Security Architect Contract Job Trends

Security Architect
UK

The median Security Architect daily rate in the UK is £650, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 9 January 2026.

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

6 months to
9 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 287 250 251
Rank change year-on-year -37 +1 +51
Contract jobs requiring a Security Architect 318 322 411
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.87% 1.01% 0.97%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.95% 1.09% 1.04%
Number of daily rates quoted 212 206 262
10th Percentile £480 £550 £521
25th Percentile £550 £600 £600
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £650 £675 £675
Median % change year-on-year -3.70% - -3.57%
75th Percentile £728 £773 £770
90th Percentile £788 £819 £825
UK excluding London median daily rate £650 £655 £680
% change year-on-year -0.76% -3.68% -1.45%
Number of hourly rates quoted 6 1 3
10th Percentile £79.38 - £74.63
25th Percentile £82.19 £68.26 £75.02
Median hourly rate £85.00 £73.31 £78.74
Median % change year-on-year +15.95% -6.90% +12.49%
75th Percentile £91.56 £78.36 £84.36
90th Percentile £94.38 - £85.11
UK excluding London median hourly rate £85.00 £73.31 £78.74
% change year-on-year +15.95% -6.90% +12.49%

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 33,508 29,606 39,607
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.31% 92.68% 93.31%
Number of daily rates quoted 21,195 18,121 26,431
10th Percentile £300 £291 £281
25th Percentile £405 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £618 £638 £638
90th Percentile £719 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £479 £500
% change year-on-year -0.89% -4.15% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,969 900 1,622
10th Percentile £14.25 £15.52 £14.18
25th Percentile £18.22 £21.05 £19.06
Median hourly rate £26.50 £32.50 £44.50
Median % change year-on-year -18.46% -26.97% +34.85%
75th Percentile £60.00 £62.24 £65.00
90th Percentile £71.46 £73.75 £76.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £31.50 £45.11
% change year-on-year -20.16% -30.16% +67.04%

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 9 January 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 9 January 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 -33 272 £650 -3.70% 91
UK excluding London -29 150 £650 -0.76% 68
London -7 127 £650 -6.31% 33
Work from Home -36 87 £613 -12.50% 66
South East -8 50 £675 +3.85% 19
North of England -28 48 £600 -20.00% 21
Yorkshire -22 32 £544 -22.32% 7
South West -8 21 £650 +13.04% 10
North West -36 14 £701 -6.60% 7
Midlands -39 13 £675 -3.57% 5
West Midlands -36 11 £675 -3.57% 4
Wales +7 9 £725 - 4
Scotland -8 9 £675 +12.50% 2
East of England -22 5 £520 +15.56% 7
Northern Ireland -6 2 £500 - 1
North East - 2 £545 - 7
East Midlands - 2 £450 - 1

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

For the 6 months to 9 January 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.

1 155 (48.74%) Security Architecture
2 113 (35.53%) Cybersecurity
2 113 (35.53%) Security Cleared
3 104 (32.70%) Azure
4 89 (27.99%) AWS
5 87 (27.36%) NIST
6 82 (25.79%) SC Cleared
7 79 (24.84%) Cloud Security
8 78 (24.53%) CISSP
9 76 (23.90%) Threat Modelling
10 63 (19.81%) ISO/IEC 27001
11 62 (19.50%) TOGAF
12 61 (19.18%) Network Security
13 60 (18.87%) Zero Trust
14 57 (17.92%) Firewall
15 56 (17.61%) Microsoft
16 50 (15.72%) Identity Access Management
17 49 (15.41%) SABSA
18 48 (15.09%) Incident Response
19 45 (14.15%) Risk Management
19 45 (14.15%) Vulnerability Management
20 44 (13.84%) SIEM
21 42 (13.21%) CISM
22 40 (12.58%) GCP
23 39 (12.26%) DevSecOps
24 37 (11.64%) Stakeholder Engagement
25 35 (11.01%) GDPR
26 34 (10.69%) Roadmaps
27 33 (10.38%) CI/CD
28 31 (9.75%) 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 15 (4.72%) Confluence
2 3 (0.94%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (0.63%) SharePoint
4 1 (0.31%) Jupyter
4 1 (0.31%) nginx
Applications
1 1 (0.31%) Microsoft PowerPoint
1 1 (0.31%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 6 (1.89%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 104 (32.70%) Azure
2 89 (27.99%) AWS
3 40 (12.58%) GCP
4 21 (6.60%) Entra ID
5 12 (3.77%) Microsoft 365
6 11 (3.46%) Microsoft Purview
6 11 (3.46%) SaaS
7 9 (2.83%) PaaS
8 8 (2.52%) AWS KMS
8 8 (2.52%) Azure Sentinel
8 8 (2.52%) GitHub
9 7 (2.20%) Amazon GuardDuty
9 7 (2.20%) IaaS
10 6 (1.89%) AWS CloudFormation
10 6 (1.89%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 4 (1.26%) Azure Key Vault
12 3 (0.94%) Amazon EKS
13 2 (0.63%) Amazon CloudWatch
13 2 (0.63%) Amazon ECS
13 2 (0.63%) Cloud Computing
Communications & Networking
1 61 (19.18%) Network Security
2 57 (17.92%) Firewall
3 13 (4.09%) VPN
4 12 (3.77%) WAN
5 9 (2.83%) LAN
6 8 (2.52%) NGFW
6 8 (2.52%) SD-WAN
7 5 (1.57%) DNS
7 5 (1.57%) IPsec
8 4 (1.26%) BGP
8 4 (1.26%) SSL
9 3 (0.94%) DHCP
9 3 (0.94%) Internet
9 3 (0.94%) Intrusion Detection
9 3 (0.94%) Kerberos
9 3 (0.94%) OSPF
9 3 (0.94%) Skype
9 3 (0.94%) TCP/IP
9 3 (0.94%) VSAN
10 2 (0.63%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.63%) BigQuery
2 1 (0.31%) Elasticsearch
2 1 (0.31%) Metadata
2 1 (0.31%) Oracle Database
Development Applications
1 13 (4.09%) JIRA
2 3 (0.94%) Jenkins
3 2 (0.63%) GitLab
4 1 (0.31%) Git
4 1 (0.31%) MLflow
General
1 72 (22.64%) Social Skills
2 50 (15.72%) Finance
3 49 (15.41%) Public Sector
4 17 (5.35%) Analytical Skills
4 17 (5.35%) Banking
5 12 (3.77%) Legal
6 8 (2.52%) Financial Institution
7 7 (2.20%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 7 (2.20%) Influencing Skills
7 7 (2.20%) Presentation Skills
8 6 (1.89%) Documentation Skills
9 4 (1.26%) Aerospace
9 4 (1.26%) Pharmaceutical
10 3 (0.94%) Military
10 3 (0.94%) Telecoms
11 2 (0.63%) Electronics
11 2 (0.63%) Manufacturing
11 2 (0.63%) Marketing
12 1 (0.31%) Law
12 1 (0.31%) Retail
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (2.52%) SAML
2 6 (1.89%) OAuth
3 5 (1.57%) ModSecurity
3 5 (1.57%) OpenID
4 3 (0.94%) OAuth2
5 2 (0.63%) .NET
5 2 (0.63%) ARM Templates
5 2 (0.63%) Kafka
5 2 (0.63%) Middleware
6 1 (0.31%) ADO
6 1 (0.31%) Elastic Stack
6 1 (0.31%) JAAS
6 1 (0.31%) JSSE
6 1 (0.31%) JWT
6 1 (0.31%) LDAP
6 1 (0.31%) OpenTelemetry
6 1 (0.31%) PyTorch
6 1 (0.31%) REST
6 1 (0.31%) SailPoint
6 1 (0.31%) TensorFlow
Miscellaneous
1 29 (9.12%) Security Posture
2 28 (8.81%) Cloud Native
3 16 (5.03%) Onboarding
4 15 (4.72%) PKI
5 14 (4.40%) Data Centre
5 14 (4.40%) Management Information System
5 14 (4.40%) Operational Technology
6 11 (3.46%) Product Ownership
7 10 (3.14%) Hybrid Cloud
7 10 (3.14%) Private Cloud
8 8 (2.52%) Cloud Security Posture
8 8 (2.52%) Cyber Threat
8 8 (2.52%) Public Cloud
9 7 (2.20%) Enterprise Software
9 7 (2.20%) Taxonomies
10 6 (1.89%) Security Operations Centre
11 5 (1.57%) Cyber Defence
11 5 (1.57%) SCADA
12 4 (1.26%) Legacy Systems
12 4 (1.26%) NHS
Operating Systems
1 12 (3.77%) Windows
2 9 (2.83%) Linux
3 4 (1.26%) Windows Server
4 3 (0.94%) Unix
4 3 (0.94%) Windows 10
4 3 (0.94%) Windows Server 2008
5 2 (0.63%) Android
5 2 (0.63%) Apple iOS
5 2 (0.63%) Windows Server 2019
6 1 (0.31%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 155 (48.74%) Security Architecture
2 113 (35.53%) Cybersecurity
3 79 (24.84%) Cloud Security
4 76 (23.90%) Threat Modelling
5 62 (19.50%) TOGAF
6 60 (18.87%) Zero Trust
7 50 (15.72%) Identity Access Management
8 49 (15.41%) SABSA
9 48 (15.09%) Incident Response
10 45 (14.15%) Risk Management
10 45 (14.15%) Vulnerability Management
11 44 (13.84%) SIEM
12 39 (12.26%) DevSecOps
13 37 (11.64%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 34 (10.69%) Roadmaps
15 33 (10.38%) CI/CD
16 31 (9.75%) Information Security
17 28 (8.81%) Regulatory Compliance
18 27 (8.49%) Architectural Patterns
19 25 (7.86%) Infrastructure as Code
Programming Languages
1 7 (2.20%) Python
2 6 (1.89%) Java
3 4 (1.26%) SQL
4 3 (0.94%) Bicep
5 2 (0.63%) C
5 2 (0.63%) Kotlin
5 2 (0.63%) PL/SQL
5 2 (0.63%) PowerShell
5 2 (0.63%) Swift
6 1 (0.31%) Bash
6 1 (0.31%) JavaScript
6 1 (0.31%) Kusto Query Language
6 1 (0.31%) ProC
6 1 (0.31%) R
Qualifications
1 113 (35.53%) Security Cleared
2 82 (25.79%) SC Cleared
3 78 (24.53%) CISSP
4 42 (13.21%) CISM
5 26 (8.18%) Cisco Certification
6 23 (7.23%) DV Cleared
7 22 (6.92%) Degree
8 20 (6.29%) AWS Certification
9 16 (5.03%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 15 (4.72%) TOGAF Certification
11 14 (4.40%) Azure Certification
12 11 (3.46%) CCSP
13 10 (3.14%) CCNP
14 7 (2.20%) Master's Degree
15 6 (1.89%) CCIE
16 5 (1.57%) GIAC
16 5 (1.57%) Microsoft Certification
16 5 (1.57%) PhD
17 4 (1.26%) Computer Science Degree
17 4 (1.26%) SSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 87 (27.36%) NIST
2 63 (19.81%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 35 (11.01%) GDPR
4 29 (9.12%) NCSC
5 22 (6.92%) PCI DSS
6 8 (2.52%) EU AI Act
6 8 (2.52%) PSD2
7 7 (2.20%) Cyber Essentials
8 6 (1.89%) JSP 440
8 6 (1.89%) NIST 800
9 4 (1.26%) GRC
9 4 (1.26%) HIPAA
10 3 (0.94%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 3 (0.94%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 3 (0.94%) Def Stans
10 3 (0.94%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 2 (0.63%) QA
11 2 (0.63%) RMADS
11 2 (0.63%) SOC 1
12 1 (0.31%) COBIT
System Software
1 8 (2.52%) Active Directory
1 8 (2.52%) Docker
2 3 (0.94%) VMware ESXi
2 3 (0.94%) VMware Infrastructure
3 1 (0.31%) Hyper-V
3 1 (0.31%) Virtual Machines
3 1 (0.31%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 22 (6.92%) Terraform
2 14 (4.40%) Kubernetes
3 6 (1.89%) Ansible
3 6 (1.89%) Single Sign-On
4 3 (0.94%) Active Directory Federation Services
4 3 (0.94%) OPNET
4 3 (0.94%) SCCM
4 3 (0.94%) vCenter Server
5 2 (0.63%) FortiGate
6 1 (0.31%) Kibana
6 1 (0.31%) Kubeflow
6 1 (0.31%) logstash
Vendors
1 56 (17.61%) Microsoft
2 23 (7.23%) CyberArk
3 15 (4.72%) Palo Alto
4 14 (4.40%) Splunk
5 12 (3.77%) Cisco
6 11 (3.46%) BiZZdesign
6 11 (3.46%) Centrify
7 10 (3.14%) Zscaler
8 8 (2.52%) CheckPoint
8 8 (2.52%) Darktrace
8 8 (2.52%) Fortinet
9 7 (2.20%) Google
9 7 (2.20%) Virgin Media
10 6 (1.89%) Sparx
10 6 (1.89%) VMware
11 5 (1.57%) F5
12 4 (1.26%) Oracle
12 4 (1.26%) ServiceNow
12 4 (1.26%) Tenable
12 4 (1.26%) Thycotic