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 1 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 155 147 169
Rank change year-on-year -8 +22 +19
Contract jobs citing Network Security 796 582 604
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.68% 1.99% 1.39%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 17.37% 15.66% 10.73%
Number of daily rates quoted 545 348 417
10th Percentile £356 £363 £363
25th Percentile £425 £425 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £520 £563
Median % change year-on-year -3.85% -7.56% -
75th Percentile £600 £602 £665
90th Percentile £697 £675 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £490 £575
% change year-on-year +2.04% -14.78% +8.49%
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 4,583 3,716 5,629
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.70% 12.70% 12.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,864 2,285 3,368
10th Percentile £250 £213 £205
25th Percentile £400 £363 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £495 £488 £495
Median % change year-on-year +1.54% -1.52% -4.53%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £465 £481
% change year-on-year +2.15% -3.38% +1.32%
Number of hourly rates quoted 227 171 423
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.57
25th Percentile £21.25 £18.32 £17.35
Median hourly rate £41.94 £36.50 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +14.90% -8.75% +110.53%
75th Percentile £68.75 £58.72 £62.50
90th Percentile £75.00 £75.00 £67.40
UK excluding London median hourly rate £50.00 £24.66 £45.88
% change year-on-year +102.76% -46.25% +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 1 May 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 1 May 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 1 May 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 -16 691 £500 -4.76% 207
UK excluding London -6 405 £500 +2.04% 168
London -16 285 £525 -4.55% 82
Work from Home +3 220 £525 +5.00% 129
North of England -5 138 £478 -4.50% 44
South East -15 110 £500 +2.04% 61
North West -1 85 £481 -3.75% 28
Midlands -35 70 £500 -9.09% 23
Yorkshire -22 52 £450 +12.50% 13
West Midlands -37 50 £475 -9.52% 17
East of England -18 36 £515 -8.44% 13
South West -30 30 £550 - 11
Scotland -2 29 £475 +11.76% 11
East Midlands -15 19 £638 -1.92% 6
Wales -14 4 £600 +106.90% 5
North East -17 3 £538 -14.00% 3
Northern Ireland - 1 £500 - 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 18 (2.26%) Confluence
2 10 (1.26%) Microsoft Exchange
3 6 (0.75%) Apache
4 4 (0.50%) SharePoint
5 1 (0.13%) nginx
Applications
1 21 (2.64%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (1.38%) 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
1 245 (30.78%) Azure
2 169 (21.23%) AWS
3 94 (11.81%) GCP
4 57 (7.16%) Entra ID
5 33 (4.15%) GitHub
6 29 (3.64%) Azure Sentinel
7 28 (3.52%) Azure DevOps
7 28 (3.52%) GitHub Actions
8 21 (2.64%) Azure ExpressRoute
9 19 (2.39%) Azure AKS
9 19 (2.39%) Azure Key Vault
10 18 (2.26%) AWS CloudFormation
11 17 (2.14%) Virtual Private Cloud
12 16 (2.01%) Azure Monitor
13 14 (1.76%) Google Kubernetes Engine
13 14 (1.76%) Microsoft 365
13 14 (1.76%) SaaS
14 13 (1.63%) Akamai
14 13 (1.63%) AWS Direct Connect
15 12 (1.51%) Amazon S3
Communications & Networking
1 373 (46.86%) Firewall
2 153 (19.22%) VPN
3 137 (17.21%) WAN
4 110 (13.82%) LAN
5 102 (12.81%) BGP
6 90 (11.31%) DNS
6 90 (11.31%) OSPF
7 78 (9.80%) SD-WAN
8 76 (9.55%) VLAN
9 60 (7.54%) TCP/IP
10 58 (7.29%) Wireless
11 46 (5.78%) MPLS
12 43 (5.40%) DHCP
13 40 (5.03%) Wi-Fi
14 35 (4.40%) Cisco ASA
14 35 (4.40%) Internet
15 33 (4.15%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
16 32 (4.02%) Cisco ISE
16 32 (4.02%) IPsec
17 28 (3.52%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (1.01%) Azure SQL Database
2 6 (0.75%) 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 (4.02%) JIRA
2 23 (2.89%) Jenkins
3 16 (2.01%) 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
1 185 (23.24%) Social Skills
2 113 (14.20%) Finance
3 76 (9.55%) Analytical Skills
4 63 (7.91%) Public Sector
5 38 (4.77%) Banking
6 32 (4.02%) Documentation Skills
7 27 (3.39%) Telecoms
8 22 (2.76%) Financial Institution
9 11 (1.38%) Legal
10 8 (1.01%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 8 (1.01%) Manufacturing
11 7 (0.88%) Organisational Skills
12 5 (0.63%) Law
12 5 (0.63%) Local Government
13 4 (0.50%) Electronics
13 4 (0.50%) Military
13 4 (0.50%) Police
14 3 (0.38%) Influencing Skills
14 3 (0.38%) Marketing
14 3 (0.38%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 201 (25.25%) Network Engineer
2 175 (21.98%) Architect
3 96 (12.06%) Security Engineer
4 88 (11.06%) Security Architect
5 70 (8.79%) Senior
6 60 (7.54%) Network Architect
7 48 (6.03%) Network Security Engineer
8 29 (3.64%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 28 (3.52%) Lead
10 26 (3.27%) Analyst
11 25 (3.14%) Consultant
11 25 (3.14%) Network Security Architect
12 22 (2.76%) Senior Network Engineer
13 21 (2.64%) Project Manager
13 21 (2.64%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
14 20 (2.51%) Azure Architect
15 19 (2.39%) Cloud Architect
15 19 (2.39%) Solutions Architect
16 18 (2.26%) Cloud Engineer
17 17 (2.14%) Senior Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 28 (3.52%) 802.1X
2 13 (1.63%) LDAP
3 10 (1.26%) SAML
4 7 (0.88%) Node.js
5 6 (0.75%) REST
6 5 (0.63%) .NET
6 5 (0.63%) OAuth
6 5 (0.63%) RabbitMQ
6 5 (0.63%) SLSA
7 4 (0.50%) .NET Core
7 4 (0.50%) AngularJS
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%) ARM Templates
8 3 (0.38%) Elastic Stack
8 3 (0.38%) Plotly
Miscellaneous
1 115 (14.45%) Data Centre
2 42 (5.28%) Cloud Native
2 42 (5.28%) Security Posture
3 38 (4.77%) Hybrid Cloud
4 31 (3.89%) Onboarding
5 27 (3.39%) PKI
6 26 (3.27%) IoT
6 26 (3.27%) Public Cloud
7 24 (3.02%) Data Protection Act
7 24 (3.02%) Management Information System
8 22 (2.76%) Cyber Threat
8 22 (2.76%) Operational Technology
9 20 (2.51%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
10 16 (2.01%) Product Ownership
11 14 (1.76%) Cyber Security Posture
11 14 (1.76%) Virtual Team
12 12 (1.51%) Analytical Mindset
13 11 (1.38%) Security Operations Centre
14 9 (1.13%) Clustering
15 8 (1.01%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 80 (10.05%) Windows
2 67 (8.42%) Linux
3 27 (3.39%) Windows Server
4 13 (1.63%) Unix
5 10 (1.26%) VMS
6 7 (0.88%) Mac OS
7 6 (0.75%) 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
1 171 (21.48%) Cybersecurity
2 128 (16.08%) Cloud Security
3 121 (15.20%) Zero Trust
4 113 (14.20%) Security Architecture
5 105 (13.19%) Problem-Solving
6 103 (12.94%) Migration
7 100 (12.56%) CI/CD
8 97 (12.19%) SIEM
9 96 (12.06%) Infrastructure as Code
10 95 (11.93%) DevOps
11 79 (9.92%) Continuous Improvement
11 79 (9.92%) High Availability
12 77 (9.67%) Threat Modelling
13 74 (9.30%) Incident Response
14 72 (9.05%) Network Segmentation
14 72 (9.05%) Stakeholder Management
15 70 (8.79%) Change Management
16 66 (8.29%) Agile
17 64 (8.04%) Identity Access Management
18 63 (7.91%) Security Operations
Programming Languages
1 111 (13.94%) Python
2 63 (7.91%) PowerShell
3 26 (3.27%) Bash
4 24 (3.02%) Bicep
4 24 (3.02%) JavaScript
4 24 (3.02%) SQL
5 15 (1.88%) Kusto Query Language
6 9 (1.13%) Go
7 8 (1.01%) Shell Script
8 7 (0.88%) Java
9 4 (0.50%) C
9 4 (0.50%) C#
9 4 (0.50%) PHP
10 3 (0.38%) C++
11 2 (0.25%) C-shell
11 2 (0.25%) Korn
11 2 (0.25%) Ruby
12 1 (0.13%) ActionScript
12 1 (0.13%) AppleScript
12 1 (0.13%) VBA
Qualifications
1 237 (29.77%) Security Cleared
2 175 (21.98%) SC Cleared
3 151 (18.97%) Cisco Certification
4 109 (13.69%) CCNP
5 96 (12.06%) CISSP
6 71 (8.92%) DV Cleared
7 57 (7.16%) CCNA
8 52 (6.53%) CISM
9 51 (6.41%) Degree
10 31 (3.89%) Azure Certification
11 27 (3.39%) CCSP
12 26 (3.27%) (ISC)2 CCSP
12 26 (3.27%) CCIE
13 24 (3.02%) GIAC
14 20 (2.51%) CEH
15 18 (2.26%) AWS Certification
15 18 (2.26%) CompTIA Security+
16 12 (1.51%) BPSS Clearance
16 12 (1.51%) TOGAF Certification
17 11 (1.38%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 84 (10.55%) NIST
2 70 (8.79%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 43 (5.40%) GDPR
4 27 (3.39%) PCI DSS
5 21 (2.64%) NCSC
6 16 (2.01%) GRC
7 14 (1.76%) Cyber Essentials
7 14 (1.76%) SLA
8 11 (1.38%) QA
9 8 (1.01%) Actionable Recommendations
9 8 (1.01%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
9 8 (1.01%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 8 (1.01%) SOC 2
10 6 (0.75%) Disclosure Scotland
10 6 (0.75%) PMO
11 5 (0.63%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 5 (0.63%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 4 (0.50%) RMADS
13 3 (0.38%) ISA99
13 3 (0.38%) JSP 440
System Software
1 54 (6.78%) VMware Infrastructure
2 51 (6.41%) Active Directory
3 22 (2.76%) VMware NSX
4 16 (2.01%) Docker
5 14 (1.76%) Virtual Machines
6 13 (1.63%) Hyper-V
7 11 (1.38%) 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%) Sendmail
11 2 (0.25%) Varnish
12 1 (0.13%) KVM
12 1 (0.13%) ProxySG
12 1 (0.13%) RHEV
12 1 (0.13%) Squid
12 1 (0.13%) XenApp
12 1 (0.13%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 117 (14.70%) Terraform
2 76 (9.55%) Ansible
3 58 (7.29%) Kubernetes
4 33 (4.15%) FortiGate
5 15 (1.88%) Single Sign-On
6 14 (1.76%) Nagios
7 12 (1.51%) Kibana
8 11 (1.38%) Microsoft Intune
8 11 (1.38%) vCenter Server
9 9 (1.13%) Microsoft Clustering
10 7 (0.88%) Grafana
11 6 (0.75%) Prometheus
12 5 (0.63%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 5 (0.63%) Istio
12 5 (0.63%) Progress Chef
12 5 (0.63%) QRadar
12 5 (0.63%) WSUS
13 4 (0.50%) CASB
13 4 (0.50%) Puppet
14 3 (0.38%) SCOM
Vendors
1 221 (27.76%) Cisco
2 128 (16.08%) Palo Alto
3 121 (15.20%) Microsoft
4 76 (9.55%) F5
5 69 (8.67%) VMware
6 59 (7.41%) Fortinet
7 56 (7.04%) Juniper
8 54 (6.78%) CheckPoint
9 46 (5.78%) Zscaler
10 31 (3.89%) ServiceNow
11 25 (3.14%) Splunk
12 24 (3.02%) Google
13 22 (2.76%) ForeScout
14 20 (2.51%) Aruba
14 20 (2.51%) SolarWinds
15 17 (2.14%) Meraki
16 15 (1.88%) Citrix
17 14 (1.76%) Okta
17 14 (1.76%) Tenable
18 12 (1.51%) Infoblox