PKI Contract Job Trends

Public-Key Infrastructure (PKI)
UK

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term PKI in contract job vacancies. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited PKI over the 6 months leading up to 20 September 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
20 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 353 346 287
Rank change year-on-year -7 -59 -20
Contract jobs citing PKI 360 220 304
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.66% 0.67% 0.79%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.94% 1.87% 2.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 256 176 205
10th Percentile £423 £350 £395
25th Percentile £463 £463 £460
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £545
Median % change year-on-year - +0.92% -5.22%
75th Percentile £638 £625 £608
90th Percentile £700 £697 £671
UK excluding London median daily rate £550 £540 £543
% change year-on-year +1.85% -0.46% -5.65%
Number of hourly rates quoted 10 0 4
10th Percentile £94.90 - -
25th Percentile £96.00 - -
Median hourly rate £97.41 - £23.80
75th Percentile £98.82 - £27.91
90th Percentile £100.00 - £35.32
UK excluding London median hourly rate £97.41 - £38.50
% change year-on-year - - -30.00%

All Generic Skills
UK

PKI falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring generic IT skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills 18,529 11,757 11,731
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 33.94% 35.73% 30.45%
Number of daily rates quoted 11,112 7,198 7,156
10th Percentile £320 £296 £294
25th Percentile £425 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £515 £540
Median % change year-on-year +1.94% -4.63% -1.82%
75th Percentile £638 £638 £674
90th Percentile £750 £750 £807
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,198 587 473
10th Percentile £14.03 £15.08 £14.62
25th Percentile £18.00 £18.87 £21.25
Median hourly rate £38.25 £30.00 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year +27.50% -40.00% +12.36%
75th Percentile £67.89 £55.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £82.28 £73.75 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.00 £30.00 £57.35
% change year-on-year +33.33% -47.69% +18.58%

PKI
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing PKI relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

PKI job vacancy trend in the UK

PKI
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing PKI.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing PKI

PKI
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing PKI over the 6 months to 20 September 2026.

Daily rate histogram for PKI in the UK

PKI
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing PKI.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing PKI

PKI
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing PKI over the 6 months to 20 September 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for PKI in the UK

PKI
Top 16 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing PKI within the UK over the 6 months to 20 September 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 -47 295 £570 +3.64% 246
UK excluding London -19 243 £550 +1.85% 147
London -61 89 £525 -10.26% 111
Work from Home -41 88 £570 +3.64% 101
South East -14 83 £575 - 42
North of England -12 68 £525 +6.71% 30
Scotland +10 38 £481 -12.55% 11
North West -24 36 £525 +6.71% 18
South West -45 36 £648 +17.73% 35
Yorkshire -16 30 £568 -5.42% 10
Midlands -71 8 £475 +30.14% 16
East of England -23 7 £500 -4.76% 8
West Midlands -68 7 £475 +30.14% 14
Wales - 6 £463 - 2
North East - 2 £426 - 2
East Midlands -18 1 £475 - 2

PKI
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 18 (5.00%) Microsoft Exchange
2 15 (4.17%) Confluence
3 10 (2.78%) SharePoint
4 6 (1.67%) IIS
5 3 (0.83%) Apache
5 3 (0.83%) Exchange Server 2010
6 2 (0.56%) nginx
6 2 (0.56%) Tomcat
6 2 (0.56%) WebSphere
7 1 (0.28%) Traefik
Applications
1 4 (1.11%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 9 (2.50%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.28%) Dynamics GP
Cloud Services
1 121 (33.61%) Azure
2 89 (24.72%) AWS
3 76 (21.11%) Entra ID
4 40 (11.11%) GCP
5 15 (4.17%) Microsoft 365
5 15 (4.17%) Power Platform
6 14 (3.89%) Azure Key Vault
7 11 (3.06%) OpenShift
8 10 (2.78%) GitHub
8 10 (2.78%) IaaS
9 9 (2.50%) PaaS
9 9 (2.50%) SaaS
10 7 (1.94%) AWS KMS
10 7 (1.94%) Azure DevOps
11 6 (1.67%) Amazon EKS
11 6 (1.67%) GitHub Actions
11 6 (1.67%) Google Kubernetes Engine
11 6 (1.67%) OCI
12 5 (1.39%) Azure Monitor
13 4 (1.11%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 107 (29.72%) DNS
2 78 (21.67%) DHCP
3 77 (21.39%) Firewall
4 40 (11.11%) VPN
5 34 (9.44%) TCP/IP
6 29 (8.06%) SSL
7 27 (7.50%) Network Security
8 18 (5.00%) LAN
9 17 (4.72%) VLAN
9 17 (4.72%) WAN
10 15 (4.17%) BGP
10 15 (4.17%) IPsec
10 15 (4.17%) VSAN
10 15 (4.17%) Wireless
11 14 (3.89%) SSH
12 13 (3.61%) Cisco ASA
12 13 (3.61%) Cisco Firepower
12 13 (3.61%) OSPF
12 13 (3.61%) SAN
12 13 (3.61%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 28 (7.78%) SQL Server
2 11 (3.06%) Power BI
3 8 (2.22%) MySQL
3 8 (2.22%) PostgreSQL
4 7 (1.94%) MongoDB
5 6 (1.67%) Elasticsearch
5 6 (1.67%) Relational Database
6 5 (1.39%) Amazon RDS
7 4 (1.11%) Db2
7 4 (1.11%) Metadata
8 3 (0.83%) Big Data
8 3 (0.83%) NoSQL
9 2 (0.56%) RDBMS
10 1 (0.28%) DynamoDB
10 1 (0.28%) MariaDB
10 1 (0.28%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 18 (5.00%) JIRA
2 16 (4.44%) Git
2 16 (4.44%) GitLab
3 12 (3.33%) Jenkins
4 3 (0.83%) Sonatype Nexus
4 3 (0.83%) Terragrunt
5 2 (0.56%) Burp Suite
5 2 (0.56%) Cucumber
5 2 (0.56%) Gatling
5 2 (0.56%) Gradle
5 2 (0.56%) LoadRunner
5 2 (0.56%) MSI
5 2 (0.56%) REST Assured
5 2 (0.56%) SonarQube
6 1 (0.28%) Robot Framework
General
1 82 (22.78%) Social Skills
2 46 (12.78%) Finance
3 37 (10.28%) Analytical Skills
4 28 (7.78%) Public Sector
5 20 (5.56%) Documentation Skills
6 17 (4.72%) Banking
7 7 (1.94%) Military
8 6 (1.67%) Legal
9 5 (1.39%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 5 (1.39%) Influencing Skills
9 5 (1.39%) Police
9 5 (1.39%) Retail
10 4 (1.11%) Automotive
10 4 (1.11%) Law
11 3 (0.83%) Aerospace
11 3 (0.83%) Investment Banking
12 2 (0.56%) Corporate Banking
12 2 (0.56%) Organisational Skills
12 2 (0.56%) Retail Banking
13 1 (0.28%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 69 (19.17%) Senior
2 54 (15.00%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 41 (11.39%) Architect
4 27 (7.50%) Network Engineer
5 25 (6.94%) Platform Engineer
5 25 (6.94%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
6 20 (5.56%) Support Engineer
7 18 (5.00%) 3rd Line Engineer
7 18 (5.00%) Senior Network Engineer
8 16 (4.44%) Consultant
9 15 (4.17%) DevOps Engineer
9 15 (4.17%) Storage Engineer
10 14 (3.89%) Lead
10 14 (3.89%) Solutions Architect
11 11 (3.06%) Active Directory Engineer
12 10 (2.78%) Cloud Engineer
13 9 (2.50%) Linux Engineer
13 9 (2.50%) Security Architect
13 9 (2.50%) Security Engineer
14 8 (2.22%) VMware Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 67 (18.61%) Terraform
2 28 (7.78%) LDAP
2 28 (7.78%) OpenID
3 27 (7.50%) SAML
4 23 (6.39%) 802.1X
5 20 (5.56%) OAuth
6 17 (4.72%) REST
7 12 (3.33%) Kafka
7 12 (3.33%) OAuth2
8 10 (2.78%) .NET
8 10 (2.78%) Keycloak
9 8 (2.22%) .NET Framework
9 8 (2.22%) XML
10 7 (1.94%) RabbitMQ
11 6 (1.67%) FIDO
12 5 (1.39%) JSON
12 5 (1.39%) Middleware
12 5 (1.39%) SailPoint
12 5 (1.39%) WebAuthn
13 4 (1.11%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 32 (8.89%) Data Centre
2 30 (8.33%) Clustering
3 21 (5.83%) Cloud Native
4 19 (5.28%) Onboarding
5 17 (4.72%) Public Cloud
6 14 (3.89%) Distributed Systems
7 13 (3.61%) Linux Command Line
7 13 (3.61%) Security Posture
8 10 (2.78%) Hybrid Cloud
8 10 (2.78%) Legacy Systems
8 10 (2.78%) Management Information System
9 8 (2.22%) Enterprise Software
9 8 (2.22%) Enterprise Storage
9 8 (2.22%) Replication
9 8 (2.22%) Self-Motivation
10 6 (1.67%) Operational Technology
10 6 (1.67%) Private Cloud
10 6 (1.67%) Smartcard
11 5 (1.39%) Distributed Architecture
11 5 (1.39%) Mainframe
Operating Systems
1 163 (45.28%) Windows
2 111 (30.83%) Linux
3 94 (26.11%) Windows Server
4 14 (3.89%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 14 (3.89%) Windows Server 2016
5 13 (3.61%) Unix
6 12 (3.33%) Ubuntu
7 9 (2.50%) Windows Server 2012
8 8 (2.22%) Windows Server 2019
9 6 (1.67%) Debian
10 5 (1.39%) Android
11 4 (1.11%) Apple iOS
11 4 (1.11%) CentOS
11 4 (1.11%) Mac OS
11 4 (1.11%) Windows 10
12 3 (0.83%) Data ONTAP
13 2 (0.56%) Windows Server 2003
14 1 (0.28%) VMS
14 1 (0.28%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 99 (27.50%) Identity Access Management
2 72 (20.00%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 63 (17.50%) Cybersecurity
3 63 (17.50%) Infrastructure as Code
4 61 (16.94%) Problem-Solving
5 59 (16.39%) ITIL
6 58 (16.11%) DevOps
7 53 (14.72%) High Availability
8 52 (14.44%) CI/CD
9 50 (13.89%) Zero Trust
10 49 (13.61%) Stakeholder Management
11 48 (13.33%) Key Management
12 47 (13.06%) Technical Leadership
13 44 (12.22%) Agile
14 42 (11.67%) Continuous Improvement
14 42 (11.67%) Platform Engineering
15 41 (11.39%) Secrets Management
16 40 (11.11%) Change Management
17 37 (10.28%) Mentoring
17 37 (10.28%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 100 (27.78%) PowerShell
2 71 (19.72%) Python
3 38 (10.56%) Bash
4 15 (4.17%) SQL
5 10 (2.78%) JavaScript
6 9 (2.50%) C#
6 9 (2.50%) Java
7 8 (2.22%) Go
8 3 (0.83%) Ruby
9 2 (0.56%) Shell Script
10 1 (0.28%) Bicep
10 1 (0.28%) C++
Qualifications
1 182 (50.56%) Security Cleared
2 101 (28.06%) DV Cleared
3 91 (25.28%) SC Cleared
4 26 (7.22%) Cisco Certification
5 20 (5.56%) CISSP
5 20 (5.56%) Degree
5 20 (5.56%) Microsoft Certification
6 18 (5.00%) Azure Certification
6 18 (5.00%) CCNP
7 12 (3.33%) AWS Certification
7 12 (3.33%) VCAP
8 11 (3.06%) MCSE
9 10 (2.78%) CISM
10 7 (1.94%) BPSS Clearance
11 6 (1.67%) GIAC
11 6 (1.67%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
12 5 (1.39%) Computer Science Degree
12 5 (1.39%) ISTQB
12 5 (1.39%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
12 5 (1.39%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 37 (10.28%) NIST
2 28 (7.78%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 22 (6.11%) NCSC
4 14 (3.89%) SLA
5 8 (2.22%) JSP 440
6 7 (1.94%) GRC
7 6 (1.67%) QA
8 5 (1.39%) GDPR
8 5 (1.39%) SOC 2
9 3 (0.83%) NIST 800
10 2 (0.56%) Cyber Essentials
10 2 (0.56%) Government Security Classifications
10 2 (0.56%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 2 (0.56%) ITGC
10 2 (0.56%) PCI DSS
10 2 (0.56%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 1 (0.28%) Accessibility
11 1 (0.28%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 1 (0.28%) PSD2
System Software
1 175 (48.61%) Active Directory
2 76 (21.11%) VMware Infrastructure
3 40 (11.11%) Docker
4 32 (8.89%) Hyper-V
5 30 (8.33%) VMware NSX
6 22 (6.11%) vSphere
7 16 (4.44%) VMware ESXi
8 7 (1.94%) Virtual Desktop
8 7 (1.94%) Virtual Machines
9 4 (1.11%) BitLocker
9 4 (1.11%) Microsoft App-V
9 4 (1.11%) NFS
9 4 (1.11%) OpenSSH
9 4 (1.11%) Virtual Servers
10 3 (0.83%) OpenAM
10 3 (0.83%) Terminal Services
10 3 (0.83%) UAG
11 2 (0.56%) Firmware
11 2 (0.56%) XenApp
11 2 (0.56%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 75 (20.83%) Kubernetes
2 61 (16.94%) Ansible
3 34 (9.44%) Single Sign-On
4 24 (6.67%) vCenter Server
5 22 (6.11%) Microsoft Intune
6 19 (5.28%) VxRail
7 16 (4.44%) SCOM
8 14 (3.89%) Avamar
9 12 (3.33%) Grafana
9 12 (3.33%) Prometheus
10 11 (3.06%) SCCM
11 9 (2.50%) Istio
12 8 (2.22%) Puppet
12 8 (2.22%) WSUS
13 6 (1.67%) Active Directory Federation Services
13 6 (1.67%) CA Single Sign-On
13 6 (1.67%) Kibana
14 5 (1.39%) Failover Clustering
14 5 (1.39%) McAfee ePO
14 5 (1.39%) Nessus
Vendors
1 153 (42.50%) Microsoft
2 93 (25.83%) VMware
3 44 (12.22%) Cisco
4 29 (8.06%) Thales
5 28 (7.78%) ServiceNow
6 24 (6.67%) Okta
7 20 (5.56%) Dell
8 19 (5.28%) BeyondTrust
9 16 (4.44%) CyberArk
10 15 (4.17%) Citrix
10 15 (4.17%) Google
11 13 (3.61%) Juniper
12 12 (3.33%) Palo Alto
13 11 (3.06%) Fortinet
13 11 (3.06%) SolarWinds
14 10 (2.78%) CheckPoint
14 10 (2.78%) NetApp
15 9 (2.50%) BMC
15 9 (2.50%) Remedy
15 9 (2.50%) Splunk