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 8 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
8 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 161 121 96
Rank change year-on-year -40 -25 +34
Contract jobs citing Information Security 635 742 1,101
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.75% 2.08% 2.42%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.97% 2.38% 2.73%
Number of daily rates quoted 324 448 781
10th Percentile £350 £404 £400
25th Percentile £427 £488 £493
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £538 £583 £573
Median % change year-on-year -7.73% +1.75% -2.55%
75th Percentile £663 £688 £688
90th Percentile £775 £795 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £575 £550
% change year-on-year -17.39% +4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 71 25 56
10th Percentile £17.49 £15.27 £15.95
25th Percentile £20.71 £16.06 £42.25
Median hourly rate £33.50 £22.09 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year +51.65% -55.82% -23.08%
75th Percentile £45.00 £36.75 £83.40
90th Percentile £79.85 £53.25 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £32.74 £22.09 £50.00
% change year-on-year +48.19% -55.82% -26.20%

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 32,247 31,236 40,271
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 88.88% 87.47% 88.55%
Number of daily rates quoted 20,285 18,990 26,947
10th Percentile £300 £308 £310
25th Percentile £405 £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 2,090 1,084 1,559
10th Percentile £14.50 £15.25 £14.36
25th Percentile £17.50 £20.19 £18.94
Median hourly rate £25.13 £33.00 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year -23.86% -22.35% +21.43%
75th Percentile £45.46 £63.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £67.50 £74.00 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.63 £32.50 £42.50
% change year-on-year -30.37% -23.53% +30.77%

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 8 December 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 8 December 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 8 December 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 -28 567 £538 -10.42% 527
UK excluding London -55 294 £475 -17.39% 406
London -23 270 £578 -3.67% 195
Work from Home -16 189 £520 -5.45% 340
South East -46 79 £588 +4.44% 137
North of England -40 75 £475 -13.64% 102
Midlands -39 47 £400 -31.62% 55
North West -21 46 £458 -20.43% 66
South West -22 43 £425 -37.10% 42
East of England +4 30 £520 -13.33% 53
Yorkshire -34 26 £475 -13.64% 31
West Midlands -44 26 £414 -36.35% 34
East Midlands -3 21 £400 -23.81% 20
Scotland -13 17 £425 -8.11% 22
Wales +3 5 £388 -44.64% 4
North East -3 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 35 (5.51%) SharePoint
2 19 (2.99%) Confluence
3 18 (2.83%) Microsoft Exchange
4 7 (1.10%) Mattermost
4 7 (1.10%) Skype for Business
5 6 (0.94%) 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 55 (8.66%) Microsoft Office
2 27 (4.25%) Microsoft Excel
3 11 (1.73%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.79%) MS Visio
5 4 (0.63%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.47%) Navisworks
6 3 (0.47%) Revit
7 2 (0.31%) ProjectWise
8 1 (0.16%) GNU Octave
Business Applications
1 15 (2.36%) Remedy ITSM
2 6 (0.94%) Oracle EBS
3 2 (0.31%) assyst
3 2 (0.31%) SAP GRC
3 2 (0.31%) Temenos T24
4 1 (0.16%) NEC Housing
4 1 (0.16%) Salesforce CRM
4 1 (0.16%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 126 (19.84%) Azure
2 81 (12.76%) AWS
3 42 (6.61%) Microsoft 365
4 34 (5.35%) Entra ID
5 29 (4.57%) GCP
6 28 (4.41%) Power Platform
7 17 (2.68%) Azure Sentinel
8 15 (2.36%) SaaS
9 11 (1.73%) Microsoft Purview
10 8 (1.26%) OneDrive
11 7 (1.10%) OCI
12 6 (0.94%) AWS CloudFormation
12 6 (0.94%) Cloud Computing
12 6 (0.94%) PowerApps
13 5 (0.79%) Azure DevOps
13 5 (0.79%) Power Automate
14 4 (0.63%) OpenShift
15 3 (0.47%) Amazon EC2
15 3 (0.47%) Amazon S3
15 3 (0.47%) Azure Synapse Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 71 (11.18%) Firewall
2 38 (5.98%) Network Security
3 29 (4.57%) DNS
4 19 (2.99%) HTTP
5 17 (2.68%) SSH
5 17 (2.68%) TCP/IP
6 13 (2.05%) DHCP
6 13 (2.05%) WAN
7 12 (1.89%) SMTP
8 11 (1.73%) Intrusion Detection
8 11 (1.73%) SSL
8 11 (1.73%) VPN
9 10 (1.57%) FTP
10 9 (1.42%) Internet
10 9 (1.42%) Wi-Fi
10 9 (1.42%) Wireless
11 7 (1.10%) Skype
12 6 (0.94%) LAN
13 4 (0.63%) OSPF
13 4 (0.63%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (3.62%) Power BI
2 7 (1.10%) Data Warehouse
2 7 (1.10%) GIS
3 6 (0.94%) SQL Server
3 6 (0.94%) Tableau
4 4 (0.63%) SQL Server Reporting Services
5 3 (0.47%) Big Data
5 3 (0.47%) Data Lake
5 3 (0.47%) Metadata
5 3 (0.47%) NoSQL
5 3 (0.47%) Redis
6 2 (0.31%) Amazon Aurora
6 2 (0.31%) Amazon RDS
6 2 (0.31%) BigQuery
6 2 (0.31%) DB2
6 2 (0.31%) EDRMS
6 2 (0.31%) MongoDB
6 2 (0.31%) Oracle Reports
6 2 (0.31%) Power Query
6 2 (0.31%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 31 (4.88%) JIRA
2 10 (1.57%) Jenkins
3 7 (1.10%) Artifactory
3 7 (1.10%) Burp Suite
4 5 (0.79%) Git
4 5 (0.79%) Metasploit
5 2 (0.31%) Atlassian Bamboo
5 2 (0.31%) SonarQube
6 1 (0.16%) Balsamiq
6 1 (0.16%) Eclipse
6 1 (0.16%) GCC
6 1 (0.16%) MSI
6 1 (0.16%) Snyk
General
1 254 (40.00%) Social Skills
2 156 (24.57%) Finance
3 81 (12.76%) Analytical Skills
4 79 (12.44%) Public Sector
5 46 (7.24%) Legal
6 43 (6.77%) Banking
7 28 (4.41%) Organisational Skills
8 18 (2.83%) Manufacturing
9 17 (2.68%) Military
10 15 (2.36%) Presentation Skills
11 13 (2.05%) Telecoms
12 12 (1.89%) Influencing Skills
12 12 (1.89%) Police
13 11 (1.73%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 10 (1.57%) Documentation Skills
14 10 (1.57%) Retail
15 9 (1.42%) Law
16 8 (1.26%) Local Government
17 6 (0.94%) Investment Banking
17 6 (0.94%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 158 (24.88%) Analyst
2 64 (10.08%) Consultant
3 53 (8.35%) Security Analyst
4 50 (7.87%) Architect
5 48 (7.56%) Senior
6 41 (6.46%) Support Analyst
7 38 (5.98%) Lead
7 38 (5.98%) Security Manager
8 36 (5.67%) Security Architect
9 34 (5.35%) Security Engineer
10 30 (4.72%) Security Consultant
11 22 (3.46%) Information Analyst
11 22 (3.46%) Information Security Analyst
12 19 (2.99%) Developer
13 18 (2.83%) Coordinator
13 18 (2.83%) Security Specialist
14 17 (2.68%) SOC Analyst
15 16 (2.52%) Information Security Manager
15 16 (2.52%) IT Support
16 15 (2.36%) Cybersecurity Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 14 (2.20%) SailPoint
2 13 (2.05%) LDAP
3 12 (1.89%) OAuth
4 9 (1.42%) Middleware
5 8 (1.26%) OAuth2
5 8 (1.26%) REST
6 7 (1.10%) OpenID
6 7 (1.10%) Oracle Fusion
6 7 (1.10%) SAML
7 6 (0.94%) Qt
8 4 (0.63%) HATEOAS
8 4 (0.63%) PyTorch
8 4 (0.63%) Spring
8 4 (0.63%) Spring Boot
8 4 (0.63%) TensorFlow
8 4 (0.63%) Web Services
9 3 (0.47%) .NET
9 3 (0.47%) FastAPI
9 3 (0.47%) Kafka
9 3 (0.47%) ModSecurity
Miscellaneous
1 130 (20.47%) Management Information System
2 77 (12.13%) Security Posture
3 29 (4.57%) Cyber Threat
4 27 (4.25%) PKI
5 21 (3.31%) Security Operations Centre
6 19 (2.99%) Onboarding
7 15 (2.36%) Data Centre
8 14 (2.20%) Analytical Mindset
9 13 (2.05%) Cloud Native
9 13 (2.05%) CSOC
9 13 (2.05%) Operational Technology
9 13 (2.05%) Tandem
10 12 (1.89%) Data Protection Act
10 12 (1.89%) Product Ownership
11 11 (1.73%) Enterprise Software
12 10 (1.57%) Cyberattack
12 10 (1.57%) Legacy Systems
13 9 (1.42%) Cyber Defence
13 9 (1.42%) Greenfield Project
14 8 (1.26%) Insider Threat
Operating Systems
1 73 (11.50%) Windows
2 45 (7.09%) Linux
3 17 (2.68%) Unix
4 12 (1.89%) Windows Server
5 6 (0.94%) 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
1 226 (35.59%) Cybersecurity
2 152 (23.94%) Risk Management
3 125 (19.69%) Problem-Solving
4 109 (17.17%) Stakeholder Management
5 96 (15.12%) Incident Response
6 93 (14.65%) Data Protection
7 83 (13.07%) ITIL
8 82 (12.91%) Cloud Security
9 74 (11.65%) Continuous Improvement
10 71 (11.18%) Security Operations
11 69 (10.87%) Agile
12 61 (9.61%) Stakeholder Engagement
13 60 (9.45%) Security Management
14 57 (8.98%) SIEM
15 55 (8.66%) Computer Science
16 51 (8.03%) Threat Modelling
17 47 (7.40%) Decision-Making
17 47 (7.40%) Security Architecture
18 46 (7.24%) Information Security Management
18 46 (7.24%) Project Management
Programming Languages
1 50 (7.87%) Python
2 45 (7.09%) PowerShell
3 37 (5.83%) SQL
4 14 (2.20%) Java
5 8 (1.26%) Bash
6 6 (0.94%) C#
6 6 (0.94%) C++
7 4 (0.63%) Kotlin
8 3 (0.47%) Perl
8 3 (0.47%) R
9 2 (0.31%) Data Analysis Expressions
9 2 (0.31%) JavaScript
9 2 (0.31%) Kusto Query Language
9 2 (0.31%) PHP
9 2 (0.31%) Rust
9 2 (0.31%) Solidity
9 2 (0.31%) TypeScript
10 1 (0.16%) ANSI SQL
10 1 (0.16%) Bicep
10 1 (0.16%) Go
Qualifications
1 151 (23.78%) Security Cleared
2 117 (18.43%) CISSP
3 116 (18.27%) Degree
4 111 (17.48%) SC Cleared
5 81 (12.76%) CISM
6 41 (6.46%) Computer Science Degree
7 38 (5.98%) DV Cleared
8 37 (5.83%) CISA
9 25 (3.94%) Cisco Certification
9 25 (3.94%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
9 25 (3.94%) Master's Degree
10 20 (3.15%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
10 20 (3.15%) ITIL Certification
11 19 (2.99%) BPSS Clearance
12 17 (2.68%) (ISC)2 CCSP
13 15 (2.36%) Azure Certification
13 15 (2.36%) CRISC
14 14 (2.20%) CEH
15 13 (2.05%) CCSP
16 10 (1.57%) A+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 180 (28.35%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 160 (25.20%) NIST
3 104 (16.38%) GDPR
4 56 (8.82%) GRC
5 34 (5.35%) PCI DSS
6 33 (5.20%) COBIT
7 31 (4.88%) Cyber Essentials
8 21 (3.31%) NCSC
9 20 (3.15%) NIST 800
10 16 (2.52%) SLA
11 15 (2.36%) Accessibility
11 15 (2.36%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 15 (2.36%) PMO
11 15 (2.36%) QA
12 14 (2.20%) Def Stans
13 12 (1.89%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
14 11 (1.73%) Sarbanes-Oxley
15 9 (1.42%) JSP 440
16 8 (1.26%) ISO/IEC 27005
17 7 (1.10%) PSD2
System Software
1 51 (8.03%) Active Directory
2 15 (2.36%) Virtual Machines
3 10 (1.57%) Docker
4 4 (0.63%) 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 23 (3.62%) Microsoft Intune
2 18 (2.83%) Kubernetes
3 17 (2.68%) SCCM
4 15 (2.36%) HP SiteScope
4 15 (2.36%) QRadar
4 15 (2.36%) SCOM
5 13 (2.05%) Ansible
6 12 (1.89%) Terraform
7 7 (1.10%) CASB
7 7 (1.10%) SCOrch
8 6 (0.94%) Grafana
8 6 (0.94%) Nmap
8 6 (0.94%) RSA Archer
9 5 (0.79%) Prometheus
9 5 (0.79%) WSUS
10 4 (0.63%) CSIRT
11 3 (0.47%) Kustomize
12 2 (0.31%) EnCase
12 2 (0.31%) FTK
12 2 (0.31%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 146 (22.99%) Microsoft
2 31 (4.88%) Splunk
3 26 (4.09%) ServiceNow
4 23 (3.62%) Cisco
5 17 (2.68%) Remedy
6 15 (2.36%) IBM
7 14 (2.20%) CyberArk
8 12 (1.89%) Oracle
9 11 (1.73%) Fortinet
10 10 (1.57%) CrowdStrike
10 10 (1.57%) Palo Alto
10 10 (1.57%) Rapid7
10 10 (1.57%) Salesforce
11 9 (1.42%) SAP
11 9 (1.42%) Thales
12 8 (1.26%) Databricks
12 8 (1.26%) Gemalto
12 8 (1.26%) Google
12 8 (1.26%) Qualys
13 7 (1.10%) Darktrace