Sarbanes-Oxley Contract Job Trends

Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX, Sarbox)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring Sarbanes-Oxley skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 17 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
17 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 401 396 506
Rank change year-on-year -5 +110 +77
Contract jobs citing Sarbanes-Oxley 182 125 93
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.49% 0.39% 0.21%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 2.82% 2.74% 1.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 124 72 50
10th Percentile £406 £313 £251
25th Percentile £478 £391 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £563 £550 £525
Median % change year-on-year +2.27% +4.76% -8.70%
75th Percentile £675 £646 £600
90th Percentile £773 £745 £688
UK excluding London median daily rate £538 £550 £508
% change year-on-year -2.27% +8.37% +12.78%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4 2 1
10th Percentile £29.23 £49.14 -
25th Percentile £38.56 £56.78 £31.25
Median hourly rate £50.75 £69.52 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year -27.00% +113.91% +17.12%
75th Percentile £55.50 £82.26 £33.75
90th Percentile £56.40 £89.90 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £39.50 £44.04 -
% change year-on-year -10.31% - -

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
UK

Sarbanes-Oxley falls under the Quality Assurance and Compliance category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring quality assurance or compliance skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 6,459 4,558 6,226
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 17.31% 14.33% 14.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 4,175 2,677 4,134
10th Percentile £313 £260 £313
25th Percentile £406 £378 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year - -4.76% -
75th Percentile £600 £625 £644
90th Percentile £700 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £492 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +3.58% -5.00% +5.26%
Number of hourly rates quoted 317 177 265
10th Percentile £15.60 £15.00 £13.00
25th Percentile £17.96 £21.05 £16.66
Median hourly rate £25.77 £29.00 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year -11.14% -10.77% +35.42%
75th Percentile £63.40 £64.73 £60.00
90th Percentile £70.06 £75.00 £78.85
UK excluding London median hourly rate £24.00 £29.00 £30.00
% change year-on-year -17.24% -3.33% +36.36%

Sarbanes-Oxley
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Sarbanes-Oxley relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Sarbanes-Oxley job vacancy trend in the UK

Sarbanes-Oxley
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Sarbanes-Oxley.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Sarbanes-Oxley

Sarbanes-Oxley
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Sarbanes-Oxley over the 6 months to 17 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Sarbanes-Oxley in the UK

Sarbanes-Oxley
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Sarbanes-Oxley.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Sarbanes-Oxley

Sarbanes-Oxley
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Sarbanes-Oxley over the 6 months to 17 January 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Sarbanes-Oxley in the UK

Sarbanes-Oxley
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 Sarbanes-Oxley within the UK over the 6 months to 17 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 +5 166 £550 +2.33% 32
London +33 113 £600 +9.09% 16
Work from Home +27 57 £525 -8.70% 21
UK excluding London -44 54 £538 -2.27% 20
South East -9 14 £500 +8.11% 12
South West -3 13 £512 -7.00%
East of England -9 10 £650 +13.04% 5
North of England -65 7 £605 +64.69% 3
Midlands -40 6 £525 -12.50% 1
Yorkshire -51 6 £605 +64.69% 1
West Midlands -35 5 £525 +133.33% 1
Scotland -14 3 £612 +1.92%
Northern Ireland - 2 £550 -
North West -27 1 - - 2
East Midlands -31 1 £525 -12.50%
Wales - 1 £625 -

Sarbanes-Oxley
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 13 (7.14%) Confluence
2 2 (1.10%) Oracle SOA Suite
2 2 (1.10%) WebSphere
3 1 (0.55%) Oracle Workflow
3 1 (0.55%) SharePoint
Applications
1 13 (7.14%) MS Visio
2 12 (6.59%) Microsoft Office
3 4 (2.20%) Microsoft Excel
4 2 (1.10%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.55%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.55%) Trello
Business Applications
1 11 (6.04%) SAP S/4HANA
2 9 (4.95%) NetSuite
3 5 (2.75%) Oracle General Ledger
3 5 (2.75%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
3 5 (2.75%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
4 4 (2.20%) Oracle Payables
4 4 (2.20%) Oracle Receivables
4 4 (2.20%) SAP GRC
5 2 (1.10%) Oracle FAH
5 2 (1.10%) Remedy ITSM
5 2 (1.10%) SAP CO
5 2 (1.10%) SAP EWM
5 2 (1.10%) SAP FI
5 2 (1.10%) SAP FI/CO
5 2 (1.10%) SAP GTS
5 2 (1.10%) SAP IBP
5 2 (1.10%) SAP MM
5 2 (1.10%) SAP PP
5 2 (1.10%) SAP SCM
5 2 (1.10%) SAP SRM
Cloud Services
1 47 (25.82%) Azure
2 19 (10.44%) OCI
2 19 (10.44%) Power Platform
3 17 (9.34%) Entra ID
4 15 (8.24%) AWS
5 14 (7.69%) SaaS
6 11 (6.04%) Lucidchart
7 6 (3.30%) Azure DevOps
8 5 (2.75%) SuccessFactors
9 4 (2.20%) GitHub
9 4 (2.20%) IaaS
10 2 (1.10%) Azure Cosmos DB
10 2 (1.10%) Azure Data Factory
10 2 (1.10%) Azure Synapse Analytics
10 2 (1.10%) GCP
10 2 (1.10%) Microsoft 365
10 2 (1.10%) PaaS
11 1 (0.55%) Alation
11 1 (0.55%) Microsoft Purview
11 1 (0.55%) Nutanix
Communications & Networking
1 14 (7.69%) DNS
2 12 (6.59%) Firewall
3 9 (4.95%) DHCP
4 8 (4.40%) Kerberos
4 8 (4.40%) TCP/IP
5 7 (3.85%) HTTP
6 5 (2.75%) Network Security
7 4 (2.20%) SSL
8 1 (0.55%) LAN
8 1 (0.55%) SD-WAN
8 1 (0.55%) WAN
8 1 (0.55%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 19 (10.44%) Power BI
2 9 (4.95%) SQL Server
3 8 (4.40%) Data Lake
4 7 (3.85%) Relational Database
4 7 (3.85%) Spark SQL
5 6 (3.30%) SAP HANA
6 4 (2.20%) Data Warehouse
6 4 (2.20%) PostgreSQL
7 2 (1.10%) Big Data
7 2 (1.10%) Oracle Reports
8 1 (0.55%) Amazon RDS
8 1 (0.55%) Ataccama
8 1 (0.55%) Azure SQL Database
8 1 (0.55%) Delta Lake
8 1 (0.55%) Enterprise Data Warehouse
8 1 (0.55%) Metadata
8 1 (0.55%) NoSQL
8 1 (0.55%) SAP BW
8 1 (0.55%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 14 (7.69%) Git
2 13 (7.14%) GitLab
2 13 (7.14%) JIRA
3 5 (2.75%) Jenkins
4 4 (2.20%) Subversion
4 4 (2.20%) TeamCity
5 3 (1.65%) REST Assured
5 3 (1.65%) Selenium
6 2 (1.10%) Postman
6 2 (1.10%) Robot Framework
General
1 111 (60.99%) Finance
2 69 (37.91%) Social Skills
3 45 (24.73%) Analytical Skills
4 27 (14.84%) Banking
5 19 (10.44%) Manufacturing
6 10 (5.49%) Presentation Skills
7 8 (4.40%) Documentation Skills
7 8 (4.40%) General Ledger
8 7 (3.85%) Investment Banking
8 7 (3.85%) Legal
8 7 (3.85%) Pharmaceutical
9 6 (3.30%) Financial Institution
9 6 (3.30%) Influencing Skills
10 5 (2.75%) Telecoms
11 4 (2.20%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 4 (2.20%) Marketing
12 3 (1.65%) Public Sector
13 2 (1.10%) Electronics
13 2 (1.10%) Japanese Language
14 1 (0.55%) Retail
Job Titles
1 24 (13.19%) Analyst
2 19 (10.44%) Lead
3 12 (6.59%) Architect
3 12 (6.59%) Consultant
4 11 (6.04%) Senior
4 11 (6.04%) Technical Writer
5 10 (5.49%) Developer
5 10 (5.49%) Project Manager
6 7 (3.85%) Business Analyst
6 7 (3.85%) Programme Manager
6 7 (3.85%) Security Analyst
7 6 (3.30%) Information Officer
7 6 (3.30%) Information Security Officer
7 6 (3.30%) Security Officer
8 5 (2.75%) ForgeRock Developer
8 5 (2.75%) IT Manager
8 5 (2.75%) Solutions Architect
8 5 (2.75%) Technical Leader
9 4 (2.20%) Administrator
9 4 (2.20%) Procurement Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 17 (9.34%) OAuth
1 17 (9.34%) SAML
2 14 (7.69%) LDAP
3 7 (3.85%) OpenID
3 7 (3.85%) PySpark
3 7 (3.85%) REST
3 7 (3.85%) Spark Streaming
4 6 (3.30%) OAuth2
4 6 (3.30%) Oracle Fusion
4 6 (3.30%) SailPoint
5 5 (2.75%) Middleware
5 5 (2.75%) RESTful
6 3 (1.65%) XML
7 2 (1.10%) CSS
7 2 (1.10%) HTML
7 2 (1.10%) ISPF
7 2 (1.10%) pytest
7 2 (1.10%) SAP Fiori
7 2 (1.10%) XML Messaging
8 1 (0.55%) Great Expectations
Miscellaneous
1 13 (7.14%) Replication
2 9 (4.95%) Analytical Mindset
2 9 (4.95%) Onboarding
3 7 (3.85%) Distributed Computing
4 6 (3.30%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
4 6 (3.30%) Management Information System
5 5 (2.75%) Clustering
5 5 (2.75%) Life Science
6 4 (2.20%) Data Protection Act
6 4 (2.20%) PMI
7 3 (1.65%) BYOD
7 3 (1.65%) Cloud Native
7 3 (1.65%) Legacy Systems
8 2 (1.10%) Derivative
8 2 (1.10%) Enterprise Software
8 2 (1.10%) Hedge funds
8 2 (1.10%) IoT
8 2 (1.10%) Mainframe
8 2 (1.10%) Product Ownership
8 2 (1.10%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 18 (9.89%) Windows
2 10 (5.49%) Linux
3 8 (4.40%) Windows Server
4 4 (2.20%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 4 (2.20%) Solaris
5 2 (1.10%) zOS
6 1 (0.55%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 45 (24.73%) Stakeholder Management
2 40 (21.98%) Agile
3 33 (18.13%) ERP
4 30 (16.48%) Stakeholder Engagement
5 27 (14.84%) DevOps
5 27 (14.84%) Risk Management
6 25 (13.74%) Identity Access Management
6 25 (13.74%) Problem-Solving
7 24 (13.19%) CI/CD
7 24 (13.19%) Continuous Improvement
8 23 (12.64%) Business Intelligence
8 23 (12.64%) Project Management
9 21 (11.54%) Cybersecurity
10 20 (10.99%) RBAC
11 18 (9.89%) Project Delivery
12 17 (9.34%) Analytics
12 17 (9.34%) ETL
13 16 (8.79%) IT Audit
13 16 (8.79%) ITIL
14 15 (8.24%) Test Strategy
Programming Languages
1 30 (16.48%) Python
1 30 (16.48%) SQL
2 22 (12.09%) PowerShell
3 17 (9.34%) Java
4 5 (2.75%) Bash
5 4 (2.20%) C#
5 4 (2.20%) Perl
6 3 (1.65%) JavaScript
7 2 (1.10%) BeanShell
7 2 (1.10%) CLIST
7 2 (1.10%) JCL
7 2 (1.10%) PL/SQL
7 2 (1.10%) REXX
8 1 (0.55%) R
8 1 (0.55%) VB
Qualifications
1 36 (19.78%) Degree
2 16 (8.79%) CISSP
3 14 (7.69%) CISM
4 13 (7.14%) ACCA
5 11 (6.04%) PMI Certification
5 11 (6.04%) SC Cleared
5 11 (6.04%) Security Cleared
6 10 (5.49%) CIMA
6 10 (5.49%) CISA
7 8 (4.40%) PMP
8 7 (3.85%) FFIEC
9 4 (2.20%) CRISC
9 4 (2.20%) Master's Degree
10 3 (1.65%) Azure Certification
11 2 (1.10%) CompTIA Security+
11 2 (1.10%) Computer Science Degree
11 2 (1.10%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
11 2 (1.10%) ITIL Certification
12 1 (0.55%) AWS Certification
12 1 (0.55%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 81 (44.51%) GDPR
2 40 (21.98%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 37 (20.33%) NIST
4 28 (15.38%) PCI DSS
5 19 (10.44%) GRC
6 14 (7.69%) IFRS
7 12 (6.59%) ITGC
8 11 (6.04%) COBIT
8 11 (6.04%) HIPAA
9 9 (4.95%) QA
10 7 (3.85%) GxP
10 7 (3.85%) SLA
10 7 (3.85%) SOX 404
11 5 (2.75%) Basel III
11 5 (2.75%) GAAP
11 5 (2.75%) PSD2
12 3 (1.65%) IFRS 9
13 2 (1.10%) Actionable Recommendations
13 2 (1.10%) IFRS 17
13 2 (1.10%) PMO
System Software
1 16 (8.79%) Active Directory
2 11 (6.04%) Docker
3 6 (3.30%) VMware Infrastructure
4 4 (2.20%) NDS
4 4 (2.20%) NetIQ eDirectory
4 4 (2.20%) NFS
4 4 (2.20%) Veritas File System
4 4 (2.20%) Veritas Volume Manager
4 4 (2.20%) VMware ESXi
5 2 (1.10%) RACF
6 1 (0.55%) IAG
6 1 (0.55%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 16 (8.79%) Single Sign-On
2 11 (6.04%) Kubernetes
3 8 (4.40%) Active Directory Federation Services
4 6 (3.30%) Ansible
5 5 (2.75%) Terraform
6 4 (2.20%) QRadar
6 4 (2.20%) Red Hat Satellite
6 4 (2.20%) RSA Archer
7 2 (1.10%) Control-M
7 2 (1.10%) zSecure
8 1 (0.55%) Avamar
8 1 (0.55%) EMC NetWorker
8 1 (0.55%) Oracle Identity Manager
8 1 (0.55%) vCenter Server
8 1 (0.55%) VxRail
Vendors
1 34 (18.68%) Oracle
1 34 (18.68%) SAP
2 27 (14.84%) Microsoft
3 17 (9.34%) ServiceNow
4 12 (6.59%) CyberArk
5 10 (5.49%) Okta
5 10 (5.49%) Workday
6 8 (4.40%) VMware
7 5 (2.75%) ForgeRock
7 5 (2.75%) Ping Identity
7 5 (2.75%) Splunk
8 4 (2.20%) BeyondTrust
8 4 (2.20%) IBM
8 4 (2.20%) NetIQ
8 4 (2.20%) Qualys
8 4 (2.20%) Red Hat
8 4 (2.20%) SaltStack
9 3 (1.65%) Informatica
9 3 (1.65%) OpenText
9 3 (1.65%) Salesforce