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 31 March 2026.

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

6 months to
31 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 210 185 149
Rank change year-on-year -25 -36 +35
Contract jobs requiring an Infrastructure Engineer 562 407 722
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.26% 1.40% 1.63%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.37% 1.51% 1.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 407 285 525
10th Percentile £325 £315 £310
25th Percentile £413 £375 £381
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £475
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +10.53% -5.00%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £638 £650 £713
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £501 £475
% change year-on-year -0.10% +5.37% +4.40%
Number of hourly rates quoted 17 4 13
10th Percentile £26.25 - -
25th Percentile £50.00 £24.18 £21.25
Median hourly rate £72.54 £112.09 £23.00
Median % change year-on-year -35.28% +387.35% -63.97%
75th Percentile £76.50 £200.00 £76.53
90th Percentile £80.42 - £77.40
UK excluding London median hourly rate £72.54 £112.09 £22.75
% change year-on-year -35.28% +392.70% -62.43%

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 40,988 26,987 41,095
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.05% 92.82% 92.84%
Number of daily rates quoted 25,540 17,745 26,925
10th Percentile £313 £300 £275
25th Percentile £413 £406 £408
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £520 £525
Median % change year-on-year -3.85% -0.95% -3.67%
75th Percentile £613 £630 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £485 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +2.11% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,566 944 2,532
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.02 £12.86
25th Percentile £19.72 £20.92 £16.25
Median hourly rate £38.63 £32.50 £32.90
Median % change year-on-year +18.86% -1.20% -25.00%
75th Percentile £65.00 £64.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £76.91 £71.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.00 £31.88 £32.90
% change year-on-year +25.47% -3.09% -21.32%

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 31 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 31 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 31 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 -31 491 £500 -4.76% 240
UK excluding London -15 386 £500 -0.10% 226
London -54 134 £500 -4.76% 35
Work from Home -9 113 £500 +5.82% 93
South East -22 106 £525 - 61
North of England -35 95 £413 +3.13% 67
South West +6 86 £545 -5.22% 40
Yorkshire -26 56 £363 -9.38% 22
Midlands -54 36 £428 +6.88% 29
North West -24 35 £413 -21.43% 37
Scotland +8 29 £500 -9.09% 8
East of England -29 26 £425 -9.48% 17
East Midlands -28 18 £450 +12.50% 7
West Midlands -53 18 £413 +10.00% 22
Wales -13 8 £550 +29.41% 6
North East -14 4 £500 +36.99% 8
Northern Ireland - 1 £375 - 1

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

For the 6 months to 31 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.

1 542 (96.44%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 187 (33.27%) Windows
3 186 (33.10%) Azure
4 176 (31.32%) Security Cleared
5 163 (29.00%) VMware
6 158 (28.11%) Microsoft
7 128 (22.78%) Active Directory
8 126 (22.42%) VMware Infrastructure
9 121 (21.53%) SC Cleared
10 111 (19.75%) Windows Server
11 103 (18.33%) PowerShell
12 102 (18.15%) Terraform
13 94 (16.73%) DevOps
14 91 (16.19%) Linux
15 89 (15.84%) DNS
15 89 (15.84%) Firewall
15 89 (15.84%) Infrastructure as Code
16 74 (13.17%) Problem-Solving
17 71 (12.63%) Microsoft 365
18 69 (12.28%) CI/CD
19 68 (12.10%) Python
20 65 (11.57%) DV Cleared
21 62 (11.03%) DHCP
22 60 (10.68%) Hyper-V
23 59 (10.50%) Kubernetes
24 55 (9.79%) AWS
24 55 (9.79%) Infrastructure Automation
25 54 (9.61%) Ansible
26 53 (9.43%) ITIL
27 52 (9.25%) Migration

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 (8.01%) Microsoft Exchange
2 11 (1.96%) SharePoint
3 10 (1.78%) TPMS
4 5 (0.89%) IIS
5 4 (0.71%) Apache
5 4 (0.71%) Confluence
6 3 (0.53%) Exchange Server 2010
7 2 (0.36%) 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 (1.78%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (0.36%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.18%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 2 (0.36%) Maximo
2 1 (0.18%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 186 (33.10%) Azure
2 71 (12.63%) Microsoft 365
3 55 (9.79%) AWS
4 42 (7.47%) GitHub
5 40 (7.12%) Entra ID
6 33 (5.87%) GCP
7 30 (5.34%) IaaS
8 27 (4.80%) PaaS
9 24 (4.27%) Azure DevOps
10 21 (3.74%) Google Kubernetes Engine
11 19 (3.38%) Nutanix
12 17 (3.02%) Azure Monitor
13 11 (1.96%) Azure Sentinel
13 11 (1.96%) SaaS
14 10 (1.78%) OCI
15 8 (1.42%) Azure AKS
15 8 (1.42%) GitHub Actions
15 8 (1.42%) Microsoft Purview
16 7 (1.25%) AWS CloudFormation
16 7 (1.25%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 89 (15.84%) DNS
1 89 (15.84%) Firewall
2 62 (11.03%) DHCP
3 45 (8.01%) VPN
4 32 (5.69%) WAN
5 28 (4.98%) LAN
6 25 (4.45%) TCP/IP
7 21 (3.74%) Network Security
8 20 (3.56%) VLAN
9 19 (3.38%) SAN
10 13 (2.31%) SNMP
11 12 (2.14%) SSH
11 12 (2.14%) SSL
12 11 (1.96%) Wi-Fi
13 9 (1.60%) MPLS
13 9 (1.60%) SMTP
14 8 (1.42%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
14 8 (1.42%) SD-WAN
15 7 (1.25%) BGP
15 7 (1.25%) VSAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 21 (3.74%) SQL Server
2 7 (1.25%) Elasticsearch
3 4 (0.71%) Amazon RDS
4 3 (0.53%) NonStop SQL
5 2 (0.36%) Azure SQL Database
5 2 (0.36%) DynamoDB
5 2 (0.36%) Oracle Database
5 2 (0.36%) PostgreSQL
5 2 (0.36%) Power BI
5 2 (0.36%) SAP HANA
6 1 (0.18%) Data Mining
6 1 (0.18%) MongoDB
6 1 (0.18%) NoSQL
6 1 (0.18%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 1 (0.18%) TimescaleDB
Development Applications
1 17 (3.02%) Jenkins
2 12 (2.14%) GitLab
2 12 (2.14%) JIRA
3 8 (1.42%) Artifactory
4 7 (1.25%) Git
5 3 (0.53%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.18%) Chocolatey
6 1 (0.18%) Claude Code
6 1 (0.18%) GoCD
6 1 (0.18%) IntelliJ
6 1 (0.18%) Introscope
6 1 (0.18%) MSI
6 1 (0.18%) Robot Framework
6 1 (0.18%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 82 (14.59%) Social Skills
2 53 (9.43%) Public Sector
3 51 (9.07%) Finance
4 35 (6.23%) Analytical Skills
5 21 (3.74%) Documentation Skills
6 18 (3.20%) Legal
7 17 (3.02%) Banking
8 9 (1.60%) Billing
9 8 (1.42%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 5 (0.89%) Aerospace
10 5 (0.89%) Military
10 5 (0.89%) Telecoms
11 3 (0.53%) Local Government
11 3 (0.53%) Retail
11 3 (0.53%) Spanish Language
12 2 (0.36%) Advertising
12 2 (0.36%) Aviation
12 2 (0.36%) Investment Banking
12 2 (0.36%) Law
13 1 (0.18%) Manufacturing
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (1.96%) REST
2 8 (1.42%) ARM Templates
2 8 (1.42%) LDAP
2 8 (1.42%) SOAP
3 5 (0.89%) Web Services
4 4 (0.71%) ADO
4 4 (0.71%) Elastic Stack
4 4 (0.71%) Keycloak
5 3 (0.53%) Oracle Fusion
5 3 (0.53%) SAML
6 2 (0.36%) Apache NiFi
6 2 (0.36%) Flash
6 2 (0.36%) Microsoft Graph
6 2 (0.36%) OAuth
6 2 (0.36%) OAuth2
6 2 (0.36%) YAML
7 1 (0.18%) 802.1X
7 1 (0.18%) EDI
7 1 (0.18%) Node.js
7 1 (0.18%) OpenID
Miscellaneous
1 38 (6.76%) PKI
2 35 (6.23%) Data Centre
3 24 (4.27%) Public Cloud
4 19 (3.38%) Hybrid Cloud
5 13 (2.31%) Self-Motivation
6 11 (1.96%) Clustering
6 11 (1.96%) Enterprise Storage
6 11 (1.96%) Onboarding
7 10 (1.78%) Enterprise Software
7 10 (1.78%) Private Cloud
8 9 (1.60%) Cloud Native
9 6 (1.07%) Replication
10 4 (0.71%) Legacy Systems
10 4 (0.71%) NHS
11 3 (0.53%) Analytical Mindset
11 3 (0.53%) CCTV
11 3 (0.53%) Client/Server
11 3 (0.53%) Greenfield Project
12 2 (0.36%) Management Information System
12 2 (0.36%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 187 (33.27%) Windows
2 111 (19.75%) Windows Server
3 91 (16.19%) Linux
4 18 (3.20%) Windows Server 2019
5 14 (2.49%) Ubuntu
5 14 (2.49%) Windows Server 2012
6 13 (2.31%) Windows 10
7 12 (2.14%) Windows Server 2016
8 11 (1.96%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 11 (1.96%) VMS
9 8 (1.42%) Unix
10 6 (1.07%) Windows Server 2003
11 3 (0.53%) Debian
12 2 (0.36%) CentOS
12 2 (0.36%) SUSE
12 2 (0.36%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
12 2 (0.36%) Windows 7
13 1 (0.18%) AIX
13 1 (0.18%) Apple iOS
13 1 (0.18%) Mac OS
Processes & Methodologies
1 542 (96.44%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 94 (16.73%) DevOps
3 89 (15.84%) Infrastructure as Code
4 74 (13.17%) Problem-Solving
5 69 (12.28%) CI/CD
6 55 (9.79%) Infrastructure Automation
7 53 (9.43%) ITIL
8 52 (9.25%) Migration
9 50 (8.90%) Agile
10 48 (8.54%) Cybersecurity
11 47 (8.36%) Disaster Recovery
12 35 (6.23%) High Availability
13 31 (5.52%) Project Delivery
14 29 (5.16%) Platform Engineering
15 27 (4.80%) Containerisation
15 27 (4.80%) Observability
16 25 (4.45%) Cloud Security
17 23 (4.09%) Roadmaps
17 23 (4.09%) Stakeholder Management
18 22 (3.91%) Zero Trust
Programming Languages
1 103 (18.33%) PowerShell
2 68 (12.10%) Python
3 25 (4.45%) Bash
4 19 (3.38%) Bicep
5 17 (3.02%) SQL
6 9 (1.60%) PHP
7 8 (1.42%) JavaScript
8 5 (0.89%) C#
9 4 (0.71%) Shell Script
10 3 (0.53%) Java
11 2 (0.36%) ActionScript
12 1 (0.18%) Go
12 1 (0.18%) Jython
12 1 (0.18%) Kusto Query Language
12 1 (0.18%) Perl
12 1 (0.18%) PL/SQL
12 1 (0.18%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 176 (31.32%) Security Cleared
2 121 (21.53%) SC Cleared
3 65 (11.57%) DV Cleared
4 16 (2.85%) Azure Certification
5 15 (2.67%) Degree
6 12 (2.14%) Cisco Certification
6 12 (2.14%) Microsoft Certification
7 10 (1.78%) FFIEC
7 10 (1.78%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
8 9 (1.60%) CCNA
9 8 (1.42%) AWS Certification
10 6 (1.07%) CompTIA Security+
11 5 (0.89%) BPSS Clearance
11 5 (0.89%) CCNP
12 4 (0.71%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
12 4 (0.71%) CISSP
12 4 (0.71%) Computer Science Degree
12 4 (0.71%) GIAC
12 4 (0.71%) GSEC
12 4 (0.71%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (4.09%) NIST
2 16 (2.85%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 14 (2.49%) GDPR
4 13 (2.31%) Cyber Essentials
5 11 (1.96%) SLA
6 10 (1.78%) GLBA
6 10 (1.78%) PCI DSS
7 5 (0.89%) QA
8 3 (0.53%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 3 (0.53%) NIST 800
9 2 (0.36%) NCSC
10 1 (0.18%) Accessibility
10 1 (0.18%) HIPAA
10 1 (0.18%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 1 (0.18%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 1 (0.18%) SOC 2
System Software
1 128 (22.78%) Active Directory
2 126 (22.42%) VMware Infrastructure
3 60 (10.68%) Hyper-V
4 43 (7.65%) vSphere
5 35 (6.23%) Docker
6 32 (5.69%) VMware ESXi
7 15 (2.67%) VMware NSX
8 14 (2.49%) Virtual Machines
9 11 (1.96%) Virtual Desktop
10 7 (1.25%) BitLocker
11 6 (1.07%) Microsoft App-V
12 3 (0.53%) DFS Replication
12 3 (0.53%) Sendmail
13 2 (0.36%) QEMU
13 2 (0.36%) SRDF
14 1 (0.18%) Firmware
14 1 (0.18%) iptables
14 1 (0.18%) Terminal Services
14 1 (0.18%) UAG
14 1 (0.18%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 102 (18.15%) Terraform
2 59 (10.50%) Kubernetes
3 54 (9.61%) Ansible
4 43 (7.65%) Microsoft Intune
4 43 (7.65%) SCCM
5 28 (4.98%) vCenter Server
6 17 (3.02%) Single Sign-On
7 10 (1.78%) Istio
7 10 (1.78%) Puppet
8 9 (1.60%) Grafana
8 9 (1.60%) Prometheus
8 9 (1.60%) SCOM
8 9 (1.60%) VxRail
9 8 (1.42%) WSUS
10 6 (1.07%) vMotion
10 6 (1.07%) vRealize
11 5 (0.89%) AirWatch
11 5 (0.89%) Nessus
11 5 (0.89%) Packer
12 4 (0.71%) NetBackup
Vendors
1 163 (29.00%) VMware
2 158 (28.11%) Microsoft
3 38 (6.76%) Cisco
4 35 (6.23%) Citrix
5 27 (4.80%) Dell
5 27 (4.80%) Veeam
6 24 (4.27%) Google
7 15 (2.67%) F5
8 14 (2.49%) Oracle
8 14 (2.49%) SolarWinds
8 14 (2.49%) Thales
9 13 (2.31%) NetApp
9 13 (2.31%) Red Hat
10 12 (2.14%) Splunk
11 11 (1.96%) Fortinet
12 10 (1.78%) Aruba
12 10 (1.78%) ServiceNow
13 8 (1.42%) Palo Alto
14 7 (1.25%) HP
15 5 (0.89%) CyberArk