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 29 July 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 322 231 289
Rank change year-on-year -91 +58 +17
Contract jobs citing Pharmaceutical 388 374 319
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.74% 1.14% 0.80%
As % of the General category 1.35% 1.81% 1.40%
Number of daily rates quoted 207 262 177
10th Percentile £315 £363 £363
25th Percentile £388 £475 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year -13.64% - +4.76%
75th Percentile £600 £688 £621
90th Percentile £677 £759 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £550 £500
% change year-on-year -13.64% +10.00% -1.96%
Number of hourly rates quoted 21 13 29
10th Percentile £16.75 £16.22 £17.72
25th Percentile £33.70 £20.00 £20.75
Median hourly rate £55.00 £51.80 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +6.19% +29.49% +77.54%
75th Percentile £97.50 £97.50 £60.00
90th Percentile - - £68.02
UK excluding London median hourly rate £38.72 £17.46 £40.00
% change year-on-year +121.80% -56.36% +101.41%

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 28,838 20,685 22,826
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 54.88% 63.03% 57.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,185 12,965 14,402
10th Percentile £313 £280 £288
25th Percentile £413 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £638 £630 £650
90th Percentile £738 £750 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £472 £494
% change year-on-year +5.88% -4.40% -1.20%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,068 1,090 1,492
10th Percentile £14.00 £13.34 £13.86
25th Percentile £18.00 £16.16 £16.50
Median hourly rate £32.90 £25.15 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +30.83% -32.93% +22.79%
75th Percentile £61.18 £51.21 £57.50
90th Percentile £81.05 £70.02 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.50 £22.14 £38.12
% change year-on-year +51.31% -41.92% +41.19%

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 29 July 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 29 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Pharmaceutical in the UK

Pharmaceutical
Top 15 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 29 July 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 -103 297 £500 -9.09% 267
Work from Home -6 176 £475 -6.63% 102
London 0 159 £525 -12.50% 103
UK excluding London -146 107 £475 -13.64% 180
East of England -38 46 £500 -13.04% 28
South East -54 24 £475 -17.75% 58
North of England -108 21 £463 -20.26% 42
North West -87 15 £475 -18.10% 30
South West -33 9 £500 -33.33% 15
Midlands -61 4 £450 -14.29% 31
Wales -18 3 £175 -42.71% 6
Yorkshire -42 3 £463 - 9
North East -45 3 £290 - 3
East Midlands -14 1 £450 -14.29% 11
West Midlands -61 1 - - 20

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 (1.29%) IIS
2 4 (1.03%) FactoryTalk
2 4 (1.03%) SAS
3 3 (0.77%) Apache Airflow
3 3 (0.77%) SharePoint
4 2 (0.52%) Apache
4 2 (0.52%) Confluence
4 2 (0.52%) WinCC
5 1 (0.26%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 1 (0.26%) Anypoint
5 1 (0.26%) Apache Spark
5 1 (0.26%) CMS
5 1 (0.26%) Mendix
Applications
1 23 (5.93%) Microsoft Office
2 15 (3.87%) Microsoft Excel
3 10 (2.58%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 8 (2.06%) Microsoft Project
5 4 (1.03%) MS Visio
6 2 (0.52%) Adobe Creative Suite
6 2 (0.52%) Adobe Illustrator
6 2 (0.52%) InDesign
6 2 (0.52%) Photoshop
7 1 (0.26%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 64 (16.49%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (2.58%) SAP SD
3 7 (1.80%) SAP EWM
4 5 (1.29%) SAP MM
4 5 (1.29%) TrackWise
5 4 (1.03%) Dynamics CRM
5 4 (1.03%) SAP FI
6 3 (0.77%) SAP CO
6 3 (0.77%) SAP ERP
6 3 (0.77%) SAP FI/CO
6 3 (0.77%) SAP IBP
6 3 (0.77%) SAP MDG
6 3 (0.77%) SAP PP
6 3 (0.77%) SAP QM
7 2 (0.52%) NetSuite
7 2 (0.52%) Oracle EBS
7 2 (0.52%) SAP GRC
7 2 (0.52%) SAP GTS
7 2 (0.52%) SAP WM
8 1 (0.26%) JDE EnterpriseOne
Cloud Services
1 53 (13.66%) AWS
2 41 (10.57%) Azure
3 19 (4.90%) SaaS
4 16 (4.12%) Power Platform
5 15 (3.87%) GCP
6 10 (2.58%) dbt
6 10 (2.58%) GitHub
6 10 (2.58%) Snowflake
6 10 (2.58%) Veeva
7 8 (2.06%) Azure DevOps
8 7 (1.80%) Figma
9 6 (1.55%) Dynamics 365
10 5 (1.29%) Cloud Run
10 5 (1.29%) GitHub Actions
10 5 (1.29%) Serverless
11 4 (1.03%) AWS CloudFormation
11 4 (1.03%) Google Workspace
12 3 (0.77%) Amazon S3
12 3 (0.77%) AWS Direct Connect
12 3 (0.77%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 9 (2.32%) Firewall
2 8 (2.06%) VLAN
3 6 (1.55%) TCP/IP
4 5 (1.29%) HTTPS
5 4 (1.03%) DNS
6 3 (0.77%) VPN
6 3 (0.77%) WAN
7 2 (0.52%) Network Security
7 2 (0.52%) X.21
8 1 (0.26%) AMQP
8 1 (0.26%) DHCP
8 1 (0.26%) HTTP
8 1 (0.26%) Junos
8 1 (0.26%) NGFW
8 1 (0.26%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (4.12%) Power BI
2 12 (3.09%) Data Warehouse
3 7 (1.80%) Metadata
4 6 (1.55%) PostgreSQL
4 6 (1.55%) Tableau
5 5 (1.29%) MySQL
5 5 (1.29%) NoSQL
6 4 (1.03%) Relational Database
6 4 (1.03%) SAP BW
6 4 (1.03%) SAP HANA
7 3 (0.77%) BigQuery
7 3 (0.77%) Data Lake
7 3 (0.77%) DynamoDB
7 3 (0.77%) Neo4j
7 3 (0.77%) Oracle Database
7 3 (0.77%) SQL Server
7 3 (0.77%) SQL Server Reporting Services
8 2 (0.52%) Data Mining
8 2 (0.52%) Snowflake Schema
8 2 (0.52%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 16 (4.12%) JIRA
2 13 (3.35%) Git
3 5 (1.29%) Jenkins
4 3 (0.77%) Cypress.io
4 3 (0.77%) MLflow
5 2 (0.52%) Visual Studio
6 1 (0.26%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.26%) ER Studio
6 1 (0.26%) GitLab
6 1 (0.26%) LSMW
6 1 (0.26%) Postman
6 1 (0.26%) ScriptRunner
6 1 (0.26%) Selenium
6 1 (0.26%) SonarQube
6 1 (0.26%) TestRail
6 1 (0.26%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 106 (27.32%) Social Skills
2 84 (21.65%) Manufacturing
3 69 (17.78%) Finance
4 54 (13.92%) Analytical Skills
5 14 (3.61%) Organisational Skills
5 14 (3.61%) Retail
6 13 (3.35%) Marketing
7 10 (2.58%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 10 (2.58%) Presentation Skills
8 9 (2.32%) Advertising
8 9 (2.32%) Legal
9 7 (1.80%) Billing
10 6 (1.55%) Banking
10 6 (1.55%) Documentation Skills
10 6 (1.55%) Public Speaking
11 5 (1.29%) Aerospace
11 5 (1.29%) Automotive
11 5 (1.29%) Health Technology
11 5 (1.29%) Law
11 5 (1.29%) Public Sector
Job Titles
1 41 (10.57%) Consultant
2 38 (9.79%) Analyst
3 37 (9.54%) Project Manager
4 35 (9.02%) Lead
5 34 (8.76%) Senior
6 25 (6.44%) SAP Consultant
7 23 (5.93%) Business Analyst
8 20 (5.15%) Architect
9 18 (4.64%) Data Engineer
10 15 (3.87%) Developer
10 15 (3.87%) Product Owner
11 14 (3.61%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
12 9 (2.32%) AWS Engineer
13 8 (2.06%) Data Analyst
13 8 (2.06%) Data Scientist
14 7 (1.80%) Designer
14 7 (1.80%) SAP Manager
15 6 (1.55%) Full-Stack Engineer
15 6 (1.55%) SAP Analyst
15 6 (1.55%) Snowflake Data Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 13 (3.35%) REST
2 7 (1.80%) React
3 6 (1.55%) IDoc
3 6 (1.55%) PyTorch
4 5 (1.29%) EDI
4 5 (1.29%) RESTful
4 5 (1.29%) SOAP
4 5 (1.29%) XML
5 4 (1.03%) FastAPI
5 4 (1.03%) Hibernate
5 4 (1.03%) Pandas
5 4 (1.03%) SAP Fiori
5 4 (1.03%) SQLAlchemy
6 3 (0.77%) Google JAX
6 3 (0.77%) JAX
6 3 (0.77%) Kafka
6 3 (0.77%) Playwright
6 3 (0.77%) Ray
6 3 (0.77%) SAPUI5
6 3 (0.77%) TensorFlow
Miscellaneous
1 123 (31.70%) Life Science
2 22 (5.67%) Product Ownership
3 16 (4.12%) Data Structures
3 16 (4.12%) FMCG
3 16 (4.12%) LIMS
4 13 (3.35%) CRISPR
5 10 (2.58%) Operational Technology
6 9 (2.32%) Cloud Native
6 9 (2.32%) Self-Motivation
7 8 (2.06%) Data Protection Act
8 7 (1.80%) Analytical Mindset
8 7 (1.80%) Management Information System
9 6 (1.55%) NHS
9 6 (1.55%) SCADA
10 5 (1.29%) Biopharmaceutical
10 5 (1.29%) Enterprise Software
10 5 (1.29%) Genomics
10 5 (1.29%) Onboarding
11 4 (1.03%) Greenfield Project
11 4 (1.03%) Robotics
Operating Systems
1 17 (4.38%) Windows
2 7 (1.80%) Windows Server
3 3 (0.77%) Linux
4 1 (0.26%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 1 (0.26%) Unix
4 1 (0.26%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 69 (17.78%) AI
2 67 (17.27%) Stakeholder Management
3 65 (16.75%) Agile
4 62 (15.98%) Validation
5 46 (11.86%) Problem-Solving
6 45 (11.60%) Biotechnology
7 43 (11.08%) Migration
8 40 (10.31%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 39 (10.05%) Continuous Improvement
9 39 (10.05%) ERP
10 34 (8.76%) Roadmaps
11 32 (8.25%) Machine Learning
12 31 (7.99%) Analytics
12 31 (7.99%) CI/CD
12 31 (7.99%) Data Pipeline
13 30 (7.73%) Data Modelling
13 30 (7.73%) Project Management
14 29 (7.47%) Workshop Facilitation
15 27 (6.96%) Data Governance
16 26 (6.70%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 66 (17.01%) Python
2 36 (9.28%) SQL
3 13 (3.35%) R
4 8 (2.06%) Java
5 6 (1.55%) ABAP
6 5 (1.29%) JavaScript
7 4 (1.03%) PowerShell
7 4 (1.03%) TypeScript
8 3 (0.77%) C#
9 2 (0.52%) Cypher
9 2 (0.52%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 1 (0.26%) Apex Code
10 1 (0.26%) Bicep
10 1 (0.26%) C++
10 1 (0.26%) DataWeave
10 1 (0.26%) Gremlin
10 1 (0.26%) SHACL
10 1 (0.26%) SPARQL
10 1 (0.26%) T-SQL
10 1 (0.26%) XQuery
Qualifications
1 43 (11.08%) Degree
2 12 (3.09%) PMI Certification
2 12 (3.09%) PMP
3 7 (1.80%) Security Cleared
4 5 (1.29%) CSPO
4 5 (1.29%) Master's Degree
4 5 (1.29%) SC Cleared
5 4 (1.03%) ACCA
5 4 (1.03%) BPSS Clearance
5 4 (1.03%) CIMA
6 3 (0.77%) CISM
6 3 (0.77%) CISSP
6 3 (0.77%) Microsoft Certification
7 2 (0.52%) HNC
7 2 (0.52%) HND
7 2 (0.52%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
8 1 (0.26%) (ISC)2 CCSP
8 1 (0.26%) CAPM
8 1 (0.26%) Computer Science Degree
8 1 (0.26%) CRISC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 58 (14.95%) GxP
2 21 (5.41%) QA
3 19 (4.90%) Data Quality
3 19 (4.90%) GMP
4 14 (3.61%) 21 CFR Part 11
5 12 (3.09%) GDPR
6 11 (2.84%) GRC
6 11 (2.84%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 9 (2.32%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 6 (1.55%) PMO
9 5 (1.29%) HIPAA
9 5 (1.29%) PCI DSS
10 3 (0.77%) Accessibility
10 3 (0.77%) EU AI Act
10 3 (0.77%) NIST
11 2 (0.52%) GAMP
11 2 (0.52%) NIST 800
12 1 (0.26%) NCSC
12 1 (0.26%) SLA
12 1 (0.26%) SNOMED CT
System Software
1 11 (2.84%) Docker
2 6 (1.55%) Active Directory
2 6 (1.55%) VMware Infrastructure
3 2 (0.52%) Virtual Machines
3 2 (0.52%) vSphere
4 1 (0.26%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 13 (3.35%) Terraform
2 7 (1.80%) Kubernetes
3 1 (0.26%) Apache Ranger
3 1 (0.26%) FortiGate
3 1 (0.26%) Oracle RMAN
3 1 (0.26%) Tivoli Storage Manager
3 1 (0.26%) WSUS
Vendors
1 90 (23.20%) SAP
2 26 (6.70%) Microsoft
3 11 (2.84%) Oracle
4 10 (2.58%) Google
5 9 (2.32%) Databricks
6 8 (2.06%) ServiceNow
6 8 (2.06%) VMware
7 7 (1.80%) Ariba
7 7 (1.80%) Rockwell
8 6 (1.55%) Palo Alto
8 6 (1.55%) Salesforce
8 6 (1.55%) Zscaler
9 4 (1.03%) LabVantage
9 4 (1.03%) MuleSoft
10 3 (0.77%) Adobe
10 3 (0.77%) Conga
10 3 (0.77%) Informatica
10 3 (0.77%) LabWare
10 3 (0.77%) Palantir
10 3 (0.77%) Siemens