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 November 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 259 273 260
Rank change year-on-year +14 -13 +90
Contract jobs citing Pharmaceutical 367 310 447
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.03% 0.85% 0.95%
As % of the General category 1.64% 1.44% 1.60%
Number of daily rates quoted 247 159 304
10th Percentile £400 £362 £265
25th Percentile £488 £450 £438
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £575 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year +9.52% - -
75th Percentile £688 £625 £588
90th Percentile £768 £680 £675
UK excluding London median daily rate £581 £525 £525
% change year-on-year +10.57% - +7.69%
Number of hourly rates quoted 13 23 26
10th Percentile - £19.25 £17.20
25th Percentile £18.87 £22.72 £17.72
Median hourly rate £51.80 £32.50 £20.00
Median % change year-on-year +59.37% +62.50% -25.93%
75th Percentile £97.50 £37.50 £43.94
90th Percentile - £52.58 £61.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £18.87 £30.50 £20.00
% change year-on-year -38.13% +52.50% -25.93%

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 common skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for common skills 22,374 21,602 27,867
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 63.01% 58.97% 59.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 14,012 12,743 18,632
10th Percentile £270 £288 £285
25th Percentile £400 £410 £423
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -4.55% -
75th Percentile £625 £649 £654
90th Percentile £737 £750 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £480 £500
% change year-on-year -1.09% -3.95% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,444 817 1,117
10th Percentile £13.80 £15.00 £14.25
25th Percentile £16.55 £17.08 £16.85
Median hourly rate £24.09 £29.50 £30.00
Median % change year-on-year -18.34% -1.67% +20.00%
75th Percentile £44.77 £55.00 £57.33
90th Percentile £68.48 £70.00 £70.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.00 £27.24 £27.33
% change year-on-year -19.23% -0.35% +24.24%

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 November 2025.

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 November 2025.

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 15 November 2025. 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 +8 300 £575 +4.55% 284
UK excluding London -49 135 £581 +10.57% 183
Work from Home +22 123 £525 -3.45% 123
London +58 121 £588 +6.82% 122
East of England -16 56 £578 +10.00% 19
North of England -74 41 £675 +28.57% 36
North West -43 38 £675 +28.57% 24
South East +23 30 £565 +50.60% 63
South West - 5 £750 - 26
Wales +3 2 £224 - 6
East Midlands -14 2 £525 -12.50% 9
Midlands -32 2 £525 -12.50% 19
Yorkshire -43 2 £325 -5.25% 6
Scotland -8 1 £550 +54.93% 15
North East - 1 - - 7

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 9 (2.45%) Confluence
2 7 (1.91%) Apache Airflow
3 5 (1.36%) Apache Spark
4 3 (0.82%) CMS
5 2 (0.54%) Oracle Workflow
5 2 (0.54%) SharePoint
6 1 (0.27%) Headless CMS
6 1 (0.27%) Mendix
6 1 (0.27%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 6 (1.63%) Microsoft Excel
1 6 (1.63%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (0.82%) MS Visio
3 2 (0.54%) Adobe After Effects
3 2 (0.54%) Adobe Illustrator
3 2 (0.54%) Microsoft Project
3 2 (0.54%) Photoshop
3 2 (0.54%) Spreadsheet
3 2 (0.54%) Weka
4 1 (0.27%) Adobe Premiere
4 1 (0.27%) InDesign
Business Applications
1 96 (26.16%) SAP S/4HANA
2 9 (2.45%) SAP MM
3 8 (2.18%) SAP MDG
4 7 (1.91%) SAP CO
5 6 (1.63%) SAP FI
5 6 (1.63%) SAP FI/CO
6 5 (1.36%) SAP EWM
6 5 (1.36%) SAP PLM
6 5 (1.36%) SAP PP
6 5 (1.36%) SAP QM
6 5 (1.36%) SAP SD
7 4 (1.09%) SAP ERP
7 4 (1.09%) SAP IBP
7 4 (1.09%) SAP VC
7 4 (1.09%) SAP WM
8 3 (0.82%) Dynamics CRM
9 2 (0.54%) PRMS
9 2 (0.54%) SAP PM
9 2 (0.54%) SAP SCM
9 2 (0.54%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 55 (14.99%) AWS
2 36 (9.81%) Azure
3 28 (7.63%) Power Platform
4 27 (7.36%) GCP
5 21 (5.72%) GitHub
6 13 (3.54%) Snowflake
7 12 (3.27%) Cloud Run
8 6 (1.63%) GitHub Actions
8 6 (1.63%) Google Kubernetes Engine
8 6 (1.63%) Veeva
9 5 (1.36%) Amazon S3
9 5 (1.36%) Microsoft 365
10 4 (1.09%) Amazon EC2
10 4 (1.09%) dbt
10 4 (1.09%) Figma
10 4 (1.09%) IaaS
10 4 (1.09%) SuccessFactors
11 3 (0.82%) AWS CloudTrail
11 3 (0.82%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 3 (0.82%) OCI
Communications & Networking
1 10 (2.72%) Network Security
2 5 (1.36%) Firewall
3 4 (1.09%) Wireless
4 2 (0.54%) BGP
4 2 (0.54%) OSPF
5 1 (0.27%) Cisco ICM
5 1 (0.27%) DHCP
5 1 (0.27%) DNS
5 1 (0.27%) RFID
5 1 (0.27%) SD-WAN
5 1 (0.27%) Skype
5 1 (0.27%) SMS
5 1 (0.27%) TCP/IP
5 1 (0.27%) VLAN
5 1 (0.27%) VPN
5 1 (0.27%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 28 (7.63%) Power BI
2 16 (4.36%) Data Lake
3 13 (3.54%) SAP HANA
4 11 (3.00%) Data Warehouse
5 7 (1.91%) Electronic Patient Records
6 6 (1.63%) Metadata
7 5 (1.36%) BigQuery
8 4 (1.09%) Tableau
9 3 (0.82%) NoSQL
10 2 (0.54%) Ataccama
10 2 (0.54%) Azure SQL Database
10 2 (0.54%) MongoDB
10 2 (0.54%) Neo4j
11 1 (0.27%) Amazon RDS
11 1 (0.27%) Amazon Redshift
11 1 (0.27%) KNIME
11 1 (0.27%) Power Query
11 1 (0.27%) Qlik Sense
11 1 (0.27%) SAP Data Services
11 1 (0.27%) Snowflake Schema
Development Applications
1 19 (5.18%) Git
2 18 (4.90%) JIRA
3 5 (1.36%) Jenkins
4 3 (0.82%) Cypress.io
5 2 (0.54%) CircleCI
5 2 (0.54%) GitLab
5 2 (0.54%) Selenium
6 1 (0.27%) ERwin
6 1 (0.27%) LSMW
6 1 (0.27%) PHPUnit
6 1 (0.27%) SoapUI
6 1 (0.27%) Zephyr
General
1 107 (29.16%) Social Skills
2 73 (19.89%) Finance
3 67 (18.26%) Manufacturing
4 33 (8.99%) Analytical Skills
5 15 (4.09%) Marketing
6 14 (3.81%) Documentation Skills
7 13 (3.54%) Influencing Skills
8 11 (3.00%) Aerospace
9 7 (1.91%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 7 (1.91%) Legal
10 4 (1.09%) German Language
10 4 (1.09%) Health Technology
10 4 (1.09%) Organisational Skills
10 4 (1.09%) Public Sector
11 3 (0.82%) Wearables
12 2 (0.54%) Billing
12 2 (0.54%) Digital Health
12 2 (0.54%) Digital Healthcare
12 2 (0.54%) Presentation Skills
13 1 (0.27%) Dutch Language
Job Titles
1 46 (12.53%) Consultant
2 39 (10.63%) Lead
2 39 (10.63%) SAP Consultant
3 27 (7.36%) Analyst
3 27 (7.36%) Developer
4 25 (6.81%) Project Manager
5 22 (5.99%) Architect
6 19 (5.18%) Python Developer
7 18 (4.90%) Accountant
7 18 (4.90%) Systems Accountant
8 17 (4.63%) Data Scientist
9 14 (3.81%) SAP Manager
10 13 (3.54%) Data Engineer
10 13 (3.54%) Senior
11 12 (3.27%) Business Analyst
11 12 (3.27%) Full-Stack Developer
12 11 (3.00%) Full-Stack Python Developer
12 11 (3.00%) SAP S/4HANA Consultant
13 10 (2.72%) Software Engineer
14 9 (2.45%) IT Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 17 (4.63%) FastAPI
1 17 (4.63%) pytest
2 15 (4.09%) React
2 15 (4.09%) SAP Fiori
3 11 (3.00%) LangGraph
4 5 (1.36%) Playwright
5 4 (1.09%) EDI
5 4 (1.09%) FHIR
6 3 (0.82%) IDoc
6 3 (0.82%) Kafka
6 3 (0.82%) MACH
6 3 (0.82%) pydantic
6 3 (0.82%) SOAP
7 2 (0.54%) AWS Amplify
7 2 (0.54%) Jest
7 2 (0.54%) Middleware
7 2 (0.54%) Next.js
7 2 (0.54%) REST
7 2 (0.54%) SailPoint
7 2 (0.54%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 63 (17.17%) Life Science
2 22 (5.99%) Genomics
3 17 (4.63%) Cloud Native
4 10 (2.72%) FMCG
4 10 (2.72%) Operational Technology
5 8 (2.18%) NHS
5 8 (2.18%) Product Ownership
6 6 (1.63%) Hybrid Cloud
6 6 (1.63%) Legacy Systems
7 5 (1.36%) AI Agents
7 5 (1.36%) Data Structures
7 5 (1.36%) Greenfield Project
7 5 (1.36%) LIMS
7 5 (1.36%) Management Information System
8 4 (1.09%) Biopharmaceutical
8 4 (1.09%) Mobile App
9 3 (0.82%) Analytical Mindset
9 3 (0.82%) Marketing Technology
9 3 (0.82%) Team-Oriented Environment
9 3 (0.82%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 10 (2.72%) Windows
2 8 (2.18%) Apple iOS
3 6 (1.63%) Linux
4 5 (1.36%) Windows 10
5 3 (0.82%) Android
6 2 (0.54%) Mac OS
Processes & Methodologies
1 69 (18.80%) Stakeholder Management
2 63 (17.17%) AI
3 54 (14.71%) Problem-Solving
4 53 (14.44%) Agile
5 51 (13.90%) Analytics
6 47 (12.81%) Project Management
7 44 (11.99%) Machine Learning
8 42 (11.44%) ERP
9 38 (10.35%) Change Management
10 37 (10.08%) Continuous Improvement
10 37 (10.08%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 37 (10.08%) Validation
11 32 (8.72%) DevOps
12 31 (8.45%) Data Science
13 29 (7.90%) Roadmaps
14 28 (7.63%) Biotechnology
15 27 (7.36%) Migration
15 27 (7.36%) User Acceptance Testing
16 26 (7.08%) Data Governance
17 25 (6.81%) Matrix Organization
Programming Languages
1 75 (20.44%) Python
2 33 (8.99%) SQL
3 18 (4.90%) R
4 16 (4.36%) TypeScript
5 11 (3.00%) Java
6 7 (1.91%) JavaScript
7 6 (1.63%) ABAP
8 2 (0.54%) Bash
8 2 (0.54%) Ruby
9 1 (0.27%) Korn
9 1 (0.27%) Ladder Logic
9 1 (0.27%) MATLAB
9 1 (0.27%) PHP
9 1 (0.27%) Scala
9 1 (0.27%) SHACL
Qualifications
1 62 (16.89%) Degree
2 20 (5.45%) ACCA
2 20 (5.45%) CIMA
3 15 (4.09%) Master's Degree
3 15 (4.09%) PMI Certification
3 15 (4.09%) PMP
4 12 (3.27%) Security Cleared
5 9 (2.45%) SC Cleared
6 7 (1.91%) Computer Science Degree
7 5 (1.36%) CCNP
7 5 (1.36%) CCSA
7 5 (1.36%) Cisco Certification
8 3 (0.82%) Six Sigma Green Belt
9 2 (0.54%) BPSS Clearance
9 2 (0.54%) CISA
9 2 (0.54%) CISM
9 2 (0.54%) CISSP
9 2 (0.54%) CompTIA Security+
9 2 (0.54%) SAP Certification
10 1 (0.27%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 34 (9.26%) GxP
2 18 (4.90%) QA
3 14 (3.81%) Data Quality
4 11 (3.00%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 10 (2.72%) GDPR
5 10 (2.72%) GMP
6 7 (1.91%) APQC
7 6 (1.63%) PMO
8 5 (1.36%) HL7
9 4 (1.09%) 21 CFR Part 11
9 4 (1.09%) Accessibility
9 4 (1.09%) SLA
10 3 (0.82%) NCSC
11 2 (0.54%) HIPAA
11 2 (0.54%) IFRS
12 1 (0.27%) GAMP
12 1 (0.27%) GRC
12 1 (0.27%) IEC 62304
12 1 (0.27%) ISO 13485
12 1 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 27001
System Software
1 27 (7.36%) Docker
2 5 (1.36%) Slurm Workload Manager
3 3 (0.82%) Lustre
4 2 (0.54%) Active Directory
4 2 (0.54%) GPFS
5 1 (0.27%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 22 (5.99%) Kubernetes
2 9 (2.45%) Terraform
3 5 (1.36%) Ansible
4 4 (1.09%) SCCM
5 3 (0.82%) Packer
6 2 (0.54%) HP ALM
6 2 (0.54%) Microsoft Intune
6 2 (0.54%) Puppet
6 2 (0.54%) Salt
7 1 (0.27%) Cisco CUCM
7 1 (0.27%) Cisco UCCE
7 1 (0.27%) Cisco UCCX
7 1 (0.27%) NetBackup
7 1 (0.27%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
7 1 (0.27%) TeamSite
Vendors
1 142 (38.69%) SAP
2 22 (5.99%) Google
3 21 (5.72%) Microsoft
4 15 (4.09%) Ariba
5 10 (2.72%) ServiceNow
6 9 (2.45%) Oracle
7 8 (2.18%) Palo Alto
8 7 (1.91%) Zscaler
9 6 (1.63%) Salesforce
10 5 (1.36%) Cisco
11 4 (1.09%) Siemens
11 4 (1.09%) Workday
12 3 (0.82%) MEDITECH
12 3 (0.82%) Remedy
13 2 (0.54%) Adobe
13 2 (0.54%) Cerner
13 2 (0.54%) CyberArk
13 2 (0.54%) HP
13 2 (0.54%) IBM
13 2 (0.54%) Meraki