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

6 months to
8 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 194 168 107
Rank change year-on-year -26 -61 -9
Contract jobs citing Information Security 749 555 821
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.40% 1.69% 2.11%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.64% 1.87% 2.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 408 318 519
10th Percentile £351 £350 £395
25th Percentile £450 £420 £486
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £532 £600
Median % change year-on-year +3.38% -11.33% -
75th Percentile £675 £688 £689
90th Percentile £819 £838 £790
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £515 £600
% change year-on-year -2.87% -14.21% +9.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 72 40 18
10th Percentile £16.38 £21.55 £12.75
25th Percentile £17.80 £22.14 £13.56
Median hourly rate £62.25 £24.66 £16.60
Median % change year-on-year +152.43% +48.60% -80.08%
75th Percentile £78.13 £75.00 £23.89
90th Percentile £80.00 £85.00 £44.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £62.25 £27.53 £15.73
% change year-on-year +126.12% +75.02% -81.12%

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 45,557 29,755 33,330
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.99% 90.46% 85.57%
Number of daily rates quoted 28,078 18,625 21,348
10th Percentile £325 £300 £310
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 £726 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,814 1,660 1,859
10th Percentile £14.25 £14.20 £14.00
25th Percentile £19.22 £17.32 £18.22
Median hourly rate £42.50 £25.15 £40.50
Median % change year-on-year +68.99% -37.90% -4.71%
75th Percentile £68.00 £50.00 £64.25
90th Percentile £82.25 £68.00 £74.45
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.96 £23.10 £41.25
% change year-on-year +90.30% -44.00% +7.56%

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 8 August 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 8 August 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 8 August 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 -23 685 £550 +4.76% 767
UK excluding London -15 378 £500 -2.87% 434
London -25 327 £600 +14.29% 404
Work from Home -47 189 £583 +16.60% 322
South East -13 122 £515 -17.60% 137
North of England -60 91 £458 -3.68% 121
North West -24 63 £450 -2.49% 66
Midlands -20 61 £450 +12.50% 51
West Midlands -16 47 £450 -7.69% 31
South West -26 44 £550 -5.98% 47
East of England -11 30 £525 -0.94% 40
Scotland -7 26 £475 +7.41% 32
Yorkshire -45 23 £540 +9.37% 41
East Midlands -16 14 £557 +39.19% 20
Wales -10 5 £645 +55.42% 9
North East -43 4 £450 -15.73% 14
Northern Ireland +4 1 £550 - 7

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 (3.74%) Confluence
2 25 (3.34%) SharePoint
3 7 (0.93%) Microsoft Exchange
4 5 (0.67%) IIS
5 2 (0.27%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.27%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
6 1 (0.13%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 1 (0.13%) Apache
6 1 (0.13%) Apache Airflow
6 1 (0.13%) Jupyter
6 1 (0.13%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 20 (2.67%) Microsoft Office
2 14 (1.87%) Microsoft Excel
3 7 (0.93%) Microsoft Project
4 6 (0.80%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.67%) Spreadsheet
6 2 (0.27%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 10 (1.34%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (0.80%) Remedy ITSM
3 2 (0.27%) Oracle EBS
3 2 (0.27%) Oracle ERP
3 2 (0.27%) SAP S/4HANA
4 1 (0.13%) NEC Housing
4 1 (0.13%) Oracle Applications
4 1 (0.13%) Oracle Payables
4 1 (0.13%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
4 1 (0.13%) Oracle Receivables
4 1 (0.13%) SAP MDG
4 1 (0.13%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 168 (22.43%) Azure
2 109 (14.55%) AWS
3 65 (8.68%) Entra ID
4 45 (6.01%) SaaS
5 40 (5.34%) Microsoft 365
6 32 (4.27%) GCP
7 23 (3.07%) GitHub
8 22 (2.94%) Microsoft Purview
8 22 (2.94%) Power Platform
9 19 (2.54%) Azure Sentinel
10 16 (2.14%) OCI
11 14 (1.87%) Power Automate
12 13 (1.74%) Azure DevOps
12 13 (1.74%) Serverless
13 11 (1.47%) Dynamics 365
14 9 (1.20%) IaaS
14 9 (1.20%) PaaS
15 8 (1.07%) Azure Key Vault
15 8 (1.07%) Cloud Computing
16 7 (0.93%) Microsoft Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 46 (6.14%) Firewall
2 43 (5.74%) Network Security
3 18 (2.40%) WAN
4 15 (2.00%) LAN
5 13 (1.74%) SSH
5 13 (1.74%) VPN
6 12 (1.60%) Wireless
7 10 (1.34%) DNS
8 9 (1.20%) HTTP
8 9 (1.20%) TCP/IP
9 8 (1.07%) NGFW
10 7 (0.93%) DHCP
10 7 (0.93%) HTTPS
10 7 (0.93%) Internet
11 5 (0.67%) Structured Cabling
12 4 (0.53%) Intrusion Detection
12 4 (0.53%) SD-WAN
13 3 (0.40%) Cisco IPT
13 3 (0.40%) Wi-Fi
14 2 (0.27%) BGP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 28 (3.74%) SQL Server
2 18 (2.40%) Power BI
3 9 (1.20%) Metadata
4 6 (0.80%) Data Lake
4 6 (0.80%) Oracle Reports
5 5 (0.67%) NoSQL
6 4 (0.53%) MongoDB
7 3 (0.40%) Data Warehouse
8 2 (0.27%) Oracle BI Publisher
8 2 (0.27%) PostgreSQL
8 2 (0.27%) Relational Database
9 1 (0.13%) Amazon RDS
9 1 (0.13%) Big Data
9 1 (0.13%) DynamoDB
9 1 (0.13%) Hadoop
9 1 (0.13%) MariaDB
9 1 (0.13%) Neo4j
9 1 (0.13%) Oracle Database
9 1 (0.13%) SAP HANA
9 1 (0.13%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 31 (4.14%) JIRA
2 9 (1.20%) Cypress.io
2 9 (1.20%) Postman
2 9 (1.20%) Selenium
2 9 (1.20%) WebDriver
3 6 (0.80%) Cucumber
4 4 (0.53%) Git
5 3 (0.40%) Burp Suite
5 3 (0.40%) git-flow
5 3 (0.40%) Protractor
6 2 (0.27%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 2 (0.27%) Bitbucket
6 2 (0.27%) JMeter
6 2 (0.27%) Metasploit
7 1 (0.13%) Claude Code
7 1 (0.13%) GitLab
7 1 (0.13%) Jenkins
7 1 (0.13%) LSMW
7 1 (0.13%) SoapUI
7 1 (0.13%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 254 (33.91%) Social Skills
2 162 (21.63%) Finance
3 135 (18.02%) Public Sector
4 85 (11.35%) Analytical Skills
5 60 (8.01%) Banking
6 54 (7.21%) Legal
7 47 (6.28%) Documentation Skills
8 26 (3.47%) Organisational Skills
9 23 (3.07%) Local Government
10 21 (2.80%) Influencing Skills
11 18 (2.40%) Retail
12 16 (2.14%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 15 (2.00%) Military
14 14 (1.87%) Aerospace
15 13 (1.74%) Billing
15 13 (1.74%) Law
15 13 (1.74%) Presentation Skills
16 10 (1.34%) Marketing
16 10 (1.34%) Police
17 8 (1.07%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 98 (13.08%) Analyst
2 81 (10.81%) Senior
3 77 (10.28%) Consultant
4 73 (9.75%) Architect
5 64 (8.54%) Lead
6 59 (7.88%) Security Consultant
7 52 (6.94%) Security Architect
8 50 (6.68%) Security Engineer
9 39 (5.21%) Security Analyst
10 38 (5.07%) Security Manager
11 25 (3.34%) IT Manager
12 22 (2.94%) Cybersecurity Manager
13 21 (2.80%) Developer
13 21 (2.80%) Project Manager
14 19 (2.54%) Senior Manager
15 18 (2.40%) Business Analyst
15 18 (2.40%) Information Officer
15 18 (2.40%) Security Officer
16 17 (2.27%) Information Manager
17 16 (2.14%) Information Security Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (3.34%) Oracle Fusion
1 25 (3.34%) SailPoint
2 23 (3.07%) OAuth
3 17 (2.27%) SAML
4 16 (2.14%) LDAP
4 16 (2.14%) OAuth2
4 16 (2.14%) OpenID
5 14 (1.87%) Web Services
6 11 (1.47%) REST
7 10 (1.34%) XML
8 9 (1.20%) Gherkin
9 6 (0.80%) .NET
9 6 (0.80%) JSON
10 4 (0.53%) ASP.NET
10 4 (0.53%) Jakarta EE
10 4 (0.53%) JSP
10 4 (0.53%) Kafka
10 4 (0.53%) Lightning Web Components
11 3 (0.40%) OpenTelemetry
11 3 (0.40%) SLSA
Miscellaneous
1 132 (17.62%) Management Information System
2 85 (11.35%) Onboarding
3 57 (7.61%) Security Posture
4 33 (4.41%) Operational Technology
5 23 (3.07%) Cyber Threat
6 20 (2.67%) Security Operations Centre
7 18 (2.40%) Cloud Native
8 17 (2.27%) Data Centre
9 16 (2.14%) Enterprise Software
10 15 (2.00%) Self-Motivation
11 14 (1.87%) PKI
12 13 (1.74%) Data Protection Act
13 11 (1.47%) BYOD
13 11 (1.47%) Public Cloud
13 11 (1.47%) Virtual Team
14 10 (1.34%) Analytical Mindset
14 10 (1.34%) Product Ownership
14 10 (1.34%) SCADA
15 9 (1.20%) Driving Licence
15 9 (1.20%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 83 (11.08%) Windows
2 43 (5.74%) Linux
3 38 (5.07%) Windows Server
4 23 (3.07%) Unix
5 10 (1.34%) Android
5 10 (1.34%) Mac OS
6 9 (1.20%) Apple iOS
7 5 (0.67%) Ubuntu
7 5 (0.67%) Windows 10
8 2 (0.27%) Alpine Linux
8 2 (0.27%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.13%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 272 (36.32%) Cybersecurity
2 211 (28.17%) Risk Management
3 162 (21.63%) Stakeholder Management
4 123 (16.42%) Continuous Improvement
5 120 (16.02%) Data Protection
6 110 (14.69%) Problem-Solving
7 100 (13.35%) Security Operations
8 92 (12.28%) Incident Response
9 90 (12.02%) Roadmaps
9 90 (12.02%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 87 (11.62%) Agile
11 81 (10.81%) Cloud Security
12 78 (10.41%) Vulnerability Management
13 77 (10.28%) Decision-Making
14 68 (9.08%) Change Management
15 66 (8.81%) Computer Science
16 64 (8.54%) DevOps
16 64 (8.54%) Security Management
17 63 (8.41%) AI
17 63 (8.41%) SIEM
Programming Languages
1 81 (10.81%) Python
2 71 (9.48%) PowerShell
3 29 (3.87%) Bash
4 21 (2.80%) SQL
5 13 (1.74%) Java
6 12 (1.60%) C#
7 9 (1.20%) JavaScript
8 8 (1.07%) Bicep
9 6 (0.80%) PL/SQL
10 5 (0.67%) Kusto Query Language
11 4 (0.53%) Apex Code
12 3 (0.40%) Kotlin
13 1 (0.13%) BeanShell
13 1 (0.13%) Go
13 1 (0.13%) Scala
13 1 (0.13%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 160 (21.36%) Security Cleared
2 138 (18.42%) CISSP
2 138 (18.42%) Degree
3 126 (16.82%) SC Cleared
4 94 (12.55%) CISM
5 39 (5.21%) DV Cleared
6 33 (4.41%) Cisco Certification
7 31 (4.14%) CISA
8 30 (4.01%) CRISC
9 27 (3.60%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 26 (3.47%) Microsoft Certification
11 20 (2.67%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
12 19 (2.54%) CEH
13 18 (2.40%) Computer Science Degree
14 17 (2.27%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
15 14 (1.87%) AWS Certification
15 14 (1.87%) PMP
16 13 (1.74%) Master's Degree
16 13 (1.74%) PMI Certification
17 12 (1.60%) OSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 218 (29.11%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 149 (19.89%) NIST
3 122 (16.29%) GDPR
4 106 (14.15%) GRC
5 48 (6.41%) PCI DSS
6 41 (5.47%) Cyber Essentials
7 33 (4.41%) NCSC
8 25 (3.34%) QA
9 24 (3.20%) Data Quality
10 22 (2.94%) Accessibility
11 19 (2.54%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 19 (2.54%) NIST 800
12 18 (2.40%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 18 (2.40%) SOC 2
13 16 (2.14%) COBIT
14 15 (2.00%) SLA
15 14 (1.87%) Government Security Classifications
15 14 (1.87%) HIPAA
16 12 (1.60%) HMG Security Policy Framework
17 10 (1.34%) WCAG
System Software
1 81 (10.81%) Active Directory
2 10 (1.34%) Docker
3 8 (1.07%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (0.80%) Hyper-V
5 3 (0.40%) OpenAM
5 3 (0.40%) Squid
6 2 (0.27%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.27%) Virtual Servers
7 1 (0.13%) BitLocker
7 1 (0.13%) Ceph
7 1 (0.13%) Firmware
7 1 (0.13%) RACF
Systems Management
1 24 (3.20%) Terraform
2 18 (2.40%) Microsoft Intune
3 17 (2.27%) Single Sign-On
4 16 (2.14%) Kubernetes
5 11 (1.47%) Ansible
6 7 (0.93%) SCCM
7 4 (0.53%) Podman
7 4 (0.53%) QRadar
8 3 (0.40%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 3 (0.40%) RSA Archer
9 2 (0.27%) Computer Incident Response Team
9 2 (0.27%) Jamf Pro
9 2 (0.27%) Nmap
10 1 (0.13%) CASB
10 1 (0.13%) Host Intrusion Detection System
10 1 (0.13%) Istio
10 1 (0.13%) WSUS
Vendors
1 156 (20.83%) Microsoft
2 48 (6.41%) Oracle
3 45 (6.01%) ServiceNow
4 26 (3.47%) CyberArk
5 23 (3.07%) BeyondTrust
6 22 (2.94%) Google
7 19 (2.54%) SAP
8 16 (2.14%) Apple
8 16 (2.14%) Splunk
9 15 (2.00%) Cisco
10 14 (1.87%) Palo Alto
11 13 (1.74%) VMware
12 12 (1.60%) Ariba
13 11 (1.47%) CrowdStrike
14 10 (1.34%) Zscaler
15 7 (0.93%) IBM
15 7 (0.93%) Remedy
16 6 (0.80%) Atlassian
16 6 (0.80%) Computacenter
16 6 (0.80%) Qualys