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

6 months to
29 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 203 170 104
Rank change year-on-year -33 -66 -3
Contract jobs citing Information Security 725 545 854
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.38% 1.66% 2.14%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.62% 1.84% 2.51%
Number of daily rates quoted 399 315 535
10th Percentile £351 £350 £385
25th Percentile £450 £419 £494
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £534 £582
Median % change year-on-year +3.00% -8.25% -3.00%
75th Percentile £675 £688 £688
90th Percentile £823 £833 £795
UK excluding London median daily rate £520 £532 £584
% change year-on-year -2.26% -8.90% +6.18%
Number of hourly rates quoted 69 40 24
10th Percentile £15.97 £21.55 £12.75
25th Percentile £17.92 £22.14 £15.31
Median hourly rate £52.50 £24.66 £18.00
Median % change year-on-year +112.90% +37.00% -78.39%
75th Percentile £77.50 £75.00 £23.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £85.00 £25.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £52.50 £27.53 £16.96
% change year-on-year +90.70% +62.37% -79.65%

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 44,620 29,684 34,056
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.91% 90.46% 85.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,627 18,648 21,888
10th Percentile £325 £300 £308
25th Percentile £420 £404 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -4.11%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £734 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,682 1,621 1,980
10th Percentile £14.64 £14.20 £13.69
25th Percentile £19.73 £17.33 £17.74
Median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +74.79% -37.13% -5.88%
75th Percentile £68.00 £50.00 £63.75
90th Percentile £82.35 £68.75 £74.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.96 £23.57 £40.33
% change year-on-year +86.55% -41.56% -

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 29 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 29 July 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 29 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 -19 664 £552 +5.14% 528
UK excluding London -17 373 £520 -2.26% 315
London -10 313 £600 +14.29% 262
Work from Home -56 183 £581 +16.20% 209
South East -19 126 £525 -16.00% 108
North of England -56 84 £475 -4.33% 87
North West -26 59 £474 -1.96% 49
Midlands -32 57 £471 +17.75% 44
South West -22 44 £525 -10.26% 35
West Midlands -28 43 £450 -5.26% 25
East of England -13 30 £530 - 19
Scotland -11 29 £475 +7.41% 13
Yorkshire -48 22 £540 +16.76% 27
East Midlands -16 14 £557 +39.19% 19
Wales -12 4 £645 +55.42% 13
North East -47 3 £450 -15.73% 11
Northern Ireland -1 1 £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 28 (3.86%) Confluence
2 24 (3.31%) SharePoint
3 7 (0.97%) Microsoft Exchange
4 5 (0.69%) IIS
5 2 (0.28%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
6 1 (0.14%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 1 (0.14%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.14%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 22 (3.03%) Microsoft Office
2 14 (1.93%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (1.10%) Microsoft Project
4 6 (0.83%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.55%) Spreadsheet
6 2 (0.28%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 9 (1.24%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (0.83%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.41%) Oracle EBS
4 2 (0.28%) NEC Housing
4 2 (0.28%) Oracle ERP
4 2 (0.28%) 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 MDG
5 1 (0.14%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 164 (22.62%) Azure
2 107 (14.76%) AWS
3 61 (8.41%) Entra ID
4 42 (5.79%) SaaS
5 38 (5.24%) Microsoft 365
6 32 (4.41%) GCP
7 22 (3.03%) GitHub
8 21 (2.90%) Microsoft Purview
9 20 (2.76%) Power Platform
10 18 (2.48%) Azure Sentinel
11 16 (2.21%) OCI
12 12 (1.66%) Azure DevOps
12 12 (1.66%) Power Automate
13 11 (1.52%) Serverless
14 10 (1.38%) Dynamics 365
15 8 (1.10%) Cloud Computing
15 8 (1.10%) IaaS
15 8 (1.10%) PaaS
16 7 (0.97%) Azure Key Vault
17 6 (0.83%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 42 (5.79%) Firewall
2 39 (5.38%) Network Security
3 13 (1.79%) SSH
3 13 (1.79%) WAN
4 12 (1.66%) LAN
4 12 (1.66%) Wireless
5 11 (1.52%) VPN
6 10 (1.38%) DNS
7 9 (1.24%) HTTP
8 8 (1.10%) NGFW
8 8 (1.10%) TCP/IP
9 7 (0.97%) DHCP
9 7 (0.97%) HTTPS
10 5 (0.69%) Internet
10 5 (0.69%) Structured Cabling
11 4 (0.55%) Intrusion Detection
12 3 (0.41%) Cisco IPT
13 2 (0.28%) BGP
13 2 (0.28%) Cisco ASA
13 2 (0.28%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 27 (3.72%) SQL Server
2 17 (2.34%) Power BI
3 7 (0.97%) Metadata
4 6 (0.83%) Data Lake
4 6 (0.83%) NoSQL
4 6 (0.83%) Oracle Reports
5 4 (0.55%) MongoDB
6 3 (0.41%) Data Warehouse
6 3 (0.41%) PostgreSQL
7 2 (0.28%) DynamoDB
7 2 (0.28%) MySQL
7 2 (0.28%) Oracle BI Publisher
7 2 (0.28%) Relational Database
8 1 (0.14%) Big Data
8 1 (0.14%) Hadoop
8 1 (0.14%) MariaDB
8 1 (0.14%) Neo4j
8 1 (0.14%) Oracle Database
8 1 (0.14%) SAP HANA
8 1 (0.14%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 30 (4.14%) JIRA
2 8 (1.10%) Cypress.io
2 8 (1.10%) Postman
2 8 (1.10%) Selenium
2 8 (1.10%) WebDriver
3 5 (0.69%) Cucumber
4 4 (0.55%) Git
5 3 (0.41%) Burp Suite
5 3 (0.41%) git-flow
5 3 (0.41%) Protractor
6 2 (0.28%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 2 (0.28%) Bitbucket
6 2 (0.28%) JMeter
6 2 (0.28%) Metasploit
7 1 (0.14%) Jenkins
7 1 (0.14%) LSMW
7 1 (0.14%) SoapUI
7 1 (0.14%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 241 (33.24%) Social Skills
2 160 (22.07%) Finance
3 130 (17.93%) Public Sector
4 80 (11.03%) Analytical Skills
5 58 (8.00%) Banking
6 54 (7.45%) Legal
7 43 (5.93%) Documentation Skills
8 25 (3.45%) Organisational Skills
9 22 (3.03%) Local Government
10 21 (2.90%) Influencing Skills
11 15 (2.07%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 15 (2.07%) Retail
12 14 (1.93%) Military
13 13 (1.79%) Billing
13 13 (1.79%) Presentation Skills
14 12 (1.66%) Aerospace
14 12 (1.66%) Law
15 10 (1.38%) Marketing
15 10 (1.38%) Police
16 8 (1.10%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 94 (12.97%) Analyst
2 79 (10.90%) Senior
3 73 (10.07%) Consultant
4 71 (9.79%) Architect
5 62 (8.55%) Lead
6 58 (8.00%) Security Consultant
7 51 (7.03%) Security Engineer
8 50 (6.90%) Security Architect
9 37 (5.10%) Security Analyst
10 36 (4.97%) Security Manager
11 25 (3.45%) IT Manager
12 21 (2.90%) Project Manager
13 20 (2.76%) Developer
13 20 (2.76%) Senior Manager
14 19 (2.62%) Cybersecurity Manager
15 18 (2.48%) Information Officer
15 18 (2.48%) Security Officer
16 17 (2.34%) Business Analyst
17 16 (2.21%) Information Manager
18 15 (2.07%) Information Security Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (3.45%) Oracle Fusion
2 24 (3.31%) SailPoint
3 23 (3.17%) OAuth
4 17 (2.34%) SAML
5 16 (2.21%) LDAP
5 16 (2.21%) OAuth2
5 16 (2.21%) OpenID
6 14 (1.93%) Web Services
7 11 (1.52%) REST
8 10 (1.38%) XML
9 8 (1.10%) Gherkin
10 6 (0.83%) .NET
10 6 (0.83%) JSON
11 4 (0.55%) ASP.NET
11 4 (0.55%) Jakarta EE
11 4 (0.55%) JSP
11 4 (0.55%) Kafka
11 4 (0.55%) Lightning Web Components
12 3 (0.41%) ASP.NET Core
12 3 (0.41%) SLSA
Miscellaneous
1 127 (17.52%) Management Information System
2 81 (11.17%) Onboarding
3 57 (7.86%) Security Posture
4 36 (4.97%) Operational Technology
5 20 (2.76%) Cyber Threat
6 18 (2.48%) Cloud Native
6 18 (2.48%) Security Operations Centre
7 17 (2.34%) Data Centre
7 17 (2.34%) Data Protection Act
8 15 (2.07%) Enterprise Software
8 15 (2.07%) Self-Motivation
9 12 (1.66%) PKI
10 11 (1.52%) BYOD
10 11 (1.52%) SCADA
10 11 (1.52%) Virtual Team
11 10 (1.38%) Legacy Systems
11 10 (1.38%) Public Cloud
12 9 (1.24%) Analytical Mindset
12 9 (1.24%) Driving Licence
12 9 (1.24%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 80 (11.03%) Windows
2 43 (5.93%) Linux
3 37 (5.10%) Windows Server
4 22 (3.03%) Unix
5 10 (1.38%) Android
6 9 (1.24%) Apple iOS
7 8 (1.10%) Mac OS
8 5 (0.69%) Ubuntu
8 5 (0.69%) Windows 10
9 2 (0.28%) Alpine Linux
9 2 (0.28%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 1 (0.14%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 259 (35.72%) Cybersecurity
2 198 (27.31%) Risk Management
3 142 (19.59%) Stakeholder Management
4 120 (16.55%) Data Protection
5 113 (15.59%) Continuous Improvement
6 105 (14.48%) Problem-Solving
7 92 (12.69%) Security Operations
8 84 (11.59%) Roadmaps
9 83 (11.45%) Agile
9 83 (11.45%) Incident Response
10 82 (11.31%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 78 (10.76%) Cloud Security
12 71 (9.79%) Decision-Making
12 71 (9.79%) Vulnerability Management
13 68 (9.38%) Change Management
14 66 (9.10%) Computer Science
15 62 (8.55%) AI
16 60 (8.28%) Security Management
16 60 (8.28%) SIEM
17 59 (8.14%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 79 (10.90%) Python
2 70 (9.66%) PowerShell
3 27 (3.72%) Bash
4 21 (2.90%) SQL
5 14 (1.93%) Java
6 11 (1.52%) C#
7 8 (1.10%) JavaScript
8 7 (0.97%) Bicep
9 5 (0.69%) PL/SQL
10 4 (0.55%) Apex Code
10 4 (0.55%) Kusto Query Language
11 3 (0.41%) Kotlin
12 2 (0.28%) TypeScript
13 1 (0.14%) BeanShell
13 1 (0.14%) Go
13 1 (0.14%) Scala
Qualifications
1 157 (21.66%) Security Cleared
2 139 (19.17%) Degree
3 130 (17.93%) CISSP
4 124 (17.10%) SC Cleared
5 86 (11.86%) CISM
6 38 (5.24%) DV Cleared
7 32 (4.41%) Cisco Certification
8 30 (4.14%) CISA
9 26 (3.59%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 25 (3.45%) CRISC
11 23 (3.17%) Microsoft Certification
12 18 (2.48%) CEH
12 18 (2.48%) Computer Science Degree
12 18 (2.48%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
13 15 (2.07%) PMP
14 14 (1.93%) AWS Certification
14 14 (1.93%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
14 14 (1.93%) PMI Certification
15 12 (1.66%) Master's Degree
15 12 (1.66%) OSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 213 (29.38%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 148 (20.41%) NIST
3 123 (16.97%) GDPR
4 99 (13.66%) GRC
5 47 (6.48%) PCI DSS
6 35 (4.83%) Cyber Essentials
7 34 (4.69%) NCSC
8 23 (3.17%) QA
9 22 (3.03%) Data Quality
10 20 (2.76%) Accessibility
11 19 (2.62%) NIST 800
11 19 (2.62%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 17 (2.34%) SOC 2
13 16 (2.21%) COBIT
14 15 (2.07%) SLA
15 13 (1.79%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
15 13 (1.79%) Government Security Classifications
15 13 (1.79%) HIPAA
16 10 (1.38%) ISO/IEC 27005
16 10 (1.38%) PMO
System Software
1 79 (10.90%) Active Directory
2 9 (1.24%) Docker
3 7 (0.97%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (0.83%) Hyper-V
5 3 (0.41%) OpenAM
5 3 (0.41%) Squid
6 2 (0.28%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.28%) Virtual Servers
7 1 (0.14%) BitLocker
7 1 (0.14%) Ceph
7 1 (0.14%) Firmware
7 1 (0.14%) RACF
Systems Management
1 21 (2.90%) Terraform
2 16 (2.21%) Microsoft Intune
3 15 (2.07%) Kubernetes
3 15 (2.07%) Single Sign-On
4 11 (1.52%) Ansible
5 7 (0.97%) SCCM
6 4 (0.55%) Podman
6 4 (0.55%) QRadar
7 3 (0.41%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 3 (0.41%) RSA Archer
8 2 (0.28%) Computer Incident Response Team
8 2 (0.28%) Nmap
9 1 (0.14%) CASB
9 1 (0.14%) Host Intrusion Detection System
9 1 (0.14%) Istio
9 1 (0.14%) WSUS
Vendors
1 146 (20.14%) Microsoft
2 47 (6.48%) Oracle
3 44 (6.07%) ServiceNow
4 25 (3.45%) CyberArk
5 23 (3.17%) BeyondTrust
6 18 (2.48%) Google
6 18 (2.48%) SAP
7 16 (2.21%) Cisco
8 15 (2.07%) Splunk
9 14 (1.93%) Apple
10 13 (1.79%) Palo Alto
11 12 (1.66%) Ariba
12 11 (1.52%) CrowdStrike
13 10 (1.38%) VMware
14 9 (1.24%) Zscaler
15 7 (0.97%) IBM
15 7 (0.97%) Remedy
16 6 (0.83%) Atlassian
16 6 (0.83%) Qualys
16 6 (0.83%) Thales