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 25 February 2026.

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

 6 months to
25 Feb 2026		 Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 219 203 154
Rank change year-on-year -16 -49 +29
Contract jobs requiring an Infrastructure Engineer 503 404 708
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.22% 1.33% 1.61%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.33% 1.43% 1.73%
Number of daily rates quoted 375 274 506
10th Percentile £313 £311 £313
25th Percentile £400 £364 £386
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £524 £475
Median % change year-on-year -4.53% +10.26% -5.00%
75th Percentile £575 £605 £600
90th Percentile £638 £675 £713
UK excluding London median daily rate £483 £500 £475
% change year-on-year -3.50% +5.26% +2.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 12 4 16
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile £26.25 £24.18 £21.25
Median hourly rate £34.00 £42.09 £23.00
Median % change year-on-year -19.22% +83.00% -63.97%
75th Percentile £58.56 £95.00 £73.51
90th Percentile £78.93 £158.00 £76.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £42.09 £23.00
% change year-on-year +30.67% +83.00% -54.00%

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 37,909 28,295 41,010
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.78% 92.89% 92.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,822 17,724 26,992
10th Percentile £306 £293 £275
25th Percentile £408 £406 £409
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £638
90th Percentile £720 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £481 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +1.32% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,307 828 2,328
10th Percentile £14.61 £16.43 £13.15
25th Percentile £18.87 £21.50 £16.30
Median hourly rate £32.50 £35.00 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -7.14% - -10.88%
75th Percentile £63.75 £64.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £75.00 £71.93
UK excluding London median hourly rate £30.11 £32.50 £35.00
% change year-on-year -7.37% -7.14% -2.78%

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 25 February 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 25 February 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 25 February 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 -22 446 £500 -4.76% 223
UK excluding London -15 347 £483 -3.50% 191
Work from Home +14 122 £475 +1.33% 64
London -66 115 £523 -0.48% 53
South East -11 99 £483 -3.60% 60
North of England -27 84 £456 +18.44% 52
South West +3 76 £545 -9.17% 35
Yorkshire -33 45 £363 -0.07% 24
North West -29 33 £471 +20.00% 23
East of England -8 29 £438 -4.53% 16
Midlands -60 29 £425 -15.00% 19
Scotland +7 23 £500 -6.98% 7
East Midlands -22 15 £450 -10.00% 2
West Midlands -62 14 £400 -15.79% 17
Wales -9 7 £550 +29.41% 2
North East -13 6 £488 +33.56% 5
Northern Ireland - 1 £375 -

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

For the 6 months to 25 February 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.

1 483 (96.02%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 186 (36.98%) Windows
3 184 (36.58%) Azure
4 174 (34.59%) Microsoft
5 160 (31.81%) VMware
6 145 (28.83%) Security Cleared
7 129 (25.65%) Active Directory
8 119 (23.66%) VMware Infrastructure
9 101 (20.08%) SC Cleared
10 98 (19.48%) Windows Server
11 96 (19.09%) Linux
12 90 (17.89%) Problem-Solving
13 88 (17.50%) Terraform
14 84 (16.70%) DevOps
14 84 (16.70%) PowerShell
15 81 (16.10%) DNS
16 80 (15.90%) Firewall
17 76 (15.11%) Microsoft 365
18 75 (14.91%) Infrastructure as Code
19 70 (13.92%) AWS
20 68 (13.52%) Hyper-V
21 65 (12.92%) ITIL
22 62 (12.33%) CI/CD
23 60 (11.93%) DHCP
24 57 (11.33%) Python
25 52 (10.34%) DV Cleared
26 49 (9.74%) Microsoft Intune
26 49 (9.74%) SCCM
27 48 (9.54%) Ansible
28 47 (9.34%) Kubernetes

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 (8.95%) Microsoft Exchange
2 12 (2.39%) SharePoint
3 11 (2.19%) TPMS
4 7 (1.39%) IIS
5 6 (1.19%) Apache
6 5 (0.99%) Confluence
7 3 (0.60%) Exchange Server 2010
8 2 (0.40%) iPlanet
8 2 (0.40%) JBoss
8 2 (0.40%) nginx
8 2 (0.40%) Skype for Business
8 2 (0.40%) WebSphere
8 2 (0.40%) WebSphere Application Server
9 1 (0.20%) CICS
9 1 (0.20%) Traefik
Applications
1 8 (1.59%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (0.60%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 3 (0.60%) Maximo
2 2 (0.40%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.20%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 184 (36.58%) Azure
2 76 (15.11%) Microsoft 365
3 70 (13.92%) AWS
4 44 (8.75%) Entra ID
5 27 (5.37%) GitHub
6 24 (4.77%) GCP
6 24 (4.77%) PaaS
7 23 (4.57%) IaaS
8 21 (4.17%) Azure DevOps
9 18 (3.58%) Azure Monitor
9 18 (3.58%) Nutanix
10 16 (3.18%) Google Kubernetes Engine
11 14 (2.78%) Azure Sentinel
12 10 (1.99%) Microsoft Purview
12 10 (1.99%) Mimecast
13 9 (1.79%) OCI
13 9 (1.79%) OneDrive
13 9 (1.79%) OpenShift
14 8 (1.59%) Azure AKS
14 8 (1.59%) Azure Key Vault
Communications & Networking
1 81 (16.10%) DNS
2 80 (15.90%) Firewall
3 60 (11.93%) DHCP
4 37 (7.36%) VPN
5 35 (6.96%) TCP/IP
6 32 (6.36%) WAN
7 29 (5.77%) VLAN
8 25 (4.97%) LAN
9 21 (4.17%) SAN
10 20 (3.98%) Wi-Fi
11 16 (3.18%) Network Security
12 14 (2.78%) SNMP
12 14 (2.78%) SSL
13 13 (2.58%) SSH
14 9 (1.79%) MPLS
15 7 (1.39%) SD-WAN
16 6 (1.19%) 4G
16 6 (1.19%) BGP
16 6 (1.19%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
17 5 (0.99%) NetScaler
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (2.78%) SQL Server
2 5 (0.99%) Amazon RDS
2 5 (0.99%) Elasticsearch
3 3 (0.60%) Oracle Database
3 3 (0.60%) Power BI
4 2 (0.40%) Amazon Aurora
4 2 (0.40%) DynamoDB
4 2 (0.40%) MySQL
4 2 (0.40%) SAP HANA
5 1 (0.20%) Azure SQL Database
5 1 (0.20%) Data Warehouse
5 1 (0.20%) NoSQL
5 1 (0.20%) PostgreSQL
5 1 (0.20%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 15 (2.98%) Jenkins
2 12 (2.39%) GitLab
3 9 (1.79%) JIRA
4 8 (1.59%) Git
5 7 (1.39%) Artifactory
6 3 (0.60%) Bitbucket
6 3 (0.60%) Sonatype Nexus
7 2 (0.40%) Bitbucket Server
7 2 (0.40%) CA Release Automation
8 1 (0.20%) GoCD
8 1 (0.20%) IntelliJ
8 1 (0.20%) MSI
General
1 89 (17.69%) Social Skills
2 50 (9.94%) Public Sector
3 49 (9.74%) Finance
4 43 (8.55%) Analytical Skills
5 22 (4.37%) Documentation Skills
6 14 (2.78%) Legal
7 10 (1.99%) Banking
8 9 (1.79%) Billing
9 8 (1.59%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 7 (1.39%) Military
11 6 (1.19%) Aviation
11 6 (1.19%) Local Government
11 6 (1.19%) Spanish Language
11 6 (1.19%) Telecoms
12 4 (0.80%) Aerospace
13 3 (0.60%) Retail
14 2 (0.40%) Organisational Skills
15 1 (0.20%) Investment Banking
15 1 (0.20%) Italian Language
15 1 (0.20%) Presentation Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (1.99%) LDAP
2 9 (1.79%) ARM Templates
2 9 (1.79%) SAML
3 8 (1.59%) REST
4 7 (1.39%) OpenID
5 5 (0.99%) Microsoft Graph
5 5 (0.99%) SOAP
6 4 (0.80%) Keycloak
6 4 (0.80%) OAuth
6 4 (0.80%) Web Services
7 3 (0.60%) ADO
7 3 (0.60%) Elastic Stack
7 3 (0.60%) Middleware
7 3 (0.60%) Oracle Fusion
7 3 (0.60%) YAML
8 2 (0.40%) .NET
8 2 (0.40%) .NET Core
8 2 (0.40%) Flash
8 2 (0.40%) Software Packaging
8 2 (0.40%) WPF
Miscellaneous
1 31 (6.16%) PKI
2 24 (4.77%) Data Centre
3 17 (3.38%) Hybrid Cloud
3 17 (3.38%) Public Cloud
4 12 (2.39%) Analytical Mindset
5 10 (1.99%) Clustering
5 10 (1.99%) Onboarding
6 9 (1.79%) Enterprise Software
7 8 (1.59%) Private Cloud
8 7 (1.39%) Cloud Native
8 7 (1.39%) Self-Motivation
9 6 (1.19%) NHS
9 6 (1.19%) Replication
10 5 (0.99%) Enterprise Storage
11 3 (0.60%) Client/Server
11 3 (0.60%) Cyber Threat
11 3 (0.60%) Data Protection Act
11 3 (0.60%) Legacy Systems
11 3 (0.60%) Mobile App
12 2 (0.40%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 186 (36.98%) Windows
2 98 (19.48%) Windows Server
3 96 (19.09%) Linux
4 16 (3.18%) Windows Server 2019
5 15 (2.98%) Windows 10
6 13 (2.58%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 13 (2.58%) Ubuntu
6 13 (2.58%) Windows Server 2012
7 10 (1.99%) VMS
7 10 (1.99%) Windows Server 2016
8 9 (1.79%) Unix
9 4 (0.80%) Android
9 4 (0.80%) Apple iOS
9 4 (0.80%) Windows Server 2003
10 2 (0.40%) Debian
10 2 (0.40%) SUSE
10 2 (0.40%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
10 2 (0.40%) Windows 7
11 1 (0.20%) CentOS
11 1 (0.20%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 483 (96.02%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 90 (17.89%) Problem-Solving
3 84 (16.70%) DevOps
4 75 (14.91%) Infrastructure as Code
5 65 (12.92%) ITIL
6 62 (12.33%) CI/CD
7 45 (8.95%) Cybersecurity
8 44 (8.75%) Infrastructure Automation
9 42 (8.35%) Agile
9 42 (8.35%) Disaster Recovery
9 42 (8.35%) Migration
10 31 (6.16%) Observability
11 28 (5.57%) Service Management
12 27 (5.37%) Project Delivery
13 26 (5.17%) High Availability
14 24 (4.77%) Cloud Security
14 24 (4.77%) Containerisation
14 24 (4.77%) Platform Engineering
15 23 (4.57%) Stakeholder Management
16 22 (4.37%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 84 (16.70%) PowerShell
2 57 (11.33%) Python
3 22 (4.37%) Bash
4 18 (3.58%) Bicep
5 9 (1.79%) SQL
6 8 (1.59%) JavaScript
6 8 (1.59%) PHP
7 6 (1.19%) Java
8 5 (0.99%) Perl
8 5 (0.99%) Shell Script
9 2 (0.40%) ActionScript
9 2 (0.40%) C#
9 2 (0.40%) Go
9 2 (0.40%) Groovy
10 1 (0.20%) C++
10 1 (0.20%) Kusto Query Language
10 1 (0.20%) PL/SQL
10 1 (0.20%) Ruby
10 1 (0.20%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 145 (28.83%) Security Cleared
2 101 (20.08%) SC Cleared
3 52 (10.34%) DV Cleared
4 26 (5.17%) Azure Certification
5 21 (4.17%) Microsoft Certification
6 13 (2.58%) Degree
7 11 (2.19%) FFIEC
7 11 (2.19%) Network+ Certification
7 11 (2.19%) Server+ Certification
8 9 (1.79%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
9 8 (1.59%) AWS Certification
9 8 (1.59%) Cisco Certification
10 6 (1.19%) CCNA
10 6 (1.19%) CompTIA Security+
11 5 (0.99%) BPSS Clearance
11 5 (0.99%) CISSP
11 5 (0.99%) Computer Science Degree
12 4 (0.80%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
12 4 (0.80%) CCNP
12 4 (0.80%) GIAC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (4.37%) NIST
2 15 (2.98%) GDPR
3 11 (2.19%) GLBA
3 11 (2.19%) PCI DSS
4 10 (1.99%) Cyber Essentials
4 10 (1.99%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 10 (1.99%) SLA
5 4 (0.80%) NIST 800
6 3 (0.60%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 2 (0.40%) HIPAA
7 2 (0.40%) SOC 2
8 1 (0.20%) Accessibility
8 1 (0.20%) HMG Security Policy Framework
System Software
1 129 (25.65%) Active Directory
2 119 (23.66%) VMware Infrastructure
3 68 (13.52%) Hyper-V
4 39 (7.75%) Docker
5 33 (6.56%) vSphere
6 21 (4.17%) VMware ESXi
7 12 (2.39%) Virtual Desktop
7 12 (2.39%) Virtual Machines
8 10 (1.99%) VMware NSX
9 4 (0.80%) BitLocker
10 3 (0.60%) DFS Replication
10 3 (0.60%) Microsoft App-V
10 3 (0.60%) Sendmail
11 2 (0.40%) QEMU
11 2 (0.40%) SRDF
11 2 (0.40%) Tivoli Directory Server
12 1 (0.20%) Firmware
12 1 (0.20%) Slurm Workload Manager
12 1 (0.20%) UAG
12 1 (0.20%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 88 (17.50%) Terraform
2 49 (9.74%) Microsoft Intune
2 49 (9.74%) SCCM
3 48 (9.54%) Ansible
4 47 (9.34%) Kubernetes
5 21 (4.17%) vCenter Server
6 18 (3.58%) Single Sign-On
7 9 (1.79%) VxRail
8 7 (1.39%) Grafana
8 7 (1.39%) Istio
8 7 (1.39%) Prometheus
8 7 (1.39%) Puppet
8 7 (1.39%) SCOM
9 6 (1.19%) AirWatch
9 6 (1.19%) CASB
9 6 (1.19%) FortiGate
9 6 (1.19%) Progress Chef
9 6 (1.19%) Red Hat Satellite
9 6 (1.19%) SCOrch
10 5 (0.99%) Active Directory Federation Services
Vendors
1 174 (34.59%) Microsoft
2 160 (31.81%) VMware
3 33 (6.56%) Cisco
4 30 (5.96%) Dell
5 22 (4.37%) Veeam
6 18 (3.58%) Citrix
6 18 (3.58%) Google
7 15 (2.98%) F5
7 15 (2.98%) Red Hat
7 15 (2.98%) Splunk
8 14 (2.78%) Thales
9 13 (2.58%) Oracle
9 13 (2.58%) SolarWinds
10 12 (2.39%) Palo Alto
11 11 (2.19%) ServiceNow
12 10 (1.99%) Aruba
13 9 (1.79%) Fortinet
13 9 (1.79%) HP
13 9 (1.79%) NetApp
14 6 (1.19%) CyberArk
242 Infrastructure Engineer jobs Nationwide