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 29 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 173 143 142
Rank change year-on-year -30 -1 +105
Contract jobs citing Network Security 616 600 730
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.60% 1.91% 1.67%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 15.28% 14.67% 12.16%
Number of daily rates quoted 384 372 505
10th Percentile £342 £321 £406
25th Percentile £413 £425 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £508 £550
Median % change year-on-year -1.48% -7.73% -
75th Percentile £582 £613 £650
90th Percentile £684 £699 £745
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £550
% change year-on-year -5.00% -9.09% +4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 10 11 16
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 £65.94
90th Percentile £93.88 £47.50 £76.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £41.00 £7.43
% change year-on-year +58.54% +451.82% -80.19%

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 4,031 4,089 6,004
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 10.47% 12.99% 13.70%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,652 2,376 3,641
10th Percentile £204 £213 £206
25th Percentile £356 £363 £356
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £495
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +1.01% -3.88%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £685 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £468 £475
% change year-on-year -3.74% -1.58% +2.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 164 139 388
10th Percentile £15.50 £17.76 £16.25
25th Percentile £18.97 £21.46 £22.00
Median hourly rate £30.00 £35.00 £51.65
Median % change year-on-year -14.29% -32.24% +149.47%
75th Percentile £65.00 £58.69 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £70.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.54 £31.79 £56.45
% change year-on-year +27.52% -43.68% +186.89%

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 29 January 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 29 January 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 29 January 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 -37 549 £500 -4.76% 324
UK excluding London -34 303 £475 -5.00% 297
London -23 238 £540 -1.82% 93
Work from Home -24 158 £500 - 133
North of England -33 109 £469 -6.23% 46
North West +1 71 £475 -5.00% 19
South East -21 70 £430 -18.10% 94
Midlands -33 62 £475 -13.79% 43
West Midlands -5 54 £500 -14.02% 26
Yorkshire -39 49 £238 -52.50% 21
South West -16 30 £538 +2.87% 46
East of England -14 23 £475 -14.80% 37
Scotland +3 22 £472 +18.00% 20
East Midlands -33 8 £442 +46.20% 16
Northern Ireland - 3 £500 - 4
North East -13 2 £475 - 6
Wales -15 2 £700 +141.38% 11

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 14 (2.27%) Confluence
2 5 (0.81%) Microsoft Exchange
2 5 (0.81%) SharePoint
3 4 (0.65%) Apache
4 2 (0.32%) nginx
5 1 (0.16%) IIS
5 1 (0.16%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 18 (2.92%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (1.79%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.65%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.32%) Microsoft Excel
5 1 (0.16%) Windchill
Cloud Services
1 173 (28.08%) Azure
2 133 (21.59%) AWS
3 58 (9.42%) GCP
4 33 (5.36%) Entra ID
5 32 (5.19%) GitHub
6 29 (4.71%) GitHub Actions
7 27 (4.38%) Virtual Private Cloud
8 26 (4.22%) Amazon S3
9 23 (3.73%) Azure DevOps
10 22 (3.57%) Microsoft 365
11 20 (3.25%) Amazon EC2
12 18 (2.92%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 18 (2.92%) Azure Sentinel
13 16 (2.60%) Amazon ELB
13 16 (2.60%) Azure Key Vault
14 14 (2.27%) AWS CloudFormation
15 13 (2.11%) Serverless
16 11 (1.79%) Azure ExpressRoute
16 11 (1.79%) Google Workspace
16 11 (1.79%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 302 (49.03%) Firewall
2 130 (21.10%) VPN
3 93 (15.10%) DNS
3 93 (15.10%) WAN
4 70 (11.36%) LAN
5 65 (10.55%) BGP
6 61 (9.90%) TCP/IP
7 51 (8.28%) VLAN
8 49 (7.95%) OSPF
9 48 (7.79%) SSL
10 40 (6.49%) SD-WAN
11 37 (6.01%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
11 37 (6.01%) Wireless
12 34 (5.52%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
13 32 (5.19%) DMZ
14 29 (4.71%) Internet
15 24 (3.90%) Cisco ASA
15 24 (3.90%) MPLS
16 21 (3.41%) Wi-Fi
17 20 (3.25%) DHCP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (0.65%) Amazon RDS
1 4 (0.65%) Azure SQL Database
1 4 (0.65%) InfluxDB
1 4 (0.65%) Relational Database
2 3 (0.49%) Amazon Athena
3 2 (0.32%) Data Lake
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 36 (5.84%) Jenkins
2 26 (4.22%) GitLab
3 21 (3.41%) Git
4 13 (2.11%) JIRA
5 6 (0.97%) Sonatype Nexus
6 3 (0.49%) Snyk
7 1 (0.16%) Metasploit
7 1 (0.16%) Subversion
General
1 181 (29.38%) Social Skills
2 89 (14.45%) Analytical Skills
3 72 (11.69%) Finance
4 55 (8.93%) Public Sector
5 34 (5.52%) Banking
6 23 (3.73%) Documentation Skills
6 23 (3.73%) Telecoms
7 14 (2.27%) Investment Banking
8 13 (2.11%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 8 (1.30%) Manufacturing
9 8 (1.30%) Military
10 7 (1.14%) Financial Institution
10 7 (1.14%) Legal
10 7 (1.14%) Presentation Skills
11 6 (0.97%) Pharmaceutical
12 5 (0.81%) Influencing Skills
12 5 (0.81%) Organisational Skills
13 4 (0.65%) Local Government
13 4 (0.65%) Marketing
14 3 (0.49%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 134 (21.75%) Network Engineer
2 109 (17.69%) Architect
3 92 (14.94%) Security Engineer
4 63 (10.23%) Security Architect
5 49 (7.95%) Senior
6 42 (6.82%) Network Architect
7 38 (6.17%) Network Security Engineer
8 29 (4.71%) Analyst
9 21 (3.41%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 21 (3.41%) Network Security Architect
10 20 (3.25%) Lead
11 19 (3.08%) Administrator
11 19 (3.08%) Cloud Engineer
12 18 (2.92%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
12 18 (2.92%) Security Analyst
12 18 (2.92%) SIEM Engineer
13 17 (2.76%) Cybersecurity Engineer
14 16 (2.60%) Consultant
14 16 (2.60%) Operations Engineer
15 15 (2.44%) IT Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 19 (3.08%) 802.1X
2 12 (1.95%) LDAP
3 9 (1.46%) SAML
4 8 (1.30%) .NET
4 8 (1.30%) Node.js
5 5 (0.81%) .NET Core
5 5 (0.81%) AngularJS
5 5 (0.81%) Elastic Stack
5 5 (0.81%) OAuth
5 5 (0.81%) OAuth2
5 5 (0.81%) OpenID
5 5 (0.81%) PyTorch
5 5 (0.81%) RabbitMQ
5 5 (0.81%) React
5 5 (0.81%) TensorFlow
6 4 (0.65%) ARM Templates
7 3 (0.49%) Lambda Expressions
7 3 (0.49%) Plotly
7 3 (0.49%) REST
7 3 (0.49%) SLSA
Miscellaneous
1 79 (12.82%) Data Centre
2 34 (5.52%) Cloud Native
2 34 (5.52%) Security Posture
3 31 (5.03%) Hybrid Cloud
3 31 (5.03%) Management Information System
3 31 (5.03%) PKI
4 21 (3.41%) Public Cloud
5 19 (3.08%) Onboarding
6 17 (2.76%) Cyber Security Posture
7 16 (2.60%) IoT
7 16 (2.60%) Operational Technology
8 15 (2.44%) Security Operations Centre
9 14 (2.27%) Analytical Mindset
9 14 (2.27%) Cyber Threat
10 13 (2.11%) Data Protection Act
11 10 (1.62%) Product Ownership
12 9 (1.46%) Virtual Team
13 8 (1.30%) CSOC
13 8 (1.30%) SCADA
14 7 (1.14%) Clustering
Operating Systems
1 86 (13.96%) Windows
2 70 (11.36%) Linux
3 29 (4.71%) Windows Server
4 11 (1.79%) Unix
5 8 (1.30%) VMS
6 6 (0.97%) Ubuntu
7 4 (0.65%) Mac OS
7 4 (0.65%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 2 (0.32%) Windows Server 2019
9 1 (0.16%) Data ONTAP
9 1 (0.16%) Windows 10
9 1 (0.16%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 156 (25.32%) Cybersecurity
2 116 (18.83%) Problem-Solving
3 103 (16.72%) SIEM
4 99 (16.07%) CI/CD
5 94 (15.26%) Incident Response
6 89 (14.45%) DevOps
6 89 (14.45%) Infrastructure as Code
7 86 (13.96%) Cloud Security
8 78 (12.66%) Zero Trust
9 72 (11.69%) Security Architecture
10 69 (11.20%) Migration
11 59 (9.58%) Change Management
12 58 (9.42%) Identity Access Management
13 55 (8.93%) Threat Modelling
14 52 (8.44%) Infrastructure Automation
15 51 (8.28%) Continuous Improvement
16 50 (8.12%) Load Balancing
16 50 (8.12%) Network Architecture
17 49 (7.95%) Agile
17 49 (7.95%) Vulnerability Management
Programming Languages
1 128 (20.78%) Python
2 71 (11.53%) PowerShell
3 39 (6.33%) Bash
4 20 (3.25%) SQL
5 16 (2.60%) Bicep
6 14 (2.27%) JavaScript
6 14 (2.27%) Kusto Query Language
7 10 (1.62%) Java
8 9 (1.46%) Go
9 5 (0.81%) C
9 5 (0.81%) C#
9 5 (0.81%) C++
10 4 (0.65%) Shell Script
11 3 (0.49%) Perl
11 3 (0.49%) PHP
12 2 (0.32%) C-shell
12 2 (0.32%) Korn
13 1 (0.16%) Rust
13 1 (0.16%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 205 (33.28%) Security Cleared
2 152 (24.68%) SC Cleared
3 109 (17.69%) Cisco Certification
4 87 (14.12%) CCNP
5 82 (13.31%) CISSP
6 62 (10.06%) DV Cleared
7 48 (7.79%) Degree
8 40 (6.49%) CISM
9 39 (6.33%) CCNA
10 31 (5.03%) GIAC
11 30 (4.87%) CCIE
12 27 (4.38%) CEH
13 19 (3.08%) CompTIA Security+
14 18 (2.92%) Azure Certification
15 17 (2.76%) Computer Science Degree
16 12 (1.95%) AWS Certification
16 12 (1.95%) BPSS Clearance
17 11 (1.79%) JNCIS
18 10 (1.62%) TOGAF Certification
19 9 (1.46%) GSEC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 74 (12.01%) NIST
2 71 (11.53%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 39 (6.33%) GDPR
4 26 (4.22%) PCI DSS
5 21 (3.41%) Cyber Essentials
6 17 (2.76%) NCSC
7 9 (1.46%) GRC
8 8 (1.30%) SOC 2
9 7 (1.14%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 7 (1.14%) HIPAA
10 6 (0.97%) SLA
11 5 (0.81%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 4 (0.65%) Actionable Recommendations
12 4 (0.65%) JSP 440
12 4 (0.65%) RMADS
13 3 (0.49%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
13 3 (0.49%) PMO
14 2 (0.32%) ISO/IEC 27005
14 2 (0.32%) ISO/IEC 42001
14 2 (0.32%) PSD2
System Software
1 49 (7.95%) VMware Infrastructure
2 41 (6.66%) Active Directory
3 35 (5.68%) Docker
4 17 (2.76%) VMware NSX
5 10 (1.62%) Hyper-V
6 9 (1.46%) Virtual Machines
7 7 (1.14%) vSphere
8 5 (0.81%) Firmware
8 5 (0.81%) VMware ESXi
9 4 (0.65%) ProxySG
10 3 (0.49%) Virtual Servers
11 2 (0.32%) KVM
11 2 (0.32%) Virtual Desktop
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
1 113 (18.34%) Terraform
2 72 (11.69%) Ansible
3 44 (7.14%) Kubernetes
4 19 (3.08%) FortiGate
5 13 (2.11%) Kibana
5 13 (2.11%) Nagios
6 11 (1.79%) QRadar
7 10 (1.62%) Microsoft Intune
8 9 (1.46%) Single Sign-On
9 7 (1.14%) Grafana
9 7 (1.14%) Prometheus
10 6 (0.97%) Microsoft Clustering
10 6 (0.97%) vCenter Server
11 4 (0.65%) Istio
11 4 (0.65%) Progress Chef
11 4 (0.65%) Puppet
12 3 (0.49%) Icinga
12 3 (0.49%) Jamf Pro
12 3 (0.49%) SCCM
12 3 (0.49%) SCOM
Vendors
1 165 (26.79%) Cisco
2 122 (19.81%) Palo Alto
3 99 (16.07%) Microsoft
4 87 (14.12%) F5
5 64 (10.39%) CheckPoint
6 60 (9.74%) VMware
7 49 (7.95%) Juniper
8 44 (7.14%) Fortinet
9 39 (6.33%) Zscaler
10 32 (5.19%) Splunk
11 28 (4.55%) Google
12 22 (3.57%) SolarWinds
13 20 (3.25%) Meraki
14 17 (2.76%) ServiceNow
15 15 (2.44%) Tenable
16 13 (2.11%) Aruba
16 13 (2.11%) Databricks
16 13 (2.11%) FireEye
16 13 (2.11%) Tanium
17 12 (1.95%) Blue Coat