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 23 March 2026.

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

6 months to
23 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 206 187 150
Rank change year-on-year -19 -37 +34
Contract jobs requiring an Infrastructure Engineer 555 406 712
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.27% 1.37% 1.61%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.38% 1.48% 1.73%
Number of daily rates quoted 404 278 517
10th Percentile £325 £323 £310
25th Percentile £406 £375 £375
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £473
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +11.11% -5.50%
75th Percentile £583 £600 £588
90th Percentile £638 £652 £713
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £525 £465
% change year-on-year -4.76% +12.91% +0.53%
Number of hourly rates quoted 10 4 14
10th Percentile £26.25 - -
25th Percentile £28.08 £24.18 £21.25
Median hourly rate £48.50 £112.09 £45.25
Median % change year-on-year -56.73% +147.71% -27.81%
75th Percentile £65.69 £200.00 £76.53
90th Percentile £80.60 - £77.35
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 40,245 27,473 41,117
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.95% 92.96% 92.87%
Number of daily rates quoted 25,132 17,911 26,933
10th Percentile £313 £300 £275
25th Percentile £410 £406 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £520 £525
Median % change year-on-year -3.85% -0.95% -4.37%
75th Percentile £613 £630 £638
90th Percentile £721 £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 2,500 903 2,510
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.22 £12.86
25th Percentile £19.28 £21.01 £16.25
Median hourly rate £36.00 £32.50 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year +10.77% - -23.85%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £60.00
90th Percentile £76.58 £76.25 £71.90
UK excluding London median hourly rate £36.13 £32.50 £32.50
% change year-on-year +11.15% - -19.93%

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 23 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 23 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 23 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 -21 489 £500 -4.76% 247
UK excluding London -13 378 £500 -4.76% 230
London -32 138 £523 -0.48% 39
Work from Home -2 113 £500 +6.95% 95
South East -21 106 £500 -6.98% 69
North of England -33 95 £413 +3.13% 67
South West +10 86 £545 -5.22% 35
Yorkshire -33 56 £356 -12.31% 27
North West -18 34 £413 -10.81% 30
Midlands -58 30 £430 +7.50% 27
Scotland +8 27 £500 -9.09% 10
East of England -21 26 £438 -6.82% 19
East Midlands -28 16 £450 +12.50% 7
West Midlands -60 14 £425 +21.43% 20
Wales -9 8 £550 +29.41% 5
North East -15 5 £500 +36.99% 10
Northern Ireland - 1 £375 - 1

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

For the 6 months to 23 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.

1 533 (96.04%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 192 (34.59%) Azure
3 184 (33.15%) Windows
4 171 (30.81%) Microsoft
5 167 (30.09%) Security Cleared
6 158 (28.47%) VMware
7 133 (23.96%) Active Directory
8 125 (22.52%) VMware Infrastructure
9 115 (20.72%) SC Cleared
10 105 (18.92%) PowerShell
10 105 (18.92%) Windows Server
11 99 (17.84%) Terraform
12 93 (16.76%) DevOps
13 87 (15.68%) Firewall
14 86 (15.50%) Infrastructure as Code
15 85 (15.32%) Linux
16 84 (15.14%) DNS
17 76 (13.69%) Microsoft 365
18 75 (13.51%) Problem-Solving
19 69 (12.43%) Python
20 68 (12.25%) CI/CD
21 61 (10.99%) Hyper-V
22 60 (10.81%) DHCP
23 58 (10.45%) DV Cleared
24 56 (10.09%) ITIL
24 56 (10.09%) Kubernetes
25 55 (9.91%) AWS
26 53 (9.55%) Ansible
26 53 (9.55%) Migration
27 51 (9.19%) 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 44 (7.93%) Microsoft Exchange
2 11 (1.98%) SharePoint
3 10 (1.80%) TPMS
4 5 (0.90%) IIS
5 4 (0.72%) Apache
5 4 (0.72%) Confluence
6 3 (0.54%) 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 (1.80%) 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%) Dynamics CRM
2 1 (0.18%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 192 (34.59%) Azure
2 76 (13.69%) Microsoft 365
3 55 (9.91%) AWS
4 42 (7.57%) Entra ID
5 41 (7.39%) GitHub
6 31 (5.59%) GCP
7 29 (5.23%) IaaS
8 27 (4.86%) PaaS
9 24 (4.32%) Azure DevOps
10 19 (3.42%) Azure Monitor
10 19 (3.42%) Google Kubernetes Engine
11 18 (3.24%) Nutanix
12 12 (2.16%) Azure Sentinel
13 10 (1.80%) OCI
13 10 (1.80%) SaaS
14 9 (1.62%) GitHub Actions
14 9 (1.62%) OneDrive
15 8 (1.44%) Azure AKS
15 8 (1.44%) Microsoft Purview
15 8 (1.44%) Mimecast
Communications & Networking
1 87 (15.68%) Firewall
2 84 (15.14%) DNS
3 60 (10.81%) DHCP
4 44 (7.93%) VPN
5 32 (5.77%) WAN
6 27 (4.86%) LAN
7 25 (4.50%) TCP/IP
8 19 (3.42%) SAN
9 18 (3.24%) Network Security
9 18 (3.24%) VLAN
10 16 (2.88%) Wi-Fi
11 13 (2.34%) SNMP
12 12 (2.16%) SSH
12 12 (2.16%) SSL
13 9 (1.62%) MPLS
13 9 (1.62%) SMTP
14 8 (1.44%) SD-WAN
15 7 (1.26%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
16 6 (1.08%) 4G
16 6 (1.08%) BGP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 18 (3.24%) SQL Server
2 7 (1.26%) Elasticsearch
3 5 (0.90%) Amazon RDS
4 3 (0.54%) NonStop SQL
4 3 (0.54%) Power BI
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%) SAP HANA
6 1 (0.18%) Amazon Aurora
6 1 (0.18%) Data Mining
6 1 (0.18%) MongoDB
6 1 (0.18%) MySQL
6 1 (0.18%) NoSQL
6 1 (0.18%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 16 (2.88%) Jenkins
2 12 (2.16%) JIRA
3 11 (1.98%) GitLab
4 8 (1.44%) Artifactory
5 7 (1.26%) Git
6 3 (0.54%) 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 84 (15.14%) Social Skills
2 52 (9.37%) Public Sector
3 50 (9.01%) Finance
4 37 (6.67%) Analytical Skills
5 23 (4.14%) Documentation Skills
6 18 (3.24%) Legal
7 16 (2.88%) Banking
8 9 (1.62%) Billing
8 9 (1.62%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 6 (1.08%) Telecoms
10 5 (0.90%) Military
11 4 (0.72%) Aerospace
11 4 (0.72%) Spanish Language
12 3 (0.54%) Aviation
12 3 (0.54%) Local Government
12 3 (0.54%) Retail
13 2 (0.36%) Financial Institution
13 2 (0.36%) Investment Banking
14 1 (0.18%) Advertising
14 1 (0.18%) Back Office
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (1.98%) REST
2 8 (1.44%) ARM Templates
2 8 (1.44%) LDAP
2 8 (1.44%) SOAP
3 5 (0.90%) Web Services
4 4 (0.72%) Elastic Stack
4 4 (0.72%) Keycloak
4 4 (0.72%) SAML
5 3 (0.54%) ADO
5 3 (0.54%) Microsoft Graph
5 3 (0.54%) Oracle Fusion
6 2 (0.36%) Apache NiFi
6 2 (0.36%) Flash
6 2 (0.36%) OAuth
6 2 (0.36%) OAuth2
6 2 (0.36%) OpenID
6 2 (0.36%) Software Packaging
6 2 (0.36%) YAML
7 1 (0.18%) .NET Core
7 1 (0.18%) Bazel
Miscellaneous
1 37 (6.67%) PKI
2 35 (6.31%) Data Centre
3 21 (3.78%) Public Cloud
4 20 (3.60%) Hybrid Cloud
5 11 (1.98%) Clustering
5 11 (1.98%) Enterprise Software
5 11 (1.98%) Enterprise Storage
6 9 (1.62%) Cloud Native
6 9 (1.62%) Onboarding
6 9 (1.62%) Private Cloud
6 9 (1.62%) Self-Motivation
7 6 (1.08%) Replication
8 4 (0.72%) Analytical Mindset
8 4 (0.72%) NHS
9 3 (0.54%) CCTV
9 3 (0.54%) Client/Server
9 3 (0.54%) Data Protection Act
9 3 (0.54%) Greenfield Project
9 3 (0.54%) Legacy Systems
10 2 (0.36%) Distributed Systems
Operating Systems
1 184 (33.15%) Windows
2 105 (18.92%) Windows Server
3 85 (15.32%) Linux
4 18 (3.24%) Windows Server 2019
5 14 (2.52%) Ubuntu
6 13 (2.34%) Windows Server 2012
7 12 (2.16%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 12 (2.16%) Windows 10
7 12 (2.16%) Windows Server 2016
8 10 (1.80%) VMS
9 8 (1.44%) Unix
10 6 (1.08%) Windows Server 2003
11 2 (0.36%) Android
11 2 (0.36%) Apple iOS
11 2 (0.36%) CentOS
11 2 (0.36%) Debian
11 2 (0.36%) SUSE
11 2 (0.36%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
11 2 (0.36%) Windows 7
12 1 (0.18%) Windows Server 2008
Processes & Methodologies
1 533 (96.04%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 93 (16.76%) DevOps
3 86 (15.50%) Infrastructure as Code
4 75 (13.51%) Problem-Solving
5 68 (12.25%) CI/CD
6 56 (10.09%) ITIL
7 53 (9.55%) Migration
8 51 (9.19%) Infrastructure Automation
9 49 (8.83%) Cybersecurity
10 48 (8.65%) Agile
10 48 (8.65%) Disaster Recovery
11 32 (5.77%) High Availability
12 30 (5.41%) Project Delivery
13 29 (5.23%) Platform Engineering
14 27 (4.86%) Observability
15 26 (4.68%) Containerisation
16 25 (4.50%) Cloud Security
17 24 (4.32%) Roadmaps
18 23 (4.14%) Stakeholder Management
19 22 (3.96%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 105 (18.92%) PowerShell
2 69 (12.43%) Python
3 25 (4.50%) Bash
4 18 (3.24%) Bicep
5 17 (3.06%) SQL
6 9 (1.62%) PHP
7 8 (1.44%) JavaScript
8 6 (1.08%) C#
9 5 (0.90%) Java
10 4 (0.72%) Shell Script
11 3 (0.54%) Perl
12 2 (0.36%) ActionScript
13 1 (0.18%) C++
13 1 (0.18%) Go
13 1 (0.18%) Jython
13 1 (0.18%) Kusto Query Language
13 1 (0.18%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.18%) Ruby
13 1 (0.18%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 167 (30.09%) Security Cleared
2 115 (20.72%) SC Cleared
3 58 (10.45%) DV Cleared
4 17 (3.06%) Azure Certification
5 14 (2.52%) Degree
6 12 (2.16%) Microsoft Certification
7 10 (1.80%) FFIEC
8 9 (1.62%) Cisco Certification
8 9 (1.62%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
9 8 (1.44%) AWS Certification
10 7 (1.26%) CCNA
11 6 (1.08%) CompTIA Security+
12 5 (0.90%) BPSS Clearance
12 5 (0.90%) CCNP
13 4 (0.72%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
13 4 (0.72%) CISSP
13 4 (0.72%) Computer Science Degree
13 4 (0.72%) GIAC
13 4 (0.72%) GSEC
13 4 (0.72%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (4.14%) NIST
2 15 (2.70%) GDPR
2 15 (2.70%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 12 (2.16%) Cyber Essentials
4 11 (1.98%) SLA
5 10 (1.80%) GLBA
5 10 (1.80%) PCI DSS
6 4 (0.72%) QA
7 3 (0.54%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 3 (0.54%) NIST 800
8 2 (0.36%) HIPAA
8 2 (0.36%) SOC 2
9 1 (0.18%) Accessibility
9 1 (0.18%) HMG Security Policy Framework
9 1 (0.18%) NCSC
9 1 (0.18%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 133 (23.96%) Active Directory
2 125 (22.52%) VMware Infrastructure
3 61 (10.99%) Hyper-V
4 41 (7.39%) vSphere
5 35 (6.31%) Docker
6 30 (5.41%) VMware ESXi
7 13 (2.34%) Virtual Machines
7 13 (2.34%) VMware NSX
8 12 (2.16%) Virtual Desktop
9 7 (1.26%) BitLocker
10 6 (1.08%) Microsoft App-V
11 3 (0.54%) DFS Replication
11 3 (0.54%) Sendmail
12 2 (0.36%) QEMU
12 2 (0.36%) SRDF
13 1 (0.18%) Firmware
13 1 (0.18%) Terminal Services
13 1 (0.18%) UAG
13 1 (0.18%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 99 (17.84%) Terraform
2 56 (10.09%) Kubernetes
3 53 (9.55%) Ansible
4 47 (8.47%) SCCM
5 45 (8.11%) Microsoft Intune
6 28 (5.05%) vCenter Server
7 17 (3.06%) Single Sign-On
8 10 (1.80%) Puppet
9 9 (1.62%) Istio
9 9 (1.62%) Prometheus
9 9 (1.62%) VxRail
10 8 (1.44%) Grafana
10 8 (1.44%) SCOM
11 6 (1.08%) vMotion
11 6 (1.08%) vRealize
12 5 (0.90%) AirWatch
12 5 (0.90%) Nessus
12 5 (0.90%) Packer
12 5 (0.90%) WSUS
13 4 (0.72%) NetBackup
Vendors
1 171 (30.81%) Microsoft
2 158 (28.47%) VMware
3 33 (5.95%) Cisco
4 29 (5.23%) Dell
5 26 (4.68%) Citrix
6 25 (4.50%) Veeam
7 24 (4.32%) Google
8 14 (2.52%) F5
8 14 (2.52%) Oracle
8 14 (2.52%) Red Hat
8 14 (2.52%) Thales
9 13 (2.34%) NetApp
9 13 (2.34%) SolarWinds
10 12 (2.16%) Aruba
10 12 (2.16%) Fortinet
10 12 (2.16%) ServiceNow
10 12 (2.16%) Splunk
11 7 (1.26%) HP
11 7 (1.26%) Palo Alto
12 5 (0.90%) Zscaler