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

6 months to
4 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 202 170 107
Rank change year-on-year -32 -63 -14
Contract jobs citing Information Security 758 545 825
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.41% 1.69% 2.17%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.67% 1.87% 2.53%
Number of daily rates quoted 401 306 535
10th Percentile £331 £313 £375
25th Percentile £429 £413 £486
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £525 £598
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% -12.21% +0.80%
75th Percentile £650 £680 £688
90th Percentile £823 £797 £778
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £600
% change year-on-year -5.00% -16.67% +9.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 78 30 17
10th Percentile £15.97 £21.55 £12.75
25th Percentile £19.03 £22.14 £13.00
Median hourly rate £62.25 £29.51 £16.19
Median % change year-on-year +110.95% +82.27% -77.93%
75th Percentile £77.50 £65.00 £21.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £85.00 £46.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £62.25 £38.87 £15.73
% change year-on-year +60.16% +147.09% -78.97%

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 45,398 29,222 32,553
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.63% 90.44% 85.47%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,773 18,158 20,413
10th Percentile £325 £300 £310
25th Percentile £425 £402 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -3.67%
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 2,911 1,744 1,558
10th Percentile £14.00 £14.20 £14.41
25th Percentile £17.72 £17.30 £20.00
Median hourly rate £41.00 £25.15 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year +63.02% -40.82% +2.41%
75th Percentile £67.84 £46.01 £65.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £67.18 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.50 £22.63 £43.00
% change year-on-year +87.80% -47.37% +12.13%

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 4 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 4 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 4 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 -26 689 £550 +4.76% 1,433
UK excluding London -6 399 £475 -5.00% 741
London -43 306 £600 +9.09% 812
Work from Home -44 182 £570 +18.87% 586
North of England -29 116 £479 +2.85% 186
South East -36 103 £493 -23.41% 204
North West -8 79 £511 +15.22% 111
Midlands -21 67 £450 +12.50% 95
West Midlands -4 55 £418 -14.36% 55
South West -25 54 £600 +9.34% 102
Scotland -10 31 £533 +21.16% 57
East of England -8 30 £538 +48.48% 69
Yorkshire -38 24 £540 +9.37% 57
North East -27 12 £425 -22.73% 21
East Midlands -35 12 £533 +33.13% 40
Wales -11 4 £645 -0.77% 10
Northern Ireland +3 1 £550 - 25

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 31 (4.09%) SharePoint
2 24 (3.17%) Confluence
3 9 (1.19%) Microsoft Exchange
4 6 (0.79%) IIS
5 2 (0.26%) Apache
5 2 (0.26%) Apache Airflow
5 2 (0.26%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.26%) Jupyter
6 1 (0.13%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Workflow
6 1 (0.13%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 19 (2.51%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (1.72%) Microsoft Excel
3 8 (1.06%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 8 (1.06%) Spreadsheet
4 6 (0.79%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.26%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.13%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 14 (1.85%) Dynamics CRM
2 7 (0.92%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.40%) 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
1 178 (23.48%) Azure
2 119 (15.70%) AWS
3 66 (8.71%) Entra ID
4 48 (6.33%) SaaS
5 46 (6.07%) Microsoft 365
6 34 (4.49%) GCP
7 28 (3.69%) Power Platform
8 27 (3.56%) GitHub
9 23 (3.03%) Azure Sentinel
10 22 (2.90%) Microsoft Purview
11 18 (2.37%) Power Automate
11 18 (2.37%) Serverless
12 17 (2.24%) Azure DevOps
12 17 (2.24%) Dynamics 365
13 16 (2.11%) OCI
14 10 (1.32%) Azure Functions
14 10 (1.32%) GitHub Actions
14 10 (1.32%) IaaS
14 10 (1.32%) PaaS
15 8 (1.06%) Cloud Computing
Communications & Networking
1 45 (5.94%) Network Security
2 43 (5.67%) Firewall
3 19 (2.51%) WAN
4 16 (2.11%) LAN
5 14 (1.85%) DNS
6 11 (1.45%) DHCP
7 10 (1.32%) SSH
7 10 (1.32%) VPN
7 10 (1.32%) Wireless
8 9 (1.19%) TCP/IP
9 8 (1.06%) Internet
9 8 (1.06%) NGFW
10 7 (0.92%) HTTPS
11 5 (0.66%) HTTP
11 5 (0.66%) SD-WAN
11 5 (0.66%) Structured Cabling
12 4 (0.53%) Cisco IPT
12 4 (0.53%) Intrusion Detection
13 3 (0.40%) Wi-Fi
14 2 (0.26%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 28 (3.69%) SQL Server
2 19 (2.51%) Power BI
3 10 (1.32%) MongoDB
4 9 (1.19%) Metadata
5 5 (0.66%) Data Lake
6 4 (0.53%) NoSQL
6 4 (0.53%) Oracle Reports
7 2 (0.26%) Amazon RDS
7 2 (0.26%) Data Warehouse
7 2 (0.26%) Relational Database
8 1 (0.13%) Ataccama
8 1 (0.13%) MariaDB
8 1 (0.13%) Neo4j
8 1 (0.13%) Oracle Database
8 1 (0.13%) Oracle Database 10g
8 1 (0.13%) Pinecone
8 1 (0.13%) PostgreSQL
8 1 (0.13%) RDBMS
8 1 (0.13%) SAP HANA
8 1 (0.13%) Weaviate
Development Applications
1 27 (3.56%) JIRA
2 9 (1.19%) Cypress.io
2 9 (1.19%) Git
2 9 (1.19%) Postman
2 9 (1.19%) Selenium
2 9 (1.19%) WebDriver
3 6 (0.79%) Cucumber
4 3 (0.40%) Protractor
5 2 (0.26%) Atlassian Bamboo
5 2 (0.26%) Bitbucket
5 2 (0.26%) Burp Suite
5 2 (0.26%) Claude Code
5 2 (0.26%) git-flow
5 2 (0.26%) GitLab
5 2 (0.26%) JMeter
5 2 (0.26%) ScalaTest
6 1 (0.13%) Jenkins
6 1 (0.13%) LSMW
6 1 (0.13%) Metasploit
6 1 (0.13%) SoapUI
General
1 268 (35.36%) Social Skills
2 168 (22.16%) Finance
3 141 (18.60%) Public Sector
4 98 (12.93%) Analytical Skills
5 65 (8.58%) Legal
6 52 (6.86%) Banking
7 45 (5.94%) Documentation Skills
8 31 (4.09%) Influencing Skills
9 30 (3.96%) Organisational Skills
10 28 (3.69%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 27 (3.56%) Local Government
12 26 (3.43%) Military
13 25 (3.30%) Presentation Skills
14 15 (1.98%) Aerospace
14 15 (1.98%) Law
15 12 (1.58%) Billing
16 10 (1.32%) Manufacturing
16 10 (1.32%) Marketing
16 10 (1.32%) Retail
17 9 (1.19%) Police
Job Titles
1 107 (14.12%) Analyst
2 82 (10.82%) Senior
3 81 (10.69%) Architect
4 71 (9.37%) Consultant
5 66 (8.71%) Lead
6 59 (7.78%) Security Architect
7 46 (6.07%) Security Consultant
8 43 (5.67%) Security Engineer
9 38 (5.01%) Security Analyst
10 35 (4.62%) Security Manager
11 31 (4.09%) Developer
12 27 (3.56%) Project Manager
13 24 (3.17%) IT Manager
13 24 (3.17%) Security Officer
14 23 (3.03%) Information Manager
15 22 (2.90%) Information Security Officer
16 19 (2.51%) Cybersecurity Manager
16 19 (2.51%) Information Officer
17 18 (2.37%) Chief Information Security Officer
18 17 (2.24%) Senior Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 33 (4.35%) Terraform
2 26 (3.43%) Oracle Fusion
3 25 (3.30%) SailPoint
4 21 (2.77%) OAuth
5 16 (2.11%) LDAP
5 16 (2.11%) SAML
6 15 (1.98%) OAuth2
6 15 (1.98%) OpenID
6 15 (1.98%) Web Services
7 14 (1.85%) XML
8 10 (1.32%) JSON
9 9 (1.19%) Gherkin
9 9 (1.19%) REST
10 7 (0.92%) XSLT
11 6 (0.79%) Play Framework
12 5 (0.66%) .NET
13 4 (0.53%) Jakarta EE
13 4 (0.53%) JSP
13 4 (0.53%) RESTful
14 3 (0.40%) .NET Framework
Miscellaneous
1 144 (19.00%) Management Information System
2 74 (9.76%) Onboarding
3 55 (7.26%) Security Posture
4 29 (3.83%) Cyber Threat
5 27 (3.56%) Operational Technology
6 24 (3.17%) Security Operations Centre
7 20 (2.64%) PKI
8 19 (2.51%) Cloud Native
9 18 (2.37%) Data Centre
10 16 (2.11%) Enterprise Software
11 13 (1.72%) NHS
12 12 (1.58%) Self-Motivation
13 11 (1.45%) Cyber Defence
13 11 (1.45%) Data Protection Act
13 11 (1.45%) Product Ownership
14 9 (1.19%) CSOC
14 9 (1.19%) Freedom of Information
14 9 (1.19%) Taxonomies
14 9 (1.19%) Virtual Team
15 8 (1.06%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 82 (10.82%) Windows
2 46 (6.07%) Linux
3 35 (4.62%) Windows Server
4 20 (2.64%) Unix
5 10 (1.32%) Android
6 9 (1.19%) Mac OS
7 8 (1.06%) Apple iOS
8 6 (0.79%) Ubuntu
9 5 (0.66%) Windows 10
10 3 (0.40%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
11 2 (0.26%) Alpine Linux
12 1 (0.13%) CentOS
12 1 (0.13%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 264 (34.83%) Cybersecurity
2 214 (28.23%) Risk Management
3 192 (25.33%) Stakeholder Management
4 143 (18.87%) Data Protection
5 134 (17.68%) Continuous Improvement
6 109 (14.38%) Problem-Solving
7 107 (14.12%) Incident Response
8 100 (13.19%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 96 (12.66%) Security Operations
10 93 (12.27%) Agile
11 92 (12.14%) Vulnerability Management
12 83 (10.95%) Cloud Security
12 83 (10.95%) Decision-Making
12 83 (10.95%) Roadmaps
13 70 (9.23%) Security Architecture
14 69 (9.10%) ITIL
15 67 (8.84%) AI
15 67 (8.84%) DevOps
15 67 (8.84%) SIEM
16 66 (8.71%) Computer Science
Programming Languages
1 76 (10.03%) Python
2 67 (8.84%) PowerShell
3 30 (3.96%) Bash
4 24 (3.17%) SQL
5 14 (1.85%) C#
6 13 (1.72%) JavaScript
7 11 (1.45%) Java
8 9 (1.19%) PL/SQL
9 7 (0.92%) Bicep
9 7 (0.92%) Kusto Query Language
9 7 (0.92%) Scala
10 3 (0.40%) Apex Code
10 3 (0.40%) Kotlin
11 1 (0.13%) Go
11 1 (0.13%) Korn
11 1 (0.13%) R
11 1 (0.13%) Search Processing Language
11 1 (0.13%) Shell Script
11 1 (0.13%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 168 (22.16%) Security Cleared
2 132 (17.41%) CISSP
3 128 (16.89%) Degree
4 120 (15.83%) SC Cleared
5 86 (11.35%) CISM
6 46 (6.07%) DV Cleared
7 33 (4.35%) CRISC
7 33 (4.35%) Microsoft Certification
8 32 (4.22%) CISA
9 26 (3.43%) Cisco Certification
10 21 (2.77%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 18 (2.37%) Azure Certification
12 17 (2.24%) Computer Science Degree
13 16 (2.11%) AWS Certification
13 16 (2.11%) PMP
14 15 (1.98%) CCSP
14 15 (1.98%) PMI Certification
15 14 (1.85%) CEH
15 14 (1.85%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
16 12 (1.58%) OSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 192 (25.33%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 127 (16.75%) NIST
3 117 (15.44%) GDPR
3 117 (15.44%) GRC
4 40 (5.28%) NCSC
5 39 (5.15%) Cyber Essentials
6 38 (5.01%) PCI DSS
7 30 (3.96%) Data Quality
8 28 (3.69%) Accessibility
9 22 (2.90%) QA
10 20 (2.64%) NIST 800
10 20 (2.64%) SLA
11 18 (2.37%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 17 (2.24%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 16 (2.11%) WCAG
14 14 (1.85%) HIPAA
15 13 (1.72%) SOC 2
16 12 (1.58%) HMG Security Policy Framework
17 10 (1.32%) Government Security Classifications
18 9 (1.19%) PMO
System Software
1 78 (10.29%) Active Directory
2 10 (1.32%) Docker
3 9 (1.19%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (0.79%) Hyper-V
5 5 (0.66%) Firmware
6 3 (0.40%) OpenAM
6 3 (0.40%) 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%) ISA Server
8 1 (0.13%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.13%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 23 (3.03%) Kubernetes
2 19 (2.51%) Microsoft Intune
2 19 (2.51%) Single Sign-On
3 12 (1.58%) Ansible
4 6 (0.79%) Grafana
4 6 (0.79%) SCCM
5 5 (0.66%) QRadar
6 4 (0.53%) Podman
7 3 (0.40%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 3 (0.40%) CASB
7 3 (0.40%) RSA Archer
8 2 (0.26%) Computer Incident Response Team
8 2 (0.26%) Jamf Pro
9 1 (0.13%) Control-M
9 1 (0.13%) Host Intrusion Detection System
9 1 (0.13%) Istio
9 1 (0.13%) Nmap
9 1 (0.13%) WSUS
Vendors
1 181 (23.88%) Microsoft
2 47 (6.20%) Oracle
3 40 (5.28%) ServiceNow
4 28 (3.69%) Splunk
5 25 (3.30%) Google
6 23 (3.03%) CyberArk
7 21 (2.77%) SAP
8 20 (2.64%) Cisco
9 19 (2.51%) BeyondTrust
10 17 (2.24%) Palo Alto
11 15 (1.98%) Apple
11 15 (1.98%) VMware
12 12 (1.58%) Ariba
12 12 (1.58%) CrowdStrike
13 10 (1.32%) Remedy
13 10 (1.32%) Zscaler
14 8 (1.06%) Qualys
15 7 (0.92%) Atlassian
15 7 (0.92%) Thales
16 6 (0.79%) Computacenter