Security Architect Contract Job Trends

Security Architect
UK

The median Security Architect daily rate in the UK is £623, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 1 October 2026.

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

6 months to
1 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 242 248 247
Rank change year-on-year +6 -1 -35
Contract jobs requiring a Security Architect 598 366 370
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.09% 1.11% 0.98%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.18% 1.22% 1.05%
Number of daily rates quoted 420 233 211
10th Percentile £506 £508 £500
25th Percentile £525 £600 £600
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £623 £675 £700
Median % change year-on-year -7.78% -3.57% +3.70%
75th Percentile £738 £753 £775
90th Percentile £825 £800 £825
UK excluding London median daily rate £600 £675 £650
% change year-on-year -11.07% +3.85% -4.06%
Number of hourly rates quoted 5 3 2
10th Percentile - £86.00 -
25th Percentile £60.00 £91.25 -
Median hourly rate £70.00 £100.00 £87.46
Median % change year-on-year -30.00% +14.34% +24.94%
75th Percentile £80.00 £102.75 -
90th Percentile £81.80 £104.40 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £70.00 £100.00 £87.46
% change year-on-year -30.00% +14.34% +22.46%

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 50,623 30,078 35,169
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.20% 90.98% 92.96%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,851 19,013 21,316
10th Percentile £325 £276 £300
25th Percentile £425 £400 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -0.94%
75th Percentile £630 £623 £638
90th Percentile £734 £725 £749
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,956 1,609 1,552
10th Percentile £14.50 £13.75 £14.86
25th Percentile £19.91 £17.30 £20.94
Median hourly rate £41.74 £25.15 £43.00
Median % change year-on-year +65.94% -41.51% -2.82%
75th Percentile £67.50 £51.25 £65.00
90th Percentile £78.75 £68.31 £74.86
UK excluding London median hourly rate £41.87 £25.08 £43.00
% change year-on-year +66.97% -41.69% -2.05%

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 1 October 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 1 October 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 -8 505 £625 -7.41% 386
London -2 267 £625 -7.41% 210
UK excluding London -35 228 £600 -11.07% 181
Work from Home +3 201 £600 -12.73% 169
South East -1 108 £638 +2.00% 64
North of England -74 50 £600 -14.29% 23
North West -39 38 £600 -16.35% 16
South West -35 30 £600 -7.69% 38
Midlands -39 29 £650 -3.70% 27
West Midlands -27 28 £650 -11.86% 22
Yorkshire -43 9 £350 -44.00% 5
East of England -22 7 £625 +25.00% 9
Channel Islands - 4 £700 -
East Midlands -16 1 - - 5
Scotland -23 1 - - 6

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

For the 6 months to 1 October 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.

1 311 (52.01%) Security Architecture
2 289 (48.33%) Security Cleared
3 209 (34.95%) Cybersecurity
4 197 (32.94%) SC Cleared
5 179 (29.93%) Azure
6 162 (27.09%) Cloud Security
7 155 (25.92%) Threat Modelling
8 145 (24.25%) AWS
9 139 (23.24%) NIST
10 112 (18.73%) CISSP
11 97 (16.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
12 96 (16.05%) Identity Access Management
13 95 (15.89%) Risk Management
14 94 (15.72%) DV Cleared
15 93 (15.55%) Zero Trust
16 90 (15.05%) Stakeholder Management
17 86 (14.38%) AI
18 82 (13.71%) TOGAF
19 81 (13.55%) Architectural Patterns
20 79 (13.21%) Network Security
21 76 (12.71%) Microsoft
22 74 (12.37%) Stakeholder Engagement
23 71 (11.87%) NCSC
23 71 (11.87%) Roadmaps
24 61 (10.20%) SABSA
24 61 (10.20%) Vulnerability Management
25 60 (10.03%) DevSecOps
25 60 (10.03%) GCP
26 59 (9.87%) CISM
27 58 (9.70%) CI/CD

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 6 (1.00%) IIS
2 3 (0.50%) Confluence
3 2 (0.33%) SAS
3 2 (0.33%) SharePoint
Applications
1 4 (0.67%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 1 (0.17%) Gliffy
Business Applications
1 3 (0.50%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
2 1 (0.17%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 179 (29.93%) Azure
2 145 (24.25%) AWS
3 60 (10.03%) GCP
4 38 (6.35%) Entra ID
5 19 (3.18%) SaaS
6 17 (2.84%) Azure Sentinel
7 12 (2.01%) Microsoft 365
8 11 (1.84%) Dynamics 365
9 9 (1.51%) Azure Key Vault
10 7 (1.17%) AWS KMS
11 6 (1.00%) OCI
12 5 (0.84%) AWS Control Tower
12 5 (0.84%) Azure AI
12 5 (0.84%) IaaS
12 5 (0.84%) Microsoft Purview
12 5 (0.84%) PaaS
12 5 (0.84%) Vertex AI
13 4 (0.67%) Azure Cosmos DB
13 4 (0.67%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 4 (0.67%) GitHub
Communications & Networking
1 79 (13.21%) Network Security
2 50 (8.36%) Firewall
3 15 (2.51%) WAN
4 13 (2.17%) VPN
5 8 (1.34%) 4G
5 8 (1.34%) SD-WAN
5 8 (1.34%) VLAN
6 7 (1.17%) IPsec
7 6 (1.00%) 5G
7 6 (1.00%) LAN
7 6 (1.00%) NGFW
8 5 (0.84%) BGP
8 5 (0.84%) OSPF
8 5 (0.84%) Radio Access Network
9 4 (0.67%) MPLS
10 3 (0.50%) BIG-IP
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 5 (0.84%) Data Lake
2 2 (0.33%) Metadata
3 1 (0.17%) Amazon Aurora
3 1 (0.17%) BigQuery
3 1 (0.17%) Data Warehouse
3 1 (0.17%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 9 (1.51%) Jenkins
2 5 (0.84%) JIRA
3 2 (0.33%) Claude Code
3 2 (0.33%) GitLab
4 1 (0.17%) Bitbucket
General
1 101 (16.89%) Social Skills
2 74 (12.37%) Public Sector
3 52 (8.70%) Finance
4 26 (4.35%) Documentation Skills
4 26 (4.35%) Influencing Skills
5 25 (4.18%) Banking
6 22 (3.68%) Legal
7 19 (3.18%) Analytical Skills
8 18 (3.01%) Telecoms
9 12 (2.01%) Manufacturing
10 10 (1.67%) Police
11 9 (1.51%) Military
12 8 (1.34%) Law
13 7 (1.17%) Aerospace
13 7 (1.17%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 5 (0.84%) Pharmaceutical
14 5 (0.84%) Presentation Skills
14 5 (0.84%) Retail
15 4 (0.67%) Automotive
15 4 (0.67%) Local Government
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (4.18%) Terraform
2 15 (2.51%) OAuth
3 12 (2.01%) OpenID
3 12 (2.01%) SAML
4 10 (1.67%) OAuth2
5 8 (1.34%) REST
6 7 (1.17%) ModSecurity
7 6 (1.00%) LDAP
7 6 (1.00%) SLSA
8 5 (0.84%) Azure Blueprints
8 5 (0.84%) LangChain
8 5 (0.84%) PyTorch
9 3 (0.50%) .NET
9 3 (0.50%) HTML
9 3 (0.50%) JWT
9 3 (0.50%) scikit-learn
10 2 (0.33%) EDI
10 2 (0.33%) Jakarta EE
10 2 (0.33%) JSP
10 2 (0.33%) Oracle Fusion
Miscellaneous
1 53 (8.86%) Cloud Native
2 49 (8.19%) Security Posture
3 34 (5.69%) Management Information System
4 30 (5.02%) Operational Technology
5 19 (3.18%) Cyber Threat
5 19 (3.18%) Data Centre
6 18 (3.01%) Onboarding
7 14 (2.34%) AI Agents
8 12 (2.01%) Hybrid Cloud
8 12 (2.01%) Public Cloud
9 11 (1.84%) PKI
10 10 (1.67%) Enterprise Cloud
11 8 (1.34%) Cloud Security Posture
11 8 (1.34%) Private Cloud
12 7 (1.17%) Legacy Systems
13 6 (1.00%) Enterprise Software
13 6 (1.00%) IoT
13 6 (1.00%) Self-Motivation
14 5 (0.84%) Embedded Systems
14 5 (0.84%) Mobile Payment
Operating Systems
1 14 (2.34%) Linux
2 12 (2.01%) Windows
3 11 (1.84%) Windows Server
4 4 (0.67%) Alpine Linux
4 4 (0.67%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 4 (0.67%) Ubuntu
5 3 (0.50%) Unix
6 1 (0.17%) Android
Processes & Methodologies
1 311 (52.01%) Security Architecture
2 209 (34.95%) Cybersecurity
3 162 (27.09%) Cloud Security
4 155 (25.92%) Threat Modelling
5 96 (16.05%) Identity Access Management
6 95 (15.89%) Risk Management
7 93 (15.55%) Zero Trust
8 90 (15.05%) Stakeholder Management
9 86 (14.38%) AI
10 82 (13.71%) TOGAF
11 81 (13.55%) Architectural Patterns
12 74 (12.37%) Stakeholder Engagement
13 71 (11.87%) Roadmaps
14 61 (10.20%) SABSA
14 61 (10.20%) Vulnerability Management
15 60 (10.03%) DevSecOps
16 58 (9.70%) CI/CD
16 58 (9.70%) Data Protection
17 57 (9.53%) Enterprise Architecture
18 56 (9.36%) Information Security
Programming Languages
1 20 (3.34%) Python
2 10 (1.67%) PowerShell
3 8 (1.34%) Bicep
3 8 (1.34%) Java
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
1 289 (48.33%) Security Cleared
2 197 (32.94%) SC Cleared
3 112 (18.73%) CISSP
4 94 (15.72%) DV Cleared
5 59 (9.87%) CISM
6 47 (7.86%) Cisco Certification
7 41 (6.86%) (ISC)2 CCSP
8 34 (5.69%) CCSP
9 25 (4.18%) AWS Certification
10 22 (3.68%) Degree
11 19 (3.18%) TOGAF Certification
12 18 (3.01%) CISA
13 16 (2.68%) Azure Certification
14 8 (1.34%) CEH
14 8 (1.34%) Microsoft Certification
14 8 (1.34%) SANS
15 7 (1.17%) CompTIA Security+
15 7 (1.17%) CRISC
15 7 (1.17%) ISSAP
16 6 (1.00%) BPSS Clearance
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 139 (23.24%) NIST
2 97 (16.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 71 (11.87%) NCSC
4 39 (6.52%) GDPR
5 32 (5.35%) GRC
6 20 (3.34%) PCI DSS
7 19 (3.18%) NIST 800
8 12 (2.01%) JSP 440
9 11 (1.84%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 10 (1.67%) Cyber Essentials
10 10 (1.67%) Government Security Classifications
11 9 (1.51%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 8 (1.34%) ISO/IEC 27005
13 7 (1.17%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 7 (1.17%) ISO 19650
14 6 (1.00%) EU AI Act
14 6 (1.00%) ISO/IEC 42001
15 5 (0.84%) HIPAA
15 5 (0.84%) ISO 31000
15 5 (0.84%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 22 (3.68%) Active Directory
2 15 (2.51%) Docker
3 7 (1.17%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (0.84%) ISA Server
5 2 (0.33%) Hyper-V
5 2 (0.33%) VMware ESXi
5 2 (0.33%) vSphere
6 1 (0.17%) KVM
6 1 (0.17%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 26 (4.35%) Kubernetes
2 13 (2.17%) Ansible
3 8 (1.34%) CASB
4 7 (1.17%) Single Sign-On
5 4 (0.67%) FortiGate
5 4 (0.67%) QRadar
6 3 (0.50%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 2 (0.33%) Docker Swarm
7 2 (0.33%) Istio
8 1 (0.17%) Microsoft Intune
8 1 (0.17%) Suricata
Vendors
1 76 (12.71%) Microsoft
2 29 (4.85%) Google
3 24 (4.01%) Cisco
4 19 (3.18%) Palo Alto
5 18 (3.01%) Splunk
6 15 (2.51%) CrowdStrike
7 12 (2.01%) Fortinet
8 11 (1.84%) Salesforce
9 10 (1.67%) Qualys
10 9 (1.51%) F5
11 8 (1.34%) Tenable
11 8 (1.34%) VMware
12 7 (1.17%) Zscaler
13 6 (1.00%) IFS
13 6 (1.00%) Juniper
13 6 (1.00%) SAP
14 5 (0.84%) Centrify
14 5 (0.84%) CyberArk
14 5 (0.84%) Okta
14 5 (0.84%) Tripwire