Pharmaceutical Contract Job Trends

Pharmaceutical (Pharma)
UK

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Pharmaceutical in contract job vacancies. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Pharmaceutical over the 6 months leading up to 2 June 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
2 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 313 232 253
Rank change year-on-year -81 +21 +75
Contract jobs citing Pharmaceutical 354 332 397
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.73% 1.15% 0.92%
As % of the General category 1.35% 1.81% 1.60%
Number of daily rates quoted 213 222 242
10th Percentile £313 £378 £363
25th Percentile £388 £475 £453
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £550 £525
Median % change year-on-year -13.64% +4.76% +5.00%
75th Percentile £600 £697 £600
90th Percentile £661 £820 £723
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £538 £500
% change year-on-year -11.63% +7.50% +5.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 12 12 39
10th Percentile £19.28 £15.91 £19.74
25th Percentile £50.00 £19.75 £20.75
Median hourly rate £72.50 £51.80 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +39.97% +38.12% +25.00%
75th Percentile £97.50 £97.50 £57.50
90th Percentile - - £61.56
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £18.02 £40.00
% change year-on-year +205.17% -54.94% +77.54%

All General Skills
UK

Pharmaceutical falls under the General Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring general skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for general skills 26,229 18,322 24,753
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 53.78% 63.32% 57.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 15,867 11,611 15,550
10th Percentile £313 £281 £275
25th Percentile £413 £405 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £513 £525
Median % change year-on-year - -2.38% -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £650
90th Percentile £738 £756 £763
UK excluding London median daily rate £492 £475 £490
% change year-on-year +3.58% -3.06% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,742 819 1,984
10th Percentile £13.72 £13.50 £12.78
25th Percentile £17.69 £16.95 £15.50
Median hourly rate £30.08 £28.00 £30.00
Median % change year-on-year +7.41% -6.67% -7.12%
75th Percentile £60.00 £55.00 £52.50
90th Percentile £80.00 £75.00 £67.38
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.50 £24.34 £28.42
% change year-on-year +21.20% -14.36% +2.08%

Pharmaceutical
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Pharmaceutical relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Pharmaceutical job vacancy trend in the UK

Pharmaceutical
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Pharmaceutical.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Pharmaceutical

Pharmaceutical
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Pharmaceutical over the 6 months to 2 June 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Pharmaceutical in the UK

Pharmaceutical
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Pharmaceutical.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Pharmaceutical

Pharmaceutical
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Pharmaceutical over the 6 months to 2 June 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Pharmaceutical in the UK

Pharmaceutical
Top 14 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Pharmaceutical within the UK over the 6 months to 2 June 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 -138 251 £506 -8.05% 257
Work from Home +15 157 £475 -9.52% 126
London -24 132 £525 -29.67% 122
UK excluding London -145 87 £475 -11.63% 148
East of England -53 37 £488 -11.36% 20
North of England -110 23 £475 -13.64% 45
South East -44 19 £553 -23.69% 44
North West -69 19 £475 -13.64% 32
South West -28 3 - - 12
North East -30 3 £290 - 1
Midlands -61 3 - - 25
Wales -16 2 £175 -42.71% 3
Yorkshire -61 1 £425 - 12
West Midlands -62 1 - - 13

Pharmaceutical
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 4 (1.13%) IIS
2 3 (0.85%) Apache Airflow
2 3 (0.85%) SAS
2 3 (0.85%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.56%) WinCC
4 1 (0.28%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 1 (0.28%) Anypoint
4 1 (0.28%) Apache
4 1 (0.28%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.28%) CMS
4 1 (0.28%) Confluence
4 1 (0.28%) Mendix
4 1 (0.28%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 26 (7.34%) Microsoft Office
2 12 (3.39%) Microsoft Excel
3 7 (1.98%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 7 (1.98%) Microsoft Project
4 2 (0.56%) Adobe Creative Suite
4 2 (0.56%) Adobe Illustrator
4 2 (0.56%) InDesign
4 2 (0.56%) MS Visio
4 2 (0.56%) Photoshop
5 1 (0.28%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 55 (15.54%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (2.82%) SAP SD
3 6 (1.69%) SAP EWM
4 5 (1.41%) SAP MM
5 4 (1.13%) Dynamics CRM
5 4 (1.13%) SAP PM
6 3 (0.85%) NetSuite
6 3 (0.85%) SAP QM
7 2 (0.56%) Oracle EBS
7 2 (0.56%) Sage X3
7 2 (0.56%) SAP ERP
7 2 (0.56%) SAP GTS
7 2 (0.56%) SAP MDG
7 2 (0.56%) SAP WM
8 1 (0.28%) JDE EnterpriseOne
8 1 (0.28%) SAP EHS
8 1 (0.28%) SAP LE
8 1 (0.28%) SAP MDG-M
8 1 (0.28%) SAP MII
8 1 (0.28%) SAP PP-PI
Cloud Services
1 46 (12.99%) AWS
2 31 (8.76%) Azure
3 17 (4.80%) SaaS
4 13 (3.67%) GCP
5 10 (2.82%) Microsoft 365
6 9 (2.54%) dbt
7 8 (2.26%) Power Platform
8 6 (1.69%) Dynamics 365
8 6 (1.69%) Figma
8 6 (1.69%) GitHub
8 6 (1.69%) Snowflake
8 6 (1.69%) Veeva
9 5 (1.41%) Azure DevOps
10 4 (1.13%) Cloud Run
11 3 (0.85%) Amazon EKS
11 3 (0.85%) Amazon SageMaker
11 3 (0.85%) AWS CloudFormation
11 3 (0.85%) Azure AKS
11 3 (0.85%) Google Workspace
11 3 (0.85%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 5 (1.41%) Firewall
2 4 (1.13%) HTTPS
2 4 (1.13%) VLAN
3 3 (0.85%) DNS
3 3 (0.85%) Ethernet
3 3 (0.85%) Modbus
3 3 (0.85%) RS-485
4 2 (0.56%) TCP/IP
4 2 (0.56%) VPN
4 2 (0.56%) WAN
4 2 (0.56%) X.21
5 1 (0.28%) AMQP
5 1 (0.28%) DHCP
5 1 (0.28%) HTTP
5 1 (0.28%) Junos
5 1 (0.28%) Network Security
5 1 (0.28%) NGFW
5 1 (0.28%) SSL
5 1 (0.28%) Telepresence
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (2.26%) Data Warehouse
1 8 (2.26%) Power BI
2 4 (1.13%) Tableau
3 3 (0.85%) Metadata
3 3 (0.85%) NoSQL
3 3 (0.85%) SQL Server Reporting Services
4 2 (0.56%) Amazon QuickSight
4 2 (0.56%) BigQuery
4 2 (0.56%) Data Lake
4 2 (0.56%) DynamoDB
4 2 (0.56%) Oracle Database
4 2 (0.56%) Snowflake Schema
4 2 (0.56%) SQL Server
4 2 (0.56%) SQL Server Integration Services
5 1 (0.28%) Big Data
5 1 (0.28%) Neo4j
5 1 (0.28%) Oracle Database 12c
5 1 (0.28%) Oracle Reports
5 1 (0.28%) SAP Data Services
5 1 (0.28%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 13 (3.67%) JIRA
2 11 (3.11%) Git
3 3 (0.85%) Cypress.io
3 3 (0.85%) MLflow
4 1 (0.28%) Bitbucket
4 1 (0.28%) ER Studio
4 1 (0.28%) GitLab
4 1 (0.28%) Hudson
4 1 (0.28%) Jenkins
4 1 (0.28%) LSMW
4 1 (0.28%) Oracle APEX
4 1 (0.28%) Oracle Forms
4 1 (0.28%) Postman
4 1 (0.28%) Selenium
4 1 (0.28%) SonarQube
4 1 (0.28%) TestRail
General
1 83 (23.45%) Social Skills
2 74 (20.90%) Manufacturing
3 73 (20.62%) Finance
4 35 (9.89%) Analytical Skills
5 10 (2.82%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 10 (2.82%) Presentation Skills
6 9 (2.54%) Advertising
6 9 (2.54%) Legal
6 9 (2.54%) Organisational Skills
6 9 (2.54%) Retail
7 8 (2.26%) Marketing
8 7 (1.98%) Billing
9 6 (1.69%) Public Speaking
10 5 (1.41%) Automotive
10 5 (1.41%) Documentation Skills
10 5 (1.41%) Law
11 3 (0.85%) Banking
11 3 (0.85%) Digital Health
11 3 (0.85%) Public Sector
11 3 (0.85%) Wearables
Job Titles
1 37 (10.45%) Lead
2 33 (9.32%) Project Manager
2 33 (9.32%) Senior
3 28 (7.91%) Consultant
4 27 (7.63%) Analyst
5 17 (4.80%) Data Engineer
6 15 (4.24%) SAP Consultant
7 14 (3.95%) Business Analyst
8 13 (3.67%) Architect
8 13 (3.67%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
9 12 (3.39%) Designer
10 11 (3.11%) Developer
11 9 (2.54%) Data Scientist
11 9 (2.54%) Product Owner
12 8 (2.26%) Accountant
12 8 (2.26%) AWS Engineer
12 8 (2.26%) Systems Accountant
13 7 (1.98%) Compliance Manager
13 7 (1.98%) Python Developer
13 7 (1.98%) Risk Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 6 (1.69%) IDoc
1 6 (1.69%) REST
2 5 (1.41%) EDI
2 5 (1.41%) FastAPI
2 5 (1.41%) PyTorch
3 4 (1.13%) Pandas
3 4 (1.13%) React
4 3 (0.85%) Google JAX
4 3 (0.85%) J2EE
4 3 (0.85%) JAX
4 3 (0.85%) Playwright
4 3 (0.85%) Ray
4 3 (0.85%) TensorFlow
4 3 (0.85%) XML
5 2 (0.56%) JSON
5 2 (0.56%) LangGraph
5 2 (0.56%) OAuth
5 2 (0.56%) RESTful
5 2 (0.56%) SciPy
5 2 (0.56%) XSLT
Miscellaneous
1 87 (24.58%) Life Science
2 15 (4.24%) Data Structures
2 15 (4.24%) FMCG
2 15 (4.24%) LIMS
2 15 (4.24%) Product Ownership
3 13 (3.67%) CRISPR
4 9 (2.54%) Self-Motivation
5 8 (2.26%) Cloud Native
5 8 (2.26%) Data Protection Act
6 7 (1.98%) Enterprise Software
6 7 (1.98%) Onboarding
6 7 (1.98%) Operational Technology
7 6 (1.69%) NHS
8 5 (1.41%) Genomics
9 4 (1.13%) Biopharmaceutical
9 4 (1.13%) Management Information System
9 4 (1.13%) Pharmacovigilance
9 4 (1.13%) Robotics
9 4 (1.13%) SCADA
10 3 (0.85%) Analytical Mindset
Operating Systems
1 17 (4.80%) Windows
2 3 (0.85%) Windows 10
2 3 (0.85%) Windows Server
3 2 (0.56%) Linux
3 2 (0.56%) Mac OS
4 1 (0.28%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 1 (0.28%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 55 (15.54%) AI
2 53 (14.97%) Validation
3 48 (13.56%) Agile
4 45 (12.71%) ERP
5 42 (11.86%) Stakeholder Management
6 39 (11.02%) Migration
7 37 (10.45%) Biotechnology
8 35 (9.89%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 29 (8.19%) Problem-Solving
10 28 (7.91%) Machine Learning
11 27 (7.63%) Project Management
11 27 (7.63%) Workshop Facilitation
12 26 (7.34%) Continuous Improvement
12 26 (7.34%) DevOps
13 25 (7.06%) Roadmaps
14 24 (6.78%) Data Migration
14 24 (6.78%) Data Pipeline
14 24 (6.78%) Decision-Making
15 22 (6.21%) CI/CD
15 22 (6.21%) Data Science
Programming Languages
1 60 (16.95%) Python
2 31 (8.76%) SQL
3 14 (3.95%) R
4 5 (1.41%) JavaScript
5 4 (1.13%) TypeScript
6 3 (0.85%) ABAP
6 3 (0.85%) Java
7 1 (0.28%) Bicep
7 1 (0.28%) C
7 1 (0.28%) C++
7 1 (0.28%) DataWeave
7 1 (0.28%) Groovy
7 1 (0.28%) PL/SQL
7 1 (0.28%) SHACL
7 1 (0.28%) T-SQL
7 1 (0.28%) XPath
7 1 (0.28%) XQuery
Qualifications
1 38 (10.73%) Degree
2 9 (2.54%) ACCA
2 9 (2.54%) CIMA
2 9 (2.54%) PMI Certification
2 9 (2.54%) PMP
3 7 (1.98%) A+ Certification
4 4 (1.13%) Security Cleared
5 3 (0.85%) BPSS Clearance
5 3 (0.85%) CISM
5 3 (0.85%) CISSP
5 3 (0.85%) Master's Degree
5 3 (0.85%) Microsoft Certification
5 3 (0.85%) SC Cleared
6 2 (0.56%) CSPO
6 2 (0.56%) HNC
6 2 (0.56%) HND
6 2 (0.56%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
7 1 (0.28%) (ISC)2 CCSP
7 1 (0.28%) Azure Certification
7 1 (0.28%) CRISC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 44 (12.43%) GxP
2 20 (5.65%) GMP
3 16 (4.52%) QA
4 13 (3.67%) Data Quality
5 10 (2.82%) GDPR
5 10 (2.82%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 9 (2.54%) GRC
7 8 (2.26%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 6 (1.69%) 21 CFR Part 11
8 6 (1.69%) PMO
9 4 (1.13%) HIPAA
9 4 (1.13%) PCI DSS
10 3 (0.85%) Accessibility
10 3 (0.85%) NIST
11 2 (0.56%) GAMP
11 2 (0.56%) NIST 800
12 1 (0.28%) CDISC
12 1 (0.28%) EU AI Act
12 1 (0.28%) ISO 13485
12 1 (0.28%) ITGC
System Software
1 7 (1.98%) Docker
2 5 (1.41%) Active Directory
3 2 (0.56%) Virtual Machines
3 2 (0.56%) VMware Infrastructure
3 2 (0.56%) vSphere
4 1 (0.28%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 10 (2.82%) Terraform
2 7 (1.98%) Kubernetes
3 1 (0.28%) FortiGate
3 1 (0.28%) Oracle RMAN
3 1 (0.28%) RSA Archer
3 1 (0.28%) WSUS
Vendors
1 81 (22.88%) SAP
2 30 (8.47%) Microsoft
3 11 (3.11%) Oracle
4 10 (2.82%) Google
5 8 (2.26%) Databricks
6 5 (1.41%) LabWare
6 5 (1.41%) SOTI
7 4 (1.13%) LabVantage
7 4 (1.13%) Palo Alto
7 4 (1.13%) Salesforce
7 4 (1.13%) ServiceNow
7 4 (1.13%) VMware
7 4 (1.13%) Zscaler
8 3 (0.85%) Adobe
8 3 (0.85%) Ariba
8 3 (0.85%) Conga
8 3 (0.85%) MuleSoft
8 3 (0.85%) Palantir
9 2 (0.56%) Dell
9 2 (0.56%) HP