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 1 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 452 374 354
Rank change year-on-year -78 -20 +14
Contract jobs citing Network Design 220 187 241
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.41% 0.57% 0.62%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.48% 0.63% 0.73%
Number of daily rates quoted 143 126 127
10th Percentile £363 £400 £400
25th Percentile £421 £413 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.00% - -13.04%
75th Percentile £588 £613 £588
90th Percentile £650 £681 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £505 £500 £500
% change year-on-year +1.00% - -9.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 8 2 4
10th Percentile £32.65 £56.13 £26.25
25th Percentile £50.31 £57.81 £31.88
Median hourly rate £65.50 £61.25 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year +6.94% +11.36% -17.91%
75th Percentile £74.75 £65.31 £75.00
90th Percentile £83.76 £67.38 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £72.00 £55.00 £55.00
% change year-on-year +30.91% - -21.43%

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 45,369 29,617 32,996
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.56% 90.44% 85.46%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,730 18,446 20,728
10th Percentile £325 £300 £310
25th Percentile £425 £402 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -3.67%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,902 1,758 1,607
10th Percentile £14.10 £14.20 £14.16
25th Percentile £17.78 £17.30 £18.82
Median hourly rate £41.09 £25.15 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year +63.39% -40.82% +2.41%
75th Percentile £67.88 £47.09 £65.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £67.25 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.56 £22.63 £43.00
% change year-on-year +92.49% -47.37% +14.67%

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 1 September 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 1 September 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 1 September 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 -99 185 £525 +5.00% 149
UK excluding London -102 114 £505 +1.00% 80
London -59 67 £525 +10.53% 83
Work from Home -43 65 £494 -15.96% 76
South East -68 37 £519 -11.70% 21
North of England -61 32 £575 +21.05% 9
North West -52 24 £575 +21.05% 6
Scotland -14 15 £378 -11.59% 7
South West -45 12 £533 -16.80% 16
Midlands -62 11 £425 - 16
West Midlands -58 10 £425 - 10
East of England -17 8 £525 +28.05% 8
Yorkshire -32 7 £519 -9.74% 1
North East -39 7 £650 +18.18% 2
Wales -13 2 £363 +101.39% 1
East Midlands - 1 - - 6

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 12 (5.45%) OpenStack
2 3 (1.36%) Apache
2 3 (1.36%) CloudStack
3 2 (0.91%) Confluence
4 1 (0.45%) ArcGIS
4 1 (0.45%) Smallworld
Applications
1 11 (5.00%) MS Visio
2 9 (4.09%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 8 (3.64%) Microsoft Office
4 7 (3.18%) Microsoft Excel
5 3 (1.36%) AutoCAD
6 1 (0.45%) Autodesk Inventor
6 1 (0.45%) CPLEX
6 1 (0.45%) MicroStation
Business Applications
1 1 (0.45%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 62 (28.18%) Azure
2 59 (26.82%) AWS
3 15 (6.82%) OCI
4 10 (4.55%) SaaS
5 9 (4.09%) GCP
5 9 (4.09%) GitHub
6 8 (3.64%) Entra ID
7 7 (3.18%) Azure ExpressRoute
7 7 (3.18%) OpenShift
8 6 (2.73%) IaaS
9 5 (2.27%) Nutanix
10 4 (1.82%) Azure Sentinel
11 3 (1.36%) AWS Control Tower
11 3 (1.36%) GitHub Actions
12 2 (0.91%) Azure Storage
12 2 (0.91%) Datadog
12 2 (0.91%) PaaS
13 1 (0.45%) Amazon GuardDuty
13 1 (0.45%) Microsoft 365
13 1 (0.45%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 94 (42.73%) Firewall
2 76 (34.55%) BGP
3 60 (27.27%) OSPF
4 58 (26.36%) WAN
5 42 (19.09%) VLAN
6 37 (16.82%) VPN
7 36 (16.36%) Network Security
8 32 (14.55%) LAN
8 32 (14.55%) SD-WAN
8 32 (14.55%) VXLAN
9 30 (13.64%) 5G
10 29 (13.18%) Wi-Fi
11 28 (12.73%) 4G
12 25 (11.36%) Ethernet VPN
12 25 (11.36%) MPLS
13 24 (10.91%) Radio Access Network
14 22 (10.00%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
15 18 (8.18%) BIG-IP
15 18 (8.18%) Wireless
16 16 (7.27%) DNS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (1.36%) Metadata
2 1 (0.45%) GIS
Development Applications
1 13 (5.91%) GitLab
2 3 (1.36%) Jenkins
2 3 (1.36%) JIRA
3 2 (0.91%) Git
General
1 49 (22.27%) Social Skills
2 37 (16.82%) Telecoms
3 24 (10.91%) Analytical Skills
4 19 (8.64%) Public Sector
5 14 (6.36%) Manufacturing
6 13 (5.91%) Documentation Skills
7 9 (4.09%) Legal
8 7 (3.18%) Retail
9 5 (2.27%) Finance
10 4 (1.82%) Automotive
11 3 (1.36%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 2 (0.91%) Banking
12 2 (0.91%) Billing
12 2 (0.91%) Cyber-Physical System
12 2 (0.91%) Military
12 2 (0.91%) Police
13 1 (0.45%) German Language
13 1 (0.45%) Local Government
13 1 (0.45%) Polish Language
13 1 (0.45%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 71 (32.27%) Network Engineer
2 51 (23.18%) Architect
3 49 (22.27%) Senior
4 33 (15.00%) Network Specialist
5 28 (12.73%) Network Architect
6 24 (10.91%) Senior Network Engineer
7 22 (10.00%) Network Design Specialist
8 20 (9.09%) Designer
9 16 (7.27%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 14 (6.36%) Network Designer
11 13 (5.91%) Design Engineer
11 13 (5.91%) Security Architect
11 13 (5.91%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
12 11 (5.00%) Senior Data Warehouse Specialist
12 11 (5.00%) Senior Network Specialist
13 9 (4.09%) Consultant
14 8 (3.64%) Network Design Engineer
14 8 (3.64%) Senior Architect
15 7 (3.18%) Lead
15 7 (3.18%) Senior Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 42 (19.09%) Terraform
2 10 (4.55%) NETCONF
2 10 (4.55%) YANG
3 6 (2.73%) 802.1X
3 6 (2.73%) REST
4 5 (2.27%) OpenConfig
4 5 (2.27%) RESTCONF
5 4 (1.82%) Azure Blueprints
5 4 (1.82%) Kafka
6 3 (1.36%) Elastic Stack
7 1 (0.45%) eBPF
7 1 (0.45%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 67 (30.45%) Data Centre
2 44 (20.00%) Hybrid Cloud
3 27 (12.27%) Cloud Native
4 12 (5.45%) Operational Technology
5 11 (5.00%) Management Information System
6 10 (4.55%) IoT
7 8 (3.64%) Data Protection Act
7 8 (3.64%) Public Cloud
8 7 (3.18%) Analytical Mindset
8 7 (3.18%) Private Cloud
9 5 (2.27%) PKI
9 5 (2.27%) Security Posture
10 4 (1.82%) CMDB
10 4 (1.82%) Data Fabric
11 3 (1.36%) Enterprise Software
11 3 (1.36%) Onboarding
11 3 (1.36%) Product Ownership
11 3 (1.36%) SCADA
12 2 (0.91%) EMC VNX
12 2 (0.91%) Greenfield Project
Operating Systems
1 15 (6.82%) Linux
2 12 (5.45%) Windows
3 8 (3.64%) Ubuntu
3 8 (3.64%) Windows Server
4 4 (1.82%) Alpine Linux
4 4 (1.82%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 2 (0.91%) Data ONTAP
Processes & Methodologies
1 42 (19.09%) Zero Trust
2 41 (18.64%) Migration
2 41 (18.64%) Stakeholder Management
3 40 (18.18%) High Availability
3 40 (18.18%) Network Architecture
4 36 (16.36%) Problem-Solving
5 34 (15.45%) Infrastructure as Code
5 34 (15.45%) Project Delivery
6 31 (14.09%) Validation
7 30 (13.64%) Roadmaps
8 29 (13.18%) DevOps
8 29 (13.18%) Technical Leadership
9 26 (11.82%) Load Balancing
10 23 (10.45%) Cybersecurity
10 23 (10.45%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 22 (10.00%) CI/CD
12 19 (8.64%) Continuous Improvement
13 18 (8.18%) Capacity Planning
14 17 (7.73%) Cloud Security
14 17 (7.73%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 42 (19.09%) Python
2 6 (2.73%) Bicep
3 5 (2.27%) PowerShell
4 2 (0.91%) Bash
5 1 (0.45%) ActionScript
5 1 (0.45%) JavaScript
Qualifications
1 63 (28.64%) Security Cleared
2 56 (25.45%) Cisco Certification
3 41 (18.64%) CCNP
3 41 (18.64%) SC Cleared
4 19 (8.64%) CCIE
5 15 (6.82%) CCNA
6 13 (5.91%) DV Cleared
7 12 (5.45%) Degree
7 12 (5.45%) JNCIE
8 9 (4.09%) AWS Certification
8 9 (4.09%) Azure Certification
9 6 (2.73%) CISSP
9 6 (2.73%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
10 5 (2.27%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
11 4 (1.82%) CISM
12 2 (0.91%) GIAC
12 2 (0.91%) ISSAP
12 2 (0.91%) Microsoft Certification
12 2 (0.91%) NCDA
12 2 (0.91%) VCDX
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 14 (6.36%) NIST
2 12 (5.45%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 5 (2.27%) Cyber Essentials
4 4 (1.82%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 3 (1.36%) GxP
5 3 (1.36%) NIST 800
5 3 (1.36%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 3 (1.36%) SOC 2
6 2 (0.91%) Actionable Recommendations
6 2 (0.91%) Def Stans
6 2 (0.91%) GDPR
6 2 (0.91%) HIPAA
6 2 (0.91%) NCSC
6 2 (0.91%) QA
6 2 (0.91%) SLA
7 1 (0.45%) Disclosure Scotland
System Software
1 20 (9.09%) VMware Infrastructure
2 10 (4.55%) vSphere
3 9 (4.09%) Hyper-V
4 8 (3.64%) Active Directory
4 8 (3.64%) VMware NSX
5 5 (2.27%) Firmware
6 3 (1.36%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.91%) EMC RecoverPoint
7 2 (0.91%) FreeRADIUS
7 2 (0.91%) NFS
7 2 (0.91%) SRDF
8 1 (0.45%) Docker
8 1 (0.45%) KVM
Systems Management
1 45 (20.45%) Ansible
2 13 (5.91%) Kubernetes
3 7 (3.18%) FortiGate
4 6 (2.73%) Grafana
4 6 (2.73%) Prometheus
5 3 (1.36%) Check_MK
5 3 (1.36%) Cisco Prime
5 3 (1.36%) SolarWinds Orion
5 3 (1.36%) vCenter Server
6 2 (0.91%) Argo
6 2 (0.91%) EMC NetWorker
6 2 (0.91%) EMC VPLEX
6 2 (0.91%) NetBackup
6 2 (0.91%) SnapMirror
6 2 (0.91%) SnapVault
7 1 (0.45%) Cisco CUCM
7 1 (0.45%) QRadar
7 1 (0.45%) SCCM
7 1 (0.45%) Suricata
7 1 (0.45%) vRealize
Vendors
1 92 (41.82%) Cisco
2 49 (22.27%) Palo Alto
3 40 (18.18%) Fortinet
4 39 (17.73%) F5
5 29 (13.18%) Microsoft
6 25 (11.36%) VMware
7 24 (10.91%) Nokia
8 23 (10.45%) Juniper
9 22 (10.00%) Aruba
10 21 (9.55%) Arista
11 20 (9.09%) Ericsson
12 13 (5.91%) Huawei
13 12 (5.45%) CheckPoint
13 12 (5.45%) Zscaler
14 9 (4.09%) Splunk
15 8 (3.64%) Meraki
16 6 (2.73%) ServiceNow
16 6 (2.73%) SolarWinds
17 5 (2.27%) Google
17 5 (2.27%) Veeam