9 (1.17%) REST
11 9 (1.17%) XSLT
12 8 (1.04%) Play Framework
13 5 (0.65%) .NET
13 5 (0.65%) RESTful
14 4 (0.52%) Jakarta EE
14 4 (0.52%) JSP
15 3 (0.39%) ASP.NET
Miscellaneous
1 150 (19.58%) Management Information System
2 73 (9.53%) Onboarding
3 55 (7.18%) Security Posture
4 33 (4.31%) Cyber Threat
5 25 (3.26%) Operational Technology
6 24 (3.13%) Security Operations Centre
7 22 (2.87%) Data Centre
8 20 (2.61%) PKI
9 18 (2.35%) Cloud Native
10 16 (2.09%) Enterprise Software
11 13 (1.70%) Cyber Defence
11 13 (1.70%) NHS
12 12 (1.57%) Data Protection Act
12 12 (1.57%) Product Ownership
12 12 (1.57%) Taxonomies
13 11 (1.44%) Self-Motivation
14 10 (1.31%) Analytical Mindset
14 10 (1.31%) Public Cloud
14 10 (1.31%) Virtual Team
15 9 (1.17%) Freedom of Information
Operating Systems
1 82 (10.70%) Windows
2 48 (6.27%) Linux
3 37 (4.83%) Windows Server
4 21 (2.74%) Unix
5 10 (1.31%) Android
5 10 (1.31%) Mac OS
6 8 (1.04%) Apple iOS
7 6 (0.78%) Ubuntu
8 5 (0.65%) Windows 10
9 3 (0.39%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 2 (0.26%) Alpine Linux
11 1 (0.13%) CentOS
11 1 (0.13%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 269 (35.12%) Cybersecurity
2 219 (28.59%) Risk Management
3 200 (26.11%) Stakeholder Management
4 144 (18.80%) Data Protection
5 136 (17.75%) Continuous Improvement
6 115 (15.01%) Incident Response
7 106 (13.84%) Problem-Solving
8 104 (13.58%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 101 (13.19%) Agile
10 96 (12.53%) Security Operations
10 96 (12.53%) Vulnerability Management
11 85 (11.10%) Cloud Security
11 85 (11.10%) Roadmaps
12 84 (10.97%) Decision-Making
13 74 (9.66%) Security Architecture
14 72 (9.40%) AI
15 71 (9.27%) ITIL
16 70 (9.14%) Computer Science
16 70 (9.14%) SIEM
17 69 (9.01%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 77 (10.05%) Python
2 67 (8.75%) PowerShell
3 29 (3.79%) Bash
4 23 (3.00%) SQL
5 17 (2.22%) C#
6 16 (2.09%) JavaScript
7 9 (1.17%) Java
7 9 (1.17%) PL/SQL
7 9 (1.17%) Scala
8 7 (0.91%) Bicep
8 7 (0.91%) Kusto Query Language
9 3 (0.39%) Apex Code
10 2 (0.26%) Korn
11 1 (0.13%) Go
11 1 (0.13%) Kotlin
11 1 (0.13%) R
11 1 (0.13%) Search Processing Language
11 1 (0.13%) Shell Script
11 1 (0.13%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 170 (22.19%) Security Cleared
2 135 (17.62%) CISSP
3 132 (17.23%) Degree
4 124 (16.19%) SC Cleared
5 88 (11.49%) CISM
6 48 (6.27%) DV Cleared
7 36 (4.70%) Microsoft Certification
8 35 (4.57%) CRISC
9 34 (4.44%) CISA
10 29 (3.79%) Cisco Certification
11 24 (3.13%) (ISC)2 CCSP
12 19 (2.48%) Azure Certification
13 18 (2.35%) Computer Science Degree
14 17 (2.22%) CCSP
14 17 (2.22%) PMP
15 16 (2.09%) PMI Certification
16 15 (1.96%) AWS Certification
16 15 (1.96%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
17 13 (1.70%) CEH
17 13 (1.70%) OSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 193 (25.20%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 130 (16.97%) NIST
3 120 (15.67%) GDPR
3 120 (15.67%) GRC
4 42 (5.48%) NCSC
5 40 (5.22%) Cyber Essentials
6 37 (4.83%) PCI DSS
7 32 (4.18%) Accessibility
8 30 (3.92%) Data Quality
9 22 (2.87%) NIST 800
9 22 (2.87%) QA
10 20 (2.61%) SLA
10 20 (2.61%) WCAG
11 19 (2.48%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 15 (1.96%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 13 (1.70%) HIPAA
13 13 (1.70%) SOC 2
14 12 (1.57%) HMG Security Policy Framework
15 10 (1.31%) Government Security Classifications
16 9 (1.17%) PMO
System Software
1 76 (9.92%) Active Directory
2 10 (1.31%) Docker
3 8 (1.04%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (0.78%) Firmware
5 5 (0.65%) Hyper-V
6 3 (0.39%) ISA Server
6 3 (0.39%) OpenAM
6 3 (0.39%) Squid
7 2 (0.26%) Virtual Machines
7 2 (0.26%) Virtual Servers
8 1 (0.13%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.13%) Ceph
8 1 (0.13%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.13%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 25 (3.26%) Kubernetes
2 18 (2.35%) Microsoft Intune
2 18 (2.35%) Single Sign-On
3 13 (1.70%) Ansible
4 8 (1.04%) Grafana
5 6 (0.78%) SCCM
6 5 (0.65%) CASB
6 5 (0.65%) QRadar
7 4 (0.52%) Podman
8 3 (0.39%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 3 (0.39%) RSA Archer
9 2 (0.26%) Computer Incident Response Team
9 2 (0.26%) Jamf Pro
10 1 (0.13%) Control-M
10 1 (0.13%) Host Intrusion Detection System
10 1 (0.13%) Istio
10 1 (0.13%) WSUS
Vendors
1 189 (24.67%) Microsoft
2 48 (6.27%) Oracle
3 40 (5.22%) ServiceNow
4 33 (4.31%) Splunk
5 28 (3.66%) Google
6 22 (2.87%) Cisco
6 22 (2.87%) CyberArk
7 21 (2.74%) SAP
8 19 (2.48%) BeyondTrust
9 18 (2.35%) Palo Alto
10 15 (1.96%) Apple
10 15 (1.96%) CrowdStrike
11 14 (1.83%) VMware
12 12 (1.57%) Ariba
13 11 (1.44%) Zscaler
14 10 (1.31%) Qualys
14 10 (1.31%) Remedy
15 7 (0.91%) Atlassian
15 7 (0.91%) Thales
16 6 (0.78%) Computacenter