PCI QSA Contracts

PCI Qualified Security Assessors (PCI QSA)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies with a requirement for PCI QSA qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 9 August 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
9 Aug 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 540 571 664
Rank change year-on-year +31 +93 +211
Contract jobs citing PCI QSA 7 1 8
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 0.021% 0.003% 0.015%
As % of the Qualifications category 0.067% 0.009% 0.056%
Number of daily rates quoted 4 1 5
10th Percentile £464 - -
25th Percentile £551 - £500
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £863 £475 £625
Median % change year-on-year +81.58% -24.00% -
75th Percentile £1,226 - £788
90th Percentile £1,296 - £825
UK excluding London median daily rate £863 £475 £625
% change year-on-year +81.58% -24.00% -

All Academic and Professional Certifications
UK

PCI QSA falls under the Academic Qualifications and Professional Certifications category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications.

Contract vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 10,376 11,635 14,294
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 31.27% 29.94% 27.10%
Number of daily rates quoted 6,381 7,408 9,337
10th Percentile £290 £313 £333
25th Percentile £413 £425 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% +1.85%
75th Percentile £623 £638 £650
90th Percentile £703 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - +5.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 801 842 687
10th Percentile £17.87 £15.10 £15.75
25th Percentile £18.87 £21.25 £25.88
Median hourly rate £25.15 £43.00 £55.00
Median % change year-on-year -41.51% -21.82% +22.22%
75th Percentile £53.86 £65.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £73.75 £77.50 £80.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £47.50 £51.89
% change year-on-year -47.05% -8.46% +15.41%

PCI QSA
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing PCI QSA as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for PCI QSA in the UK

PCI QSA
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing PCI QSA.

Daily rate trend for PCI QSA in the UK

PCI QSA
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing PCI QSA over the 6 months to 9 August 2025.

Daily rate histogram for PCI QSA in the UK

PCI QSA
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing PCI QSA.

Hourly rate trend for PCI QSA in the UK

PCI QSA
Top 9 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing PCI QSA within the UK over the 6 months to 9 August 2025. 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 +17 6 £1,125 +136.84% 4
UK excluding London +2 5 £863 +81.58% 2
Work from Home - 3 £600 - 3
Midlands - 3 £1,234 -
West Midlands - 3 £1,234 -
London - 2 - - 2
North West - 1 £600 - 1
Scotland - 1 £410 -
North of England - 1 £600 - 1

PCI QSA
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Communications & Networking
1 4 (57.14%) Network Security
2 3 (42.86%) Firewall
General
1 5 (71.43%) Social Skills
2 4 (57.14%) Analytical Skills
3 2 (28.57%) Retail
4 1 (14.29%) Legal
4 1 (14.29%) Organisational Skills
Job Titles
1 2 (28.57%) PCI DSS Project Manager
1 2 (28.57%) Project Manager
2 1 (14.29%) Consultant
2 1 (14.29%) PCI DSS Consultant
Processes & Methodologies
1 6 (85.71%) Attestation
2 5 (71.43%) Problem-Solving
3 4 (57.14%) Data Security
4 3 (42.86%) Cloud Security
5 1 (14.29%) Compliance Management
5 1 (14.29%) Continuous Improvement
5 1 (14.29%) PRINCE2
5 1 (14.29%) Project Delivery
5 1 (14.29%) Project Management
5 1 (14.29%) Regulatory Compliance
5 1 (14.29%) Resource Allocation
5 1 (14.29%) Resource Management
5 1 (14.29%) Risk Management
5 1 (14.29%) Risk Register
5 1 (14.29%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 1 (14.29%) Stakeholder Management
Qualifications
1 4 (57.14%) CISA
1 4 (57.14%) CISM
1 4 (57.14%) CISSP
1 4 (57.14%) GIAC
2 3 (42.86%) CEH
2 3 (42.86%) CRISC
2 3 (42.86%) OSCP
3 1 (14.29%) BPSS Clearance
3 1 (14.29%) PMI Certification
3 1 (14.29%) PMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 7 (100.00%) PCI DSS
2 3 (42.86%) QA
Vendors
1 1 (14.29%) Microsoft