Security Architect Contract Job Trends

Security Architect
UK

The median Security Architect daily rate in the UK is £625, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 29 March 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
29 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 260 235 219
Rank change year-on-year -25 -16 +81
Contract jobs requiring a Security Architect 458 321 466
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.03% 1.10% 1.05%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.12% 1.18% 1.13%
Number of daily rates quoted 285 255 282
10th Percentile £463 £550 £519
25th Percentile £525 £600 £616
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £625 £660 £700
Median % change year-on-year -5.30% -5.71% -
75th Percentile £738 £750 £775
90th Percentile £788 £838 £825
UK excluding London median daily rate £613 £650 £673
% change year-on-year -5.77% -3.35% -1.10%
Number of hourly rates quoted 9 1 17
10th Percentile £80.50 - £81.83
25th Percentile £83.00 £68.26 £81.88
Median hourly rate £85.00 £73.31 £87.00
Median % change year-on-year +15.95% -15.74% +24.29%
75th Percentile - £78.36 £87.53
90th Percentile £94.00 - -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £84.00 £73.31 £87.00
% change year-on-year +14.58% -15.74% +24.29%

All Contract IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 40,989 27,183 41,081
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.01% 92.83% 92.84%
Number of daily rates quoted 25,539 17,878 26,912
10th Percentile £313 £300 £275
25th Percentile £413 £406 £407
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £520 £525
Median % change year-on-year -3.85% -0.95% -3.67%
75th Percentile £613 £630 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £485 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +2.11% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,552 945 2,521
10th Percentile £15.00 £15.09 £12.86
25th Percentile £19.50 £21.00 £16.25
Median hourly rate £37.50 £32.50 £33.00
Median % change year-on-year +15.38% -1.52% -24.36%
75th Percentile £65.00 £64.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £76.81 £71.87
UK excluding London median hourly rate £38.63 £32.25 £33.00
% change year-on-year +19.78% -2.27% -21.07%

Security Architect
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Security Architect' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Security Architect job vacancy trend in the UK

Security Architect
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Security Architect job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Security Architect job vacancies in the UK

Security Architect
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Security Architect over the 6 months to 29 March 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Security Architect in the UK

Security Architect
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Security Architect job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Security Architect job vacancies in the UK

Security Architect
Top 17 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Security Architect within the UK over the 6 months to 29 March 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 -11 391 £630 -6.67% 114
UK excluding London -3 221 £613 -5.77% 77
London -20 173 £650 -3.70% 46
Work from Home +6 138 £623 -5.86% 46
South East -10 76 £632 +1.12% 22
North of England -8 75 £613 -6.67% 25
North West -13 40 £704 +6.24% 17
Midlands -50 36 £675 -3.57% 10
West Midlands -41 34 £675 -3.57% 10
Yorkshire -33 33 £531 -20.15% 5
South West -43 13 £575 -13.37% 14
Scotland +2 11 £650 +8.33% 2
East of England - 7 £560 - 2
Wales - 6 - - 2
North East -10 2 £545 -12.80% 3
Northern Ireland - 2 £500 -
East Midlands - 2 £438 -

Security Architect Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 29 March 2026, Security Architect contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads featuring Security Architect in the job title.

1 211 (46.07%) Security Architecture
2 192 (41.92%) Security Cleared
3 162 (35.37%) Cybersecurity
4 129 (28.17%) SC Cleared
5 125 (27.29%) Azure
6 116 (25.33%) Threat Modelling
7 108 (23.58%) Cloud Security
8 107 (23.36%) AWS
9 104 (22.71%) CISSP
10 95 (20.74%) NIST
11 91 (19.87%) Network Security
12 83 (18.12%) Zero Trust
13 78 (17.03%) TOGAF
14 71 (15.50%) Risk Management
14 71 (15.50%) SABSA
15 70 (15.28%) ISO/IEC 27001
16 63 (13.76%) CISM
17 61 (13.32%) GCP
18 59 (12.88%) Identity Access Management
19 58 (12.66%) Architectural Patterns
20 49 (10.70%) DevSecOps
20 49 (10.70%) Microsoft
20 49 (10.70%) SIEM
21 48 (10.48%) DV Cleared
21 48 (10.48%) Stakeholder Engagement
22 47 (10.26%) Firewall
22 47 (10.26%) Vulnerability Management
23 45 (9.83%) Application Security
24 42 (9.17%) Incident Response
25 41 (8.95%) Information Security

Security Architect Skill Set
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 19 (4.15%) Confluence
2 5 (1.09%) SharePoint
3 4 (0.87%) nginx
4 1 (0.22%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.22%) NetWeaver
4 1 (0.22%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 2 (0.44%) Microsoft PowerPoint
1 2 (0.44%) MS Visio
2 1 (0.22%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 6 (1.31%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
2 1 (0.22%) SAP EHS
2 1 (0.22%) SAP EWM
2 1 (0.22%) SAP GRC
2 1 (0.22%) SAP HR
2 1 (0.22%) SAP S/4HANA
2 1 (0.22%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 125 (27.29%) Azure
2 107 (23.36%) AWS
3 61 (13.32%) GCP
4 26 (5.68%) Entra ID
5 15 (3.28%) SaaS
6 12 (2.62%) Azure Sentinel
7 11 (2.40%) Amazon GuardDuty
7 11 (2.40%) Microsoft 365
8 9 (1.97%) GitHub
9 8 (1.75%) AWS CloudFormation
9 8 (1.75%) AWS KMS
10 6 (1.31%) IaaS
10 6 (1.31%) PaaS
10 6 (1.31%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 5 (1.09%) Amazon ECS
11 5 (1.09%) Amazon EKS
11 5 (1.09%) Microsoft Purview
12 4 (0.87%) Azure DevOps
13 3 (0.66%) Apigee
13 3 (0.66%) Kong
Communications & Networking
1 91 (19.87%) Network Security
2 47 (10.26%) Firewall
3 16 (3.49%) VPN
4 14 (3.06%) WAN
5 11 (2.40%) LAN
5 11 (2.40%) SD-WAN
6 7 (1.53%) IPsec
7 6 (1.31%) BGP
7 6 (1.31%) OSPF
8 5 (1.09%) DNS
9 4 (0.87%) DHCP
9 4 (0.87%) MQTT
9 4 (0.87%) Reverse Proxy
10 3 (0.66%) BIG-IP
10 3 (0.66%) Cisco ASA
10 3 (0.66%) MPLS
10 3 (0.66%) NGFW
10 3 (0.66%) Wi-Fi
11 2 (0.44%) Kerberos
11 2 (0.44%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (1.09%) PostgreSQL
2 3 (0.66%) BigQuery
2 3 (0.66%) Data Lake
2 3 (0.66%) Data Warehouse
3 2 (0.44%) Big Data
3 2 (0.44%) Metadata
4 1 (0.22%) Azure SQL Database
4 1 (0.22%) Elasticsearch
4 1 (0.22%) Oracle Database
Development Applications
1 17 (3.71%) JIRA
2 5 (1.09%) Jenkins
3 4 (0.87%) Snyk
4 3 (0.66%) GitLab
5 1 (0.22%) AppScan
5 1 (0.22%) Artifactory
5 1 (0.22%) Burp Suite
5 1 (0.22%) Claude Code
5 1 (0.22%) Git
5 1 (0.22%) Metasploit
General
1 86 (18.78%) Social Skills
2 66 (14.41%) Finance
3 64 (13.97%) Public Sector
4 23 (5.02%) Banking
5 17 (3.71%) Documentation Skills
6 16 (3.49%) Presentation Skills
7 13 (2.84%) Analytical Skills
8 12 (2.62%) Aerospace
9 10 (2.18%) Influencing Skills
9 10 (2.18%) Legal
10 5 (1.09%) Financial Institution
11 3 (0.66%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 3 (0.66%) Law
11 3 (0.66%) Manufacturing
12 2 (0.44%) Military
12 2 (0.44%) Retail
12 2 (0.44%) Retail Banking
13 1 (0.22%) Investment Banking
13 1 (0.22%) Police
13 1 (0.22%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (2.18%) OAuth
2 9 (1.97%) OpenID
3 8 (1.75%) SAML
4 7 (1.53%) OAuth2
5 5 (1.09%) JWT
5 5 (1.09%) Middleware
5 5 (1.09%) SailPoint
6 4 (0.87%) ADO
7 3 (0.66%) FastAPI
7 3 (0.66%) Flask
7 3 (0.66%) J2EE
7 3 (0.66%) JSP
7 3 (0.66%) ModSecurity
7 3 (0.66%) REST
8 2 (0.44%) Elastic Stack
9 1 (0.22%) IDoc
9 1 (0.22%) OpenTelemetry
9 1 (0.22%) React
9 1 (0.22%) RESTful
9 1 (0.22%) SAP PI
Miscellaneous
1 37 (8.08%) Security Posture
2 32 (6.99%) Cloud Native
3 22 (4.80%) Management Information System
3 22 (4.80%) Operational Technology
4 19 (4.15%) Onboarding
5 14 (3.06%) Data Centre
6 11 (2.40%) Product Ownership
7 9 (1.97%) Private Cloud
8 7 (1.53%) Cyber Threat
8 7 (1.53%) Data Protection Act
8 7 (1.53%) Hybrid Cloud
8 7 (1.53%) Security Operations Centre
8 7 (1.53%) Taxonomies
9 6 (1.31%) PKI
10 5 (1.09%) AI Agents
10 5 (1.09%) Legacy Systems
11 4 (0.87%) Cloud Security Posture
11 4 (0.87%) Enterprise Software
12 3 (0.66%) Public Cloud
12 3 (0.66%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 13 (2.84%) Windows
2 12 (2.62%) Linux
3 4 (0.87%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 3 (0.66%) Windows Server
5 2 (0.44%) Android
5 2 (0.44%) Apple iOS
6 1 (0.22%) Kali Linux
6 1 (0.22%) Unix
6 1 (0.22%) VMS
6 1 (0.22%) Windows 10
6 1 (0.22%) Windows 7
6 1 (0.22%) zOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 211 (46.07%) Security Architecture
2 162 (35.37%) Cybersecurity
3 116 (25.33%) Threat Modelling
4 108 (23.58%) Cloud Security
5 83 (18.12%) Zero Trust
6 78 (17.03%) TOGAF
7 71 (15.50%) Risk Management
7 71 (15.50%) SABSA
8 59 (12.88%) Identity Access Management
9 58 (12.66%) Architectural Patterns
10 49 (10.70%) DevSecOps
10 49 (10.70%) SIEM
11 48 (10.48%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 47 (10.26%) Vulnerability Management
13 45 (9.83%) Application Security
14 42 (9.17%) Incident Response
15 41 (8.95%) Information Security
16 38 (8.30%) CI/CD
16 38 (8.30%) Data Protection
16 38 (8.30%) Network Segmentation
Programming Languages
1 8 (1.75%) Java
2 7 (1.53%) Python
3 5 (1.09%) Bicep
4 4 (0.87%) SQL
5 3 (0.66%) JavaScript
6 2 (0.44%) C
6 2 (0.44%) Kotlin
6 2 (0.44%) PL/SQL
6 2 (0.44%) PowerShell
6 2 (0.44%) Swift
7 1 (0.22%) Kusto Query Language
7 1 (0.22%) Lisp
7 1 (0.22%) ProC
7 1 (0.22%) RPG
7 1 (0.22%) VB
7 1 (0.22%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 192 (41.92%) Security Cleared
2 129 (28.17%) SC Cleared
3 104 (22.71%) CISSP
4 63 (13.76%) CISM
5 48 (10.48%) DV Cleared
6 39 (8.52%) Cisco Certification
7 32 (6.99%) Degree
8 30 (6.55%) (ISC)2 CCSP
9 17 (3.71%) CCSP
10 16 (3.49%) AWS Certification
11 15 (3.28%) TOGAF Certification
12 11 (2.40%) GIAC
13 9 (1.97%) Azure Certification
13 9 (1.97%) BPSS Clearance
14 8 (1.75%) CCNP
15 7 (1.53%) CCIE
15 7 (1.53%) CEH
15 7 (1.53%) SANS
16 6 (1.31%) Computer Science Degree
16 6 (1.31%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 95 (20.74%) NIST
2 70 (15.28%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 38 (8.30%) NCSC
4 34 (7.42%) GDPR
5 21 (4.59%) PCI DSS
6 11 (2.40%) NIST 800
7 9 (1.97%) EU AI Act
8 8 (1.75%) GRC
9 7 (1.53%) JSP 440
10 6 (1.31%) COBIT
10 6 (1.31%) Cyber Essentials
10 6 (1.31%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 6 (1.31%) QA
11 5 (1.09%) RMADS
12 4 (0.87%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 3 (0.66%) Def Stans
13 3 (0.66%) Government Security Classifications
13 3 (0.66%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
13 3 (0.66%) PSD2
13 3 (0.66%) SOC 2
System Software
1 16 (3.49%) Active Directory
2 2 (0.44%) Docker
2 2 (0.44%) VMware Infrastructure
2 2 (0.44%) vSphere
3 1 (0.22%) BitLocker
3 1 (0.22%) Hyper-V
3 1 (0.22%) Varnish
3 1 (0.22%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 24 (5.24%) Terraform
2 17 (3.71%) Kubernetes
3 6 (1.31%) Ansible
4 5 (1.09%) Single Sign-On
5 3 (0.66%) SCCM
6 2 (0.44%) Network Intrusion Detection System
7 1 (0.22%) FortiGate
7 1 (0.22%) Kibana
7 1 (0.22%) logstash
7 1 (0.22%) Microsoft Intune
7 1 (0.22%) Nessus
7 1 (0.22%) Progress Chef
7 1 (0.22%) SELinux
Vendors
1 49 (10.70%) Microsoft
2 19 (4.15%) BiZZdesign
3 17 (3.71%) CyberArk
3 17 (3.71%) Splunk
4 15 (3.28%) Cisco
5 11 (2.40%) Centrify
5 11 (2.40%) Zscaler
6 10 (2.18%) CheckPoint
6 10 (2.18%) Fortinet
6 10 (2.18%) Okta
7 9 (1.97%) Palo Alto
8 8 (1.75%) Tenable
9 7 (1.53%) ServiceNow
10 6 (1.31%) F5
10 6 (1.31%) Google
10 6 (1.31%) SAP
10 6 (1.31%) Sparx
11 5 (1.09%) Cribl.io
11 5 (1.09%) Virgin Media
11 5 (1.09%) VMware