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 2 October 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
2 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 350 342 305
Rank change year-on-year -8 -37 -43
Contract jobs citing PKI 372 219 283
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.68% 0.66% 0.74%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.97% 1.84% 2.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 262 177 182
10th Percentile £418 £356 £376
25th Percentile £463 £463 £453
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £540
Median % change year-on-year - +1.90% -5.72%
75th Percentile £638 £638 £608
90th Percentile £700 £700 £672
UK excluding London median daily rate £550 £550 £538
% change year-on-year - +2.33% -6.52%
Number of hourly rates quoted 11 0 3
10th Percentile £85.00 - -
25th Percentile - - -
Median hourly rate £96.00 - £23.80
75th Percentile £98.82 - -
90th Percentile £100.00 - -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £96.00 - -

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 18,893 11,906 11,626
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 34.41% 35.95% 30.53%
Number of daily rates quoted 11,282 7,295 6,998
10th Percentile £322 £300 £275
25th Percentile £425 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £520 £535
Median % change year-on-year +0.96% -2.71% -2.82%
75th Percentile £638 £638 £672
90th Percentile £750 £750 £800
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,283 609 426
10th Percentile £14.01 £14.78 £15.28
25th Percentile £17.85 £18.87 £22.50
Median hourly rate £36.00 £28.13 £49.75
Median % change year-on-year +28.00% -43.47% +10.56%
75th Percentile £67.50 £52.50 £70.00
90th Percentile £82.05 £72.50 £75.08
UK excluding London median hourly rate £37.50 £29.27 £57.35
% change year-on-year +28.12% -48.96% +14.70%

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 2 October 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 2 October 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 2 October 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 -40 303 £575 +4.45% 249
UK excluding London -5 242 £550 - 131
London -51 101 £550 -5.98% 119
Work from Home -38 92 £570 +3.64% 102
South East -20 78 £575 - 37
North of England -19 67 £525 +6.71% 22
Scotland +6 41 £481 -12.55% 6
South West -50 36 £670 +21.82% 35
North West -29 34 £522 +6.10% 11
Yorkshire -3 31 £570 -5.00% 9
East of England -19 9 £600 +14.29% 12
Midlands -72 8 £475 +18.75% 14
West Midlands -59 7 £475 +18.75% 11
Wales - 6 £463 - 4
North East - 2 £426 - 2
East Midlands -14 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 18 (4.84%) Microsoft Exchange
2 14 (3.76%) Confluence
3 10 (2.69%) SharePoint
4 8 (2.15%) IIS
5 3 (0.81%) Apache
5 3 (0.81%) Exchange Server 2010
5 3 (0.81%) nginx
6 2 (0.54%) Tomcat
6 2 (0.54%) WebSphere
7 1 (0.27%) Traefik
Applications
1 4 (1.08%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.27%) Gliffy
Business Applications
1 7 (1.88%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.27%) Dynamics GP
2 1 (0.27%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 128 (34.41%) Azure
2 93 (25.00%) AWS
3 85 (22.85%) Entra ID
4 40 (10.75%) GCP
5 14 (3.76%) Microsoft 365
6 12 (3.23%) Azure Key Vault
6 12 (3.23%) Power Platform
7 11 (2.96%) GitHub
7 11 (2.96%) OpenShift
7 11 (2.96%) SaaS
8 10 (2.69%) Amazon EKS
9 9 (2.42%) IaaS
10 8 (2.15%) PaaS
11 7 (1.88%) Azure DevOps
11 7 (1.88%) Azure Monitor
12 6 (1.61%) GitHub Actions
12 6 (1.61%) Google Kubernetes Engine
12 6 (1.61%) OCI
13 5 (1.34%) AWS KMS
13 5 (1.34%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 110 (29.57%) DNS
2 76 (20.43%) Firewall
3 75 (20.16%) DHCP
4 42 (11.29%) VPN
5 35 (9.41%) TCP/IP
6 33 (8.87%) SSL
7 27 (7.26%) Network Security
8 17 (4.57%) VLAN
9 16 (4.30%) LAN
10 15 (4.03%) IPsec
10 15 (4.03%) SSH
10 15 (4.03%) WAN
10 15 (4.03%) Wireless
11 14 (3.76%) VSAN
11 14 (3.76%) Wi-Fi
12 13 (3.49%) BGP
12 13 (3.49%) Cisco ASA
12 13 (3.49%) Cisco Firepower
12 13 (3.49%) SAN
13 12 (3.23%) Cisco Nexus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 28 (7.53%) SQL Server
2 11 (2.96%) MySQL
2 11 (2.96%) PostgreSQL
3 9 (2.42%) Amazon RDS
3 9 (2.42%) MongoDB
3 9 (2.42%) Power BI
4 8 (2.15%) Relational Database
5 5 (1.34%) Elasticsearch
6 4 (1.08%) Db2
7 3 (0.81%) Big Data
7 3 (0.81%) NoSQL
8 2 (0.54%) MariaDB
8 2 (0.54%) Metadata
8 2 (0.54%) RDBMS
9 1 (0.27%) Amazon Aurora
9 1 (0.27%) DynamoDB
9 1 (0.27%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 21 (5.65%) Git
1 21 (5.65%) GitLab
2 17 (4.57%) JIRA
3 14 (3.76%) Jenkins
4 5 (1.34%) Sonatype Nexus
5 3 (0.81%) Terragrunt
6 2 (0.54%) Artifactory
6 2 (0.54%) Burp Suite
6 2 (0.54%) Cucumber
6 2 (0.54%) Gatling
6 2 (0.54%) Gradle
6 2 (0.54%) LoadRunner
6 2 (0.54%) MSI
6 2 (0.54%) REST Assured
6 2 (0.54%) SonarQube
7 1 (0.27%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.27%) Robot Framework
General
1 86 (23.12%) Social Skills
2 45 (12.10%) Finance
3 38 (10.22%) Analytical Skills
4 30 (8.06%) Public Sector
5 20 (5.38%) Documentation Skills
6 17 (4.57%) Banking
7 7 (1.88%) Military
8 6 (1.61%) Legal
8 6 (1.61%) Police
9 5 (1.34%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 5 (1.34%) Influencing Skills
10 4 (1.08%) Automotive
10 4 (1.08%) Law
11 3 (0.81%) Aerospace
11 3 (0.81%) Investment Banking
11 3 (0.81%) Retail
12 2 (0.54%) Corporate Banking
12 2 (0.54%) Organisational Skills
12 2 (0.54%) Retail Banking
13 1 (0.27%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 70 (18.82%) Senior
2 53 (14.25%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 43 (11.56%) Architect
4 27 (7.26%) Network Engineer
5 26 (6.99%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
6 24 (6.45%) Platform Engineer
7 20 (5.38%) Support Engineer
8 18 (4.84%) DevOps Engineer
8 18 (4.84%) Senior Network Engineer
9 17 (4.57%) 3rd Line Engineer
10 16 (4.30%) Consultant
11 15 (4.03%) Solutions Architect
12 14 (3.76%) Lead
12 14 (3.76%) Storage Engineer
13 11 (2.96%) Active Directory Engineer
13 11 (2.96%) Security Architect
13 11 (2.96%) Security Engineer
14 10 (2.69%) Cloud Engineer
15 8 (2.15%) AWS Engineer
15 8 (2.15%) Integration Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 73 (19.62%) Terraform
2 32 (8.60%) OpenID
3 28 (7.53%) SAML
4 27 (7.26%) LDAP
5 23 (6.18%) OAuth
6 22 (5.91%) 802.1X
7 18 (4.84%) REST
8 17 (4.57%) Kafka
9 14 (3.76%) Keycloak
10 13 (3.49%) OAuth2
11 10 (2.69%) .NET
12 8 (2.15%) .NET Framework
12 8 (2.15%) FIDO
12 8 (2.15%) XML
13 7 (1.88%) RabbitMQ
13 7 (1.88%) WebAuthn
14 5 (1.34%) JSON
14 5 (1.34%) RESTful
14 5 (1.34%) SailPoint
14 5 (1.34%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 30 (8.06%) Data Centre
2 26 (6.99%) Clustering
3 25 (6.72%) Cloud Native
4 22 (5.91%) Onboarding
5 15 (4.03%) Distributed Systems
5 15 (4.03%) Public Cloud
6 13 (3.49%) Linux Command Line
6 13 (3.49%) Security Posture
7 12 (3.23%) Enterprise Software
8 11 (2.96%) Management Information System
8 11 (2.96%) Replication
9 10 (2.69%) Hybrid Cloud
9 10 (2.69%) Legacy Systems
10 8 (2.15%) Self-Motivation
11 6 (1.61%) Enterprise Storage
11 6 (1.61%) Operational Technology
11 6 (1.61%) Smartcard
12 5 (1.34%) Data Protection Act
12 5 (1.34%) Mainframe
12 5 (1.34%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 162 (43.55%) Windows
2 112 (30.11%) Linux
3 93 (25.00%) Windows Server
4 16 (4.30%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 14 (3.76%) Ubuntu
5 14 (3.76%) Windows Server 2016
6 13 (3.49%) Unix
7 9 (2.42%) Windows Server 2012
8 8 (2.15%) Windows Server 2019
9 6 (1.61%) Android
10 5 (1.34%) Apple iOS
10 5 (1.34%) Debian
10 5 (1.34%) Mac OS
10 5 (1.34%) Windows 10
11 4 (1.08%) CentOS
12 2 (0.54%) Data ONTAP
13 1 (0.27%) VMS
13 1 (0.27%) Windows Server 2003
13 1 (0.27%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 97 (26.08%) Identity Access Management
2 74 (19.89%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 69 (18.55%) Cybersecurity
3 69 (18.55%) Infrastructure as Code
4 62 (16.67%) DevOps
5 60 (16.13%) CI/CD
5 60 (16.13%) ITIL
6 59 (15.86%) Problem-Solving
7 53 (14.25%) Stakeholder Management
8 51 (13.71%) Zero Trust
9 50 (13.44%) High Availability
10 49 (13.17%) Key Management
10 49 (13.17%) Technical Leadership
11 45 (12.10%) Agile
11 45 (12.10%) Continuous Improvement
12 43 (11.56%) Platform Engineering
12 43 (11.56%) Secrets Management
13 40 (10.75%) Change Management
13 40 (10.75%) Mentoring
14 39 (10.48%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 106 (28.49%) PowerShell
2 80 (21.51%) Python
3 41 (11.02%) Bash
4 16 (4.30%) SQL
5 11 (2.96%) C#
6 10 (2.69%) Go
6 10 (2.69%) JavaScript
7 9 (2.42%) Java
8 3 (0.81%) C++
8 3 (0.81%) Ruby
9 2 (0.54%) Shell Script
10 1 (0.27%) Bicep
Qualifications
1 180 (48.39%) Security Cleared
2 99 (26.61%) DV Cleared
3 93 (25.00%) SC Cleared
4 23 (6.18%) Cisco Certification
4 23 (6.18%) Microsoft Certification
5 20 (5.38%) CISSP
5 20 (5.38%) Degree
6 19 (5.11%) Azure Certification
7 18 (4.84%) CCNP
8 13 (3.49%) AWS Certification
8 13 (3.49%) MCSE
9 12 (3.23%) VCAP
10 10 (2.69%) CISM
11 7 (1.88%) BPSS Clearance
12 6 (1.61%) GIAC
12 6 (1.61%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
12 6 (1.61%) MCSA
13 5 (1.34%) ISTQB
13 5 (1.34%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
13 5 (1.34%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 36 (9.68%) NIST
2 27 (7.26%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 21 (5.65%) NCSC
4 15 (4.03%) SLA
5 8 (2.15%) JSP 440
6 7 (1.88%) GRC
7 6 (1.61%) QA
8 5 (1.34%) SOC 2
9 3 (0.81%) GDPR
9 3 (0.81%) NIST 800
10 2 (0.54%) Government Security Classifications
10 2 (0.54%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 2 (0.54%) ITGC
10 2 (0.54%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 1 (0.27%) Accessibility
11 1 (0.27%) Cyber Essentials
11 1 (0.27%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 1 (0.27%) PCI DSS
11 1 (0.27%) PSD2
System Software
1 182 (48.92%) Active Directory
2 75 (20.16%) VMware Infrastructure
3 43 (11.56%) Docker
4 33 (8.87%) Hyper-V
5 28 (7.53%) VMware NSX
6 24 (6.45%) vSphere
7 15 (4.03%) VMware ESXi
8 9 (2.42%) Virtual Machines
9 7 (1.88%) Virtual Desktop
10 5 (1.34%) Virtual Servers
11 4 (1.08%) NFS
11 4 (1.08%) OpenSSH
12 3 (0.81%) BitLocker
12 3 (0.81%) Microsoft App-V
12 3 (0.81%) OpenAM
12 3 (0.81%) Terminal Services
12 3 (0.81%) UAG
13 2 (0.54%) DFS Replication
13 2 (0.54%) XenApp
13 2 (0.54%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 81 (21.77%) Kubernetes
2 64 (17.20%) Ansible
3 37 (9.95%) Single Sign-On
4 23 (6.18%) Microsoft Intune
4 23 (6.18%) vCenter Server
5 19 (5.11%) VxRail
6 16 (4.30%) Prometheus
6 16 (4.30%) SCOM
7 15 (4.03%) Grafana
8 14 (3.76%) Avamar
8 14 (3.76%) SCCM
9 11 (2.96%) Puppet
10 10 (2.69%) Istio
10 10 (2.69%) WSUS
11 8 (2.15%) Failover Clustering
12 6 (1.61%) Kibana
13 5 (1.34%) McAfee ePO
13 5 (1.34%) Nessus
14 4 (1.08%) CA Single Sign-On
14 4 (1.08%) WMI
Vendors
1 162 (43.55%) Microsoft
2 91 (24.46%) VMware
3 40 (10.75%) Cisco
4 30 (8.06%) Thales
5 26 (6.99%) ServiceNow
6 24 (6.45%) Okta
7 20 (5.38%) Dell
8 19 (5.11%) BeyondTrust
9 16 (4.30%) CyberArk
10 15 (4.03%) Citrix
10 15 (4.03%) Google
11 11 (2.96%) Fortinet
11 11 (2.96%) Juniper
11 11 (2.96%) Palo Alto
12 10 (2.69%) CheckPoint
13 9 (2.42%) SolarWinds
14 8 (2.15%) McAfee
14 8 (2.15%) NetApp
15 7 (1.88%) BMC
15 7 (1.88%) Remedy