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

6 months to
7 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 316 228 223
Rank change year-on-year -88 -5 +114
Contract jobs citing Pharmaceutical 337 345 469
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.74% 1.18% 1.07%
As % of the General category 1.32% 1.87% 1.84%
Number of daily rates quoted 219 219 292
10th Percentile £350 £378 £389
25th Percentile £388 £480 £473
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £550 £525
Median % change year-on-year -9.09% +4.76% +5.00%
75th Percentile £600 £675 £600
90th Percentile £702 £820 £749
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £525 £510
% change year-on-year -4.76% +2.94% +12.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 14 19 38
10th Percentile £16.77 £15.00 £17.72
25th Percentile £50.00 £19.50 £20.75
Median hourly rate £72.50 £32.50 £30.16
Median % change year-on-year +123.08% +7.76% +0.53%
75th Percentile £97.50 £76.38 £58.75
90th Percentile - £97.50 £62.34
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.00 £28.34 £28.50
% change year-on-year +94.07% -0.56% +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 25,480 18,432 25,531
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 55.88% 62.99% 58.17%
Number of daily rates quoted 15,862 11,802 16,206
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 £625 £643 £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 1,587 738 1,868
10th Percentile £13.69 £14.70 £12.78
25th Percentile £17.23 £18.50 £15.39
Median hourly rate £25.77 £29.00 £26.53
Median % change year-on-year -11.14% +9.31% -24.20%
75th Percentile £59.25 £57.50 £50.00
90th Percentile £78.75 £75.00 £65.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.00 £27.13 £25.25
% change year-on-year -7.83% +7.43% -18.23%

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 7 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 7 April 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Pharmaceutical in the UK

Pharmaceutical
Top 11 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 7 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 -141 239 £513 -6.82% 232
Work from Home 0 145 £500 -9.09% 104
London -34 112 £525 -26.32% 88
UK excluding London -150 99 £500 -4.76% 169
East of England -49 44 £475 -13.64% 16
South East -36 28 £475 +123.53% 57
North of England -117 19 £558 +1.36% 55
North West -73 17 £558 +1.36% 39
South West - 6 £700 - 11
Scotland +7 2 - - 4
North East -20 2 - - 5

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 5 (1.48%) Confluence
2 4 (1.19%) SharePoint
3 3 (0.89%) Apache Airflow
3 3 (0.89%) Apache Spark
4 2 (0.59%) Mendix
4 2 (0.59%) WinCC
5 1 (0.30%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 1 (0.30%) Anypoint
5 1 (0.30%) CMS
5 1 (0.30%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 28 (8.31%) Microsoft Office
2 13 (3.86%) Microsoft Excel
3 9 (2.67%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 8 (2.37%) 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 68 (20.18%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (2.97%) SAP EWM
3 7 (2.08%) SAP MM
3 7 (2.08%) SAP PM
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 (1.19%) Dynamics CRM
6 3 (0.89%) SAP MDG
7 2 (0.59%) Oracle EBS
7 2 (0.59%) Sage X3
7 2 (0.59%) SAP ERP
7 2 (0.59%) TrackWise
8 1 (0.30%) Cerner Millennium
8 1 (0.30%) SAP CS
8 1 (0.30%) SAP GTS
8 1 (0.30%) SAP LE
8 1 (0.30%) SAP MDM
8 1 (0.30%) SAP PP-PI
Cloud Services
1 40 (11.87%) AWS
2 36 (10.68%) Azure
3 17 (5.04%) GCP
4 15 (4.45%) Power Platform
5 14 (4.15%) Microsoft 365
5 14 (4.15%) SaaS
6 9 (2.67%) Snowflake
7 7 (2.08%) dbt
8 6 (1.78%) GitHub
9 5 (1.48%) Azure DevOps
10 4 (1.19%) Dynamics 365
10 4 (1.19%) Figma
10 4 (1.19%) Microsoft Purview
10 4 (1.19%) 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%) Cloud Run
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%) Cisco ICM
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 15 (4.45%) Power BI
2 10 (2.97%) Data Lake
3 7 (2.08%) Data Warehouse
4 5 (1.48%) Tableau
5 3 (0.89%) BigQuery
5 3 (0.89%) Electronic Patient Records
5 3 (0.89%) Metadata
6 2 (0.59%) Oracle Database
6 2 (0.59%) SAP Data Services
6 2 (0.59%) SAP HANA
6 2 (0.59%) SQL Server
6 2 (0.59%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 1 (0.30%) Azure SQL Database
7 1 (0.30%) Hadoop
7 1 (0.30%) Neo4j
7 1 (0.30%) NoSQL
7 1 (0.30%) Oracle Reports
7 1 (0.30%) PostgreSQL
7 1 (0.30%) Snowflake Schema
7 1 (0.30%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 18 (5.34%) JIRA
2 13 (3.86%) Git
3 3 (0.89%) Jenkins
3 3 (0.89%) MLflow
4 2 (0.59%) GitLab
4 2 (0.59%) LSMW
4 2 (0.59%) Selenium
5 1 (0.30%) Cypress.io
5 1 (0.30%) ER Studio
5 1 (0.30%) Hudson
5 1 (0.30%) Oracle APEX
5 1 (0.30%) Oracle Forms
General
1 78 (23.15%) Social Skills
2 68 (20.18%) Finance
2 68 (20.18%) Manufacturing
3 37 (10.98%) Analytical Skills
4 12 (3.56%) Marketing
5 10 (2.97%) Documentation Skills
5 10 (2.97%) Influencing Skills
5 10 (2.97%) Retail
6 9 (2.67%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 9 (2.67%) Presentation Skills
7 8 (2.37%) Advertising
7 8 (2.37%) Organisational Skills
8 6 (1.78%) Public Sector
8 6 (1.78%) Public Speaking
9 5 (1.48%) Aerospace
10 4 (1.19%) Billing
10 4 (1.19%) Health Technology
10 4 (1.19%) Wearables
11 3 (0.89%) Banking
11 3 (0.89%) Legal
Job Titles
1 40 (11.87%) Lead
2 26 (7.72%) Project Manager
2 26 (7.72%) Senior
3 23 (6.82%) Analyst
4 20 (5.93%) Consultant
5 16 (4.75%) Developer
6 13 (3.86%) Data Engineer
6 13 (3.86%) Data Scientist
6 13 (3.86%) Designer
7 12 (3.56%) Architect
7 12 (3.56%) SAP Consultant
8 11 (3.26%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
8 11 (3.26%) Business Analyst
8 11 (3.26%) Python Developer
9 8 (2.37%) Accountant
9 8 (2.37%) IT Manager
9 8 (2.37%) Product Owner
9 8 (2.37%) Quality Manager
9 8 (2.37%) Systems Accountant
10 7 (2.08%) Risk Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 7 (2.08%) FastAPI
1 7 (2.08%) pytest
2 5 (1.48%) IDoc
2 5 (1.48%) PyTorch
3 4 (1.19%) SAP Fiori
3 4 (1.19%) TensorFlow
4 3 (0.89%) Google JAX
4 3 (0.89%) J2EE
4 3 (0.89%) JAX
4 3 (0.89%) LangGraph
4 3 (0.89%) Ray
4 3 (0.89%) REST
5 2 (0.59%) CSS
5 2 (0.59%) EDI
5 2 (0.59%) JSON
5 2 (0.59%) Kafka
5 2 (0.59%) React
5 2 (0.59%) SAP ALE
5 2 (0.59%) SOAP
5 2 (0.59%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 64 (18.99%) Life Science
2 16 (4.75%) Product Ownership
3 14 (4.15%) Data Structures
3 14 (4.15%) FMCG
4 9 (2.67%) LIMS
4 9 (2.67%) Self-Motivation
5 8 (2.37%) Onboarding
6 7 (2.08%) CRISPR
6 7 (2.08%) Data Protection Act
6 7 (2.08%) Enterprise Software
6 7 (2.08%) NHS
7 6 (1.78%) Cloud Native
8 5 (1.48%) Legacy Systems
9 4 (1.19%) AI Agents
9 4 (1.19%) Genomics
9 4 (1.19%) Operational Technology
9 4 (1.19%) SCADA
10 3 (0.89%) Biopharmaceutical
10 3 (0.89%) Management Information System
10 3 (0.89%) Pharmacovigilance
Operating Systems
1 12 (3.56%) Windows
2 3 (0.89%) Windows 10
3 2 (0.59%) Linux
3 2 (0.59%) Mac OS
3 2 (0.59%) Windows Server
4 1 (0.30%) Apple iOS
4 1 (0.30%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 1 (0.30%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 51 (15.13%) AI
2 48 (14.24%) Agile
3 45 (13.35%) ERP
3 45 (13.35%) Validation
4 41 (12.17%) Stakeholder Management
5 34 (10.09%) Migration
6 33 (9.79%) Stakeholder Engagement
7 32 (9.50%) Biotechnology
7 32 (9.50%) Machine Learning
8 28 (8.31%) Analytics
8 28 (8.31%) Data Science
8 28 (8.31%) Problem-Solving
8 28 (8.31%) Project Management
9 26 (7.72%) Continuous Improvement
10 25 (7.42%) Workshop Facilitation
11 24 (7.12%) DevOps
12 22 (6.53%) Data Migration
13 21 (6.23%) Data Governance
13 21 (6.23%) Data Pipeline
13 21 (6.23%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 54 (16.02%) Python
2 27 (8.01%) SQL
3 12 (3.56%) R
4 4 (1.19%) ABAP
5 3 (0.89%) Java
5 3 (0.89%) JavaScript
6 2 (0.59%) TypeScript
7 1 (0.30%) Bash
7 1 (0.30%) Bicep
7 1 (0.30%) C
7 1 (0.30%) C++
7 1 (0.30%) DataWeave
7 1 (0.30%) PL/SQL
7 1 (0.30%) SHACL
7 1 (0.30%) T-SQL
7 1 (0.30%) XPath
7 1 (0.30%) XQuery
Qualifications
1 43 (12.76%) Degree
2 9 (2.67%) A+ Certification
2 9 (2.67%) ACCA
2 9 (2.67%) CIMA
3 8 (2.37%) Master's Degree
4 7 (2.08%) PMI Certification
4 7 (2.08%) PMP
5 3 (0.89%) HND
5 3 (0.89%) Microsoft Certification
5 3 (0.89%) Security Cleared
6 2 (0.59%) BPSS Clearance
6 2 (0.59%) HNC
6 2 (0.59%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
6 2 (0.59%) SC Cleared
7 1 (0.30%) CCA
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
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (9.79%) GxP
2 17 (5.04%) GMP
3 16 (4.75%) QA
4 10 (2.97%) Data Quality
4 10 (2.97%) GDPR
5 8 (2.37%) PMO
6 5 (1.48%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 4 (1.19%) 21 CFR Part 11
7 4 (1.19%) Accessibility
7 4 (1.19%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 2 (0.59%) GAMP
8 2 (0.59%) GRC
8 2 (0.59%) NIST
9 1 (0.30%) HIPAA
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%) SLA
9 1 (0.30%) SNOMED CT
System Software
1 10 (2.97%) 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 7 (2.08%) Kubernetes
2 6 (1.78%) Terraform
3 1 (0.30%) Ansible
3 1 (0.30%) Cisco UCCE
3 1 (0.30%) Cisco UCCX
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
3 1 (0.30%) SCCM
Vendors
1 94 (27.89%) SAP
2 39 (11.57%) Microsoft
3 11 (3.26%) Google
3 11 (3.26%) Oracle
4 7 (2.08%) Salesforce
4 7 (2.08%) SOTI
5 6 (1.78%) Databricks
6 5 (1.48%) Ariba
6 5 (1.48%) LabWare
6 5 (1.48%) ServiceNow
7 4 (1.19%) Cisco
8 3 (0.89%) Adobe
8 3 (0.89%) Cerner
8 3 (0.89%) Foundry
8 3 (0.89%) HP
8 3 (0.89%) IBM
8 3 (0.89%) MuleSoft
8 3 (0.89%) Palantir
8 3 (0.89%) VMware
9 2 (0.59%) Palo Alto