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

6 months to
26 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 317 226 204
Rank change year-on-year -91 -22 +152
Contract jobs citing Pharmaceutical 318 354 508
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.77% 1.15% 1.16%
As % of the General category 1.31% 1.86% 1.97%
Number of daily rates quoted 199 218 336
10th Percentile £350 £338 £339
25th Percentile £404 £441 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% +4.76% +5.00%
75th Percentile £625 £647 £582
90th Percentile £726 £758 £675
UK excluding London median daily rate £575 £525 £510
% change year-on-year +9.52% +2.94% +13.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 13 23 39
10th Percentile £16.47 £19.00 £17.60
25th Percentile £49.25 £24.18 £20.00
Median hourly rate £75.00 £32.50 £28.50
Median % change year-on-year +130.77% +14.04% +78.13%
75th Percentile £97.50 £35.00 £48.75
90th Percentile - £89.05 £60.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £49.50 £32.50 £21.50
% change year-on-year +52.31% +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 24,221 19,066 25,802
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 58.44% 62.13% 58.84%
Number of daily rates quoted 15,157 11,654 16,607
10th Percentile £300 £290 £265
25th Percentile £404 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £623 £650 £650
90th Percentile £738 £763 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £478 £495
% change year-on-year -0.52% -3.54% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,475 619 1,703
10th Percentile £13.59 £15.62 £13.00
25th Percentile £16.49 £20.63 £15.27
Median hourly rate £23.58 £30.00 £26.00
Median % change year-on-year -21.42% +15.38% -7.52%
75th Percentile £53.75 £57.94 £51.25
90th Percentile £73.75 £75.00 £65.84
UK excluding London median hourly rate £22.27 £27.50 £25.00
% change year-on-year -19.04% +10.00% -

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 26 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 26 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 26 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 -129 241 £525 -4.55% 132
Work from Home -4 131 £513 -6.82% 54
London +17 113 £540 -18.49% 39
UK excluding London -139 100 £575 +9.52% 104
East of England -43 37 £500 -4.76% 8
South East -18 28 £575 +170.59% 29
North of England -108 25 £588 +9.81% 28
North West -72 21 £588 +7.80% 22
South West - 7 £700 - 15
Scotland +10 3 £550 +54.93% 3
North East -15 3 - - 5
Wales -5 1 £183 - 1
Yorkshire -64 1 - - 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 (1.89%) Apache Airflow
2 5 (1.57%) Apache Spark
2 5 (1.57%) Confluence
2 5 (1.57%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.63%) Mendix
3 2 (0.63%) WinCC
4 1 (0.31%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 23 (7.23%) Microsoft Office
2 8 (2.52%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.94%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.63%) Microsoft Project
4 2 (0.63%) Weka
5 1 (0.31%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.31%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 79 (24.84%) SAP S/4HANA
2 8 (2.52%) SAP EWM
2 8 (2.52%) SAP MM
3 7 (2.20%) SAP PM
3 7 (2.20%) SAP QM
4 6 (1.89%) SAP PP
4 6 (1.89%) SAP WM
5 4 (1.26%) SAP CO
5 4 (1.26%) SAP MDG
6 3 (0.94%) SAP FI
6 3 (0.94%) SAP FI/CO
7 2 (0.63%) Dynamics CRM
7 2 (0.63%) Sage X3
7 2 (0.63%) SAP ERP
7 2 (0.63%) SAP SCM
7 2 (0.63%) TrackWise
8 1 (0.31%) NetSuite
8 1 (0.31%) SAP EHS
8 1 (0.31%) SAP Oil and Gas
8 1 (0.31%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 37 (11.64%) AWS
2 28 (8.81%) Azure
3 22 (6.92%) GCP
4 16 (5.03%) Power Platform
5 15 (4.72%) GitHub
6 14 (4.40%) Microsoft 365
7 11 (3.46%) Cloud Run
8 10 (3.14%) Snowflake
9 8 (2.52%) SaaS
10 6 (1.89%) Figma
11 5 (1.57%) dbt
11 5 (1.57%) Veeva
12 4 (1.26%) Google Kubernetes Engine
13 3 (0.94%) Amazon EKS
13 3 (0.94%) Amazon SageMaker
13 3 (0.94%) Azure AKS
13 3 (0.94%) Dynamics 365
13 3 (0.94%) Google Workspace
14 2 (0.63%) Collibra
14 2 (0.63%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 7 (2.20%) Network Security
2 5 (1.57%) Firewall
3 4 (1.26%) Wireless
4 3 (0.94%) Ethernet
4 3 (0.94%) Modbus
4 3 (0.94%) RS-485
5 2 (0.63%) BGP
5 2 (0.63%) OSPF
5 2 (0.63%) TCP/IP
5 2 (0.63%) VPN
6 1 (0.31%) Cisco ICM
6 1 (0.31%) DHCP
6 1 (0.31%) DNS
6 1 (0.31%) Junos
6 1 (0.31%) RFID
6 1 (0.31%) SD-WAN
6 1 (0.31%) SMS
6 1 (0.31%) Telepresence
6 1 (0.31%) VLAN
6 1 (0.31%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (5.03%) Power BI
2 11 (3.46%) Data Lake
3 6 (1.89%) Data Warehouse
4 5 (1.57%) BigQuery
5 4 (1.26%) Electronic Patient Records
5 4 (1.26%) Metadata
5 4 (1.26%) SAP HANA
6 3 (0.94%) Tableau
7 2 (0.63%) Neo4j
7 2 (0.63%) NoSQL
7 2 (0.63%) Oracle Database
7 2 (0.63%) SAP Data Services
7 2 (0.63%) SQL Server
7 2 (0.63%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 1 (0.31%) Azure SQL Database
8 1 (0.31%) Hadoop
8 1 (0.31%) Oracle Reports
8 1 (0.31%) PostgreSQL
8 1 (0.31%) QlikView
8 1 (0.31%) Snowflake Schema
Development Applications
1 20 (6.29%) Git
2 11 (3.46%) JIRA
3 3 (0.94%) Cypress.io
3 3 (0.94%) MLflow
4 2 (0.63%) GitLab
4 2 (0.63%) Jenkins
4 2 (0.63%) LSMW
5 1 (0.31%) ER Studio
5 1 (0.31%) Hudson
5 1 (0.31%) Oracle APEX
5 1 (0.31%) Oracle Forms
5 1 (0.31%) PHPUnit
5 1 (0.31%) Selenium
General
1 74 (23.27%) Social Skills
2 69 (21.70%) Manufacturing
3 60 (18.87%) Finance
4 26 (8.18%) Analytical Skills
5 13 (4.09%) Aerospace
6 11 (3.46%) Documentation Skills
6 11 (3.46%) Marketing
7 10 (3.14%) Influencing Skills
8 8 (2.52%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 7 (2.20%) Organisational Skills
9 7 (2.20%) Retail
10 6 (1.89%) Public Sector
10 6 (1.89%) Wearables
11 3 (0.94%) Advertising
11 3 (0.94%) Digital Health
11 3 (0.94%) Health Technology
11 3 (0.94%) Legal
12 2 (0.63%) Banking
12 2 (0.63%) Digital Healthcare
12 2 (0.63%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 44 (13.84%) Lead
2 30 (9.43%) Consultant
3 24 (7.55%) Senior
4 18 (5.66%) Developer
4 18 (5.66%) SAP Consultant
5 15 (4.72%) Analyst
5 15 (4.72%) Project Manager
6 13 (4.09%) Python Developer
7 12 (3.77%) Data Engineer
8 11 (3.46%) Architect
8 11 (3.46%) Data Scientist
8 11 (3.46%) Designer
9 10 (3.14%) Software Engineer
10 8 (2.52%) IT Support
10 8 (2.52%) Quality Manager
11 7 (2.20%) Accountant
11 7 (2.20%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
11 7 (2.20%) IT Technician
11 7 (2.20%) Process Consultant
11 7 (2.20%) Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 17 (5.35%) pytest
2 16 (5.03%) FastAPI
3 12 (3.77%) SAP Fiori
4 9 (2.83%) LangGraph
4 9 (2.83%) React
5 7 (2.20%) Playwright
6 3 (0.94%) Ray
6 3 (0.94%) RESTful
7 2 (0.63%) CSS
7 2 (0.63%) EDI
7 2 (0.63%) IDoc
7 2 (0.63%) Jest
7 2 (0.63%) Next.js
7 2 (0.63%) PyTorch
7 2 (0.63%) REST
7 2 (0.63%) SailPoint
7 2 (0.63%) SAP PI
8 1 (0.31%) BAPI
8 1 (0.31%) Middleware
8 1 (0.31%) Spring
Miscellaneous
1 57 (17.92%) Life Science
2 16 (5.03%) FMCG
3 15 (4.72%) Genomics
4 12 (3.77%) Cloud Native
5 10 (3.14%) Onboarding
5 10 (3.14%) Product Ownership
6 8 (2.52%) Operational Technology
7 7 (2.20%) LIMS
8 6 (1.89%) Data Structures
8 6 (1.89%) Enterprise Software
8 6 (1.89%) Legacy Systems
8 6 (1.89%) NHS
9 5 (1.57%) Greenfield Project
9 5 (1.57%) SCADA
9 5 (1.57%) Self-Motivation
10 4 (1.26%) AI Agents
10 4 (1.26%) Data Protection Act
10 4 (1.26%) Management Information System
11 3 (0.94%) Biopharmaceutical
11 3 (0.94%) Robotics
Operating Systems
1 12 (3.77%) Windows
2 3 (0.94%) Mac OS
2 3 (0.94%) Windows 10
3 2 (0.63%) Apple iOS
4 1 (0.31%) Linux
4 1 (0.31%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 58 (18.24%) AI
2 51 (16.04%) Stakeholder Management
3 45 (14.15%) ERP
4 44 (13.84%) Agile
5 42 (13.21%) Machine Learning
6 38 (11.95%) Validation
7 34 (10.69%) Biotechnology
8 33 (10.38%) Migration
9 32 (10.06%) Analytics
9 32 (10.06%) Continuous Improvement
10 31 (9.75%) DevOps
10 31 (9.75%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 27 (8.49%) Data Science
11 27 (8.49%) Problem-Solving
11 27 (8.49%) Roadmaps
12 21 (6.60%) Decision-Making
12 21 (6.60%) Test Automation
13 20 (6.29%) Data Analysis
13 20 (6.29%) User Experience
13 20 (6.29%) Workshop Facilitation
Programming Languages
1 61 (19.18%) Python
2 26 (8.18%) SQL
3 11 (3.46%) R
4 8 (2.52%) TypeScript
5 6 (1.89%) JavaScript
6 3 (0.94%) ABAP
6 3 (0.94%) Java
7 2 (0.63%) Bash
8 1 (0.31%) C
8 1 (0.31%) C++
8 1 (0.31%) Ladder Logic
8 1 (0.31%) PHP
8 1 (0.31%) PL/SQL
8 1 (0.31%) SHACL
Qualifications
1 48 (15.09%) Degree
2 10 (3.14%) Master's Degree
3 9 (2.83%) A+ Certification
3 9 (2.83%) ACCA
3 9 (2.83%) CIMA
4 7 (2.20%) PMI Certification
4 7 (2.20%) PMP
4 7 (2.20%) Security Cleared
5 6 (1.89%) SC Cleared
6 4 (1.26%) BPSS Clearance
7 3 (0.94%) HND
8 2 (0.63%) CISSP
8 2 (0.63%) CompTIA Security+
8 2 (0.63%) HNC
8 2 (0.63%) Microsoft Certification
9 1 (0.31%) Computer Science Degree
9 1 (0.31%) ECDL
9 1 (0.31%) OCP
9 1 (0.31%) Oracle Certification
9 1 (0.31%) SAP Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (7.86%) GxP
2 16 (5.03%) GMP
3 12 (3.77%) QA
4 10 (3.14%) Data Quality
5 7 (2.20%) GDPR
6 4 (1.26%) Accessibility
6 4 (1.26%) PMO
6 4 (1.26%) Sarbanes-Oxley
7 3 (0.94%) 21 CFR Part 11
8 2 (0.63%) GAMP
8 2 (0.63%) ISO 13485
8 2 (0.63%) SLA
9 1 (0.31%) GRC
9 1 (0.31%) IEC 62304
9 1 (0.31%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 1 (0.31%) ITGC
9 1 (0.31%) MiFID
9 1 (0.31%) NIST
9 1 (0.31%) NIST 800
9 1 (0.31%) SNOMED CT
System Software
1 19 (5.97%) Docker
2 2 (0.63%) GPFS
2 2 (0.63%) Lustre
2 2 (0.63%) Slurm Workload Manager
3 1 (0.31%) VMware Infrastructure
3 1 (0.31%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 11 (3.46%) Kubernetes
2 6 (1.89%) Terraform
3 2 (0.63%) Ansible
3 2 (0.63%) Puppet
3 2 (0.63%) Salt
3 2 (0.63%) SCCM
4 1 (0.31%) Cisco UCCE
4 1 (0.31%) Cisco UCCX
4 1 (0.31%) FortiGate
4 1 (0.31%) HP ALM
4 1 (0.31%) Microsoft Intune
4 1 (0.31%) Oracle RMAN
4 1 (0.31%) RSA Archer
Vendors
1 104 (32.70%) SAP
2 40 (12.58%) Microsoft
3 20 (6.29%) Google
4 8 (2.52%) Oracle
5 7 (2.20%) SOTI
6 6 (1.89%) Ariba
6 6 (1.89%) Salesforce
7 5 (1.57%) Databricks
7 5 (1.57%) LabWare
8 4 (1.26%) Cisco
8 4 (1.26%) Palo Alto
8 4 (1.26%) ServiceNow
9 3 (0.94%) Cerner
9 3 (0.94%) HP
9 3 (0.94%) IBM
9 3 (0.94%) Siemens
9 3 (0.94%) Zscaler
10 2 (0.63%) IFS
10 2 (0.63%) Rockwell
10 2 (0.63%) VMware