Infrastructure Engineer Contract Job Trends

Infrastructure Engineer
UK

The median Infrastructure Engineer daily rate in the UK is £500, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 14 March 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 216 203 149
Rank change year-on-year -13 -54 +30
Contract jobs requiring an Infrastructure Engineer 547 405 713
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.27% 1.37% 1.60%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.38% 1.48% 1.72%
Number of daily rates quoted 396 274 512
10th Percentile £318 £325 £313
25th Percentile £400 £378 £380
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £475
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +10.53% -5.00%
75th Percentile £581 £605 £594
90th Percentile £638 £675 £713
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £525 £475
% change year-on-year -4.76% +10.53% +2.15%
Number of hourly rates quoted 12 4 15
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile £26.25 £24.18 £21.25
Median hourly rate £40.75 £112.09 £23.00
Median % change year-on-year -63.65% +387.35% -63.31%
75th Percentile £58.56 £200.00 £76.53
90th Percentile £78.93 - £77.30
UK excluding London median hourly rate £50.00 £112.09 £23.00
% change year-on-year -55.39% +387.35% -58.39%

All Contract IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 39,662 27,424 41,343
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.89% 92.92% 92.85%
Number of daily rates quoted 24,771 17,715 27,123
10th Percentile £313 £296 £270
25th Percentile £410 £406 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.40%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £638
90th Percentile £721 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £480 £475 £487
% change year-on-year +1.05% -2.46% -2.60%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,471 874 2,496
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.36 £12.96
25th Percentile £19.00 £21.24 £16.25
Median hourly rate £35.00 £33.06 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year +5.88% +1.71% -23.53%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £59.44
90th Percentile £75.79 £77.50 £71.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £35.00 £32.50 £32.50
% change year-on-year +7.69% - -19.90%

Infrastructure Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Infrastructure Engineer' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Infrastructure Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK

Infrastructure Engineer
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Infrastructure Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Infrastructure Engineer job vacancies in the UK

Infrastructure Engineer
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Infrastructure Engineer over the 6 months to 14 March 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Infrastructure Engineer in the UK

Infrastructure Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Infrastructure Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Infrastructure Engineer job vacancies in the UK

Infrastructure Engineer
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Infrastructure Engineer over the 6 months to 14 March 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Infrastructure Engineer in the UK

Infrastructure Engineer
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 Infrastructure Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 14 March 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 -18 485 £500 -4.76% 199
UK excluding London -8 368 £500 -4.76% 182
London -52 138 £525 - 34
Work from Home 0 115 £500 +5.26% 82
South East -13 102 £500 -4.76% 51
South West +11 89 £536 -6.74% 35
North of England -36 89 £413 - 54
Yorkshire -29 52 £363 -12.12% 25
North West -28 31 £490 -6.67% 22
East of England -18 29 £438 -6.82% 13
Midlands -54 29 £438 +9.38% 21
Scotland +9 23 £500 -9.09% 5
East Midlands -23 16 £450 +20.00% 5
West Midlands -68 13 £413 -13.16% 16
Wales -14 7 £550 +29.41% 4
North East -13 6 £488 +33.56% 7
Northern Ireland - 1 £375 - 1

Infrastructure Engineer Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 14 March 2026, Infrastructure Engineer contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads featuring Infrastructure Engineer in the job title.

1 525 (95.98%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 192 (35.10%) Azure
3 187 (34.19%) Windows
4 170 (31.08%) Microsoft
5 164 (29.98%) Security Cleared
6 160 (29.25%) VMware
7 132 (24.13%) Active Directory
8 126 (23.03%) VMware Infrastructure
9 113 (20.66%) SC Cleared
10 107 (19.56%) Windows Server
11 99 (18.10%) PowerShell
12 97 (17.73%) DevOps
13 96 (17.55%) Terraform
14 89 (16.27%) Firewall
15 86 (15.72%) Linux
16 83 (15.17%) Infrastructure as Code
17 81 (14.81%) DNS
18 77 (14.08%) Microsoft 365
18 77 (14.08%) Problem-Solving
19 71 (12.98%) Python
20 70 (12.80%) CI/CD
21 62 (11.33%) AWS
22 60 (10.97%) DHCP
22 60 (10.97%) Hyper-V
23 56 (10.24%) DV Cleared
23 56 (10.24%) Kubernetes
24 55 (10.05%) ITIL
25 53 (9.69%) Ansible
25 53 (9.69%) Migration
26 51 (9.32%) Infrastructure Automation

Infrastructure Engineer Skill Set
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 45 (8.23%) Microsoft Exchange
2 11 (2.01%) SharePoint
3 10 (1.83%) TPMS
4 5 (0.91%) IIS
5 4 (0.73%) Apache
5 4 (0.73%) Confluence
6 3 (0.55%) Exchange Server 2010
7 2 (0.37%) nginx
8 1 (0.18%) CICS
8 1 (0.18%) IBM HTTP Server
8 1 (0.18%) Skype for Business
8 1 (0.18%) WebSphere
8 1 (0.18%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 10 (1.83%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (0.55%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.18%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 2 (0.37%) Dynamics CRM
1 2 (0.37%) Maximo
2 1 (0.18%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 192 (35.10%) Azure
2 77 (14.08%) Microsoft 365
3 62 (11.33%) AWS
4 41 (7.50%) Entra ID
4 41 (7.50%) GitHub
5 31 (5.67%) GCP
6 29 (5.30%) PaaS
7 28 (5.12%) IaaS
8 24 (4.39%) Azure DevOps
9 19 (3.47%) Azure Monitor
9 19 (3.47%) Google Kubernetes Engine
10 18 (3.29%) Nutanix
11 12 (2.19%) Azure Sentinel
12 10 (1.83%) OCI
12 10 (1.83%) SaaS
13 9 (1.65%) GitHub Actions
13 9 (1.65%) Mimecast
13 9 (1.65%) OneDrive
14 8 (1.46%) AWS CloudFormation
14 8 (1.46%) Azure AKS
Communications & Networking
1 89 (16.27%) Firewall
2 81 (14.81%) DNS
3 60 (10.97%) DHCP
4 43 (7.86%) VPN
5 34 (6.22%) WAN
6 27 (4.94%) LAN
6 27 (4.94%) TCP/IP
7 21 (3.84%) VLAN
8 20 (3.66%) SAN
9 19 (3.47%) Wi-Fi
10 17 (3.11%) Network Security
11 13 (2.38%) SNMP
12 12 (2.19%) SSH
12 12 (2.19%) SSL
13 9 (1.65%) MPLS
13 9 (1.65%) SMTP
14 8 (1.46%) SD-WAN
15 6 (1.10%) 4G
15 6 (1.10%) BGP
15 6 (1.10%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
Database & Business Intelligence
1 18 (3.29%) SQL Server
2 7 (1.28%) Elasticsearch
3 6 (1.10%) Amazon RDS
4 3 (0.55%) NonStop SQL
4 3 (0.55%) Power BI
5 2 (0.37%) Amazon Aurora
5 2 (0.37%) Azure SQL Database
5 2 (0.37%) DynamoDB
5 2 (0.37%) MySQL
5 2 (0.37%) Oracle Database
5 2 (0.37%) SAP HANA
6 1 (0.18%) Data Mining
6 1 (0.18%) MongoDB
6 1 (0.18%) NoSQL
6 1 (0.18%) PostgreSQL
6 1 (0.18%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 16 (2.93%) Jenkins
2 12 (2.19%) GitLab
3 11 (2.01%) JIRA
4 8 (1.46%) Artifactory
5 7 (1.28%) Git
6 3 (0.55%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.18%) Chocolatey
7 1 (0.18%) GoCD
7 1 (0.18%) IntelliJ
7 1 (0.18%) Introscope
7 1 (0.18%) MSI
7 1 (0.18%) Robot Framework
7 1 (0.18%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 91 (16.64%) Social Skills
2 51 (9.32%) Public Sector
3 49 (8.96%) Finance
4 37 (6.76%) Analytical Skills
5 24 (4.39%) Documentation Skills
6 18 (3.29%) Legal
7 16 (2.93%) Banking
8 9 (1.65%) Billing
8 9 (1.65%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 6 (1.10%) Aviation
9 6 (1.10%) Spanish Language
9 6 (1.10%) Telecoms
10 5 (0.91%) Military
11 4 (0.73%) Aerospace
11 4 (0.73%) Local Government
12 2 (0.37%) Financial Institution
12 2 (0.37%) Investment Banking
12 2 (0.37%) Retail
13 1 (0.18%) Advertising
13 1 (0.18%) Back Office
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (2.01%) REST
2 8 (1.46%) ARM Templates
2 8 (1.46%) LDAP
2 8 (1.46%) SOAP
3 7 (1.28%) SAML
4 5 (0.91%) OpenID
4 5 (0.91%) Web Services
5 4 (0.73%) Elastic Stack
5 4 (0.73%) Keycloak
6 3 (0.55%) ADO
6 3 (0.55%) Microsoft Graph
6 3 (0.55%) Oracle Fusion
7 2 (0.37%) .NET Core
7 2 (0.37%) Apache NiFi
7 2 (0.37%) AWS CDK
7 2 (0.37%) Flash
7 2 (0.37%) Middleware
7 2 (0.37%) OAuth2
7 2 (0.37%) Software Packaging
7 2 (0.37%) WPF
Miscellaneous
1 36 (6.58%) PKI
2 35 (6.40%) Data Centre
3 20 (3.66%) Public Cloud
4 17 (3.11%) Hybrid Cloud
5 11 (2.01%) Clustering
5 11 (2.01%) Enterprise Software
6 9 (1.65%) Cloud Native
6 9 (1.65%) Enterprise Storage
6 9 (1.65%) Onboarding
6 9 (1.65%) Private Cloud
6 9 (1.65%) Self-Motivation
7 5 (0.91%) Analytical Mindset
7 5 (0.91%) Replication
8 4 (0.73%) Legacy Systems
8 4 (0.73%) NHS
9 3 (0.55%) Client/Server
9 3 (0.55%) Data Protection Act
9 3 (0.55%) Greenfield Project
10 2 (0.37%) EMC VMAX
10 2 (0.37%) Fat Client
Operating Systems
1 187 (34.19%) Windows
2 107 (19.56%) Windows Server
3 86 (15.72%) Linux
4 17 (3.11%) Windows Server 2019
5 14 (2.56%) Ubuntu
6 13 (2.38%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 13 (2.38%) Windows 10
6 13 (2.38%) Windows Server 2012
7 12 (2.19%) Windows Server 2016
8 10 (1.83%) VMS
9 8 (1.46%) Unix
10 6 (1.10%) Windows Server 2003
11 2 (0.37%) Android
11 2 (0.37%) Apple iOS
11 2 (0.37%) CentOS
11 2 (0.37%) Debian
11 2 (0.37%) SUSE
11 2 (0.37%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
11 2 (0.37%) Windows 7
12 1 (0.18%) Mac OS
Processes & Methodologies
1 525 (95.98%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 97 (17.73%) DevOps
3 83 (15.17%) Infrastructure as Code
4 77 (14.08%) Problem-Solving
5 70 (12.80%) CI/CD
6 55 (10.05%) ITIL
7 53 (9.69%) Migration
8 51 (9.32%) Infrastructure Automation
9 47 (8.59%) Agile
9 47 (8.59%) Cybersecurity
10 43 (7.86%) Disaster Recovery
11 33 (6.03%) High Availability
12 30 (5.48%) Observability
13 29 (5.30%) Project Delivery
14 27 (4.94%) Platform Engineering
15 25 (4.57%) Cloud Security
15 25 (4.57%) Containerisation
15 25 (4.57%) Roadmaps
16 23 (4.20%) Service Management
16 23 (4.20%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 99 (18.10%) PowerShell
2 71 (12.98%) Python
3 26 (4.75%) Bash
4 18 (3.29%) SQL
5 16 (2.93%) Bicep
6 9 (1.65%) JavaScript
6 9 (1.65%) PHP
7 7 (1.28%) C#
8 5 (0.91%) Java
9 4 (0.73%) Shell Script
10 3 (0.55%) Perl
11 2 (0.37%) ActionScript
12 1 (0.18%) C++
12 1 (0.18%) Go
12 1 (0.18%) Jython
12 1 (0.18%) Kusto Query Language
12 1 (0.18%) PL/SQL
12 1 (0.18%) Ruby
12 1 (0.18%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 164 (29.98%) Security Cleared
2 113 (20.66%) SC Cleared
3 56 (10.24%) DV Cleared
4 19 (3.47%) Azure Certification
5 15 (2.74%) Degree
6 11 (2.01%) Microsoft Certification
7 10 (1.83%) FFIEC
7 10 (1.83%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
8 9 (1.65%) Cisco Certification
9 8 (1.46%) AWS Certification
10 7 (1.28%) CCNA
11 6 (1.10%) CompTIA Security+
12 5 (0.91%) BPSS Clearance
12 5 (0.91%) CCNP
13 4 (0.73%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
13 4 (0.73%) CISSP
13 4 (0.73%) Computer Science Degree
13 4 (0.73%) GIAC
13 4 (0.73%) GSEC
14 3 (0.55%) APMG
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (3.47%) NIST
2 16 (2.93%) GDPR
3 12 (2.19%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 11 (2.01%) SLA
5 10 (1.83%) Cyber Essentials
5 10 (1.83%) GLBA
5 10 (1.83%) PCI DSS
6 4 (0.73%) QA
7 3 (0.55%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 3 (0.55%) NIST 800
8 2 (0.37%) HIPAA
8 2 (0.37%) SOC 2
9 1 (0.18%) Accessibility
9 1 (0.18%) HMG Security Policy Framework
9 1 (0.18%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 132 (24.13%) Active Directory
2 126 (23.03%) VMware Infrastructure
3 60 (10.97%) Hyper-V
4 40 (7.31%) vSphere
5 35 (6.40%) Docker
6 30 (5.48%) VMware ESXi
7 14 (2.56%) Virtual Machines
8 13 (2.38%) VMware NSX
9 12 (2.19%) Virtual Desktop
10 7 (1.28%) BitLocker
11 6 (1.10%) Microsoft App-V
12 3 (0.55%) DFS Replication
12 3 (0.55%) Sendmail
13 2 (0.37%) QEMU
13 2 (0.37%) SRDF
14 1 (0.18%) Firmware
14 1 (0.18%) Slurm Workload Manager
14 1 (0.18%) Terminal Services
14 1 (0.18%) UAG
14 1 (0.18%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 96 (17.55%) Terraform
2 56 (10.24%) Kubernetes
3 53 (9.69%) Ansible
4 48 (8.78%) SCCM
5 46 (8.41%) Microsoft Intune
6 28 (5.12%) vCenter Server
7 17 (3.11%) Single Sign-On
8 10 (1.83%) Puppet
9 9 (1.65%) Istio
9 9 (1.65%) Prometheus
9 9 (1.65%) VxRail
10 8 (1.46%) Grafana
10 8 (1.46%) SCOM
11 6 (1.10%) CASB
11 6 (1.10%) SCOrch
11 6 (1.10%) vMotion
11 6 (1.10%) vRealize
12 5 (0.91%) AirWatch
12 5 (0.91%) FortiGate
12 5 (0.91%) Packer
Vendors
1 170 (31.08%) Microsoft
2 160 (29.25%) VMware
3 33 (6.03%) Cisco
4 29 (5.30%) Dell
5 26 (4.75%) Citrix
6 24 (4.39%) Veeam
7 23 (4.20%) Google
8 14 (2.56%) Oracle
8 14 (2.56%) Red Hat
8 14 (2.56%) Thales
9 13 (2.38%) F5
9 13 (2.38%) ServiceNow
9 13 (2.38%) SolarWinds
10 12 (2.19%) Fortinet
10 12 (2.19%) NetApp
10 12 (2.19%) Splunk
11 11 (2.01%) Aruba
12 8 (1.46%) HP
12 8 (1.46%) Palo Alto
13 6 (1.10%) Zscaler