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 14 October 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 185 178 156
Rank change year-on-year -7 -22 -1
Contract jobs citing Network Security 882 537 583
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.60% 1.62% 1.56%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 17.32% 14.26% 12.90%
Number of daily rates quoted 573 319 375
10th Percentile £400 £375 £359
25th Percentile £463 £448 £435
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £538 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.33% +2.38% -4.55%
75th Percentile £650 £638 £625
90th Percentile £735 £738 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £550 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +10.00% -4.76% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 25 17 9
10th Percentile £26.80 £45.00 £31.70
25th Percentile £61.25 £55.00 £36.00
Median hourly rate £68.75 £70.16 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -2.01% +55.91% -37.93%
75th Percentile £73.75 £85.00 £58.75
90th Percentile £85.00 £97.00 £70.77
UK excluding London median hourly rate £68.75 £70.16 £53.75
% change year-on-year -2.01% +30.53% -25.86%

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 5,091 3,766 4,520
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.21% 11.35% 12.06%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,938 2,405 2,598
10th Percentile £236 £213 £225
25th Percentile £390 £356 £365
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £588 £600
90th Percentile £677 £679 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £450 £480
% change year-on-year +5.56% -6.25% +3.23%
Number of hourly rates quoted 442 186 179
10th Percentile £14.10 £15.50 £15.09
25th Percentile £19.50 £20.04 £25.38
Median hourly rate £32.50 £34.00 £48.56
Median % change year-on-year -4.41% -29.98% -14.04%
75th Percentile £67.49 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £92.46 £75.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.07 £41.72 £55.00
% change year-on-year -37.51% -24.15% -4.21%

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 14 October 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 14 October 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Network Security in the UK

Network Security
Top 18 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 14 October 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 -2 778 £550 +3.29% 642
UK excluding London -2 449 £550 +10.00% 351
London -6 336 £550 - 305
Work from Home +3 258 £540 -1.82% 276
North of England +14 204 £540 +10.83% 69
North West -7 111 £550 +15.79% 42
South East -25 93 £559 +21.69% 121
Yorkshire +16 89 £540 +9.76% 20
Midlands -62 53 £475 -7.77% 54
West Midlands -64 42 £450 -12.62% 30
East of England -12 38 £515 +3.00% 32
South West -34 32 £675 +5.47% 38
Scotland -12 28 £600 +26.32% 19
East Midlands -10 11 £500 - 24
Channel Islands 0 6 £600 -17.24%
North East - 3 £680 - 7
Northern Ireland +7 2 - - 13
Wales -16 1 £650 +30.00% 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 (2.04%) SharePoint
2 16 (1.81%) Microsoft Exchange
3 13 (1.47%) Confluence
4 4 (0.45%) Apache
4 4 (0.45%) Apache Airflow
5 2 (0.23%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.23%) IIS
5 2 (0.23%) NetWeaver
5 2 (0.23%) nginx
6 1 (0.11%) CMS
6 1 (0.11%) SharePoint Server
Applications
1 16 (1.81%) Microsoft Office
2 7 (0.79%) MS Visio
3 5 (0.57%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (0.57%) Microsoft Project
4 2 (0.23%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.11%) InfoPath
Business Applications
1 6 (0.68%) Oracle ERP
2 2 (0.23%) SAP S/4HANA
3 1 (0.11%) Payment Gateway
3 1 (0.11%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 298 (33.79%) Azure
2 210 (23.81%) AWS
3 109 (12.36%) GCP
4 101 (11.45%) Entra ID
5 52 (5.90%) Microsoft 365
6 49 (5.56%) GitHub
7 41 (4.65%) Azure DevOps
8 37 (4.20%) Azure Monitor
9 33 (3.74%) Serverless
10 29 (3.29%) SaaS
11 25 (2.83%) Azure Sentinel
12 23 (2.61%) Azure ExpressRoute
13 21 (2.38%) GitHub Actions
14 20 (2.27%) Azure AKS
15 19 (2.15%) Google Kubernetes Engine
15 19 (2.15%) OCI
15 19 (2.15%) Virtual Private Cloud
16 18 (2.04%) Amazon CloudWatch
16 18 (2.04%) Amazon EKS
17 17 (1.93%) AWS Direct Connect
Communications & Networking
1 405 (45.92%) Firewall
2 209 (23.70%) VPN
3 190 (21.54%) WAN
4 146 (16.55%) DNS
5 131 (14.85%) LAN
6 101 (11.45%) Wireless
7 95 (10.77%) BGP
7 95 (10.77%) TCP/IP
8 79 (8.96%) SD-WAN
9 72 (8.16%) DHCP
10 66 (7.48%) OSPF
11 63 (7.14%) VLAN
12 59 (6.69%) SSL
13 53 (6.01%) MPLS
14 43 (4.88%) IPsec
14 43 (4.88%) Wi-Fi
15 40 (4.54%) Internet
16 39 (4.42%) Cisco ASA
16 39 (4.42%) Cisco ISE
17 34 (3.85%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (1.13%) Amazon RDS
1 10 (1.13%) SQL Server
2 8 (0.91%) BigQuery
3 5 (0.57%) Delta Lake
3 5 (0.57%) Elasticsearch
4 4 (0.45%) Neo4j
4 4 (0.45%) Power BI
5 3 (0.34%) Azure SQL Database
5 3 (0.34%) Data Lake
5 3 (0.34%) Looker
5 3 (0.34%) PostgreSQL
6 2 (0.23%) DataStage
6 2 (0.23%) InfluxDB
6 2 (0.23%) MongoDB
6 2 (0.23%) Relational Database
6 2 (0.23%) SAP HANA
7 1 (0.11%) Amazon Athena
7 1 (0.11%) Amazon Aurora
7 1 (0.11%) Metadata
7 1 (0.11%) Qlik Sense
Development Applications
1 42 (4.76%) Git
2 35 (3.97%) Jenkins
3 32 (3.63%) GitLab
4 31 (3.51%) JIRA
5 7 (0.79%) Sonatype Nexus
6 4 (0.45%) Claude Code
6 4 (0.45%) MSBuild
6 4 (0.45%) SonarQube
6 4 (0.45%) Visual Studio
7 3 (0.34%) Artifactory
8 2 (0.23%) Cucumber
8 2 (0.23%) IBM UrbanCode
8 2 (0.23%) REST Assured
9 1 (0.11%) Browser DevTools
9 1 (0.11%) Postman
9 1 (0.11%) Subversion
General
1 250 (28.34%) Social Skills
2 174 (19.73%) Finance
3 95 (10.77%) Analytical Skills
4 69 (7.82%) Banking
5 49 (5.56%) Public Sector
6 44 (4.99%) Documentation Skills
7 33 (3.74%) Legal
8 31 (3.51%) Telecoms
9 18 (2.04%) Financial Institution
10 16 (1.81%) Influencing Skills
11 14 (1.59%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 14 (1.59%) Manufacturing
11 14 (1.59%) Retail
12 12 (1.36%) Presentation Skills
13 11 (1.25%) Organisational Skills
14 7 (0.79%) Local Government
14 7 (0.79%) Military
15 6 (0.68%) Automotive
15 6 (0.68%) Law
15 6 (0.68%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 240 (27.21%) Network Engineer
2 151 (17.12%) Architect
3 116 (13.15%) Security Engineer
4 102 (11.56%) Senior
5 82 (9.30%) Security Architect
6 72 (8.16%) Consultant
7 67 (7.60%) Network Security Engineer
8 60 (6.80%) Network Architect
9 46 (5.22%) Cloud Engineer
10 45 (5.10%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 45 (5.10%) Senior Network Engineer
11 43 (4.88%) Project Manager
12 40 (4.54%) Security Consultant
13 36 (4.08%) Lead
14 31 (3.51%) Network Security Architect
15 29 (3.29%) Analyst
16 27 (3.06%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
17 24 (2.72%) Azure Engineer
18 23 (2.61%) Network Manager
18 23 (2.61%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 153 (17.35%) Terraform
2 37 (4.20%) 802.1X
3 24 (2.72%) REST
4 17 (1.93%) ARM Templates
5 15 (1.70%) SAML
6 14 (1.59%) Kafka
7 8 (0.91%) JSON
7 8 (0.91%) NETCONF
8 7 (0.79%) LDAP
8 7 (0.79%) OAuth
9 6 (0.68%) gRPC
9 6 (0.68%) Keycloak
9 6 (0.68%) OpenID
9 6 (0.68%) Software Packaging
9 6 (0.68%) YAML
10 5 (0.57%) Azure Blueprints
10 5 (0.57%) SLSA
10 5 (0.57%) XML
11 4 (0.45%) .NET
11 4 (0.45%) CSS
Miscellaneous
1 121 (13.72%) Data Centre
2 81 (9.18%) Security Posture
3 57 (6.46%) Onboarding
4 50 (5.67%) Cloud Native
5 45 (5.10%) Hybrid Cloud
6 41 (4.65%) Management Information System
7 37 (4.20%) Operational Technology
8 34 (3.85%) Cyber Threat
9 28 (3.17%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
10 27 (3.06%) PKI
11 25 (2.83%) Public Cloud
12 24 (2.72%) Self-Motivation
13 23 (2.61%) Security Operations Centre
14 22 (2.49%) Data Protection Act
15 18 (2.04%) Cloud Security Posture
16 16 (1.81%) Enterprise Software
17 13 (1.47%) Replication
18 11 (1.25%) Linux Command Line
19 10 (1.13%) Video Conferencing
20 9 (1.02%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 107 (12.13%) Windows
2 93 (10.54%) Linux
3 45 (5.10%) Windows Server
4 21 (2.38%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 12 (1.36%) Unix
6 8 (0.91%) Ubuntu
6 8 (0.91%) Windows 10
7 3 (0.34%) Check Point GAiA
7 3 (0.34%) macOS
7 3 (0.34%) Oracle Linux
7 3 (0.34%) Rocky
8 2 (0.23%) Android
8 2 (0.23%) SUSE
8 2 (0.23%) Windows Server 2016
8 2 (0.23%) zOS
9 1 (0.11%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
9 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2003
9 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2012
9 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 196 (22.22%) Cybersecurity
2 184 (20.86%) Cloud Security
3 160 (18.14%) Stakeholder Management
4 151 (17.12%) CI/CD
5 141 (15.99%) Zero Trust
6 139 (15.76%) Infrastructure as Code
7 126 (14.29%) Continuous Improvement
7 126 (14.29%) Incident Response
8 125 (14.17%) DevOps
8 125 (14.17%) Problem-Solving
9 123 (13.95%) Migration
10 119 (13.49%) SIEM
11 112 (12.70%) Change Management
12 111 (12.59%) Security Architecture
13 98 (11.11%) Identity Access Management
14 96 (10.88%) Infrastructure Engineering
15 95 (10.77%) Agile
16 94 (10.66%) Data Protection
17 93 (10.54%) Security Operations
18 92 (10.43%) Load Balancing
Programming Languages
1 172 (19.50%) Python
2 98 (11.11%) PowerShell
3 81 (9.18%) Bash
4 37 (4.20%) Bicep
5 29 (3.29%) SQL
6 16 (1.81%) Go
7 15 (1.70%) Java
8 9 (1.02%) ActionScript
9 8 (0.91%) Shell Script
10 7 (0.79%) Kusto Query Language
10 7 (0.79%) Search Processing Language
11 4 (0.45%) Rust
12 3 (0.34%) JavaScript
12 3 (0.34%) Perl
12 3 (0.34%) VBScript
13 1 (0.11%) ABAP
13 1 (0.11%) C
13 1 (0.11%) C#
13 1 (0.11%) C++
13 1 (0.11%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 250 (28.34%) Security Cleared
2 174 (19.73%) Cisco Certification
3 173 (19.61%) SC Cleared
4 113 (12.81%) CISSP
5 99 (11.22%) CCNP
6 82 (9.30%) DV Cleared
7 64 (7.26%) Degree
8 50 (5.67%) CCNA
8 50 (5.67%) CCSP
9 48 (5.44%) CISM
10 47 (5.33%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 36 (4.08%) CCIE
12 27 (3.06%) Azure Certification
13 25 (2.83%) AWS Certification
14 18 (2.04%) Computer Science Degree
15 13 (1.47%) BPSS Clearance
16 12 (1.36%) GIAC
17 11 (1.25%) JNCIP
17 11 (1.25%) PMI Certification
17 11 (1.25%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 80 (9.07%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 72 (8.16%) NIST
3 40 (4.54%) GDPR
4 32 (3.63%) NCSC
4 32 (3.63%) PCI DSS
5 19 (2.15%) Cyber Essentials
6 13 (1.47%) GRC
6 13 (1.47%) QA
7 12 (1.36%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 11 (1.25%) NIST 800
9 9 (1.02%) SLA
10 7 (0.79%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 6 (0.68%) Disclosure Scotland
12 5 (0.57%) HMG Security Policy Framework
13 4 (0.45%) California Consumer Privacy Act
13 4 (0.45%) Data Quality
13 4 (0.45%) PMO
14 3 (0.34%) ISO/IEC 42001
14 3 (0.34%) SOC 2
15 2 (0.23%) P3O
System Software
1 91 (10.32%) Active Directory
2 57 (6.46%) VMware Infrastructure
3 39 (4.42%) Docker
4 18 (2.04%) Virtual Machines
5 16 (1.81%) VMware NSX
6 13 (1.47%) vSphere
7 12 (1.36%) Hyper-V
8 8 (0.91%) Virtual Desktop
8 8 (0.91%) VMware ESXi
9 5 (0.57%) Squid
9 5 (0.57%) Virtual Servers
10 4 (0.45%) Firmware
10 4 (0.45%) FreeRADIUS
11 2 (0.23%) Microsoft Virtual Server
11 2 (0.23%) NFS
11 2 (0.23%) OpenSSH
11 2 (0.23%) VMware Workstation
12 1 (0.11%) ProxySG
12 1 (0.11%) Samba
Systems Management
1 103 (11.68%) Ansible
2 82 (9.30%) Kubernetes
3 46 (5.22%) FortiGate
4 32 (3.63%) Microsoft Intune
5 31 (3.51%) Grafana
6 22 (2.49%) Prometheus
7 18 (2.04%) Progress Chef
8 17 (1.93%) SCCM
9 13 (1.47%) Single Sign-On
10 11 (1.25%) CASB
11 9 (1.02%) Nagios
11 9 (1.02%) QRadar
12 7 (0.79%) Cisco CUCM
12 7 (0.79%) Puppet
13 5 (0.57%) Suricata
14 4 (0.45%) Istio
14 4 (0.45%) Kustomize
14 4 (0.45%) Podman
14 4 (0.45%) systemd
14 4 (0.45%) VxRail
Vendors
1 263 (29.82%) Cisco
2 173 (19.61%) Microsoft
3 172 (19.50%) Palo Alto
4 97 (11.00%) Fortinet
5 84 (9.52%) F5
6 76 (8.62%) VMware
7 67 (7.60%) Zscaler
8 58 (6.58%) CheckPoint
9 45 (5.10%) Juniper
10 42 (4.76%) SolarWinds
10 42 (4.76%) Splunk
11 37 (4.20%) Google
12 35 (3.97%) Aruba
13 28 (3.17%) ServiceNow
14 18 (2.04%) Meraki
15 15 (1.70%) Citrix
15 15 (1.70%) CyberArk
16 14 (1.59%) Oracle
17 13 (1.47%) Tenable
18 12 (1.36%) AlgoSec