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

6 months to
23 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 314 213 212
Rank change year-on-year -101 -1 +122
Contract jobs citing Pharmaceutical 326 356 495
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.74% 1.20% 1.12%
As % of the General category 1.31% 1.92% 1.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 214 229 317
10th Percentile £350 £357 £400
25th Percentile £389 £475 £468
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £513 £550 £525
Median % change year-on-year -6.82% +4.76% +5.00%
75th Percentile £600 £675 £600
90th Percentile £725 £820 £725
UK excluding London median daily rate £507 £525 £510
% change year-on-year -3.52% +2.94% +13.33%
Number of hourly rates quoted 13 21 39
10th Percentile £16.47 £15.00 £17.72
25th Percentile £49.25 £20.00 £20.50
Median hourly rate £70.00 £32.50 £28.50
Median % change year-on-year +115.38% +14.04% -5.00%
75th Percentile £97.50 £33.75 £51.88
90th Percentile - £97.50 £60.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £49.50 £32.50 £28.50
% change year-on-year +52.31% +14.04% +137.50%

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 24,840 18,584 25,815
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 56.76% 62.88% 58.30%
Number of daily rates quoted 15,516 11,838 16,460
10th Percentile £300 £296 £265
25th Percentile £405 £406 £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 £475 £495
% change year-on-year - -4.04% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,534 681 1,816
10th Percentile £13.72 £15.00 £12.78
25th Percentile £17.01 £20.00 £15.23
Median hourly rate £25.00 £30.00 £25.90
Median % change year-on-year -16.67% +15.85% -26.01%
75th Percentile £57.50 £58.75 £50.00
90th Percentile £76.75 £75.25 £65.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.58 £27.97 £24.87
% change year-on-year -15.71% +12.46% -19.12%

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 23 March 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 23 March 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Pharmaceutical in the UK

Pharmaceutical
Top 12 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 23 March 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 -142 236 £516 -6.14% 229
Work from Home -11 139 £500 -9.09% 100
London -9 114 £540 -22.86% 90
UK excluding London -149 94 £507 -3.52% 165
East of England -39 42 £500 -9.09% 18
South East -41 24 £475 +123.53% 52
North of England -124 19 £558 +1.36% 54
North West -77 16 £558 +1.36% 40
South West - 6 £700 - 9
Scotland +5 3 £550 +49.66% 4
North East -19 2 - - 3
Yorkshire -64 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 5 (1.53%) Confluence
1 5 (1.53%) SharePoint
2 4 (1.23%) Apache Airflow
3 3 (0.92%) Apache Spark
4 2 (0.61%) Mendix
4 2 (0.61%) WinCC
5 1 (0.31%) Adobe Experience Manager
5 1 (0.31%) Anypoint
5 1 (0.31%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 26 (7.98%) Microsoft Office
2 12 (3.68%) Microsoft Excel
3 7 (2.15%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (1.53%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.61%) MS Visio
5 2 (0.61%) Weka
Business Applications
1 75 (23.01%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (3.07%) SAP EWM
3 7 (2.15%) SAP MM
3 7 (2.15%) SAP PM
4 6 (1.84%) SAP PP
4 6 (1.84%) SAP QM
4 6 (1.84%) SAP WM
5 4 (1.23%) SAP MDG
5 4 (1.23%) SAP SD
6 2 (0.61%) Dynamics CRM
6 2 (0.61%) Oracle EBS
6 2 (0.61%) Sage X3
6 2 (0.61%) SAP ERP
6 2 (0.61%) SAP SCM
6 2 (0.61%) TrackWise
7 1 (0.31%) NetSuite
7 1 (0.31%) SAP EHS
7 1 (0.31%) SAP FI/CO
7 1 (0.31%) SAP MDM
7 1 (0.31%) SAP Oil and Gas
Cloud Services
1 40 (12.27%) AWS
2 31 (9.51%) Azure
3 20 (6.13%) GCP
4 15 (4.60%) Power Platform
5 14 (4.29%) Microsoft 365
6 11 (3.37%) SaaS
7 10 (3.07%) GitHub
8 9 (2.76%) Snowflake
9 7 (2.15%) Cloud Run
9 7 (2.15%) dbt
10 4 (1.23%) Figma
10 4 (1.23%) Veeva
11 3 (0.92%) Amazon EKS
11 3 (0.92%) Amazon SageMaker
11 3 (0.92%) Azure AKS
11 3 (0.92%) Azure DevOps
11 3 (0.92%) Dynamics 365
11 3 (0.92%) Google Workspace
12 2 (0.61%) Amazon S3
12 2 (0.61%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 5 (1.53%) Firewall
1 5 (1.53%) Network Security
2 4 (1.23%) Wireless
3 3 (0.92%) Ethernet
3 3 (0.92%) Modbus
3 3 (0.92%) RS-485
4 2 (0.61%) BGP
4 2 (0.61%) OSPF
5 1 (0.31%) AMQP
5 1 (0.31%) Cisco ICM
5 1 (0.31%) HTTP
5 1 (0.31%) Junos
5 1 (0.31%) RFID
5 1 (0.31%) SD-WAN
5 1 (0.31%) TCP/IP
5 1 (0.31%) Telepresence
5 1 (0.31%) VLAN
5 1 (0.31%) VPN
5 1 (0.31%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (4.60%) Power BI
2 9 (2.76%) Data Lake
3 7 (2.15%) Data Warehouse
4 5 (1.53%) Tableau
5 4 (1.23%) BigQuery
5 4 (1.23%) Metadata
6 3 (0.92%) Electronic Patient Records
7 2 (0.61%) Oracle Database
7 2 (0.61%) SAP Data Services
7 2 (0.61%) SAP HANA
7 2 (0.61%) SQL Server
7 2 (0.61%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 1 (0.31%) Azure SQL Database
8 1 (0.31%) Hadoop
8 1 (0.31%) NoSQL
8 1 (0.31%) Oracle Reports
8 1 (0.31%) PostgreSQL
8 1 (0.31%) QlikView
8 1 (0.31%) Snowflake Schema
8 1 (0.31%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 17 (5.21%) Git
2 14 (4.29%) JIRA
3 3 (0.92%) Cypress.io
3 3 (0.92%) MLflow
4 2 (0.61%) GitLab
4 2 (0.61%) Jenkins
4 2 (0.61%) LSMW
4 2 (0.61%) Selenium
5 1 (0.31%) ER Studio
5 1 (0.31%) Hudson
5 1 (0.31%) Oracle APEX
5 1 (0.31%) Oracle Forms
General
1 75 (23.01%) Social Skills
2 65 (19.94%) Manufacturing
3 64 (19.63%) Finance
4 34 (10.43%) Analytical Skills
5 10 (3.07%) Documentation Skills
5 10 (3.07%) Marketing
6 9 (2.76%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 9 (2.76%) Influencing Skills
7 7 (2.15%) Retail
8 6 (1.84%) Advertising
8 6 (1.84%) Organisational Skills
8 6 (1.84%) Presentation Skills
8 6 (1.84%) Public Sector
9 5 (1.53%) Aerospace
10 4 (1.23%) Health Technology
10 4 (1.23%) Public Speaking
10 4 (1.23%) Wearables
11 3 (0.92%) Legal
12 2 (0.61%) Banking
12 2 (0.61%) Billing
Job Titles
1 36 (11.04%) Lead
2 25 (7.67%) Senior
3 23 (7.06%) Project Manager
4 21 (6.44%) Analyst
4 21 (6.44%) Consultant
5 17 (5.21%) Developer
6 14 (4.29%) SAP Consultant
7 13 (3.99%) Data Engineer
8 12 (3.68%) Architect
8 12 (3.68%) Business Analyst
9 11 (3.37%) Data Scientist
9 11 (3.37%) Python Developer
10 10 (3.07%) Artificial Intelligence Engineer
10 10 (3.07%) Designer
11 8 (2.45%) Accountant
11 8 (2.45%) IT Manager
11 8 (2.45%) Product Owner
11 8 (2.45%) Quality Manager
11 8 (2.45%) Systems Accountant
12 7 (2.15%) Support Technician
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (3.37%) pytest
2 10 (3.07%) FastAPI
3 6 (1.84%) LangGraph
3 6 (1.84%) Playwright
4 5 (1.53%) IDoc
5 4 (1.23%) EDI
5 4 (1.23%) PyTorch
5 4 (1.23%) React
5 4 (1.23%) SAP Fiori
6 3 (0.92%) Ray
6 3 (0.92%) REST
6 3 (0.92%) TensorFlow
7 2 (0.61%) BAPI
7 2 (0.61%) Google JAX
7 2 (0.61%) JAX
7 2 (0.61%) JSON
7 2 (0.61%) Pandas
7 2 (0.61%) SAP ALE
7 2 (0.61%) SAP Core Interface
7 2 (0.61%) Seaborn
Miscellaneous
1 64 (19.63%) Life Science
2 15 (4.60%) FMCG
2 15 (4.60%) Product Ownership
3 12 (3.68%) Data Structures
4 9 (2.76%) Cloud Native
4 9 (2.76%) LIMS
5 8 (2.45%) Genomics
5 8 (2.45%) Onboarding
5 8 (2.45%) Self-Motivation
6 7 (2.15%) Operational Technology
7 6 (1.84%) CRISPR
7 6 (1.84%) Data Protection Act
7 6 (1.84%) Enterprise Software
7 6 (1.84%) Legacy Systems
7 6 (1.84%) NHS
8 5 (1.53%) Greenfield Project
8 5 (1.53%) SCADA
9 4 (1.23%) Management Information System
10 3 (0.92%) Biopharmaceutical
10 3 (0.92%) Robotics
Operating Systems
1 10 (3.07%) Windows
2 3 (0.92%) Windows 10
3 2 (0.61%) Mac OS
4 1 (0.31%) Apple iOS
4 1 (0.31%) Linux
4 1 (0.31%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 54 (16.56%) AI
2 47 (14.42%) Validation
3 46 (14.11%) Agile
4 44 (13.50%) ERP
4 44 (13.50%) Stakeholder Management
5 36 (11.04%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 34 (10.43%) Biotechnology
6 34 (10.43%) Machine Learning
7 32 (9.82%) Migration
8 29 (8.90%) Problem-Solving
9 28 (8.59%) DevOps
10 27 (8.28%) Analytics
11 26 (7.98%) Continuous Improvement
12 25 (7.67%) Data Science
12 25 (7.67%) Project Management
12 25 (7.67%) Workshop Facilitation
13 22 (6.75%) Roadmaps
14 21 (6.44%) Data Governance
14 21 (6.44%) Data Migration
15 20 (6.13%) Data Pipeline
Programming Languages
1 58 (17.79%) Python
2 27 (8.28%) SQL
3 12 (3.68%) R
4 5 (1.53%) JavaScript
5 4 (1.23%) ABAP
6 3 (0.92%) Java
6 3 (0.92%) TypeScript
7 2 (0.61%) Bash
8 1 (0.31%) C
8 1 (0.31%) C++
8 1 (0.31%) DataWeave
8 1 (0.31%) Ladder Logic
8 1 (0.31%) PL/SQL
8 1 (0.31%) SHACL
Qualifications
1 43 (13.19%) Degree
2 9 (2.76%) A+ Certification
2 9 (2.76%) ACCA
2 9 (2.76%) CIMA
3 8 (2.45%) Master's Degree
4 6 (1.84%) PMI Certification
4 6 (1.84%) PMP
5 4 (1.23%) Security Cleared
6 3 (0.92%) BPSS Clearance
6 3 (0.92%) HND
7 2 (0.61%) CISSP
7 2 (0.61%) CompTIA Security+
7 2 (0.61%) HNC
7 2 (0.61%) Microsoft Certification
7 2 (0.61%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
7 2 (0.61%) SC Cleared
8 1 (0.31%) Computer Science Degree
8 1 (0.31%) DBS Check
8 1 (0.31%) ISTQB
8 1 (0.31%) ISTQB Advanced Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (8.59%) GxP
2 16 (4.91%) QA
3 15 (4.60%) GMP
4 9 (2.76%) Data Quality
5 7 (2.15%) GDPR
6 5 (1.53%) PMO
7 4 (1.23%) 21 CFR Part 11
7 4 (1.23%) Accessibility
8 3 (0.92%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 3 (0.92%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 2 (0.61%) GAMP
9 2 (0.61%) GRC
10 1 (0.31%) HIPAA
10 1 (0.31%) HL7
10 1 (0.31%) ISO 13485
10 1 (0.31%) ITGC
10 1 (0.31%) MiFID
10 1 (0.31%) NIST 800
10 1 (0.31%) SLA
10 1 (0.31%) SNOMED CT
System Software
1 13 (3.99%) Docker
2 2 (0.61%) GPFS
2 2 (0.61%) Lustre
2 2 (0.61%) Slurm Workload Manager
3 1 (0.31%) VMware Infrastructure
3 1 (0.31%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 6 (1.84%) Kubernetes
2 5 (1.53%) Terraform
3 2 (0.61%) Ansible
3 2 (0.61%) Puppet
3 2 (0.61%) Salt
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%) Oracle RMAN
4 1 (0.31%) RSA Archer
4 1 (0.31%) SCCM
Vendors
1 100 (30.67%) SAP
2 40 (12.27%) Microsoft
3 16 (4.91%) Google
4 10 (3.07%) Oracle
5 7 (2.15%) Salesforce
5 7 (2.15%) SOTI
6 6 (1.84%) Ariba
7 5 (1.53%) Databricks
7 5 (1.53%) LabWare
8 4 (1.23%) Cisco
8 4 (1.23%) ServiceNow
9 3 (0.92%) Cerner
9 3 (0.92%) Foundry
9 3 (0.92%) HP
9 3 (0.92%) IBM
9 3 (0.92%) MuleSoft
9 3 (0.92%) Palantir
10 2 (0.61%) IFS
10 2 (0.61%) Palo Alto
10 2 (0.61%) Rockwell