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 16 April 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 321 236 217
Rank change year-on-year -85 -19 +120
Contract jobs citing Pharmaceutical 338 348 474
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.74% 1.19% 1.08%
As % of the General category 1.33% 1.88% 1.86%
Number of daily rates quoted 213 230 293
10th Percentile £350 £349 £364
25th Percentile £388 £450 £468
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £550 £525
Median % change year-on-year -13.64% +4.76% +5.00%
75th Percentile £600 £669 £600
90th Percentile £688 £820 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £524 £510
% change year-on-year -9.31% +2.70% +13.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 13 17 36
10th Percentile £22.69 £15.00 £17.72
25th Percentile £50.00 £19.00 £20.75
Median hourly rate £75.00 £32.50 £30.16
Median % change year-on-year +130.77% +7.76% +0.53%
75th Percentile £97.50 £97.50 £60.00
90th Percentile - - £63.91
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £26.25 £28.50
% change year-on-year +109.52% -7.89% +137.50%

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 25,372 18,505 25,531
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 55.25% 63.17% 58.25%
Number of daily rates quoted 15,742 11,825 16,175
10th Percentile £304 £300 £270
25th Percentile £406 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £623 £640 £650
90th Percentile £738 £763 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £475 £500
% change year-on-year - -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,589 769 1,908
10th Percentile £13.69 £14.20 £12.75
25th Percentile £17.25 £18.13 £15.39
Median hourly rate £27.50 £28.75 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year -4.35% +4.55% -21.43%
75th Percentile £59.00 £56.00 £50.00
90th Percentile £78.75 £75.00 £65.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £26.42 £26.00
% change year-on-year -4.80% +1.61% -16.85%

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 16 April 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 16 April 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Pharmaceutical in the UK

Pharmaceutical
Top 13 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 16 April 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 -136 234 £513 -6.82% 173
Work from Home -2 148 £475 -9.52% 78
London -24 109 £525 -25.00% 59
UK excluding London -154 95 £475 -9.31% 116
East of England -51 44 £475 -13.64% 13
South East -38 23 £475 +123.53% 30
North of England -115 19 £558 +1.36% 45
North West -74 17 £558 +1.36% 32
South West - 6 £700 - 9
Scotland +5 2 - - 2
North East -22 2 - - 4
West Midlands -61 1 - - 5
Midlands -74 1 - - 16

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 (1.18%) Apache Airflow
1 4 (1.18%) SharePoint
2 3 (0.89%) Apache Spark
2 3 (0.89%) Confluence
2 3 (0.89%) SAS
3 2 (0.59%) Mendix
3 2 (0.59%) WinCC
4 1 (0.30%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 1 (0.30%) Anypoint
4 1 (0.30%) CMS
4 1 (0.30%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 28 (8.28%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (3.85%) Microsoft Excel
3 9 (2.66%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 7 (2.07%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.59%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 2 (0.59%) Adobe Illustrator
5 2 (0.59%) InDesign
5 2 (0.59%) MS Visio
5 2 (0.59%) Photoshop
6 1 (0.30%) Weka
Business Applications
1 63 (18.64%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (2.96%) SAP EWM
3 7 (2.07%) SAP PM
4 6 (1.78%) SAP MM
4 6 (1.78%) SAP PP
4 6 (1.78%) SAP QM
4 6 (1.78%) SAP SD
4 6 (1.78%) SAP WM
5 4 (1.18%) Dynamics CRM
5 4 (1.18%) SAP MDG
6 2 (0.59%) Oracle EBS
6 2 (0.59%) Sage X3
6 2 (0.59%) SAP ERP
6 2 (0.59%) TrackWise
7 1 (0.30%) Cerner Millennium
7 1 (0.30%) Oracle ERP
7 1 (0.30%) SAP CS
7 1 (0.30%) SAP LE
7 1 (0.30%) SAP MDM
7 1 (0.30%) SAP PP-PI
Cloud Services
1 40 (11.83%) AWS
2 34 (10.06%) Azure
3 18 (5.33%) GCP
4 14 (4.14%) SaaS
5 13 (3.85%) Microsoft 365
6 12 (3.55%) Power Platform
7 8 (2.37%) Snowflake
8 7 (2.07%) dbt
9 6 (1.78%) Azure DevOps
9 6 (1.78%) Figma
9 6 (1.78%) GitHub
10 4 (1.18%) Cloud Run
10 4 (1.18%) Dynamics 365
10 4 (1.18%) Microsoft Purview
10 4 (1.18%) Veeva
11 3 (0.89%) Amazon EKS
11 3 (0.89%) Amazon SageMaker
11 3 (0.89%) Azure AKS
11 3 (0.89%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 3 (0.89%) Google Workspace
Communications & Networking
1 3 (0.89%) Ethernet
1 3 (0.89%) Firewall
1 3 (0.89%) Modbus
1 3 (0.89%) Network Security
1 3 (0.89%) RS-485
2 2 (0.59%) BGP
2 2 (0.59%) OSPF
2 2 (0.59%) Wireless
3 1 (0.30%) AMQP
3 1 (0.30%) HTTP
3 1 (0.30%) Junos
3 1 (0.30%) RFID
3 1 (0.30%) SSL
3 1 (0.30%) TCP/IP
3 1 (0.30%) Telepresence
3 1 (0.30%) VLAN
3 1 (0.30%) VPN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 12 (3.55%) Power BI
2 7 (2.07%) Data Lake
2 7 (2.07%) Data Warehouse
3 4 (1.18%) Metadata
3 4 (1.18%) Tableau
4 3 (0.89%) BigQuery
4 3 (0.89%) Electronic Patient Records
4 3 (0.89%) SAP Data Services
5 2 (0.59%) Oracle Database
5 2 (0.59%) Snowflake Schema
5 2 (0.59%) SQL Server
5 2 (0.59%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 1 (0.30%) Azure SQL Database
6 1 (0.30%) Hadoop
6 1 (0.30%) JasperReports
6 1 (0.30%) NoSQL
6 1 (0.30%) Oracle Reports
6 1 (0.30%) PostgreSQL
6 1 (0.30%) SAP HANA
6 1 (0.30%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 16 (4.73%) JIRA
2 13 (3.85%) Git
3 3 (0.89%) Cypress.io
3 3 (0.89%) Jenkins
3 3 (0.89%) LSMW
3 3 (0.89%) MLflow
4 2 (0.59%) GitLab
4 2 (0.59%) Selenium
5 1 (0.30%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.30%) ER Studio
5 1 (0.30%) Hudson
5 1 (0.30%) Oracle APEX
5 1 (0.30%) Oracle Forms
5 1 (0.30%) SonarQube
General
1 74 (21.89%) Social Skills
2 67 (19.82%) Finance
2 67 (19.82%) Manufacturing
3 37 (10.95%) Analytical Skills
4 10 (2.96%) Documentation Skills
4 10 (2.96%) Marketing
4 10 (2.96%) Retail
5 9 (2.66%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 9 (2.66%) Presentation Skills
6 8 (2.37%) Advertising
6 8 (2.37%) Influencing Skills
6 8 (2.37%) Organisational Skills
7 6 (1.78%) Public Sector
7 6 (1.78%) Public Speaking
8 4 (1.18%) Billing
8 4 (1.18%) Wearables
9 3 (0.89%) Banking
9 3 (0.89%) Health Technology
9 3 (0.89%) Legal
10 2 (0.59%) Digital Health
Job Titles
1 35 (10.36%) Lead
2 26 (7.69%) Senior
3 24 (7.10%) Analyst
3 24 (7.10%) Project Manager
4 22 (6.51%) Consultant
5 17 (5.03%) Developer
6 14 (4.14%) Data Engineer
6 14 (4.14%) Designer
7 13 (3.85%) Business Analyst
7 13 (3.85%) Data Scientist
7 13 (3.85%) SAP Consultant
8 12 (3.55%) Architect
9 11 (3.25%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
9 11 (3.25%) Python Developer
10 8 (2.37%) Accountant
10 8 (2.37%) Product Designer
10 8 (2.37%) Quality Manager
10 8 (2.37%) Systems Accountant
11 7 (2.07%) IT Manager
11 7 (2.07%) Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (2.37%) FastAPI
2 6 (1.78%) pytest
3 5 (1.48%) IDoc
3 5 (1.48%) PyTorch
4 4 (1.18%) LangGraph
4 4 (1.18%) Playwright
4 4 (1.18%) React
4 4 (1.18%) TensorFlow
5 3 (0.89%) Google JAX
5 3 (0.89%) J2EE
5 3 (0.89%) JAX
5 3 (0.89%) Ray
5 3 (0.89%) REST
6 2 (0.59%) CSS
6 2 (0.59%) JSON
6 2 (0.59%) SAP ALE
6 2 (0.59%) SAP Core Interface
6 2 (0.59%) Seaborn
6 2 (0.59%) SOAP
6 2 (0.59%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 68 (20.12%) Life Science
2 16 (4.73%) Data Structures
3 14 (4.14%) Product Ownership
4 12 (3.55%) FMCG
4 12 (3.55%) LIMS
5 9 (2.66%) Self-Motivation
6 8 (2.37%) Cloud Native
6 8 (2.37%) CRISPR
6 8 (2.37%) Enterprise Software
6 8 (2.37%) Onboarding
7 7 (2.07%) Data Protection Act
7 7 (2.07%) NHS
8 6 (1.78%) Genomics
9 5 (1.48%) AI Agents
10 4 (1.18%) Biopharmaceutical
10 4 (1.18%) Legacy Systems
10 4 (1.18%) Operational Technology
10 4 (1.18%) SCADA
11 3 (0.89%) Management Information System
11 3 (0.89%) Pharmacovigilance
Operating Systems
1 11 (3.25%) Windows
2 2 (0.59%) Linux
2 2 (0.59%) Mac OS
2 2 (0.59%) Windows 10
2 2 (0.59%) Windows Server
3 1 (0.30%) Apple iOS
3 1 (0.30%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
3 1 (0.30%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 52 (15.38%) AI
2 47 (13.91%) Validation
3 46 (13.61%) Agile
4 45 (13.31%) ERP
5 37 (10.95%) Migration
5 37 (10.95%) Stakeholder Management
6 32 (9.47%) Machine Learning
6 32 (9.47%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 30 (8.88%) Biotechnology
8 28 (8.28%) Data Science
9 27 (7.99%) DevOps
9 27 (7.99%) Problem-Solving
10 26 (7.69%) Project Management
10 26 (7.69%) Workshop Facilitation
11 24 (7.10%) Analytics
11 24 (7.10%) Data Migration
12 23 (6.80%) CI/CD
13 22 (6.51%) Continuous Improvement
13 22 (6.51%) Data Governance
14 21 (6.21%) Data Pipeline
Programming Languages
1 55 (16.27%) Python
2 28 (8.28%) SQL
3 12 (3.55%) R
4 6 (1.78%) JavaScript
5 4 (1.18%) ABAP
5 4 (1.18%) Java
5 4 (1.18%) TypeScript
6 1 (0.30%) Bash
6 1 (0.30%) Bicep
6 1 (0.30%) C
6 1 (0.30%) C++
6 1 (0.30%) DataWeave
6 1 (0.30%) PL/SQL
6 1 (0.30%) SHACL
6 1 (0.30%) T-SQL
6 1 (0.30%) XPath
6 1 (0.30%) XQuery
Qualifications
1 41 (12.13%) Degree
2 9 (2.66%) A+ Certification
2 9 (2.66%) ACCA
2 9 (2.66%) CIMA
3 6 (1.78%) Master's Degree
4 5 (1.48%) PMI Certification
4 5 (1.48%) PMP
5 3 (0.89%) HND
5 3 (0.89%) Microsoft Certification
6 2 (0.59%) BPSS Clearance
6 2 (0.59%) HNC
6 2 (0.59%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
7 1 (0.30%) Computer Science Degree
7 1 (0.30%) ECDL
7 1 (0.30%) ISTQB
7 1 (0.30%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
7 1 (0.30%) OCP
7 1 (0.30%) Oracle Certification
7 1 (0.30%) Security Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 35 (10.36%) GxP
2 18 (5.33%) GMP
3 16 (4.73%) QA
4 10 (2.96%) Data Quality
5 8 (2.37%) GDPR
5 8 (2.37%) PMO
6 6 (1.78%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 4 (1.18%) 21 CFR Part 11
7 4 (1.18%) Accessibility
7 4 (1.18%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 2 (0.59%) GAMP
8 2 (0.59%) GRC
8 2 (0.59%) NIST
9 1 (0.30%) EU AI Act
9 1 (0.30%) HL7
9 1 (0.30%) ISO 13485
9 1 (0.30%) ITGC
9 1 (0.30%) NIST 800
9 1 (0.30%) SNOMED CT
System Software
1 11 (3.25%) Docker
2 2 (0.59%) Slurm Workload Manager
2 2 (0.59%) VMware Infrastructure
2 2 (0.59%) vSphere
3 1 (0.30%) Active Directory
3 1 (0.30%) GPFS
3 1 (0.30%) Lustre
Systems Management
1 6 (1.78%) Kubernetes
2 5 (1.48%) Terraform
3 1 (0.30%) Ansible
3 1 (0.30%) FortiGate
3 1 (0.30%) HP ALM
3 1 (0.30%) Oracle RMAN
3 1 (0.30%) Puppet
3 1 (0.30%) RSA Archer
3 1 (0.30%) Salt
Vendors
1 89 (26.33%) SAP
2 38 (11.24%) Microsoft
3 12 (3.55%) Google
3 12 (3.55%) Oracle
4 7 (2.07%) SOTI
5 6 (1.78%) Databricks
5 6 (1.78%) Salesforce
6 5 (1.48%) Ariba
6 5 (1.48%) LabWare
7 4 (1.18%) ServiceNow
8 3 (0.89%) Adobe
8 3 (0.89%) Cerner
8 3 (0.89%) Cisco
8 3 (0.89%) Foundry
8 3 (0.89%) HP
8 3 (0.89%) IBM
8 3 (0.89%) LabVantage
8 3 (0.89%) MuleSoft
8 3 (0.89%) Palantir
8 3 (0.89%) VMware