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

6 months to
2 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 201 159 103
Rank change year-on-year -42 -56 -16
Contract jobs citing Information Security 785 589 848
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.43% 1.78% 2.23%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.69% 1.96% 2.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 423 320 519
10th Percentile £326 £313 £375
25th Percentile £425 £413 £481
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £525 £575
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% -8.70% -3.08%
75th Percentile £650 £675 £688
90th Percentile £800 £776 £800
UK excluding London median daily rate £463 £475 £600
% change year-on-year -2.63% -20.83% +9.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 83 47 21
10th Percentile £14.88 £20.71 £13.00
25th Percentile £21.35 £22.14 £15.73
Median hourly rate £62.25 £33.50 £20.19
Median % change year-on-year +85.82% +65.92% -72.22%
75th Percentile £79.50 £65.00 £36.75
90th Percentile £80.00 £79.00 £45.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £62.25 £33.50 £18.19
% change year-on-year +85.82% +84.17% -75.42%

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 46,382 30,011 32,696
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.49% 90.62% 85.87%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,976 18,637 19,780
10th Percentile £325 £300 £308
25th Percentile £425 £404 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -2.78%
75th Percentile £630 £625 £638
90th Percentile £734 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,269 1,869 1,352
10th Percentile £13.69 £14.32 £15.00
25th Percentile £17.17 £17.30 £20.12
Median hourly rate £38.72 £25.15 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year +53.96% -40.82% -
75th Percentile £65.60 £43.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £78.75 £65.00 £74.44
UK excluding London median hourly rate £39.02 £22.32 £43.00
% change year-on-year +74.86% -48.10% +1.18%

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 2 October 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 2 October 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 2 October 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 -35 711 £546 +3.92% 1,742
UK excluding London -13 417 £463 -2.63% 989
London -45 310 £600 +9.09% 863
Work from Home -53 194 £550 +22.22% 774
North of England -20 125 £474 +5.33% 291
South East -42 99 £460 -26.40% 277
Midlands -18 78 £450 +12.50% 127
North West -21 75 £525 +23.53% 148
West Midlands +13 66 £449 -5.58% 72
South West -28 53 £600 +29.73% 111
Scotland -12 37 £581 +36.71% 79
Yorkshire -20 35 £525 +5.00% 99
East of England -13 32 £505 +102.81% 58
North East -29 15 £425 -22.73% 44
East Midlands -32 12 £533 +33.13% 55
Wales -11 3 £815 +33.06% 23
Northern Ireland - 1 £550 - 26

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 38 (4.84%) SharePoint
2 22 (2.80%) Confluence
3 11 (1.40%) IIS
4 8 (1.02%) Microsoft Exchange
5 2 (0.25%) Apache
5 2 (0.25%) Apache Airflow
5 2 (0.25%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.25%) Jupyter
6 1 (0.13%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Workflow
6 1 (0.13%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 22 (2.80%) Microsoft Office
2 12 (1.53%) Microsoft Excel
3 9 (1.15%) Spreadsheet
4 8 (1.02%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 5 (0.64%) Microsoft Project
6 2 (0.25%) MS Visio
7 1 (0.13%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 20 (2.55%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (0.76%) Remedy ITSM
3 4 (0.51%) Oracle Payroll
4 2 (0.25%) Oracle ERP
4 2 (0.25%) SAP S/4HANA
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
1 186 (23.69%) Azure
2 121 (15.41%) AWS
3 68 (8.66%) Entra ID
4 48 (6.11%) GCP
5 47 (5.99%) Microsoft 365
5 47 (5.99%) SaaS
6 30 (3.82%) Power Platform
7 27 (3.44%) GitHub
8 26 (3.31%) Azure DevOps
9 24 (3.06%) Microsoft Purview
9 24 (3.06%) Power Automate
9 24 (3.06%) Serverless
10 23 (2.93%) Dynamics 365
11 20 (2.55%) Azure Sentinel
12 17 (2.17%) OCI
13 16 (2.04%) Azure Functions
14 12 (1.53%) GitHub Actions
14 12 (1.53%) PaaS
15 10 (1.27%) IaaS
16 8 (1.02%) Cloud Computing
Communications & Networking
1 52 (6.62%) Network Security
2 44 (5.61%) Firewall
3 20 (2.55%) WAN
4 17 (2.17%) LAN
5 16 (2.04%) DNS
6 10 (1.27%) DHCP
7 9 (1.15%) Internet
7 9 (1.15%) SSH
7 9 (1.15%) TCP/IP
8 8 (1.02%) NGFW
8 8 (1.02%) Wireless
9 6 (0.76%) HTTP
9 6 (0.76%) HTTPS
9 6 (0.76%) VPN
10 5 (0.64%) SD-WAN
10 5 (0.64%) SMTP
10 5 (0.64%) Structured Cabling
11 4 (0.51%) FTP
11 4 (0.51%) Intrusion Detection
11 4 (0.51%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 34 (4.33%) SQL Server
2 16 (2.04%) Power BI
3 15 (1.91%) Metadata
4 12 (1.53%) MongoDB
5 6 (0.76%) Data Lake
6 5 (0.64%) Relational Database
7 4 (0.51%) NoSQL
8 3 (0.38%) Data Warehouse
8 3 (0.38%) Oracle Reports
8 3 (0.38%) RDBMS
9 2 (0.25%) Amazon RDS
9 2 (0.25%) Metadata Repository
9 2 (0.25%) Star Schema
10 1 (0.13%) Ataccama
10 1 (0.13%) Chroma
10 1 (0.13%) Neo4j
10 1 (0.13%) Oracle Database
10 1 (0.13%) Pinecone
10 1 (0.13%) SAP HANA
10 1 (0.13%) Weaviate
Development Applications
1 26 (3.31%) JIRA
2 13 (1.66%) Git
3 12 (1.53%) Postman
4 11 (1.40%) Cypress.io
4 11 (1.40%) Selenium
4 11 (1.40%) WebDriver
5 8 (1.02%) Cucumber
6 3 (0.38%) Protractor
6 3 (0.38%) ScalaTest
7 2 (0.25%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 2 (0.25%) Bitbucket
7 2 (0.25%) Claude Code
7 2 (0.25%) git-flow
7 2 (0.25%) GitLab
7 2 (0.25%) JMeter
8 1 (0.13%) Burp Suite
8 1 (0.13%) Jenkins
8 1 (0.13%) LSMW
8 1 (0.13%) SoapUI
8 1 (0.13%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 313 (39.87%) Social Skills
2 171 (21.78%) Finance
3 147 (18.73%) Public Sector
4 124 (15.80%) Analytical Skills
5 66 (8.41%) Legal
6 54 (6.88%) Banking
7 46 (5.86%) Documentation Skills
8 40 (5.10%) Influencing Skills
9 36 (4.59%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 30 (3.82%) Organisational Skills
11 29 (3.69%) Military
12 27 (3.44%) Presentation Skills
13 25 (3.18%) Local Government
14 18 (2.29%) Aerospace
14 18 (2.29%) Law
15 15 (1.91%) Manufacturing
16 11 (1.40%) Billing
16 11 (1.40%) Marketing
17 9 (1.15%) Aviation
17 9 (1.15%) Retail
Job Titles
1 114 (14.52%) Analyst
2 100 (12.74%) Senior
3 81 (10.32%) Architect
4 77 (9.81%) Lead
5 75 (9.55%) Consultant
6 56 (7.13%) Security Architect
7 51 (6.50%) Security Engineer
8 46 (5.86%) Security Consultant
9 42 (5.35%) Security Analyst
10 39 (4.97%) Security Manager
11 37 (4.71%) Developer
12 27 (3.44%) Project Manager
13 26 (3.31%) Information Manager
14 25 (3.18%) Security Officer
15 24 (3.06%) Information Security Officer
16 23 (2.93%) Information Officer
16 23 (2.93%) IT Manager
17 20 (2.55%) Cybersecurity Analyst
18 19 (2.42%) Coordinator
18 19 (2.42%) Cybersecurity Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 43 (5.48%) Terraform
2 26 (3.31%) SailPoint
3 25 (3.18%) Oracle Fusion
4 21 (2.68%) OAuth
4 21 (2.68%) SAML
5 19 (2.42%) OpenID
6 18 (2.29%) LDAP
6 18 (2.29%) XML
7 16 (2.04%) OAuth2
8 15 (1.91%) Web Services
9 14 (1.78%) JSON
10 11 (1.40%) Gherkin
10 11 (1.40%) XSLT
11 10 (1.27%) REST
12 9 (1.15%) RESTful
13 8 (1.02%) Play Framework
14 6 (0.76%) Node.js
15 5 (0.64%) .NET
15 5 (0.64%) Middleware
15 5 (0.64%) React
Miscellaneous
1 159 (20.25%) Management Information System
2 75 (9.55%) Onboarding
3 54 (6.88%) Security Posture
4 35 (4.46%) Cyber Threat
5 33 (4.20%) Operational Technology
6 25 (3.18%) Cloud Native
6 25 (3.18%) Data Centre
6 25 (3.18%) Security Operations Centre
7 21 (2.68%) PKI
8 19 (2.42%) Taxonomies
9 16 (2.04%) Cyber Defence
9 16 (2.04%) Enterprise Software
10 15 (1.91%) Public Cloud
11 13 (1.66%) Data Protection Act
11 13 (1.66%) NHS
11 13 (1.66%) Product Ownership
12 12 (1.53%) Distributed Systems
13 11 (1.40%) Self-Motivation
14 10 (1.27%) Virtual Team
15 9 (1.15%) Analytical Mindset
Operating Systems
1 80 (10.19%) Windows
2 46 (5.86%) Linux
3 37 (4.71%) Windows Server
4 21 (2.68%) Unix
5 10 (1.27%) Android
6 9 (1.15%) Mac OS
7 6 (0.76%) Apple iOS
7 6 (0.76%) Ubuntu
8 5 (0.64%) Windows 10
9 3 (0.38%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 2 (0.25%) Alpine Linux
11 1 (0.13%) CentOS
11 1 (0.13%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 288 (36.69%) Cybersecurity
2 228 (29.04%) Risk Management
3 217 (27.64%) Stakeholder Management
4 160 (20.38%) Data Protection
5 148 (18.85%) Continuous Improvement
6 117 (14.90%) Incident Response
6 117 (14.90%) Problem-Solving
7 112 (14.27%) Agile
8 106 (13.50%) Vulnerability Management
9 102 (12.99%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 97 (12.36%) Security Operations
11 92 (11.72%) Roadmaps
12 91 (11.59%) Cloud Security
13 85 (10.83%) AI
14 81 (10.32%) Decision-Making
14 81 (10.32%) Security Architecture
15 80 (10.19%) DevOps
16 76 (9.68%) Computer Science
17 72 (9.17%) CI/CD
17 72 (9.17%) SIEM
Programming Languages
1 81 (10.32%) Python
2 66 (8.41%) PowerShell
3 27 (3.44%) Bash
4 25 (3.18%) SQL
5 20 (2.55%) C#
6 18 (2.29%) JavaScript
7 10 (1.27%) PL/SQL
8 9 (1.15%) Scala
9 7 (0.89%) Bicep
10 5 (0.64%) Go
10 5 (0.64%) Java
10 5 (0.64%) Korn
11 4 (0.51%) Kusto Query Language
12 3 (0.38%) Apex Code
13 2 (0.25%) Search Processing Language
13 2 (0.25%) TypeScript
14 1 (0.13%) R
14 1 (0.13%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 180 (22.93%) Security Cleared
2 147 (18.73%) CISSP
3 140 (17.83%) Degree
4 138 (17.58%) SC Cleared
5 100 (12.74%) CISM
6 46 (5.86%) CRISC
6 46 (5.86%) DV Cleared
7 39 (4.97%) Microsoft Certification
8 36 (4.59%) Cisco Certification
9 35 (4.46%) CISA
10 32 (4.08%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 23 (2.93%) CCSP
12 22 (2.80%) Computer Science Degree
13 18 (2.29%) Azure Certification
14 16 (2.04%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
15 15 (1.91%) PMP
16 14 (1.78%) AWS Certification
16 14 (1.78%) PMI Certification
17 13 (1.66%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
18 12 (1.53%) CompTIA Security+
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 211 (26.88%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 139 (17.71%) NIST
3 129 (16.43%) GDPR
4 125 (15.92%) GRC
5 43 (5.48%) NCSC
5 43 (5.48%) PCI DSS
6 40 (5.10%) Cyber Essentials
7 36 (4.59%) Accessibility
8 35 (4.46%) Data Quality
9 26 (3.31%) QA
10 23 (2.93%) SLA
10 23 (2.93%) WCAG
11 20 (2.55%) NIST 800
12 18 (2.29%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 17 (2.17%) HIPAA
14 16 (2.04%) SOC 2
15 13 (1.66%) Sarbanes-Oxley
16 12 (1.53%) HMG Security Policy Framework
16 12 (1.53%) ISO 22301
17 10 (1.27%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 75 (9.55%) Active Directory
2 9 (1.15%) Docker
3 7 (0.89%) Firmware
4 6 (0.76%) VMware Infrastructure
5 5 (0.64%) ISA Server
6 3 (0.38%) Hyper-V
6 3 (0.38%) OpenAM
7 2 (0.25%) Squid
7 2 (0.25%) Virtual Servers
8 1 (0.13%) BitLocker
8 1 (0.13%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.13%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.13%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 32 (4.08%) Kubernetes
2 19 (2.42%) Single Sign-On
3 16 (2.04%) Microsoft Intune
4 12 (1.53%) Ansible
5 8 (1.02%) Grafana
6 7 (0.89%) CASB
7 3 (0.38%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 3 (0.38%) Podman
7 3 (0.38%) QRadar
7 3 (0.38%) SCCM
8 2 (0.25%) Computer Incident Response Team
8 2 (0.25%) Jamf Pro
8 2 (0.25%) RSA Archer
9 1 (0.13%) Control-M
9 1 (0.13%) Host Intrusion Detection System
9 1 (0.13%) Istio
Vendors
1 202 (25.73%) Microsoft
2 47 (5.99%) Oracle
3 45 (5.73%) ServiceNow
4 38 (4.84%) Google
5 37 (4.71%) Splunk
6 24 (3.06%) Cisco
7 22 (2.80%) CyberArk
8 21 (2.68%) Palo Alto
8 21 (2.68%) SAP
9 18 (2.29%) BeyondTrust
10 17 (2.17%) CrowdStrike
11 14 (1.78%) Apple
12 12 (1.53%) Ariba
12 12 (1.53%) VMware
12 12 (1.53%) Zscaler
13 11 (1.40%) Qualys
14 10 (1.27%) Databricks
15 9 (1.15%) Okta
15 9 (1.15%) Rapid7
16 8 (1.02%) Remedy