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

6 months to
12 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 175 138 146
Rank change year-on-year -37 +8 +94
Contract jobs citing Network Security 633 593 733
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.59% 1.91% 1.65%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 15.33% 14.62% 12.24%
Number of daily rates quoted 402 369 495
10th Percentile £348 £313 £400
25th Percentile £423 £425 £469
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £510 £550
Median % change year-on-year -1.96% -7.27% -
75th Percentile £598 £620 £649
90th Percentile £688 £675 £745
UK excluding London median daily rate £494 £500 £550
% change year-on-year -1.30% -9.09% +4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 11 10 20
10th Percentile £36.00 £18.28 -
25th Percentile £52.63 £35.25 £7.43
Median hourly rate £66.00 £41.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +60.98% +2.50% +6.67%
75th Percentile £79.38 £44.13 £56.88
90th Percentile £93.75 £47.50 £76.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £30.00 £10.47
% change year-on-year +116.67% +186.67% -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 4,130 4,057 5,988
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 10.37% 13.10% 13.52%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,715 2,396 3,578
10th Percentile £204 £210 £205
25th Percentile £355 £360 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £488
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +2.56% -6.25%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £680 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £473 £475
% change year-on-year -4.76% -0.53% +0.80%
Number of hourly rates quoted 168 133 405
10th Percentile £15.50 £16.63 £14.41
25th Percentile £18.50 £21.46 £21.00
Median hourly rate £28.38 £32.50 £47.50
Median % change year-on-year -12.68% -31.58% +143.59%
75th Percentile £65.00 £53.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £70.00 £74.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.54 £29.00 £51.89
% change year-on-year +39.79% -44.11% +163.52%

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 12 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 12 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 12 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 -22 561 £500 -6.98% 241
UK excluding London -29 310 £494 -1.30% 201
London -24 243 £525 -4.55% 88
Work from Home -33 164 £504 +0.75% 109
North of England -39 107 £475 -5.00% 41
South East -14 78 £458 -12.76% 61
North West -4 64 £481 -3.75% 27
Midlands -26 62 £500 -14.13% 36
West Midlands -16 54 £500 -14.13% 28
Yorkshire -41 52 £350 -16.96% 12
South West -21 30 £533 +1.43% 26
East of England -19 25 £475 -17.39% 19
Scotland +8 22 £543 +31.52% 15
East Midlands -28 8 £442 +92.28% 8
Wales -12 3 £650 +124.14% 5
Northern Ireland - 3 £500 - 2
North East -13 2 £475 - 2

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 17 (2.69%) Confluence
2 5 (0.79%) Microsoft Exchange
2 5 (0.79%) SharePoint
3 4 (0.63%) Apache
4 2 (0.32%) nginx
5 1 (0.16%) IIS
5 1 (0.16%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 19 (3.00%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (1.74%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.63%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.32%) Microsoft Excel
5 1 (0.16%) Windchill
Cloud Services
1 183 (28.91%) Azure
2 138 (21.80%) AWS
3 65 (10.27%) GCP
4 35 (5.53%) GitHub
5 33 (5.21%) Entra ID
6 31 (4.90%) GitHub Actions
7 24 (3.79%) Virtual Private Cloud
8 23 (3.63%) Azure DevOps
9 22 (3.48%) Amazon S3
10 21 (3.32%) Azure Sentinel
11 18 (2.84%) Azure Key Vault
12 16 (2.53%) AWS CloudFormation
12 16 (2.53%) Microsoft 365
13 15 (2.37%) Amazon EC2
14 14 (2.21%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 14 (2.21%) Serverless
15 12 (1.90%) Azure Monitor
16 11 (1.74%) AWS Direct Connect
16 11 (1.74%) Azure ExpressRoute
16 11 (1.74%) Google Workspace
Communications & Networking
1 312 (49.29%) Firewall
2 137 (21.64%) VPN
3 98 (15.48%) WAN
4 88 (13.90%) DNS
5 78 (12.32%) LAN
6 77 (12.16%) BGP
7 60 (9.48%) TCP/IP
8 59 (9.32%) OSPF
9 57 (9.00%) VLAN
10 42 (6.64%) SSL
11 41 (6.48%) SD-WAN
12 40 (6.32%) Wireless
13 36 (5.69%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
14 33 (5.21%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
15 30 (4.74%) MPLS
16 29 (4.58%) DMZ
17 28 (4.42%) Cisco ASA
17 28 (4.42%) Internet
18 24 (3.79%) DHCP
19 22 (3.48%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (0.63%) Amazon Athena
1 4 (0.63%) Amazon RDS
1 4 (0.63%) Azure SQL Database
1 4 (0.63%) InfluxDB
1 4 (0.63%) Relational Database
2 2 (0.32%) Data Lake
2 2 (0.32%) Oracle Database
2 2 (0.32%) Power BI
2 2 (0.32%) SQL Server Integration Services
3 1 (0.16%) Redis
3 1 (0.16%) SQL Server
3 1 (0.16%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 30 (4.74%) Jenkins
2 25 (3.95%) GitLab
3 19 (3.00%) JIRA
4 18 (2.84%) Git
5 6 (0.95%) Sonatype Nexus
6 3 (0.47%) Snyk
7 1 (0.16%) JUnit
7 1 (0.16%) Metasploit
7 1 (0.16%) Postman
7 1 (0.16%) Subversion
7 1 (0.16%) Zephyr
General
1 190 (30.02%) Social Skills
2 81 (12.80%) Analytical Skills
3 74 (11.69%) Finance
4 57 (9.00%) Public Sector
5 35 (5.53%) Banking
6 26 (4.11%) Documentation Skills
6 26 (4.11%) Telecoms
7 13 (2.05%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 12 (1.90%) Investment Banking
9 9 (1.42%) Financial Institution
10 8 (1.26%) Legal
10 8 (1.26%) Manufacturing
10 8 (1.26%) Military
11 7 (1.11%) Presentation Skills
12 6 (0.95%) Pharmaceutical
13 5 (0.79%) Influencing Skills
13 5 (0.79%) Organisational Skills
14 4 (0.63%) Local Government
14 4 (0.63%) Marketing
15 3 (0.47%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 138 (21.80%) Network Engineer
2 128 (20.22%) Architect
3 91 (14.38%) Security Engineer
4 70 (11.06%) Security Architect
5 51 (8.06%) Network Architect
6 50 (7.90%) Senior
7 39 (6.16%) Network Security Engineer
8 29 (4.58%) Analyst
9 27 (4.27%) Network Security Architect
10 20 (3.16%) Administrator
10 20 (3.16%) Cloud Engineer
10 20 (3.16%) Lead
11 19 (3.00%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 18 (2.84%) Cloud Architect
12 18 (2.84%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
12 18 (2.84%) Security Analyst
13 17 (2.69%) Azure Architect
14 16 (2.53%) DevOps Engineer
15 15 (2.37%) IT Engineer
15 15 (2.37%) IT Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (3.16%) 802.1X
2 13 (2.05%) LDAP
3 9 (1.42%) SAML
4 8 (1.26%) .NET
4 8 (1.26%) Node.js
5 6 (0.95%) ARM Templates
5 6 (0.95%) REST
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%) TensorFlow
7 4 (0.63%) HTML
7 4 (0.63%) Lambda Expressions
7 4 (0.63%) Plotly
Miscellaneous
1 88 (13.90%) Data Centre
2 35 (5.53%) Cloud Native
2 35 (5.53%) Security Posture
3 32 (5.06%) Hybrid Cloud
4 31 (4.90%) PKI
5 26 (4.11%) Management Information System
6 20 (3.16%) Onboarding
6 20 (3.16%) Public Cloud
7 19 (3.00%) IoT
7 19 (3.00%) Operational Technology
8 16 (2.53%) Security Operations Centre
9 14 (2.21%) Analytical Mindset
9 14 (2.21%) Cyber Threat
10 13 (2.05%) Data Protection Act
10 13 (2.05%) Product Ownership
11 12 (1.90%) Cyber Security Posture
12 10 (1.58%) Virtual Team
13 8 (1.26%) CSOC
13 8 (1.26%) SCADA
14 7 (1.11%) Clustering
Operating Systems
1 84 (13.27%) Windows
2 70 (11.06%) Linux
3 31 (4.90%) Windows Server
4 8 (1.26%) Unix
4 8 (1.26%) VMS
5 7 (1.11%) Ubuntu
6 5 (0.79%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 4 (0.63%) Mac OS
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
1 149 (23.54%) Cybersecurity
2 116 (18.33%) Problem-Solving
3 103 (16.27%) CI/CD
4 96 (15.17%) Infrastructure as Code
5 94 (14.85%) DevOps
5 94 (14.85%) SIEM
6 91 (14.38%) Zero Trust
7 90 (14.22%) Cloud Security
8 82 (12.95%) Incident Response
8 82 (12.95%) Security Architecture
9 80 (12.64%) Migration
10 64 (10.11%) Change Management
11 59 (9.32%) Continuous Improvement
11 59 (9.32%) Threat Modelling
12 57 (9.00%) Identity Access Management
13 56 (8.85%) Network Segmentation
14 55 (8.69%) Agile
15 54 (8.53%) Network Architecture
16 50 (7.90%) Infrastructure Automation
17 49 (7.74%) Load Balancing
Programming Languages
1 120 (18.96%) Python
2 65 (10.27%) PowerShell
3 36 (5.69%) Bash
4 20 (3.16%) Bicep
4 20 (3.16%) SQL
5 16 (2.53%) JavaScript
6 15 (2.37%) Kusto Query Language
7 10 (1.58%) Java
8 9 (1.42%) Go
9 5 (0.79%) C
9 5 (0.79%) C#
9 5 (0.79%) C++
9 5 (0.79%) Shell Script
10 4 (0.63%) PHP
11 3 (0.47%) Perl
12 2 (0.32%) C-shell
12 2 (0.32%) Korn
13 1 (0.16%) AppleScript
13 1 (0.16%) Rust
13 1 (0.16%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 213 (33.65%) Security Cleared
2 155 (24.49%) SC Cleared
3 114 (18.01%) Cisco Certification
4 91 (14.38%) CCNP
5 78 (12.32%) CISSP
6 67 (10.58%) DV Cleared
7 47 (7.42%) Degree
8 39 (6.16%) CCNA
9 37 (5.85%) CISM
10 28 (4.42%) CCIE
10 28 (4.42%) GIAC
11 24 (3.79%) CEH
12 20 (3.16%) CompTIA Security+
13 19 (3.00%) Azure Certification
14 16 (2.53%) AWS Certification
14 16 (2.53%) Computer Science Degree
15 13 (2.05%) JNCIS
16 11 (1.74%) BPSS Clearance
16 11 (1.74%) CCSP
16 11 (1.74%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 76 (12.01%) NIST
2 71 (11.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 38 (6.00%) GDPR
4 25 (3.95%) PCI DSS
5 23 (3.63%) Cyber Essentials
6 17 (2.69%) NCSC
7 12 (1.90%) GRC
8 8 (1.26%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 8 (1.26%) SOC 2
9 6 (0.95%) Actionable Recommendations
9 6 (0.95%) SLA
10 5 (0.79%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 4 (0.63%) HIPAA
11 4 (0.63%) JSP 440
11 4 (0.63%) RMADS
12 3 (0.47%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 3 (0.47%) PMO
13 2 (0.32%) HMG Security Policy Framework
13 2 (0.32%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 2 (0.32%) PSD2
System Software
1 49 (7.74%) VMware Infrastructure
2 38 (6.00%) Active Directory
3 33 (5.21%) Docker
4 19 (3.00%) VMware NSX
5 10 (1.58%) Hyper-V
5 10 (1.58%) Virtual Machines
6 7 (1.11%) vSphere
7 6 (0.95%) VMware ESXi
8 5 (0.79%) Firmware
9 4 (0.63%) ProxySG
10 3 (0.47%) Virtual Desktop
10 3 (0.47%) 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
1 120 (18.96%) Terraform
2 73 (11.53%) Ansible
3 48 (7.58%) Kubernetes
4 20 (3.16%) FortiGate
5 13 (2.05%) Kibana
5 13 (2.05%) Nagios
6 11 (1.74%) Microsoft Intune
7 10 (1.58%) Single Sign-On
8 7 (1.11%) Grafana
8 7 (1.11%) Prometheus
8 7 (1.11%) vCenter Server
9 6 (0.95%) Microsoft Clustering
10 4 (0.63%) Istio
10 4 (0.63%) Progress Chef
10 4 (0.63%) Puppet
10 4 (0.63%) QRadar
11 3 (0.47%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 3 (0.47%) CASB
11 3 (0.47%) SCCM
11 3 (0.47%) SCOM
Vendors
1 169 (26.70%) Cisco
2 120 (18.96%) Palo Alto
3 99 (15.64%) Microsoft
4 79 (12.48%) F5
5 61 (9.64%) VMware
6 60 (9.48%) CheckPoint
7 52 (8.21%) Juniper
8 49 (7.74%) Fortinet
9 38 (6.00%) Zscaler
10 26 (4.11%) Google
11 25 (3.95%) Splunk
12 22 (3.48%) SolarWinds
13 18 (2.84%) ServiceNow
14 17 (2.69%) Meraki
15 15 (2.37%) Databricks
15 15 (2.37%) Tenable
16 14 (2.21%) Aruba
17 13 (2.05%) FireEye
17 13 (2.05%) Tanium
18 12 (1.90%) ForeScout