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

6 months to
14 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 293 255 239
Rank change year-on-year -38 -16 +141
Contract jobs citing Pharmaceutical 325 297 426
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.88% 0.94% 1.00%
As % of the General category 1.46% 1.53% 1.70%
Number of daily rates quoted 213 158 291
10th Percentile £353 £348 £300
25th Percentile £463 £433 £454
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £546 £525
Median % change year-on-year +0.69% +4.05% +4.48%
75th Percentile £668 £638 £588
90th Percentile £785 £700 £675
UK excluding London median daily rate £534 £525 £525
% change year-on-year +1.71% - +16.67%
Number of hourly rates quoted 10 24 21
10th Percentile £18.87 £19.00 £17.25
25th Percentile £55.06 £24.18 £17.72
Median hourly rate £85.00 £32.50 £25.50
Median % change year-on-year +161.54% +27.45% +56.92%
75th Percentile £97.50 £35.00 £60.00
90th Percentile - £84.83 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £34.19 £32.50 £20.00
% change year-on-year +5.18% +62.50% +33.33%

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 22,246 19,452 25,094
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 60.17% 61.54% 59.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,985 11,584 16,474
10th Percentile £284 £281 £270
25th Percentile £401 £410 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £540
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -2.78% -1.82%
75th Percentile £625 £650 £650
90th Percentile £730 £763 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £481 £500
% change year-on-year -1.14% -3.90% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,361 647 1,176
10th Percentile £13.80 £15.48 £14.00
25th Percentile £16.48 £19.59 £16.23
Median hourly rate £23.00 £27.35 £30.24
Median % change year-on-year -15.90% -9.55% +20.95%
75th Percentile £46.00 £53.75 £57.50
90th Percentile £70.00 £73.64 £70.04
UK excluding London median hourly rate £21.38 £26.06 £29.33
% change year-on-year -17.96% -11.13% +30.59%

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 January 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 January 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 14 January 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 -55 246 £528 -4.09% 346
Work from Home +20 121 £525 -4.55% 150
London +25 111 £575 -4.17% 52
UK excluding London -101 103 £534 +1.71% 334
East of England -29 41 £500 -4.76% 52
North of England -96 30 £558 +4.21% 65
North West -58 27 £575 +5.50% 26
South East -9 24 £565 +165.76% 102
South West - 4 £700 - 50
Scotland -2 3 £550 +54.93% 8
East Midlands -24 2 £525 -12.50% 28
Midlands -42 2 £525 -12.50% 38
Yorkshire -52 2 £325 -5.25% 30
Wales -3 1 £183 - 18
North East -15 1 - - 11

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 (2.46%) Confluence
2 7 (2.15%) Apache Airflow
3 5 (1.54%) Apache Spark
4 3 (0.92%) CMS
4 3 (0.92%) SharePoint
5 1 (0.31%) Headless CMS
5 1 (0.31%) Mendix
Applications
1 13 (4.00%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (1.54%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.92%) MS Visio
4 2 (0.62%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.62%) Microsoft Project
4 2 (0.62%) Spreadsheet
4 2 (0.62%) Weka
5 1 (0.31%) Adobe After Effects
5 1 (0.31%) Adobe Illustrator
5 1 (0.31%) InDesign
5 1 (0.31%) Photoshop
Business Applications
1 83 (25.54%) SAP S/4HANA
2 8 (2.46%) SAP QM
3 7 (2.15%) SAP CO
3 7 (2.15%) SAP MM
4 6 (1.85%) SAP EWM
4 6 (1.85%) SAP FI
4 6 (1.85%) SAP FI/CO
5 5 (1.54%) SAP MDG
5 5 (1.54%) SAP PP
6 4 (1.23%) SAP WM
7 3 (0.92%) Dynamics CRM
7 3 (0.92%) SAP ERP
7 3 (0.92%) SAP IBP
7 3 (0.92%) SAP PM
7 3 (0.92%) SAP SD
8 2 (0.62%) PRMS
8 2 (0.62%) SAP PLM
8 2 (0.62%) SAP SCM
9 1 (0.31%) Cerner Millennium
9 1 (0.31%) Oracle ERP
Cloud Services
1 43 (13.23%) AWS
2 39 (12.00%) Azure
3 28 (8.62%) Power Platform
4 27 (8.31%) GCP
5 18 (5.54%) GitHub
6 14 (4.31%) Microsoft 365
6 14 (4.31%) Snowflake
7 12 (3.69%) Cloud Run
8 6 (1.85%) GitHub Actions
8 6 (1.85%) Google Kubernetes Engine
9 5 (1.54%) Azure Synapse Analytics
10 4 (1.23%) Amazon S3
10 4 (1.23%) Azure Data Factory
10 4 (1.23%) dbt
10 4 (1.23%) Figma
10 4 (1.23%) IaaS
10 4 (1.23%) SaaS
10 4 (1.23%) Veeva
11 3 (0.92%) Amazon EC2
11 3 (0.92%) Lucidchart
Communications & Networking
1 8 (2.46%) Network Security
2 4 (1.23%) Firewall
2 4 (1.23%) Wireless
3 3 (0.92%) Ethernet
3 3 (0.92%) Modbus
3 3 (0.92%) RS-485
4 2 (0.62%) BGP
4 2 (0.62%) OSPF
5 1 (0.31%) Cisco ICM
5 1 (0.31%) DHCP
5 1 (0.31%) DNS
5 1 (0.31%) RFID
5 1 (0.31%) SD-WAN
5 1 (0.31%) SMS
5 1 (0.31%) TCP/IP
5 1 (0.31%) Telepresence
5 1 (0.31%) VPN
5 1 (0.31%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 28 (8.62%) Power BI
2 17 (5.23%) Data Lake
3 11 (3.38%) Data Warehouse
4 8 (2.46%) SAP HANA
5 6 (1.85%) Electronic Patient Records
6 5 (1.54%) BigQuery
7 4 (1.23%) Metadata
7 4 (1.23%) Tableau
8 3 (0.92%) Azure SQL Database
8 3 (0.92%) NoSQL
9 2 (0.62%) Ataccama
9 2 (0.62%) MongoDB
9 2 (0.62%) Neo4j
9 2 (0.62%) SAP Data Services
10 1 (0.31%) Amazon RDS
10 1 (0.31%) Amazon Redshift
10 1 (0.31%) Big Data
10 1 (0.31%) KNIME
10 1 (0.31%) Power Query
10 1 (0.31%) Qlik Sense
Development Applications
1 19 (5.85%) Git
2 17 (5.23%) JIRA
3 5 (1.54%) Jenkins
4 3 (0.92%) Cypress.io
5 2 (0.62%) CircleCI
5 2 (0.62%) GitLab
5 2 (0.62%) LSMW
5 2 (0.62%) Selenium
6 1 (0.31%) PHPUnit
6 1 (0.31%) SoapUI
6 1 (0.31%) Zephyr
General
1 83 (25.54%) Social Skills
2 71 (21.85%) Manufacturing
3 57 (17.54%) Finance
4 22 (6.77%) Analytical Skills
5 13 (4.00%) Influencing Skills
6 12 (3.69%) Marketing
7 11 (3.38%) Aerospace
8 10 (3.08%) Documentation Skills
9 7 (2.15%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 5 (1.54%) Public Sector
11 4 (1.23%) Health Technology
12 3 (0.92%) Digital Health
12 3 (0.92%) Organisational Skills
12 3 (0.92%) Presentation Skills
12 3 (0.92%) Retail
12 3 (0.92%) Wearables
13 2 (0.62%) Banking
13 2 (0.62%) Digital Healthcare
13 2 (0.62%) Legal
14 1 (0.31%) Publishing
Job Titles
1 37 (11.38%) Lead
2 31 (9.54%) Consultant
3 26 (8.00%) Analyst
4 24 (7.38%) SAP Consultant
5 20 (6.15%) Architect
5 20 (6.15%) Developer
5 20 (6.15%) Project Manager
6 17 (5.23%) Senior
7 15 (4.62%) Python Developer
8 13 (4.00%) Data Engineer
9 12 (3.69%) IT Manager
10 11 (3.38%) Data Scientist
10 11 (3.38%) Full-Stack Developer
11 10 (3.08%) Business Analyst
11 10 (3.08%) Designer
11 10 (3.08%) Full-Stack Python Developer
11 10 (3.08%) SAP Manager
11 10 (3.08%) Software Engineer
12 9 (2.77%) Data Analytics Specialist
12 9 (2.77%) Quality Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 18 (5.54%) FastAPI
1 18 (5.54%) pytest
2 15 (4.62%) React
3 13 (4.00%) SAP Fiori
4 11 (3.38%) LangGraph
5 6 (1.85%) Playwright
6 3 (0.92%) EDI
6 3 (0.92%) MACH
6 3 (0.92%) pydantic
7 2 (0.62%) FHIR
7 2 (0.62%) IDoc
7 2 (0.62%) Jest
7 2 (0.62%) Next.js
7 2 (0.62%) RESTful
7 2 (0.62%) SailPoint
7 2 (0.62%) SAP PI
7 2 (0.62%) SOAP
8 1 (0.31%) AngularJS
8 1 (0.31%) Flask
8 1 (0.31%) Kafka
Miscellaneous
1 61 (18.77%) Life Science
2 21 (6.46%) Genomics
3 17 (5.23%) Cloud Native
4 13 (4.00%) FMCG
5 11 (3.38%) Onboarding
6 9 (2.77%) NHS
6 9 (2.77%) Product Ownership
7 8 (2.46%) Operational Technology
8 7 (2.15%) Data Structures
9 6 (1.85%) Hybrid Cloud
9 6 (1.85%) Legacy Systems
10 5 (1.54%) AI Agents
10 5 (1.54%) Greenfield Project
10 5 (1.54%) LIMS
11 4 (1.23%) Data Protection Act
11 4 (1.23%) Enterprise Software
11 4 (1.23%) Management Information System
11 4 (1.23%) Mobile App
11 4 (1.23%) SCADA
11 4 (1.23%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 14 (4.31%) Windows
2 6 (1.85%) Apple iOS
3 4 (1.23%) Linux
3 4 (1.23%) Mac OS
3 4 (1.23%) Windows 10
4 3 (0.92%) Android
Processes & Methodologies
1 58 (17.85%) AI
2 57 (17.54%) Stakeholder Management
3 52 (16.00%) Agile
4 48 (14.77%) Analytics
5 43 (13.23%) ERP
6 41 (12.62%) Machine Learning
7 40 (12.31%) Continuous Improvement
8 35 (10.77%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 34 (10.46%) DevOps
9 34 (10.46%) Validation
10 33 (10.15%) Migration
10 33 (10.15%) Problem-Solving
11 28 (8.62%) Biotechnology
12 27 (8.31%) Project Management
13 26 (8.00%) Decision-Making
14 24 (7.38%) Change Management
14 24 (7.38%) Data Science
15 23 (7.08%) Roadmaps
15 23 (7.08%) Test Automation
16 22 (6.77%) Data Governance
Programming Languages
1 65 (20.00%) Python
2 28 (8.62%) SQL
3 16 (4.92%) TypeScript
4 13 (4.00%) R
5 10 (3.08%) Java
6 7 (2.15%) JavaScript
7 3 (0.92%) ABAP
8 2 (0.62%) Bash
8 2 (0.62%) Ruby
9 1 (0.31%) Ladder Logic
9 1 (0.31%) MATLAB
9 1 (0.31%) PHP
9 1 (0.31%) Scala
9 1 (0.31%) SHACL
Qualifications
1 53 (16.31%) Degree
2 15 (4.62%) Master's Degree
3 12 (3.69%) ACCA
3 12 (3.69%) CIMA
4 11 (3.38%) PMI Certification
4 11 (3.38%) PMP
5 9 (2.77%) A+ Certification
5 9 (2.77%) Security Cleared
6 6 (1.85%) SC Cleared
7 4 (1.23%) BPSS Clearance
8 3 (0.92%) CCNP
8 3 (0.92%) CCSA
8 3 (0.92%) Cisco Certification
8 3 (0.92%) Computer Science Degree
8 3 (0.92%) Six Sigma Green Belt
9 2 (0.62%) CISA
9 2 (0.62%) CISM
9 2 (0.62%) CISSP
9 2 (0.62%) CompTIA Security+
10 1 (0.31%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 32 (9.85%) GxP
2 16 (4.92%) GMP
3 15 (4.62%) QA
4 11 (3.38%) Data Quality
4 11 (3.38%) GDPR
5 7 (2.15%) Sarbanes-Oxley
6 4 (1.23%) Accessibility
6 4 (1.23%) PMO
7 3 (0.92%) 21 CFR Part 11
7 3 (0.92%) SLA
8 2 (0.62%) HIPAA
8 2 (0.62%) HL7
8 2 (0.62%) IFRS
8 2 (0.62%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 1 (0.31%) APQC
9 1 (0.31%) GRC
9 1 (0.31%) IEC 62304
9 1 (0.31%) ISO 13485
9 1 (0.31%) MiFID
9 1 (0.31%) SNOMED CT
System Software
1 28 (8.62%) Docker
2 5 (1.54%) Slurm Workload Manager
3 3 (0.92%) Lustre
4 2 (0.62%) GPFS
5 1 (0.31%) Active Directory
5 1 (0.31%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 21 (6.46%) Kubernetes
2 9 (2.77%) Terraform
3 5 (1.54%) Ansible
4 3 (0.92%) Packer
4 3 (0.92%) SCCM
5 2 (0.62%) HP ALM
5 2 (0.62%) Microsoft Intune
5 2 (0.62%) Puppet
5 2 (0.62%) Salt
6 1 (0.31%) Cisco UCCE
6 1 (0.31%) Cisco UCCX
6 1 (0.31%) NetBackup
6 1 (0.31%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
6 1 (0.31%) TeamSite
Vendors
1 115 (35.38%) SAP
2 35 (10.77%) Microsoft
3 22 (6.77%) Google
4 12 (3.69%) Ariba
5 7 (2.15%) SOTI
6 6 (1.85%) Palo Alto
6 6 (1.85%) Salesforce
6 6 (1.85%) ServiceNow
7 5 (1.54%) Zscaler
8 4 (1.23%) Cisco
8 4 (1.23%) HP
8 4 (1.23%) Oracle
9 3 (0.92%) Cerner
9 3 (0.92%) Databricks
9 3 (0.92%) IBM
9 3 (0.92%) LabWare
9 3 (0.92%) MEDITECH
10 2 (0.62%) CyberArk
10 2 (0.62%) Meraki
10 2 (0.62%) Rockwell