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

6 months to
14 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 393 339 217
Rank change year-on-year -54 -122 +112
Contract jobs citing PKI 262 191 475
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.52% 0.65% 1.09%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.61% 1.88% 3.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 178 150 334
10th Percentile £413 £412 £363
25th Percentile £463 £492 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £559 £550
Median % change year-on-year -1.57% +1.59% -5.17%
75th Percentile £638 £617 £625
90th Percentile £708 £685 £675
UK excluding London median daily rate £550 £575 £550
% change year-on-year -4.35% +4.55% -2.48%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3 0 4
10th Percentile £47.22 - -
25th Percentile £56.01 - -
Median hourly rate £71.33 - £23.80
75th Percentile £72.27 - £27.91
90th Percentile £72.43 - £35.32
UK excluding London median hourly rate £71.33 - £38.50
% change year-on-year - - +156.67%

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 16,262 10,169 13,073
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 32.46% 34.38% 29.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,985 6,390 8,312
10th Percentile £315 £300 £275
25th Percentile £413 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £518 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year -1.43% -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £630 £650 £663
90th Percentile £750 £775 £800
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 821 435 942
10th Percentile £16.01 £15.84 £12.25
25th Percentile £20.89 £20.21 £15.39
Median hourly rate £41.00 £33.05 £35.65
Median % change year-on-year +24.05% -7.29% +59.08%
75th Percentile £70.00 £60.00 £61.30
90th Percentile £85.40 £82.19 £71.88
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.96 £32.43 £35.00
% change year-on-year +35.55% -7.34% +59.09%

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 June 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 June 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for PKI in the UK

PKI
Top 13 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 June 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 -58 228 £550 -4.35% 52
UK excluding London -59 171 £550 -4.35% 48
South East -2 97 £595 +3.48% 26
London -67 70 £550 -4.35% 12
Work from Home -51 58 £560 +1.82% 23
North of England -43 30 £425 -13.62% 1
North West -26 21 £422 -14.33%
Scotland -7 19 £533 -0.47% 1
South West -53 13 £538 -8.12% 9
West Midlands -63 10 £400 -8.57% 3
Midlands -66 10 £400 -8.57% 5
Yorkshire - 9 £650 - 1
East of England -28 4 £400 -23.81% 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 11 (4.20%) SharePoint
2 10 (3.82%) Confluence
3 6 (2.29%) IIS
4 5 (1.91%) Microsoft Exchange
5 3 (1.15%) Apache
5 3 (1.15%) Tomcat
5 3 (1.15%) WebSphere
6 1 (0.38%) ArcGIS
Applications
1 4 (1.53%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 10 (3.82%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.38%) Cloudability
2 1 (0.38%) Dynamics GP
Cloud Services
1 79 (30.15%) Azure
2 58 (22.14%) AWS
3 40 (15.27%) Entra ID
4 21 (8.02%) Microsoft 365
5 19 (7.25%) GCP
6 17 (6.49%) Power Platform
7 10 (3.82%) Azure Key Vault
8 9 (3.44%) IaaS
9 8 (3.05%) PaaS
10 7 (2.67%) Azure DevOps
11 6 (2.29%) AWS KMS
12 5 (1.91%) GitHub
13 4 (1.53%) Amazon EKS
13 4 (1.53%) OpenShift
14 3 (1.15%) SaaS
15 2 (0.76%) Azure Monitor
15 2 (0.76%) Azure Sentinel
15 2 (0.76%) GitHub Actions
15 2 (0.76%) OneDrive
15 2 (0.76%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 68 (25.95%) DNS
2 60 (22.90%) Firewall
3 48 (18.32%) DHCP
4 40 (15.27%) BGP
5 37 (14.12%) WAN
6 33 (12.60%) LAN
7 31 (11.83%) VPN
8 30 (11.45%) OSPF
9 28 (10.69%) Network Security
10 26 (9.92%) Ethernet VPN
10 26 (9.92%) VXLAN
11 25 (9.54%) BIG-IP
12 24 (9.16%) Cisco ISE
13 23 (8.78%) Junos
14 18 (6.87%) SSL
15 12 (4.58%) MPLS
16 10 (3.82%) Cisco ASA
16 10 (3.82%) IPsec
16 10 (3.82%) SSH
17 9 (3.44%) SMTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (5.34%) SQL Server
2 12 (4.58%) Power BI
3 8 (3.05%) Elasticsearch
4 5 (1.91%) PostgreSQL
5 4 (1.53%) MongoDB
5 4 (1.53%) MySQL
6 3 (1.15%) Amazon RDS
7 2 (0.76%) Big Data
7 2 (0.76%) Metadata
7 2 (0.76%) NoSQL
8 1 (0.38%) Amazon QuickSight
8 1 (0.38%) RDBMS
8 1 (0.38%) Relational Database
8 1 (0.38%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 12 (4.58%) JIRA
2 9 (3.44%) GitLab
3 6 (2.29%) Git
3 6 (2.29%) Jenkins
4 5 (1.91%) Robot Framework
4 5 (1.91%) Sonatype Nexus
5 3 (1.15%) Terragrunt
6 2 (0.76%) Burp Suite
6 2 (0.76%) Cucumber
6 2 (0.76%) Gatling
6 2 (0.76%) Gradle
6 2 (0.76%) LoadRunner
6 2 (0.76%) MSI
6 2 (0.76%) REST Assured
6 2 (0.76%) SonarQube
7 1 (0.38%) JUnit
General
1 32 (12.21%) Social Skills
2 31 (11.83%) Finance
3 29 (11.07%) Public Sector
4 11 (4.20%) Analytical Skills
5 9 (3.44%) Banking
6 8 (3.05%) Documentation Skills
7 4 (1.53%) Legal
7 4 (1.53%) Military
7 4 (1.53%) Retail
8 3 (1.15%) Local Government
9 2 (0.76%) Corporate Banking
9 2 (0.76%) Financial Institution
9 2 (0.76%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 2 (0.76%) Investment Banking
9 2 (0.76%) Retail Banking
10 1 (0.38%) Back Office
10 1 (0.38%) Influencing Skills
10 1 (0.38%) Law
10 1 (0.38%) Manufacturing
10 1 (0.38%) Wearables
Job Titles
1 46 (17.56%) Senior
2 39 (14.89%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 32 (12.21%) Architect
4 23 (8.78%) Network Engineer
5 19 (7.25%) 3rd Line Engineer
6 14 (5.34%) Firewall Specialist
6 14 (5.34%) Network Specialist
6 14 (5.34%) Storage Engineer
7 13 (4.96%) Support Engineer
8 12 (4.58%) Security Engineer
8 12 (4.58%) Senior Network Engineer
9 11 (4.20%) DevOps Engineer
10 10 (3.82%) 3rd Line Infrastructure Engineer
10 10 (3.82%) Lead
10 10 (3.82%) Senior Architect
10 10 (3.82%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
11 9 (3.44%) Linux Engineer
12 8 (3.05%) Analyst
13 7 (2.67%) VMware Engineer
14 6 (2.29%) NetApp Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 34 (12.98%) 802.1X
2 17 (6.49%) OpenID
3 15 (5.73%) SAML
4 14 (5.34%) REST
5 13 (4.96%) LDAP
6 12 (4.58%) OAuth
7 7 (2.67%) JSON
7 7 (2.67%) RabbitMQ
8 6 (2.29%) OAuth2
9 4 (1.53%) Kafka
9 4 (1.53%) SailPoint
10 3 (1.15%) Keycloak
10 3 (1.15%) Microsoft Graph
10 3 (1.15%) SPIFFE
11 2 (0.76%) Blazor
11 2 (0.76%) eBPF
11 2 (0.76%) Node.js
11 2 (0.76%) Playwright
11 2 (0.76%) Quarkus
11 2 (0.76%) React
Miscellaneous
1 44 (16.79%) Clustering
2 29 (11.07%) Data Centre
3 10 (3.82%) Enterprise Storage
3 10 (3.82%) Hybrid Cloud
3 10 (3.82%) Onboarding
4 9 (3.44%) Algorithms
4 9 (3.44%) Cloud Native
4 9 (3.44%) Linux Command Line
5 8 (3.05%) Public Cloud
6 7 (2.67%) Management Information System
7 6 (2.29%) Operational Technology
8 5 (1.91%) Distributed Systems
8 5 (1.91%) Private Cloud
9 4 (1.53%) Enterprise Cloud
9 4 (1.53%) Enterprise Software
9 4 (1.53%) Legacy Systems
10 3 (1.15%) Cyber Threat
10 3 (1.15%) Data Protection Act
10 3 (1.15%) Smartcard
10 3 (1.15%) Tandem
Operating Systems
1 125 (47.71%) Windows
2 69 (26.34%) Linux
3 63 (24.05%) Windows Server
4 9 (3.44%) Ubuntu
5 7 (2.67%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 7 (2.67%) Windows Server 2003
6 6 (2.29%) Debian
7 5 (1.91%) Windows Server 2019
8 4 (1.53%) Unix
8 4 (1.53%) Windows Server 2012
9 3 (1.15%) Android
9 3 (1.15%) Apple iOS
9 3 (1.15%) Mac OS
9 3 (1.15%) Windows Server 2016
10 2 (0.76%) CentOS
10 2 (0.76%) Windows 10
11 1 (0.38%) Data ONTAP
11 1 (0.38%) VMS
11 1 (0.38%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 71 (27.10%) Identity Access Management
2 45 (17.18%) ITIL
3 43 (16.41%) High Availability
4 42 (16.03%) Agile
4 42 (16.03%) Infrastructure Engineering
5 39 (14.89%) Cybersecurity
6 37 (14.12%) Problem-Solving
7 36 (13.74%) Observability
8 32 (12.21%) DevOps
8 32 (12.21%) Load Balancing
9 30 (11.45%) Zero Trust
10 27 (10.31%) CI/CD
10 27 (10.31%) Infrastructure as Code
10 27 (10.31%) ITSM
10 27 (10.31%) Service Management
11 26 (9.92%) Key Management
12 25 (9.54%) Cryptography
13 24 (9.16%) RBAC
14 22 (8.40%) Change Management
15 20 (7.63%) Project Delivery
Programming Languages
1 63 (24.05%) PowerShell
2 41 (15.65%) Python
3 13 (4.96%) SQL
4 12 (4.58%) JavaScript
5 10 (3.82%) Bash
6 8 (3.05%) C#
6 8 (3.05%) Java
7 4 (1.53%) PHP
8 3 (1.15%) C++
8 3 (1.15%) Go
9 2 (0.76%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 145 (55.34%) Security Cleared
2 92 (35.11%) DV Cleared
3 52 (19.85%) SC Cleared
4 31 (11.83%) Cisco Certification
5 18 (6.87%) Degree
6 12 (4.58%) CISSP
7 10 (3.82%) CISM
8 9 (3.44%) GIAC
8 9 (3.44%) Microsoft Certification
9 8 (3.05%) Azure Certification
9 8 (3.05%) CCNP
9 8 (3.05%) CompTIA Security+
10 7 (2.67%) JNCIA
10 7 (2.67%) JNCIP
10 7 (2.67%) JNCIS
11 6 (2.29%) MCSE
12 4 (1.53%) APMG
12 4 (1.53%) CCNA
12 4 (1.53%) Network+ Certification
12 4 (1.53%) SSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 30 (11.45%) NIST
2 20 (7.63%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 13 (4.96%) NCSC
4 10 (3.82%) Cyber Essentials
5 7 (2.67%) QA
6 6 (2.29%) SLA
7 5 (1.91%) PCI DSS
8 4 (1.53%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 4 (1.53%) GDPR
9 3 (1.15%) RMADS
10 2 (0.76%) Government Security Classifications
10 2 (0.76%) ISA99
10 2 (0.76%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 2 (0.76%) JSP 440
10 2 (0.76%) NIST 800
11 1 (0.38%) Accessibility
11 1 (0.38%) GMP
11 1 (0.38%) GRC
11 1 (0.38%) GxP
11 1 (0.38%) SOC 2
System Software
1 85 (32.44%) Active Directory
2 51 (19.47%) VMware Infrastructure
3 23 (8.78%) Docker
4 18 (6.87%) Hyper-V
4 18 (6.87%) VMware NSX
5 16 (6.11%) VMware ESXi
6 10 (3.82%) BitLocker
7 9 (3.44%) Microsoft App-V
8 7 (2.67%) Virtual Machines
9 6 (2.29%) Firmware
10 3 (1.15%) KVM
10 3 (1.15%) Terminal Services
10 3 (1.15%) Virtual Desktop
11 2 (0.76%) OpenSSH
11 2 (0.76%) vSphere
11 2 (0.76%) XenApp
11 2 (0.76%) XenDesktop
12 1 (0.38%) Embedded Firmware
12 1 (0.38%) iptables
12 1 (0.38%) Squid
Systems Management
1 46 (17.56%) Ansible
2 37 (14.12%) Kubernetes
2 37 (14.12%) Terraform
3 25 (9.54%) vCenter Server
4 23 (8.78%) FortiGate
5 22 (8.40%) Single Sign-On
6 16 (6.11%) Microsoft Intune
7 13 (4.96%) Puppet
8 12 (4.58%) SCOM
9 11 (4.20%) Prometheus
10 10 (3.82%) Grafana
11 9 (3.44%) vMotion
12 8 (3.05%) Avamar
12 8 (3.05%) SCCM
13 5 (1.91%) WMI
14 3 (1.15%) Active Directory Federation Services
14 3 (1.15%) CA Single Sign-On
14 3 (1.15%) Istio
15 2 (0.76%) Cilium
15 2 (0.76%) PingFederate
Vendors
1 84 (32.06%) Microsoft
2 70 (26.72%) VMware
3 56 (21.37%) Cisco
4 36 (13.74%) Splunk
5 31 (11.83%) Juniper
6 29 (11.07%) F5
7 27 (10.31%) SolarWinds
8 22 (8.40%) Extreme Networks
8 22 (8.40%) ServiceNow
9 19 (7.25%) Citrix
10 18 (6.87%) Thales
11 14 (5.34%) Okta
11 14 (5.34%) Palo Alto
12 10 (3.82%) BMC
12 10 (3.82%) Dell
12 10 (3.82%) Remedy
13 9 (3.44%) NetApp
14 8 (3.05%) BeyondTrust
14 8 (3.05%) ForeScout
15 7 (2.67%) IBM