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

6 months to
26 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 200 174 105
Rank change year-on-year -26 -69 -3
Contract jobs citing Information Security 740 531 868
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.39% 1.61% 2.15%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.64% 1.78% 2.51%
Number of daily rates quoted 413 302 541
10th Percentile £351 £350 £375
25th Percentile £450 £414 £490
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £534 £582
Median % change year-on-year +3.00% -8.25% -3.00%
75th Percentile £675 £688 £688
90th Percentile £815 £836 £800
UK excluding London median daily rate £525 £532 £584
% change year-on-year -1.32% -8.90% +6.18%
Number of hourly rates quoted 67 40 25
10th Percentile £15.59 £21.55 £12.75
25th Percentile £17.67 £22.14 £15.34
Median hourly rate £52.50 £24.66 £18.00
Median % change year-on-year +112.90% +37.00% -78.39%
75th Percentile £77.50 £75.00 £23.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £85.00 £25.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £52.50 £27.53 £17.72
% change year-on-year +90.70% +55.36% -78.73%

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 45,137 29,773 34,561
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 85.05% 90.43% 85.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,973 18,705 22,228
10th Percentile £325 £300 £308
25th Percentile £419 £404 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% -4.76% -4.14%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,675 1,607 2,050
10th Percentile £14.81 £14.20 £13.50
25th Percentile £20.00 £17.33 £17.50
Median hourly rate £43.96 £25.15 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +74.79% -37.13% -5.88%
75th Percentile £68.00 £50.00 £63.75
90th Percentile £82.80 £68.75 £73.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.96 £23.57 £40.00
% change year-on-year +86.55% -41.09% -

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 July 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 July 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 26 July 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 -17 674 £550 +4.76% 456
UK excluding London -14 386 £525 -1.32% 267
London -13 312 £600 +14.29% 230
Work from Home -40 187 £575 +15.00% 181
South East -27 125 £525 -16.00% 90
North of England -54 87 £490 -1.21% 74
Midlands -17 62 £500 +25.00% 35
North West -20 60 £483 -1.93% 49
West Midlands -18 47 £450 -5.26% 17
South West -17 46 £513 -11.64% 34
Scotland -4 32 £387 -12.61% 12
East of England -19 31 £535 +0.94% 17
Yorkshire -50 23 £540 +30.91% 20
East Midlands -15 15 £557 +39.19% 18
Wales -13 4 £645 +55.42% 11
North East -43 4 £450 -15.73% 5
Northern Ireland +1 1 £550 - 3

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 33 (4.46%) Confluence
2 25 (3.38%) SharePoint
3 7 (0.95%) Microsoft Exchange
4 5 (0.68%) IIS
5 4 (0.54%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.27%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
7 1 (0.14%) Adobe Experience Manager
7 1 (0.14%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 25 (3.38%) Microsoft Office
2 16 (2.16%) Microsoft Excel
3 12 (1.62%) Microsoft Project
4 6 (0.81%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 4 (0.54%) Spreadsheet
6 2 (0.27%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 9 (1.22%) Dynamics CRM
2 6 (0.81%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.41%) NEC Housing
3 3 (0.41%) Oracle EBS
4 2 (0.27%) Oracle ERP
4 2 (0.27%) SAP S/4HANA
5 1 (0.14%) Oracle Applications
5 1 (0.14%) Oracle Payables
5 1 (0.14%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
5 1 (0.14%) Oracle Receivables
5 1 (0.14%) SAP MDG
5 1 (0.14%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 165 (22.30%) Azure
2 107 (14.46%) AWS
3 60 (8.11%) Entra ID
4 42 (5.68%) SaaS
5 39 (5.27%) Microsoft 365
6 33 (4.46%) GCP
7 23 (3.11%) Microsoft Purview
8 22 (2.97%) GitHub
9 21 (2.84%) Power Platform
10 19 (2.57%) Azure Sentinel
11 16 (2.16%) OCI
12 15 (2.03%) Azure DevOps
13 12 (1.62%) Power Automate
14 11 (1.49%) Serverless
15 10 (1.35%) Dynamics 365
16 9 (1.22%) IaaS
16 9 (1.22%) PaaS
17 8 (1.08%) Cloud Computing
18 7 (0.95%) Azure Key Vault
19 6 (0.81%) Microsoft Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 44 (5.95%) Firewall
2 40 (5.41%) Network Security
3 13 (1.76%) WAN
4 12 (1.62%) LAN
4 12 (1.62%) SSH
4 12 (1.62%) VPN
4 12 (1.62%) Wireless
5 10 (1.35%) DNS
6 9 (1.22%) HTTP
6 9 (1.22%) NGFW
7 8 (1.08%) TCP/IP
8 7 (0.95%) DHCP
8 7 (0.95%) HTTPS
9 5 (0.68%) Internet
9 5 (0.68%) Structured Cabling
10 4 (0.54%) Intrusion Detection
11 3 (0.41%) BGP
11 3 (0.41%) Cisco IPT
12 2 (0.27%) Cisco ASA
12 2 (0.27%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (3.38%) SQL Server
2 18 (2.43%) Power BI
3 10 (1.35%) Metadata
4 6 (0.81%) Data Lake
4 6 (0.81%) NoSQL
4 6 (0.81%) Oracle Reports
5 4 (0.54%) Big Data
5 4 (0.54%) Hadoop
6 3 (0.41%) MongoDB
6 3 (0.41%) PostgreSQL
7 2 (0.27%) Data Warehouse
7 2 (0.27%) DynamoDB
7 2 (0.27%) MySQL
7 2 (0.27%) Oracle BI Publisher
8 1 (0.14%) MariaDB
8 1 (0.14%) Oracle Database
8 1 (0.14%) Oracle Database 10g
8 1 (0.14%) RDBMS
8 1 (0.14%) Relational Database
8 1 (0.14%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 34 (4.59%) JIRA
2 8 (1.08%) Cypress.io
2 8 (1.08%) Postman
2 8 (1.08%) Selenium
2 8 (1.08%) WebDriver
3 6 (0.81%) Git
4 5 (0.68%) Cucumber
5 4 (0.54%) Burp Suite
6 3 (0.41%) git-flow
6 3 (0.41%) Metasploit
6 3 (0.41%) Protractor
7 2 (0.27%) JMeter
8 1 (0.14%) AppScan
8 1 (0.14%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 1 (0.14%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.14%) Jenkins
8 1 (0.14%) LSMW
8 1 (0.14%) SoapUI
8 1 (0.14%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 247 (33.38%) Social Skills
2 165 (22.30%) Finance
3 129 (17.43%) Public Sector
4 81 (10.95%) Analytical Skills
5 64 (8.65%) Banking
6 55 (7.43%) Legal
7 44 (5.95%) Documentation Skills
8 26 (3.51%) Organisational Skills
9 23 (3.11%) Influencing Skills
9 23 (3.11%) Local Government
10 15 (2.03%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 15 (2.03%) Retail
11 13 (1.76%) Billing
11 13 (1.76%) Presentation Skills
12 12 (1.62%) Aerospace
12 12 (1.62%) Military
13 11 (1.49%) Law
14 10 (1.35%) Marketing
15 8 (1.08%) Manufacturing
15 8 (1.08%) Police
Job Titles
1 95 (12.84%) Analyst
2 81 (10.95%) Senior
3 76 (10.27%) Consultant
4 72 (9.73%) Architect
5 63 (8.51%) Lead
6 58 (7.84%) Security Consultant
7 53 (7.16%) Security Engineer
8 49 (6.62%) Security Architect
9 36 (4.86%) Security Analyst
9 36 (4.86%) Security Manager
10 25 (3.38%) IT Manager
11 22 (2.97%) Project Manager
12 21 (2.84%) Senior Manager
13 20 (2.70%) Developer
14 19 (2.57%) Cybersecurity Manager
15 18 (2.43%) Information Officer
15 18 (2.43%) Security Officer
16 16 (2.16%) Cybersecurity Consultant
16 16 (2.16%) Information Manager
17 15 (2.03%) Information Security Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (3.38%) Oracle Fusion
2 23 (3.11%) SailPoint
3 22 (2.97%) OAuth
4 16 (2.16%) SAML
5 15 (2.03%) LDAP
5 15 (2.03%) OAuth2
5 15 (2.03%) OpenID
6 13 (1.76%) Web Services
7 10 (1.35%) REST
7 10 (1.35%) XML
8 8 (1.08%) Gherkin
9 6 (0.81%) JSON
10 5 (0.68%) .NET
11 4 (0.54%) ASP.NET
11 4 (0.54%) Jakarta EE
11 4 (0.54%) JSP
11 4 (0.54%) Lightning Web Components
12 3 (0.41%) ASP.NET Core
12 3 (0.41%) Azure Blueprints
12 3 (0.41%) SLSA
Miscellaneous
1 126 (17.03%) Management Information System
2 82 (11.08%) Onboarding
3 57 (7.70%) Security Posture
4 39 (5.27%) Operational Technology
5 21 (2.84%) Security Operations Centre
6 20 (2.70%) Cloud Native
6 20 (2.70%) Cyber Threat
7 18 (2.43%) Data Centre
8 17 (2.30%) Data Protection Act
9 16 (2.16%) Enterprise Software
10 15 (2.03%) Self-Motivation
10 15 (2.03%) Virtual Team
11 13 (1.76%) PKI
11 13 (1.76%) SCADA
12 12 (1.62%) Product Ownership
13 11 (1.49%) BYOD
13 11 (1.49%) Legacy Systems
14 9 (1.22%) Analytical Mindset
14 9 (1.22%) Driving Licence
14 9 (1.22%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 81 (10.95%) Windows
2 44 (5.95%) Linux
3 36 (4.86%) Windows Server
4 23 (3.11%) Unix
5 10 (1.35%) Android
6 9 (1.22%) Apple iOS
7 8 (1.08%) Mac OS
8 5 (0.68%) Ubuntu
8 5 (0.68%) Windows 10
9 2 (0.27%) Alpine Linux
9 2 (0.27%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 1 (0.14%) Kali Linux
10 1 (0.14%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 263 (35.54%) Cybersecurity
2 202 (27.30%) Risk Management
3 145 (19.59%) Stakeholder Management
4 120 (16.22%) Data Protection
5 118 (15.95%) Continuous Improvement
6 109 (14.73%) Problem-Solving
7 92 (12.43%) Security Operations
8 87 (11.76%) Roadmaps
9 86 (11.62%) Agile
9 86 (11.62%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 83 (11.22%) Incident Response
11 78 (10.54%) Cloud Security
12 75 (10.14%) Change Management
13 73 (9.86%) Decision-Making
14 68 (9.19%) Vulnerability Management
15 64 (8.65%) Computer Science
16 63 (8.51%) AI
17 62 (8.38%) DevOps
17 62 (8.38%) Security Management
17 62 (8.38%) SIEM
Programming Languages
1 78 (10.54%) Python
2 68 (9.19%) PowerShell
3 27 (3.65%) Bash
4 22 (2.97%) SQL
5 14 (1.89%) Java
6 10 (1.35%) C#
7 8 (1.08%) JavaScript
8 7 (0.95%) Bicep
9 5 (0.68%) PL/SQL
10 4 (0.54%) Apex Code
10 4 (0.54%) Kusto Query Language
11 3 (0.41%) Kotlin
12 2 (0.27%) TypeScript
13 1 (0.14%) BeanShell
13 1 (0.14%) Go
13 1 (0.14%) Lisp
13 1 (0.14%) Scala
13 1 (0.14%) VBA
Qualifications
1 155 (20.95%) Security Cleared
2 144 (19.46%) Degree
3 131 (17.70%) CISSP
4 123 (16.62%) SC Cleared
5 86 (11.62%) CISM
6 36 (4.86%) DV Cleared
7 32 (4.32%) Cisco Certification
8 31 (4.19%) CISA
9 26 (3.51%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 25 (3.38%) CRISC
11 22 (2.97%) Microsoft Certification
12 19 (2.57%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
13 18 (2.43%) CEH
13 18 (2.43%) Computer Science Degree
14 16 (2.16%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
14 16 (2.16%) PMP
15 15 (2.03%) PMI Certification
16 14 (1.89%) AWS Certification
17 12 (1.62%) Master's Degree
17 12 (1.62%) OSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 218 (29.46%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 149 (20.14%) NIST
3 128 (17.30%) GDPR
4 104 (14.05%) GRC
5 48 (6.49%) PCI DSS
6 37 (5.00%) Cyber Essentials
7 34 (4.59%) NCSC
8 26 (3.51%) Data Quality
9 23 (3.11%) QA
10 21 (2.84%) Accessibility
11 19 (2.57%) NIST 800
11 19 (2.57%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 18 (2.43%) COBIT
13 17 (2.30%) SOC 2
14 15 (2.03%) SLA
15 13 (1.76%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
15 13 (1.76%) HIPAA
16 12 (1.62%) PMO
17 11 (1.49%) Government Security Classifications
17 11 (1.49%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 78 (10.54%) Active Directory
2 9 (1.22%) Docker
3 7 (0.95%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (0.81%) Hyper-V
5 3 (0.41%) OpenAM
5 3 (0.41%) Squid
6 2 (0.27%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.27%) Virtual Servers
7 1 (0.14%) BitLocker
7 1 (0.14%) Ceph
7 1 (0.14%) Firmware
7 1 (0.14%) RACF
Systems Management
1 20 (2.70%) Terraform
2 17 (2.30%) Microsoft Intune
3 14 (1.89%) Single Sign-On
4 13 (1.76%) Kubernetes
5 12 (1.62%) Ansible
6 7 (0.95%) SCCM
7 4 (0.54%) Podman
7 4 (0.54%) QRadar
8 3 (0.41%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 3 (0.41%) RSA Archer
9 2 (0.27%) Computer Incident Response Team
9 2 (0.27%) Nmap
10 1 (0.14%) CASB
10 1 (0.14%) Host Intrusion Detection System
10 1 (0.14%) Nessus
10 1 (0.14%) Progress Chef
10 1 (0.14%) WSUS
Vendors
1 149 (20.14%) Microsoft
2 46 (6.22%) Oracle
3 44 (5.95%) ServiceNow
4 25 (3.38%) CyberArk
5 23 (3.11%) BeyondTrust
6 19 (2.57%) Cisco
7 18 (2.43%) Google
7 18 (2.43%) SAP
8 16 (2.16%) Splunk
9 14 (1.89%) Apple
10 13 (1.76%) Palo Alto
11 12 (1.62%) Ariba
12 11 (1.49%) CrowdStrike
12 11 (1.49%) VMware
13 9 (1.22%) Zscaler
14 7 (0.95%) IBM
14 7 (0.95%) Remedy
15 6 (0.81%) Atlassian
15 6 (0.81%) Qualys
15 6 (0.81%) Thales