Life Science Contract Job Trends

Life Sciences
UK

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Life Science in contract job vacancies. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Life Science over the 6 months leading up to 23 December 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
23 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 453 441 424
Rank change year-on-year -12 -17 +224
Contract jobs citing Life Science 141 102 186
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.38% 0.30% 0.43%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.09% 0.94% 1.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 72 51 82
10th Percentile £318 £350 £340
25th Percentile £425 £450 £469
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £596 £550 £525
Median % change year-on-year +8.36% +4.76% +7.69%
75th Percentile £691 £671 £550
90th Percentile £816 £700 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £575 £550 £525
% change year-on-year +4.55% +4.76% +10.53%
Number of hourly rates quoted 6 6 15
10th Percentile - £21.25 £16.65
25th Percentile £12.65 £25.44 £26.25
Median hourly rate £37.58 £39.50 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year -4.87% -7.06% -32.00%
75th Percentile £66.56 £42.41 £56.73
90th Percentile £70.63 £43.32 £72.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £67.50 £31.75 £38.75
% change year-on-year +112.60% -18.06% -

All Generic Skills
UK

Life Science falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring generic IT skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills 12,908 10,806 13,708
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 34.88% 32.00% 31.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,080 6,454 9,110
10th Percentile £275 £268 £263
25th Percentile £406 £409 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £505 £535 £550
Median % change year-on-year -5.70% -2.73% -
75th Percentile £625 £661 £668
90th Percentile £738 £775 £768
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 643 335 495
10th Percentile £13.96 £17.35 £16.50
25th Percentile £18.02 £22.72 £20.13
Median hourly rate £27.21 £33.00 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year -17.55% -22.35% +21.43%
75th Percentile £60.75 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £79.50 £76.66
UK excluding London median hourly rate £27.21 £32.50 £45.21
% change year-on-year -16.28% -28.11% +53.25%

Life Science
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Life Science relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Life Science job vacancy trend in the UK

Life Science
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Life Science.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Life Science

Life Science
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Life Science over the 6 months to 23 December 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Life Science in the UK

Life Science
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Life Science.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Life Science

Life Science
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Life Science over the 6 months to 23 December 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Life Science in the UK

Life Science
Top 12 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Life Science within the UK over the 6 months to 23 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 -6 112 £625 +19.05% 309
London +40 73 £648 +29.50% 116
UK excluding London -53 41 £575 +4.55% 212
Work from Home -11 25 £600 +9.09% 147
East of England -27 19 £625 -3.85% 31
South East -10 14 £446 -10.75% 71
North West -37 4 - - 20
North of England -55 4 - - 42
East Midlands - 2 £525 - 11
Midlands - 2 £525 - 28
Wales - 1 £205 - 6
Scotland - 1 - - 9

Life Science
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 6 (4.26%) Apache Airflow
1 6 (4.26%) Apache Spark
2 5 (3.55%) Confluence
3 3 (2.13%) CMS
3 3 (2.13%) SharePoint
Applications
1 4 (2.84%) Microsoft Office
1 4 (2.84%) MS Visio
2 3 (2.13%) Microsoft Excel
3 2 (1.42%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 31 (21.99%) SAP S/4HANA
2 4 (2.84%) NetSuite
2 4 (2.84%) SAP Oil and Gas
3 3 (2.13%) Dynamics CRM
3 3 (2.13%) SAP IBP
4 2 (1.42%) PRMS
4 2 (1.42%) SAP CO
4 2 (1.42%) SAP FI
4 2 (1.42%) SAP FI/CO
4 2 (1.42%) SAP MDG
4 2 (1.42%) SAP QM
5 1 (0.71%) Eloqua
5 1 (0.71%) Sage X3
5 1 (0.71%) SAP EWM
5 1 (0.71%) SAP MM
5 1 (0.71%) SAP Travel Management
Cloud Services
1 22 (15.60%) GCP
2 16 (11.35%) AWS
3 15 (10.64%) GitHub
4 13 (9.22%) Azure
5 12 (8.51%) Power Platform
6 10 (7.09%) Cloud Run
7 5 (3.55%) Lucidchart
7 5 (3.55%) Microsoft 365
8 4 (2.84%) Google Kubernetes Engine
8 4 (2.84%) Veeva
9 3 (2.13%) Amazon S3
9 3 (2.13%) Figma
9 3 (2.13%) GitHub Actions
9 3 (2.13%) IaaS
9 3 (2.13%) SaaS
9 3 (2.13%) Snowflake
9 3 (2.13%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 2 (1.42%) Amazon EC2
10 2 (1.42%) Azure DevOps
10 2 (1.42%) Entra ID
Communications & Networking
1 9 (6.38%) Firewall
2 6 (4.26%) Wireless
3 5 (3.55%) Network Security
4 4 (2.84%) VPN
5 3 (2.13%) Intrusion Detection
5 3 (2.13%) LAN
5 3 (2.13%) MQTT
5 3 (2.13%) WAN
5 3 (2.13%) Wi-Fi
6 2 (1.42%) Modbus
7 1 (0.71%) Broadband
7 1 (0.71%) HTTP
7 1 (0.71%) Intranet
7 1 (0.71%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 12 (8.51%) Power BI
2 7 (4.96%) SAP HANA
3 6 (4.26%) Data Warehouse
4 4 (2.84%) BigQuery
4 4 (2.84%) Data Lake
5 3 (2.13%) NoSQL
6 2 (1.42%) MongoDB
6 2 (1.42%) PostgreSQL
6 2 (1.42%) Relational Database
7 1 (0.71%) Amazon Redshift
7 1 (0.71%) Azure SQL Database
7 1 (0.71%) Electronic Patient Records
7 1 (0.71%) KNIME
7 1 (0.71%) Metadata
7 1 (0.71%) Parquet
7 1 (0.71%) SAP BW
7 1 (0.71%) Spotfire
7 1 (0.71%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 15 (10.64%) Git
2 9 (6.38%) JIRA
3 3 (2.13%) Cypress.io
4 2 (1.42%) Eclipse
5 1 (0.71%) LSMW
5 1 (0.71%) MLflow
5 1 (0.71%) QADirector
General
1 62 (43.97%) Pharmaceutical
2 57 (40.43%) Manufacturing
3 49 (34.75%) Social Skills
4 22 (15.60%) Finance
5 14 (9.93%) Analytical Skills
6 7 (4.96%) Organisational Skills
7 4 (2.84%) Documentation Skills
8 3 (2.13%) Marketing
8 3 (2.13%) Telecoms
9 2 (1.42%) Agriculture
9 2 (1.42%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 2 (1.42%) Public Sector
10 1 (0.71%) Aerospace
10 1 (0.71%) Dutch Language
10 1 (0.71%) German Language
10 1 (0.71%) Health Technology
10 1 (0.71%) Retail
Job Titles
1 18 (12.77%) Project Manager
2 15 (10.64%) Lead
2 15 (10.64%) Senior
3 13 (9.22%) Consultant
4 11 (7.80%) Analyst
4 11 (7.80%) Software Engineer
5 9 (6.38%) Data Engineer
5 9 (6.38%) SAP Consultant
5 9 (6.38%) SAP Manager
6 8 (5.67%) IT Manager
6 8 (5.67%) SAP Project Manager
7 7 (4.96%) Architect
8 6 (4.26%) Business Analyst
8 6 (4.26%) IT Project Manager
8 6 (4.26%) IT Support
9 5 (3.55%) Developer
9 5 (3.55%) Security Engineer
10 4 (2.84%) Network Engineer
10 4 (2.84%) Network Security Engineer
10 4 (2.84%) Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (8.51%) FastAPI
2 11 (7.80%) pytest
3 9 (6.38%) LangGraph
4 5 (3.55%) .NET
4 5 (3.55%) REST
5 3 (2.13%) Playwright
5 3 (2.13%) pydantic
5 3 (2.13%) React
5 3 (2.13%) SAP Fiori
6 2 (1.42%) AngularJS
6 2 (1.42%) Bootstrap
6 2 (1.42%) CSS
6 2 (1.42%) IDoc
6 2 (1.42%) jQuery
6 2 (1.42%) JSON
6 2 (1.42%) SOAP
6 2 (1.42%) Spring
6 2 (1.42%) Web Services
6 2 (1.42%) XHTML
6 2 (1.42%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 20 (14.18%) Renewable Energy
2 15 (10.64%) Genomics
3 13 (9.22%) Cloud Native
4 9 (6.38%) Operational Technology
5 8 (5.67%) LIMS
6 6 (4.26%) Management Information System
6 6 (4.26%) Onboarding
7 4 (2.84%) Self-Motivation
8 3 (2.13%) FMCG
8 3 (2.13%) Greenfield Project
8 3 (2.13%) Hybrid Cloud
8 3 (2.13%) Legacy Systems
8 3 (2.13%) Reference Data
8 3 (2.13%) Robotics
8 3 (2.13%) SCADA
8 3 (2.13%) Security Posture
9 2 (1.42%) Data Centre
9 2 (1.42%) Data Structures
9 2 (1.42%) IoT
9 2 (1.42%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 7 (4.96%) Windows
2 6 (4.26%) Linux
3 1 (0.71%) Mac OS
3 1 (0.71%) Robot Operating System
Processes & Methodologies
1 34 (24.11%) Agile
1 34 (24.11%) Analytics
2 29 (20.57%) AI
2 29 (20.57%) Stakeholder Management
3 23 (16.31%) Change Management
3 23 (16.31%) DevOps
3 23 (16.31%) Machine Learning
4 22 (15.60%) Migration
5 19 (13.48%) Biotechnology
5 19 (13.48%) ERP
5 19 (13.48%) Problem-Solving
6 18 (12.77%) Containerisation
6 18 (12.77%) Software Engineering
6 18 (12.77%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 16 (11.35%) Project Management
7 16 (11.35%) Test Automation
8 15 (10.64%) Data Governance
9 14 (9.93%) Use Case
10 13 (9.22%) Proteomics
10 13 (9.22%) Unit Testing
Programming Languages
1 24 (17.02%) Python
2 15 (10.64%) SQL
3 5 (3.55%) JavaScript
3 5 (3.55%) TypeScript
4 3 (2.13%) C#
4 3 (2.13%) Java
5 2 (1.42%) Groovy
6 1 (0.71%) ABAP
6 1 (0.71%) Bash
6 1 (0.71%) Bicep
6 1 (0.71%) C++
Qualifications
1 45 (31.91%) Degree
2 9 (6.38%) PMI Certification
2 9 (6.38%) PMP
3 7 (4.96%) Computer Science Degree
4 6 (4.26%) Cisco Certification
5 5 (3.55%) CCNA
5 5 (3.55%) CCNP
5 5 (3.55%) Master's Degree
6 4 (2.84%) A+ Certification
6 4 (2.84%) BPSS Clearance
7 3 (2.13%) Network+ Certification
8 2 (1.42%) Azure Certification
8 2 (1.42%) CISSP
8 2 (1.42%) CompTIA Security+
8 2 (1.42%) SAP Certification
8 2 (1.42%) Security Cleared
9 1 (0.71%) CBAP
9 1 (0.71%) HNC
9 1 (0.71%) PgMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 18 (12.77%) GxP
2 9 (6.38%) Data Quality
3 8 (5.67%) GMP
4 6 (4.26%) QA
5 5 (3.55%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 4 (2.84%) 21 CFR Part 11
6 4 (2.84%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 3 (2.13%) GDPR
7 3 (2.13%) HIPAA
7 3 (2.13%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
7 3 (2.13%) PMBOK
8 2 (1.42%) HL7
9 1 (0.71%) Actionable Recommendations
9 1 (0.71%) GRC
9 1 (0.71%) MiFID
9 1 (0.71%) PMO
9 1 (0.71%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 20 (14.18%) Docker
2 3 (2.13%) Virtual Machines
3 2 (1.42%) Active Directory
4 1 (0.71%) Firmware
4 1 (0.71%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 7 (4.96%) Kubernetes
1 7 (4.96%) Terraform
2 3 (2.13%) FortiGate
3 1 (0.71%) Jamf Pro
3 1 (0.71%) Microsoft Intune
3 1 (0.71%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 42 (29.79%) SAP
2 19 (13.48%) Google
2 19 (13.48%) Microsoft
3 5 (3.55%) Ariba
3 5 (3.55%) Rockwell
4 4 (2.84%) Adobe
4 4 (2.84%) Oracle
4 4 (2.84%) SOTI
5 3 (2.13%) Cisco
5 3 (2.13%) Databricks
5 3 (2.13%) Fortinet
5 3 (2.13%) Palo Alto
5 3 (2.13%) Salesforce
6 2 (1.42%) Anaplan
6 2 (1.42%) Hyperion
6 2 (1.42%) ServiceNow
6 2 (1.42%) Zscaler
7 1 (0.71%) Infor
7 1 (0.71%) Informatica
7 1 (0.71%) Sage