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 20 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
20 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 454 370 329
Rank change year-on-year -84 -41 +58
Contract jobs citing Network Design 217 184 247
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.41% 0.56% 0.64%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.48% 0.62% 0.75%
Number of daily rates quoted 138 125 136
10th Percentile £363 £399 £363
25th Percentile £425 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £500 £475
Median % change year-on-year +2.50% +5.26% -15.93%
75th Percentile £575 £613 £575
90th Percentile £650 £683 £644
UK excluding London median daily rate £505 £500 £465
% change year-on-year +1.00% +7.53% -11.43%
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% -21.43%
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 45,331 29,700 33,127
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 84.72% 90.46% 85.42%
Number of daily rates quoted 27,838 18,524 21,130
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% -3.58%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £730 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,836 1,729 1,767
10th Percentile £14.22 £14.20 £14.00
25th Percentile £18.31 £17.33 £18.14
Median hourly rate £41.63 £25.15 £40.94
Median % change year-on-year +65.54% -38.57% -0.24%
75th Percentile £67.99 £49.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £68.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.96 £24.00 £42.50
% change year-on-year +83.17% -43.53% +17.65%

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 20 August 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 20 August 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 20 August 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 -103 188 £525 +4.48% 69
UK excluding London -116 117 £505 +1.00% 51
London -57 66 £525 +10.53% 26
Work from Home -52 65 £488 -16.92% 34
South East -61 38 £513 -10.87% 12
North of England -50 33 £575 +21.05% 9
North West -34 25 £575 +21.05% 3
Scotland -7 15 £378 -11.59% 6
South West -42 15 £495 -22.66% 2
Midlands -62 11 £425 - 15
West Midlands -62 10 £425 - 9
East of England -15 7 £525 +28.05% 8
North East -32 7 £650 +18.18% 3
Yorkshire -36 7 £519 -9.74% 3
Wales -16 1 £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 (5.53%) OpenStack
2 3 (1.38%) Apache
2 3 (1.38%) CloudStack
3 2 (0.92%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (0.92%) Skype for Business
4 1 (0.46%) ArcGIS
4 1 (0.46%) Confluence
4 1 (0.46%) Smallworld
Applications
1 11 (5.07%) MS Visio
2 10 (4.61%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 9 (4.15%) Microsoft Office
4 8 (3.69%) Microsoft Excel
5 3 (1.38%) AutoCAD
6 1 (0.46%) Autodesk Inventor
6 1 (0.46%) CPLEX
6 1 (0.46%) MicroStation
Cloud Services
1 58 (26.73%) Azure
2 54 (24.88%) AWS
3 15 (6.91%) OCI
4 10 (4.61%) GitHub
4 10 (4.61%) SaaS
5 9 (4.15%) GCP
6 7 (3.23%) Azure ExpressRoute
6 7 (3.23%) OpenShift
7 6 (2.76%) IaaS
8 5 (2.30%) Nutanix
9 4 (1.84%) Azure Sentinel
9 4 (1.84%) Entra ID
10 3 (1.38%) AWS Control Tower
11 2 (0.92%) Azure Storage
11 2 (0.92%) Datadog
11 2 (0.92%) GitHub Actions
11 2 (0.92%) PaaS
12 1 (0.46%) AWS Direct Connect
12 1 (0.46%) Microsoft 365
12 1 (0.46%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 92 (42.40%) Firewall
2 72 (33.18%) BGP
3 62 (28.57%) WAN
4 58 (26.73%) OSPF
5 38 (17.51%) VLAN
5 38 (17.51%) VPN
6 35 (16.13%) Network Security
7 33 (15.21%) LAN
8 32 (14.75%) VXLAN
9 31 (14.29%) SD-WAN
9 31 (14.29%) Wi-Fi
10 30 (13.82%) 5G
11 28 (12.90%) 4G
12 25 (11.52%) Ethernet VPN
12 25 (11.52%) MPLS
13 23 (10.60%) Radio Access Network
14 22 (10.14%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
15 19 (8.76%) Wireless
16 18 (8.29%) BIG-IP
17 15 (6.91%) DNS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (1.38%) Metadata
2 1 (0.46%) GIS
Development Applications
1 13 (5.99%) GitLab
2 3 (1.38%) Jenkins
3 2 (0.92%) JIRA
4 1 (0.46%) Git
General
1 50 (23.04%) Social Skills
2 35 (16.13%) Telecoms
3 23 (10.60%) Analytical Skills
4 21 (9.68%) Public Sector
5 9 (4.15%) Documentation Skills
5 9 (4.15%) Legal
6 8 (3.69%) Manufacturing
7 7 (3.23%) Retail
8 5 (2.30%) Finance
9 3 (1.38%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 3 (1.38%) Police
10 2 (0.92%) Banking
10 2 (0.92%) Billing
10 2 (0.92%) Military
11 1 (0.46%) Aviation
11 1 (0.46%) German Language
11 1 (0.46%) Pharmaceutical
11 1 (0.46%) Polish Language
11 1 (0.46%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 74 (34.10%) Network Engineer
2 47 (21.66%) Architect
2 47 (21.66%) Senior
3 35 (16.13%) Network Specialist
4 28 (12.90%) Network Architect
5 26 (11.98%) Senior Network Engineer
6 22 (10.14%) Network Design Specialist
7 19 (8.76%) Designer
8 16 (7.37%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 13 (5.99%) Design Engineer
9 13 (5.99%) Network Designer
9 13 (5.99%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
10 11 (5.07%) Senior Data Warehouse Specialist
10 11 (5.07%) Senior Network Specialist
11 10 (4.61%) Security Architect
12 8 (3.69%) Network Design Engineer
13 7 (3.23%) Lead
13 7 (3.23%) Solutions Architect
14 6 (2.76%) Consultant
14 6 (2.76%) Security Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 40 (18.43%) Terraform
2 11 (5.07%) NETCONF
2 11 (5.07%) YANG
3 8 (3.69%) 802.1X
4 6 (2.76%) OpenConfig
4 6 (2.76%) REST
4 6 (2.76%) RESTCONF
5 4 (1.84%) Azure Blueprints
5 4 (1.84%) Kafka
6 3 (1.38%) Elastic Stack
7 1 (0.46%) eBPF
Miscellaneous
1 66 (30.41%) Data Centre
2 45 (20.74%) Hybrid Cloud
3 27 (12.44%) Cloud Native
4 11 (5.07%) Management Information System
5 9 (4.15%) Data Protection Act
6 8 (3.69%) Public Cloud
7 6 (2.76%) Analytical Mindset
7 6 (2.76%) Operational Technology
8 5 (2.30%) IoT
8 5 (2.30%) PKI
8 5 (2.30%) Private Cloud
9 4 (1.84%) CMDB
9 4 (1.84%) Security Posture
10 3 (1.38%) Data Fabric
10 3 (1.38%) Enterprise Software
10 3 (1.38%) Product Ownership
10 3 (1.38%) SCADA
11 2 (0.92%) Enterprise Storage
11 2 (0.92%) Handset
11 2 (0.92%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 15 (6.91%) Linux
2 13 (5.99%) Windows
3 10 (4.61%) Windows Server
4 8 (3.69%) Ubuntu
5 4 (1.84%) Alpine Linux
5 4 (1.84%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 2 (0.92%) Data ONTAP
6 2 (0.92%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 41 (18.89%) Network Architecture
2 37 (17.05%) High Availability
3 36 (16.59%) Problem-Solving
3 36 (16.59%) Zero Trust
4 35 (16.13%) Project Delivery
5 33 (15.21%) Infrastructure as Code
5 33 (15.21%) Migration
5 33 (15.21%) Stakeholder Management
6 27 (12.44%) DevOps
6 27 (12.44%) Roadmaps
6 27 (12.44%) Validation
7 26 (11.98%) Load Balancing
8 24 (11.06%) Technical Leadership
9 23 (10.60%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 22 (10.14%) CI/CD
11 21 (9.68%) Continuous Improvement
12 18 (8.29%) Capacity Planning
13 17 (7.83%) Cybersecurity
13 17 (7.83%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 13 (5.99%) Data Protection
Programming Languages
1 43 (19.82%) Python
2 7 (3.23%) PowerShell
3 6 (2.76%) Bicep
4 2 (0.92%) Bash
5 1 (0.46%) ActionScript
Qualifications
1 65 (29.95%) Security Cleared
2 57 (26.27%) Cisco Certification
3 42 (19.35%) CCNP
3 42 (19.35%) SC Cleared
4 20 (9.22%) CCIE
5 14 (6.45%) CCNA
5 14 (6.45%) DV Cleared
6 13 (5.99%) JNCIE
7 12 (5.53%) Degree
8 9 (4.15%) Azure Certification
9 8 (3.69%) AWS Certification
10 7 (3.23%) CISSP
11 6 (2.76%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 5 (2.30%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
13 4 (1.84%) CISM
14 2 (0.92%) GIAC
14 2 (0.92%) ISSAP
14 2 (0.92%) Microsoft Certification
14 2 (0.92%) NCDA
14 2 (0.92%) VCDX
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 9 (4.15%) NIST
2 4 (1.84%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 3 (1.38%) GxP
3 3 (1.38%) NIST 800
3 3 (1.38%) Sarbanes-Oxley
4 2 (0.92%) Actionable Recommendations
4 2 (0.92%) GDPR
4 2 (0.92%) HIPAA
4 2 (0.92%) NCSC
4 2 (0.92%) QA
4 2 (0.92%) SLA
4 2 (0.92%) SOC 2
5 1 (0.46%) Cyber Essentials
5 1 (0.46%) Def Stans
5 1 (0.46%) Disclosure Scotland
System Software
1 20 (9.22%) VMware Infrastructure
2 11 (5.07%) Hyper-V
3 10 (4.61%) vSphere
4 9 (4.15%) VMware NSX
5 6 (2.76%) Active Directory
6 4 (1.84%) Firmware
7 3 (1.38%) VMware ESXi
8 2 (0.92%) EMC RecoverPoint
8 2 (0.92%) FreeRADIUS
8 2 (0.92%) NFS
8 2 (0.92%) SRDF
9 1 (0.46%) KVM
Systems Management
1 45 (20.74%) Ansible
2 11 (5.07%) Kubernetes
3 9 (4.15%) FortiGate
4 6 (2.76%) Grafana
4 6 (2.76%) Prometheus
5 3 (1.38%) Check_MK
5 3 (1.38%) Cisco Prime
5 3 (1.38%) SolarWinds Orion
5 3 (1.38%) vCenter Server
6 2 (0.92%) Argo
6 2 (0.92%) EMC NetWorker
6 2 (0.92%) EMC VPLEX
6 2 (0.92%) McAfee ePO
6 2 (0.92%) NetBackup
6 2 (0.92%) SnapMirror
6 2 (0.92%) SnapVault
7 1 (0.46%) Cisco CUCM
7 1 (0.46%) QRadar
7 1 (0.46%) Suricata
7 1 (0.46%) vRealize
Vendors
1 92 (42.40%) Cisco
2 53 (24.42%) Palo Alto
3 42 (19.35%) Fortinet
4 41 (18.89%) F5
5 28 (12.90%) Microsoft
6 25 (11.52%) VMware
7 24 (11.06%) Juniper
8 23 (10.60%) Aruba
8 23 (10.60%) Nokia
9 21 (9.68%) Arista
10 19 (8.76%) Ericsson
11 13 (5.99%) CheckPoint
11 13 (5.99%) Huawei
12 12 (5.53%) Zscaler
13 9 (4.15%) Meraki
13 9 (4.15%) Splunk
14 6 (2.76%) ServiceNow
14 6 (2.76%) SolarWinds
15 5 (2.30%) EMC
15 5 (2.30%) Google