Network Security Contract Job Trends

Network Security
UK

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

6 months to
18 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 154 141 166
Rank change year-on-year -13 +25 +37
Contract jobs citing Network Security 780 590 632
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.69% 2.00% 1.45%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 17.38% 15.57% 11.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 528 362 439
10th Percentile £354 £362 £400
25th Percentile £425 £420 £468
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £520 £563
Median % change year-on-year -3.85% -7.56% +2.27%
75th Percentile £600 £611 £650
90th Percentile £700 £675 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £490 £575
% change year-on-year +2.04% -14.78% +9.52%
Number of hourly rates quoted 15 12 16
10th Percentile £31.20 £20.70 -
25th Percentile £42.13 £40.50 £7.43
Median hourly rate £65.00 £62.84 £18.25
Median % change year-on-year +3.44% +244.32% -64.99%
75th Percentile £74.13 £81.35 £41.25
90th Percentile £75.00 £82.03 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £80.68 £7.43
% change year-on-year -19.43% +985.80% -83.88%

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 4,488 3,789 5,730
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.73% 12.88% 13.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,816 2,345 3,442
10th Percentile £238 £213 £205
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £488 £488
Median % change year-on-year +2.56% - -5.80%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £465 £475
% change year-on-year +2.15% -2.11% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 205 168 421
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.85
25th Percentile £20.75 £21.00 £17.69
Median hourly rate £47.50 £37.50 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +26.67% -6.25% +110.53%
75th Percentile £70.00 £61.69 £62.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £75.00 £67.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £28.00 £46.39
% change year-on-year +96.43% -39.64% +150.76%

Network Security
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Network Security job vacancy trend in the UK

Network Security
Daily Rate Trend

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

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

Network Security
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Network Security over the 6 months to 18 April 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Network Security in the UK

Network Security
Hourly Rate Trend

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

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

Network Security
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Network Security over the 6 months to 18 April 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Network Security in the UK

Network Security
Top 17 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 Security within the UK over the 6 months to 18 April 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 -13 678 £500 -5.66% 198
UK excluding London -5 397 £500 +2.04% 166
London -24 277 £520 -5.45% 70
Work from Home +1 218 £525 +5.00% 73
North of England -5 137 £481 -3.88% 46
South East -8 107 £500 +2.04% 53
North West -2 85 £489 -2.20% 29
Midlands -23 71 £500 -9.09% 20
Yorkshire -24 54 £425 +6.25% 12
West Midlands -34 53 £500 -4.76% 16
East of England -24 35 £505 -10.22% 20
South West -28 29 £545 -0.91% 11
Scotland +4 28 £509 +19.71% 11
East Midlands -21 17 £638 -1.92% 4
North East -11 3 £550 -12.00% 5
Wales -14 3 £513 +76.72% 8
Northern Ireland - 2 £500 - 1

Network Security
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 18 (2.31%) Confluence
2 9 (1.15%) Microsoft Exchange
3 6 (0.77%) Apache
4 4 (0.51%) SharePoint
5 1 (0.13%) nginx
5 1 (0.13%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 21 (2.69%) Microsoft Office
2 10 (1.28%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.51%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 5 (0.64%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 243 (31.15%) Azure
2 166 (21.28%) AWS
3 95 (12.18%) GCP
4 60 (7.69%) Entra ID
5 35 (4.49%) GitHub
6 30 (3.85%) GitHub Actions
7 29 (3.72%) Azure DevOps
7 29 (3.72%) Azure Sentinel
8 21 (2.69%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 19 (2.44%) Azure Key Vault
10 18 (2.31%) AWS CloudFormation
11 17 (2.18%) Azure AKS
12 16 (2.05%) Azure Monitor
12 16 (2.05%) Microsoft 365
12 16 (2.05%) Virtual Private Cloud
13 14 (1.79%) Google Kubernetes Engine
14 13 (1.67%) Akamai
14 13 (1.67%) Serverless
15 12 (1.54%) Amazon S3
16 11 (1.41%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 376 (48.21%) Firewall
2 150 (19.23%) VPN
3 134 (17.18%) WAN
4 108 (13.85%) LAN
5 101 (12.95%) BGP
6 85 (10.90%) DNS
6 85 (10.90%) OSPF
7 74 (9.49%) SD-WAN
7 74 (9.49%) VLAN
8 59 (7.56%) TCP/IP
9 50 (6.41%) Wireless
10 45 (5.77%) MPLS
11 40 (5.13%) DHCP
12 37 (4.74%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
13 36 (4.62%) Cisco ASA
13 36 (4.62%) Wi-Fi
14 34 (4.36%) Internet
15 30 (3.85%) Cisco ISE
15 30 (3.85%) SSL
16 29 (3.72%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (1.03%) Azure SQL Database
2 6 (0.77%) Amazon RDS
3 5 (0.64%) InfluxDB
3 5 (0.64%) Relational Database
4 4 (0.51%) SQL Server
5 3 (0.38%) Amazon Athena
5 3 (0.38%) Data Lake
5 3 (0.38%) Power BI
6 2 (0.26%) Oracle Database
6 2 (0.26%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 32 (4.10%) JIRA
2 23 (2.95%) Jenkins
3 16 (2.05%) GitLab
4 11 (1.41%) Git
5 8 (1.03%) Sonatype Nexus
6 7 (0.90%) Snyk
7 5 (0.64%) Browser DevTools
8 2 (0.26%) Postman
9 1 (0.13%) Burp Suite
9 1 (0.13%) Claude Code
9 1 (0.13%) JUnit
9 1 (0.13%) SoapUI
9 1 (0.13%) Zephyr
General
1 190 (24.36%) Social Skills
2 109 (13.97%) Finance
3 87 (11.15%) Analytical Skills
4 65 (8.33%) Public Sector
5 36 (4.62%) Banking
6 33 (4.23%) Documentation Skills
7 26 (3.33%) Telecoms
8 20 (2.56%) Financial Institution
9 9 (1.15%) Legal
10 8 (1.03%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 8 (1.03%) Manufacturing
11 7 (0.90%) Organisational Skills
12 5 (0.64%) Influencing Skills
12 5 (0.64%) Local Government
12 5 (0.64%) Presentation Skills
13 4 (0.51%) Electronics
13 4 (0.51%) Investment Banking
13 4 (0.51%) Military
14 3 (0.38%) Pharmaceutical
14 3 (0.38%) Retail
Job Titles
1 184 (23.59%) Network Engineer
2 176 (22.56%) Architect
3 91 (11.67%) Security Engineer
4 90 (11.54%) Security Architect
5 62 (7.95%) Network Architect
6 61 (7.82%) Senior
7 44 (5.64%) Network Security Engineer
8 26 (3.33%) Analyst
8 26 (3.33%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 26 (3.33%) Lead
8 26 (3.33%) Network Security Architect
9 25 (3.21%) Consultant
10 21 (2.69%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
11 20 (2.56%) Azure Architect
12 19 (2.44%) Cloud Architect
13 18 (2.31%) Cloud Engineer
13 18 (2.31%) Project Manager
13 18 (2.31%) Solutions Architect
14 17 (2.18%) Security Specialist
15 16 (2.05%) Security Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (2.95%) 802.1X
2 13 (1.67%) LDAP
3 10 (1.28%) SAML
4 8 (1.03%) Node.js
5 6 (0.77%) .NET
5 6 (0.77%) REST
6 5 (0.64%) .NET Core
6 5 (0.64%) AngularJS
6 5 (0.64%) ARM Templates
6 5 (0.64%) OAuth
6 5 (0.64%) PyTorch
6 5 (0.64%) RabbitMQ
6 5 (0.64%) React
6 5 (0.64%) TensorFlow
7 4 (0.51%) AWS CDK
7 4 (0.51%) HTML
7 4 (0.51%) OpenID
8 3 (0.38%) CSS
8 3 (0.38%) Elastic Stack
8 3 (0.38%) OAuth2
Miscellaneous
1 109 (13.97%) Data Centre
2 45 (5.77%) Cloud Native
3 44 (5.64%) Security Posture
4 40 (5.13%) Hybrid Cloud
5 28 (3.59%) Onboarding
6 27 (3.46%) Public Cloud
7 26 (3.33%) IoT
7 26 (3.33%) Management Information System
8 22 (2.82%) Operational Technology
8 22 (2.82%) PKI
9 21 (2.69%) Data Protection Act
10 19 (2.44%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
10 19 (2.44%) Product Ownership
11 18 (2.31%) Cyber Threat
12 15 (1.92%) Analytical Mindset
13 14 (1.79%) Security Operations Centre
14 13 (1.67%) Virtual Team
15 12 (1.54%) Cyber Security Posture
16 9 (1.15%) Legacy Systems
16 9 (1.15%) Linux Command Line
Operating Systems
1 83 (10.64%) Windows
2 68 (8.72%) Linux
3 30 (3.85%) Windows Server
4 13 (1.67%) Unix
5 10 (1.28%) VMS
6 8 (1.03%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 7 (0.90%) Mac OS
8 6 (0.77%) Ubuntu
9 4 (0.51%) Windows 10
10 3 (0.38%) SUSE
11 1 (0.13%) Android
11 1 (0.13%) Data ONTAP
Processes & Methodologies
1 170 (21.79%) Cybersecurity
2 125 (16.03%) Cloud Security
3 116 (14.87%) Problem-Solving
4 115 (14.74%) Zero Trust
5 114 (14.62%) Security Architecture
6 105 (13.46%) Migration
7 102 (13.08%) CI/CD
8 99 (12.69%) DevOps
9 98 (12.56%) Infrastructure as Code
10 97 (12.44%) SIEM
11 78 (10.00%) Continuous Improvement
11 78 (10.00%) Threat Modelling
12 73 (9.36%) Network Segmentation
13 72 (9.23%) Incident Response
14 69 (8.85%) Change Management
14 69 (8.85%) High Availability
15 68 (8.72%) Stakeholder Management
16 65 (8.33%) Agile
16 65 (8.33%) Identity Access Management
17 63 (8.08%) Security Operations
Programming Languages
1 114 (14.62%) Python
2 65 (8.33%) PowerShell
3 30 (3.85%) Bash
4 26 (3.33%) Bicep
5 25 (3.21%) JavaScript
5 25 (3.21%) SQL
6 15 (1.92%) Kusto Query Language
7 9 (1.15%) Go
8 8 (1.03%) Shell Script
9 7 (0.90%) Java
10 5 (0.64%) C#
11 4 (0.51%) C
11 4 (0.51%) PHP
12 3 (0.38%) C++
13 2 (0.26%) C-shell
13 2 (0.26%) Korn
13 2 (0.26%) Ruby
14 1 (0.13%) ActionScript
14 1 (0.13%) AppleScript
14 1 (0.13%) VBA
Qualifications
1 234 (30.00%) Security Cleared
2 172 (22.05%) SC Cleared
3 139 (17.82%) Cisco Certification
4 102 (13.08%) CCNP
5 97 (12.44%) CISSP
6 72 (9.23%) DV Cleared
7 53 (6.79%) CISM
8 51 (6.54%) CCNA
8 51 (6.54%) Degree
9 33 (4.23%) Azure Certification
10 30 (3.85%) CCIE
11 25 (3.21%) GIAC
12 24 (3.08%) CCSP
13 23 (2.95%) (ISC)2 CCSP
14 22 (2.82%) CEH
15 20 (2.56%) AWS Certification
16 16 (2.05%) CompTIA Security+
17 12 (1.54%) BPSS Clearance
17 12 (1.54%) TOGAF Certification
18 10 (1.28%) JNCIS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 88 (11.28%) NIST
2 73 (9.36%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 46 (5.90%) GDPR
4 30 (3.85%) PCI DSS
5 20 (2.56%) NCSC
6 15 (1.92%) Cyber Essentials
6 15 (1.92%) GRC
7 14 (1.79%) SLA
8 10 (1.28%) SOC 2
9 9 (1.15%) QA
9 9 (1.15%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 8 (1.03%) Actionable Recommendations
10 8 (1.03%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 6 (0.77%) PMO
12 5 (0.64%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 4 (0.51%) Disclosure Scotland
13 4 (0.51%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 4 (0.51%) RMADS
14 3 (0.38%) ISA99
14 3 (0.38%) JSP 440
System Software
1 55 (7.05%) VMware Infrastructure
2 49 (6.28%) Active Directory
3 22 (2.82%) Docker
3 22 (2.82%) VMware NSX
4 13 (1.67%) Hyper-V
4 13 (1.67%) Virtual Machines
5 12 (1.54%) vSphere
6 10 (1.28%) VMware ESXi
7 7 (0.90%) Firmware
8 5 (0.64%) Virtual Desktop
9 4 (0.51%) ProxySG
10 2 (0.26%) NFS
10 2 (0.26%) Postfix
10 2 (0.26%) Sendmail
10 2 (0.26%) Varnish
11 1 (0.13%) KVM
11 1 (0.13%) RHEV
11 1 (0.13%) Virtual Servers
11 1 (0.13%) XenApp
11 1 (0.13%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 118 (15.13%) Terraform
2 75 (9.62%) Ansible
3 62 (7.95%) Kubernetes
4 31 (3.97%) FortiGate
5 15 (1.92%) Single Sign-On
6 14 (1.79%) Nagios
7 13 (1.67%) Microsoft Intune
8 12 (1.54%) Kibana
9 11 (1.41%) vCenter Server
10 9 (1.15%) Microsoft Clustering
11 7 (0.90%) Grafana
12 6 (0.77%) Prometheus
13 5 (0.64%) Active Directory Federation Services
13 5 (0.64%) CASB
13 5 (0.64%) Istio
13 5 (0.64%) Progress Chef
14 4 (0.51%) Puppet
14 4 (0.51%) WSUS
15 3 (0.38%) Cisco Prime
15 3 (0.38%) SCOM
Vendors
1 212 (27.18%) Cisco
2 121 (15.51%) Microsoft
3 117 (15.00%) Palo Alto
4 78 (10.00%) F5
5 70 (8.97%) VMware
6 59 (7.56%) Juniper
7 57 (7.31%) Fortinet
8 51 (6.54%) CheckPoint
9 41 (5.26%) Zscaler
10 30 (3.85%) ServiceNow
11 27 (3.46%) Splunk
12 25 (3.21%) Google
13 19 (2.44%) SolarWinds
14 18 (2.31%) Aruba
14 18 (2.31%) ForeScout
15 17 (2.18%) Tenable
16 16 (2.05%) Meraki
17 15 (1.92%) Okta
18 14 (1.79%) Citrix
19 13 (1.67%) Databricks