Security Engineer Contract Job Trends

Security Engineer
UK

The median Security Engineer daily rate in the UK is £538, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 17 July 2026.

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

6 months to
17 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 240 249 242
Rank change year-on-year +9 -7 -31
Contract jobs requiring a Security Engineer 548 340 415
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.04% 1.05% 0.98%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.12% 1.14% 1.06%
Number of daily rates quoted 354 218 315
10th Percentile £413 £375 £413
25th Percentile £475 £413 £445
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £538 £525 £568
Median % change year-on-year +2.38% -7.49% +0.44%
75th Percentile £607 £650 £650
90th Percentile £688 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £540 £500 £560
% change year-on-year +8.00% -10.71% +1.82%
Number of hourly rates quoted 19 9 2
10th Percentile £71.50 £63.50 £64.25
25th Percentile £73.75 £82.50 £66.88
Median hourly rate £77.50 £85.00 £72.50
Median % change year-on-year -8.82% +17.24% -13.02%
75th Percentile £85.40 £91.50 £76.88
90th Percentile £85.82 - £78.75
UK excluding London median hourly rate £84.70 £85.00 £72.50
% change year-on-year -0.35% +17.24% -13.07%

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 48,733 29,823 39,253
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.54% 91.69% 93.02%
Number of daily rates quoted 29,478 18,993 25,331
10th Percentile £325 £287 £288
25th Percentile £420 £400 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% -4.76% -2.33%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £495
% change year-on-year +5.26% -4.04% -1.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,268 1,412 2,586
10th Percentile £15.92 £13.75 £13.25
25th Percentile £21.25 £17.30 £17.50
Median hourly rate £44.50 £25.31 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year +75.82% -36.73% -5.88%
75th Percentile £67.84 £55.00 £63.75
90th Percentile £80.02 £73.75 £74.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £25.15 £40.33
% change year-on-year +78.93% -37.63% +5.15%

Security Engineer
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Security Engineer' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Security Engineer job vacancy trend in the UK

Security Engineer
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Security Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Security Engineer job vacancies in the UK

Security Engineer
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Security Engineer over the 6 months to 17 July 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Security Engineer in the UK

Security Engineer
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Security Engineer job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Security Engineer job vacancies in the UK

Security Engineer
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Security Engineer over the 6 months to 17 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Security Engineer in the UK

Security Engineer
Top 16 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 Engineer within the UK over the 6 months to 17 July 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 -2 506 £525 +1.94% 326
UK excluding London -4 263 £540 +8.00% 252
London -3 244 £525 -4.11% 107
Work from Home +6 207 £540 +8.00% 102
North of England +3 133 £575 +15.00% 77
North West +15 110 £558 +11.39% 48
Midlands -13 60 £500 - 35
West Midlands -15 59 £500 -8.05% 18
South East -43 50 £500 +5.26% 75
Yorkshire -27 22 £600 +20.00% 22
East of England -31 19 £525 +5.00% 29
South West -39 19 £525 +7.69% 22
Scotland +2 15 £610 - 10
Wales -12 2 £733 +46.50% 4
East Midlands -14 1 £338 -18.67% 17
North East -41 1 - - 7

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

For the 6 months to 17 July 2026, Security Engineer 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 Engineer in the job title.

1 183 (33.39%) Azure
2 166 (30.29%) Cybersecurity
3 159 (29.01%) Cloud Security
4 147 (26.82%) AWS
5 129 (23.54%) Firewall
6 126 (22.99%) SIEM
7 120 (21.90%) Microsoft
8 119 (21.72%) Python
9 116 (21.17%) Network Security
10 97 (17.70%) CI/CD
11 95 (17.34%) Cisco
12 93 (16.97%) Security Cleared
13 84 (15.33%) PowerShell
14 83 (15.15%) Incident Response
15 80 (14.60%) SC Cleared
16 77 (14.05%) VPN
17 76 (13.87%) Security Operations
18 69 (12.59%) Security Architecture
19 67 (12.23%) Terraform
20 66 (12.04%) GCP
21 64 (11.68%) CISSP
21 64 (11.68%) DNS
22 63 (11.50%) F5
23 62 (11.31%) Vulnerability Management
24 60 (10.95%) DevSecOps
25 59 (10.77%) Data Loss Prevention
25 59 (10.77%) Threat Modelling
26 58 (10.58%) Windows
27 56 (10.22%) Load Balancing
28 55 (10.04%) DevOps

Security Engineer 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 18 (3.28%) Confluence
2 3 (0.55%) Apache Spark
3 1 (0.18%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 3 (0.55%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.18%) Chatbot
2 1 (0.18%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.18%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 1 (0.18%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 6 (1.09%) Remedy ITSM
2 2 (0.36%) Maximo
2 2 (0.36%) SAP S/4HANA
3 1 (0.18%) SAP ERP
Cloud Services
1 183 (33.39%) Azure
2 147 (26.82%) AWS
3 66 (12.04%) GCP
4 49 (8.94%) Microsoft Purview
5 46 (8.39%) Microsoft 365
6 33 (6.02%) Entra ID
7 22 (4.01%) Virtual Private Cloud
8 20 (3.65%) Azure Sentinel
8 20 (3.65%) SaaS
9 19 (3.47%) AWS CloudFormation
10 18 (3.28%) Amazon GuardDuty
11 15 (2.74%) Google Kubernetes Engine
12 14 (2.55%) AWS CloudTrail
13 13 (2.37%) GitHub
13 13 (2.37%) Mimecast
14 12 (2.19%) Akamai
15 10 (1.82%) AWS KMS
15 10 (1.82%) Serverless
16 8 (1.46%) Azure DevOps
16 8 (1.46%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 129 (23.54%) Firewall
2 116 (21.17%) Network Security
3 77 (14.05%) VPN
4 64 (11.68%) DNS
5 46 (8.39%) BGP
6 35 (6.39%) DMZ
7 33 (6.02%) Multicast
8 27 (4.93%) SSL
8 27 (4.93%) WAN
9 26 (4.74%) TCP/IP
10 20 (3.65%) SD-WAN
11 17 (3.10%) HTTP
12 14 (2.55%) Cisco ISE
12 14 (2.55%) Internet
13 13 (2.37%) Wireless
14 11 (2.01%) VLAN
15 9 (1.64%) Intrusion Detection
15 9 (1.64%) IPsec
15 9 (1.64%) OSPF
15 9 (1.64%) TACACS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (1.46%) Power BI
2 7 (1.28%) SQL Server
3 6 (1.09%) PostgreSQL
4 4 (0.73%) Data Lake
4 4 (0.73%) MongoDB
5 3 (0.55%) Big Data
6 2 (0.36%) Amazon RDS
6 2 (0.36%) Apache Cassandra
6 2 (0.36%) Elasticsearch
6 2 (0.36%) Metadata
6 2 (0.36%) NoSQL
6 2 (0.36%) RDBMS
6 2 (0.36%) Relational Database
7 1 (0.18%) Data Warehouse
7 1 (0.18%) Db2
7 1 (0.18%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 23 (4.20%) JIRA
2 8 (1.46%) GitLab
3 6 (1.09%) Jenkins
4 4 (0.73%) Burp Suite
4 4 (0.73%) Git
4 4 (0.73%) Snyk
5 2 (0.36%) Browser DevTools
5 2 (0.36%) Claude Code
5 2 (0.36%) Sonatype Nexus
6 1 (0.18%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 1 (0.18%) Bitbucket
6 1 (0.18%) Metasploit
6 1 (0.18%) SonarQube
6 1 (0.18%) sqlmap
6 1 (0.18%) TruffleHog
General
1 104 (18.98%) Social Skills
2 84 (15.33%) Finance
3 46 (8.39%) Analytical Skills
4 39 (7.12%) Banking
5 27 (4.93%) Public Sector
6 22 (4.01%) Investment Banking
7 20 (3.65%) Documentation Skills
8 8 (1.46%) Telecoms
9 7 (1.28%) Legal
9 7 (1.28%) Marketing
10 4 (0.73%) Health Technology
10 4 (0.73%) Manufacturing
10 4 (0.73%) Military
10 4 (0.73%) Presentation Skills
11 3 (0.55%) Aerospace
11 3 (0.55%) Retail
12 2 (0.36%) Financial Institution
12 2 (0.36%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 2 (0.36%) Law
13 1 (0.18%) Back Office
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (1.82%) SAML
2 8 (1.46%) 802.1X
3 7 (1.28%) Elastic Stack
3 7 (1.28%) LangChain
4 6 (1.09%) PyTorch
4 6 (1.09%) scikit-learn
5 5 (0.91%) LDAP
5 5 (0.91%) REST
5 5 (0.91%) SLSA
6 4 (0.73%) Microsoft Graph
7 3 (0.55%) AWS CDK
7 3 (0.55%) OAuth
8 2 (0.36%) JSON
8 2 (0.36%) SailPoint
9 1 (0.18%) GraphQL
9 1 (0.18%) OpenID
9 1 (0.18%) Regular Expression
9 1 (0.18%) RESTful
9 1 (0.18%) SAP Fiori
9 1 (0.18%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 88 (16.06%) Security Posture
2 55 (10.04%) Cloud Native
3 36 (6.57%) Management Information System
4 32 (5.84%) Cloud Security Posture
5 20 (3.65%) Data Centre
6 17 (3.10%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
7 15 (2.74%) Operational Technology
8 14 (2.55%) AI Agents
8 14 (2.55%) Onboarding
9 12 (2.19%) Data Protection Act
9 12 (2.19%) Hybrid Cloud
10 11 (2.01%) Cyber Threat
10 11 (2.01%) Enterprise Cloud
11 10 (1.82%) Public Cloud
12 9 (1.64%) Security Operations Centre
13 7 (1.28%) Cyber Defence
14 6 (1.09%) Linux Command Line
14 6 (1.09%) PKI
14 6 (1.09%) SCADA
15 4 (0.73%) BYOD
Operating Systems
1 58 (10.58%) Windows
2 48 (8.76%) Linux
3 13 (2.37%) Windows Server
4 12 (2.19%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 9 (1.64%) Mac OS
6 7 (1.28%) Apple iOS
7 6 (1.09%) Windows 10
8 4 (0.73%) Ubuntu
9 3 (0.55%) Unix
10 2 (0.36%) Android
10 2 (0.36%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 166 (30.29%) Cybersecurity
2 159 (29.01%) Cloud Security
3 126 (22.99%) SIEM
4 97 (17.70%) CI/CD
5 83 (15.15%) Incident Response
6 76 (13.87%) Security Operations
7 69 (12.59%) Security Architecture
8 62 (11.31%) Vulnerability Management
9 60 (10.95%) DevSecOps
10 59 (10.77%) Data Loss Prevention
10 59 (10.77%) Threat Modelling
11 56 (10.22%) Load Balancing
12 55 (10.04%) DevOps
13 51 (9.31%) Information Security
14 47 (8.58%) Agile
14 47 (8.58%) Infrastructure as Code
15 46 (8.39%) Continuous Improvement
15 46 (8.39%) Zero Trust
16 44 (8.03%) Validation
17 43 (7.85%) Threat Detection
Programming Languages
1 119 (21.72%) Python
2 84 (15.33%) PowerShell
3 49 (8.94%) Bash
4 16 (2.92%) Java
5 11 (2.01%) Kusto Query Language
6 10 (1.82%) Bicep
7 9 (1.64%) SQL
8 5 (0.91%) Search Processing Language
9 4 (0.73%) PHP
10 3 (0.55%) Perl
10 3 (0.55%) Shell Script
11 2 (0.36%) Go
11 2 (0.36%) JavaScript
11 2 (0.36%) Ruby
12 1 (0.18%) C
12 1 (0.18%) C#
12 1 (0.18%) Korn
12 1 (0.18%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 93 (16.97%) Security Cleared
2 80 (14.60%) SC Cleared
3 64 (11.68%) CISSP
4 42 (7.66%) Degree
5 35 (6.39%) Cisco Certification
6 29 (5.29%) CISM
7 26 (4.74%) AWS Certification
8 20 (3.65%) DV Cleared
9 19 (3.47%) Azure Certification
10 17 (3.10%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 17 (3.10%) CCNP
11 14 (2.55%) CEH
12 12 (2.19%) GIAC
13 11 (2.01%) CompTIA Security+
13 11 (2.01%) Microsoft Certification
14 10 (1.82%) Computer Science Degree
15 8 (1.46%) CCIE
16 7 (1.28%) OSCP
17 6 (1.09%) CISA
17 6 (1.09%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 55 (10.04%) NIST
2 54 (9.85%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 28 (5.11%) GDPR
4 22 (4.01%) Cyber Essentials
5 18 (3.28%) PCI DSS
6 13 (2.37%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 12 (2.19%) NCSC
8 9 (1.64%) HIPAA
9 8 (1.46%) SLA
10 6 (1.09%) California Consumer Privacy Act
10 6 (1.09%) NIST 800
11 5 (0.91%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 4 (0.73%) Government Security Classifications
12 4 (0.73%) GRC
12 4 (0.73%) SOC 2
13 3 (0.55%) ISA99
13 3 (0.55%) JSP 440
14 2 (0.36%) Actionable Recommendations
14 2 (0.36%) COBIT
15 1 (0.18%) PMO
System Software
1 31 (5.66%) Active Directory
2 22 (4.01%) Docker
3 9 (1.64%) VMware Infrastructure
4 6 (1.09%) VMware NSX
4 6 (1.09%) vSphere
5 5 (0.91%) Virtual Machines
5 5 (0.91%) VMware ESXi
6 3 (0.55%) Virtual Servers
7 2 (0.36%) Squid
8 1 (0.18%) Firmware
8 1 (0.18%) Hyper-V
8 1 (0.18%) RACF
Systems Management
1 67 (12.23%) Terraform
2 49 (8.94%) Kubernetes
3 18 (3.28%) Ansible
4 12 (2.19%) FortiGate
5 11 (2.01%) Progress Chef
5 11 (2.01%) Single Sign-On
6 10 (1.82%) Microsoft Intune
7 6 (1.09%) CASB
8 4 (0.73%) Nessus
8 4 (0.73%) vCenter Server
9 3 (0.55%) Grafana
9 3 (0.55%) Kibana
10 2 (0.36%) logstash
10 2 (0.36%) QRadar
10 2 (0.36%) SCOM
11 1 (0.18%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 1 (0.18%) CSIRT
11 1 (0.18%) Host Intrusion Detection System
11 1 (0.18%) HP Fortify
Vendors
1 120 (21.90%) Microsoft
2 95 (17.34%) Cisco
3 63 (11.50%) F5
4 48 (8.76%) Palo Alto
5 37 (6.75%) CrowdStrike
5 37 (6.75%) Fortinet
6 34 (6.20%) Zscaler
7 27 (4.93%) ServiceNow
8 26 (4.74%) CheckPoint
8 26 (4.74%) CyberArk
9 24 (4.38%) Google
10 20 (3.65%) Splunk
11 16 (2.92%) VMware
12 14 (2.55%) Blue Coat
12 14 (2.55%) Netskope
13 13 (2.37%) BeyondTrust
13 13 (2.37%) Tenable
14 12 (2.19%) Red Hat
15 10 (1.82%) Juniper
15 10 (1.82%) Oracle