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 5 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
5 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 175 143 148
Rank change year-on-year -32 +5 +95
Contract jobs citing Network Security 629 589 742
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.61% 1.89% 1.67%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 15.37% 14.54% 12.22%
Number of daily rates quoted 397 367 508
10th Percentile £345 £313 £405
25th Percentile £415 £419 £473
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £510 £550
Median % change year-on-year -1.96% -7.27% -
75th Percentile £588 £616 £649
90th Percentile £685 £685 £745
UK excluding London median daily rate £481 £500 £550
% change year-on-year -3.75% -9.09% +4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 10 11 19
10th Percentile £34.30 £18.50 -
25th Percentile £51.44 £35.50 £7.43
Median hourly rate £65.50 £41.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +59.76% +2.50% +6.67%
75th Percentile £81.56 £46.25 £58.75
90th Percentile £93.88 £47.50 £76.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £41.00 £10.47
% change year-on-year +58.54% +291.78% -72.09%

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 4,093 4,052 6,073
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 10.45% 13.01% 13.66%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,697 2,371 3,657
10th Percentile £204 £213 £206
25th Percentile £356 £360 £356
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £493
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +1.52% -4.83%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £680 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £452 £470 £475
% change year-on-year -3.83% -1.05% +2.15%
Number of hourly rates quoted 166 137 407
10th Percentile £15.50 £15.93 £15.43
25th Percentile £18.90 £21.46 £21.25
Median hourly rate £32.00 £35.00 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year -8.57% -30.00% +150.00%
75th Percentile £65.00 £53.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £69.25 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £41.94 £31.79 £55.00
% change year-on-year +31.93% -42.20% +177.08%

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 5 February 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 5 February 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 5 February 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 -25 557 £500 -4.76% 250
UK excluding London -29 315 £481 -3.75% 198
London -20 237 £531 -3.41% 100
Work from Home -22 161 £504 +0.75% 115
North of England -29 113 £475 -5.00% 27
South East -10 76 £446 -15.05% 63
North West -2 71 £481 -4.47% 19
Midlands -31 61 £500 -14.13% 35
West Midlands -9 53 £500 -14.13% 27
Yorkshire -38 52 £350 -29.29% 7
South West -16 30 £535 +2.39% 30
Scotland +15 25 £475 +18.75% 18
East of England -19 25 £475 -14.80% 21
East Midlands -28 8 £442 +92.28% 8
Wales -9 3 £650 +124.14% 6
Northern Ireland - 3 £500 -
North East -11 2 £475 - 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 15 (2.38%) Confluence
2 5 (0.79%) Microsoft Exchange
2 5 (0.79%) SharePoint
3 4 (0.64%) Apache
4 2 (0.32%) nginx
5 1 (0.16%) IIS
5 1 (0.16%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 18 (2.86%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (1.75%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.64%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.32%) Microsoft Excel
5 1 (0.16%) Windchill
Cloud Services
1 179 (28.46%) Azure
2 131 (20.83%) AWS
3 61 (9.70%) GCP
4 32 (5.09%) Entra ID
4 32 (5.09%) GitHub
5 29 (4.61%) GitHub Actions
6 23 (3.66%) Azure DevOps
6 23 (3.66%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 21 (3.34%) Amazon S3
8 19 (3.02%) Azure Sentinel
8 19 (3.02%) Microsoft 365
9 18 (2.86%) Azure Key Vault
10 15 (2.38%) Amazon EC2
11 14 (2.23%) Amazon CloudWatch
11 14 (2.23%) AWS CloudFormation
11 14 (2.23%) Serverless
12 12 (1.91%) Azure Monitor
13 11 (1.75%) Azure ExpressRoute
13 11 (1.75%) Google Workspace
13 11 (1.75%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 308 (48.97%) Firewall
2 130 (20.67%) VPN
3 94 (14.94%) WAN
4 86 (13.67%) DNS
5 74 (11.76%) LAN
6 70 (11.13%) BGP
7 57 (9.06%) TCP/IP
8 54 (8.59%) OSPF
9 53 (8.43%) VLAN
10 41 (6.52%) SSL
11 39 (6.20%) SD-WAN
12 37 (5.88%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
12 37 (5.88%) Wireless
13 34 (5.41%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
14 30 (4.77%) DMZ
15 28 (4.45%) Internet
16 27 (4.29%) MPLS
17 25 (3.97%) Cisco ASA
18 22 (3.50%) DHCP
19 21 (3.34%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (0.64%) Amazon RDS
1 4 (0.64%) Azure SQL Database
1 4 (0.64%) InfluxDB
1 4 (0.64%) Relational Database
2 3 (0.48%) Amazon Athena
3 2 (0.32%) Data Lake
3 2 (0.32%) Oracle Database
3 2 (0.32%) Power BI
3 2 (0.32%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 1 (0.16%) Redis
4 1 (0.16%) SQL Server
4 1 (0.16%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 30 (4.77%) Jenkins
2 24 (3.82%) GitLab
3 16 (2.54%) Git
3 16 (2.54%) JIRA
4 6 (0.95%) Sonatype Nexus
5 3 (0.48%) Snyk
6 1 (0.16%) Metasploit
6 1 (0.16%) Subversion
General
1 189 (30.05%) Social Skills
2 89 (14.15%) Analytical Skills
3 75 (11.92%) Finance
4 57 (9.06%) Public Sector
5 36 (5.72%) Banking
6 26 (4.13%) Documentation Skills
7 23 (3.66%) Telecoms
8 13 (2.07%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 13 (2.07%) Investment Banking
9 8 (1.27%) Financial Institution
9 8 (1.27%) Manufacturing
9 8 (1.27%) Military
10 7 (1.11%) Legal
10 7 (1.11%) Presentation Skills
11 6 (0.95%) Pharmaceutical
12 5 (0.79%) Influencing Skills
12 5 (0.79%) Organisational Skills
13 4 (0.64%) Local Government
13 4 (0.64%) Marketing
14 3 (0.48%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 134 (21.30%) Network Engineer
2 122 (19.40%) Architect
3 91 (14.47%) Security Engineer
4 66 (10.49%) Security Architect
5 48 (7.63%) Network Architect
6 47 (7.47%) Senior
7 37 (5.88%) Network Security Engineer
8 29 (4.61%) Analyst
9 24 (3.82%) Network Security Architect
10 20 (3.18%) Administrator
10 20 (3.18%) Lead
11 19 (3.02%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 19 (3.02%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
12 18 (2.86%) Cloud Engineer
12 18 (2.86%) Security Analyst
12 18 (2.86%) SIEM Engineer
13 17 (2.70%) Azure Architect
13 17 (2.70%) Cybersecurity Engineer
14 16 (2.54%) Cloud Architect
14 16 (2.54%) Consultant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 18 (2.86%) 802.1X
2 12 (1.91%) LDAP
3 9 (1.43%) SAML
4 8 (1.27%) .NET
4 8 (1.27%) Node.js
5 6 (0.95%) ARM Templates
6 5 (0.79%) .NET Core
6 5 (0.79%) AngularJS
6 5 (0.79%) Elastic Stack
6 5 (0.79%) OAuth
6 5 (0.79%) OAuth2
6 5 (0.79%) OpenID
6 5 (0.79%) PyTorch
6 5 (0.79%) RabbitMQ
6 5 (0.79%) React
6 5 (0.79%) REST
6 5 (0.79%) TensorFlow
7 3 (0.48%) Lambda Expressions
7 3 (0.48%) Plotly
7 3 (0.48%) SLSA
Miscellaneous
1 84 (13.35%) Data Centre
2 34 (5.41%) Security Posture
3 33 (5.25%) Cloud Native
4 32 (5.09%) Hybrid Cloud
5 31 (4.93%) PKI
6 27 (4.29%) Management Information System
7 20 (3.18%) Onboarding
7 20 (3.18%) Public Cloud
8 17 (2.70%) Cyber Security Posture
8 17 (2.70%) IoT
8 17 (2.70%) Operational Technology
9 16 (2.54%) Security Operations Centre
10 14 (2.23%) Analytical Mindset
10 14 (2.23%) Cyber Threat
10 14 (2.23%) Data Protection Act
11 12 (1.91%) Product Ownership
12 10 (1.59%) Virtual Team
13 8 (1.27%) CSOC
13 8 (1.27%) SCADA
14 7 (1.11%) Clustering
Operating Systems
1 86 (13.67%) Windows
2 72 (11.45%) Linux
3 29 (4.61%) Windows Server
4 11 (1.75%) Unix
5 8 (1.27%) VMS
6 6 (0.95%) Ubuntu
7 4 (0.64%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 3 (0.48%) Mac OS
9 2 (0.32%) Windows Server 2019
10 1 (0.16%) Data ONTAP
10 1 (0.16%) Windows 10
10 1 (0.16%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 157 (24.96%) Cybersecurity
2 117 (18.60%) Problem-Solving
3 102 (16.22%) SIEM
4 97 (15.42%) CI/CD
5 91 (14.47%) Infrastructure as Code
6 90 (14.31%) DevOps
7 89 (14.15%) Cloud Security
7 89 (14.15%) Incident Response
8 83 (13.20%) Zero Trust
9 75 (11.92%) Security Architecture
10 74 (11.76%) Migration
11 60 (9.54%) Change Management
12 57 (9.06%) Identity Access Management
12 57 (9.06%) Threat Modelling
13 54 (8.59%) Continuous Improvement
14 53 (8.43%) Agile
15 51 (8.11%) Network Segmentation
15 51 (8.11%) Vulnerability Management
16 50 (7.95%) Load Balancing
16 50 (7.95%) Network Architecture
Programming Languages
1 126 (20.03%) Python
2 70 (11.13%) PowerShell
3 34 (5.41%) Bash
4 20 (3.18%) SQL
5 19 (3.02%) Bicep
6 15 (2.38%) JavaScript
7 14 (2.23%) Kusto Query Language
8 10 (1.59%) Java
9 9 (1.43%) Go
10 5 (0.79%) C
10 5 (0.79%) C#
10 5 (0.79%) C++
10 5 (0.79%) Shell Script
11 3 (0.48%) Perl
11 3 (0.48%) PHP
12 2 (0.32%) C-shell
12 2 (0.32%) Korn
13 1 (0.16%) ActionScript
13 1 (0.16%) Rust
13 1 (0.16%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 207 (32.91%) Security Cleared
2 151 (24.01%) SC Cleared
3 110 (17.49%) Cisco Certification
4 90 (14.31%) CCNP
5 82 (13.04%) CISSP
6 64 (10.17%) DV Cleared
7 48 (7.63%) Degree
8 41 (6.52%) CISM
9 40 (6.36%) CCNA
10 31 (4.93%) CCIE
10 31 (4.93%) GIAC
11 27 (4.29%) CEH
12 18 (2.86%) Azure Certification
12 18 (2.86%) CompTIA Security+
13 16 (2.54%) Computer Science Degree
14 13 (2.07%) JNCIS
15 12 (1.91%) AWS Certification
16 11 (1.75%) BPSS Clearance
17 10 (1.59%) JNCIP
17 10 (1.59%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 76 (12.08%) NIST
2 74 (11.76%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 41 (6.52%) GDPR
4 28 (4.45%) PCI DSS
5 22 (3.50%) Cyber Essentials
6 17 (2.70%) NCSC
7 12 (1.91%) GRC
8 8 (1.27%) SOC 2
9 7 (1.11%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 7 (1.11%) HIPAA
10 6 (0.95%) Actionable Recommendations
10 6 (0.95%) SLA
11 5 (0.79%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 4 (0.64%) JSP 440
12 4 (0.64%) RMADS
13 3 (0.48%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
13 3 (0.48%) PMO
14 2 (0.32%) ISO/IEC 27005
14 2 (0.32%) ISO/IEC 42001
14 2 (0.32%) PSD2
System Software
1 47 (7.47%) VMware Infrastructure
2 39 (6.20%) Active Directory
3 32 (5.09%) Docker
4 17 (2.70%) VMware NSX
5 10 (1.59%) Hyper-V
6 9 (1.43%) Virtual Machines
7 7 (1.11%) vSphere
8 5 (0.79%) Firmware
8 5 (0.79%) VMware ESXi
9 4 (0.64%) ProxySG
10 3 (0.48%) Virtual Desktop
10 3 (0.48%) Virtual Servers
11 2 (0.32%) KVM
12 1 (0.16%) RACF
12 1 (0.16%) RHEV
12 1 (0.16%) Xen
12 1 (0.16%) XenApp
12 1 (0.16%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 114 (18.12%) Terraform
2 70 (11.13%) Ansible
3 46 (7.31%) Kubernetes
4 20 (3.18%) FortiGate
5 13 (2.07%) Kibana
5 13 (2.07%) Nagios
6 11 (1.75%) QRadar
7 10 (1.59%) Microsoft Intune
8 9 (1.43%) Single Sign-On
9 7 (1.11%) Grafana
9 7 (1.11%) Prometheus
10 6 (0.95%) Microsoft Clustering
10 6 (0.95%) vCenter Server
11 4 (0.64%) Istio
11 4 (0.64%) Progress Chef
11 4 (0.64%) Puppet
12 3 (0.48%) CASB
12 3 (0.48%) Icinga
12 3 (0.48%) SCCM
12 3 (0.48%) SCOM
Vendors
1 166 (26.39%) Cisco
2 120 (19.08%) Palo Alto
3 103 (16.38%) Microsoft
4 81 (12.88%) F5
5 58 (9.22%) CheckPoint
5 58 (9.22%) VMware
6 50 (7.95%) Juniper
7 48 (7.63%) Fortinet
8 35 (5.56%) Zscaler
9 32 (5.09%) Splunk
10 28 (4.45%) Google
11 22 (3.50%) SolarWinds
12 19 (3.02%) Meraki
13 17 (2.70%) ServiceNow
14 15 (2.38%) Databricks
14 15 (2.38%) Tenable
15 13 (2.07%) Aruba
15 13 (2.07%) FireEye
15 13 (2.07%) Tanium
16 10 (1.59%) ArcSight