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

6 months to
4 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 155 143 174
Rank change year-on-year -12 +31 +20
Contract jobs citing Network Security 779 583 586
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.65% 1.99% 1.36%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 17.17% 15.63% 10.61%
Number of daily rates quoted 535 348 405
10th Percentile £375 £363 £361
25th Percentile £434 £425 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £520 £575
Median % change year-on-year -3.85% -9.57% -
75th Percentile £601 £600 £665
90th Percentile £700 £675 £758
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £490 £575
% change year-on-year +2.04% -14.78% +9.00%
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% -64.53%
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% -84.87%

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 4,536 3,729 5,522
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.61% 12.73% 12.80%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,824 2,294 3,303
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% -4.81%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £465 £475
% change year-on-year +2.15% -2.11% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 230 175 420
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.50
25th Percentile £21.25 £18.32 £16.72
Median hourly rate £41.94 £36.65 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +14.45% -8.39% +111.30%
75th Percentile £67.13 £58.09 £63.75
90th Percentile £75.00 £75.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £49.36 £24.71 £45.88
% change year-on-year +99.76% -46.14% +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 4 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 4 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 4 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 -18 675 £503 -4.14% 223
UK excluding London -15 393 £500 +2.04% 177
London -23 280 £525 -4.55% 93
Work from Home +1 218 £528 +5.60% 137
North of England -2 136 £481 -3.75% 46
South East -20 106 £500 +2.04% 63
North West +3 85 £481 -3.75% 29
Midlands -36 65 £500 -9.09% 23
Yorkshire -19 50 £450 +12.50% 13
West Midlands -42 45 £475 -9.52% 18
East of England -27 36 £515 -8.44% 13
South West -33 30 £550 - 11
Scotland -5 29 £475 +11.76% 16
East Midlands -17 19 £638 -1.92% 5
North East -18 3 £538 -14.00% 4
Wales -19 3 £600 +106.90% 6
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 (2.31%) Confluence
2 10 (1.28%) Microsoft Exchange
3 6 (0.77%) Apache
4 4 (0.51%) SharePoint
5 1 (0.13%) nginx
Applications
1 17 (2.18%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (1.41%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.51%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 5 (0.64%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 241 (30.94%) Azure
2 168 (21.57%) AWS
3 94 (12.07%) GCP
4 55 (7.06%) Entra ID
5 32 (4.11%) GitHub
6 29 (3.72%) Azure Sentinel
7 27 (3.47%) GitHub Actions
8 26 (3.34%) Azure DevOps
9 21 (2.70%) Azure ExpressRoute
10 18 (2.31%) AWS CloudFormation
10 18 (2.31%) Azure AKS
10 18 (2.31%) Azure Key Vault
11 17 (2.18%) Virtual Private Cloud
12 15 (1.93%) Azure Monitor
13 14 (1.80%) Google Kubernetes Engine
13 14 (1.80%) Microsoft 365
13 14 (1.80%) SaaS
14 13 (1.67%) Akamai
14 13 (1.67%) AWS Direct Connect
15 12 (1.54%) Amazon S3
Communications & Networking
1 362 (46.47%) Firewall
2 150 (19.26%) VPN
3 133 (17.07%) WAN
4 106 (13.61%) LAN
5 101 (12.97%) BGP
6 90 (11.55%) DNS
7 89 (11.42%) OSPF
8 75 (9.63%) VLAN
9 74 (9.50%) SD-WAN
10 59 (7.57%) TCP/IP
11 58 (7.45%) Wireless
12 46 (5.91%) MPLS
13 43 (5.52%) DHCP
14 37 (4.75%) Wi-Fi
15 34 (4.36%) Cisco ASA
15 34 (4.36%) Internet
16 33 (4.24%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
17 32 (4.11%) Cisco ISE
17 32 (4.11%) IPsec
18 28 (3.59%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (1.03%) Azure SQL Database
2 6 (0.77%) Amazon RDS
3 5 (0.64%) InfluxDB
3 5 (0.64%) Relational Database
3 5 (0.64%) SQL Server
4 3 (0.39%) Amazon Athena
4 3 (0.39%) Data Lake
4 3 (0.39%) Power BI
5 2 (0.26%) Oracle Database
5 2 (0.26%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 32 (4.11%) JIRA
2 23 (2.95%) Jenkins
3 16 (2.05%) GitLab
4 9 (1.16%) Git
5 8 (1.03%) Sonatype Nexus
6 7 (0.90%) Snyk
7 5 (0.64%) Browser DevTools
8 2 (0.26%) 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
1 179 (22.98%) Social Skills
2 111 (14.25%) Finance
3 72 (9.24%) Analytical Skills
4 62 (7.96%) Public Sector
5 38 (4.88%) Banking
6 32 (4.11%) Documentation Skills
7 27 (3.47%) Telecoms
8 21 (2.70%) Financial Institution
9 11 (1.41%) Legal
10 8 (1.03%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 8 (1.03%) Manufacturing
11 7 (0.90%) Organisational Skills
12 5 (0.64%) Law
12 5 (0.64%) Local Government
13 4 (0.51%) Electronics
13 4 (0.51%) Military
13 4 (0.51%) Police
14 3 (0.39%) Marketing
14 3 (0.39%) Pharmaceutical
14 3 (0.39%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 200 (25.67%) Network Engineer
2 172 (22.08%) Architect
3 98 (12.58%) Security Engineer
4 88 (11.30%) Security Architect
5 68 (8.73%) Senior
6 58 (7.45%) Network Architect
7 48 (6.16%) Network Security Engineer
8 28 (3.59%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 28 (3.59%) Lead
9 25 (3.21%) Analyst
9 25 (3.21%) Consultant
9 25 (3.21%) Network Security Architect
10 22 (2.82%) Senior Network Engineer
11 21 (2.70%) Project Manager
11 21 (2.70%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
12 19 (2.44%) Azure Architect
12 19 (2.44%) Solutions Architect
13 18 (2.31%) Cloud Architect
13 18 (2.31%) Cloud Engineer
14 17 (2.18%) Senior Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 28 (3.59%) 802.1X
2 13 (1.67%) LDAP
3 10 (1.28%) SAML
4 6 (0.77%) Node.js
4 6 (0.77%) REST
5 5 (0.64%) OAuth
5 5 (0.64%) RabbitMQ
5 5 (0.64%) SLSA
6 4 (0.51%) .NET
6 4 (0.51%) AWS CDK
6 4 (0.51%) HTML
6 4 (0.51%) OpenID
7 3 (0.39%) AngularJS
7 3 (0.39%) ARM Templates
7 3 (0.39%) CSS
7 3 (0.39%) JSON
7 3 (0.39%) OAuth2
7 3 (0.39%) Plotly
7 3 (0.39%) PyTorch
7 3 (0.39%) React
Miscellaneous
1 116 (14.89%) Data Centre
2 41 (5.26%) Cloud Native
3 40 (5.13%) Security Posture
4 38 (4.88%) Hybrid Cloud
5 30 (3.85%) Onboarding
6 27 (3.47%) PKI
7 26 (3.34%) Public Cloud
8 25 (3.21%) IoT
9 24 (3.08%) Data Protection Act
10 23 (2.95%) Management Information System
11 21 (2.70%) Cyber Threat
12 20 (2.57%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
12 20 (2.57%) Operational Technology
13 16 (2.05%) Product Ownership
14 13 (1.67%) Virtual Team
15 12 (1.54%) Analytical Mindset
15 12 (1.54%) Security Operations Centre
16 11 (1.41%) Cyber Security Posture
17 9 (1.16%) Clustering
18 8 (1.03%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 75 (9.63%) Windows
2 64 (8.22%) Linux
3 26 (3.34%) Windows Server
4 13 (1.67%) Unix
5 9 (1.16%) VMS
6 6 (0.77%) Mac OS
6 6 (0.77%) Ubuntu
7 5 (0.64%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 5 (0.64%) Windows 10
8 3 (0.39%) SUSE
9 1 (0.13%) Android
9 1 (0.13%) Data ONTAP
Processes & Methodologies
1 167 (21.44%) Cybersecurity
2 128 (16.43%) Cloud Security
3 121 (15.53%) Zero Trust
4 114 (14.63%) Security Architecture
5 100 (12.84%) Migration
6 99 (12.71%) CI/CD
7 97 (12.45%) Problem-Solving
8 95 (12.20%) Infrastructure as Code
8 95 (12.20%) SIEM
9 93 (11.94%) DevOps
10 79 (10.14%) High Availability
11 78 (10.01%) Continuous Improvement
12 77 (9.88%) Threat Modelling
13 72 (9.24%) Network Segmentation
14 71 (9.11%) Incident Response
15 70 (8.99%) Stakeholder Management
16 67 (8.60%) Change Management
17 64 (8.22%) Identity Access Management
18 63 (8.09%) Agile
19 62 (7.96%) Load Balancing
Programming Languages
1 106 (13.61%) Python
2 59 (7.57%) PowerShell
3 26 (3.34%) Bash
4 23 (2.95%) Bicep
4 23 (2.95%) JavaScript
4 23 (2.95%) SQL
5 11 (1.41%) Kusto Query Language
6 9 (1.16%) Go
7 8 (1.03%) Shell Script
8 7 (0.90%) Java
9 4 (0.51%) C
9 4 (0.51%) PHP
10 3 (0.39%) C#
10 3 (0.39%) C++
11 2 (0.26%) C-shell
11 2 (0.26%) Korn
11 2 (0.26%) Ruby
12 1 (0.13%) ActionScript
12 1 (0.13%) AppleScript
12 1 (0.13%) VBA
Qualifications
1 234 (30.04%) Security Cleared
2 172 (22.08%) SC Cleared
3 148 (19.00%) Cisco Certification
4 106 (13.61%) CCNP
5 93 (11.94%) CISSP
6 71 (9.11%) DV Cleared
7 56 (7.19%) CCNA
8 52 (6.68%) CISM
9 50 (6.42%) Degree
10 30 (3.85%) Azure Certification
11 27 (3.47%) CCSP
12 26 (3.34%) (ISC)2 CCSP
13 24 (3.08%) CCIE
14 21 (2.70%) GIAC
15 18 (2.31%) AWS Certification
15 18 (2.31%) CompTIA Security+
16 17 (2.18%) CEH
17 12 (1.54%) BPSS Clearance
17 12 (1.54%) TOGAF Certification
18 10 (1.28%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 84 (10.78%) NIST
2 71 (9.11%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 43 (5.52%) GDPR
4 28 (3.59%) PCI DSS
5 21 (2.70%) NCSC
6 16 (2.05%) GRC
7 15 (1.93%) Cyber Essentials
8 13 (1.67%) SLA
9 11 (1.41%) QA
10 8 (1.03%) Actionable Recommendations
10 8 (1.03%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 8 (1.03%) SOC 2
11 7 (0.90%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 6 (0.77%) Disclosure Scotland
12 6 (0.77%) PMO
13 5 (0.64%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 5 (0.64%) ISO/IEC 42001
14 4 (0.51%) RMADS
15 3 (0.39%) ISA99
15 3 (0.39%) JSP 440
System Software
1 52 (6.68%) VMware Infrastructure
2 50 (6.42%) Active Directory
3 22 (2.82%) VMware NSX
4 15 (1.93%) Docker
5 14 (1.80%) Virtual Machines
6 13 (1.67%) Hyper-V
7 10 (1.28%) VMware ESXi
7 10 (1.28%) vSphere
8 7 (0.90%) Firmware
9 5 (0.64%) Virtual Desktop
10 2 (0.26%) NFS
10 2 (0.26%) Postfix
10 2 (0.26%) Sendmail
10 2 (0.26%) Varnish
11 1 (0.13%) KVM
11 1 (0.13%) ProxySG
11 1 (0.13%) RHEV
11 1 (0.13%) Squid
11 1 (0.13%) XenApp
11 1 (0.13%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 115 (14.76%) Terraform
2 76 (9.76%) Ansible
3 57 (7.32%) Kubernetes
4 33 (4.24%) FortiGate
5 15 (1.93%) Single Sign-On
6 14 (1.80%) Nagios
7 11 (1.41%) Microsoft Intune
8 10 (1.28%) vCenter Server
9 9 (1.16%) Kibana
9 9 (1.16%) Microsoft Clustering
10 7 (0.90%) Grafana
11 6 (0.77%) Prometheus
12 5 (0.64%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 5 (0.64%) Istio
12 5 (0.64%) Progress Chef
12 5 (0.64%) QRadar
12 5 (0.64%) WSUS
13 4 (0.51%) CASB
13 4 (0.51%) Puppet
14 3 (0.39%) Docker Swarm
Vendors
1 219 (28.11%) Cisco
2 127 (16.30%) Palo Alto
3 116 (14.89%) Microsoft
4 76 (9.76%) F5
5 67 (8.60%) VMware
6 59 (7.57%) Fortinet
7 56 (7.19%) Juniper
8 53 (6.80%) CheckPoint
9 46 (5.91%) Zscaler
10 31 (3.98%) ServiceNow
11 25 (3.21%) Splunk
12 22 (2.82%) ForeScout
13 21 (2.70%) Google
14 20 (2.57%) Aruba
14 20 (2.57%) SolarWinds
15 17 (2.18%) Meraki
16 15 (1.93%) Citrix
17 14 (1.80%) Tenable
18 13 (1.67%) Okta
19 12 (1.54%) Infoblox