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

6 months to
20 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 154 147 180
Rank change year-on-year -7 +33 0
Contract jobs citing Network Security 795 565 551
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.65% 1.94% 1.29%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 17.31% 15.28% 10.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 540 340 376
10th Percentile £393 £370 £363
25th Percentile £438 £445 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £525 £575
Median % change year-on-year -0.95% -8.70% -0.03%
75th Percentile £613 £600 £669
90th Percentile £700 £688 £769
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £490 £575
% change year-on-year +2.04% -14.78% +9.52%
Number of hourly rates quoted 16 10 17
10th Percentile £31.88 £18.28 -
25th Percentile £42.13 £41.63 £7.43
Median hourly rate £65.50 £80.68 £19.00
Median % change year-on-year -18.81% +324.61% -64.53%
75th Percentile £74.07 £81.35 £41.25
90th Percentile £75.00 £82.29 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £66.00 £80.68 £7.43
% change year-on-year -18.19% +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 4,594 3,697 5,396
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 9.54% 12.67% 12.68%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,838 2,286 3,217
10th Percentile £263 £213 £205
25th Percentile £400 £358 £350
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £495 £485 £490
Median % change year-on-year +2.06% -1.02% -5.31%
75th Percentile £588 £588 £600
90th Percentile £675 £675 £694
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £455 £475
% change year-on-year +4.40% -4.21% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 254 162 417
10th Percentile £16.01 £14.99 £13.50
25th Percentile £21.25 £17.30 £16.30
Median hourly rate £35.52 £36.57 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -2.88% -8.57% +116.22%
75th Percentile £65.88 £58.73 £63.75
90th Percentile £75.00 £75.00 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £41.94 £26.25 £45.88
% change year-on-year +59.77% -42.79% +151.88%

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 20 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 20 May 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Network Security in the UK

Network Security
Top 16 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 20 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 -12 691 £525 -1.59% 243
UK excluding London -11 390 £500 +2.04% 198
London -1 296 £550 -4.35% 93
Work from Home +5 229 £528 +5.60% 119
North of England +3 152 £493 -1.35% 58
South East -35 96 £500 +2.04% 65
North West +3 89 £489 -3.22% 35
Yorkshire -23 60 £500 +2.04% 16
Midlands -43 53 £500 -4.76% 18
East of England -20 36 £515 -8.44% 16
West Midlands -47 33 £450 -14.29% 13
South West -38 30 £545 -0.91% 15
Scotland -6 28 £576 +35.47% 25
East Midlands -13 19 £638 - 5
Wales -18 3 £600 +106.90% 6
North East -21 3 £538 -14.00% 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 20 (2.52%) Confluence
2 10 (1.26%) Microsoft Exchange
3 4 (0.50%) SharePoint
4 2 (0.25%) Apache
5 1 (0.13%) nginx
Applications
1 14 (1.76%) 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
1 246 (30.94%) Azure
2 168 (21.13%) AWS
3 103 (12.96%) GCP
4 57 (7.17%) Entra ID
5 31 (3.90%) GitHub
6 29 (3.65%) Azure Sentinel
7 27 (3.40%) Azure DevOps
8 26 (3.27%) GitHub Actions
9 19 (2.39%) Azure ExpressRoute
10 18 (2.26%) Azure Key Vault
10 18 (2.26%) Google Kubernetes Engine
10 18 (2.26%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 17 (2.14%) Azure AKS
12 16 (2.01%) Azure Monitor
13 15 (1.89%) Akamai
13 15 (1.89%) AWS CloudFormation
13 15 (1.89%) Microsoft 365
14 14 (1.76%) AWS Direct Connect
14 14 (1.76%) SaaS
15 11 (1.38%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 364 (45.79%) Firewall
2 160 (20.13%) VPN
3 140 (17.61%) WAN
4 113 (14.21%) LAN
5 97 (12.20%) BGP
6 93 (11.70%) DNS
7 85 (10.69%) OSPF
8 75 (9.43%) SD-WAN
8 75 (9.43%) VLAN
9 66 (8.30%) TCP/IP
10 62 (7.80%) Wireless
11 47 (5.91%) MPLS
12 45 (5.66%) DHCP
13 37 (4.65%) Wi-Fi
14 34 (4.28%) Cisco ISE
14 34 (4.28%) SSL
15 33 (4.15%) IPsec
16 31 (3.90%) Cisco ASA
16 31 (3.90%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
17 28 (3.52%) Cisco Nexus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (0.88%) Azure SQL Database
2 5 (0.63%) SQL Server
3 4 (0.50%) Amazon RDS
3 4 (0.50%) Neo4j
4 3 (0.38%) Amazon Athena
4 3 (0.38%) InfluxDB
4 3 (0.38%) Power BI
4 3 (0.38%) Relational Database
5 2 (0.25%) Data Lake
5 2 (0.25%) Oracle Database
5 2 (0.25%) PostgreSQL
5 2 (0.25%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 38 (4.78%) JIRA
2 21 (2.64%) Jenkins
3 18 (2.26%) GitLab
4 15 (1.89%) Git
5 8 (1.01%) Sonatype Nexus
6 7 (0.88%) Snyk
7 5 (0.63%) Browser DevTools
8 3 (0.38%) Artifactory
9 2 (0.25%) Postman
10 1 (0.13%) Burp Suite
10 1 (0.13%) Claude Code
10 1 (0.13%) JUnit
10 1 (0.13%) SoapUI
10 1 (0.13%) Zephyr
General
1 176 (22.14%) Social Skills
2 117 (14.72%) Finance
3 67 (8.43%) Analytical Skills
4 55 (6.92%) Public Sector
5 44 (5.53%) Banking
6 37 (4.65%) Documentation Skills
7 27 (3.40%) Telecoms
8 21 (2.64%) Financial Institution
9 11 (1.38%) Legal
10 10 (1.26%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 7 (0.88%) Manufacturing
12 6 (0.75%) Influencing Skills
12 6 (0.75%) Law
13 5 (0.63%) Local Government
13 5 (0.63%) Military
13 5 (0.63%) Organisational Skills
13 5 (0.63%) Retail
14 4 (0.50%) Police
15 3 (0.38%) Billing
15 3 (0.38%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 205 (25.79%) Network Engineer
2 170 (21.38%) Architect
3 104 (13.08%) Security Engineer
4 86 (10.82%) Security Architect
5 70 (8.81%) Senior
6 59 (7.42%) Network Architect
7 51 (6.42%) Network Security Engineer
8 30 (3.77%) Consultant
9 29 (3.65%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 28 (3.52%) Lead
10 28 (3.52%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
11 27 (3.40%) Project Manager
12 25 (3.14%) Network Security Architect
13 24 (3.02%) Analyst
13 24 (3.02%) Cloud Engineer
14 23 (2.89%) Senior Network Engineer
15 20 (2.52%) Azure Architect
16 19 (2.39%) Cloud Architect
17 18 (2.26%) Solutions Architect
18 16 (2.01%) Senior Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (3.65%) 802.1X
2 14 (1.76%) LDAP
3 10 (1.26%) SAML
4 8 (1.01%) REST
5 6 (0.75%) SLSA
6 5 (0.63%) HTML
6 5 (0.63%) Kafka
6 5 (0.63%) Node.js
6 5 (0.63%) OAuth
7 4 (0.50%) AWS CDK
7 4 (0.50%) OpenID
8 3 (0.38%) .NET
8 3 (0.38%) ARM Templates
8 3 (0.38%) CSS
8 3 (0.38%) Elastic Stack
8 3 (0.38%) JSON
8 3 (0.38%) Lambda Expressions
8 3 (0.38%) OAuth2
8 3 (0.38%) Plotly
8 3 (0.38%) RabbitMQ
Miscellaneous
1 124 (15.60%) Data Centre
2 48 (6.04%) Security Posture
3 44 (5.53%) Cloud Native
4 39 (4.91%) Hybrid Cloud
5 30 (3.77%) Onboarding
6 26 (3.27%) PKI
7 24 (3.02%) Data Protection Act
8 23 (2.89%) Cyber Threat
8 23 (2.89%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
8 23 (2.89%) IoT
9 22 (2.77%) Management Information System
9 22 (2.77%) Public Cloud
10 19 (2.39%) Operational Technology
11 15 (1.89%) Product Ownership
12 13 (1.64%) Security Operations Centre
13 12 (1.51%) Self-Motivation
14 11 (1.38%) Cyber Security Posture
14 11 (1.38%) Virtual Team
15 10 (1.26%) Analytical Mindset
15 10 (1.26%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 72 (9.06%) Windows
2 57 (7.17%) Linux
3 26 (3.27%) Windows Server
4 9 (1.13%) VMS
5 8 (1.01%) Unix
6 6 (0.75%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 6 (0.75%) Ubuntu
7 5 (0.63%) Mac OS
7 5 (0.63%) Windows 10
8 3 (0.38%) SUSE
9 1 (0.13%) Android
9 1 (0.13%) Data ONTAP
9 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2003
9 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 164 (20.63%) Cybersecurity
2 135 (16.98%) Cloud Security
3 124 (15.60%) Zero Trust
4 113 (14.21%) Security Architecture
5 107 (13.46%) CI/CD
6 102 (12.83%) DevOps
6 102 (12.83%) SIEM
7 101 (12.70%) Migration
8 100 (12.58%) Infrastructure as Code
9 87 (10.94%) Problem-Solving
10 81 (10.19%) Continuous Improvement
10 81 (10.19%) High Availability
11 79 (9.94%) Threat Modelling
12 76 (9.56%) Network Segmentation
13 73 (9.18%) Application Security
13 73 (9.18%) Incident Response
14 70 (8.81%) Identity Access Management
15 69 (8.68%) Stakeholder Management
16 68 (8.55%) Load Balancing
17 67 (8.43%) Agile
Programming Languages
1 109 (13.71%) Python
2 61 (7.67%) PowerShell
3 34 (4.28%) Bash
4 25 (3.14%) Bicep
5 23 (2.89%) JavaScript
6 19 (2.39%) SQL
7 10 (1.26%) Kusto Query Language
8 7 (0.88%) Go
9 6 (0.75%) Java
9 6 (0.75%) Shell Script
10 4 (0.50%) C
10 4 (0.50%) PHP
11 3 (0.38%) C++
12 2 (0.25%) C#
12 2 (0.25%) C-shell
12 2 (0.25%) Korn
12 2 (0.25%) Ruby
13 1 (0.13%) ActionScript
13 1 (0.13%) AppleScript
13 1 (0.13%) Perl
Qualifications
1 231 (29.06%) Security Cleared
2 173 (21.76%) SC Cleared
3 155 (19.50%) Cisco Certification
4 104 (13.08%) CCNP
5 93 (11.70%) CISSP
6 67 (8.43%) DV Cleared
7 59 (7.42%) CCNA
8 52 (6.54%) CISM
9 51 (6.42%) Degree
10 31 (3.90%) CCSP
11 30 (3.77%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 30 (3.77%) Azure Certification
12 20 (2.52%) CCIE
13 18 (2.26%) GIAC
14 16 (2.01%) AWS Certification
15 15 (1.89%) CEH
16 14 (1.76%) CompTIA Security+
17 12 (1.51%) BPSS Clearance
17 12 (1.51%) JNCIS
18 11 (1.38%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 82 (10.31%) NIST
2 65 (8.18%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 38 (4.78%) GDPR
4 25 (3.14%) PCI DSS
5 19 (2.39%) NCSC
6 16 (2.01%) GRC
6 16 (2.01%) QA
7 13 (1.64%) Cyber Essentials
8 11 (1.38%) SLA
9 8 (1.01%) Actionable Recommendations
9 8 (1.01%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
9 8 (1.01%) SOC 2
10 7 (0.88%) Disclosure Scotland
10 7 (0.88%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 6 (0.75%) PMO
12 4 (0.50%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 4 (0.50%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 4 (0.50%) RMADS
13 3 (0.38%) ISA99
14 2 (0.25%) JSP 440
System Software
1 52 (6.54%) Active Directory
2 51 (6.42%) VMware Infrastructure
3 22 (2.77%) VMware NSX
4 19 (2.39%) Virtual Machines
5 17 (2.14%) Docker
6 14 (1.76%) Hyper-V
7 10 (1.26%) VMware ESXi
8 9 (1.13%) vSphere
9 6 (0.75%) Firmware
10 5 (0.63%) Squid
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%) ProxySG
12 1 (0.13%) VMware Workstation
12 1 (0.13%) Xen
12 1 (0.13%) XenApp
12 1 (0.13%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 117 (14.72%) Terraform
2 75 (9.43%) Ansible
3 62 (7.80%) Kubernetes
4 37 (4.65%) FortiGate
5 16 (2.01%) Single Sign-On
6 14 (1.76%) Nagios
7 11 (1.38%) Grafana
7 11 (1.38%) vCenter Server
8 10 (1.26%) Microsoft Intune
9 9 (1.13%) Microsoft Clustering
10 8 (1.01%) Kibana
11 5 (0.63%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 5 (0.63%) CASB
11 5 (0.63%) Istio
11 5 (0.63%) QRadar
11 5 (0.63%) WSUS
12 4 (0.50%) Kustomize
12 4 (0.50%) Prometheus
12 4 (0.50%) Suricata
13 3 (0.38%) VxRail
Vendors
1 225 (28.30%) Cisco
2 130 (16.35%) Palo Alto
3 106 (13.33%) Microsoft
4 76 (9.56%) F5
5 67 (8.43%) VMware
6 61 (7.67%) Fortinet
7 58 (7.30%) Juniper
8 51 (6.42%) CheckPoint
8 51 (6.42%) Zscaler
9 32 (4.03%) ServiceNow
10 25 (3.14%) Splunk
11 22 (2.77%) ForeScout
12 21 (2.64%) SolarWinds
13 19 (2.39%) Aruba
13 19 (2.39%) Google
14 17 (2.14%) Citrix
15 15 (1.89%) Tenable
16 12 (1.51%) Infoblox
16 12 (1.51%) Meraki
16 12 (1.51%) Okta