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 28 April 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
28 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 156 144 174
Rank change year-on-year -12 +30 +18
Contract jobs citing Network Security 793 581 606
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.69% 1.98% 1.40%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 17.52% 15.53% 10.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 540 351 417
10th Percentile £356 £363 £376
25th Percentile £425 £425 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £521 £575
Median % change year-on-year -3.94% -9.48% +1.77%
75th Percentile £600 £613 £665
90th Percentile £700 £688 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £490 £575
% change year-on-year +2.04% -14.78% +7.98%
Number of hourly rates quoted 16 12 17
10th Percentile £32.00 £20.70 -
25th Percentile £42.13 £40.50 £7.43
Median hourly rate £65.50 £62.84 £19.00
Median % change year-on-year +4.24% +230.72% -63.55%
75th Percentile £74.07 £81.35 £41.25
90th Percentile £75.00 £82.03 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.50 £80.68 £7.43
% change year-on-year -18.81% +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 4,527 3,740 5,616
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.64% 12.74% 12.97%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,822 2,310 3,363
10th Percentile £250 £213 £205
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £489 £490
Median % change year-on-year +2.30% -0.26% -5.59%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £464 £475
% change year-on-year +2.43% -2.37% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 218 172 420
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.50
25th Percentile £20.82 £20.22 £17.00
Median hourly rate £41.24 £37.50 £38.00
Median % change year-on-year +9.97% -1.32% +100.00%
75th Percentile £68.44 £61.31 £62.50
90th Percentile £75.00 £75.00 £67.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £48.72 £27.72 £45.88
% change year-on-year +75.76% -39.58% +148.00%

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 28 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 28 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 28 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 -9 688 £500 -7.41% 209
UK excluding London -7 404 £500 +2.04% 170
London -17 283 £525 -4.55% 85
Work from Home +18 222 £525 +5.00% 97
North of England -10 137 £475 -5.00% 46
South East -22 111 £500 +2.04% 60
North West +9 85 £481 -3.75% 30
Midlands -24 70 £500 -13.04% 22
Yorkshire -31 52 £436 +8.94% 12
West Midlands -33 51 £500 -9.09% 16
East of England -22 36 £515 -8.44% 13
South West -36 30 £550 - 9
Scotland 0 29 £475 +11.76% 7
East Midlands -22 18 £638 -1.92% 6
Wales -17 4 £600 +106.90% 6
North East -17 3 £538 -14.00% 4
Northern Ireland - 1 £500 - 9

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 (2.27%) Confluence
2 11 (1.39%) Microsoft Exchange
3 6 (0.76%) Apache
4 4 (0.50%) SharePoint
5 1 (0.13%) nginx
5 1 (0.13%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 21 (2.65%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (1.39%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.50%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 5 (0.63%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 246 (31.02%) Azure
2 168 (21.19%) AWS
3 94 (11.85%) GCP
4 59 (7.44%) Entra ID
5 34 (4.29%) GitHub
6 29 (3.66%) GitHub Actions
7 28 (3.53%) Azure DevOps
7 28 (3.53%) Azure Sentinel
8 21 (2.65%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 19 (2.40%) Azure AKS
9 19 (2.40%) Azure Key Vault
10 18 (2.27%) AWS CloudFormation
11 17 (2.14%) Virtual Private Cloud
12 16 (2.02%) Azure Monitor
13 15 (1.89%) Microsoft 365
14 14 (1.77%) Google Kubernetes Engine
15 13 (1.64%) Akamai
15 13 (1.64%) AWS Direct Connect
15 13 (1.64%) SaaS
16 12 (1.51%) Amazon S3
Communications & Networking
1 374 (47.16%) Firewall
2 155 (19.55%) VPN
3 137 (17.28%) WAN
4 109 (13.75%) LAN
5 102 (12.86%) BGP
6 92 (11.60%) DNS
7 90 (11.35%) OSPF
8 78 (9.84%) SD-WAN
9 74 (9.33%) VLAN
10 59 (7.44%) TCP/IP
11 58 (7.31%) Wireless
12 46 (5.80%) MPLS
13 44 (5.55%) DHCP
14 40 (5.04%) Wi-Fi
15 36 (4.54%) Cisco ASA
16 34 (4.29%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
16 34 (4.29%) Internet
17 32 (4.04%) Cisco ISE
17 32 (4.04%) IPsec
18 29 (3.66%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (1.01%) Azure SQL Database
2 6 (0.76%) Amazon RDS
3 5 (0.63%) InfluxDB
3 5 (0.63%) Relational Database
3 5 (0.63%) SQL Server
4 3 (0.38%) Amazon Athena
4 3 (0.38%) Data Lake
4 3 (0.38%) Power BI
5 2 (0.25%) Oracle Database
5 2 (0.25%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 32 (4.04%) JIRA
2 23 (2.90%) Jenkins
3 16 (2.02%) GitLab
4 9 (1.13%) Git
5 8 (1.01%) Sonatype Nexus
6 7 (0.88%) Snyk
7 5 (0.63%) Browser DevTools
8 2 (0.25%) 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
1 186 (23.46%) Social Skills
2 111 (14.00%) Finance
3 79 (9.96%) Analytical Skills
4 63 (7.94%) Public Sector
5 38 (4.79%) Banking
6 33 (4.16%) Documentation Skills
7 27 (3.40%) Telecoms
8 20 (2.52%) Financial Institution
9 11 (1.39%) Legal
10 8 (1.01%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 8 (1.01%) Manufacturing
11 7 (0.88%) Organisational Skills
12 5 (0.63%) Local Government
13 4 (0.50%) Electronics
13 4 (0.50%) Influencing Skills
13 4 (0.50%) Investment Banking
13 4 (0.50%) Law
13 4 (0.50%) Military
13 4 (0.50%) Presentation Skills
14 3 (0.38%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 200 (25.22%) Network Engineer
2 176 (22.19%) Architect
3 98 (12.36%) Security Engineer
4 89 (11.22%) Security Architect
5 68 (8.58%) Senior
6 60 (7.57%) Network Architect
7 49 (6.18%) Network Security Engineer
8 27 (3.40%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 26 (3.28%) Analyst
9 26 (3.28%) Lead
10 25 (3.15%) Network Security Architect
11 24 (3.03%) Consultant
12 22 (2.77%) Senior Network Engineer
13 21 (2.65%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
14 20 (2.52%) Azure Architect
14 20 (2.52%) Project Manager
15 19 (2.40%) Cloud Architect
15 19 (2.40%) Solutions Architect
16 18 (2.27%) Cloud Engineer
17 17 (2.14%) Security Specialist
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 28 (3.53%) 802.1X
2 13 (1.64%) LDAP
3 10 (1.26%) SAML
4 7 (0.88%) Node.js
5 6 (0.76%) REST
6 5 (0.63%) .NET
6 5 (0.63%) OAuth
6 5 (0.63%) RabbitMQ
7 4 (0.50%) .NET Core
7 4 (0.50%) AngularJS
7 4 (0.50%) ARM Templates
7 4 (0.50%) AWS CDK
7 4 (0.50%) HTML
7 4 (0.50%) OpenID
7 4 (0.50%) PyTorch
7 4 (0.50%) React
7 4 (0.50%) TensorFlow
8 3 (0.38%) OAuth2
8 3 (0.38%) Plotly
8 3 (0.38%) SLSA
Miscellaneous
1 115 (14.50%) Data Centre
2 43 (5.42%) Cloud Native
2 43 (5.42%) Security Posture
3 40 (5.04%) Hybrid Cloud
4 30 (3.78%) Onboarding
5 27 (3.40%) PKI
5 27 (3.40%) Public Cloud
6 26 (3.28%) IoT
7 25 (3.15%) Management Information System
8 24 (3.03%) Data Protection Act
9 22 (2.77%) Operational Technology
10 20 (2.52%) Cyber Threat
10 20 (2.52%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
11 16 (2.02%) Product Ownership
12 14 (1.77%) Virtual Team
13 12 (1.51%) Analytical Mindset
13 12 (1.51%) Cyber Security Posture
13 12 (1.51%) Security Operations Centre
14 9 (1.13%) Clustering
15 8 (1.01%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 80 (10.09%) Windows
2 66 (8.32%) Linux
3 28 (3.53%) Windows Server
4 13 (1.64%) Unix
5 10 (1.26%) VMS
6 7 (0.88%) Mac OS
7 6 (0.76%) Ubuntu
8 5 (0.63%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 5 (0.63%) Windows 10
9 3 (0.38%) SUSE
10 1 (0.13%) Android
10 1 (0.13%) Data ONTAP
Processes & Methodologies
1 167 (21.06%) Cybersecurity
2 127 (16.02%) Cloud Security
3 121 (15.26%) Zero Trust
4 115 (14.50%) Security Architecture
5 108 (13.62%) Problem-Solving
6 104 (13.11%) Migration
7 99 (12.48%) CI/CD
8 98 (12.36%) Infrastructure as Code
9 97 (12.23%) SIEM
10 95 (11.98%) DevOps
11 79 (9.96%) High Availability
12 77 (9.71%) Continuous Improvement
13 76 (9.58%) Threat Modelling
14 73 (9.21%) Incident Response
15 72 (9.08%) Network Segmentation
16 70 (8.83%) Change Management
17 66 (8.32%) Agile
17 66 (8.32%) Stakeholder Management
18 64 (8.07%) Identity Access Management
18 64 (8.07%) Security Operations
Programming Languages
1 111 (14.00%) Python
2 63 (7.94%) PowerShell
3 27 (3.40%) Bash
4 25 (3.15%) Bicep
5 24 (3.03%) JavaScript
5 24 (3.03%) SQL
6 15 (1.89%) Kusto Query Language
7 9 (1.13%) Go
8 8 (1.01%) Shell Script
9 7 (0.88%) Java
10 4 (0.50%) C
10 4 (0.50%) C#
10 4 (0.50%) PHP
11 3 (0.38%) C++
12 2 (0.25%) C-shell
12 2 (0.25%) Korn
12 2 (0.25%) Ruby
13 1 (0.13%) ActionScript
13 1 (0.13%) AppleScript
13 1 (0.13%) VBA
Qualifications
1 236 (29.76%) Security Cleared
2 174 (21.94%) SC Cleared
3 150 (18.92%) Cisco Certification
4 111 (14.00%) CCNP
5 94 (11.85%) CISSP
6 72 (9.08%) DV Cleared
7 58 (7.31%) CCNA
8 50 (6.31%) CISM
8 50 (6.31%) Degree
9 32 (4.04%) Azure Certification
10 27 (3.40%) CCIE
11 24 (3.03%) CCSP
11 24 (3.03%) GIAC
12 23 (2.90%) (ISC)2 CCSP
13 20 (2.52%) CEH
14 19 (2.40%) AWS Certification
14 19 (2.40%) CompTIA Security+
15 12 (1.51%) BPSS Clearance
15 12 (1.51%) TOGAF Certification
16 11 (1.39%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 85 (10.72%) NIST
2 71 (8.95%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 44 (5.55%) GDPR
4 28 (3.53%) PCI DSS
5 21 (2.65%) NCSC
6 15 (1.89%) GRC
7 14 (1.77%) Cyber Essentials
7 14 (1.77%) SLA
8 11 (1.39%) QA
9 9 (1.13%) SOC 2
10 8 (1.01%) Actionable Recommendations
10 8 (1.01%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 8 (1.01%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 6 (0.76%) Disclosure Scotland
11 6 (0.76%) PMO
12 5 (0.63%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 5 (0.63%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 4 (0.50%) RMADS
14 3 (0.38%) ISA99
14 3 (0.38%) JSP 440
System Software
1 56 (7.06%) VMware Infrastructure
2 50 (6.31%) Active Directory
3 23 (2.90%) VMware NSX
4 17 (2.14%) Docker
5 14 (1.77%) Virtual Machines
6 13 (1.64%) Hyper-V
7 12 (1.51%) vSphere
8 10 (1.26%) VMware ESXi
9 7 (0.88%) Firmware
10 5 (0.63%) Virtual Desktop
11 2 (0.25%) NFS
11 2 (0.25%) Postfix
11 2 (0.25%) ProxySG
11 2 (0.25%) Sendmail
11 2 (0.25%) Varnish
12 1 (0.13%) KVM
12 1 (0.13%) Squid
12 1 (0.13%) Xen
12 1 (0.13%) XenApp
12 1 (0.13%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 119 (15.01%) Terraform
2 77 (9.71%) Ansible
3 58 (7.31%) Kubernetes
4 31 (3.91%) FortiGate
5 15 (1.89%) Single Sign-On
6 14 (1.77%) Nagios
7 12 (1.51%) Kibana
7 12 (1.51%) Microsoft Intune
8 11 (1.39%) vCenter Server
9 9 (1.13%) Microsoft Clustering
10 7 (0.88%) Grafana
11 6 (0.76%) Prometheus
12 5 (0.63%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 5 (0.63%) Istio
12 5 (0.63%) Progress Chef
12 5 (0.63%) WSUS
13 4 (0.50%) CASB
13 4 (0.50%) Puppet
13 4 (0.50%) QRadar
14 3 (0.38%) Docker Swarm
Vendors
1 221 (27.87%) Cisco
2 127 (16.02%) Palo Alto
3 121 (15.26%) Microsoft
4 78 (9.84%) F5
5 71 (8.95%) VMware
6 59 (7.44%) Fortinet
7 56 (7.06%) Juniper
8 53 (6.68%) CheckPoint
9 45 (5.67%) Zscaler
10 31 (3.91%) ServiceNow
11 26 (3.28%) Splunk
12 24 (3.03%) Google
13 22 (2.77%) ForeScout
14 20 (2.52%) SolarWinds
15 19 (2.40%) Aruba
16 17 (2.14%) Meraki
17 15 (1.89%) Citrix
17 15 (1.89%) Tenable
18 14 (1.77%) Okta
19 13 (1.64%) Infoblox