Network Security Contracts

Network Security
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies requiring Network Security skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Network Security over the 6 months leading up to 17 February 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Feb 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 138 150 234
Rank change year-on-year +12 +84 -6
Contract jobs citing Network Security 591 723 809
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 1.94% 1.62% 1.20%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 14.72% 12.09% 9.84%
Number of daily rates quoted 372 488 530
10th Percentile £313 £400 £368
25th Percentile £424 £467 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £511 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -7.05% - -
75th Percentile £614 £650 £688
90th Percentile £675 £745 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £550 £525
% change year-on-year -9.09% +4.76% +5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 9 20 14
10th Percentile £18.05 - £21.60
25th Percentile £35.00 £7.43 £25.06
Median hourly rate £41.00 £40.00 £40.25
Median % change year-on-year +2.50% -0.62% -26.05%
75th Percentile £41.50 £56.88 £52.13
90th Percentile £45.50 £76.25 £61.84
UK excluding London median hourly rate £30.00 £10.47 £41.80
% change year-on-year +186.67% -74.97% -23.20%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
UK

Network Security falls under the Communications and Computer Networking category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring communications or computer networking skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 4,016 5,981 8,222
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 13.18% 13.39% 12.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,369 3,559 5,308
10th Percentile £210 £205 £240
25th Percentile £360 £350 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £480 £520
Median % change year-on-year +4.17% -7.69% +4.00%
75th Percentile £600 £600 £638
90th Percentile £681 £700 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £470 £475 £475
% change year-on-year -1.05% - +11.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 127 401 552
10th Percentile £15.44 £14.36 £9.80
25th Percentile £21.36 £20.00 £10.63
Median hourly rate £32.50 £47.50 £19.69
Median % change year-on-year -31.58% +141.24% -14.39%
75th Percentile £60.06 £65.00 £57.01
90th Percentile £70.00 £75.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.38 £51.42 £19.88
% change year-on-year -50.64% +158.65% -0.60%

Network Security
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing Network Security as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for Network Security in the UK

Network Security
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Network Security.

Daily rate trend for Network Security in the UK

Network Security
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Network Security over the 6 months to 17 February 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Network Security in the UK

Network Security
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Network Security.

Hourly rate trend for Network Security in the UK

Network Security
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Network Security over the 6 months to 17 February 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Network Security in the UK

Network Security
Top 17 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Network Security within the UK over the 6 months to 17 February 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 +14 491 £544 -1.05% 216
UK excluding London -12 262 £500 -9.09% 131
London +46 246 £550 - 95
Work from Home +14 191 £500 -9.09% 608
North of England +9 78 £500 -20.00% 38
South East +28 63 £533 -0.47% 26
North West -23 43 £504 -19.40% 21
Midlands -11 36 £582 +10.76% 13
South West -4 35 £523 -12.92% 21
Yorkshire +50 34 £422 -15.70% 13
Scotland +27 24 £425 -27.04% 12
West Midlands -12 22 £582 +8.09% 11
East of England -1 20 £588 +23.68% 17
Wales +15 15 £290 - 8
East Midlands +6 13 £230 -42.50% 2
North East - 1 - - 4
Channel Islands - 1 £450 -

Network Security
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 29 (4.91%) SharePoint
2 26 (4.40%) Microsoft Exchange
3 11 (1.86%) Confluence
4 7 (1.18%) MQSeries
5 1 (0.17%) IIS
5 1 (0.17%) Site Server
Applications
1 15 (2.54%) Microsoft Office
2 9 (1.52%) MS Visio
3 1 (0.17%) Microsoft Project
Cloud Services
1 175 (29.61%) Azure
2 72 (12.18%) AWS
3 48 (8.12%) Microsoft 365
4 45 (7.61%) Entra ID
5 32 (5.41%) GCP
6 27 (4.57%) OneDrive
7 18 (3.05%) Azure Sentinel
8 17 (2.88%) Azure AKS
8 17 (2.88%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 16 (2.71%) Power Platform
10 15 (2.54%) Azure DevOps
10 15 (2.54%) Power Automate
11 11 (1.86%) AWS CloudFormation
11 11 (1.86%) GitHub
12 10 (1.69%) IaaS
12 10 (1.69%) Virtual Private Cloud
13 9 (1.52%) WhatsApp
14 8 (1.35%) Azure Key Vault
14 8 (1.35%) Cloud Computing
14 8 (1.35%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 314 (53.13%) Firewall
2 150 (25.38%) VPN
3 128 (21.66%) WAN
4 97 (16.41%) LAN
5 94 (15.91%) BGP
6 92 (15.57%) OSPF
7 82 (13.87%) Wireless
8 61 (10.32%) DNS
9 59 (9.98%) TCP/IP
10 54 (9.14%) IPsec
10 54 (9.14%) SD-WAN
11 38 (6.43%) MPLS
11 38 (6.43%) Wi-Fi
12 34 (5.75%) SSL
13 30 (5.08%) Cisco ASA
14 29 (4.91%) Cisco Firepower
15 28 (4.74%) Cisco Nexus
15 28 (4.74%) Internet
16 27 (4.57%) DHCP
16 27 (4.57%) EIGRP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (2.20%) SQL Server
2 5 (0.85%) Azure SQL Database
3 2 (0.34%) Amazon RDS
3 2 (0.34%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
3 2 (0.34%) Data Warehouse
3 2 (0.34%) InfluxDB
3 2 (0.34%) Looker
3 2 (0.34%) SQL Server Integration Services
3 2 (0.34%) SQL Server Reporting Services
4 1 (0.17%) Big Data
4 1 (0.17%) Data Lake
4 1 (0.17%) NoSQL
4 1 (0.17%) Power BI
4 1 (0.17%) Redis
Development Applications
1 14 (2.37%) JIRA
2 9 (1.52%) Jenkins
3 4 (0.68%) Git
3 4 (0.68%) Sonatype Nexus
4 2 (0.34%) GitLab
5 1 (0.17%) Katalon Studio
General
1 159 (26.90%) Social Skills
2 91 (15.40%) Finance
3 66 (11.17%) Analytical Skills
4 49 (8.29%) Public Sector
5 31 (5.25%) Telecoms
6 26 (4.40%) Legal
7 22 (3.72%) Manufacturing
8 21 (3.55%) Banking
9 16 (2.71%) Retail
10 12 (2.03%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 10 (1.69%) Documentation Skills
11 10 (1.69%) Presentation Skills
12 8 (1.35%) Marketing
13 7 (1.18%) Organisational Skills
14 6 (1.02%) Electronics
14 6 (1.02%) Financial Institution
15 5 (0.85%) Military
16 3 (0.51%) Local Government
17 2 (0.34%) Back Office
17 2 (0.34%) German Language
Job Titles
1 180 (30.46%) Network Engineer
2 102 (17.26%) Architect
3 56 (9.48%) Security Engineer
4 53 (8.97%) Senior
5 47 (7.95%) Network Architect
6 44 (7.45%) Security Architect
7 41 (6.94%) Network Security Engineer
8 37 (6.26%) Analyst
9 29 (4.91%) Support Engineer
10 27 (4.57%) Senior Network Engineer
11 25 (4.23%) Consultant
12 20 (3.38%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 18 (3.05%) Network Specialist
13 18 (3.05%) Security Analyst
14 16 (2.71%) Azure Engineer
15 15 (2.54%) Microsoft 365 Engineer
15 15 (2.54%) Microsoft Engineer
16 14 (2.37%) Cisco Engineer
17 12 (2.03%) Cisco Network Engineer
17 12 (2.03%) Network Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 19 (3.21%) 802.1X
1 19 (3.21%) LDAP
2 17 (2.88%) SAML
3 5 (0.85%) .NET
4 4 (0.68%) ARM Templates
5 3 (0.51%) REST
6 2 (0.34%) Elastic Stack
6 2 (0.34%) NETCONF
6 2 (0.34%) RESTful
6 2 (0.34%) YAML
7 1 (0.17%) JWT
7 1 (0.17%) Loki
7 1 (0.17%) Regular Expression
7 1 (0.17%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 54 (9.14%) Data Centre
2 41 (6.94%) Security Posture
3 21 (3.55%) Management Information System
4 15 (2.54%) Public Cloud
5 11 (1.86%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
5 11 (1.86%) Operational Technology
5 11 (1.86%) Video Conferencing
6 10 (1.69%) Cyber Threat
6 10 (1.69%) Cyberattack
6 10 (1.69%) Data Protection Act
7 8 (1.35%) Onboarding
8 7 (1.18%) Cloud Native
8 7 (1.18%) Hybrid Cloud
8 7 (1.18%) NHS
9 6 (1.02%) Legacy Systems
9 6 (1.02%) Mainframe
9 6 (1.02%) Mobile App
9 6 (1.02%) Security Operations Centre
10 5 (0.85%) Analytical Mindset
10 5 (0.85%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 88 (14.89%) Windows
2 54 (9.14%) Linux
3 31 (5.25%) Windows Server
4 23 (3.89%) Windows 10
5 22 (3.72%) Unix
6 9 (1.52%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 4 (0.68%) Mac OS
8 3 (0.51%) Android
8 3 (0.51%) CatOS
9 2 (0.34%) Apple iOS
9 2 (0.34%) CoreOS
9 2 (0.34%) Windows Server 2012
9 2 (0.34%) Windows Server 2016
9 2 (0.34%) Windows Server 2019
10 1 (0.17%) CentOS
10 1 (0.17%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 110 (18.61%) Problem-Solving
2 97 (16.41%) Cybersecurity
3 83 (14.04%) Cloud Security
4 61 (10.32%) Application Security
5 55 (9.31%) Information Security
5 55 (9.31%) Network Design
6 54 (9.14%) Migration
7 52 (8.80%) SIEM
8 50 (8.46%) Network Architecture
9 48 (8.12%) ITIL
10 46 (7.78%) DevOps
10 46 (7.78%) Incident Response
10 46 (7.78%) Security Architecture
11 40 (6.77%) High Availability
11 40 (6.77%) Risk Management
12 38 (6.43%) Roadmaps
13 35 (5.92%) Disaster Recovery
13 35 (5.92%) Identity Access Management
14 34 (5.75%) Mentoring
15 33 (5.58%) Network Management
Programming Languages
1 69 (11.68%) Python
2 52 (8.80%) PowerShell
3 15 (2.54%) SQL
4 10 (1.69%) Java
5 6 (1.02%) Bash
6 5 (0.85%) Bicep
6 5 (0.85%) Perl
7 4 (0.68%) C#
7 4 (0.68%) Go
7 4 (0.68%) Rust
8 3 (0.51%) C
9 2 (0.34%) C++
9 2 (0.34%) Shell Script
9 2 (0.34%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 149 (25.21%) Cisco Certification
2 125 (21.15%) Security Cleared
3 96 (16.24%) CCNP
4 85 (14.38%) SC Cleared
5 75 (12.69%) CCNA
6 61 (10.32%) Degree
7 48 (8.12%) CISSP
8 40 (6.77%) DV Cleared
9 32 (5.41%) CCIE
10 30 (5.08%) CISM
11 25 (4.23%) Azure Certification
12 19 (3.21%) Microsoft Certification
13 16 (2.71%) CEH
13 16 (2.71%) Computer Science Degree
14 11 (1.86%) CompTIA Security+
15 8 (1.35%) CISA
15 8 (1.35%) ITIL Certification
15 8 (1.35%) Network+ Certification
16 7 (1.18%) BPSS Clearance
16 7 (1.18%) JNCIP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 54 (9.14%) NIST
2 33 (5.58%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 28 (4.74%) GDPR
4 18 (3.05%) PCI DSS
5 11 (1.86%) COBIT
5 11 (1.86%) HIPAA
6 8 (1.35%) NIST 800
7 6 (1.02%) GRC
8 5 (0.85%) Cyber Essentials
8 5 (0.85%) SOC 2
9 4 (0.68%) DICOM
9 4 (0.68%) HL7
9 4 (0.68%) QA
10 2 (0.34%) Actionable Recommendations
11 1 (0.17%) AUTOSAR
11 1 (0.17%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 1 (0.17%) Data Quality
11 1 (0.17%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 1 (0.17%) NCSC
11 1 (0.17%) SLA
System Software
1 79 (13.37%) Active Directory
2 46 (7.78%) VMware Infrastructure
3 12 (2.03%) Virtual Machines
4 10 (1.69%) Docker
4 10 (1.69%) Hyper-V
4 10 (1.69%) vSphere
5 9 (1.52%) VMware NSX
6 7 (1.18%) Samba
7 6 (1.02%) Firmware
8 2 (0.34%) Virtual Servers
8 2 (0.34%) VMware ESXi
9 1 (0.17%) BitLocker
9 1 (0.17%) KVM
9 1 (0.17%) Microsoft App-V
9 1 (0.17%) Virtual Desktop
9 1 (0.17%) VMware Workstation
9 1 (0.17%) Xen
Systems Management
1 39 (6.60%) Ansible
2 37 (6.26%) Terraform
3 32 (5.41%) Microsoft Intune
4 29 (4.91%) FortiGate
5 20 (3.38%) Kubernetes
6 15 (2.54%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 12 (2.03%) SCCM
8 7 (1.18%) Grafana
9 6 (1.02%) Prometheus
9 6 (1.02%) Single Sign-On
10 5 (0.85%) CASB
10 5 (0.85%) Puppet
10 5 (0.85%) WSUS
11 4 (0.68%) Cisco CUCM
11 4 (0.68%) ZABBIX
12 3 (0.51%) Cacti
12 3 (0.51%) Cisco Prime
12 3 (0.51%) Nagios
13 2 (0.34%) Automic
13 2 (0.34%) Nessus
Vendors
1 229 (38.75%) Cisco
2 109 (18.44%) Microsoft
3 95 (16.07%) Palo Alto
4 53 (8.97%) CheckPoint
4 53 (8.97%) VMware
5 49 (8.29%) Fortinet
6 44 (7.45%) F5
7 36 (6.09%) Juniper
8 28 (4.74%) Meraki
9 22 (3.72%) Zscaler
10 19 (3.21%) Aruba
11 18 (3.05%) Infoblox
12 17 (2.88%) Qualys
12 17 (2.88%) Splunk
13 16 (2.71%) SolarWinds
14 9 (1.52%) Extreme Networks
15 8 (1.35%) Arista
15 8 (1.35%) Google
15 8 (1.35%) Sophos
16 7 (1.18%) SAP