Metadata Contract Job Trends

Metadata
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring Metadata skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 18 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 211 342 284
Rank change year-on-year +131 -58 +39
Contract jobs citing Metadata 542 191 336
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.25% 0.65% 0.76%
As % of the Database & Business Intelligence category 7.81% 3.43% 4.60%
Number of daily rates quoted 375 138 232
10th Percentile £358 £255 £361
25th Percentile £415 £403 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £523 £503 £559
Median % change year-on-year +3.98% -10.07% +1.59%
75th Percentile £595 £641 £738
90th Percentile £692 £791 £848
UK excluding London median daily rate £513 £469 £550
% change year-on-year +9.28% -14.73% +10.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 13 7 25
10th Percentile £35.91 £22.63 £13.70
25th Percentile £61.50 £22.72 £20.49
Median hourly rate £69.00 £27.50 £40.25
Median % change year-on-year +150.91% -31.68% +15.00%
75th Percentile £82.25 £56.13 £46.18
90th Percentile £84.00 £82.25 £47.92
UK excluding London median hourly rate £69.00 £27.50 £40.25
% change year-on-year +150.91% -31.68% +11.03%

All Database & BI Skills
UK

Metadata falls under the Databases and Business Intelligence category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring database or business intelligence skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for database or business intelligence skills 6,937 5,562 7,308
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 16.03% 18.97% 16.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 4,760 3,831 5,173
10th Percentile £350 £351 £340
25th Percentile £413 £422 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £600 £650 £650
90th Percentile £700 £763 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £494 £488
% change year-on-year -3.85% +1.33% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 145 99 172
10th Percentile £18.25 £19.59 £14.36
25th Percentile £28.50 £24.25 £20.77
Median hourly rate £50.00 £30.21 £40.25
Median % change year-on-year +65.51% -24.94% -29.32%
75th Percentile £75.00 £64.50 £58.81
90th Percentile £85.00 £70.00 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £50.00 £28.78 £40.00
% change year-on-year +73.73% -28.05% -27.27%

Metadata
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Metadata job vacancy trend in the UK

Metadata
Daily Rate Trend

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

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Metadata

Metadata
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Metadata over the 6 months to 18 March 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Metadata in the UK

Metadata
Hourly Rate Trend

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

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Metadata

Metadata
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Metadata over the 6 months to 18 March 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Metadata in the UK

Metadata
Top 16 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Metadata within the UK over the 6 months to 18 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 +103 461 £525 +1.45% 159
London +101 269 £524 -14.49% 92
UK excluding London +26 206 £513 +9.28% 109
Work from Home +47 156 £525 +0.48% 57
Midlands -17 51 £560 +54.48% 8
South East -20 48 £513 +7.61% 56
West Midlands -19 45 £569 +56.90% 5
North of England -47 39 £475 -9.09% 17
Scotland +36 37 £436 -28.29% 3
North West -29 22 £496 -9.04% 7
East of England -12 21 £492 +54.78% 13
South West -11 17 £570 +12.59% 11
Yorkshire -47 16 £525 +35.48% 9
East Midlands - 6 £447 - 3
North East -12 4 £475 -23.91% 1
Wales -12 1 £750 +217.80% 3

Metadata
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 (7.75%) Apache Spark
2 32 (5.90%) SharePoint
3 25 (4.61%) SAS
4 21 (3.87%) Confluence
5 19 (3.51%) Apache Airflow
6 17 (3.14%) Apache
7 13 (2.40%) CMS
8 7 (1.29%) Drupal
8 7 (1.29%) Sitecore CMS
9 5 (0.92%) ArcGIS
9 5 (0.92%) GeoServer
9 5 (0.92%) Smallworld
10 4 (0.74%) Adobe Experience Manager
11 3 (0.55%) Microsoft Exchange
12 1 (0.18%) Apache Synapse
12 1 (0.18%) Headless CMS
12 1 (0.18%) Palantir Foundry
12 1 (0.18%) SharePoint 2013
12 1 (0.18%) WordPress
Applications
1 31 (5.72%) Microsoft Excel
2 13 (2.40%) MS Visio
3 7 (1.29%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (0.74%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.37%) Chatbot
5 2 (0.37%) Microsoft Office
6 1 (0.18%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 17 (3.14%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
2 12 (2.21%) SAP S/4HANA
3 6 (1.11%) OpenText VIM for SAP
3 6 (1.11%) SAP FI
3 6 (1.11%) SAP MM
4 3 (0.55%) Actimize
4 3 (0.55%) Maximo
4 3 (0.55%) Summit
5 2 (0.37%) FIS Private Capital Suite
6 1 (0.18%) Adobe Campaign
6 1 (0.18%) Loan IQ
6 1 (0.18%) Misys Midas
6 1 (0.18%) Salesforce CRM
6 1 (0.18%) SAP MDG
6 1 (0.18%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 168 (31.00%) Azure
2 120 (22.14%) AWS
3 89 (16.42%) Power Platform
4 64 (11.81%) GCP
5 52 (9.59%) Collibra
6 48 (8.86%) Azure Data Factory
7 43 (7.93%) Microsoft Purview
8 35 (6.46%) Azure Synapse Analytics
9 33 (6.09%) Snowflake
10 26 (4.80%) Serverless
11 24 (4.43%) Amazon S3
12 20 (3.69%) AWS Lambda
12 20 (3.69%) Azure DevOps
12 20 (3.69%) dbt
13 19 (3.51%) GitHub
14 18 (3.32%) Microsoft 365
15 8 (1.48%) Power Automate
16 7 (1.29%) Amazon EMR
16 7 (1.29%) AWS CloudFormation
16 7 (1.29%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 3 (0.55%) Intranet
2 2 (0.37%) Firewall
2 2 (0.37%) Hyperconnected
3 1 (0.18%) 4G
3 1 (0.18%) 5G
3 1 (0.18%) HTTP
3 1 (0.18%) Kerberos
Database & Business Intelligence
1 113 (20.85%) Data Warehouse
2 83 (15.31%) Power BI
3 69 (12.73%) Data Lake
4 42 (7.75%) Metadata Repository
5 29 (5.35%) Big Data
5 29 (5.35%) SQL Server
6 28 (5.17%) Tableau
7 26 (4.80%) Data Vault
8 25 (4.61%) NoSQL
9 24 (4.43%) Snowflake Schema
10 23 (4.24%) Relational Database
11 22 (4.06%) PostgreSQL
12 19 (3.51%) Oracle Database
12 19 (3.51%) SQL Server Integration Services
13 18 (3.32%) Hadoop
14 17 (3.14%) Amazon Redshift
15 16 (2.95%) Azure SQL Database
15 16 (2.95%) BigQuery
16 14 (2.58%) Delta Lake
17 13 (2.40%) MySQL
Development Applications
1 29 (5.35%) ERwin
2 26 (4.80%) Git
3 23 (4.24%) JIRA
4 12 (2.21%) Jenkins
4 12 (2.21%) PowerDesigner
5 10 (1.85%) ER Studio
6 6 (1.11%) GitLab
7 5 (0.92%) Maven
7 5 (0.92%) SonarQube
8 3 (0.55%) Bitbucket
9 2 (0.37%) SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)
9 2 (0.37%) Subversion
9 2 (0.37%) Visual Studio
10 1 (0.18%) git-flow
10 1 (0.18%) gulp
10 1 (0.18%) Oracle Forms
10 1 (0.18%) ScriptRunner
10 1 (0.18%) Selenium
10 1 (0.18%) Sonatype Nexus
10 1 (0.18%) Yeoman
General
1 179 (33.03%) Social Skills
2 148 (27.31%) Finance
3 111 (20.48%) Analytical Skills
4 71 (13.10%) Public Sector
5 57 (10.52%) Banking
6 39 (7.20%) Documentation Skills
7 16 (2.95%) Publishing
8 13 (2.40%) Influencing Skills
8 13 (2.40%) Legal
9 12 (2.21%) Aviation
9 12 (2.21%) Investment Banking
10 11 (2.03%) Presentation Skills
10 11 (2.03%) Retail
11 10 (1.85%) Marketing
12 8 (1.48%) Financial Institution
13 7 (1.29%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 7 (1.29%) Military
14 6 (1.11%) Organisational Skills
14 6 (1.11%) Retail Banking
15 5 (0.92%) Corporate Banking
Job Titles
1 142 (26.20%) Architect
2 108 (19.93%) Data Architect
3 78 (14.39%) Analyst
4 74 (13.65%) Data Engineer
5 54 (9.96%) Data Analyst
6 41 (7.56%) Senior
7 40 (7.38%) Data Modeller
7 40 (7.38%) Lead
8 37 (6.83%) Developer
9 25 (4.61%) Business Analyst
9 25 (4.61%) Consultant
10 16 (2.95%) Azure Engineer
11 14 (2.58%) Data Business Analyst
11 14 (2.58%) Software Engineer
12 12 (2.21%) Azure Data Engineer
12 12 (2.21%) Governance Analyst
12 12 (2.21%) Principal Engineer
13 11 (2.03%) AWS Engineer
13 11 (2.03%) Senior Data Engineer
14 10 (1.85%) Principal Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 41 (7.56%) PySpark
2 31 (5.72%) Kafka
2 31 (5.72%) REST
3 18 (3.32%) JSON
4 15 (2.77%) .NET
5 13 (2.40%) YAML
6 12 (2.21%) React
6 12 (2.21%) SOAP
6 12 (2.21%) XML
7 8 (1.48%) OAuth
8 6 (1.11%) HTML
8 6 (1.11%) Node.js
8 6 (1.11%) Pandas
8 6 (1.11%) RESTful
8 6 (1.11%) SAP Basis
8 6 (1.11%) SAP Business Workflow
8 6 (1.11%) SAP Fiori
8 6 (1.11%) VML
9 5 (0.92%) SLSA
10 3 (0.55%) SPFx
Miscellaneous
1 52 (9.59%) Cloud Native
2 44 (8.12%) Data Structures
3 39 (7.20%) Taxonomies
4 34 (6.27%) Management Information System
5 32 (5.90%) Reference Data
6 26 (4.80%) Onboarding
7 23 (4.24%) Legacy Systems
8 22 (4.06%) Product Ownership
9 14 (2.58%) Data Protection Act
10 11 (2.03%) Virtual Team
11 9 (1.66%) Credit Risk
12 8 (1.48%) Self-Motivation
13 7 (1.29%) Data Fabric
13 7 (1.29%) Distributed Computing
14 5 (0.92%) CMDB
14 5 (0.92%) Hybrid Cloud
14 5 (0.92%) IoT
14 5 (0.92%) Market Risk
15 4 (0.74%) Derivative
15 4 (0.74%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 12 (2.21%) Unix
2 8 (1.48%) Linux
3 1 (0.18%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 275 (50.74%) Data Governance
2 268 (49.45%) Data Modelling
3 220 (40.59%) Metadata Management
4 200 (36.90%) Analytics
5 162 (29.89%) Data Architecture
6 146 (26.94%) ETL
7 127 (23.43%) Business Intelligence
8 113 (20.85%) Data Engineering
9 103 (19.00%) Validation
10 101 (18.63%) Agile
11 99 (18.27%) Data Pipeline
12 96 (17.71%) Data Lineage
13 94 (17.34%) Problem-Solving
14 92 (16.97%) AI
15 91 (16.79%) Migration
16 83 (15.31%) Data Integration
17 81 (14.94%) Data Management
18 79 (14.58%) CI/CD
19 75 (13.84%) Decision-Making
19 75 (13.84%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 217 (40.04%) SQL
2 137 (25.28%) Python
3 24 (4.43%) C#
4 20 (3.69%) PowerShell
5 18 (3.32%) Java
6 12 (2.21%) PL/SQL
7 11 (2.03%) JavaScript
8 8 (1.48%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 8 (1.48%) Shell Script
9 7 (1.29%) Groovy
10 6 (1.11%) ABAP
10 6 (1.11%) Perl
10 6 (1.11%) R
10 6 (1.11%) T-SQL
11 5 (0.92%) Apex Code
11 5 (0.92%) Scala
11 5 (0.92%) TypeScript
12 3 (0.55%) SOQL
13 2 (0.37%) Bicep
13 2 (0.37%) SOSL
Qualifications
1 129 (23.80%) Security Cleared
2 97 (17.90%) SC Cleared
3 33 (6.09%) Degree
4 25 (4.61%) BPSS Clearance
5 13 (2.40%) Master's Degree
6 10 (1.85%) Azure Certification
6 10 (1.85%) Computer Science Degree
7 8 (1.48%) DV Cleared
7 8 (1.48%) Microsoft Certification
8 5 (0.92%) AWS Certification
9 4 (0.74%) TOGAF Certification
10 2 (0.37%) Analytics IQ
11 1 (0.18%) CISSP
11 1 (0.18%) CSPO
11 1 (0.18%) DBS Check
11 1 (0.18%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
11 1 (0.18%) MySQL Certification
11 1 (0.18%) Tableau Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 230 (42.44%) Data Quality
2 54 (9.96%) GDPR
3 26 (4.80%) QA
4 19 (3.51%) Accessibility
5 12 (2.21%) GRC
6 11 (2.03%) Solvency II
7 7 (1.29%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 6 (1.11%) IFRS
8 6 (1.11%) NIST
9 4 (0.74%) ISO 22301
9 4 (0.74%) MiFID
10 3 (0.55%) Cyber Essentials
10 3 (0.55%) ISO 31000
11 2 (0.37%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 2 (0.37%) CRD IV
11 2 (0.37%) IFRS 17
11 2 (0.37%) IFRS 9
11 2 (0.37%) ISO 19650
11 2 (0.37%) NIST 800
11 2 (0.37%) PMO
System Software
1 12 (2.21%) Docker
2 5 (0.92%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 20 (3.69%) Terraform
2 15 (2.77%) Kubernetes
3 4 (0.74%) Grafana
3 4 (0.74%) Prometheus
4 1 (0.18%) Active Directory Federation Services
4 1 (0.18%) Ansible
4 1 (0.18%) Microsoft Intune
4 1 (0.18%) SCCM
4 1 (0.18%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 101 (18.63%) Microsoft
2 78 (14.39%) Databricks
3 52 (9.59%) Oracle
4 41 (7.56%) Informatica
5 23 (4.24%) ServiceNow
6 19 (3.51%) Talend
7 18 (3.32%) Google
7 18 (3.32%) SAP
8 17 (3.14%) Salesforce
9 16 (2.95%) Sparx
10 11 (2.03%) Teradata
11 8 (1.48%) OpenText
12 7 (1.29%) Remedy
12 7 (1.29%) Sitecore
13 6 (1.11%) Atlassian
13 6 (1.11%) ESRI
13 6 (1.11%) Optimizely
14 5 (0.92%) Adobe
14 5 (0.92%) Intergraph
14 5 (0.92%) Sonatype