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

6 months to
24 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 323 312 223
Rank change year-on-year -11 -89 +103
Contract jobs citing PKI 283 218 465
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.74% 0.69% 1.05%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.18% 2.13% 3.43%
Number of daily rates quoted 213 121 279
10th Percentile £400 £413 £400
25th Percentile £487 £475 £500
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £575 £590
Median % change year-on-year -4.35% -2.54% -1.67%
75th Percentile £688 £649 £675
90th Percentile £838 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £550 £556 £570
% change year-on-year -0.99% -2.54% +2.24%
Number of hourly rates quoted 5 0 5
10th Percentile £74.80 - £46.38
25th Percentile £82.00 - -
Median hourly rate £90.00 - £55.00
75th Percentile £100.00 - £56.40
90th Percentile £103.30 - £63.06
UK excluding London median hourly rate £90.00 - £55.00

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 13,007 10,237 13,561
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 34.23% 32.38% 30.76%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,213 6,075 8,860
10th Percentile £278 £263 £256
25th Percentile £406 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £530 £538
Median % change year-on-year -5.66% -1.40% -4.02%
75th Percentile £625 £663 £650
90th Percentile £738 £775 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 622 310 706
10th Percentile £14.59 £18.51 £14.19
25th Percentile £18.26 £23.65 £17.66
Median hourly rate £27.63 £35.00 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -21.07% - +56.74%
75th Percentile £61.25 £65.00 £60.00
90th Percentile £74.97 £82.25 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £27.36 £32.50 £35.50
% change year-on-year -15.83% -8.45% +77.50%

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 January 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 January 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for PKI in the UK

PKI
Top 14 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 January 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 +25 263 £550 -3.51% 65
UK excluding London -62 160 £550 -0.99% 52
London +49 98 £605 +0.83% 20
Work from Home -13 78 £700 +20.17% 35
South East +13 66 £600 -2.44% 25
South West -45 37 £550 - 11
Midlands -26 31 £400 -5.88% 2
West Midlands -28 31 £400 -5.88% 1
North of England -58 18 £489 -32.62% 10
North West -24 10 £500 +2.56% 3
Yorkshire -56 8 £487 -32.83% 5
Scotland -27 6 £650 +48.57% 1
East of England - 3 £550 - 4
Wales -7 1 £550 +20.22%

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 38 (13.43%) Microsoft Exchange
2 14 (4.95%) SharePoint
3 8 (2.83%) Confluence
4 7 (2.47%) IIS
5 6 (2.12%) Skype for Business
6 4 (1.41%) SharePoint Server
7 3 (1.06%) Exchange Server 2010
7 3 (1.06%) nginx
8 1 (0.35%) Apache
8 1 (0.35%) JBoss
Applications
1 16 (5.65%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (0.71%) Microsoft Excel
Cloud Services
1 51 (18.02%) Azure
2 49 (17.31%) AWS
3 29 (10.25%) IaaS
4 22 (7.77%) Microsoft 365
5 20 (7.07%) Entra ID
6 12 (4.24%) GitHub
7 9 (3.18%) AWS CloudFormation
7 9 (3.18%) OpenShift
8 8 (2.83%) GCP
8 8 (2.83%) Virtual Private Cloud
9 7 (2.47%) SaaS
10 6 (2.12%) PaaS
11 5 (1.77%) AWS KMS
12 4 (1.41%) Amazon ECS
12 4 (1.41%) Amazon EKS
12 4 (1.41%) AWS Fargate
12 4 (1.41%) Power Platform
13 3 (1.06%) Azure DevOps
13 3 (1.06%) Power Automate
13 3 (1.06%) Route 53
Communications & Networking
1 58 (20.49%) Firewall
2 56 (19.79%) DNS
3 38 (13.43%) BGP
3 38 (13.43%) VPN
4 30 (10.60%) IPsec
5 29 (10.25%) Network Security
6 28 (9.89%) WAN
7 25 (8.83%) DHCP
7 25 (8.83%) MPLS
8 24 (8.48%) SSL
9 16 (5.65%) Skype
10 12 (4.24%) OSPF
11 10 (3.53%) TCP/IP
12 9 (3.18%) S/MIME
13 8 (2.83%) Cisco IOS
13 8 (2.83%) HTTPS
14 7 (2.47%) Junos
14 7 (2.47%) LAN
15 6 (2.12%) Cisco ISE
15 6 (2.12%) Kerberos
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (3.89%) SQL Server
2 6 (2.12%) Elasticsearch
3 4 (1.41%) Amazon RDS
3 4 (1.41%) MongoDB
4 1 (0.35%) Amazon QuickSight
4 1 (0.35%) Redis
Development Applications
1 13 (4.59%) JIRA
2 12 (4.24%) GitLab
3 6 (2.12%) Jenkins
4 4 (1.41%) Robot Framework
4 4 (1.41%) Sonatype Nexus
4 4 (1.41%) Terragrunt
5 2 (0.71%) Git
6 1 (0.35%) Artifactory
6 1 (0.35%) CircleCI
6 1 (0.35%) JUnit
6 1 (0.35%) MSI
6 1 (0.35%) SpecFlow
General
1 49 (17.31%) Analytical Skills
2 46 (16.25%) Social Skills
3 34 (12.01%) Public Sector
4 22 (7.77%) Finance
5 13 (4.59%) Military
6 6 (2.12%) Banking
7 5 (1.77%) Documentation Skills
8 4 (1.41%) Presentation Skills
9 2 (0.71%) Financial Institution
9 2 (0.71%) Legal
9 2 (0.71%) Local Government
10 1 (0.35%) Aerospace
10 1 (0.35%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 1 (0.35%) Influencing Skills
10 1 (0.35%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 89 (31.45%) Architect
2 31 (10.95%) Senior
3 25 (8.83%) 3rd Line Engineer
3 25 (8.83%) Infrastructure Engineer
3 25 (8.83%) Support Engineer
4 19 (6.71%) 3rd Line Support
5 18 (6.36%) 3rd Line Support Engineer
5 18 (6.36%) Network Engineer
6 17 (6.01%) Wintel Engineer
7 16 (5.65%) Security Architect
8 14 (4.95%) Administrator
8 14 (4.95%) Platform Manager
8 14 (4.95%) Systems Administrator
8 14 (4.95%) Systems Manager
8 14 (4.95%) Wintel Administrator
8 14 (4.95%) Wintel Systems Administrator
9 12 (4.24%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
10 10 (3.53%) 2nd Line Engineer
10 10 (3.53%) Lead
11 9 (3.18%) WAN Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 31 (10.95%) REST
2 28 (9.89%) JSON
3 15 (5.30%) OpenID
4 10 (3.53%) OAuth
4 10 (3.53%) SAML
5 9 (3.18%) LDAP
5 9 (3.18%) OAuth2
6 6 (2.12%) Elastic Stack
7 5 (1.77%) Kafka
8 4 (1.41%) AWS CDK
8 4 (1.41%) cloud-init
8 4 (1.41%) Keycloak
9 3 (1.06%) .NET
9 3 (1.06%) CSS
9 3 (1.06%) HTML
9 3 (1.06%) JDBC
9 3 (1.06%) SOAP
10 2 (0.71%) 802.1X
10 2 (0.71%) Microsoft Graph
10 2 (0.71%) ModSecurity
Miscellaneous
1 29 (10.25%) Self-Motivation
2 13 (4.59%) Fat Client
2 13 (4.59%) Thin Client
3 11 (3.89%) Algorithms
3 11 (3.89%) Data Centre
4 8 (2.83%) Private Cloud
5 7 (2.47%) Management Information System
6 5 (1.77%) Public Cloud
6 5 (1.77%) Replication
6 5 (1.77%) Smartcard
7 4 (1.41%) Clustering
7 4 (1.41%) Enterprise Storage
7 4 (1.41%) Legacy Applications
7 4 (1.41%) Onboarding
7 4 (1.41%) Security Operations Centre
7 4 (1.41%) Security Posture
8 3 (1.06%) Cloud Native
8 3 (1.06%) Cyber Defence
8 3 (1.06%) Taxonomies
9 2 (0.71%) CESG
Operating Systems
1 93 (32.86%) Windows
2 49 (17.31%) Linux
3 45 (15.90%) Windows Server
4 13 (4.59%) Windows 10
5 11 (3.89%) Windows 7
6 9 (3.18%) Windows Server 2012
7 7 (2.47%) CentOS
8 6 (2.12%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 6 (2.12%) Unix
9 5 (1.77%) Windows Server 2008
9 5 (1.77%) Windows Server 2016
9 5 (1.77%) Windows Server 2019
10 4 (1.41%) Ubuntu
11 3 (1.06%) VMS
11 3 (1.06%) Windows Server 2003
12 1 (0.35%) Android
12 1 (0.35%) Solaris
Processes & Methodologies
1 80 (28.27%) Agile
2 66 (23.32%) Key Management
3 37 (13.07%) ITIL
4 35 (12.37%) Change Management
5 34 (12.01%) CI/CD
6 32 (11.31%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 30 (10.60%) Configuration Management
7 30 (10.60%) Problem-Solving
8 28 (9.89%) Cybersecurity
8 28 (9.89%) DevOps
9 25 (8.83%) Identity Access Management
9 25 (8.83%) Information Security
9 25 (8.83%) SIEM
10 24 (8.48%) Incident Response
10 24 (8.48%) Platform Engineering
10 24 (8.48%) Security Architecture
10 24 (8.48%) Service Management
11 23 (8.13%) Containerisation
12 22 (7.77%) Cryptography
12 22 (7.77%) Infrastructure as Code
Programming Languages
1 70 (24.73%) PowerShell
2 44 (15.55%) Python
3 21 (7.42%) SQL
4 19 (6.71%) Bash
5 7 (2.47%) JavaScript
6 6 (2.12%) Perl
7 5 (1.77%) C++
7 5 (1.77%) Java
7 5 (1.77%) Shell Script
8 4 (1.41%) Go
9 1 (0.35%) Bicep
9 1 (0.35%) C
9 1 (0.35%) C#
9 1 (0.35%) Kusto Query Language
9 1 (0.35%) PHP
Qualifications
1 199 (70.32%) Security Cleared
2 104 (36.75%) SC Cleared
3 91 (32.16%) DV Cleared
4 34 (12.01%) Degree
5 25 (8.83%) Microsoft Certification
6 23 (8.13%) CISSP
7 20 (7.07%) Cisco Certification
8 17 (6.01%) CISM
9 15 (5.30%) CCNP
10 12 (4.24%) MCSE
11 10 (3.53%) Computer Science Degree
12 8 (2.83%) Master's Degree
13 7 (2.47%) ITIL Certification
14 6 (2.12%) AWS Certification
14 6 (2.12%) CCNA
14 6 (2.12%) GIAC
14 6 (2.12%) IISP
14 6 (2.12%) ISACA
14 6 (2.12%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
15 5 (1.77%) JNCIA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (5.65%) NCSC
2 14 (4.95%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 14 (4.95%) NIST
3 11 (3.89%) PCI DSS
4 7 (2.47%) GDPR
5 4 (1.41%) RMADS
5 4 (1.41%) SLA
6 3 (1.06%) JSP 440
7 2 (0.71%) Cyber Essentials
7 2 (0.71%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 2 (0.71%) FIPS 140-2
7 2 (0.71%) HIPAA
7 2 (0.71%) NIST 800
7 2 (0.71%) SOC 1
8 1 (0.35%) Accessibility
8 1 (0.35%) HMG Security Policy Framework
8 1 (0.35%) PSD2
8 1 (0.35%) SOC 2
System Software
1 87 (30.74%) Active Directory
2 46 (16.25%) VMware Infrastructure
3 20 (7.07%) Docker
4 12 (4.24%) Firmware
4 12 (4.24%) VMware ESXi
5 11 (3.89%) Hyper-V
5 11 (3.89%) VMware NSX
6 9 (3.18%) vSphere
7 5 (1.77%) Microsoft Virtual Server
7 5 (1.77%) Virtual Servers
8 4 (1.41%) BitLocker
8 4 (1.41%) Virtual Machines
9 3 (1.06%) Microsoft App-V
9 3 (1.06%) Sendmail
10 2 (0.71%) Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services
11 1 (0.35%) NFS
11 1 (0.35%) Squid
11 1 (0.35%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 29 (10.25%) Ansible
1 29 (10.25%) Kubernetes
1 29 (10.25%) Terraform
2 22 (7.77%) vCenter Server
3 20 (7.07%) Single Sign-On
4 14 (4.95%) WSUS
5 13 (4.59%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 13 (4.59%) Microsoft Intune
6 12 (4.24%) SCCM
6 12 (4.24%) WMI
7 10 (3.53%) SCOM
8 5 (1.77%) Grafana
8 5 (1.77%) Prometheus
9 4 (1.41%) Jamf Pro
9 4 (1.41%) Packer
9 4 (1.41%) Podman
9 4 (1.41%) QRadar
10 3 (1.06%) FortiGate
10 3 (1.06%) OPNET
10 3 (1.06%) vMotion
Vendors
1 92 (32.51%) Microsoft
2 71 (25.09%) VMware
3 41 (14.49%) Cisco
4 34 (12.01%) Juniper
5 22 (7.77%) Splunk
6 15 (5.30%) SolarWinds
6 15 (5.30%) Veeam
7 12 (4.24%) Thales
8 10 (3.53%) Palo Alto
9 7 (2.47%) Broadcom
9 7 (2.47%) Citrix
9 7 (2.47%) Dell
10 6 (2.12%) Aruba
10 6 (2.12%) Fortinet
10 6 (2.12%) Google
11 5 (1.77%) CheckPoint
11 5 (1.77%) CyberArk
11 5 (1.77%) Netskope
11 5 (1.77%) Red Hat
11 5 (1.77%) ServiceNow