Infrastructure Engineer Contract Job Trends

Infrastructure Engineer
UK

The median Infrastructure Engineer daily rate in the UK is £469, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 22 December 2025.

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

6 months to
22 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 236 190 151
Rank change year-on-year -46 -39 +35
Contract jobs requiring an Infrastructure Engineer 430 464 771
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.17% 1.37% 1.77%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.29% 1.48% 1.89%
Number of daily rates quoted 304 322 551
10th Percentile £262 £325 £350
25th Percentile £363 £378 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £469 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -6.30% - +5.26%
75th Percentile £575 £600 £613
90th Percentile £638 £675 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £450 £500
% change year-on-year - -10.00% +11.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 13 4 17
10th Percentile £26.60 - £21.25
25th Percentile £29.00 £24.18 £23.00
Median hourly rate £34.00 £34.59 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -1.71% -1.17% -49.52%
75th Percentile £69.25 £50.63 £72.50
90th Percentile £82.40 £56.25 £76.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £75.00 £24.18 £23.00
% change year-on-year +210.17% +5.13% -54.00%

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
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 33,457 31,336 40,748
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.03% 92.78% 93.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 21,148 19,251 27,411
10th Percentile £291 £300 £285
25th Percentile £404 £409 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £618 £638 £640
90th Percentile £720 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £488 £500
% change year-on-year -2.56% -2.50% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,983 978 1,439
10th Percentile £14.25 £15.52 £15.16
25th Percentile £18.18 £21.05 £19.21
Median hourly rate £25.25 £33.00 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -23.48% -26.67% +50.00%
75th Percentile £57.50 £62.54 £65.00
90th Percentile £70.60 £72.99 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £45.88
% change year-on-year -22.62% -29.16% +84.29%

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 22 December 2025.

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 22 December 2025.

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 22 December 2025. 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 -34 392 £466 -6.80% 242
UK excluding London -32 278 £450 - 223
Work from Home -1 117 £425 -7.81% 100
London -42 114 £520 -0.95% 43
South East -21 84 £450 +2.27% 50
North of England -23 66 £446 +8.12% 65
South West +8 60 £553 -3.91% 50
North West -16 35 £472 +14.30% 23
Midlands -43 32 £438 -18.60% 32
Yorkshire -37 27 £356 -9.52% 39
East of England -2 25 £413 -2.94% 15
West Midlands -29 24 £438 -36.13% 19
Scotland -17 11 £465 +3.33% 15
East Midlands -21 8 £433 -13.50% 13
Wales -11 5 £550 +18.92% 4
North East -3 4 £466 - 5
Northern Ireland -7 1 £375 -

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

For the 6 months to 22 December 2025, 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.

1 407 (94.65%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 175 (40.70%) Azure
3 169 (39.30%) Windows
4 155 (36.05%) Microsoft
5 130 (30.23%) VMware
6 125 (29.07%) Security Cleared
7 120 (27.91%) Active Directory
8 99 (23.02%) SC Cleared
9 98 (22.79%) VMware Infrastructure
10 96 (22.33%) Linux
11 92 (21.40%) Terraform
12 90 (20.93%) Windows Server
13 89 (20.70%) Firewall
14 78 (18.14%) Problem-Solving
15 77 (17.91%) AWS
15 77 (17.91%) DevOps
16 76 (17.67%) DNS
17 75 (17.44%) Microsoft 365
18 72 (16.74%) PowerShell
19 71 (16.51%) Infrastructure as Code
20 64 (14.88%) ITIL
21 63 (14.65%) Ansible
22 60 (13.95%) Hyper-V
22 60 (13.95%) Python
23 58 (13.49%) CI/CD
24 54 (12.56%) TCP/IP
25 51 (11.86%) DHCP
26 47 (10.93%) Infrastructure Automation
26 47 (10.93%) VPN
27 46 (10.70%) Microsoft Intune

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 42 (9.77%) Microsoft Exchange
2 11 (2.56%) SharePoint
3 7 (1.63%) Apache
4 6 (1.40%) Confluence
4 6 (1.40%) IIS
5 5 (1.16%) TPMS
6 3 (0.70%) Apache Airflow
6 3 (0.70%) Exchange Server 2010
7 2 (0.47%) iPlanet
7 2 (0.47%) JBoss
7 2 (0.47%) nginx
7 2 (0.47%) Skype for Business
7 2 (0.47%) WebSphere
7 2 (0.47%) WebSphere Application Server
8 1 (0.23%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.23%) CICS
8 1 (0.23%) Traefik
8 1 (0.23%) WebLogic
Applications
1 8 (1.86%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (0.47%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.23%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 3 (0.70%) Maximo
2 2 (0.47%) Dynamics CRM
3 1 (0.23%) NetSuite
Cloud Services
1 175 (40.70%) Azure
2 77 (17.91%) AWS
3 75 (17.44%) Microsoft 365
4 44 (10.23%) Entra ID
5 24 (5.58%) IaaS
6 20 (4.65%) PaaS
7 19 (4.42%) Azure DevOps
8 18 (4.19%) Azure Monitor
9 16 (3.72%) GitHub
10 15 (3.49%) Amazon CloudWatch
10 15 (3.49%) Amazon S3
10 15 (3.49%) GCP
10 15 (3.49%) SaaS
11 14 (3.26%) Azure Sentinel
12 13 (3.02%) Google Workspace
13 11 (2.56%) Amazon EC2
13 11 (2.56%) Mimecast
13 11 (2.56%) Virtual Private Cloud
14 10 (2.33%) Amazon ELB
14 10 (2.33%) Nutanix
Communications & Networking
1 89 (20.70%) Firewall
2 76 (17.67%) DNS
3 54 (12.56%) TCP/IP
4 51 (11.86%) DHCP
5 47 (10.93%) VPN
6 30 (6.98%) WAN
7 27 (6.28%) VLAN
8 25 (5.81%) SSL
8 25 (5.81%) Wi-Fi
9 22 (5.12%) SAN
10 18 (4.19%) LAN
11 15 (3.49%) Network Security
12 11 (2.56%) SD-WAN
13 8 (1.86%) MPLS
14 7 (1.63%) HTTP
15 6 (1.40%) 4G
16 5 (1.16%) SNMP
16 5 (1.16%) SSH
17 4 (0.93%) OSPF
17 4 (0.93%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (3.72%) SQL Server
2 3 (0.70%) Amazon RDS
3 2 (0.47%) Amazon Aurora
3 2 (0.47%) Elasticsearch
3 2 (0.47%) MySQL
3 2 (0.47%) Oracle Database
3 2 (0.47%) Power BI
3 2 (0.47%) SAP HANA
4 1 (0.23%) Apache Iceberg
4 1 (0.23%) Azure SQL Database
4 1 (0.23%) Data Lake
4 1 (0.23%) Data Warehouse
4 1 (0.23%) Delta Lake
4 1 (0.23%) Parquet
4 1 (0.23%) PostgreSQL
4 1 (0.23%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 18 (4.19%) GitLab
2 15 (3.49%) Git
2 15 (3.49%) Jenkins
3 11 (2.56%) JIRA
4 4 (0.93%) Artifactory
4 4 (0.93%) Robot Framework
5 3 (0.70%) Sonatype Nexus
6 2 (0.47%) Bitbucket Server
6 2 (0.47%) CA Release Automation
7 1 (0.23%) GoCD
7 1 (0.23%) MSI
General
1 89 (20.70%) Social Skills
2 52 (12.09%) Public Sector
3 43 (10.00%) Finance
4 40 (9.30%) Analytical Skills
5 19 (4.42%) Documentation Skills
6 11 (2.56%) Banking
6 11 (2.56%) Military
7 10 (2.33%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 9 (2.09%) Local Government
9 6 (1.40%) Aerospace
9 6 (1.40%) Aviation
9 6 (1.40%) Financial Institution
9 6 (1.40%) Manufacturing
9 6 (1.40%) Spanish Language
9 6 (1.40%) Telecoms
10 5 (1.16%) Legal
11 4 (0.93%) Billing
11 4 (0.93%) Organisational Skills
12 3 (0.70%) Marketing
12 3 (0.70%) Retail
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (2.56%) Middleware
2 9 (2.09%) SAML
3 8 (1.86%) ARM Templates
4 7 (1.63%) OpenID
5 6 (1.40%) REST
6 5 (1.16%) Microsoft Graph
7 4 (0.93%) AWS CDK
7 4 (0.93%) LDAP
7 4 (0.93%) OAuth
7 4 (0.93%) SOAP
7 4 (0.93%) Web Services
7 4 (0.93%) YAML
8 3 (0.70%) ADO
8 3 (0.70%) FIX Protocol
9 2 (0.47%) .NET
9 2 (0.47%) .NET Core
9 2 (0.47%) Elastic Stack
9 2 (0.47%) Node.js
9 2 (0.47%) OAuth2
9 2 (0.47%) WPF
Miscellaneous
1 36 (8.37%) Data Centre
2 28 (6.51%) Hybrid Cloud
3 20 (4.65%) PKI
4 14 (3.26%) Replication
5 13 (3.02%) Analytical Mindset
5 13 (3.02%) Private Cloud
6 9 (2.09%) Onboarding
7 7 (1.63%) Enterprise Software
8 6 (1.40%) Clustering
8 6 (1.40%) Data Protection Act
8 6 (1.40%) NHS
8 6 (1.40%) Public Cloud
9 5 (1.16%) Linux Command Line
9 5 (1.16%) Management Information System
9 5 (1.16%) Self-Motivation
10 4 (0.93%) Cloud Native
10 4 (0.93%) Mobile App
11 3 (0.70%) Client/Server
11 3 (0.70%) Cyber Threat
11 3 (0.70%) Digital Signage
Operating Systems
1 169 (39.30%) Windows
2 96 (22.33%) Linux
3 90 (20.93%) Windows Server
4 16 (3.72%) Windows 10
5 13 (3.02%) Unix
6 12 (2.79%) Ubuntu
7 11 (2.56%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 10 (2.33%) Windows Server 2012
9 7 (1.63%) VMS
9 7 (1.63%) Windows Server 2016
9 7 (1.63%) Windows Server 2019
10 6 (1.40%) Android
11 5 (1.16%) Apple iOS
12 4 (0.93%) CentOS
13 3 (0.70%) SUSE
14 2 (0.47%) Mac OS
14 2 (0.47%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
14 2 (0.47%) Windows Server 2003
15 1 (0.23%) Oracle Linux
15 1 (0.23%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 407 (94.65%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 78 (18.14%) Problem-Solving
3 77 (17.91%) DevOps
4 71 (16.51%) Infrastructure as Code
5 64 (14.88%) ITIL
6 58 (13.49%) CI/CD
7 47 (10.93%) Infrastructure Automation
8 40 (9.30%) Disaster Recovery
8 40 (9.30%) Migration
9 35 (8.14%) High Availability
10 31 (7.21%) Cybersecurity
11 25 (5.81%) Service Management
12 24 (5.58%) Observability
13 22 (5.12%) Agile
13 22 (5.12%) Containerisation
14 19 (4.42%) Cloud Security
14 19 (4.42%) Configuration Management
14 19 (4.42%) DevSecOps
15 18 (4.19%) Mobile Device Management
15 18 (4.19%) SIEM
Programming Languages
1 72 (16.74%) PowerShell
2 60 (13.95%) Python
3 32 (7.44%) Bash
4 16 (3.72%) Bicep
5 14 (3.26%) Perl
5 14 (3.26%) SQL
6 8 (1.86%) Java
7 7 (1.63%) Go
7 7 (1.63%) JavaScript
7 7 (1.63%) Shell Script
8 5 (1.16%) PHP
9 2 (0.47%) C#
9 2 (0.47%) Groovy
9 2 (0.47%) TypeScript
10 1 (0.23%) C++
10 1 (0.23%) Kusto Query Language
10 1 (0.23%) PL/SQL
10 1 (0.23%) Ruby
10 1 (0.23%) Scala
10 1 (0.23%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 125 (29.07%) Security Cleared
2 99 (23.02%) SC Cleared
3 31 (7.21%) Azure Certification
4 29 (6.74%) DV Cleared
5 24 (5.58%) Microsoft Certification
6 17 (3.95%) Degree
6 17 (3.95%) Network+ Certification
7 12 (2.79%) Server+ Certification
8 11 (2.56%) Cisco Certification
9 9 (2.09%) CCNA
10 8 (1.86%) AWS Certification
11 7 (1.63%) Computer Science Degree
12 6 (1.40%) BPSS Clearance
12 6 (1.40%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
13 5 (1.16%) CISSP
13 5 (1.16%) FFIEC
14 4 (0.93%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
14 4 (0.93%) CCNP
14 4 (0.93%) CISM
15 3 (0.70%) CompTIA Security+
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 11 (2.56%) NIST
2 10 (2.33%) GDPR
3 9 (2.09%) SLA
4 6 (1.40%) Cyber Essentials
5 5 (1.16%) GLBA
5 5 (1.16%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 5 (1.16%) PCI DSS
6 3 (0.70%) NIST 800
6 3 (0.70%) QA
7 2 (0.47%) HIPAA
7 2 (0.47%) SOC 2
8 1 (0.23%) Accessibility
8 1 (0.23%) HMG Security Policy Framework
System Software
1 120 (27.91%) Active Directory
2 98 (22.79%) VMware Infrastructure
3 60 (13.95%) Hyper-V
4 39 (9.07%) Docker
5 18 (4.19%) vSphere
6 11 (2.56%) Virtual Machines
7 9 (2.09%) Virtual Desktop
7 9 (2.09%) VMware ESXi
7 9 (2.09%) VMware NSX
8 3 (0.70%) DFS Replication
8 3 (0.70%) Sendmail
8 3 (0.70%) Virtual Servers
9 2 (0.47%) Tivoli Directory Server
10 1 (0.23%) BitLocker
10 1 (0.23%) etcd
10 1 (0.23%) Firmware
10 1 (0.23%) Slurm Workload Manager
10 1 (0.23%) VMware Workstation
10 1 (0.23%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 92 (21.40%) Terraform
2 63 (14.65%) Ansible
3 46 (10.70%) Microsoft Intune
4 45 (10.47%) SCCM
5 34 (7.91%) Kubernetes
6 14 (3.26%) vCenter Server
7 13 (3.02%) Single Sign-On
8 8 (1.86%) FortiGate
9 7 (1.63%) Prometheus
10 6 (1.40%) CASB
10 6 (1.40%) Grafana
10 6 (1.40%) Packer
10 6 (1.40%) Red Hat Satellite
10 6 (1.40%) SCOrch
11 4 (0.93%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 4 (0.93%) Nessus
11 4 (0.93%) SCOM
11 4 (0.93%) WSUS
12 3 (0.70%) Dell DRAC
12 3 (0.70%) VxRail
Vendors
1 155 (36.05%) Microsoft
2 130 (30.23%) VMware
3 31 (7.21%) Cisco
4 27 (6.28%) Palo Alto
5 23 (5.35%) F5
6 20 (4.65%) Google
7 18 (4.19%) Red Hat
8 15 (3.49%) Dell
8 15 (3.49%) ServiceNow
8 15 (3.49%) Veeam
9 13 (3.02%) Citrix
10 12 (2.79%) CheckPoint
11 9 (2.09%) Aruba
11 9 (2.09%) HP
11 9 (2.09%) Splunk
12 8 (1.86%) Fortinet
12 8 (1.86%) Oracle
13 7 (1.63%) Zscaler
14 6 (1.40%) Commvault
14 6 (1.40%) SolarWinds