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 19 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
19 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 455 357 508
Rank change year-on-year -98 +151 -11
Contract jobs citing Sarbanes-Oxley 178 154 63
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.37% 0.53% 0.15%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 2.25% 3.35% 1.04%
Number of daily rates quoted 113 87 41
10th Percentile £450 £345 £481
25th Percentile £500 £519 £525
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £600 £582 £600
Median % change year-on-year +3.18% -3.08% +9.09%
75th Percentile £613 £698 £675
90th Percentile £700 £848 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £563 £550 £560
% change year-on-year +2.27% -1.79% +12.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 9 4 1
10th Percentile £44.60 £79.63 -
25th Percentile £50.00 £84.69 £67.50
Median hourly rate £62.00 £90.00 £70.00
Median % change year-on-year -31.11% +28.57% +76.77%
75th Percentile £76.00 £93.13 £72.50
90th Percentile £79.10 £94.25 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £58.50 £82.50 £70.00
% change year-on-year -29.09% +17.86% +76.77%

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 7,915 4,601 6,046
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 16.47% 15.76% 14.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 5,091 2,954 3,841
10th Percentile £344 £268 £281
25th Percentile £413 £400 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £510
Median % change year-on-year - -1.96% -2.86%
75th Percentile £600 £619 £625
90th Percentile £700 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £480
% change year-on-year +5.26% -1.04% +0.10%
Number of hourly rates quoted 460 174 382
10th Percentile £14.02 £17.43 £10.95
25th Percentile £18.50 £22.14 £13.18
Median hourly rate £36.00 £34.50 £21.06
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% +63.84% -39.84%
75th Percentile £67.25 £67.03 £45.00
90th Percentile £82.25 £82.90 £68.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £40.00 £46.30 £18.27
% change year-on-year -13.61% +153.42% -42.70%

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 19 May 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 19 May 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Sarbanes-Oxley in the UK

Sarbanes-Oxley
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 Sarbanes-Oxley within the UK over the 6 months to 19 May 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 -87 152 £563 -3.27% 40
London -48 95 £600 -7.69% 23
Work from Home -32 63 £600 +6.67% 25
UK excluding London -88 58 £563 +2.27% 22
North of England -56 21 £580 +0.87% 6
North West -26 17 £631 +9.74% 3
South East -57 14 £519 -4.60% 8
Midlands -57 11 £625 +10.82% 5
West Midlands -51 9 £650 +7.79% 3
East of England -26 6 £600 +4.35%
Scotland -4 5 £700 - 1
Yorkshire -54 4 £428 -15.56% 3
East Midlands -30 2 £550 +24.29% 2
Northern Ireland -2 1 - - 1

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 6 (3.37%) Apache Spark
2 4 (2.25%) Apache
3 3 (1.69%) IIS
3 3 (1.69%) Oracle SOA Suite
3 3 (1.69%) WebSphere
4 2 (1.12%) SharePoint
5 1 (0.56%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.56%) Confluence
5 1 (0.56%) IBM HTTP Server
5 1 (0.56%) Oracle Workflow
5 1 (0.56%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 17 (9.55%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.56%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 1 (0.56%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 25 (14.04%) SAP S/4HANA
2 7 (3.93%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
3 5 (2.81%) Oracle Payables
3 5 (2.81%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
4 4 (2.25%) Oracle General Ledger
5 3 (1.69%) HFM
5 3 (1.69%) OpenText VIM for SAP
5 3 (1.69%) Oracle Receivables
6 2 (1.12%) Oracle ERP
6 2 (1.12%) Oracle FAH
6 2 (1.12%) Remedy ITSM
7 1 (0.56%) Oracle Applications
7 1 (0.56%) SAP CO
7 1 (0.56%) SAP CS
7 1 (0.56%) SAP ECC
7 1 (0.56%) SAP FI
7 1 (0.56%) SAP FI/CO
7 1 (0.56%) SAP GRC
7 1 (0.56%) SAP GTS
7 1 (0.56%) SAP SD
Cloud Services
1 64 (35.96%) Azure
2 43 (24.16%) AWS
3 30 (16.85%) Entra ID
4 14 (7.87%) Power Platform
5 11 (6.18%) Azure DevOps
6 8 (4.49%) GCP
7 6 (3.37%) OCI
7 6 (3.37%) SaaS
8 5 (2.81%) IaaS
8 5 (2.81%) Microsoft 365
9 4 (2.25%) Snowflake
10 3 (1.69%) PaaS
11 2 (1.12%) Azure Machine Learning
11 2 (1.12%) Cloud Computing
11 2 (1.12%) Microsoft Purview
11 2 (1.12%) SuccessFactors
11 2 (1.12%) Veeva
12 1 (0.56%) AWS Lambda
12 1 (0.56%) Azure Data Factory
12 1 (0.56%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 16 (8.99%) DNS
2 15 (8.43%) DHCP
2 15 (8.43%) Kerberos
3 7 (3.93%) HTTP
3 7 (3.93%) Network Security
4 3 (1.69%) HTTPS
5 1 (0.56%) Firewall
5 1 (0.56%) Intrusion Detection
5 1 (0.56%) LAN
5 1 (0.56%) SD-WAN
5 1 (0.56%) Structured Cabling
5 1 (0.56%) WAN
5 1 (0.56%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (7.87%) Power BI
2 11 (6.18%) Relational Database
3 9 (5.06%) SQL Server
4 7 (3.93%) Data Lake
4 7 (3.93%) Spark SQL
5 6 (3.37%) NoSQL
6 5 (2.81%) PostgreSQL
7 4 (2.25%) Data Warehouse
7 4 (2.25%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 3 (1.69%) Apache Cassandra
8 3 (1.69%) Big Data
9 1 (0.56%) Azure SQL Database
9 1 (0.56%) BigQuery
9 1 (0.56%) DynamoDB
9 1 (0.56%) Oracle Reports
9 1 (0.56%) Snowflake Schema
9 1 (0.56%) Spotfire
Development Applications
1 13 (7.30%) Git
2 11 (6.18%) GitLab
3 7 (3.93%) JIRA
4 5 (2.81%) Jenkins
5 3 (1.69%) Postman
5 3 (1.69%) Robot Framework
5 3 (1.69%) Selenium
6 1 (0.56%) Artifactory
6 1 (0.56%) Gradle
6 1 (0.56%) Introscope
6 1 (0.56%) Maven
6 1 (0.56%) REST Assured
General
1 102 (57.30%) Finance
2 77 (43.26%) Social Skills
3 35 (19.66%) Analytical Skills
4 25 (14.04%) Banking
5 21 (11.80%) Legal
6 14 (7.87%) Influencing Skills
7 10 (5.62%) Documentation Skills
8 7 (3.93%) General Ledger
8 7 (3.93%) Pharmaceutical
9 6 (3.37%) Organisational Skills
9 6 (3.37%) Presentation Skills
10 4 (2.25%) Billing
11 3 (1.69%) Investment Banking
11 3 (1.69%) Public Sector
11 3 (1.69%) Retail
12 2 (1.12%) Financial Institution
12 2 (1.12%) Japanese Language
12 2 (1.12%) Manufacturing
12 2 (1.12%) Telecoms
13 1 (0.56%) Corporate Banking
Job Titles
1 32 (17.98%) Lead
2 27 (15.17%) Analyst
3 18 (10.11%) Architect
4 15 (8.43%) Consultant
5 11 (6.18%) Business Analyst
6 9 (5.06%) SOX Analyst
7 8 (4.49%) IT Analyst
7 8 (4.49%) Senior
8 7 (3.93%) Finance Business Analyst
8 7 (3.93%) Financial Analyst
8 7 (3.93%) Information Officer
8 7 (3.93%) Information Security Officer
8 7 (3.93%) Java Engineer
8 7 (3.93%) Security Officer
9 6 (3.37%) Project Manager
10 5 (2.81%) Developer
10 5 (2.81%) Programme Manager
10 5 (2.81%) Security Analyst
10 5 (2.81%) Security Consultant
10 5 (2.81%) Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (14.61%) LDAP
2 22 (12.36%) OAuth
2 22 (12.36%) SAML
3 12 (6.74%) REST
4 8 (4.49%) Oracle Fusion
5 7 (3.93%) PySpark
5 7 (3.93%) SOAP
5 7 (3.93%) Spark Streaming
5 7 (3.93%) Spring
5 7 (3.93%) Spring Boot
6 6 (3.37%) JDBC
6 6 (3.37%) Middleware
6 6 (3.37%) OpenID
7 5 (2.81%) AWS CDK
7 5 (2.81%) J2EE
7 5 (2.81%) JSON
7 5 (2.81%) SailPoint
8 4 (2.25%) Node.js
9 3 (1.69%) CSS
9 3 (1.69%) SAP Fiori
Miscellaneous
1 18 (10.11%) Replication
2 14 (7.87%) Management Information System
3 11 (6.18%) Cloud Native
4 8 (4.49%) Onboarding
4 8 (4.49%) Product Ownership
5 7 (3.93%) BYOD
5 7 (3.93%) Distributed Computing
6 5 (2.81%) Foreign Exchange (FX)
7 4 (2.25%) Data Protection Act
7 4 (2.25%) Enterprise Software
7 4 (2.25%) Legacy Systems
8 3 (1.69%) Analytical Mindset
8 3 (1.69%) CMDB
8 3 (1.69%) Greenfield Project
8 3 (1.69%) Operational Technology
9 2 (1.12%) AI Agents
9 2 (1.12%) Augmented Reality
9 2 (1.12%) Data Centre
9 2 (1.12%) Life Science
9 2 (1.12%) Team-Oriented Environment
Operating Systems
1 31 (17.42%) Windows
2 15 (8.43%) Windows Server
3 11 (6.18%) Linux
4 4 (2.25%) Unix
5 2 (1.12%) zOS
6 1 (0.56%) AIX
6 1 (0.56%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 59 (33.15%) Agile
2 51 (28.65%) Stakeholder Management
3 36 (20.22%) Identity Access Management
4 34 (19.10%) DevOps
5 33 (18.54%) RBAC
6 31 (17.42%) Continuous Improvement
7 29 (16.29%) Change Management
7 29 (16.29%) ERP
8 28 (15.73%) Procure-to-Pay
9 26 (14.61%) CI/CD
9 26 (14.61%) Problem-Solving
10 23 (12.92%) AI
10 23 (12.92%) ETL
10 23 (12.92%) Migration
11 22 (12.36%) Cybersecurity
12 21 (11.80%) Information Security
13 19 (10.67%) Order to Cash
14 18 (10.11%) Waterfall
15 17 (9.55%) Record to Report
15 17 (9.55%) Risk Management
Programming Languages
1 34 (19.10%) SQL
2 29 (16.29%) Python
3 27 (15.17%) PowerShell
4 25 (14.04%) Java
5 4 (2.25%) Bash
5 4 (2.25%) TypeScript
6 3 (1.69%) JavaScript
7 2 (1.12%) CLIST
7 2 (1.12%) JCL
7 2 (1.12%) PL/SQL
7 2 (1.12%) REXX
8 1 (0.56%) Jython
8 1 (0.56%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 28 (15.73%) Degree
2 20 (11.24%) CISSP
2 20 (11.24%) Security Cleared
3 18 (10.11%) SC Cleared
4 15 (8.43%) CISM
5 14 (7.87%) PMI Certification
6 13 (7.30%) PMP
7 7 (3.93%) CISA
8 6 (3.37%) ACCA
8 6 (3.37%) CIMA
9 4 (2.25%) CRISC
9 4 (2.25%) ITIL Certification
10 3 (1.69%) Computer Science Degree
10 3 (1.69%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
11 2 (1.12%) Azure Certification
11 2 (1.12%) ISTQB
11 2 (1.12%) Master's Degree
11 2 (1.12%) PRINCE2 Practitioner
12 1 (0.56%) PgMP
12 1 (0.56%) TOGAF Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 81 (45.51%) GDPR
2 38 (21.35%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 26 (14.61%) NIST
4 22 (12.36%) PCI DSS
5 14 (7.87%) HIPAA
6 13 (7.30%) ITGC
7 9 (5.06%) COBIT
7 9 (5.06%) GRC
7 9 (5.06%) IFRS
8 7 (3.93%) Data Quality
9 6 (3.37%) GAAP
9 6 (3.37%) QA
10 5 (2.81%) Basel III
11 3 (1.69%) IFRS 9
11 3 (1.69%) NIST 800
11 3 (1.69%) PMO
11 3 (1.69%) SLA
12 2 (1.12%) GxP
12 2 (1.12%) IFRS 17
13 1 (0.56%) California Consumer Privacy Act
System Software
1 29 (16.29%) Active Directory
2 11 (6.18%) Docker
3 2 (1.12%) RACF
4 1 (0.56%) IAG
Systems Management
1 22 (12.36%) Single Sign-On
2 16 (8.99%) Active Directory Federation Services
2 16 (8.99%) Kubernetes
3 2 (1.12%) Control-M
3 2 (1.12%) Terraform
3 2 (1.12%) zSecure
4 1 (0.56%) Ansible
4 1 (0.56%) CA Wily
4 1 (0.56%) Puppet
4 1 (0.56%) RSA Archer
Vendors
1 49 (27.53%) SAP
2 39 (21.91%) Microsoft
3 24 (13.48%) ServiceNow
4 18 (10.11%) Okta
5 17 (9.55%) Workday
6 16 (8.99%) Oracle
7 12 (6.74%) CyberArk
8 6 (3.37%) Ariba
9 4 (2.25%) Informatica
10 3 (1.69%) Bloomberg
10 3 (1.69%) Hyperion
10 3 (1.69%) IBM
10 3 (1.69%) Refinitiv
10 3 (1.69%) Tagetik
11 2 (1.12%) BMC
11 2 (1.12%) Centrify
11 2 (1.12%) Databricks
11 2 (1.12%) OpenText
11 2 (1.12%) Remedy
11 2 (1.12%) Splunk