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 26 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 193 189 114
Rank change year-on-year -4 -75 -9
Contract jobs citing Information Security 684 436 842
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.41% 1.52% 1.97%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.67% 1.67% 2.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 411 268 521
10th Percentile £408 £313 £363
25th Percentile £463 £418 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £583
Median % change year-on-year - -5.66% -2.83%
75th Percentile £675 £675 £688
90th Percentile £800 £838 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £525 £550 £575
% change year-on-year -4.55% -4.35% +4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 50 24 25
10th Percentile £16.35 - £12.75
25th Percentile £18.41 £22.14 £16.71
Median hourly rate £28.00 £24.66 £19.50
Median % change year-on-year +13.54% +26.46% -74.00%
75th Percentile £67.38 £79.02 £23.00
90th Percentile £85.40 £82.79 £33.06
UK excluding London median hourly rate £28.00 £27.53 £18.00
% change year-on-year +1.71% +52.94% -76.00%

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 40,998 26,034 36,602
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.45% 91.02% 85.82%
Number of daily rates quoted 25,676 16,714 23,582
10th Percentile £325 £300 £300
25th Percentile £413 £409 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £510 £513 £525
Median % change year-on-year -0.49% -2.38% -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £498 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +4.74% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,430 1,064 2,485
10th Percentile £14.80 £14.20 £12.75
25th Percentile £19.91 £18.12 £16.00
Median hourly rate £42.28 £27.45 £36.00
Median % change year-on-year +54.01% -23.75% -3.49%
75th Percentile £67.50 £57.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £80.01 £74.63 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £44.35 £25.15 £37.50
% change year-on-year +76.32% -32.93% +7.14%

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 26 May 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 26 May 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 26 May 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 -1 622 £550 - 370
UK excluding London -4 339 £525 -4.55% 245
London -7 294 £600 +14.29% 160
Work from Home -25 173 £550 +4.76% 179
South East -3 124 £525 -15.66% 66
North of England -54 69 £540 +30.91% 71
North West -16 49 £550 +37.50% 47
Midlands -34 47 £550 +37.50% 41
South West -9 38 £500 -14.89% 28
East of England -16 38 £575 -4.17% 17
West Midlands -38 36 £540 +35.00% 31
Scotland +4 22 £358 -20.44% 18
Yorkshire -52 17 £500 +21.21% 22
East Midlands -24 11 £591 +68.71% 10
Wales -10 3 £645 +55.42% 3
North East -27 3 £450 -15.73% 2

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 24 (3.51%) Confluence
2 17 (2.49%) SharePoint
3 7 (1.02%) Microsoft Exchange
4 4 (0.58%) Apache Spark
4 4 (0.58%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
5 3 (0.44%) IIS
6 1 (0.15%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 1 (0.15%) WebSphere
6 1 (0.15%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 38 (5.56%) Microsoft Office
2 34 (4.97%) Microsoft Excel
3 14 (2.05%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 11 (1.61%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.29%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.15%) Adobe After Effects
6 1 (0.15%) Adobe Illustrator
6 1 (0.15%) Adobe Premiere
6 1 (0.15%) Camtasia
6 1 (0.15%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 6 (0.88%) Oracle EBS
1 6 (0.88%) Remedy ITSM
2 4 (0.58%) NEC Housing
3 2 (0.29%) SAP GRC
3 2 (0.29%) Temenos T24
4 1 (0.15%) Oracle Applications
Cloud Services
1 139 (20.32%) Azure
2 103 (15.06%) AWS
3 39 (5.70%) Microsoft 365
4 37 (5.41%) Entra ID
5 34 (4.97%) SaaS
6 29 (4.24%) GCP
7 26 (3.80%) Power Platform
8 19 (2.78%) Microsoft Purview
9 18 (2.63%) GitHub
10 13 (1.90%) Azure Sentinel
11 10 (1.46%) OCI
12 8 (1.17%) Microsoft Copilot
12 8 (1.17%) Power Automate
13 7 (1.02%) PowerApps
14 6 (0.88%) Azure Key Vault
14 6 (0.88%) Azure Logic Apps
14 6 (0.88%) IaaS
14 6 (0.88%) OneDrive
14 6 (0.88%) PaaS
15 5 (0.73%) AWS CloudFormation
Communications & Networking
1 43 (6.29%) Firewall
2 38 (5.56%) Network Security
3 13 (1.90%) HTTP
4 12 (1.75%) TCP/IP
4 12 (1.75%) VPN
4 12 (1.75%) Wireless
5 11 (1.61%) DNS
6 7 (1.02%) SSH
7 6 (0.88%) Internet
7 6 (0.88%) Intrusion Detection
7 6 (0.88%) SSL
8 5 (0.73%) DHCP
8 5 (0.73%) FTP
8 5 (0.73%) HTTPS
8 5 (0.73%) SMTP
9 3 (0.44%) Cisco IPT
9 3 (0.44%) NGFW
9 3 (0.44%) WAN
10 2 (0.29%) Multicast
10 2 (0.29%) SD-WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (3.36%) Power BI
2 12 (1.75%) SQL Server
3 8 (1.17%) Data Warehouse
3 8 (1.17%) Metadata
4 5 (0.73%) Data Lake
5 4 (0.58%) Big Data
5 4 (0.58%) Hadoop
5 4 (0.58%) MongoDB
5 4 (0.58%) Oracle Reports
6 3 (0.44%) NoSQL
6 3 (0.44%) PostgreSQL
6 3 (0.44%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 3 (0.44%) Tableau
7 2 (0.29%) DynamoDB
7 2 (0.29%) Elasticsearch
7 2 (0.29%) MySQL
7 2 (0.29%) Oracle BI Publisher
8 1 (0.15%) Amazon RDS
8 1 (0.15%) Amazon Redshift
8 1 (0.15%) MariaDB
Development Applications
1 25 (3.65%) JIRA
2 12 (1.75%) Burp Suite
3 10 (1.46%) Git
3 10 (1.46%) Metasploit
4 3 (0.44%) git-flow
5 2 (0.29%) GitLab
5 2 (0.29%) JMeter
6 1 (0.15%) AppScan
6 1 (0.15%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 1 (0.15%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.15%) ScriptRunner
6 1 (0.15%) SoapUI
6 1 (0.15%) SonarQube
General
1 223 (32.60%) Social Skills
2 146 (21.35%) Finance
3 106 (15.50%) Public Sector
4 86 (12.57%) Analytical Skills
5 65 (9.50%) Legal
6 57 (8.33%) Banking
7 29 (4.24%) Documentation Skills
8 28 (4.09%) Organisational Skills
9 19 (2.78%) Influencing Skills
10 14 (2.05%) Retail
11 13 (1.90%) Local Government
11 13 (1.90%) Presentation Skills
12 9 (1.32%) Marketing
13 8 (1.17%) Law
14 6 (0.88%) Investment Banking
14 6 (0.88%) Police
14 6 (0.88%) Telecoms
15 5 (0.73%) Cyber-Physical System
15 5 (0.73%) Pharmaceutical
16 4 (0.58%) Billing
Job Titles
1 96 (14.04%) Analyst
2 69 (10.09%) Consultant
3 57 (8.33%) Security Engineer
4 56 (8.19%) Senior
5 51 (7.46%) Architect
6 48 (7.02%) Security Consultant
7 45 (6.58%) Lead
8 36 (5.26%) Security Analyst
8 36 (5.26%) Security Architect
9 34 (4.97%) Security Manager
9 34 (4.97%) Security Officer
10 25 (3.65%) Project Manager
11 24 (3.51%) IT Manager
12 23 (3.36%) Developer
13 22 (3.22%) Information Security Officer
14 20 (2.92%) Senior Manager
15 18 (2.63%) Business Analyst
15 18 (2.63%) Cybersecurity Manager
16 16 (2.34%) Security Specialist
17 14 (2.05%) Information Security Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (3.36%) OAuth
2 19 (2.78%) Oracle Fusion
3 18 (2.63%) SailPoint
4 17 (2.49%) OAuth2
5 15 (2.19%) LDAP
6 12 (1.75%) OpenID
6 12 (1.75%) SAML
7 8 (1.17%) Web Services
8 7 (1.02%) .NET
8 7 (1.02%) J2EE
8 7 (1.02%) JSP
8 7 (1.02%) Spring
8 7 (1.02%) Spring Boot
9 6 (0.88%) Middleware
9 6 (0.88%) REST
9 6 (0.88%) XML
10 5 (0.73%) Node.js
10 5 (0.73%) RESTful
11 4 (0.58%) Elastic Stack
11 4 (0.58%) Kafka
Miscellaneous
1 108 (15.79%) Management Information System
2 59 (8.63%) Security Posture
3 54 (7.89%) Onboarding
4 36 (5.26%) Operational Technology
5 21 (3.07%) Cyber Threat
6 18 (2.63%) Security Operations Centre
7 16 (2.34%) Data Protection Act
8 15 (2.19%) Cloud Native
9 13 (1.90%) Analytical Mindset
10 12 (1.75%) Product Ownership
11 11 (1.61%) BYOD
11 11 (1.61%) CSOC
11 11 (1.61%) Data Centre
11 11 (1.61%) Insider Threat
11 11 (1.61%) Mobile App
12 10 (1.46%) Enterprise Software
12 10 (1.46%) Legacy Systems
12 10 (1.46%) SCADA
12 10 (1.46%) Virtual Team
13 9 (1.32%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 79 (11.55%) Windows
2 41 (5.99%) Linux
3 30 (4.39%) Windows Server
4 17 (2.49%) Unix
5 8 (1.17%) Apple iOS
6 7 (1.02%) Mac OS
7 4 (0.58%) Windows 10
8 3 (0.44%) Android
8 3 (0.44%) zOS
9 1 (0.15%) Kali Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 244 (35.67%) Cybersecurity
2 179 (26.17%) Risk Management
3 123 (17.98%) Continuous Improvement
4 112 (16.37%) Data Protection
5 107 (15.64%) Problem-Solving
6 100 (14.62%) Stakeholder Management
7 79 (11.55%) Cloud Security
8 77 (11.26%) Agile
9 71 (10.38%) Incident Response
10 70 (10.23%) Security Operations
11 63 (9.21%) Roadmaps
11 63 (9.21%) Security Management
12 62 (9.06%) Decision-Making
13 61 (8.92%) Change Management
13 61 (8.92%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 60 (8.77%) SIEM
15 59 (8.63%) AI
16 58 (8.48%) Computer Science
17 52 (7.60%) Threat Modelling
18 50 (7.31%) Analytics
Programming Languages
1 81 (11.84%) Python
2 62 (9.06%) PowerShell
3 26 (3.80%) Java
4 20 (2.92%) Bash
5 16 (2.34%) SQL
6 7 (1.02%) Kotlin
7 6 (0.88%) C#
7 6 (0.88%) Kusto Query Language
8 4 (0.58%) Go
9 3 (0.44%) Bicep
9 3 (0.44%) JavaScript
9 3 (0.44%) RPG
10 2 (0.29%) Apex Code
11 1 (0.15%) BeanShell
11 1 (0.15%) C++
11 1 (0.15%) Lisp
11 1 (0.15%) R
11 1 (0.15%) TypeScript
11 1 (0.15%) VBA
Qualifications
1 190 (27.78%) Security Cleared
2 145 (21.20%) Degree
3 142 (20.76%) SC Cleared
4 120 (17.54%) CISSP
5 83 (12.13%) CISM
6 53 (7.75%) DV Cleared
7 32 (4.68%) CISA
8 29 (4.24%) Cisco Certification
9 27 (3.95%) CRISC
10 24 (3.51%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 22 (3.22%) Computer Science Degree
12 16 (2.34%) CEH
13 15 (2.19%) CREST Certified
13 15 (2.19%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
14 13 (1.90%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
14 13 (1.90%) Master's Degree
15 12 (1.75%) AWS Certification
15 12 (1.75%) GIAC
15 12 (1.75%) PMP
15 12 (1.75%) Postgraduate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 209 (30.56%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 145 (21.20%) NIST
3 112 (16.37%) GDPR
4 90 (13.16%) GRC
5 51 (7.46%) PCI DSS
6 28 (4.09%) Cyber Essentials
7 26 (3.80%) NCSC
8 25 (3.65%) COBIT
9 23 (3.36%) QA
10 22 (3.22%) PMO
11 21 (3.07%) Data Quality
11 21 (3.07%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 17 (2.49%) NIST 800
13 14 (2.05%) SOC 2
14 12 (1.75%) ISO/IEC 27005
15 11 (1.61%) Accessibility
16 10 (1.46%) HIPAA
17 9 (1.32%) Government Security Classifications
18 8 (1.17%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
18 8 (1.17%) SLA
System Software
1 55 (8.04%) Active Directory
2 9 (1.32%) Docker
3 5 (0.73%) Hyper-V
3 5 (0.73%) VMware Infrastructure
4 4 (0.58%) Virtual Machines
5 3 (0.44%) Squid
6 1 (0.15%) BitLocker
6 1 (0.15%) Ceph
6 1 (0.15%) Firmware
6 1 (0.15%) RACF
6 1 (0.15%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 13 (1.90%) Terraform
2 12 (1.75%) Kubernetes
2 12 (1.75%) Microsoft Intune
3 9 (1.32%) Ansible
3 9 (1.32%) Nmap
4 8 (1.17%) SCCM
4 8 (1.17%) Single Sign-On
5 5 (0.73%) Functional Safety
5 5 (0.73%) QRadar
6 3 (0.44%) Podman
6 3 (0.44%) WSUS
7 2 (0.29%) Computer Incident Response Team
7 2 (0.29%) FortiGate
7 2 (0.29%) Prometheus
7 2 (0.29%) Red Hat Satellite
7 2 (0.29%) RSA Archer
8 1 (0.15%) Host Intrusion Detection System
8 1 (0.15%) HP Fortify
8 1 (0.15%) logstash
8 1 (0.15%) Progress Chef
Vendors
1 118 (17.25%) Microsoft
2 37 (5.41%) ServiceNow
3 26 (3.80%) Oracle
4 20 (2.92%) CyberArk
5 18 (2.63%) Google
6 17 (2.49%) BeyondTrust
7 15 (2.19%) Cisco
8 13 (1.90%) CrowdStrike
9 11 (1.61%) SAP
10 9 (1.32%) Ariba
10 9 (1.32%) Splunk
11 8 (1.17%) IBM
11 8 (1.17%) Remedy
12 6 (0.88%) Palo Alto
12 6 (0.88%) VMware
13 5 (0.73%) Apple
14 4 (0.58%) Atlassian
14 4 (0.58%) NEC
14 4 (0.58%) Qualys
14 4 (0.58%) Sophos