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 4 December 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
4 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 326 303 235
Rank change year-on-year -23 -68 +148
Contract jobs citing PKI 283 266 465
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.78% 0.74% 1.04%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.19% 2.35% 3.29%
Number of daily rates quoted 214 150 286
10th Percentile £358 £413 £382
25th Percentile £463 £475 £469
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £575
Median % change year-on-year - -4.35% -8.00%
75th Percentile £684 £627 £675
90th Percentile £838 £726 £748
UK excluding London median daily rate £529 £550 £580
% change year-on-year -3.86% -5.17% +0.87%
Number of hourly rates quoted 5 0 5
10th Percentile £74.80 - £46.38
25th Percentile £82.00 - -
Median hourly rate £90.00 - £55.00
75th Percentile £100.00 - £56.40
90th Percentile £103.30 - £63.06
UK excluding London median hourly rate £90.00 - £55.00
% change year-on-year - - -8.33%

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 12,941 11,341 14,153
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 35.46% 31.52% 31.65%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,038 6,702 9,461
10th Percentile £278 £281 £270
25th Percentile £406 £413 £415
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £538 £550
Median % change year-on-year -6.98% -2.27% -
75th Percentile £630 £663 £669
90th Percentile £738 £788 £769
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 659 372 490
10th Percentile £13.50 £16.87 £16.75
25th Percentile £17.99 £22.50 £20.50
Median hourly rate £26.50 £34.75 £42.92
Median % change year-on-year -23.74% -19.03% +22.61%
75th Percentile £56.00 £66.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £74.26 £75.16 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £26.25 £32.50 £45.55
% change year-on-year -19.23% -28.64% +54.39%

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 4 December 2025.

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 4 December 2025.

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 4 December 2025. 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 +16 263 £550 - 55
UK excluding London -60 170 £529 -3.86% 53
London +34 91 £675 +16.88% 8
Work from Home +6 81 £700 +20.27% 26
South East +4 58 £600 +4.35% 39
South West -38 44 £550 +0.36% 2
Midlands +1 40 £400 -27.27%
West Midlands 0 39 £400 -27.27%
North of England -39 18 £482 -33.52% 5
North West -14 11 £388 -20.51%
Scotland -25 8 £538 +19.44% 1
Yorkshire -29 7 £485 -34.31% 4
East of England -12 3 £550 - 4
Wales -5 1 £550 - 1
East Midlands - 1 - -

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 39 (13.78%) Microsoft Exchange
2 14 (4.95%) SharePoint
3 10 (3.53%) Confluence
4 8 (2.83%) Apache
4 8 (2.83%) IIS
5 6 (2.12%) Skype for Business
6 4 (1.41%) JBoss
6 4 (1.41%) SharePoint Server
7 3 (1.06%) Exchange Server 2010
8 1 (0.35%) nginx
Applications
1 17 (6.01%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (0.71%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 2 (0.71%) Dynamics GP
Cloud Services
1 53 (18.73%) Azure
2 44 (15.55%) AWS
3 26 (9.19%) IaaS
4 25 (8.83%) Microsoft 365
5 21 (7.42%) Entra ID
6 14 (4.95%) GitHub
7 12 (4.24%) AWS CloudFormation
8 9 (3.18%) OpenShift
9 8 (2.83%) SaaS
9 8 (2.83%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 7 (2.47%) Amazon ECS
10 7 (2.47%) AWS Fargate
10 7 (2.47%) Power Platform
11 6 (2.12%) GCP
12 5 (1.77%) Azure Sentinel
13 4 (1.41%) Azure DevOps
14 3 (1.06%) GitHub Actions
14 3 (1.06%) Nutanix
14 3 (1.06%) Power Automate
14 3 (1.06%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 56 (19.79%) DNS
2 55 (19.43%) Firewall
3 34 (12.01%) BGP
4 33 (11.66%) IPsec
4 33 (11.66%) VPN
5 28 (9.89%) SSL
6 27 (9.54%) WAN
7 24 (8.48%) DHCP
7 24 (8.48%) MPLS
8 17 (6.01%) Network Security
9 16 (5.65%) Skype
10 10 (3.53%) Junos
11 9 (3.18%) HTTPS
12 8 (2.83%) OSPF
12 8 (2.83%) TCP/IP
13 7 (2.47%) S/MIME
13 7 (2.47%) VSAN
14 6 (2.12%) EIGRP
14 6 (2.12%) Kerberos
15 5 (1.77%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (5.30%) SQL Server
2 7 (2.47%) MongoDB
3 5 (1.77%) Amazon RDS
4 3 (1.06%) Relational Database
5 1 (0.35%) Elasticsearch
5 1 (0.35%) Power BI
5 1 (0.35%) Redis
Development Applications
1 13 (4.59%) JIRA
2 12 (4.24%) GitLab
3 9 (3.18%) Jenkins
4 4 (1.41%) Terragrunt
5 3 (1.06%) Git
5 3 (1.06%) MSI
5 3 (1.06%) Robot Framework
5 3 (1.06%) Sonatype Nexus
6 2 (0.71%) Artifactory
6 2 (0.71%) SpecFlow
7 1 (0.35%) CircleCI
7 1 (0.35%) Fiddler
7 1 (0.35%) Postman
General
1 55 (19.43%) Social Skills
2 50 (17.67%) Analytical Skills
3 36 (12.72%) Public Sector
4 20 (7.07%) Finance
5 17 (6.01%) Military
6 5 (1.77%) Documentation Skills
7 4 (1.41%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 4 (1.41%) Presentation Skills
8 3 (1.06%) Banking
9 1 (0.35%) Aerospace
9 1 (0.35%) Influencing Skills
9 1 (0.35%) Legal
9 1 (0.35%) Manufacturing
9 1 (0.35%) Pharmaceutical
9 1 (0.35%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 78 (27.56%) Architect
2 31 (10.95%) Senior
3 27 (9.54%) 3rd Line Engineer
4 25 (8.83%) Support Engineer
5 23 (8.13%) Infrastructure Engineer
6 20 (7.07%) 3rd Line Support
7 19 (6.71%) 3rd Line Support Engineer
8 17 (6.01%) Network Engineer
9 16 (5.65%) Lead
9 16 (5.65%) Security Architect
10 14 (4.95%) Administrator
10 14 (4.95%) Wintel Engineer
11 13 (4.59%) Platform Manager
11 13 (4.59%) Systems Administrator
11 13 (4.59%) Systems Manager
11 13 (4.59%) Wintel Administrator
11 13 (4.59%) Wintel Systems Administrator
12 12 (4.24%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
13 11 (3.89%) WAN Engineer
14 10 (3.53%) 2nd Line Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 31 (10.95%) REST
2 28 (9.89%) JSON
3 15 (5.30%) OpenID
4 11 (3.89%) Kafka
4 11 (3.89%) SAML
5 10 (3.53%) OAuth
5 10 (3.53%) OAuth2
6 7 (2.47%) cloud-init
6 7 (2.47%) Keycloak
7 5 (1.77%) LDAP
8 4 (1.41%) .NET
8 4 (1.41%) AWS CDK
9 3 (1.06%) Elastic Stack
9 3 (1.06%) JDBC
9 3 (1.06%) SOAP
10 2 (0.71%) Microsoft Graph
10 2 (0.71%) ModSecurity
10 2 (0.71%) Playwright
10 2 (0.71%) Web Services
10 2 (0.71%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 30 (10.60%) Self-Motivation
2 11 (3.89%) Data Centre
2 11 (3.89%) Fat Client
2 11 (3.89%) Thin Client
3 8 (2.83%) Management Information System
3 8 (2.83%) Private Cloud
4 7 (2.47%) Algorithms
4 7 (2.47%) Replication
5 6 (2.12%) Onboarding
6 5 (1.77%) Legacy Applications
6 5 (1.77%) Public Cloud
6 5 (1.77%) Security Operations Centre
7 4 (1.41%) Cloud Native
7 4 (1.41%) Cyber Defence
7 4 (1.41%) Security Posture
8 3 (1.06%) Taxonomies
9 2 (0.71%) CMDB
9 2 (0.71%) Cyber Threat
9 2 (0.71%) Legacy Systems
9 2 (0.71%) Tandem
Operating Systems
1 93 (32.86%) Windows
2 53 (18.73%) Linux
3 45 (15.90%) Windows Server
4 13 (4.59%) Windows 10
5 12 (4.24%) CentOS
5 12 (4.24%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 9 (3.18%) Unix
6 9 (3.18%) Windows 7
6 9 (3.18%) Windows Server 2012
7 7 (2.47%) Windows Server 2019
8 5 (1.77%) Windows Server 2008
8 5 (1.77%) Windows Server 2016
9 3 (1.06%) VMS
10 2 (0.71%) Ubuntu
11 1 (0.35%) Android
11 1 (0.35%) Apple iOS
11 1 (0.35%) Mac OS
11 1 (0.35%) Solaris
11 1 (0.35%) SUSE
Processes & Methodologies
1 82 (28.98%) Agile
2 61 (21.55%) Key Management
3 38 (13.43%) Change Management
4 37 (13.07%) ITIL
5 36 (12.72%) CI/CD
6 33 (11.66%) DevOps
7 31 (10.95%) Configuration Management
7 31 (10.95%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 31 (10.95%) Problem-Solving
8 29 (10.25%) Cybersecurity
9 28 (9.89%) Cryptography
10 27 (9.54%) Information Security
11 26 (9.19%) Incident Response
11 26 (9.19%) Migration
11 26 (9.19%) Service Management
12 24 (8.48%) Containerisation
13 23 (8.13%) Identity Access Management
14 22 (7.77%) SIEM
15 21 (7.42%) Infrastructure as Code
16 20 (7.07%) Security Architecture
Programming Languages
1 75 (26.50%) PowerShell
2 44 (15.55%) Python
3 23 (8.13%) Bash
4 18 (6.36%) SQL
5 7 (2.47%) Go
5 7 (2.47%) Perl
6 6 (2.12%) C++
6 6 (2.12%) JavaScript
6 6 (2.12%) Shell Script
7 5 (1.77%) Java
8 2 (0.71%) C#
8 2 (0.71%) PHP
9 1 (0.35%) Bicep
9 1 (0.35%) C
9 1 (0.35%) Kusto Query Language
Qualifications
1 180 (63.60%) Security Cleared
2 96 (33.92%) SC Cleared
3 76 (26.86%) DV Cleared
4 36 (12.72%) Degree
5 25 (8.83%) Microsoft Certification
6 20 (7.07%) CISSP
7 18 (6.36%) Cisco Certification
8 13 (4.59%) CCNP
8 13 (4.59%) CISM
9 12 (4.24%) MCSE
10 9 (3.18%) Computer Science Degree
10 9 (3.18%) ITIL Certification
11 7 (2.47%) Master's Degree
11 7 (2.47%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 6 (2.12%) CCNA
12 6 (2.12%) IISP
12 6 (2.12%) ISACA
12 6 (2.12%) JNCIA
12 6 (2.12%) JNCIS
13 5 (1.77%) AWS Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 18 (6.36%) NCSC
2 17 (6.01%) NIST
3 13 (4.59%) PCI DSS
4 11 (3.89%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 10 (3.53%) GDPR
6 5 (1.77%) FIPS 140-2
7 3 (1.06%) SLA
8 2 (0.71%) Accessibility
8 2 (0.71%) COBIT
8 2 (0.71%) Disclosure Scotland
8 2 (0.71%) HIPAA
8 2 (0.71%) NIST 800
8 2 (0.71%) SOC 1
9 1 (0.35%) Cyber Essentials
9 1 (0.35%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 1 (0.35%) HMG Security Policy Framework
9 1 (0.35%) JSP 440
9 1 (0.35%) PMO
9 1 (0.35%) PSD2
9 1 (0.35%) SOC 2
System Software
1 82 (28.98%) Active Directory
2 42 (14.84%) VMware Infrastructure
3 15 (5.30%) Docker
4 12 (4.24%) Firmware
5 11 (3.89%) VMware NSX
6 9 (3.18%) Hyper-V
6 9 (3.18%) VMware ESXi
7 8 (2.83%) vSphere
8 6 (2.12%) Virtual Machines
8 6 (2.12%) Virtual Servers
9 5 (1.77%) Microsoft Virtual Server
10 3 (1.06%) Sendmail
11 2 (0.71%) Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services
12 1 (0.35%) BitLocker
12 1 (0.35%) NFS
12 1 (0.35%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 29 (10.25%) Ansible
1 29 (10.25%) Kubernetes
1 29 (10.25%) Terraform
2 17 (6.01%) vCenter Server
3 16 (5.65%) Single Sign-On
4 15 (5.30%) Microsoft Intune
4 15 (5.30%) SCCM
5 13 (4.59%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 12 (4.24%) WMI
6 12 (4.24%) WSUS
7 9 (3.18%) SCOM
8 7 (2.47%) Grafana
8 7 (2.47%) Jamf Pro
8 7 (2.47%) Packer
8 7 (2.47%) Prometheus
9 4 (1.41%) Podman
9 4 (1.41%) QRadar
10 3 (1.06%) Check_MK
10 3 (1.06%) OPNET
10 3 (1.06%) Proxmox
Vendors
1 102 (36.04%) Microsoft
2 61 (21.55%) VMware
3 39 (13.78%) Juniper
4 37 (13.07%) Cisco
5 25 (8.83%) Splunk
6 16 (5.65%) Veeam
7 14 (4.95%) SolarWinds
8 9 (3.18%) Thales
9 8 (2.83%) Dell
9 8 (2.83%) Fortinet
9 8 (2.83%) Okta
10 6 (2.12%) CyberArk
10 6 (2.12%) Google
10 6 (2.12%) IBM
10 6 (2.12%) ServiceNow
11 5 (1.77%) Palo Alto
11 5 (1.77%) Red Hat
12 4 (1.41%) Citrix
12 4 (1.41%) Oracle
12 4 (1.41%) Zscaler