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 3 September 2026.

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

6 months to
3 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 238 252 231
Rank change year-on-year +14 -21 -1
Contract jobs requiring a Security Architect 598 356 395
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.12% 1.10% 1.03%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.21% 1.20% 1.11%
Number of daily rates quoted 401 225 234
10th Percentile £500 £510 £500
25th Percentile £531 £581 £625
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £625 £675 £700
Median % change year-on-year -7.41% -3.57% +2.94%
75th Percentile £750 £765 £775
90th Percentile £838 £800 £825
UK excluding London median daily rate £618 £675 £670
% change year-on-year -8.44% +0.75% -0.74%
Number of hourly rates quoted 7 3 7
10th Percentile - £86.00 £81.83
25th Percentile £60.00 £91.25 £84.67
Median hourly rate £70.00 £100.00 £87.46
Median % change year-on-year -30.00% +14.34% +24.94%
75th Percentile £83.00 £102.75 -
90th Percentile - £104.40 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £70.00 £100.00 £87.46
% change year-on-year -30.00% +14.34% +24.94%

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 49,563 29,654 35,643
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.43% 91.23% 93.09%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,606 18,697 22,460
10th Percentile £325 £280 £300
25th Percentile £425 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -1.69%
75th Percentile £625 £623 £638
90th Percentile £725 £725 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,581 1,558 1,825
10th Percentile £14.90 £13.68 £14.16
25th Percentile £20.50 £17.02 £20.00
Median hourly rate £42.25 £25.15 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +67.99% -41.51% +1.18%
75th Percentile £67.84 £53.83 £65.00
90th Percentile £78.75 £71.00 £75.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £42.50 £25.15 £43.95
% change year-on-year +68.99% -42.78% +11.13%

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 3 September 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 15 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 3 September 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 -7 511 £625 -7.41% 310
London +4 261 £650 -3.70% 176
UK excluding London -24 241 £618 -8.44% 163
Work from Home +14 195 £600 -12.73% 185
South East -7 114 £635 +5.83% 48
North of England -40 64 £600 -16.35% 36
North West -23 50 £600 -16.20% 32
Midlands -37 28 £603 -7.31% 17
West Midlands -38 27 £603 -7.31% 10
South West -51 24 £604 -7.08% 27
Yorkshire -37 11 £350 -45.10% 3
East of England -17 7 £625 +25.00% 6
Scotland - 3 - - 15
Channel Islands - 2 £638 - 1
East Midlands - 1 - - 7

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

For the 6 months to 3 September 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.

1 321 (53.68%) Security Architecture
2 268 (44.82%) Security Cleared
3 210 (35.12%) Cybersecurity
4 189 (31.61%) Azure
5 181 (30.27%) SC Cleared
6 174 (29.10%) Cloud Security
7 171 (28.60%) Threat Modelling
8 148 (24.75%) AWS
9 141 (23.58%) NIST
10 122 (20.40%) CISSP
11 97 (16.22%) Zero Trust
12 96 (16.05%) Risk Management
13 95 (15.89%) Identity Access Management
14 94 (15.72%) ISO/IEC 27001
15 89 (14.88%) DV Cleared
16 88 (14.72%) Network Security
17 87 (14.55%) AI
17 87 (14.55%) Architectural Patterns
18 86 (14.38%) Stakeholder Management
19 79 (13.21%) TOGAF
20 76 (12.71%) Microsoft
21 74 (12.37%) Stakeholder Engagement
22 73 (12.21%) GCP
23 69 (11.54%) SABSA
24 68 (11.37%) Roadmaps
25 64 (10.70%) DevSecOps
26 63 (10.54%) Data Protection
27 61 (10.20%) NCSC
28 59 (9.87%) Information Security
29 58 (9.70%) CISM

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 2 (0.33%) Confluence
1 2 (0.33%) SAS
1 2 (0.33%) SharePoint
2 1 (0.17%) IIS
Applications
1 4 (0.67%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 2 (0.33%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
2 1 (0.17%) SAP EHS
Cloud Services
1 189 (31.61%) Azure
2 148 (24.75%) AWS
3 73 (12.21%) GCP
4 38 (6.35%) Entra ID
5 20 (3.34%) SaaS
6 19 (3.18%) Azure Sentinel
7 13 (2.17%) Microsoft 365
8 12 (2.01%) Dynamics 365
9 9 (1.51%) Azure Key Vault
10 6 (1.00%) IaaS
11 5 (0.84%) Anthropic Claude
11 5 (0.84%) AWS Control Tower
11 5 (0.84%) AWS KMS
11 5 (0.84%) Azure AI
11 5 (0.84%) Microsoft Purview
11 5 (0.84%) PaaS
11 5 (0.84%) Vertex AI
12 4 (0.67%) Azure Cosmos DB
12 4 (0.67%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 4 (0.67%) GitHub
Communications & Networking
1 88 (14.72%) Network Security
2 47 (7.86%) Firewall
3 13 (2.17%) VPN
4 12 (2.01%) WAN
5 8 (1.34%) SD-WAN
5 8 (1.34%) VLAN
6 7 (1.17%) 4G
6 7 (1.17%) IPsec
7 6 (1.00%) LAN
7 6 (1.00%) NGFW
8 5 (0.84%) 5G
8 5 (0.84%) BGP
8 5 (0.84%) OSPF
8 5 (0.84%) Radio Access Network
9 4 (0.67%) Intranet
9 4 (0.67%) MPLS
10 3 (0.50%) Cisco IOS
10 3 (0.50%) EIGRP
10 3 (0.50%) Internet
10 3 (0.50%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (1.00%) Data Lake
2 3 (0.50%) Data Warehouse
3 2 (0.33%) Big Data
3 2 (0.33%) Metadata
4 1 (0.17%) BigQuery
4 1 (0.17%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 9 (1.51%) Jenkins
2 5 (0.84%) JIRA
3 3 (0.50%) Claude Code
4 2 (0.33%) GitLab
5 1 (0.17%) Snyk
General
1 106 (17.73%) Social Skills
2 64 (10.70%) Public Sector
3 62 (10.37%) Finance
4 31 (5.18%) Banking
5 29 (4.85%) Influencing Skills
6 26 (4.35%) Documentation Skills
7 20 (3.34%) Legal
8 19 (3.18%) Analytical Skills
9 15 (2.51%) Telecoms
10 14 (2.34%) Manufacturing
11 10 (1.67%) Military
11 10 (1.67%) Police
12 8 (1.34%) Aerospace
13 7 (1.17%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 5 (0.84%) Law
14 5 (0.84%) Presentation Skills
15 4 (0.67%) Automotive
15 4 (0.67%) Local Government
15 4 (0.67%) Pharmaceutical
15 4 (0.67%) Retail
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (4.18%) Terraform
2 17 (2.84%) OAuth
3 12 (2.01%) OpenID
4 11 (1.84%) OAuth2
4 11 (1.84%) SAML
5 6 (1.00%) REST
5 6 (1.00%) SLSA
6 5 (0.84%) Azure Blueprints
6 5 (0.84%) LangChain
6 5 (0.84%) ModSecurity
6 5 (0.84%) PyTorch
7 4 (0.67%) Jakarta EE
7 4 (0.67%) JSP
7 4 (0.67%) LDAP
8 3 (0.50%) .NET
8 3 (0.50%) HTML
8 3 (0.50%) JWT
8 3 (0.50%) scikit-learn
9 2 (0.33%) EDI
9 2 (0.33%) TensorFlow
Miscellaneous
1 58 (9.70%) Security Posture
2 55 (9.20%) Cloud Native
3 34 (5.69%) Operational Technology
4 31 (5.18%) Management Information System
5 20 (3.34%) Onboarding
6 16 (2.68%) AI Agents
7 15 (2.51%) Data Centre
8 13 (2.17%) Cyber Threat
8 13 (2.17%) Enterprise Cloud
9 11 (1.84%) Hybrid Cloud
10 9 (1.51%) Cloud Security Posture
10 9 (1.51%) Private Cloud
11 8 (1.34%) Public Cloud
12 7 (1.17%) Legacy Systems
13 6 (1.00%) Data Fabric
13 6 (1.00%) Data Protection Act
13 6 (1.00%) Enterprise Software
13 6 (1.00%) IoT
13 6 (1.00%) PKI
13 6 (1.00%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 12 (2.01%) Linux
2 9 (1.51%) Windows
2 9 (1.51%) Windows Server
3 4 (0.67%) Alpine Linux
3 4 (0.67%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
3 4 (0.67%) Ubuntu
4 2 (0.33%) Unix
5 1 (0.17%) Android
Processes & Methodologies
1 321 (53.68%) Security Architecture
2 210 (35.12%) Cybersecurity
3 174 (29.10%) Cloud Security
4 171 (28.60%) Threat Modelling
5 97 (16.22%) Zero Trust
6 96 (16.05%) Risk Management
7 95 (15.89%) Identity Access Management
8 87 (14.55%) AI
8 87 (14.55%) Architectural Patterns
9 86 (14.38%) Stakeholder Management
10 79 (13.21%) TOGAF
11 74 (12.37%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 69 (11.54%) SABSA
13 68 (11.37%) Roadmaps
14 64 (10.70%) DevSecOps
15 63 (10.54%) Data Protection
16 59 (9.87%) Information Security
17 57 (9.53%) CI/CD
17 57 (9.53%) Risk Assessment
18 56 (9.36%) Enterprise Architecture
Programming Languages
1 18 (3.01%) Python
2 10 (1.67%) Java
3 9 (1.51%) Bicep
3 9 (1.51%) PowerShell
4 5 (0.84%) Groovy
4 5 (0.84%) Shell Script
5 4 (0.67%) Bash
6 3 (0.50%) JavaScript
7 2 (0.33%) SQL
8 1 (0.17%) R
Qualifications
1 268 (44.82%) Security Cleared
2 181 (30.27%) SC Cleared
3 122 (20.40%) CISSP
4 89 (14.88%) DV Cleared
5 58 (9.70%) CISM
6 45 (7.53%) Cisco Certification
7 40 (6.69%) (ISC)2 CCSP
8 29 (4.85%) CCSP
9 23 (3.85%) AWS Certification
10 17 (2.84%) Degree
11 16 (2.68%) Azure Certification
11 16 (2.68%) CISA
12 15 (2.51%) TOGAF Certification
13 11 (1.84%) SANS
14 10 (1.67%) CEH
15 8 (1.34%) CompTIA Security+
15 8 (1.34%) GIAC
15 8 (1.34%) ISSAP
15 8 (1.34%) Microsoft Certification
16 7 (1.17%) OSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 141 (23.58%) NIST
2 94 (15.72%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 61 (10.20%) NCSC
4 46 (7.69%) GDPR
5 27 (4.52%) GRC
6 20 (3.34%) NIST 800
6 20 (3.34%) PCI DSS
7 12 (2.01%) Government Security Classifications
8 11 (1.84%) HMG Security Policy Framework
9 10 (1.67%) Cyber Essentials
9 10 (1.67%) JSP 440
10 7 (1.17%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 7 (1.17%) EU AI Act
10 7 (1.17%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 6 (1.00%) COBIT
11 6 (1.00%) ISO 19650
11 6 (1.00%) ISO/IEC 42001
11 6 (1.00%) QA
12 5 (0.84%) HIPAA
12 5 (0.84%) RMADS
System Software
1 20 (3.34%) Active Directory
2 15 (2.51%) Docker
3 7 (1.17%) VMware Infrastructure
4 4 (0.67%) vSphere
5 2 (0.33%) Hyper-V
5 2 (0.33%) VMware ESXi
6 1 (0.17%) ISA Server
6 1 (0.17%) KVM
6 1 (0.17%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 26 (4.35%) Kubernetes
2 11 (1.84%) Ansible
3 7 (1.17%) Single Sign-On
4 4 (0.67%) CASB
4 4 (0.67%) QRadar
5 3 (0.50%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 2 (0.33%) Docker Swarm
6 2 (0.33%) Istio
7 1 (0.17%) FortiGate
7 1 (0.17%) Microsoft Intune
7 1 (0.17%) Suricata
Vendors
1 76 (12.71%) Microsoft
2 23 (3.85%) Google
3 19 (3.18%) Cisco
4 17 (2.84%) Palo Alto
5 14 (2.34%) Splunk
6 12 (2.01%) Fortinet
7 11 (1.84%) CrowdStrike
7 11 (1.84%) Salesforce
8 10 (1.67%) SAP
9 9 (1.51%) Tenable
10 8 (1.34%) Okta
10 8 (1.34%) VMware
11 7 (1.17%) Qualys
11 7 (1.17%) Zscaler
12 6 (1.00%) IFS
12 6 (1.00%) Juniper
13 4 (0.67%) CheckPoint
13 4 (0.67%) F5
13 4 (0.67%) IBM
13 4 (0.67%) Rapid7