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

6 months to
1 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 180 142 146
Rank change year-on-year -38 +4 +97
Contract jobs citing Network Security 619 589 752
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.61% 1.88% 1.67%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 15.31% 14.44% 12.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 393 365 517
10th Percentile £342 £313 £405
25th Percentile £413 £422 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £508 £550
Median % change year-on-year -1.48% -7.73% -
75th Percentile £580 £620 £649
90th Percentile £684 £700 £745
UK excluding London median daily rate £481 £500 £550
% change year-on-year -3.75% -9.09% +4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 10 11 19
10th Percentile £34.30 £18.50 -
25th Percentile £51.44 £35.50 £7.43
Median hourly rate £65.50 £41.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +59.76% +2.50% +6.67%
75th Percentile £81.56 £46.25 £58.75
90th Percentile £93.88 £47.50 £76.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £65.00 £41.00 £10.47
% change year-on-year +58.54% +291.78% -72.09%

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 4,042 4,079 6,158
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 10.49% 12.99% 13.72%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,668 2,374 3,713
10th Percentile £204 £213 £207
25th Percentile £356 £363 £356
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £493
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% +1.42% -4.50%
75th Percentile £588 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £684 £700
UK excluding London median daily rate £450 £468 £475
% change year-on-year -3.74% -1.58% +2.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 163 138 403
10th Percentile £15.50 £15.44 £15.58
25th Percentile £18.69 £21.46 £21.25
Median hourly rate £30.00 £33.75 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year -11.11% -32.50% +141.49%
75th Percentile £65.00 £53.44 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £69.13 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.54 £31.08 £55.00
% change year-on-year +30.44% -43.49% +179.54%

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 February 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 February 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 February 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 -19 550 £500 -4.76% 246
UK excluding London -19 307 £481 -3.75% 204
London -17 236 £531 -3.41% 95
Work from Home -18 159 £500 - 107
North of England -33 111 £475 -5.00% 31
South East -6 74 £445 -15.24% 65
North West -2 72 £479 -5.54% 16
Midlands -31 60 £500 -14.02% 30
West Midlands -12 52 £500 -14.02% 22
Yorkshire -37 49 £294 -40.66% 11
South West -23 30 £535 +2.39% 34
East of England -17 25 £475 -14.80% 20
Scotland +8 22 £472 +18.00% 23
East Midlands -28 8 £442 +92.28% 6
Wales -13 3 £650 +124.14% 6
Northern Ireland - 3 £500 -
North East -14 2 £475 - 4

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 14 (2.26%) Confluence
2 5 (0.81%) Microsoft Exchange
2 5 (0.81%) SharePoint
3 4 (0.65%) Apache
4 2 (0.32%) nginx
5 1 (0.16%) IIS
5 1 (0.16%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 18 (2.91%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (1.78%) MS Visio
3 4 (0.65%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.32%) Microsoft Excel
5 1 (0.16%) Windchill
Cloud Services
1 175 (28.27%) Azure
2 129 (20.84%) AWS
3 58 (9.37%) GCP
4 32 (5.17%) Entra ID
4 32 (5.17%) GitHub
5 29 (4.68%) GitHub Actions
6 23 (3.72%) Azure DevOps
6 23 (3.72%) Virtual Private Cloud
7 21 (3.39%) Amazon S3
8 20 (3.23%) Microsoft 365
9 18 (2.91%) Azure Key Vault
9 18 (2.91%) Azure Sentinel
10 15 (2.42%) Amazon EC2
11 14 (2.26%) Amazon CloudWatch
11 14 (2.26%) AWS CloudFormation
11 14 (2.26%) Serverless
12 11 (1.78%) Azure ExpressRoute
12 11 (1.78%) Azure Monitor
12 11 (1.78%) Google Workspace
12 11 (1.78%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 301 (48.63%) Firewall
2 128 (20.68%) VPN
3 93 (15.02%) WAN
4 86 (13.89%) DNS
5 73 (11.79%) LAN
6 67 (10.82%) BGP
7 56 (9.05%) TCP/IP
8 53 (8.56%) VLAN
9 51 (8.24%) OSPF
10 41 (6.62%) SSL
11 40 (6.46%) SD-WAN
12 36 (5.82%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
12 36 (5.82%) Wireless
13 33 (5.33%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
14 30 (4.85%) DMZ
15 28 (4.52%) Internet
16 27 (4.36%) MPLS
17 25 (4.04%) Cisco ASA
18 22 (3.55%) Wi-Fi
19 21 (3.39%) DHCP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (0.65%) Amazon RDS
1 4 (0.65%) Azure SQL Database
1 4 (0.65%) InfluxDB
1 4 (0.65%) Relational Database
2 3 (0.48%) Amazon Athena
3 2 (0.32%) Data Lake
3 2 (0.32%) Oracle Database
3 2 (0.32%) Power BI
3 2 (0.32%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 1 (0.16%) Redis
4 1 (0.16%) SQL Server
4 1 (0.16%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 30 (4.85%) Jenkins
2 23 (3.72%) GitLab
3 16 (2.58%) Git
4 13 (2.10%) JIRA
5 6 (0.97%) Sonatype Nexus
6 3 (0.48%) Snyk
7 1 (0.16%) Metasploit
7 1 (0.16%) Subversion
General
1 186 (30.05%) Social Skills
2 89 (14.38%) Analytical Skills
3 74 (11.95%) Finance
4 57 (9.21%) Public Sector
5 33 (5.33%) Banking
6 24 (3.88%) Documentation Skills
7 21 (3.39%) Telecoms
8 13 (2.10%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 13 (2.10%) Investment Banking
9 8 (1.29%) Financial Institution
9 8 (1.29%) Manufacturing
10 7 (1.13%) Legal
10 7 (1.13%) Military
10 7 (1.13%) Presentation Skills
11 6 (0.97%) Pharmaceutical
12 5 (0.81%) Influencing Skills
12 5 (0.81%) Organisational Skills
13 4 (0.65%) Local Government
13 4 (0.65%) Marketing
14 3 (0.48%) Aerospace
Job Titles
1 133 (21.49%) Network Engineer
2 117 (18.90%) Architect
3 89 (14.38%) Security Engineer
4 65 (10.50%) Security Architect
5 47 (7.59%) Senior
6 45 (7.27%) Network Architect
7 36 (5.82%) Network Security Engineer
8 29 (4.68%) Analyst
9 22 (3.55%) Network Security Architect
10 20 (3.23%) Cloud Engineer
10 20 (3.23%) Lead
11 19 (3.07%) Administrator
12 18 (2.91%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 18 (2.91%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
12 18 (2.91%) Security Analyst
12 18 (2.91%) SIEM Engineer
13 17 (2.75%) Cybersecurity Engineer
14 16 (2.58%) Consultant
15 15 (2.42%) IT Support
15 15 (2.42%) Operations Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 17 (2.75%) 802.1X
2 12 (1.94%) LDAP
3 9 (1.45%) SAML
4 8 (1.29%) .NET
4 8 (1.29%) Node.js
5 5 (0.81%) .NET Core
5 5 (0.81%) AngularJS
5 5 (0.81%) Elastic Stack
5 5 (0.81%) OAuth
5 5 (0.81%) OAuth2
5 5 (0.81%) OpenID
5 5 (0.81%) PyTorch
5 5 (0.81%) RabbitMQ
5 5 (0.81%) React
5 5 (0.81%) TensorFlow
6 4 (0.65%) ARM Templates
6 4 (0.65%) REST
7 3 (0.48%) Lambda Expressions
7 3 (0.48%) Plotly
7 3 (0.48%) SLSA
Miscellaneous
1 81 (13.09%) Data Centre
2 36 (5.82%) Security Posture
3 33 (5.33%) Cloud Native
4 32 (5.17%) Hybrid Cloud
5 31 (5.01%) PKI
6 29 (4.68%) Management Information System
7 21 (3.39%) Public Cloud
8 20 (3.23%) Onboarding
9 17 (2.75%) Cyber Security Posture
10 16 (2.58%) IoT
10 16 (2.58%) Operational Technology
10 16 (2.58%) Security Operations Centre
11 14 (2.26%) Analytical Mindset
11 14 (2.26%) Cyber Threat
12 13 (2.10%) Data Protection Act
13 10 (1.62%) Product Ownership
14 9 (1.45%) Virtual Team
15 8 (1.29%) CSOC
15 8 (1.29%) SCADA
16 7 (1.13%) Clustering
Operating Systems
1 86 (13.89%) Windows
2 71 (11.47%) Linux
3 29 (4.68%) Windows Server
4 11 (1.78%) Unix
5 8 (1.29%) VMS
6 6 (0.97%) Ubuntu
7 4 (0.65%) Mac OS
7 4 (0.65%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 2 (0.32%) Windows Server 2019
9 1 (0.16%) Data ONTAP
9 1 (0.16%) Windows 10
9 1 (0.16%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 157 (25.36%) Cybersecurity
2 120 (19.39%) Problem-Solving
3 102 (16.48%) SIEM
4 96 (15.51%) CI/CD
5 89 (14.38%) Incident Response
6 88 (14.22%) Cloud Security
6 88 (14.22%) DevOps
7 86 (13.89%) Infrastructure as Code
8 79 (12.76%) Zero Trust
9 73 (11.79%) Security Architecture
10 71 (11.47%) Migration
11 59 (9.53%) Change Management
12 58 (9.37%) Identity Access Management
13 56 (9.05%) Threat Modelling
14 53 (8.56%) Continuous Improvement
15 50 (8.08%) Agile
15 50 (8.08%) Vulnerability Management
16 49 (7.92%) Load Balancing
16 49 (7.92%) Network Architecture
17 48 (7.75%) Network Segmentation
Programming Languages
1 122 (19.71%) Python
2 70 (11.31%) PowerShell
3 33 (5.33%) Bash
4 20 (3.23%) SQL
5 16 (2.58%) Bicep
6 14 (2.26%) JavaScript
6 14 (2.26%) Kusto Query Language
7 10 (1.62%) Java
8 9 (1.45%) Go
9 5 (0.81%) C
9 5 (0.81%) C#
9 5 (0.81%) C++
10 4 (0.65%) Shell Script
11 3 (0.48%) Perl
11 3 (0.48%) PHP
12 2 (0.32%) C-shell
12 2 (0.32%) Korn
13 1 (0.16%) Rust
13 1 (0.16%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 205 (33.12%) Security Cleared
2 149 (24.07%) SC Cleared
3 109 (17.61%) Cisco Certification
4 88 (14.22%) CCNP
5 82 (13.25%) CISSP
6 63 (10.18%) DV Cleared
7 48 (7.75%) Degree
8 40 (6.46%) CCNA
8 40 (6.46%) CISM
9 31 (5.01%) GIAC
10 30 (4.85%) CCIE
11 27 (4.36%) CEH
12 19 (3.07%) CompTIA Security+
13 18 (2.91%) Azure Certification
14 17 (2.75%) Computer Science Degree
15 12 (1.94%) AWS Certification
15 12 (1.94%) JNCIS
16 11 (1.78%) BPSS Clearance
17 10 (1.62%) TOGAF Certification
18 9 (1.45%) JNCIP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 76 (12.28%) NIST
2 74 (11.95%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 41 (6.62%) GDPR
4 28 (4.52%) PCI DSS
5 22 (3.55%) Cyber Essentials
6 17 (2.75%) NCSC
7 12 (1.94%) GRC
8 8 (1.29%) SOC 2
9 7 (1.13%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 7 (1.13%) HIPAA
10 6 (0.97%) Actionable Recommendations
10 6 (0.97%) SLA
11 5 (0.81%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 4 (0.65%) JSP 440
12 4 (0.65%) RMADS
13 3 (0.48%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
13 3 (0.48%) PMO
14 2 (0.32%) ISO/IEC 27005
14 2 (0.32%) ISO/IEC 42001
14 2 (0.32%) PSD2
System Software
1 47 (7.59%) VMware Infrastructure
2 39 (6.30%) Active Directory
3 32 (5.17%) Docker
4 17 (2.75%) VMware NSX
5 10 (1.62%) Hyper-V
6 9 (1.45%) Virtual Machines
7 7 (1.13%) vSphere
8 5 (0.81%) Firmware
8 5 (0.81%) VMware ESXi
9 4 (0.65%) ProxySG
10 3 (0.48%) Virtual Servers
11 2 (0.32%) KVM
11 2 (0.32%) Virtual Desktop
12 1 (0.16%) RACF
12 1 (0.16%) RHEV
12 1 (0.16%) Xen
12 1 (0.16%) XenApp
12 1 (0.16%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 109 (17.61%) Terraform
2 68 (10.99%) Ansible
3 46 (7.43%) Kubernetes
4 20 (3.23%) FortiGate
5 13 (2.10%) Kibana
5 13 (2.10%) Nagios
6 11 (1.78%) QRadar
7 10 (1.62%) Microsoft Intune
8 9 (1.45%) Single Sign-On
9 7 (1.13%) Grafana
9 7 (1.13%) Prometheus
10 6 (0.97%) Microsoft Clustering
10 6 (0.97%) vCenter Server
11 4 (0.65%) Istio
11 4 (0.65%) Progress Chef
11 4 (0.65%) Puppet
12 3 (0.48%) Icinga
12 3 (0.48%) Jamf Pro
12 3 (0.48%) SCCM
12 3 (0.48%) SCOM
Vendors
1 165 (26.66%) Cisco
2 119 (19.22%) Palo Alto
3 99 (15.99%) Microsoft
4 78 (12.60%) F5
5 58 (9.37%) VMware
6 57 (9.21%) CheckPoint
7 48 (7.75%) Juniper
8 47 (7.59%) Fortinet
9 35 (5.65%) Zscaler
10 32 (5.17%) Splunk
11 27 (4.36%) Google
12 22 (3.55%) SolarWinds
13 20 (3.23%) Meraki
14 17 (2.75%) ServiceNow
15 15 (2.42%) Databricks
15 15 (2.42%) Tenable
16 13 (2.10%) Aruba
16 13 (2.10%) FireEye
16 13 (2.10%) Tanium
17 10 (1.62%) ArcSight