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 14 February 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 319 235 204
Rank change year-on-year -84 -31 +160
Contract jobs citing Pharmaceutical 308 339 518
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.77% 1.09% 1.16%
As % of the General category 1.31% 1.77% 1.97%
Number of daily rates quoted 193 203 347
10th Percentile £350 £350 £290
25th Percentile £406 £444 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% +4.76% +5.00%
75th Percentile £625 £638 £575
90th Percentile £746 £700 £675
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 23 39
10th Percentile £16.47 £19.00 £17.60
25th Percentile £18.87 £24.18 £20.00
Median hourly rate £75.00 £32.50 £28.50
Median % change year-on-year +130.77% +14.04% +90.00%
75th Percentile £97.50 £35.00 £48.75
90th Percentile - £89.05 £60.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £18.87 £32.50 £21.50
% change year-on-year -41.94% +51.16% +65.38%

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 23,581 19,193 26,288
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 58.76% 61.99% 58.66%
Number of daily rates quoted 14,762 11,558 16,983
10th Percentile £294 £285 £265
25th Percentile £402 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £625 £645 £650
90th Percentile £738 £763 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £480 £500
% change year-on-year -0.94% -4.10% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,449 607 1,629
10th Percentile £13.72 £15.62 £13.00
25th Percentile £16.36 £20.12 £15.00
Median hourly rate £22.85 £29.00 £25.25
Median % change year-on-year -21.21% +14.85% -5.24%
75th Percentile £50.00 £57.50 £53.75
90th Percentile £72.00 £75.00 £67.85
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.80 £26.50 £24.00
% change year-on-year -17.74% +10.42% -4.00%

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 14 February 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 14 February 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 14 February 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 -111 231 £525 -4.55% 151
Work from Home +1 126 £513 -6.82% 72
London +6 107 £575 -8.00% 48
UK excluding London -132 95 £552 +5.19% 113
East of England -47 33 £488 -7.14% 12
North of England -105 27 £588 +9.81% 36
South East -11 26 £578 +172.00% 33
North West -75 23 £600 +10.09% 24
South West - 6 £700 - 11
Scotland +4 3 £550 +54.93% 4
North East -16 2 - - 3
Yorkshire -59 2 £325 -5.25% 9
Wales -4 1 £183 - 2

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 (1.95%) Apache Airflow
1 6 (1.95%) Confluence
2 5 (1.62%) Apache Spark
3 4 (1.30%) SharePoint
4 1 (0.32%) CMS
4 1 (0.32%) Headless CMS
4 1 (0.32%) Mendix
4 1 (0.32%) Oracle Workflow
4 1 (0.32%) WinCC
Applications
1 19 (6.17%) Microsoft Office
2 7 (2.27%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.97%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.65%) Microsoft Project
4 2 (0.65%) Weka
5 1 (0.32%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.32%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 76 (24.68%) SAP S/4HANA
2 7 (2.27%) SAP MM
2 7 (2.27%) SAP PM
2 7 (2.27%) SAP QM
3 6 (1.95%) SAP EWM
3 6 (1.95%) SAP PP
4 5 (1.62%) SAP MDG
4 5 (1.62%) SAP WM
5 4 (1.30%) SAP CO
6 3 (0.97%) SAP FI
6 3 (0.97%) SAP FI/CO
7 2 (0.65%) Dynamics CRM
7 2 (0.65%) Sage X3
7 2 (0.65%) SAP ERP
7 2 (0.65%) SAP IBP
7 2 (0.65%) SAP SCM
7 2 (0.65%) SAP SD
7 2 (0.65%) TrackWise
8 1 (0.32%) NetSuite
8 1 (0.32%) SAP Travel Management
Cloud Services
1 37 (12.01%) AWS
2 31 (10.06%) Azure
3 23 (7.47%) GCP
4 17 (5.52%) Power Platform
5 15 (4.87%) GitHub
5 15 (4.87%) Microsoft 365
6 11 (3.57%) Cloud Run
6 11 (3.57%) Snowflake
7 6 (1.95%) Figma
7 6 (1.95%) SaaS
7 6 (1.95%) Veeva
8 5 (1.62%) dbt
9 4 (1.30%) Google Kubernetes Engine
10 3 (0.97%) Amazon EKS
10 3 (0.97%) Amazon SageMaker
10 3 (0.97%) Azure AKS
10 3 (0.97%) Collibra
11 2 (0.65%) Azure DevOps
11 2 (0.65%) Serverless
11 2 (0.65%) WhatsApp
Communications & Networking
1 6 (1.95%) Network Security
2 4 (1.30%) Firewall
2 4 (1.30%) Wireless
3 3 (0.97%) Ethernet
3 3 (0.97%) Modbus
3 3 (0.97%) RS-485
4 2 (0.65%) BGP
4 2 (0.65%) OSPF
5 1 (0.32%) Cisco ICM
5 1 (0.32%) DHCP
5 1 (0.32%) DNS
5 1 (0.32%) RFID
5 1 (0.32%) SD-WAN
5 1 (0.32%) SMS
5 1 (0.32%) TCP/IP
5 1 (0.32%) Telepresence
5 1 (0.32%) VPN
5 1 (0.32%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (5.52%) Power BI
2 12 (3.90%) Data Lake
3 6 (1.95%) BigQuery
3 6 (1.95%) Data Warehouse
4 5 (1.62%) Electronic Patient Records
4 5 (1.62%) Metadata
5 4 (1.30%) SAP HANA
6 3 (0.97%) Neo4j
6 3 (0.97%) Tableau
7 2 (0.65%) NoSQL
7 2 (0.65%) SAP Data Services
7 2 (0.65%) SQL Server
8 1 (0.32%) Azure SQL Database
8 1 (0.32%) Hadoop
8 1 (0.32%) Oracle Reports
8 1 (0.32%) PostgreSQL
8 1 (0.32%) QlikView
8 1 (0.32%) Snowflake Schema
8 1 (0.32%) Spotfire
8 1 (0.32%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 20 (6.49%) Git
2 14 (4.55%) JIRA
3 3 (0.97%) Cypress.io
3 3 (0.97%) Jenkins
3 3 (0.97%) MLflow
4 2 (0.65%) GitLab
4 2 (0.65%) LSMW
4 2 (0.65%) Selenium
5 1 (0.32%) ER Studio
5 1 (0.32%) Hudson
5 1 (0.32%) Oracle APEX
5 1 (0.32%) Oracle Forms
5 1 (0.32%) PHPUnit
5 1 (0.32%) SoapUI
5 1 (0.32%) Zephyr
General
1 78 (25.32%) Social Skills
2 65 (21.10%) Manufacturing
3 56 (18.18%) Finance
4 25 (8.12%) Analytical Skills
5 12 (3.90%) Aerospace
5 12 (3.90%) Documentation Skills
5 12 (3.90%) Marketing
6 11 (3.57%) Influencing Skills
7 9 (2.92%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 7 (2.27%) Retail
9 6 (1.95%) Public Sector
10 5 (1.62%) Organisational Skills
11 4 (1.30%) Wearables
12 3 (0.97%) Digital Health
12 3 (0.97%) Health Technology
12 3 (0.97%) Legal
13 2 (0.65%) Banking
13 2 (0.65%) Digital Healthcare
13 2 (0.65%) Presentation Skills
14 1 (0.32%) Public Speaking
Job Titles
1 39 (12.66%) Lead
2 29 (9.42%) Consultant
3 21 (6.82%) Senior
4 20 (6.49%) SAP Consultant
5 18 (5.84%) Analyst
6 17 (5.52%) Developer
6 17 (5.52%) Project Manager
7 12 (3.90%) Architect
7 12 (3.90%) Python Developer
8 11 (3.57%) Data Engineer
8 11 (3.57%) Designer
9 10 (3.25%) Data Scientist
10 9 (2.92%) Software Engineer
11 8 (2.60%) IT Support
11 8 (2.60%) Quality Manager
12 7 (2.27%) Data Analytics Specialist
12 7 (2.27%) IT Technician
12 7 (2.27%) Process Consultant
12 7 (2.27%) SAP Financial Specialist
12 7 (2.27%) Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 17 (5.52%) pytest
2 16 (5.19%) FastAPI
3 13 (4.22%) SAP Fiori
4 10 (3.25%) React
5 9 (2.92%) LangGraph
6 7 (2.27%) Playwright
7 3 (0.97%) Ray
7 3 (0.97%) RESTful
8 2 (0.65%) CSS
8 2 (0.65%) EDI
8 2 (0.65%) IDoc
8 2 (0.65%) Jest
8 2 (0.65%) Kafka
8 2 (0.65%) Next.js
8 2 (0.65%) PyTorch
8 2 (0.65%) REST
8 2 (0.65%) SailPoint
8 2 (0.65%) SAP PI
8 2 (0.65%) SOAP
9 1 (0.32%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 58 (18.83%) Life Science
2 16 (5.19%) FMCG
2 16 (5.19%) Genomics
3 12 (3.90%) Cloud Native
4 10 (3.25%) Onboarding
5 9 (2.92%) Product Ownership
6 8 (2.60%) NHS
7 7 (2.27%) Operational Technology
8 6 (1.95%) LIMS
9 5 (1.62%) Data Structures
9 5 (1.62%) Enterprise Software
9 5 (1.62%) Greenfield Project
9 5 (1.62%) Management Information System
10 4 (1.30%) AI Agents
10 4 (1.30%) Data Protection Act
10 4 (1.30%) Legacy Systems
10 4 (1.30%) SCADA
10 4 (1.30%) Virtual Team
11 3 (0.97%) Self-Motivation
11 3 (0.97%) Taxonomies
Operating Systems
1 14 (4.55%) Windows
2 4 (1.30%) Apple iOS
2 4 (1.30%) Mac OS
2 4 (1.30%) Windows 10
3 1 (0.32%) Android
3 1 (0.32%) Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 55 (17.86%) AI
2 52 (16.88%) Stakeholder Management
3 48 (15.58%) Agile
4 43 (13.96%) Machine Learning
5 39 (12.66%) ERP
6 36 (11.69%) Validation
7 35 (11.36%) Analytics
8 34 (11.04%) Continuous Improvement
8 34 (11.04%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 33 (10.71%) Biotechnology
9 33 (10.71%) Problem-Solving
10 32 (10.39%) Migration
11 30 (9.74%) DevOps
12 26 (8.44%) Data Science
13 24 (7.79%) Roadmaps
14 23 (7.47%) Test Automation
15 22 (7.14%) Decision-Making
16 21 (6.82%) Data Governance
17 20 (6.49%) User Experience
18 19 (6.17%) Matrix Organization
Programming Languages
1 60 (19.48%) Python
2 25 (8.12%) SQL
3 12 (3.90%) R
4 9 (2.92%) TypeScript
5 6 (1.95%) JavaScript
6 5 (1.62%) Java
7 2 (0.65%) ABAP
7 2 (0.65%) Bash
7 2 (0.65%) SHACL
8 1 (0.32%) C
8 1 (0.32%) C++
8 1 (0.32%) Ladder Logic
8 1 (0.32%) PHP
8 1 (0.32%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 49 (15.91%) Degree
2 12 (3.90%) Master's Degree
3 9 (2.92%) A+ Certification
4 8 (2.60%) ACCA
4 8 (2.60%) CIMA
4 8 (2.60%) PMI Certification
4 8 (2.60%) PMP
5 7 (2.27%) Security Cleared
6 6 (1.95%) SC Cleared
7 4 (1.30%) BPSS Clearance
8 2 (0.65%) CISSP
8 2 (0.65%) CompTIA Security+
8 2 (0.65%) HND
9 1 (0.32%) CCA
9 1 (0.32%) CCNP
9 1 (0.32%) Cisco Certification
9 1 (0.32%) ECDL
9 1 (0.32%) MBA
9 1 (0.32%) Microsoft Certification
9 1 (0.32%) SAP Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (7.79%) GxP
2 16 (5.19%) GMP
3 14 (4.55%) QA
4 12 (3.90%) Data Quality
5 7 (2.27%) GDPR
6 5 (1.62%) Accessibility
6 5 (1.62%) PMO
7 4 (1.30%) 21 CFR Part 11
8 3 (0.97%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 2 (0.65%) GAMP
9 2 (0.65%) ISO 13485
9 2 (0.65%) SLA
10 1 (0.32%) GRC
10 1 (0.32%) HIPAA
10 1 (0.32%) HL7
10 1 (0.32%) IEC 62304
10 1 (0.32%) ISO/IEC 27001
10 1 (0.32%) ITGC
10 1 (0.32%) MiFID
10 1 (0.32%) SNOMED CT
System Software
1 20 (6.49%) Docker
2 3 (0.97%) Slurm Workload Manager
3 2 (0.65%) GPFS
3 2 (0.65%) Lustre
4 1 (0.32%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 13 (4.22%) Kubernetes
2 6 (1.95%) Terraform
3 3 (0.97%) Ansible
3 3 (0.97%) SCCM
4 2 (0.65%) HP ALM
4 2 (0.65%) Microsoft Intune
4 2 (0.65%) Puppet
4 2 (0.65%) Salt
5 1 (0.32%) Cisco UCCE
5 1 (0.32%) Cisco UCCX
5 1 (0.32%) Packer
5 1 (0.32%) RSA Archer
5 1 (0.32%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
Vendors
1 101 (32.79%) SAP
2 36 (11.69%) Microsoft
3 19 (6.17%) Google
4 7 (2.27%) Ariba
4 7 (2.27%) Oracle
4 7 (2.27%) SOTI
5 6 (1.95%) Salesforce
5 6 (1.95%) ServiceNow
6 4 (1.30%) Cisco
6 4 (1.30%) Databricks
6 4 (1.30%) HP
6 4 (1.30%) LabWare
6 4 (1.30%) Palo Alto
7 3 (0.97%) Cerner
7 3 (0.97%) IBM
7 3 (0.97%) MEDITECH
7 3 (0.97%) Siemens
7 3 (0.97%) Zscaler
8 2 (0.65%) CyberArk
8 2 (0.65%) Meraki