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

6 months to
24 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 373 338 231
Rank change year-on-year -35 -107 +77
Contract jobs citing PKI 319 221 450
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.60% 0.68% 1.10%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.82% 1.95% 3.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 222 172 322
10th Percentile £413 £359 £363
25th Percentile £463 £463 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £548
Median % change year-on-year - +0.46% -4.78%
75th Percentile £638 £613 £608
90th Percentile £704 £683 £675
UK excluding London median daily rate £550 £548 £550
% change year-on-year +0.46% -0.45% -1.92%
Number of hourly rates quoted 8 0 4
10th Percentile £61.87 - -
25th Percentile £72.07 - -
Median hourly rate £91.91 - £23.80
75th Percentile £99.12 - £27.91
90th Percentile £100.00 - £35.32
UK excluding London median hourly rate £91.91 - £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 17,556 11,324 12,527
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 33.27% 34.65% 30.68%
Number of daily rates quoted 10,740 6,998 8,033
10th Percentile £318 £300 £300
25th Percentile £417 £406 £418
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £540
Median % change year-on-year - -2.78% -1.82%
75th Percentile £630 £644 £672
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 899 543 732
10th Percentile £16.01 £15.17 £12.25
25th Percentile £21.00 £18.87 £16.25
Median hourly rate £43.96 £30.00 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +46.53% -25.00% +11.11%
75th Percentile £70.00 £57.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £87.16 £77.50 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.96 £30.25 £41.25
% change year-on-year +45.32% -26.67% -9.16%

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 24 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 24 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 24 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 -62 260 £565 +2.73% 67
UK excluding London -39 214 £550 +0.46% 57
South East +2 107 £590 +2.61% 19
Work from Home -43 77 £550 +0.46% 31
London -64 77 £600 +4.35% 13
North of England -40 36 £471 -4.22% 13
Scotland +10 28 £481 -10.09% 4
South West -66 24 £550 -4.35% 14
North West -32 22 £418 -15.14% 6
Yorkshire - 14 £500 - 8
Midlands -65 11 £450 +5.88% 7
West Midlands -74 10 £450 +5.88% 4
Wales - 6 £463 - 1
East of England -19 4 £400 -23.81% 1
East Midlands -11 1 £475 - 3

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 (3.76%) Microsoft Exchange
1 12 (3.76%) SharePoint
2 10 (3.13%) Confluence
3 7 (2.19%) IIS
4 4 (1.25%) Apache
5 3 (0.94%) Exchange Server 2010
5 3 (0.94%) Tomcat
5 3 (0.94%) WebSphere
6 1 (0.31%) ArcGIS
Applications
1 5 (1.57%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 13 (4.08%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.31%) Cloudability
2 1 (0.31%) Dynamics GP
Cloud Services
1 100 (31.35%) Azure
2 76 (23.82%) AWS
3 60 (18.81%) Entra ID
4 26 (8.15%) Microsoft 365
5 20 (6.27%) Power Platform
6 18 (5.64%) GCP
7 12 (3.76%) IaaS
8 11 (3.45%) OpenShift
8 11 (3.45%) PaaS
9 10 (3.13%) Azure Key Vault
10 8 (2.51%) SaaS
11 7 (2.19%) Azure DevOps
12 5 (1.57%) AWS KMS
12 5 (1.57%) GitHub
13 4 (1.25%) Amazon EKS
14 3 (0.94%) Google Kubernetes Engine
14 3 (0.94%) OCI
15 2 (0.63%) Azure Sentinel
15 2 (0.63%) OneDrive
15 2 (0.63%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 105 (32.92%) DNS
2 84 (26.33%) Firewall
3 77 (24.14%) DHCP
4 39 (12.23%) VPN
5 37 (11.60%) BGP
6 35 (10.97%) LAN
6 35 (10.97%) WAN
7 31 (9.72%) OSPF
8 26 (8.15%) TCP/IP
9 25 (7.84%) SSL
10 24 (7.52%) Ethernet VPN
10 24 (7.52%) VXLAN
11 23 (7.21%) BIG-IP
11 23 (7.21%) Junos
11 23 (7.21%) Network Security
12 22 (6.90%) Cisco ISE
13 16 (5.02%) IPsec
14 15 (4.70%) Cisco ASA
15 14 (4.39%) Wireless
16 13 (4.08%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 26 (8.15%) SQL Server
2 15 (4.70%) Power BI
3 9 (2.82%) Elasticsearch
4 6 (1.88%) MongoDB
4 6 (1.88%) MySQL
4 6 (1.88%) PostgreSQL
5 5 (1.57%) Relational Database
6 4 (1.25%) Amazon RDS
6 4 (1.25%) Db2
7 3 (0.94%) Big Data
7 3 (0.94%) NoSQL
7 3 (0.94%) RDBMS
8 2 (0.63%) Metadata
9 1 (0.31%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 13 (4.08%) Git
1 13 (4.08%) JIRA
2 8 (2.51%) GitLab
3 7 (2.19%) Jenkins
4 3 (0.94%) Robot Framework
4 3 (0.94%) Sonatype Nexus
4 3 (0.94%) Terragrunt
5 2 (0.63%) Burp Suite
5 2 (0.63%) Cucumber
5 2 (0.63%) Gatling
5 2 (0.63%) Gradle
5 2 (0.63%) LoadRunner
5 2 (0.63%) MSI
5 2 (0.63%) REST Assured
5 2 (0.63%) SonarQube
General
1 50 (15.67%) Social Skills
2 35 (10.97%) Finance
3 33 (10.34%) Public Sector
4 19 (5.96%) Analytical Skills
5 10 (3.13%) Documentation Skills
6 9 (2.82%) Banking
7 7 (2.19%) Legal
8 6 (1.88%) Military
9 5 (1.57%) Influencing Skills
9 5 (1.57%) Retail
10 4 (1.25%) Police
11 3 (0.94%) Automotive
11 3 (0.94%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 2 (0.63%) Corporate Banking
12 2 (0.63%) Investment Banking
12 2 (0.63%) Retail Banking
13 1 (0.31%) Law
13 1 (0.31%) Local Government
13 1 (0.31%) Manufacturing
13 1 (0.31%) Wearables
Job Titles
1 72 (22.57%) Senior
2 53 (16.61%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 32 (10.03%) Architect
3 32 (10.03%) Network Engineer
4 23 (7.21%) Senior Network Engineer
5 22 (6.90%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
6 20 (6.27%) 3rd Line Engineer
7 19 (5.96%) Lead
8 16 (5.02%) Storage Engineer
8 16 (5.02%) Support Engineer
9 14 (4.39%) DevOps Engineer
9 14 (4.39%) Firewall Specialist
9 14 (4.39%) Network Specialist
10 10 (3.13%) Analyst
10 10 (3.13%) Senior Architect
11 9 (2.82%) Linux Engineer
12 8 (2.51%) 3rd Line Infrastructure Engineer
12 8 (2.51%) Consultant
12 8 (2.51%) Platform Engineer
13 7 (2.19%) VMware Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 35 (10.97%) 802.1X
2 26 (8.15%) LDAP
3 23 (7.21%) OpenID
4 22 (6.90%) SAML
5 17 (5.33%) REST
6 16 (5.02%) OAuth
7 8 (2.51%) .NET
8 7 (2.19%) JSON
8 7 (2.19%) Kafka
8 7 (2.19%) OAuth2
8 7 (2.19%) RabbitMQ
9 6 (1.88%) .NET Framework
9 6 (1.88%) XML
10 5 (1.57%) Keycloak
10 5 (1.57%) SailPoint
11 4 (1.25%) Middleware
11 4 (1.25%) Web Services
12 3 (0.94%) FIDO
12 3 (0.94%) Microsoft Graph
12 3 (0.94%) SPIFFE
Miscellaneous
1 50 (15.67%) Clustering
2 45 (14.11%) Data Centre
3 14 (4.39%) Onboarding
4 13 (4.08%) Hybrid Cloud
4 13 (4.08%) Public Cloud
5 12 (3.76%) Distributed Systems
5 12 (3.76%) Linux Command Line
6 10 (3.13%) Cloud Native
7 8 (2.51%) Enterprise Storage
7 8 (2.51%) Management Information System
8 7 (2.19%) Legacy Systems
8 7 (2.19%) Security Posture
9 6 (1.88%) Enterprise Software
9 6 (1.88%) Operational Technology
9 6 (1.88%) Self-Motivation
10 5 (1.57%) Mainframe
10 5 (1.57%) Private Cloud
10 5 (1.57%) Smartcard
11 4 (1.25%) Fibre Optics
11 4 (1.25%) Thin Client
Operating Systems
1 159 (49.84%) Windows
2 90 (28.21%) Linux
3 80 (25.08%) Windows Server
4 12 (3.76%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 11 (3.45%) Unix
6 9 (2.82%) Ubuntu
7 8 (2.51%) Windows Server 2016
8 7 (2.19%) Windows Server 2012
8 7 (2.19%) Windows Server 2019
9 6 (1.88%) Debian
10 5 (1.57%) Windows Server 2003
11 4 (1.25%) Android
12 3 (0.94%) Apple iOS
12 3 (0.94%) Mac OS
13 2 (0.63%) CentOS
13 2 (0.63%) Windows 10
14 1 (0.31%) Data ONTAP
14 1 (0.31%) VMS
14 1 (0.31%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 95 (29.78%) Identity Access Management
2 59 (18.50%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 59 (18.50%) ITIL
3 52 (16.30%) High Availability
4 51 (15.99%) Problem-Solving
5 50 (15.67%) Cybersecurity
6 45 (14.11%) DevOps
7 44 (13.79%) Infrastructure as Code
8 42 (13.17%) Agile
9 39 (12.23%) Observability
10 38 (11.91%) Zero Trust
11 36 (11.29%) CI/CD
12 35 (10.97%) ITSM
13 33 (10.34%) Service Management
14 30 (9.40%) Load Balancing
15 29 (9.09%) Cryptography
15 29 (9.09%) Key Management
16 28 (8.78%) Continuous Improvement
17 27 (8.46%) RBAC
17 27 (8.46%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 84 (26.33%) PowerShell
2 57 (17.87%) Python
3 24 (7.52%) Bash
4 15 (4.70%) SQL
5 14 (4.39%) C#
6 13 (4.08%) JavaScript
7 9 (2.82%) Java
8 3 (0.94%) C++
8 3 (0.94%) Go
8 3 (0.94%) PHP
9 2 (0.63%) Ruby
9 2 (0.63%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 165 (51.72%) Security Cleared
2 98 (30.72%) DV Cleared
3 70 (21.94%) SC Cleared
4 36 (11.29%) Cisco Certification
5 20 (6.27%) Degree
6 18 (5.64%) Microsoft Certification
7 15 (4.70%) CCNP
8 11 (3.45%) Azure Certification
8 11 (3.45%) CISSP
8 11 (3.45%) MCSE
9 10 (3.13%) JNCIP
9 10 (3.13%) JNCIS
10 7 (2.19%) CompTIA Security+
10 7 (2.19%) GIAC
10 7 (2.19%) JNCIA
10 7 (2.19%) VCAP
11 5 (1.57%) CISM
11 5 (1.57%) Master's Degree
12 4 (1.25%) Computer Science Degree
12 4 (1.25%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 31 (9.72%) NIST
2 20 (6.27%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 16 (5.02%) NCSC
4 11 (3.45%) SLA
5 9 (2.82%) Cyber Essentials
5 9 (2.82%) QA
6 5 (1.57%) GDPR
7 3 (0.94%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 3 (0.94%) PCI DSS
8 2 (0.63%) Government Security Classifications
8 2 (0.63%) HMG Security Policy Framework
8 2 (0.63%) ISA99
8 2 (0.63%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
8 2 (0.63%) ITGC
8 2 (0.63%) JSP 440
8 2 (0.63%) NIST 800
8 2 (0.63%) Sarbanes-Oxley
8 2 (0.63%) SOC 2
9 1 (0.31%) GMP
9 1 (0.31%) GxP
System Software
1 136 (42.63%) Active Directory
2 66 (20.69%) VMware Infrastructure
3 39 (12.23%) Docker
4 31 (9.72%) Hyper-V
5 29 (9.09%) VMware NSX
6 13 (4.08%) VMware ESXi
7 10 (3.13%) vSphere
8 9 (2.82%) BitLocker
9 8 (2.51%) Microsoft App-V
9 8 (2.51%) Virtual Machines
10 4 (1.25%) Firmware
10 4 (1.25%) NFS
10 4 (1.25%) OpenSSH
10 4 (1.25%) Terminal Services
10 4 (1.25%) Virtual Desktop
11 3 (0.94%) KVM
11 3 (0.94%) OpenAM
12 2 (0.63%) XenApp
12 2 (0.63%) XenDesktop
13 1 (0.31%) iptables
Systems Management
1 58 (18.18%) Ansible
2 54 (16.93%) Kubernetes
3 50 (15.67%) Terraform
4 29 (9.09%) Single Sign-On
5 26 (8.15%) vCenter Server
6 23 (7.21%) FortiGate
7 15 (4.70%) Microsoft Intune
7 15 (4.70%) SCOM
8 12 (3.76%) Avamar
8 12 (3.76%) Prometheus
8 12 (3.76%) Puppet
9 11 (3.45%) Grafana
10 9 (2.82%) VxRail
11 8 (2.51%) SCCM
11 8 (2.51%) vMotion
12 7 (2.19%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 7 (2.19%) CA Single Sign-On
13 6 (1.88%) Kibana
14 5 (1.57%) Failover Clustering
14 5 (1.57%) WSUS
Vendors
1 122 (38.24%) Microsoft
2 82 (25.71%) VMware
3 61 (19.12%) Cisco
4 36 (11.29%) Splunk
5 31 (9.72%) Juniper
6 30 (9.40%) SolarWinds
7 26 (8.15%) F5
7 26 (8.15%) ServiceNow
8 24 (7.52%) Okta
9 22 (6.90%) Extreme Networks
10 21 (6.58%) Thales
11 19 (5.96%) BeyondTrust
12 18 (5.64%) Citrix
13 14 (4.39%) Dell
14 13 (4.08%) BMC
14 13 (4.08%) Palo Alto
14 13 (4.08%) Remedy
15 11 (3.45%) CyberArk
16 10 (3.13%) NetApp
17 8 (2.51%) Google