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 28 September 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
28 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 359 256 270
Rank change year-on-year -103 +14 +30
Contract jobs citing Pharmaceutical 344 353 322
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.63% 1.08% 0.84%
As % of the General category 1.13% 1.69% 1.45%
Number of daily rates quoted 164 234 176
10th Percentile £250 £368 £400
25th Percentile £400 £475 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £575 £550
Median % change year-on-year -13.04% +4.55% +6.02%
75th Percentile £638 £684 £600
90th Percentile £746 £750 £672
UK excluding London median daily rate £425 £581 £525
% change year-on-year -26.85% +10.67% +3.96%
Number of hourly rates quoted 39 12 16
10th Percentile £16.38 £18.87 £21.25
25th Percentile £21.50 £41.66 £27.31
Median hourly rate £42.50 £51.80 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year -17.95% +38.12% +78.57%
75th Percentile £68.50 £97.50 £45.60
90th Percentile £97.50 - £57.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £38.72 £18.87 £40.00
% change year-on-year +105.19% -52.83% +100.00%

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 30,424 20,830 22,263
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 55.94% 63.48% 58.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 17,767 12,947 13,186
10th Percentile £313 £273 £281
25th Percentile £419 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -4.55%
75th Percentile £638 £625 £650
90th Percentile £738 £738 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £489
% change year-on-year +5.26% -2.86% -2.20%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,613 1,218 1,027
10th Percentile £13.50 £13.50 £14.89
25th Percentile £16.25 £16.17 £17.25
Median hourly rate £29.00 £25.08 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year +15.65% -28.36% +27.27%
75th Percentile £53.75 £46.61 £60.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £67.00 £71.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £29.01 £21.39 £35.00
% change year-on-year +35.62% -38.89% +29.63%

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 28 September 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 28 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Pharmaceutical in the UK

Pharmaceutical
Top 16 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 28 September 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 -119 267 £500 -11.47% 835
Work from Home -12 156 £527 +3.84% 281
London -38 143 £525 -4.55% 317
UK excluding London -127 110 £425 -26.85% 545
North of England -88 30 £438 -35.19% 146
South East -54 27 £514 -11.57% 136
East of England -54 23 £419 -27.80% 73
North West -82 20 £475 -29.63% 92
South West -29 13 £334 -55.50% 33
Midlands -37 8 £750 +42.86% 85
Wales -15 6 £175 -42.71% 13
North East -34 5 £200 - 18
Yorkshire -37 5 £450 +38.46% 36
East Midlands -14 3 £750 +42.86% 38
Scotland -24 3 £425 -22.73% 39
West Midlands - 3 - - 47

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 8 (2.33%) SharePoint
2 5 (1.45%) IIS
3 4 (1.16%) FactoryTalk
3 4 (1.16%) SAS
4 3 (0.87%) Apache Airflow
5 2 (0.58%) Apache
5 2 (0.58%) Confluence
Applications
1 12 (3.49%) Microsoft Office
2 8 (2.33%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (1.45%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (1.16%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.58%) MS Visio
5 2 (0.58%) Windchill
6 1 (0.29%) Chatbot
Business Applications
1 53 (15.41%) SAP S/4HANA
2 7 (2.03%) SAP QM
3 5 (1.45%) SAP SD
4 4 (1.16%) SAP FI
4 4 (1.16%) SAP IBP
4 4 (1.16%) TrackWise
5 3 (0.87%) SAP CO
5 3 (0.87%) SAP ERP
5 3 (0.87%) SAP FI/CO
5 3 (0.87%) SAP MDG
5 3 (0.87%) SAP PP
6 2 (0.58%) ENOVIA
6 2 (0.58%) NetSuite
6 2 (0.58%) SAP GRC
6 2 (0.58%) SAP GTS
6 2 (0.58%) Teamcenter
7 1 (0.29%) Bankmaster
7 1 (0.29%) OpenText VIM for SAP
7 1 (0.29%) SAP EWM
7 1 (0.29%) SAP MII
Cloud Services
1 41 (11.92%) Azure
2 38 (11.05%) AWS
3 18 (5.23%) Power Platform
4 17 (4.94%) GCP
4 17 (4.94%) Snowflake
5 16 (4.65%) Azure DevOps
6 15 (4.36%) GitHub
7 14 (4.07%) SaaS
8 10 (2.91%) GitHub Actions
8 10 (2.91%) Microsoft 365
9 9 (2.62%) Veeva
10 8 (2.33%) dbt
11 6 (1.74%) Serverless
12 5 (1.45%) Cloud Run
13 4 (1.16%) Amazon S3
13 4 (1.16%) AWS CloudFormation
13 4 (1.16%) AWS Lambda
13 4 (1.16%) Azure AI
13 4 (1.16%) Dynamics 365
14 3 (0.87%) Amazon EC2
Communications & Networking
1 9 (2.62%) Firewall
2 8 (2.33%) DNS
3 7 (2.03%) VLAN
4 5 (1.45%) DHCP
4 5 (1.45%) HTTPS
4 5 (1.45%) Network Security
4 5 (1.45%) TCP/IP
5 3 (0.87%) WAN
6 2 (0.58%) VPN
6 2 (0.58%) X.21
7 1 (0.29%) DMZ
7 1 (0.29%) NGFW
7 1 (0.29%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 18 (5.23%) Power BI
2 9 (2.62%) Data Warehouse
3 8 (2.33%) Metadata
3 8 (2.33%) Neo4j
3 8 (2.33%) SAP BW
3 8 (2.33%) SAP HANA
4 5 (1.45%) MySQL
4 5 (1.45%) PostgreSQL
4 5 (1.45%) Relational Database
4 5 (1.45%) Tableau
5 4 (1.16%) Data Mining
5 4 (1.16%) NoSQL
5 4 (1.16%) Oracle Database
6 3 (0.87%) Amazon Athena
6 3 (0.87%) BigQuery
6 3 (0.87%) Data Lake
6 3 (0.87%) DynamoDB
6 3 (0.87%) Semantic Layer
7 2 (0.58%) Amazon QuickSight
7 2 (0.58%) Amazon RDS
Development Applications
1 13 (3.78%) Git
2 12 (3.49%) JIRA
3 7 (2.03%) Jenkins
4 3 (0.87%) Bitbucket
4 3 (0.87%) GitLab
5 2 (0.58%) Cypress.io
5 2 (0.58%) Visual Studio
6 1 (0.29%) LSMW
6 1 (0.29%) Postman
6 1 (0.29%) ScriptRunner
6 1 (0.29%) SonarQube
6 1 (0.29%) TestRail
6 1 (0.29%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 111 (32.27%) Social Skills
2 79 (22.97%) Manufacturing
3 54 (15.70%) Finance
4 51 (14.83%) Analytical Skills
5 16 (4.65%) Retail
6 14 (4.07%) Legal
7 13 (3.78%) Organisational Skills
8 12 (3.49%) Marketing
9 11 (3.20%) Presentation Skills
10 8 (2.33%) Documentation Skills
11 7 (2.03%) Banking
11 7 (2.03%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 6 (1.74%) Public Sector
13 5 (1.45%) Automotive
13 5 (1.45%) Influencing Skills
13 5 (1.45%) Law
14 4 (1.16%) Billing
15 3 (0.87%) Advertising
15 3 (0.87%) General Ledger
15 3 (0.87%) German Language
Job Titles
1 44 (12.79%) Analyst
2 39 (11.34%) Senior
3 36 (10.47%) Consultant
4 31 (9.01%) Architect
5 29 (8.43%) Lead
5 29 (8.43%) Project Manager
6 25 (7.27%) Business Analyst
7 18 (5.23%) SAP Consultant
8 16 (4.65%) Data Engineer
9 13 (3.78%) Developer
10 9 (2.62%) Data Analyst
10 9 (2.62%) SAP Architect
10 9 (2.62%) SAP Manager
11 8 (2.33%) Network Engineer
11 8 (2.33%) Product Owner
11 8 (2.33%) Solutions Architect
12 7 (2.03%) AWS Engineer
12 7 (2.03%) Data Business Analyst
12 7 (2.03%) Support Technician
13 6 (1.74%) SAP Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (6.10%) REST
2 12 (3.49%) Terraform
3 8 (2.33%) React
3 8 (2.33%) SOAP
4 7 (2.03%) SAP Fiori
4 7 (2.03%) SAPUI5
5 5 (1.45%) .NET
5 5 (1.45%) FastAPI
5 5 (1.45%) Kafka
5 5 (1.45%) Middleware
5 5 (1.45%) PyTorch
5 5 (1.45%) SAP Basis
5 5 (1.45%) SAP PI
6 4 (1.16%) Hibernate
6 4 (1.16%) RESTful
6 4 (1.16%) SQLAlchemy
6 4 (1.16%) XML
7 3 (0.87%) EDI
7 3 (0.87%) LangGraph
8 2 (0.58%) FHIR
Miscellaneous
1 135 (39.24%) Life Science
2 22 (6.40%) FMCG
3 19 (5.52%) Cloud Native
3 19 (5.52%) Product Ownership
4 14 (4.07%) LIMS
5 12 (3.49%) Operational Technology
6 11 (3.20%) Onboarding
7 10 (2.91%) Data Structures
7 10 (2.91%) Management Information System
8 9 (2.62%) Data Protection Act
9 8 (2.33%) Biopharmaceutical
9 8 (2.33%) CRISPR
10 7 (2.03%) Analytical Mindset
10 7 (2.03%) NHS
10 7 (2.03%) SCADA
11 6 (1.74%) Genomics
11 6 (1.74%) Greenfield Project
12 5 (1.45%) AI Agents
12 5 (1.45%) Enterprise Software
12 5 (1.45%) Manufacturing Execution System
Operating Systems
1 24 (6.98%) Windows
2 9 (2.62%) Windows Server
3 5 (1.45%) Apple iOS
4 1 (0.29%) Android
4 1 (0.29%) Linux
4 1 (0.29%) VMS
4 1 (0.29%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 85 (24.71%) Stakeholder Management
2 70 (20.35%) AI
3 56 (16.28%) Problem-Solving
4 52 (15.12%) Agile
5 51 (14.83%) Validation
6 45 (13.08%) Analytics
6 45 (13.08%) Continuous Improvement
7 44 (12.79%) Biotechnology
8 39 (11.34%) Roadmaps
9 34 (9.88%) Migration
10 33 (9.59%) CI/CD
11 32 (9.30%) DevOps
12 30 (8.72%) Stakeholder Engagement
13 29 (8.43%) Machine Learning
14 27 (7.85%) Data Governance
14 27 (7.85%) Data Pipeline
14 27 (7.85%) Project Management
15 26 (7.56%) Data Modelling
15 26 (7.56%) Decision-Making
15 26 (7.56%) ERP
Programming Languages
1 50 (14.53%) Python
2 28 (8.14%) SQL
3 7 (2.03%) Java
4 6 (1.74%) ABAP
4 6 (1.74%) JavaScript
4 6 (1.74%) R
5 4 (1.16%) PowerShell
6 3 (0.87%) C#
6 3 (0.87%) TypeScript
7 2 (0.58%) Cypher
7 2 (0.58%) Data Analysis Expressions
7 2 (0.58%) Korn
8 1 (0.29%) Apex Code
8 1 (0.29%) Gremlin
8 1 (0.29%) Groovy
8 1 (0.29%) MATLAB
8 1 (0.29%) SPARQL
Qualifications
1 57 (16.57%) Degree
2 12 (3.49%) PMI Certification
2 12 (3.49%) PMP
2 12 (3.49%) Security Cleared
3 10 (2.91%) DBS Check
4 7 (2.03%) SC Cleared
5 6 (1.74%) BPSS Clearance
5 6 (1.74%) Master's Degree
6 5 (1.45%) CSPO
6 5 (1.45%) Microsoft Certification
7 4 (1.16%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 4 (1.16%) MCITP
7 4 (1.16%) PhD
8 3 (0.87%) CAPM
8 3 (0.87%) Chartered Engineer
8 3 (0.87%) CISM
8 3 (0.87%) CISSP
8 3 (0.87%) Postgraduate
9 2 (0.58%) Cisco Certification
9 2 (0.58%) HNC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 55 (15.99%) GxP
2 27 (7.85%) Data Quality
3 16 (4.65%) GMP
3 16 (4.65%) QA
4 13 (3.78%) GDPR
5 12 (3.49%) 21 CFR Part 11
6 11 (3.20%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 10 (2.91%) GRC
8 8 (2.33%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 6 (1.74%) HIPAA
10 5 (1.45%) PCI DSS
11 4 (1.16%) NIST
11 4 (1.16%) PMO
12 2 (0.58%) EU AI Act
12 2 (0.58%) GAMP
12 2 (0.58%) IEC 61508
13 1 (0.29%) Accessibility
13 1 (0.29%) ISO 14001
13 1 (0.29%) ISO 9001
13 1 (0.29%) SLA
System Software
1 16 (4.65%) Docker
2 8 (2.33%) VMware Infrastructure
3 6 (1.74%) Active Directory
4 4 (1.16%) Hyper-V
5 2 (0.58%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 10 (2.91%) Kubernetes
2 4 (1.16%) SCCM
3 2 (0.58%) Functional Safety
4 1 (0.29%) Apache Ranger
4 1 (0.29%) Grafana
4 1 (0.29%) Prometheus
4 1 (0.29%) Single Sign-On
4 1 (0.29%) Tivoli Storage Manager
4 1 (0.29%) WSUS
Vendors
1 70 (20.35%) SAP
2 32 (9.30%) Microsoft
3 10 (2.91%) Ariba
4 9 (2.62%) Databricks
4 9 (2.62%) Oracle
4 9 (2.62%) Palo Alto
4 9 (2.62%) VMware
4 9 (2.62%) Zscaler
5 8 (2.33%) Google
6 7 (2.03%) ServiceNow
7 6 (1.74%) Rockwell
7 6 (1.74%) Salesforce
8 5 (1.45%) Citrix
9 4 (1.16%) Cisco
9 4 (1.16%) Foundry
9 4 (1.16%) JD Edwards
9 4 (1.16%) LabVantage
10 3 (0.87%) Conga
11 2 (0.58%) Splunk
11 2 (0.58%) SYSPRO