Network Design Contract Job Trends

Network Design
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring Network Design skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 14 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 467 377 314
Rank change year-on-year -90 -63 +18
Contract jobs citing Network Design 224 183 253
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.41% 0.55% 0.68%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.48% 0.61% 0.78%
Number of daily rates quoted 141 130 144
10th Percentile £363 £398 £413
25th Percentile £425 £410 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £455 £525
Median % change year-on-year +9.89% -13.33% -8.70%
75th Percentile £600 £600 £591
90th Percentile £650 £650 £675
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £513
% change year-on-year +5.26% -7.32% -6.82%
Number of hourly rates quoted 8 1 4
10th Percentile - - £26.25
25th Percentile £45.00 - £31.88
Median hourly rate £60.00 £55.00 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% - -16.64%
75th Percentile £74.75 - £75.00
90th Percentile £83.76 - -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £55.00 £55.00
% change year-on-year -18.18% - -16.64%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

Network Design falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 46,826 30,024 32,246
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.73% 90.50% 86.04%
Number of daily rates quoted 28,144 18,679 19,408
10th Percentile £325 £294 £308
25th Percentile £425 £404 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -2.42%
75th Percentile £638 £623 £638
90th Percentile £737 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,407 1,886 1,245
10th Percentile £13.64 £14.38 £15.00
25th Percentile £17.00 £17.30 £20.12
Median hourly rate £37.50 £25.15 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +49.11% -37.13% -10.11%
75th Percentile £65.00 £42.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £78.72 £65.07 £73.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £37.50 £22.27 £40.33
% change year-on-year +68.43% -44.79% -8.14%

Network Design
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Network Design job vacancy trend in the UK

Network Design
Daily Rate Trend

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

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Network Design

Network Design
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Network Design over the 6 months to 14 October 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Network Design in the UK

Network Design
Hourly Rate Trend

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

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Network Design

Network Design
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Network Design over the 6 months to 14 October 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Network Design in the UK

Network Design
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 Network Design within the UK over the 6 months to 14 October 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 -104 181 £511 +7.63% 169
UK excluding London -91 127 £500 +5.26% 94
Work from Home -44 74 £500 -6.54% 65
London -102 57 £494 +9.72% 75
South East -62 37 £560 +12.00% 30
North of England -57 31 £575 +21.05% 16
North West -39 25 £575 +21.05% 6
Midlands -52 23 £450 +12.50% 13
West Midlands -48 22 £450 +12.50% 8
Scotland -16 15 £375 -17.58% 8
South West -43 11 £535 -15.08% 16
East of England -25 8 £500 +21.21% 9
North East -35 7 £650 +18.18% 2
Yorkshire -30 5 £519 -9.74% 8
Wales - 5 £575 -
East Midlands - 1 - - 5

Network Design
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 9 (4.02%) OpenStack
2 4 (1.79%) Apache
2 4 (1.79%) ArcGIS
2 4 (1.79%) Confluence
3 3 (1.34%) CloudStack
4 1 (0.45%) Apache Airflow
4 1 (0.45%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.45%) nginx
Applications
1 10 (4.46%) MS Visio
2 9 (4.02%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 7 (3.13%) Microsoft Office
4 5 (2.23%) Microsoft Excel
5 3 (1.34%) AutoCAD
6 1 (0.45%) CPLEX
Business Applications
1 1 (0.45%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 65 (29.02%) Azure
2 61 (27.23%) AWS
3 15 (6.70%) OCI
4 13 (5.80%) GCP
5 11 (4.91%) Entra ID
6 10 (4.46%) SaaS
7 9 (4.02%) GitHub
8 7 (3.13%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 6 (2.68%) IaaS
9 6 (2.68%) OpenShift
10 5 (2.23%) Azure Sentinel
10 5 (2.23%) Nutanix
11 4 (1.79%) AWS Control Tower
12 3 (1.34%) AWS Direct Connect
12 3 (1.34%) GitHub Actions
13 2 (0.89%) Amazon GuardDuty
13 2 (0.89%) Azure AKS
13 2 (0.89%) Azure Monitor
13 2 (0.89%) Azure Storage
13 2 (0.89%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 103 (45.98%) Firewall
2 69 (30.80%) BGP
3 59 (26.34%) WAN
4 51 (22.77%) OSPF
5 48 (21.43%) Network Security
6 45 (20.09%) VLAN
7 42 (18.75%) LAN
8 35 (15.63%) VPN
9 30 (13.39%) SD-WAN
9 30 (13.39%) VXLAN
10 26 (11.61%) Ethernet VPN
10 26 (11.61%) Wi-Fi
11 25 (11.16%) MPLS
12 24 (10.71%) Wireless
13 23 (10.27%) WLAN
14 20 (8.93%) 4G
14 20 (8.93%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
14 20 (8.93%) TCP/IP
15 19 (8.48%) 5G
16 17 (7.59%) BIG-IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (1.79%) GIS
2 3 (1.34%) Metadata
3 1 (0.45%) Big Data
3 1 (0.45%) Data Lake
3 1 (0.45%) Elasticsearch
3 1 (0.45%) Power BI
Development Applications
1 15 (6.70%) GitLab
2 4 (1.79%) JIRA
3 3 (1.34%) Git
3 3 (1.34%) Jenkins
General
1 52 (23.21%) Social Skills
2 32 (14.29%) Telecoms
3 31 (13.84%) Analytical Skills
4 18 (8.04%) Public Sector
5 16 (7.14%) Manufacturing
6 13 (5.80%) Documentation Skills
7 10 (4.46%) Legal
8 9 (4.02%) Finance
9 7 (3.13%) Automotive
10 6 (2.68%) Retail
11 3 (1.34%) Agriculture
11 3 (1.34%) Banking
11 3 (1.34%) Billing
11 3 (1.34%) Cyber-Physical System
11 3 (1.34%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 2 (0.89%) Local Government
12 2 (0.89%) Military
13 1 (0.45%) Pharmaceutical
13 1 (0.45%) Polish Language
13 1 (0.45%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 83 (37.05%) Network Engineer
2 50 (22.32%) Senior
3 46 (20.54%) Architect
4 23 (10.27%) Network Architect
4 23 (10.27%) Senior Network Engineer
5 19 (8.48%) Network Specialist
6 17 (7.59%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 16 (7.14%) Consultant
8 15 (6.70%) Design Engineer
9 14 (6.25%) Security Architect
10 13 (5.80%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
11 12 (5.36%) Network Consultant
12 11 (4.91%) Network Design Engineer
13 9 (4.02%) Designer
13 9 (4.02%) Network Design Specialist
13 9 (4.02%) Senior Architect
13 9 (4.02%) Senior Data Warehouse Specialist
13 9 (4.02%) Senior Network Specialist
14 8 (3.57%) Network Designer
14 8 (3.57%) RAN Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 46 (20.54%) Terraform
2 9 (4.02%) NETCONF
2 9 (4.02%) YANG
3 7 (3.13%) 802.1X
3 7 (3.13%) REST
4 5 (2.23%) Azure Blueprints
4 5 (2.23%) Kafka
5 4 (1.79%) OpenConfig
5 4 (1.79%) RESTCONF
6 3 (1.34%) Elastic Stack
7 2 (0.89%) YAML
8 1 (0.45%) eBPF
8 1 (0.45%) JSON
8 1 (0.45%) Spark Streaming
Miscellaneous
1 66 (29.46%) Data Centre
2 41 (18.30%) Hybrid Cloud
3 24 (10.71%) Cloud Native
4 15 (6.70%) Management Information System
5 14 (6.25%) Operational Technology
6 9 (4.02%) IoT
7 7 (3.13%) Analytical Mindset
7 7 (3.13%) Public Cloud
7 7 (3.13%) Security Posture
8 6 (2.68%) CMDB
8 6 (2.68%) Data Protection Act
8 6 (2.68%) Private Cloud
9 5 (2.23%) PKI
10 4 (1.79%) Data Fabric
10 4 (1.79%) Handset
10 4 (1.79%) Onboarding
10 4 (1.79%) SCADA
11 3 (1.34%) Enterprise Software
11 3 (1.34%) Product Ownership
12 2 (0.89%) Driving Licence
Operating Systems
1 18 (8.04%) Linux
2 16 (7.14%) Windows
3 9 (4.02%) Ubuntu
3 9 (4.02%) Windows Server
4 5 (2.23%) Alpine Linux
4 5 (2.23%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 1 (0.45%) Data ONTAP
Processes & Methodologies
1 50 (22.32%) Stakeholder Management
2 44 (19.64%) Zero Trust
3 40 (17.86%) Project Delivery
4 38 (16.96%) Infrastructure as Code
4 38 (16.96%) Migration
4 38 (16.96%) Problem-Solving
5 36 (16.07%) Network Architecture
5 36 (16.07%) Validation
6 33 (14.73%) High Availability
7 32 (14.29%) DevOps
8 29 (12.95%) Roadmaps
9 28 (12.50%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 27 (12.05%) Technical Leadership
11 26 (11.61%) Cybersecurity
11 26 (11.61%) Load Balancing
12 24 (10.71%) Stakeholder Engagement
13 23 (10.27%) CI/CD
14 17 (7.59%) Continuous Improvement
14 17 (7.59%) Network Segmentation
15 16 (7.14%) Mentoring
Programming Languages
1 45 (20.09%) Python
2 9 (4.02%) Bicep
3 8 (3.57%) PowerShell
4 3 (1.34%) Bash
5 2 (0.89%) JavaScript
6 1 (0.45%) ActionScript
6 1 (0.45%) C#
6 1 (0.45%) Java
6 1 (0.45%) Kusto Query Language
6 1 (0.45%) SQL
Qualifications
1 70 (31.25%) Security Cleared
2 52 (23.21%) Cisco Certification
3 48 (21.43%) SC Cleared
4 38 (16.96%) CCNP
5 16 (7.14%) CCIE
6 15 (6.70%) DV Cleared
7 14 (6.25%) CCNA
8 13 (5.80%) Degree
9 11 (4.91%) AWS Certification
10 10 (4.46%) JNCIE
11 9 (4.02%) CISSP
12 6 (2.68%) Azure Certification
13 5 (2.23%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
13 5 (2.23%) CISM
14 4 (1.79%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
15 3 (1.34%) CCSE
15 3 (1.34%) ISSAP
15 3 (1.34%) Microsoft Certification
16 2 (0.89%) Check Point Certification
16 2 (0.89%) GIAC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 17 (7.59%) NIST
2 15 (6.70%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 5 (2.23%) Cyber Essentials
3 5 (2.23%) Data Quality
3 5 (2.23%) SOC 2
4 4 (1.79%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 3 (1.34%) Actionable Recommendations
5 3 (1.34%) GxP
5 3 (1.34%) HIPAA
5 3 (1.34%) NIST 800
5 3 (1.34%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 2 (0.89%) Def Stans
6 2 (0.89%) GDPR
6 2 (0.89%) NCSC
6 2 (0.89%) QA
7 1 (0.45%) Disclosure Scotland
7 1 (0.45%) GLBA
7 1 (0.45%) PCI DSS
7 1 (0.45%) SLA
System Software
1 16 (7.14%) VMware Infrastructure
2 10 (4.46%) Active Directory
3 8 (3.57%) Hyper-V
3 8 (3.57%) vSphere
4 7 (3.13%) VMware NSX
5 5 (2.23%) Firmware
6 4 (1.79%) FreeRADIUS
7 3 (1.34%) Docker
8 2 (0.89%) VMware ESXi
9 1 (0.45%) EMC RecoverPoint
9 1 (0.45%) NFS
9 1 (0.45%) SRDF
Systems Management
1 45 (20.09%) Ansible
2 10 (4.46%) Kubernetes
3 9 (4.02%) Grafana
3 9 (4.02%) Prometheus
4 8 (3.57%) FortiGate
5 3 (1.34%) Check_MK
5 3 (1.34%) Cisco Prime
5 3 (1.34%) SolarWinds Orion
6 2 (0.89%) vCenter Server
7 1 (0.45%) Argo
7 1 (0.45%) Cisco CUCM
7 1 (0.45%) EMC NetWorker
7 1 (0.45%) EMC VPLEX
7 1 (0.45%) NetBackup
7 1 (0.45%) Progress Chef
7 1 (0.45%) QRadar
7 1 (0.45%) SnapMirror
7 1 (0.45%) SnapVault
7 1 (0.45%) Suricata
7 1 (0.45%) vRealize
Vendors
1 92 (41.07%) Cisco
2 57 (25.45%) Palo Alto
3 48 (21.43%) Fortinet
4 38 (16.96%) F5
5 26 (11.61%) Arista
5 26 (11.61%) Aruba
5 26 (11.61%) Microsoft
6 24 (10.71%) Juniper
7 20 (8.93%) VMware
8 18 (8.04%) Nokia
9 15 (6.70%) CheckPoint
10 14 (6.25%) Ericsson
11 13 (5.80%) Zscaler
12 11 (4.91%) Meraki
13 10 (4.46%) Splunk
14 7 (3.13%) Google
15 6 (2.68%) ServiceNow
16 5 (2.23%) CrowdStrike
16 5 (2.23%) Okta
16 5 (2.23%) Rapid7