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 5 April 2026.

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

6 months to
5 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 260 247 224
Rank change year-on-year -13 -23 +74
Contract jobs requiring a Security Architect 454 317 467
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.00% 1.08% 1.06%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.09% 1.17% 1.14%
Number of daily rates quoted 280 251 286
10th Percentile £462 £550 £519
25th Percentile £513 £600 £625
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £625 £663 £700
Median % change year-on-year -5.66% -5.36% -
75th Percentile £738 £750 £775
90th Percentile £788 £838 £825
UK excluding London median daily rate £613 £650 £670
% change year-on-year -5.77% -2.91% -1.54%
Number of hourly rates quoted 9 1 18
10th Percentile £80.50 - £81.84
25th Percentile £83.00 £68.26 £81.88
Median hourly rate £84.00 £73.31 £87.23
Median % change year-on-year +14.58% -15.96% +24.17%
75th Percentile £85.00 £78.36 £87.51
90th Percentile £86.75 - £87.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £83.50 £73.31 £87.23
% change year-on-year +13.90% -15.96% +24.61%

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 41,784 27,118 40,940
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.22% 92.78% 92.79%
Number of daily rates quoted 26,031 17,841 26,815
10th Percentile £313 £300 £275
25th Percentile £413 £406 £408
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £520 £525
Median % change year-on-year -3.85% -0.95% -3.31%
75th Percentile £613 £630 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £743
UK excluding London median daily rate £488 £475 £488
% change year-on-year +2.63% -2.56% -2.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,612 956 2,534
10th Percentile £15.00 £14.99 £12.86
25th Percentile £19.91 £20.26 £16.25
Median hourly rate £40.00 £32.00 £33.78
Median % change year-on-year +25.00% -5.26% -24.15%
75th Percentile £65.00 £64.50 £60.00
90th Percentile £77.50 £76.25 £71.60
UK excluding London median hourly rate £41.06 £31.29 £34.61
% change year-on-year +31.21% -9.58% -18.32%

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 5 April 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 5 April 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 -16 390 £625 -7.41% 114
UK excluding London -4 216 £613 -5.77% 77
London -23 175 £648 -4.07% 46
Work from Home -11 134 £610 -7.75% 46
South East -10 78 £630 +0.80% 22
North of England -24 68 £616 -7.85% 25
North West -14 41 £704 +5.24% 17
Midlands -51 36 £650 -7.14% 10
West Midlands -43 34 £688 -1.79% 10
Yorkshire -37 25 £519 -23.75% 5
South West -39 13 £575 -13.53% 14
Scotland +2 9 £738 +22.92% 2
East of England - 7 £560 - 2
Wales - 6 - - 2
North East -12 2 £545 -12.80% 3
East Midlands - 2 £438 -
Northern Ireland - 2 £500 -

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

For the 6 months to 5 April 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.

1 213 (46.92%) Security Architecture
2 197 (43.39%) Security Cleared
3 157 (34.58%) Cybersecurity
4 128 (28.19%) SC Cleared
5 123 (27.09%) Azure
6 119 (26.21%) Threat Modelling
7 105 (23.13%) AWS
7 105 (23.13%) Cloud Security
8 99 (21.81%) CISSP
8 99 (21.81%) NIST
9 90 (19.82%) Network Security
10 84 (18.50%) Zero Trust
11 72 (15.86%) TOGAF
12 71 (15.64%) ISO/IEC 27001
13 69 (15.20%) Risk Management
14 65 (14.32%) SABSA
15 59 (13.00%) CISM
15 59 (13.00%) GCP
16 58 (12.78%) Architectural Patterns
17 51 (11.23%) DV Cleared
17 51 (11.23%) Identity Access Management
18 47 (10.35%) DevSecOps
18 47 (10.35%) Firewall
18 47 (10.35%) Microsoft
18 47 (10.35%) SIEM
19 46 (10.13%) Vulnerability Management
20 45 (9.91%) Stakeholder Engagement
21 44 (9.69%) Application Security
22 41 (9.03%) Information Security
23 39 (8.59%) NCSC

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 16 (3.52%) Confluence
2 5 (1.10%) SharePoint
3 4 (0.88%) 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 (1.32%) 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
1 123 (27.09%) Azure
2 105 (23.13%) AWS
3 59 (13.00%) GCP
4 26 (5.73%) Entra ID
5 16 (3.52%) SaaS
6 12 (2.64%) Azure Sentinel
7 11 (2.42%) Amazon GuardDuty
7 11 (2.42%) Microsoft 365
8 8 (1.76%) AWS CloudFormation
8 8 (1.76%) AWS KMS
9 7 (1.54%) GitHub
10 6 (1.32%) IaaS
10 6 (1.32%) PaaS
10 6 (1.32%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 5 (1.10%) Amazon ECS
11 5 (1.10%) Amazon EKS
12 4 (0.88%) Azure DevOps
13 3 (0.66%) Amazon CloudWatch
13 3 (0.66%) Apigee
13 3 (0.66%) Azure API Management
Communications & Networking
1 90 (19.82%) Network Security
2 47 (10.35%) Firewall
3 16 (3.52%) VPN
4 14 (3.08%) WAN
5 11 (2.42%) LAN
5 11 (2.42%) SD-WAN
6 7 (1.54%) IPsec
7 6 (1.32%) BGP
7 6 (1.32%) OSPF
8 5 (1.10%) DNS
9 4 (0.88%) DHCP
9 4 (0.88%) MQTT
9 4 (0.88%) 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%) F5 BIG-IP GTM
11 2 (0.44%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (1.10%) 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 14 (3.08%) JIRA
2 5 (1.10%) Jenkins
3 4 (0.88%) 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 83 (18.28%) Social Skills
2 63 (13.88%) Finance
3 62 (13.66%) Public Sector
4 21 (4.63%) Banking
5 17 (3.74%) Documentation Skills
6 15 (3.30%) Presentation Skills
7 13 (2.86%) Aerospace
8 12 (2.64%) Legal
9 11 (2.42%) Analytical Skills
10 8 (1.76%) Influencing Skills
11 5 (1.10%) Financial Institution
12 4 (0.88%) Manufacturing
13 3 (0.66%) Law
13 3 (0.66%) Military
14 2 (0.44%) Retail
14 2 (0.44%) Retail Banking
15 1 (0.22%) Aviation
15 1 (0.22%) Inclusion and Diversity
15 1 (0.22%) Investment Banking
15 1 (0.22%) Police
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (1.98%) OpenID
2 8 (1.76%) OAuth
3 7 (1.54%) OAuth2
4 6 (1.32%) SAML
5 5 (1.10%) JWT
5 5 (1.10%) Middleware
5 5 (1.10%) SailPoint
6 4 (0.88%) 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%) SOAP
9 1 (0.22%) STL
Miscellaneous
1 38 (8.37%) Security Posture
2 30 (6.61%) Cloud Native
3 23 (5.07%) Management Information System
3 23 (5.07%) Operational Technology
4 17 (3.74%) Onboarding
5 14 (3.08%) Data Centre
6 9 (1.98%) Private Cloud
6 9 (1.98%) Product Ownership
7 8 (1.76%) Data Protection Act
8 7 (1.54%) Hybrid Cloud
8 7 (1.54%) Security Operations Centre
9 6 (1.32%) Cyber Threat
9 6 (1.32%) PKI
9 6 (1.32%) Taxonomies
10 5 (1.10%) AI Agents
10 5 (1.10%) Legacy Systems
11 4 (0.88%) Cloud Security Posture
11 4 (0.88%) Enterprise Software
11 4 (0.88%) SCADA
11 4 (0.88%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 13 (2.86%) Windows
2 12 (2.64%) Linux
3 4 (0.88%) 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
1 213 (46.92%) Security Architecture
2 157 (34.58%) Cybersecurity
3 119 (26.21%) Threat Modelling
4 105 (23.13%) Cloud Security
5 84 (18.50%) Zero Trust
6 72 (15.86%) TOGAF
7 69 (15.20%) Risk Management
8 65 (14.32%) SABSA
9 58 (12.78%) Architectural Patterns
10 51 (11.23%) Identity Access Management
11 47 (10.35%) DevSecOps
11 47 (10.35%) SIEM
12 46 (10.13%) Vulnerability Management
13 45 (9.91%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 44 (9.69%) Application Security
15 41 (9.03%) Information Security
16 38 (8.37%) Network Segmentation
17 37 (8.15%) CI/CD
17 37 (8.15%) Incident Response
18 36 (7.93%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 8 (1.76%) Java
2 6 (1.32%) Python
3 5 (1.10%) Bicep
4 4 (0.88%) 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
1 197 (43.39%) Security Cleared
2 128 (28.19%) SC Cleared
3 99 (21.81%) CISSP
4 59 (13.00%) CISM
5 51 (11.23%) DV Cleared
6 38 (8.37%) Cisco Certification
7 30 (6.61%) Degree
8 29 (6.39%) (ISC)2 CCSP
9 17 (3.74%) CCSP
10 15 (3.30%) AWS Certification
11 13 (2.86%) TOGAF Certification
12 11 (2.42%) BPSS Clearance
12 11 (2.42%) GIAC
13 8 (1.76%) Azure Certification
13 8 (1.76%) CCNP
13 8 (1.76%) SANS
14 7 (1.54%) CCIE
14 7 (1.54%) CEH
15 6 (1.32%) CISA
16 5 (1.10%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 99 (21.81%) NIST
2 71 (15.64%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 39 (8.59%) NCSC
4 33 (7.27%) GDPR
5 20 (4.41%) PCI DSS
6 14 (3.08%) NIST 800
7 9 (1.98%) EU AI Act
8 8 (1.76%) GRC
9 7 (1.54%) JSP 440
10 6 (1.32%) COBIT
10 6 (1.32%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 6 (1.32%) QA
11 5 (1.10%) Cyber Essentials
11 5 (1.10%) RMADS
12 3 (0.66%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 3 (0.66%) Def Stans
12 3 (0.66%) Government Security Classifications
12 3 (0.66%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 3 (0.66%) PSD2
12 3 (0.66%) SOC 2
System Software
1 17 (3.74%) 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 20 (4.41%) Terraform
2 17 (3.74%) Kubernetes
3 6 (1.32%) Ansible
4 4 (0.88%) 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 47 (10.35%) Microsoft
2 17 (3.74%) BiZZdesign
3 16 (3.52%) Splunk
4 14 (3.08%) Cisco
5 13 (2.86%) CyberArk
6 11 (2.42%) Zscaler
7 10 (2.20%) CheckPoint
7 10 (2.20%) Fortinet
7 10 (2.20%) Okta
8 8 (1.76%) Centrify
8 8 (1.76%) Palo Alto
8 8 (1.76%) Tenable
9 7 (1.54%) SAP
10 6 (1.32%) F5
10 6 (1.32%) ServiceNow
10 6 (1.32%) Sparx
11 5 (1.10%) Cribl.io
11 5 (1.10%) VMware
12 4 (0.88%) Google
12 4 (0.88%) Qualys