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

6 months to
18 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 375 336 222
Rank change year-on-year -39 -114 +96
Contract jobs citing PKI 314 218 462
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.59% 0.67% 1.10%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.78% 1.93% 3.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 219 170 326
10th Percentile £413 £358 £363
25th Percentile £461 £463 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £550
Median % change year-on-year - - -4.35%
75th Percentile £638 £611 £608
90th Percentile £700 £685 £675
UK excluding London median daily rate £550 £550 £550
% change year-on-year - - -1.35%
Number of hourly rates quoted 7 0 4
10th Percentile £58.94 - -
25th Percentile £71.60 - -
Median hourly rate £85.00 - £23.80
75th Percentile £99.41 - £27.91
90th Percentile £100.00 - £35.32
UK excluding London median hourly rate £85.00 - £38.50
% change year-on-year - - +156.67%

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 17,600 11,274 12,859
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 33.27% 34.64% 30.53%
Number of daily rates quoted 10,782 6,984 8,203
10th Percentile £316 £300 £287
25th Percentile £416 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year - -2.42% -2.18%
75th Percentile £630 £645 £663
90th Percentile £749 £775 £800
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 893 535 812
10th Percentile £16.01 £15.33 £12.25
25th Percentile £20.50 £18.87 £15.92
Median hourly rate £43.96 £30.00 £38.00
Median % change year-on-year +46.53% -21.05% +20.63%
75th Percentile £70.00 £58.17 £63.75
90th Percentile £87.43 £77.50 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.96 £30.25 £40.00
% change year-on-year +45.32% -24.38% -

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 18 July 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 18 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for PKI in the UK

PKI
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 PKI within the UK over the 6 months to 18 July 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 -65 256 £565 +2.73% 45
UK excluding London -48 210 £550 - 39
South East +5 105 £590 +2.61% 17
London -43 77 £600 +4.35% 9
Work from Home -50 76 £550 +0.46% 19
North of England -56 35 £468 -4.98% 8
Scotland +9 28 £481 -10.09% 3
North West -40 22 £418 -15.14% 5
South West -63 22 £550 -4.35% 5
Yorkshire - 13 £500 - 3
Midlands -64 12 £450 +9.09% 4
West Midlands -69 11 £450 +9.09% 2
Wales - 6 £463 - 1
East of England -19 4 £400 -23.81% 1
East Midlands -12 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 12 (3.82%) Microsoft Exchange
1 12 (3.82%) SharePoint
2 10 (3.18%) Confluence
3 7 (2.23%) IIS
4 4 (1.27%) Apache
5 3 (0.96%) Exchange Server 2010
5 3 (0.96%) Tomcat
5 3 (0.96%) WebSphere
6 1 (0.32%) ArcGIS
Applications
1 5 (1.59%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 12 (3.82%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.32%) Cloudability
2 1 (0.32%) Dynamics GP
Cloud Services
1 98 (31.21%) Azure
2 73 (23.25%) AWS
3 60 (19.11%) Entra ID
4 25 (7.96%) Microsoft 365
5 19 (6.05%) Power Platform
6 18 (5.73%) GCP
7 12 (3.82%) IaaS
8 11 (3.50%) OpenShift
8 11 (3.50%) PaaS
9 10 (3.18%) Azure Key Vault
10 7 (2.23%) Azure DevOps
10 7 (2.23%) SaaS
11 5 (1.59%) AWS KMS
11 5 (1.59%) GitHub
12 4 (1.27%) Amazon EKS
13 3 (0.96%) Google Kubernetes Engine
13 3 (0.96%) OCI
14 2 (0.64%) Azure Sentinel
14 2 (0.64%) GitHub Actions
14 2 (0.64%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 101 (32.17%) DNS
2 79 (25.16%) Firewall
3 73 (23.25%) DHCP
4 38 (12.10%) VPN
5 37 (11.78%) BGP
6 36 (11.46%) WAN
7 34 (10.83%) LAN
8 30 (9.55%) OSPF
9 25 (7.96%) SSL
10 24 (7.64%) Ethernet VPN
10 24 (7.64%) VXLAN
11 23 (7.32%) BIG-IP
11 23 (7.32%) Junos
12 22 (7.01%) Cisco ISE
12 22 (7.01%) Network Security
12 22 (7.01%) TCP/IP
13 16 (5.10%) IPsec
14 14 (4.46%) Cisco ASA
15 13 (4.14%) Wireless
16 12 (3.82%) Cisco Firepower
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (7.96%) SQL Server
2 14 (4.46%) Power BI
3 9 (2.87%) Elasticsearch
4 5 (1.59%) MongoDB
4 5 (1.59%) MySQL
4 5 (1.59%) PostgreSQL
5 4 (1.27%) Amazon RDS
5 4 (1.27%) Db2
5 4 (1.27%) Relational Database
6 3 (0.96%) Big Data
6 3 (0.96%) NoSQL
7 2 (0.64%) Metadata
7 2 (0.64%) RDBMS
8 1 (0.32%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 13 (4.14%) JIRA
2 11 (3.50%) Git
3 8 (2.55%) GitLab
4 6 (1.91%) Jenkins
5 3 (0.96%) Robot Framework
5 3 (0.96%) Sonatype Nexus
5 3 (0.96%) Terragrunt
6 2 (0.64%) Burp Suite
6 2 (0.64%) Cucumber
6 2 (0.64%) Gatling
6 2 (0.64%) Gradle
6 2 (0.64%) LoadRunner
6 2 (0.64%) MSI
6 2 (0.64%) REST Assured
6 2 (0.64%) SonarQube
General
1 50 (15.92%) Social Skills
2 36 (11.46%) Finance
3 32 (10.19%) Public Sector
4 19 (6.05%) Analytical Skills
5 11 (3.50%) Documentation Skills
6 9 (2.87%) Banking
7 7 (2.23%) Legal
8 6 (1.91%) Military
9 5 (1.59%) Influencing Skills
9 5 (1.59%) Retail
10 3 (0.96%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 3 (0.96%) Police
11 2 (0.64%) Automotive
11 2 (0.64%) Corporate Banking
11 2 (0.64%) Investment Banking
11 2 (0.64%) Retail Banking
12 1 (0.32%) Back Office
12 1 (0.32%) Law
12 1 (0.32%) Local Government
12 1 (0.32%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 70 (22.29%) Senior
2 52 (16.56%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 31 (9.87%) Architect
3 31 (9.87%) Network Engineer
4 21 (6.69%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
4 21 (6.69%) Senior Network Engineer
5 19 (6.05%) 3rd Line Engineer
5 19 (6.05%) Lead
6 17 (5.41%) Support Engineer
7 15 (4.78%) Storage Engineer
8 14 (4.46%) Firewall Specialist
8 14 (4.46%) Network Specialist
9 13 (4.14%) DevOps Engineer
10 10 (3.18%) Analyst
10 10 (3.18%) Senior Architect
11 9 (2.87%) Linux Engineer
12 8 (2.55%) 3rd Line Infrastructure Engineer
12 8 (2.55%) Consultant
13 7 (2.23%) Solutions Architect
13 7 (2.23%) VMware Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 34 (10.83%) 802.1X
2 26 (8.28%) LDAP
3 23 (7.32%) OpenID
4 22 (7.01%) SAML
5 16 (5.10%) OAuth
5 16 (5.10%) REST
6 8 (2.55%) .NET
7 7 (2.23%) JSON
7 7 (2.23%) OAuth2
7 7 (2.23%) RabbitMQ
8 6 (1.91%) .NET Framework
8 6 (1.91%) Kafka
8 6 (1.91%) XML
9 5 (1.59%) SailPoint
10 4 (1.27%) Keycloak
10 4 (1.27%) Middleware
10 4 (1.27%) Web Services
11 3 (0.96%) FIDO
11 3 (0.96%) Microsoft Graph
11 3 (0.96%) SPIFFE
Miscellaneous
1 49 (15.61%) Clustering
2 42 (13.38%) Data Centre
3 14 (4.46%) Onboarding
4 12 (3.82%) Hybrid Cloud
5 11 (3.50%) Distributed Systems
5 11 (3.50%) Linux Command Line
5 11 (3.50%) Public Cloud
6 10 (3.18%) Cloud Native
7 8 (2.55%) Enterprise Storage
7 8 (2.55%) Management Information System
8 7 (2.23%) Legacy Systems
8 7 (2.23%) Security Posture
9 6 (1.91%) Enterprise Software
9 6 (1.91%) Operational Technology
10 5 (1.59%) Mainframe
10 5 (1.59%) Private Cloud
10 5 (1.59%) Self-Motivation
10 5 (1.59%) Smartcard
11 4 (1.27%) Fibre Optics
11 4 (1.27%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 155 (49.36%) Windows
2 86 (27.39%) Linux
3 78 (24.84%) Windows Server
4 12 (3.82%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 11 (3.50%) Unix
6 8 (2.55%) Ubuntu
6 8 (2.55%) Windows Server 2016
7 7 (2.23%) Windows Server 2012
7 7 (2.23%) Windows Server 2019
8 6 (1.91%) Debian
9 5 (1.59%) Windows Server 2003
10 4 (1.27%) Android
11 3 (0.96%) Apple iOS
11 3 (0.96%) Mac OS
12 2 (0.64%) CentOS
12 2 (0.64%) Windows 10
13 1 (0.32%) Data ONTAP
13 1 (0.32%) VMS
13 1 (0.32%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 95 (30.25%) Identity Access Management
2 58 (18.47%) ITIL
3 57 (18.15%) Infrastructure Engineering
4 51 (16.24%) High Availability
5 50 (15.92%) Cybersecurity
6 49 (15.61%) Problem-Solving
7 43 (13.69%) DevOps
8 40 (12.74%) Agile
8 40 (12.74%) Infrastructure as Code
9 38 (12.10%) Observability
9 38 (12.10%) Zero Trust
10 34 (10.83%) CI/CD
11 33 (10.51%) ITSM
12 32 (10.19%) Service Management
13 31 (9.87%) Load Balancing
14 29 (9.24%) Cryptography
15 28 (8.92%) Continuous Improvement
15 28 (8.92%) Key Management
15 28 (8.92%) Stakeholder Management
16 27 (8.60%) RBAC
Programming Languages
1 81 (25.80%) PowerShell
2 54 (17.20%) Python
3 21 (6.69%) Bash
4 14 (4.46%) C#
4 14 (4.46%) SQL
5 12 (3.82%) JavaScript
6 9 (2.87%) Java
7 3 (0.96%) C++
7 3 (0.96%) Go
7 3 (0.96%) PHP
8 2 (0.64%) Ruby
8 2 (0.64%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 160 (50.96%) Security Cleared
2 93 (29.62%) DV Cleared
3 69 (21.97%) SC Cleared
4 34 (10.83%) Cisco Certification
5 20 (6.37%) Degree
6 18 (5.73%) Microsoft Certification
7 13 (4.14%) CCNP
8 11 (3.50%) Azure Certification
8 11 (3.50%) MCSE
9 10 (3.18%) CISSP
10 9 (2.87%) JNCIP
10 9 (2.87%) JNCIS
11 7 (2.23%) CompTIA Security+
11 7 (2.23%) GIAC
11 7 (2.23%) JNCIA
12 5 (1.59%) CISM
12 5 (1.59%) Master's Degree
12 5 (1.59%) VCAP
13 4 (1.27%) Network+ Certification
13 4 (1.27%) SSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (9.87%) NIST
2 20 (6.37%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 15 (4.78%) NCSC
4 11 (3.50%) SLA
5 9 (2.87%) Cyber Essentials
5 9 (2.87%) QA
6 5 (1.59%) GDPR
7 3 (0.96%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 3 (0.96%) PCI DSS
8 2 (0.64%) Government Security Classifications
8 2 (0.64%) HMG Security Policy Framework
8 2 (0.64%) ISA99
8 2 (0.64%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
8 2 (0.64%) ITGC
8 2 (0.64%) NIST 800
8 2 (0.64%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 2 (0.64%) SOC 2
9 1 (0.32%) GMP
9 1 (0.32%) GxP
9 1 (0.32%) JSP 440
System Software
1 133 (42.36%) Active Directory
2 63 (20.06%) VMware Infrastructure
3 37 (11.78%) Docker
4 30 (9.55%) Hyper-V
5 27 (8.60%) VMware NSX
6 13 (4.14%) VMware ESXi
7 9 (2.87%) BitLocker
8 8 (2.55%) Microsoft App-V
8 8 (2.55%) Virtual Machines
8 8 (2.55%) vSphere
9 4 (1.27%) Firmware
9 4 (1.27%) NFS
9 4 (1.27%) OpenSSH
9 4 (1.27%) Terminal Services
9 4 (1.27%) Virtual Desktop
10 3 (0.96%) KVM
10 3 (0.96%) OpenAM
11 2 (0.64%) XenApp
11 2 (0.64%) XenDesktop
12 1 (0.32%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 55 (17.52%) Ansible
2 51 (16.24%) Kubernetes
3 46 (14.65%) Terraform
4 29 (9.24%) Single Sign-On
5 25 (7.96%) vCenter Server
6 23 (7.32%) FortiGate
7 15 (4.78%) Microsoft Intune
8 14 (4.46%) SCOM
9 12 (3.82%) Puppet
10 11 (3.50%) Avamar
10 11 (3.50%) Prometheus
11 10 (3.18%) Grafana
12 8 (2.55%) SCCM
12 8 (2.55%) vMotion
13 7 (2.23%) Active Directory Federation Services
13 7 (2.23%) CA Single Sign-On
13 7 (2.23%) VxRail
14 6 (1.91%) Kibana
15 5 (1.59%) Failover Clustering
15 5 (1.59%) WSUS
Vendors
1 120 (38.22%) Microsoft
2 80 (25.48%) VMware
3 60 (19.11%) Cisco
4 36 (11.46%) Splunk
5 32 (10.19%) Juniper
6 30 (9.55%) SolarWinds
7 27 (8.60%) F5
8 25 (7.96%) ServiceNow
9 24 (7.64%) Okta
10 22 (7.01%) Extreme Networks
11 20 (6.37%) Thales
12 19 (6.05%) BeyondTrust
13 18 (5.73%) Citrix
14 13 (4.14%) Dell
14 13 (4.14%) Palo Alto
15 12 (3.82%) BMC
15 12 (3.82%) Remedy
16 11 (3.50%) CyberArk
17 10 (3.18%) NetApp
18 8 (2.55%) Google