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 15 March 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 327 222 210
Rank change year-on-year -105 -12 +132
Contract jobs citing Pharmaceutical 331 349 507
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.77% 1.17% 1.14%
As % of the General category 1.34% 1.87% 1.95%
Number of daily rates quoted 214 223 332
10th Percentile £350 £352 £356
25th Percentile £392 £450 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £550 £525
Median % change year-on-year -6.82% +4.76% +5.00%
75th Percentile £600 £669 £600
90th Percentile £725 £820 £686
UK excluding London median daily rate £552 £525 £510
% change year-on-year +5.19% +2.94% +13.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 13 22 40
10th Percentile £16.47 £15.40 £17.66
25th Percentile £49.25 £21.05 £20.00
Median hourly rate £75.00 £32.50 £28.50
Median % change year-on-year +130.77% +14.04% -5.00%
75th Percentile £97.50 £33.75 £48.75
90th Percentile - £97.50 £60.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £49.50 £29.75 £21.50
% change year-on-year +66.39% +38.37% +79.17%

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 24,692 18,634 25,984
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 57.11% 62.69% 58.44%
Number of daily rates quoted 15,414 11,787 16,651
10th Percentile £300 £295 £263
25th Percentile £405 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £623 £650 £650
90th Percentile £738 £763 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £475 £490
% change year-on-year - -3.06% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,516 658 1,806
10th Percentile £13.66 £15.25 £12.84
25th Percentile £17.00 £20.12 £15.38
Median hourly rate £24.33 £30.00 £25.90
Median % change year-on-year -18.92% +15.85% -24.94%
75th Percentile £56.57 £60.00 £50.00
90th Percentile £76.25 £76.25 £65.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.92 £27.70 £25.00
% change year-on-year -17.26% +10.80% -16.67%

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 15 March 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 15 March 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 15 March 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 -133 245 £525 -4.55% 196
Work from Home -11 133 £509 -7.50% 93
London -4 117 £533 -26.55% 83
UK excluding London -138 101 £552 +5.19% 140
East of England -48 39 £500 -11.50% 15
South East -30 31 £555 +160.94% 53
North of England -116 21 £588 +6.82% 38
North West -76 18 £588 +6.82% 29
South West - 6 £700 - 11
Scotland +8 3 £550 +49.66% 3
North East -17 2 - - 3
Wales -12 1 £183 - 2
Yorkshire -57 1 - - 6

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 6 (1.81%) Apache Airflow
1 6 (1.81%) SharePoint
2 5 (1.51%) Apache Spark
2 5 (1.51%) Confluence
3 2 (0.60%) Mendix
3 2 (0.60%) WinCC
4 1 (0.30%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 1 (0.30%) Anypoint
4 1 (0.30%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 26 (7.85%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (3.32%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (1.81%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (1.21%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.60%) MS Visio
5 2 (0.60%) Weka
6 1 (0.30%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 79 (23.87%) SAP S/4HANA
2 9 (2.72%) SAP EWM
3 7 (2.11%) SAP MM
3 7 (2.11%) SAP PM
4 6 (1.81%) SAP PP
4 6 (1.81%) SAP QM
4 6 (1.81%) SAP WM
5 4 (1.21%) SAP MDG
6 3 (0.91%) SAP SD
7 2 (0.60%) Dynamics CRM
7 2 (0.60%) Sage X3
7 2 (0.60%) SAP CO
7 2 (0.60%) SAP ERP
7 2 (0.60%) SAP SCM
7 2 (0.60%) TrackWise
8 1 (0.30%) Cerner Millennium
8 1 (0.30%) SAP GTS
8 1 (0.30%) SAP LE
8 1 (0.30%) SAP PP-PI
8 1 (0.30%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 39 (11.78%) AWS
2 30 (9.06%) Azure
3 24 (7.25%) GCP
4 15 (4.53%) GitHub
4 15 (4.53%) Microsoft 365
5 14 (4.23%) Power Platform
6 11 (3.32%) Cloud Run
7 10 (3.02%) SaaS
7 10 (3.02%) Snowflake
8 7 (2.11%) dbt
9 5 (1.51%) Figma
10 4 (1.21%) Google Kubernetes Engine
10 4 (1.21%) Veeva
11 3 (0.91%) Amazon EKS
11 3 (0.91%) Amazon SageMaker
11 3 (0.91%) Azure AKS
11 3 (0.91%) Azure DevOps
11 3 (0.91%) Dynamics 365
11 3 (0.91%) Google Workspace
12 2 (0.60%) Collibra
Communications & Networking
1 5 (1.51%) Firewall
1 5 (1.51%) Network Security
2 4 (1.21%) Wireless
3 3 (0.91%) Ethernet
3 3 (0.91%) Modbus
3 3 (0.91%) RS-485
4 2 (0.60%) BGP
4 2 (0.60%) OSPF
4 2 (0.60%) TCP/IP
4 2 (0.60%) VPN
5 1 (0.30%) AMQP
5 1 (0.30%) Cisco ICM
5 1 (0.30%) DNS
5 1 (0.30%) HTTP
5 1 (0.30%) Junos
5 1 (0.30%) RFID
5 1 (0.30%) SD-WAN
5 1 (0.30%) SMS
5 1 (0.30%) Telepresence
5 1 (0.30%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (4.23%) Power BI
2 10 (3.02%) Data Lake
3 8 (2.42%) Data Warehouse
4 5 (1.51%) BigQuery
5 4 (1.21%) Metadata
5 4 (1.21%) Tableau
6 3 (0.91%) Electronic Patient Records
7 2 (0.60%) Neo4j
7 2 (0.60%) Oracle Database
7 2 (0.60%) SAP Data Services
7 2 (0.60%) SAP HANA
7 2 (0.60%) SQL Server
7 2 (0.60%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 1 (0.30%) Azure SQL Database
8 1 (0.30%) Hadoop
8 1 (0.30%) NoSQL
8 1 (0.30%) Oracle Reports
8 1 (0.30%) PostgreSQL
8 1 (0.30%) QlikView
8 1 (0.30%) Snowflake Schema
Development Applications
1 20 (6.04%) Git
2 12 (3.63%) JIRA
3 3 (0.91%) Cypress.io
3 3 (0.91%) MLflow
4 2 (0.60%) GitLab
4 2 (0.60%) Jenkins
4 2 (0.60%) LSMW
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%) Selenium
General
1 74 (22.36%) Social Skills
2 72 (21.75%) Manufacturing
3 63 (19.03%) Finance
4 32 (9.67%) Analytical Skills
5 13 (3.93%) Aerospace
6 11 (3.32%) Marketing
7 10 (3.02%) Documentation Skills
8 9 (2.72%) Influencing Skills
9 8 (2.42%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 7 (2.11%) Public Sector
10 7 (2.11%) Retail
11 6 (1.81%) Organisational Skills
12 5 (1.51%) Advertising
12 5 (1.51%) Presentation Skills
13 4 (1.21%) Legal
13 4 (1.21%) Wearables
14 3 (0.91%) Public Speaking
15 2 (0.60%) Banking
15 2 (0.60%) Digital Health
15 2 (0.60%) Health Technology
Job Titles
1 43 (12.99%) Lead
2 24 (7.25%) Senior
3 20 (6.04%) Consultant
4 19 (5.74%) Analyst
4 19 (5.74%) Project Manager
5 18 (5.44%) Developer
6 14 (4.23%) Data Engineer
7 13 (3.93%) Architect
7 13 (3.93%) SAP Consultant
8 12 (3.63%) Business Analyst
8 12 (3.63%) Python Developer
9 11 (3.32%) Data Scientist
10 10 (3.02%) Designer
11 9 (2.72%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
11 9 (2.72%) Software Engineer
12 8 (2.42%) Accountant
12 8 (2.42%) IT Manager
12 8 (2.42%) IT Support
12 8 (2.42%) Quality Manager
12 8 (2.42%) Systems Accountant
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 15 (4.53%) pytest
2 14 (4.23%) FastAPI
3 12 (3.63%) SAP Fiori
4 9 (2.72%) LangGraph
5 7 (2.11%) Playwright
6 6 (1.81%) React
7 4 (1.21%) PyTorch
8 3 (0.91%) EDI
8 3 (0.91%) IDoc
8 3 (0.91%) Ray
8 3 (0.91%) REST
8 3 (0.91%) TensorFlow
9 2 (0.60%) BAPI
9 2 (0.60%) Google JAX
9 2 (0.60%) JAX
9 2 (0.60%) JSON
9 2 (0.60%) NumPy
9 2 (0.60%) RESTful
9 2 (0.60%) SAP PI
9 2 (0.60%) SciPy
Miscellaneous
1 64 (19.34%) Life Science
2 17 (5.14%) FMCG
3 15 (4.53%) Product Ownership
4 12 (3.63%) Cloud Native
4 12 (3.63%) Genomics
5 10 (3.02%) Data Structures
6 8 (2.42%) LIMS
6 8 (2.42%) Onboarding
6 8 (2.42%) Operational Technology
7 7 (2.11%) Self-Motivation
8 6 (1.81%) Data Protection Act
8 6 (1.81%) Enterprise Software
8 6 (1.81%) Legacy Systems
8 6 (1.81%) NHS
9 5 (1.51%) Greenfield Project
9 5 (1.51%) SCADA
10 4 (1.21%) AI Agents
10 4 (1.21%) CRISPR
10 4 (1.21%) Management Information System
11 3 (0.91%) Robotics
Operating Systems
1 11 (3.32%) Windows
2 3 (0.91%) Mac OS
2 3 (0.91%) Windows 10
3 2 (0.60%) Apple iOS
4 1 (0.30%) Linux
4 1 (0.30%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 59 (17.82%) AI
2 48 (14.50%) Stakeholder Management
3 47 (14.20%) Agile
4 44 (13.29%) ERP
5 41 (12.39%) Validation
6 40 (12.08%) Machine Learning
7 36 (10.88%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 33 (9.97%) Biotechnology
8 33 (9.97%) DevOps
8 33 (9.97%) Migration
9 30 (9.06%) Analytics
10 28 (8.46%) Continuous Improvement
11 27 (8.16%) Problem-Solving
12 25 (7.55%) Data Science
12 25 (7.55%) Roadmaps
13 22 (6.65%) Test Automation
13 22 (6.65%) Workshop Facilitation
14 21 (6.34%) Data Governance
15 20 (6.04%) Data Migration
15 20 (6.04%) Project Management
Programming Languages
1 62 (18.73%) Python
2 28 (8.46%) SQL
3 11 (3.32%) R
4 6 (1.81%) JavaScript
5 5 (1.51%) TypeScript
6 3 (0.91%) ABAP
6 3 (0.91%) Java
7 2 (0.60%) Bash
8 1 (0.30%) C
8 1 (0.30%) C++
8 1 (0.30%) DataWeave
8 1 (0.30%) Ladder Logic
8 1 (0.30%) PL/SQL
8 1 (0.30%) SHACL
Qualifications
1 47 (14.20%) Degree
2 9 (2.72%) A+ Certification
2 9 (2.72%) ACCA
2 9 (2.72%) CIMA
2 9 (2.72%) Master's Degree
3 8 (2.42%) Security Cleared
4 6 (1.81%) SC Cleared
5 5 (1.51%) PMI Certification
5 5 (1.51%) PMP
6 3 (0.91%) BPSS Clearance
6 3 (0.91%) HND
7 2 (0.60%) CISSP
7 2 (0.60%) CompTIA Security+
7 2 (0.60%) HNC
7 2 (0.60%) Microsoft Certification
8 1 (0.30%) CCA
8 1 (0.30%) ISTQB
8 1 (0.30%) OCP
8 1 (0.30%) Oracle Certification
8 1 (0.30%) SAP Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (6.95%) GxP
2 16 (4.83%) GMP
3 13 (3.93%) QA
4 10 (3.02%) Data Quality
5 6 (1.81%) GDPR
6 5 (1.51%) PMO
7 4 (1.21%) Accessibility
8 3 (0.91%) 21 CFR Part 11
8 3 (0.91%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 2 (0.60%) GRC
9 2 (0.60%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 2 (0.60%) SLA
10 1 (0.30%) HIPAA
10 1 (0.30%) HL7
10 1 (0.30%) ISO 13485
10 1 (0.30%) ITGC
10 1 (0.30%) MiFID
10 1 (0.30%) NIST
10 1 (0.30%) NIST 800
10 1 (0.30%) SNOMED CT
System Software
1 18 (5.44%) Docker
2 2 (0.60%) GPFS
2 2 (0.60%) Lustre
2 2 (0.60%) Slurm Workload Manager
3 1 (0.30%) VMware Infrastructure
3 1 (0.30%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 9 (2.72%) Kubernetes
2 6 (1.81%) Terraform
3 2 (0.60%) Ansible
3 2 (0.60%) Puppet
3 2 (0.60%) Salt
3 2 (0.60%) SCCM
4 1 (0.30%) Cisco UCCE
4 1 (0.30%) Cisco UCCX
4 1 (0.30%) FortiGate
4 1 (0.30%) HP ALM
4 1 (0.30%) Microsoft Intune
4 1 (0.30%) Oracle RMAN
4 1 (0.30%) RSA Archer
Vendors
1 106 (32.02%) SAP
2 41 (12.39%) Microsoft
3 21 (6.34%) Google
4 8 (2.42%) Oracle
5 7 (2.11%) Ariba
5 7 (2.11%) SOTI
6 5 (1.51%) Databricks
6 5 (1.51%) LabWare
6 5 (1.51%) Salesforce
6 5 (1.51%) ServiceNow
7 4 (1.21%) Cisco
8 3 (0.91%) Cerner
8 3 (0.91%) HP
8 3 (0.91%) IBM
8 3 (0.91%) MuleSoft
8 3 (0.91%) Siemens
9 2 (0.60%) IFS
9 2 (0.60%) Palo Alto
9 2 (0.60%) Rockwell
9 2 (0.60%) Zscaler