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 17 September 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 363 335 292
Rank change year-on-year -28 -43 -21
Contract jobs citing PKI 355 229 309
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.65% 0.70% 0.81%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.91% 1.96% 2.65%
Number of daily rates quoted 251 180 208
10th Percentile £420 £350 £410
25th Percentile £463 £463 £462
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £550 £544
Median % change year-on-year - +1.15% -5.43%
75th Percentile £638 £625 £608
90th Percentile £700 £694 £671
UK excluding London median daily rate £550 £550 £540
% change year-on-year - +1.85% -6.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 10 0 4
10th Percentile £94.90 - -
25th Percentile £96.00 - -
Median hourly rate £97.41 - £23.80
75th Percentile £98.82 - £27.91
90th Percentile £100.00 - £35.32
UK excluding London median hourly rate £97.41 - £38.50
% change year-on-year - - -30.00%

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 18,579 11,706 11,640
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 33.99% 35.54% 30.44%
Number of daily rates quoted 11,149 7,155 7,137
10th Percentile £325 £299 £294
25th Percentile £425 £406 £415
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £515 £540
Median % change year-on-year +1.94% -4.63% -1.82%
75th Percentile £638 £638 £675
90th Percentile £749 £756 £802
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,179 586 477
10th Percentile £14.07 £15.13 £14.41
25th Percentile £17.99 £18.87 £21.25
Median hourly rate £37.50 £30.00 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year +25.00% -40.00% +11.11%
75th Percentile £68.75 £55.00 £70.00
90th Percentile £83.00 £73.75 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £38.72 £30.05 £57.35
% change year-on-year +28.84% -47.60% +17.04%

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 17 September 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 17 September 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 17 September 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 -66 290 £563 +2.27% 278
UK excluding London -26 238 £550 - 165
London -76 89 £531 -9.19% 119
Work from Home -30 87 £570 +3.64% 104
South East -23 83 £575 - 48
North of England -28 65 £525 +6.71% 30
Scotland +9 38 £481 -12.55% 13
North West -18 36 £525 +6.71% 16
South West -58 34 £648 +17.73% 44
Yorkshire -19 28 £533 -11.25% 12
Midlands -73 8 £475 +18.75% 17
East of England -25 7 £500 -4.76% 8
West Midlands -77 7 £475 +18.75% 13
Wales - 6 £463 - 3
East Midlands -7 1 £475 - 4
North East - 1 £426 - 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 18 (5.07%) Microsoft Exchange
2 14 (3.94%) Confluence
3 10 (2.82%) SharePoint
4 6 (1.69%) IIS
5 3 (0.85%) Apache
5 3 (0.85%) Exchange Server 2010
6 2 (0.56%) nginx
6 2 (0.56%) Tomcat
6 2 (0.56%) WebSphere
7 1 (0.28%) Traefik
Applications
1 4 (1.13%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 9 (2.54%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.28%) Dynamics GP
Cloud Services
1 119 (33.52%) Azure
2 88 (24.79%) AWS
3 74 (20.85%) Entra ID
4 40 (11.27%) GCP
5 17 (4.79%) Microsoft 365
6 16 (4.51%) Power Platform
7 14 (3.94%) Azure Key Vault
8 10 (2.82%) GitHub
8 10 (2.82%) IaaS
8 10 (2.82%) OpenShift
9 9 (2.54%) PaaS
9 9 (2.54%) SaaS
10 7 (1.97%) AWS KMS
10 7 (1.97%) Azure DevOps
11 6 (1.69%) Amazon EKS
11 6 (1.69%) GitHub Actions
11 6 (1.69%) Google Kubernetes Engine
11 6 (1.69%) OCI
12 5 (1.41%) Azure Monitor
13 4 (1.13%) Rubrik
Communications & Networking
1 106 (29.86%) DNS
2 76 (21.41%) DHCP
3 74 (20.85%) Firewall
4 39 (10.99%) VPN
5 34 (9.58%) TCP/IP
6 28 (7.89%) SSL
7 26 (7.32%) Network Security
8 18 (5.07%) LAN
9 17 (4.79%) VLAN
9 17 (4.79%) WAN
10 16 (4.51%) VSAN
11 15 (4.23%) BGP
11 15 (4.23%) IPsec
11 15 (4.23%) Wireless
12 14 (3.94%) SSH
13 13 (3.66%) Cisco ASA
13 13 (3.66%) Cisco Firepower
13 13 (3.66%) Cisco Nexus
13 13 (3.66%) OSPF
13 13 (3.66%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 28 (7.89%) SQL Server
2 11 (3.10%) Power BI
3 8 (2.25%) MySQL
3 8 (2.25%) PostgreSQL
4 7 (1.97%) MongoDB
5 6 (1.69%) Elasticsearch
5 6 (1.69%) Relational Database
6 5 (1.41%) Amazon RDS
7 4 (1.13%) Db2
8 3 (0.85%) Big Data
8 3 (0.85%) NoSQL
9 2 (0.56%) Metadata
9 2 (0.56%) RDBMS
10 1 (0.28%) DynamoDB
10 1 (0.28%) MariaDB
10 1 (0.28%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 17 (4.79%) JIRA
2 16 (4.51%) Git
2 16 (4.51%) GitLab
3 12 (3.38%) Jenkins
4 3 (0.85%) Sonatype Nexus
4 3 (0.85%) Terragrunt
5 2 (0.56%) Burp Suite
5 2 (0.56%) Cucumber
5 2 (0.56%) Gatling
5 2 (0.56%) Gradle
5 2 (0.56%) LoadRunner
5 2 (0.56%) MSI
5 2 (0.56%) REST Assured
5 2 (0.56%) SonarQube
6 1 (0.28%) Robot Framework
General
1 78 (21.97%) Social Skills
2 46 (12.96%) Finance
3 35 (9.86%) Analytical Skills
4 29 (8.17%) Public Sector
5 19 (5.35%) Documentation Skills
6 17 (4.79%) Banking
7 7 (1.97%) Military
8 6 (1.69%) Legal
9 5 (1.41%) Influencing Skills
9 5 (1.41%) Police
9 5 (1.41%) Retail
10 4 (1.13%) Automotive
10 4 (1.13%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 3 (0.85%) Aerospace
11 3 (0.85%) Investment Banking
11 3 (0.85%) Law
12 2 (0.56%) Corporate Banking
12 2 (0.56%) Organisational Skills
12 2 (0.56%) Retail Banking
13 1 (0.28%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 71 (20.00%) Senior
2 54 (15.21%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 40 (11.27%) Architect
4 27 (7.61%) Network Engineer
5 26 (7.32%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
6 25 (7.04%) Platform Engineer
7 20 (5.63%) Support Engineer
8 18 (5.07%) 3rd Line Engineer
8 18 (5.07%) Senior Network Engineer
9 16 (4.51%) Consultant
10 15 (4.23%) DevOps Engineer
10 15 (4.23%) Storage Engineer
11 14 (3.94%) Lead
12 12 (3.38%) Solutions Architect
13 11 (3.10%) Cloud Engineer
14 10 (2.82%) Active Directory Engineer
15 9 (2.54%) Linux Engineer
15 9 (2.54%) Security Architect
16 8 (2.25%) AWS Engineer
16 8 (2.25%) VMware Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 67 (18.87%) Terraform
2 28 (7.89%) LDAP
2 28 (7.89%) OpenID
3 27 (7.61%) SAML
4 23 (6.48%) 802.1X
5 20 (5.63%) OAuth
6 16 (4.51%) REST
7 12 (3.38%) Kafka
7 12 (3.38%) OAuth2
8 10 (2.82%) .NET
8 10 (2.82%) Keycloak
9 8 (2.25%) .NET Framework
9 8 (2.25%) XML
10 7 (1.97%) RabbitMQ
11 6 (1.69%) FIDO
12 5 (1.41%) JSON
12 5 (1.41%) Middleware
12 5 (1.41%) SailPoint
12 5 (1.41%) WebAuthn
13 4 (1.13%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 32 (9.01%) Data Centre
2 29 (8.17%) Clustering
3 21 (5.92%) Cloud Native
4 17 (4.79%) Public Cloud
5 16 (4.51%) Onboarding
6 14 (3.94%) Distributed Systems
7 13 (3.66%) Linux Command Line
8 12 (3.38%) Security Posture
9 11 (3.10%) Hybrid Cloud
10 10 (2.82%) Legacy Systems
11 8 (2.25%) Enterprise Software
11 8 (2.25%) Enterprise Storage
11 8 (2.25%) Management Information System
11 8 (2.25%) Replication
11 8 (2.25%) Self-Motivation
12 6 (1.69%) Private Cloud
12 6 (1.69%) Smartcard
13 5 (1.41%) Data Protection Act
13 5 (1.41%) Distributed Architecture
13 5 (1.41%) Mainframe
Operating Systems
1 163 (45.92%) Windows
2 109 (30.70%) Linux
3 93 (26.20%) Windows Server
4 14 (3.94%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 14 (3.94%) Windows Server 2016
5 13 (3.66%) Unix
6 12 (3.38%) Ubuntu
7 10 (2.82%) Windows Server 2012
8 8 (2.25%) Windows Server 2019
9 6 (1.69%) Android
9 6 (1.69%) Debian
10 5 (1.41%) Apple iOS
10 5 (1.41%) Mac OS
11 4 (1.13%) CentOS
11 4 (1.13%) Windows 10
12 3 (0.85%) Data ONTAP
13 2 (0.56%) Windows Server 2003
14 1 (0.28%) VMS
14 1 (0.28%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 94 (26.48%) Identity Access Management
2 70 (19.72%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 64 (18.03%) Infrastructure as Code
4 62 (17.46%) Cybersecurity
5 58 (16.34%) ITIL
5 58 (16.34%) Problem-Solving
6 57 (16.06%) DevOps
7 52 (14.65%) CI/CD
8 51 (14.37%) High Availability
9 49 (13.80%) Zero Trust
10 47 (13.24%) Key Management
11 45 (12.68%) Stakeholder Management
11 45 (12.68%) Technical Leadership
12 43 (12.11%) Agile
12 43 (12.11%) Continuous Improvement
13 41 (11.55%) Platform Engineering
14 40 (11.27%) Secrets Management
15 38 (10.70%) Change Management
16 36 (10.14%) Cryptography
16 36 (10.14%) Mentoring
Programming Languages
1 100 (28.17%) PowerShell
2 70 (19.72%) Python
3 38 (10.70%) Bash
4 15 (4.23%) SQL
5 10 (2.82%) JavaScript
6 9 (2.54%) C#
6 9 (2.54%) Java
7 8 (2.25%) Go
8 3 (0.85%) Ruby
9 2 (0.56%) Shell Script
10 1 (0.28%) Bicep
10 1 (0.28%) C++
Qualifications
1 177 (49.86%) Security Cleared
2 100 (28.17%) DV Cleared
3 85 (23.94%) SC Cleared
4 26 (7.32%) Cisco Certification
5 22 (6.20%) Microsoft Certification
6 20 (5.63%) Degree
7 18 (5.07%) CCNP
7 18 (5.07%) CISSP
8 16 (4.51%) Azure Certification
9 12 (3.38%) AWS Certification
9 12 (3.38%) MCSE
9 12 (3.38%) VCAP
10 10 (2.82%) CISM
11 7 (1.97%) BPSS Clearance
12 6 (1.69%) GIAC
13 5 (1.41%) Computer Science Degree
13 5 (1.41%) ISTQB
13 5 (1.41%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
13 5 (1.41%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
13 5 (1.41%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 39 (10.99%) NIST
2 28 (7.89%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 24 (6.76%) NCSC
4 14 (3.94%) SLA
5 8 (2.25%) JSP 440
6 7 (1.97%) GRC
7 6 (1.69%) QA
8 5 (1.41%) GDPR
8 5 (1.41%) SOC 2
9 4 (1.13%) Cyber Essentials
10 3 (0.85%) NIST 800
11 2 (0.56%) Government Security Classifications
11 2 (0.56%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 2 (0.56%) ITGC
11 2 (0.56%) PCI DSS
11 2 (0.56%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 1 (0.28%) Accessibility
12 1 (0.28%) HMG Security Policy Framework
12 1 (0.28%) PSD2
System Software
1 174 (49.01%) Active Directory
2 75 (21.13%) VMware Infrastructure
3 40 (11.27%) Docker
4 32 (9.01%) Hyper-V
5 31 (8.73%) VMware NSX
6 22 (6.20%) vSphere
7 14 (3.94%) VMware ESXi
8 7 (1.97%) Virtual Desktop
9 6 (1.69%) Virtual Machines
10 5 (1.41%) BitLocker
11 4 (1.13%) Microsoft App-V
11 4 (1.13%) NFS
11 4 (1.13%) OpenSSH
12 3 (0.85%) OpenAM
12 3 (0.85%) Terminal Services
12 3 (0.85%) UAG
13 2 (0.56%) Firmware
13 2 (0.56%) Virtual Servers
13 2 (0.56%) XenApp
13 2 (0.56%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 74 (20.85%) Kubernetes
2 61 (17.18%) Ansible
3 34 (9.58%) Single Sign-On
4 24 (6.76%) Microsoft Intune
4 24 (6.76%) vCenter Server
5 17 (4.79%) VxRail
6 15 (4.23%) SCOM
7 14 (3.94%) Avamar
8 12 (3.38%) Grafana
8 12 (3.38%) Prometheus
9 10 (2.82%) SCCM
10 9 (2.54%) Istio
11 8 (2.25%) Puppet
11 8 (2.25%) WSUS
12 6 (1.69%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 6 (1.69%) CA Single Sign-On
12 6 (1.69%) Kibana
13 5 (1.41%) Failover Clustering
14 4 (1.13%) systemd
14 4 (1.13%) vMotion
Vendors
1 154 (43.38%) Microsoft
2 92 (25.92%) VMware
3 45 (12.68%) Cisco
4 29 (8.17%) Thales
5 28 (7.89%) ServiceNow
6 24 (6.76%) Okta
7 19 (5.35%) BeyondTrust
8 17 (4.79%) Dell
9 16 (4.51%) CyberArk
10 15 (4.23%) Google
11 14 (3.94%) Citrix
12 13 (3.66%) Juniper
13 12 (3.38%) Palo Alto
14 11 (3.10%) SolarWinds
15 10 (2.82%) CheckPoint
15 10 (2.82%) NetApp
16 9 (2.54%) BMC
16 9 (2.54%) Remedy
16 9 (2.54%) Splunk
17 8 (2.25%) Fortinet