Security Architect Contract Job Trends

Security Architect
UK

The median Security Architect daily rate in the UK is £620, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 10 October 2026.

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

6 months to
10 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 243 237 248
Rank change year-on-year -6 +11 -34
Contract jobs requiring a Security Architect 593 377 372
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.09% 1.14% 0.98%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.18% 1.25% 1.05%
Number of daily rates quoted 424 240 212
10th Percentile £506 £504 £500
25th Percentile £536 £575 £600
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £620 £675 £700
Median % change year-on-year -8.15% -3.57% +3.70%
75th Percentile £716 £750 £775
90th Percentile £825 £800 £836
UK excluding London median daily rate £600 £675 £650
% change year-on-year -11.11% +3.85% -3.70%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4 5 1
10th Percentile - £83.50 -
25th Percentile £60.00 £85.00 -
Median hourly rate £70.00 £90.00 £87.46
Median % change year-on-year -22.22% +2.90% +24.94%
75th Percentile £80.00 £100.00 -
90th Percentile - £103.30 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £70.00 £92.50 £87.46
% change year-on-year -24.32% +5.76% +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 50,251 30,087 35,271
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.06% 90.83% 93.00%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,471 18,979 21,309
10th Percentile £325 £275 £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 £638 £623 £638
90th Percentile £738 £725 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £494
% change year-on-year +5.26% -3.75% -1.30%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4,065 1,640 1,482
10th Percentile £14.31 £13.75 £14.85
25th Percentile £19.33 £17.30 £20.30
Median hourly rate £41.71 £25.15 £42.03
Median % change year-on-year +65.84% -40.16% -5.55%
75th Percentile £67.50 £50.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £79.00 £68.00 £74.37
UK excluding London median hourly rate £41.71 £25.00 £42.91
% change year-on-year +66.84% -41.74% -3.03%

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 10 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 10 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 -26 501 £620 -8.15% 446
London -18 259 £625 -7.41% 262
UK excluding London -32 233 £600 -11.11% 187
Work from Home +6 204 £594 -12.81% 195
South East -15 101 £630 -4.91% 63
North of England -83 54 £600 -11.11% 32
North West -41 38 £600 -16.35% 22
South West -20 36 £563 -13.46% 28
Midlands -31 30 £663 -1.85% 29
West Midlands -35 27 £663 -1.85% 25
Yorkshire -40 13 £475 -12.64% 8
East of England -31 7 £625 +110.08% 12
Channel Islands - 5 £700 -
East Midlands -12 3 £625 +38.89% 4
Scotland -23 1 - - 8

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

For the 6 months to 10 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.

1 310 (52.28%) Security Architecture
2 296 (49.92%) Security Cleared
3 210 (35.41%) Cybersecurity
4 207 (34.91%) SC Cleared
5 182 (30.69%) Azure
6 159 (26.81%) Cloud Security
7 152 (25.63%) AWS
8 150 (25.30%) Threat Modelling
9 133 (22.43%) NIST
10 112 (18.89%) CISSP
11 97 (16.36%) Identity Access Management
11 97 (16.36%) ISO/IEC 27001
12 94 (15.85%) Stakeholder Management
13 92 (15.51%) DV Cleared
14 90 (15.18%) Risk Management
14 90 (15.18%) Zero Trust
15 86 (14.50%) AI
16 81 (13.66%) TOGAF
17 80 (13.49%) Network Security
18 79 (13.32%) Architectural Patterns
19 77 (12.98%) Microsoft
20 73 (12.31%) NCSC
21 72 (12.14%) Roadmaps
21 72 (12.14%) Stakeholder Engagement
22 62 (10.46%) Data Protection
23 61 (10.29%) DevSecOps
23 61 (10.29%) Vulnerability Management
24 60 (10.12%) GCP
24 60 (10.12%) SABSA
25 59 (9.95%) 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 6 (1.01%) IIS
2 3 (0.51%) Confluence
3 2 (0.34%) Apache
3 2 (0.34%) IBM HTTP Server
3 2 (0.34%) nginx
3 2 (0.34%) Oracle HTTP Server
3 2 (0.34%) SAS
3 2 (0.34%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.34%) Tomcat
3 2 (0.34%) WebLogic
3 2 (0.34%) WebLogic Portal
3 2 (0.34%) WebSphere
3 2 (0.34%) WebSphere Application Server
3 2 (0.34%) WebSphere Portal
Applications
1 4 (0.67%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 1 (0.17%) Gliffy
Business Applications
1 3 (0.51%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
2 1 (0.17%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 182 (30.69%) Azure
2 152 (25.63%) AWS
3 60 (10.12%) GCP
4 35 (5.90%) Entra ID
5 19 (3.20%) SaaS
6 15 (2.53%) Azure Sentinel
7 13 (2.19%) Microsoft 365
8 11 (1.85%) Dynamics 365
9 9 (1.52%) Azure Key Vault
10 8 (1.35%) AWS KMS
11 6 (1.01%) 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 DevOps
13 4 (0.67%) GitHub
13 4 (0.67%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 80 (13.49%) Network Security
2 51 (8.60%) Firewall
3 15 (2.53%) WAN
4 14 (2.36%) VPN
5 8 (1.35%) 4G
5 8 (1.35%) SD-WAN
5 8 (1.35%) VLAN
6 7 (1.18%) IPsec
6 7 (1.18%) NGFW
7 6 (1.01%) 5G
7 6 (1.01%) LAN
8 5 (0.84%) BGP
8 5 (0.84%) OSPF
8 5 (0.84%) Radio Access Network
9 4 (0.67%) DNS
9 4 (0.67%) Internet
9 4 (0.67%) MPLS
9 4 (0.67%) SSL
10 3 (0.51%) BIG-IP
10 3 (0.51%) EIGRP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (0.84%) Data Lake
2 2 (0.34%) 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 (1.52%) Jenkins
2 5 (0.84%) JIRA
3 2 (0.34%) Claude Code
3 2 (0.34%) GitLab
4 1 (0.17%) Bitbucket
General
1 104 (17.54%) Social Skills
2 83 (14.00%) Public Sector
3 52 (8.77%) Finance
4 25 (4.22%) Documentation Skills
4 25 (4.22%) Influencing Skills
5 21 (3.54%) Banking
6 20 (3.37%) Analytical Skills
6 20 (3.37%) Legal
7 18 (3.04%) Telecoms
8 11 (1.85%) Manufacturing
9 10 (1.69%) Police
10 9 (1.52%) Military
11 8 (1.35%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 8 (1.35%) Law
12 6 (1.01%) Aerospace
13 5 (0.84%) Pharmaceutical
13 5 (0.84%) Retail
14 4 (0.67%) Automotive
14 4 (0.67%) Local Government
14 4 (0.67%) Presentation Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (4.22%) Terraform
2 15 (2.53%) OAuth
3 12 (2.02%) OpenID
3 12 (2.02%) SAML
4 10 (1.69%) OAuth2
5 9 (1.52%) ModSecurity
5 9 (1.52%) REST
6 6 (1.01%) LDAP
6 6 (1.01%) SLSA
7 5 (0.84%) Azure Blueprints
7 5 (0.84%) LangChain
7 5 (0.84%) PyTorch
8 3 (0.51%) .NET
8 3 (0.51%) HTML
8 3 (0.51%) JWT
8 3 (0.51%) Middleware
8 3 (0.51%) scikit-learn
9 2 (0.34%) EDI
9 2 (0.34%) Oracle Fusion
9 2 (0.34%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 53 (8.94%) Cloud Native
2 47 (7.93%) Security Posture
3 30 (5.06%) Operational Technology
4 29 (4.89%) Management Information System
5 20 (3.37%) Onboarding
6 19 (3.20%) Data Centre
7 18 (3.04%) Cyber Threat
8 14 (2.36%) Public Cloud
9 13 (2.19%) AI Agents
10 12 (2.02%) Hybrid Cloud
10 12 (2.02%) PKI
11 10 (1.69%) Enterprise Cloud
12 8 (1.35%) Cloud Security Posture
12 8 (1.35%) Private Cloud
13 7 (1.18%) Data Protection Act
13 7 (1.18%) Enterprise Software
14 6 (1.01%) IoT
14 6 (1.01%) Legacy Systems
14 6 (1.01%) Self-Motivation
14 6 (1.01%) Smartcard
Operating Systems
1 15 (2.53%) Linux
2 13 (2.19%) Windows
3 12 (2.02%) Windows Server
4 4 (0.67%) Alpine Linux
4 4 (0.67%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 4 (0.67%) Ubuntu
5 3 (0.51%) Unix
6 1 (0.17%) Android
Processes & Methodologies
1 310 (52.28%) Security Architecture
2 210 (35.41%) Cybersecurity
3 159 (26.81%) Cloud Security
4 150 (25.30%) Threat Modelling
5 97 (16.36%) Identity Access Management
6 94 (15.85%) Stakeholder Management
7 90 (15.18%) Risk Management
7 90 (15.18%) Zero Trust
8 86 (14.50%) AI
9 81 (13.66%) TOGAF
10 79 (13.32%) Architectural Patterns
11 72 (12.14%) Roadmaps
11 72 (12.14%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 62 (10.46%) Data Protection
13 61 (10.29%) DevSecOps
13 61 (10.29%) Vulnerability Management
14 60 (10.12%) SABSA
15 58 (9.78%) CI/CD
16 54 (9.11%) Enterprise Architecture
17 49 (8.26%) Information Security
Programming Languages
1 20 (3.37%) Python
2 11 (1.85%) PowerShell
3 8 (1.35%) Bicep
4 6 (1.01%) Java
5 5 (0.84%) Groovy
5 5 (0.84%) Shell Script
6 4 (0.67%) Bash
6 4 (0.67%) JavaScript
7 2 (0.34%) SQL
8 1 (0.17%) R
Qualifications
1 296 (49.92%) Security Cleared
2 207 (34.91%) SC Cleared
3 112 (18.89%) CISSP
4 92 (15.51%) DV Cleared
5 59 (9.95%) CISM
6 47 (7.93%) Cisco Certification
7 40 (6.75%) (ISC)2 CCSP
8 33 (5.56%) CCSP
9 27 (4.55%) AWS Certification
10 21 (3.54%) Degree
11 19 (3.20%) TOGAF Certification
12 16 (2.70%) CISA
13 15 (2.53%) Azure Certification
14 8 (1.35%) CEH
14 8 (1.35%) ISSAP
14 8 (1.35%) Microsoft Certification
15 7 (1.18%) BPSS Clearance
15 7 (1.18%) CompTIA Security+
15 7 (1.18%) CRISC
15 7 (1.18%) SANS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 133 (22.43%) NIST
2 97 (16.36%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 73 (12.31%) NCSC
4 38 (6.41%) GDPR
5 29 (4.89%) GRC
6 20 (3.37%) PCI DSS
7 17 (2.87%) NIST 800
8 12 (2.02%) Cyber Essentials
9 11 (1.85%) HMG Security Policy Framework
9 11 (1.85%) JSP 440
10 10 (1.69%) Government Security Classifications
11 9 (1.52%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 9 (1.52%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 6 (1.01%) EU AI Act
12 6 (1.01%) ISO 19650
12 6 (1.01%) ISO/IEC 27005
12 6 (1.01%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 5 (0.84%) HIPAA
13 5 (0.84%) ISO 31000
13 5 (0.84%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 21 (3.54%) Active Directory
2 15 (2.53%) Docker
3 7 (1.18%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (0.84%) ISA Server
5 2 (0.34%) Hyper-V
5 2 (0.34%) VMware ESXi
5 2 (0.34%) vSphere
6 1 (0.17%) KVM
6 1 (0.17%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 26 (4.38%) Kubernetes
2 13 (2.19%) Ansible
3 8 (1.35%) CASB
4 7 (1.18%) Single Sign-On
5 4 (0.67%) FortiGate
5 4 (0.67%) QRadar
6 3 (0.51%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 2 (0.34%) Docker Swarm
7 2 (0.34%) Istio
8 1 (0.17%) Microsoft Intune
8 1 (0.17%) Suricata
Vendors
1 77 (12.98%) Microsoft
2 29 (4.89%) Google
3 25 (4.22%) Cisco
4 18 (3.04%) Splunk
5 17 (2.87%) Palo Alto
6 15 (2.53%) CrowdStrike
7 13 (2.19%) Fortinet
8 11 (1.85%) Salesforce
9 10 (1.69%) Qualys
10 9 (1.52%) F5
10 9 (1.52%) VMware
11 8 (1.35%) Tenable
12 7 (1.18%) Zscaler
13 6 (1.01%) IBM
13 6 (1.01%) IFS
13 6 (1.01%) Juniper
13 6 (1.01%) Oracle
13 6 (1.01%) SAP
14 5 (0.84%) CyberArk
14 5 (0.84%) Databricks