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

6 months to
9 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 175 180 166
Rank change year-on-year +5 -14 -10
Contract jobs citing Network Security 880 544 581
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.61% 1.64% 1.53%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 17.46% 14.35% 12.77%
Number of daily rates quoted 574 322 372
10th Percentile £400 £380 £358
25th Percentile £463 £450 £438
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £538 £531
Median % change year-on-year +2.33% +1.27% -3.50%
75th Percentile £650 £636 £626
90th Percentile £735 £738 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £550 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +10.00% -4.76% -2.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 26 16 9
10th Percentile £27.00 £45.00 £31.70
25th Percentile £62.81 £52.50 £36.00
Median hourly rate £70.63 £70.16 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year +0.66% +55.91% -37.93%
75th Percentile £73.94 £85.00 £58.75
90th Percentile £85.00 £97.50 £70.77
UK excluding London median hourly rate £70.88 £70.16 £53.75
% change year-on-year +1.02% +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 5,039 3,790 4,550
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.25% 11.43% 11.98%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,917 2,399 2,613
10th Percentile £236 £216 £225
25th Percentile £393 £358 £363
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
75th Percentile £588 £588 £601
90th Percentile £678 £680 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £450 £485
% change year-on-year +5.56% -7.22% +5.43%
Number of hourly rates quoted 434 195 192
10th Percentile £14.10 £15.50 £14.20
25th Percentile £19.50 £20.00 £24.18
Median hourly rate £32.50 £35.00 £49.00
Median % change year-on-year -7.14% -28.57% -13.26%
75th Percentile £68.69 £64.75 £65.00
90th Percentile £92.11 £75.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.14 £41.48 £55.00
% change year-on-year -36.97% -24.59% -4.35%

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 9 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 9 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 9 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 0 777 £550 +3.29% 752
UK excluding London +1 448 £550 +10.00% 376
London -3 335 £550 - 390
Work from Home +4 260 £540 -1.82% 292
North of England +18 205 £540 +10.32% 75
North West -5 112 £545 +14.74% 40
South East -27 92 £559 +21.69% 131
Yorkshire +17 89 £540 +9.76% 28
Midlands -54 54 £475 -9.52% 59
West Midlands -64 42 £450 -14.29% 34
East of England -12 38 £515 +3.00% 33
South West -31 31 £675 +5.47% 38
Scotland -15 27 £600 +26.32% 23
East Midlands -10 12 £500 - 25
Channel Islands -1 6 £600 -17.24%
North East - 3 £680 - 7
Northern Ireland +7 2 - - 13
Wales -13 1 £650 +30.00% 8

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 (2.05%) SharePoint
2 17 (1.93%) Microsoft Exchange
3 12 (1.36%) 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 17 (1.93%) Microsoft Office
2 7 (0.80%) 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%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 296 (33.64%) Azure
2 206 (23.41%) AWS
3 105 (11.93%) GCP
4 101 (11.48%) Entra ID
5 51 (5.80%) Microsoft 365
6 47 (5.34%) GitHub
7 40 (4.55%) Azure DevOps
8 37 (4.20%) Azure Monitor
9 32 (3.64%) Serverless
10 27 (3.07%) SaaS
11 26 (2.95%) Azure Sentinel
12 21 (2.39%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 21 (2.39%) GitHub Actions
13 19 (2.16%) Azure AKS
14 18 (2.05%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 18 (2.05%) Amazon EKS
14 18 (2.05%) Google Kubernetes Engine
14 18 (2.05%) OCI
14 18 (2.05%) Virtual Private Cloud
15 15 (1.70%) AWS CloudFormation
Communications & Networking
1 405 (46.02%) Firewall
2 208 (23.64%) VPN
3 191 (21.70%) WAN
4 143 (16.25%) DNS
5 133 (15.11%) LAN
6 103 (11.70%) Wireless
7 95 (10.80%) BGP
8 94 (10.68%) TCP/IP
9 79 (8.98%) SD-WAN
10 73 (8.30%) DHCP
11 67 (7.61%) OSPF
12 65 (7.39%) VLAN
13 59 (6.70%) SSL
14 53 (6.02%) MPLS
15 43 (4.89%) IPsec
15 43 (4.89%) Wi-Fi
16 41 (4.66%) Cisco ISE
17 39 (4.43%) Cisco ASA
17 39 (4.43%) Internet
18 34 (3.86%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (1.25%) SQL Server
2 10 (1.14%) Amazon RDS
3 7 (0.80%) BigQuery
4 5 (0.57%) Delta Lake
4 5 (0.57%) Elasticsearch
5 4 (0.45%) Neo4j
5 4 (0.45%) Power BI
6 3 (0.34%) Azure SQL Database
6 3 (0.34%) Data Lake
6 3 (0.34%) PostgreSQL
7 2 (0.23%) InfluxDB
7 2 (0.23%) Looker
7 2 (0.23%) Relational Database
7 2 (0.23%) SAP HANA
8 1 (0.11%) Amazon Athena
8 1 (0.11%) Amazon Aurora
8 1 (0.11%) Amazon Redshift
8 1 (0.11%) Big Data
8 1 (0.11%) Metadata
8 1 (0.11%) Qlik Sense
Development Applications
1 41 (4.66%) Git
2 33 (3.75%) Jenkins
3 31 (3.52%) GitLab
4 28 (3.18%) JIRA
5 8 (0.91%) 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%) IBM UrbanCode
9 1 (0.11%) Browser DevTools
9 1 (0.11%) Burp Suite
9 1 (0.11%) Cucumber
9 1 (0.11%) Postman
9 1 (0.11%) REST Assured
9 1 (0.11%) SoapUI
9 1 (0.11%) Subversion
General
1 249 (28.30%) Social Skills
2 170 (19.32%) Finance
3 94 (10.68%) Analytical Skills
4 67 (7.61%) Banking
5 47 (5.34%) Documentation Skills
5 47 (5.34%) Public Sector
6 32 (3.64%) Legal
7 30 (3.41%) Telecoms
8 18 (2.05%) Financial Institution
9 16 (1.82%) Influencing Skills
10 14 (1.59%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 14 (1.59%) Manufacturing
10 14 (1.59%) Retail
11 12 (1.36%) Organisational Skills
11 12 (1.36%) Presentation Skills
12 7 (0.80%) Local Government
12 7 (0.80%) Military
13 6 (0.68%) Automotive
13 6 (0.68%) Law
13 6 (0.68%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 243 (27.61%) Network Engineer
2 149 (16.93%) Architect
3 118 (13.41%) Security Engineer
4 104 (11.82%) Senior
5 81 (9.20%) Security Architect
6 72 (8.18%) Consultant
7 69 (7.84%) Network Security Engineer
8 59 (6.70%) Network Architect
9 47 (5.34%) Senior Network Engineer
10 46 (5.23%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 45 (5.11%) Cloud Engineer
12 44 (5.00%) Project Manager
13 40 (4.55%) Security Consultant
14 34 (3.86%) Lead
15 30 (3.41%) Network Security Architect
16 29 (3.30%) Analyst
17 28 (3.18%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
18 23 (2.61%) Azure Engineer
18 23 (2.61%) Network Manager
19 22 (2.50%) Solutions Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 149 (16.93%) Terraform
2 38 (4.32%) 802.1X
3 24 (2.73%) REST
4 17 (1.93%) ARM Templates
5 14 (1.59%) Kafka
5 14 (1.59%) SAML
6 8 (0.91%) JSON
6 8 (0.91%) NETCONF
7 7 (0.80%) LDAP
8 6 (0.68%) gRPC
8 6 (0.68%) Keycloak
8 6 (0.68%) OAuth
8 6 (0.68%) OpenID
8 6 (0.68%) Software Packaging
8 6 (0.68%) YAML
9 5 (0.57%) Azure Blueprints
9 5 (0.57%) SLSA
9 5 (0.57%) XML
10 4 (0.45%) .NET
10 4 (0.45%) CSS
Miscellaneous
1 122 (13.86%) Data Centre
2 81 (9.20%) Security Posture
3 57 (6.48%) Onboarding
4 49 (5.57%) Cloud Native
5 44 (5.00%) Hybrid Cloud
6 42 (4.77%) Management Information System
7 37 (4.20%) Operational Technology
8 34 (3.86%) Cyber Threat
9 27 (3.07%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
9 27 (3.07%) PKI
10 25 (2.84%) Self-Motivation
11 24 (2.73%) Public Cloud
12 23 (2.61%) Security Operations Centre
13 21 (2.39%) Data Protection Act
14 18 (2.05%) Cloud Security Posture
15 15 (1.70%) Enterprise Software
16 13 (1.48%) Replication
17 11 (1.25%) Linux Command Line
18 10 (1.14%) Video Conferencing
19 9 (1.02%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 109 (12.39%) Windows
2 93 (10.57%) Linux
3 46 (5.23%) Windows Server
4 20 (2.27%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 12 (1.36%) Unix
6 9 (1.02%) Windows 10
7 7 (0.80%) Ubuntu
8 3 (0.34%) Check Point GAiA
8 3 (0.34%) Mac OS
9 2 (0.23%) Android
9 2 (0.23%) Oracle Linux
9 2 (0.23%) Rocky
9 2 (0.23%) SUSE
9 2 (0.23%) Windows Server 2016
9 2 (0.23%) zOS
10 1 (0.11%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
10 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2003
10 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2012
10 1 (0.11%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 194 (22.05%) Cybersecurity
2 182 (20.68%) Cloud Security
3 158 (17.95%) Stakeholder Management
4 147 (16.70%) CI/CD
5 140 (15.91%) Zero Trust
6 135 (15.34%) Infrastructure as Code
7 125 (14.20%) Continuous Improvement
7 125 (14.20%) Problem-Solving
8 124 (14.09%) Incident Response
9 121 (13.75%) Migration
10 120 (13.64%) DevOps
10 120 (13.64%) SIEM
11 112 (12.73%) Change Management
12 109 (12.39%) Security Architecture
13 98 (11.14%) Identity Access Management
14 97 (11.02%) Infrastructure Engineering
15 95 (10.80%) Data Protection
16 91 (10.34%) Agile
16 91 (10.34%) Security Operations
17 90 (10.23%) Load Balancing
Programming Languages
1 171 (19.43%) Python
2 97 (11.02%) PowerShell
3 79 (8.98%) Bash
4 36 (4.09%) Bicep
5 29 (3.30%) SQL
6 15 (1.70%) Go
6 15 (1.70%) Java
7 8 (0.91%) ActionScript
8 7 (0.80%) Kusto Query Language
8 7 (0.80%) Search Processing Language
8 7 (0.80%) Shell Script
9 4 (0.45%) Rust
10 3 (0.34%) JavaScript
10 3 (0.34%) Perl
10 3 (0.34%) VBScript
11 1 (0.11%) ABAP
11 1 (0.11%) C
11 1 (0.11%) C#
11 1 (0.11%) C++
11 1 (0.11%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 249 (28.30%) Security Cleared
2 176 (20.00%) Cisco Certification
3 174 (19.77%) SC Cleared
4 112 (12.73%) CISSP
5 101 (11.48%) CCNP
6 80 (9.09%) DV Cleared
7 66 (7.50%) Degree
8 50 (5.68%) CCNA
8 50 (5.68%) CCSP
9 47 (5.34%) (ISC)2 CCSP
9 47 (5.34%) CISM
10 37 (4.20%) CCIE
11 28 (3.18%) Azure Certification
12 25 (2.84%) AWS Certification
13 18 (2.05%) Computer Science Degree
14 12 (1.36%) BPSS Clearance
14 12 (1.36%) GIAC
15 11 (1.25%) JNCIP
15 11 (1.25%) PMI Certification
15 11 (1.25%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 81 (9.20%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 73 (8.30%) NIST
3 40 (4.55%) GDPR
4 32 (3.64%) PCI DSS
5 31 (3.52%) NCSC
6 18 (2.05%) Cyber Essentials
7 13 (1.48%) GRC
7 13 (1.48%) QA
8 11 (1.25%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 11 (1.25%) NIST 800
9 9 (1.02%) SLA
10 7 (0.80%) 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%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 4 (0.45%) PMO
14 3 (0.34%) SOC 2
15 2 (0.23%) P3O
System Software
1 92 (10.45%) Active Directory
2 58 (6.59%) VMware Infrastructure
3 38 (4.32%) Docker
4 18 (2.05%) Virtual Machines
5 16 (1.82%) VMware NSX
6 13 (1.48%) vSphere
7 12 (1.36%) Hyper-V
8 8 (0.91%) Virtual Desktop
8 8 (0.91%) VMware ESXi
9 6 (0.68%) Virtual Servers
10 5 (0.57%) Squid
11 4 (0.45%) Firmware
11 4 (0.45%) FreeRADIUS
12 2 (0.23%) Microsoft Virtual Server
12 2 (0.23%) NFS
12 2 (0.23%) OpenSSH
12 2 (0.23%) VMware Workstation
13 1 (0.11%) ProxySG
13 1 (0.11%) Samba
Systems Management
1 103 (11.70%) Ansible
2 80 (9.09%) Kubernetes
3 47 (5.34%) FortiGate
4 32 (3.64%) Microsoft Intune
5 31 (3.52%) Grafana
6 22 (2.50%) Prometheus
7 18 (2.05%) Progress Chef
8 17 (1.93%) SCCM
9 12 (1.36%) Single Sign-On
10 11 (1.25%) CASB
11 9 (1.02%) Nagios
11 9 (1.02%) QRadar
12 7 (0.80%) Cisco CUCM
12 7 (0.80%) Puppet
13 5 (0.57%) Suricata
14 4 (0.45%) Cisco Prime
14 4 (0.45%) Kustomize
14 4 (0.45%) Podman
14 4 (0.45%) systemd
14 4 (0.45%) VxRail
Vendors
1 266 (30.23%) Cisco
2 174 (19.77%) Palo Alto
3 173 (19.66%) Microsoft
4 99 (11.25%) Fortinet
5 84 (9.55%) F5
6 77 (8.75%) VMware
7 68 (7.73%) Zscaler
8 59 (6.70%) CheckPoint
9 45 (5.11%) Juniper
10 42 (4.77%) SolarWinds
11 41 (4.66%) Splunk
12 35 (3.98%) Aruba
13 34 (3.86%) Google
14 28 (3.18%) ServiceNow
15 18 (2.05%) Meraki
16 16 (1.82%) Citrix
17 15 (1.70%) CyberArk
18 13 (1.48%) Blue Coat
18 13 (1.48%) Tenable
19 12 (1.36%) AlgoSec