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

6 months to
14 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 353 336 216
Rank change year-on-year -17 -120 +85
Contract jobs citing PKI 339 225 418
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.63% 0.68% 1.07%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.89% 1.94% 3.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 241 174 301
10th Percentile £425 £358 £363
25th Percentile £463 £463 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £538
Median % change year-on-year - +2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £643 £638 £608
90th Percentile £725 £692 £650
UK excluding London median daily rate £550 £550 £550
Number of hourly rates quoted 8 0 4
10th Percentile £61.87 - -
25th Percentile £81.42 - -
Median hourly rate £98.82 - £23.80
75th Percentile £99.12 - £27.91
90th Percentile £100.00 - £35.32
UK excluding London median hourly rate £98.82 - £38.50

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 17,890 11,575 11,822
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 33.51% 35.17% 30.37%
Number of daily rates quoted 10,850 7,129 7,574
10th Percentile £325 £303 £300
25th Percentile £425 £406 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% -
75th Percentile £638 £638 £675
90th Percentile £750 £765 £825
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 997 563 603
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.13 £12.40
25th Percentile £19.34 £18.87 £18.35
Median hourly rate £43.50 £29.50 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year +47.46% -34.44% +11.23%
75th Percentile £70.00 £57.50 £67.20
90th Percentile £85.00 £78.46 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.96 £30.00 £45.00
% change year-on-year +46.53% -33.33% +10.86%

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 14 August 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 14 August 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 14 August 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 -48 281 £575 +4.55% 96
UK excluding London -11 232 £550 - 64
South East -2 107 £590 +2.61% 21
London -63 81 £600 +2.56% 30
Work from Home -33 80 £560 +1.82% 30
North of England -26 52 £500 +0.81% 20
Scotland +17 30 £481 -10.01% 1
North West -26 29 £484 -1.68% 10
South West -71 25 £697 +21.13% 9
Yorkshire -17 23 £500 -16.67% 8
Midlands -68 7 £475 +18.75% 7
East of England -17 6 £500 -4.76% 3
West Midlands -73 6 £475 +18.75% 5
Wales - 6 £463 -
East Midlands -20 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 13 (3.83%) Microsoft Exchange
2 11 (3.24%) Confluence
2 11 (3.24%) SharePoint
3 7 (2.06%) IIS
4 4 (1.18%) Apache
5 3 (0.88%) Exchange Server 2010
5 3 (0.88%) Tomcat
5 3 (0.88%) WebSphere
6 1 (0.29%) ArcGIS
6 1 (0.29%) nginx
Applications
1 4 (1.18%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 12 (3.54%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.29%) Dynamics GP
Cloud Services
1 111 (32.74%) Azure
2 84 (24.78%) AWS
3 62 (18.29%) Entra ID
4 31 (9.14%) GCP
5 25 (7.37%) Microsoft 365
6 19 (5.60%) Power Platform
7 13 (3.83%) Azure Key Vault
8 12 (3.54%) IaaS
9 11 (3.24%) OpenShift
9 11 (3.24%) PaaS
10 8 (2.36%) SaaS
11 7 (2.06%) Azure DevOps
12 6 (1.77%) AWS KMS
12 6 (1.77%) GitHub
13 5 (1.47%) Amazon EKS
14 4 (1.18%) OCI
15 3 (0.88%) Azure Sentinel
15 3 (0.88%) Google Kubernetes Engine
16 2 (0.59%) Azure Monitor
16 2 (0.59%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 111 (32.74%) DNS
2 90 (26.55%) Firewall
3 84 (24.78%) DHCP
4 36 (10.62%) VPN
5 34 (10.03%) LAN
6 33 (9.73%) BGP
6 33 (9.73%) WAN
7 32 (9.44%) TCP/IP
8 29 (8.55%) OSPF
8 29 (8.55%) SSL
9 23 (6.78%) Network Security
10 22 (6.49%) BIG-IP
10 22 (6.49%) Ethernet VPN
10 22 (6.49%) VXLAN
11 21 (6.19%) Junos
12 20 (5.90%) Cisco ISE
13 19 (5.60%) VSAN
14 16 (4.72%) IPsec
15 15 (4.42%) VLAN
15 15 (4.42%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 29 (8.55%) SQL Server
2 14 (4.13%) Power BI
3 8 (2.36%) Elasticsearch
4 7 (2.06%) MySQL
4 7 (2.06%) PostgreSQL
5 5 (1.47%) Amazon RDS
5 5 (1.47%) MongoDB
5 5 (1.47%) Relational Database
6 4 (1.18%) Db2
7 3 (0.88%) Big Data
7 3 (0.88%) NoSQL
8 2 (0.59%) Metadata
8 2 (0.59%) RDBMS
9 1 (0.29%) DynamoDB
9 1 (0.29%) MariaDB
9 1 (0.29%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 17 (5.01%) Git
2 13 (3.83%) JIRA
3 9 (2.65%) GitLab
4 8 (2.36%) Jenkins
5 3 (0.88%) Robot Framework
5 3 (0.88%) Sonatype Nexus
5 3 (0.88%) Terragrunt
6 2 (0.59%) Burp Suite
6 2 (0.59%) Cucumber
6 2 (0.59%) Gatling
6 2 (0.59%) Gradle
6 2 (0.59%) LoadRunner
6 2 (0.59%) MSI
6 2 (0.59%) REST Assured
6 2 (0.59%) SonarQube
General
1 60 (17.70%) Social Skills
2 45 (13.27%) Finance
3 29 (8.55%) Public Sector
4 27 (7.96%) Analytical Skills
5 13 (3.83%) Banking
5 13 (3.83%) Documentation Skills
6 6 (1.77%) Legal
7 5 (1.47%) Influencing Skills
7 5 (1.47%) Military
7 5 (1.47%) Police
7 5 (1.47%) Retail
8 4 (1.18%) Automotive
9 3 (0.88%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 2 (0.59%) Corporate Banking
10 2 (0.59%) Investment Banking
10 2 (0.59%) Law
10 2 (0.59%) Retail Banking
11 1 (0.29%) Local Government
11 1 (0.29%) Manufacturing
11 1 (0.29%) Organisational Skills
Job Titles
1 74 (21.83%) Senior
2 52 (15.34%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 33 (9.73%) Architect
4 31 (9.14%) Network Engineer
5 24 (7.08%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
6 23 (6.78%) Senior Network Engineer
7 20 (5.90%) 3rd Line Engineer
7 20 (5.90%) Platform Engineer
7 20 (5.90%) Support Engineer
8 19 (5.60%) Lead
9 16 (4.72%) Storage Engineer
10 13 (3.83%) Firewall Specialist
10 13 (3.83%) Network Specialist
11 12 (3.54%) DevOps Engineer
12 9 (2.65%) Linux Engineer
12 9 (2.65%) Senior Architect
12 9 (2.65%) Solutions Architect
13 8 (2.36%) VMware Engineer
14 7 (2.06%) Cloud Engineer
14 7 (2.06%) Principal Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 34 (10.03%) 802.1X
2 27 (7.96%) OpenID
3 26 (7.67%) LDAP
4 25 (7.37%) SAML
5 19 (5.60%) OAuth
6 16 (4.72%) REST
7 10 (2.95%) .NET
8 9 (2.65%) OAuth2
9 8 (2.36%) .NET Framework
9 8 (2.36%) XML
10 7 (2.06%) JSON
10 7 (2.06%) Kafka
10 7 (2.06%) RabbitMQ
11 6 (1.77%) Keycloak
12 5 (1.47%) Middleware
12 5 (1.47%) Web Services
13 3 (0.88%) FIDO
13 3 (0.88%) Microsoft Graph
13 3 (0.88%) Ruby on Rails
13 3 (0.88%) SPIFFE
Miscellaneous
1 50 (14.75%) Data Centre
2 49 (14.45%) Clustering
3 18 (5.31%) Cloud Native
4 17 (5.01%) Public Cloud
5 16 (4.72%) Onboarding
6 14 (4.13%) Hybrid Cloud
7 13 (3.83%) Distributed Systems
7 13 (3.83%) Linux Command Line
8 8 (2.36%) Enterprise Software
8 8 (2.36%) Management Information System
8 8 (2.36%) Security Posture
8 8 (2.36%) Self-Motivation
9 7 (2.06%) Legacy Systems
10 6 (1.77%) Data Protection Act
10 6 (1.77%) Enterprise Storage
11 5 (1.47%) Mainframe
11 5 (1.47%) Private Cloud
11 5 (1.47%) Robotics
11 5 (1.47%) Smartcard
12 4 (1.18%) Enterprise Cloud
Operating Systems
1 167 (49.26%) Windows
2 100 (29.50%) Linux
3 85 (25.07%) Windows Server
4 13 (3.83%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 12 (3.54%) Unix
6 9 (2.65%) Ubuntu
6 9 (2.65%) Windows Server 2016
7 8 (2.36%) Windows Server 2012
8 7 (2.06%) Windows Server 2019
9 6 (1.77%) Debian
10 4 (1.18%) Android
10 4 (1.18%) Windows Server 2003
11 3 (0.88%) Apple iOS
11 3 (0.88%) CentOS
11 3 (0.88%) Mac OS
12 2 (0.59%) Windows 10
13 1 (0.29%) Data ONTAP
13 1 (0.29%) VMS
13 1 (0.29%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 107 (31.56%) Identity Access Management
2 62 (18.29%) High Availability
3 61 (17.99%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 61 (17.99%) ITIL
4 58 (17.11%) Infrastructure as Code
4 58 (17.11%) Problem-Solving
5 51 (15.04%) Cybersecurity
6 48 (14.16%) CI/CD
7 46 (13.57%) DevOps
8 43 (12.68%) Zero Trust
9 41 (12.09%) Agile
10 39 (11.50%) Observability
11 38 (11.21%) Technical Leadership
12 37 (10.91%) Cryptography
12 37 (10.91%) ITSM
13 36 (10.62%) Continuous Improvement
13 36 (10.62%) Service Management
13 36 (10.62%) Stakeholder Management
14 35 (10.32%) DevSecOps
14 35 (10.32%) Key Management
Programming Languages
1 93 (27.43%) PowerShell
2 63 (18.58%) Python
3 31 (9.14%) Bash
4 16 (4.72%) SQL
5 13 (3.83%) C#
5 13 (3.83%) JavaScript
6 10 (2.95%) Java
7 3 (0.88%) Ruby
7 3 (0.88%) Shell Script
8 2 (0.59%) Go
9 1 (0.29%) C++
Qualifications
1 169 (49.85%) Security Cleared
2 102 (30.09%) DV Cleared
3 71 (20.94%) SC Cleared
4 39 (11.50%) Cisco Certification
5 21 (6.19%) Degree
6 20 (5.90%) Microsoft Certification
7 17 (5.01%) CCNP
8 15 (4.42%) CISSP
9 14 (4.13%) Azure Certification
10 12 (3.54%) VCAP
11 11 (3.24%) JNCIP
11 11 (3.24%) JNCIS
11 11 (3.24%) MCSE
12 8 (2.36%) AWS Certification
13 7 (2.06%) CISM
13 7 (2.06%) JNCIA
14 6 (1.77%) GIAC
14 6 (1.77%) Master's Degree
15 5 (1.47%) Computer Science Degree
15 5 (1.47%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 30 (8.85%) NIST
2 20 (5.90%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 16 (4.72%) NCSC
4 14 (4.13%) SLA
5 10 (2.95%) QA
6 6 (1.77%) Cyber Essentials
7 5 (1.47%) GDPR
8 3 (0.88%) JSP 440
8 3 (0.88%) PCI DSS
8 3 (0.88%) SOC 2
9 2 (0.59%) Government Security Classifications
9 2 (0.59%) ISA99
9 2 (0.59%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
9 2 (0.59%) ITGC
9 2 (0.59%) NIST 800
9 2 (0.59%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 1 (0.29%) GMP
10 1 (0.29%) GxP
10 1 (0.29%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 1 (0.29%) PSD2
System Software
1 150 (44.25%) Active Directory
2 71 (20.94%) VMware Infrastructure
3 40 (11.80%) Docker
4 35 (10.32%) VMware NSX
5 33 (9.73%) Hyper-V
6 17 (5.01%) vSphere
7 9 (2.65%) VMware ESXi
8 8 (2.36%) BitLocker
8 8 (2.36%) Virtual Machines
9 7 (2.06%) Microsoft App-V
10 4 (1.18%) Firmware
10 4 (1.18%) NFS
10 4 (1.18%) OpenSSH
10 4 (1.18%) Terminal Services
10 4 (1.18%) Virtual Desktop
11 3 (0.88%) OpenAM
12 2 (0.59%) KVM
12 2 (0.59%) XenApp
12 2 (0.59%) XenDesktop
13 1 (0.29%) iptables
Systems Management
1 67 (19.76%) Kubernetes
2 63 (18.58%) Ansible
3 62 (18.29%) Terraform
4 30 (8.85%) Single Sign-On
5 23 (6.78%) vCenter Server
6 21 (6.19%) FortiGate
7 19 (5.60%) Microsoft Intune
8 15 (4.42%) VxRail
9 13 (3.83%) Avamar
9 13 (3.83%) SCOM
10 11 (3.24%) Puppet
11 8 (2.36%) Grafana
11 8 (2.36%) Istio
11 8 (2.36%) Prometheus
12 7 (2.06%) SCCM
12 7 (2.06%) vMotion
13 6 (1.77%) Active Directory Federation Services
13 6 (1.77%) CA Single Sign-On
13 6 (1.77%) Kibana
14 5 (1.47%) Failover Clustering
Vendors
1 132 (38.94%) Microsoft
2 89 (26.25%) VMware
3 60 (17.70%) Cisco
4 33 (9.73%) Splunk
5 30 (8.85%) Juniper
6 28 (8.26%) SolarWinds
7 27 (7.96%) ServiceNow
7 27 (7.96%) Thales
8 26 (7.67%) F5
9 23 (6.78%) Okta
10 20 (5.90%) Extreme Networks
11 18 (5.31%) BeyondTrust
12 17 (5.01%) Citrix
13 15 (4.42%) Dell
14 13 (3.83%) CyberArk
14 13 (3.83%) Google
14 13 (3.83%) Palo Alto
15 12 (3.54%) BMC
15 12 (3.54%) Remedy
16 9 (2.65%) NetApp