Security Engineer Contract Job Trends

Security Engineer
UK

The median Security Engineer daily rate in the UK is £539, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 30 June 2026.

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

6 months to
30 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 242 250 250
Rank change year-on-year +8 0 -36
Contract jobs requiring a Security Engineer 552 317 413
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.08% 1.04% 0.96%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.16% 1.13% 1.03%
Number of daily rates quoted 350 196 310
10th Percentile £413 £382 £413
25th Percentile £475 £413 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £539 £525 £575
Median % change year-on-year +2.62% -8.70% +1.77%
75th Percentile £600 £650 £650
90th Percentile £686 £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 20 8 3
10th Percentile - £62.75 £37.06
25th Percentile £73.75 £78.13 £46.60
Median hourly rate £82.95 £84.75 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year -2.12% +30.38% -22.06%
75th Percentile £85.40 £91.50 £73.75
90th Percentile - - £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £85.40 £84.75 £65.00
% change year-on-year +0.77% +30.38% -22.06%

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 47,423 28,164 40,143
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.41% 92.05% 92.99%
Number of daily rates quoted 28,738 18,025 25,769
10th Percentile £325 £288 £283
25th Percentile £415 £401 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% -4.76% -2.33%
75th Percentile £625 £625 £638
90th Percentile £725 £738 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £493
% change year-on-year +5.26% -3.65% -1.40%
Number of hourly rates quoted 3,196 1,261 2,867
10th Percentile £15.61 £13.78 £12.86
25th Percentile £21.23 £17.33 £16.50
Median hourly rate £43.00 £27.00 £37.50
Median % change year-on-year +59.26% -28.00% -12.79%
75th Percentile £67.50 £56.25 £62.50
90th Percentile £80.00 £73.75 £74.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £45.00 £25.15 £40.00
% change year-on-year +78.93% -37.13% -

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 30 June 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 30 June 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 30 June 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 +15 500 £530 +0.92% 316
UK excluding London -6 258 £540 +8.00% 255
London +6 251 £525 -4.55% 97
Work from Home +20 208 £540 +5.37% 78
North of England -6 122 £560 +12.00% 65
North West +13 101 £555 +11.00% 40
Midlands -16 60 £500 - 39
West Midlands -13 57 £500 -8.05% 21
South East -50 45 £500 +11.11% 80
Scotland +6 24 £625 +13.64% 12
South West -23 22 £525 +7.69% 25
Yorkshire -39 20 £600 +14.29% 17
East of England -31 19 £525 +10.53% 32
East Midlands -14 3 £406 -2.11% 18
Wales -13 2 £733 +46.50% 3
North East -40 1 - - 8

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

For the 6 months to 30 June 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.

1 193 (34.96%) Azure
2 168 (30.43%) Cybersecurity
3 156 (28.26%) Cloud Security
4 154 (27.90%) AWS
5 131 (23.73%) Python
6 123 (22.28%) SIEM
7 120 (21.74%) Microsoft
8 117 (21.20%) Firewall
9 115 (20.83%) Network Security
10 105 (19.02%) CI/CD
11 93 (16.85%) Security Cleared
12 88 (15.94%) PowerShell
13 87 (15.76%) Cisco
14 82 (14.86%) Incident Response
15 75 (13.59%) SC Cleared
16 74 (13.41%) VPN
17 70 (12.68%) Security Architecture
18 68 (12.32%) Terraform
19 67 (12.14%) GCP
19 67 (12.14%) NIST
20 66 (11.96%) CISSP
21 65 (11.78%) Security Operations
22 64 (11.59%) Vulnerability Management
23 63 (11.41%) Data Loss Prevention
23 63 (11.41%) Threat Modelling
24 62 (11.23%) DevOps
24 62 (11.23%) DNS
25 61 (11.05%) Windows
26 59 (10.69%) DevSecOps
27 57 (10.33%) ISO/IEC 27001

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 21 (3.80%) Confluence
2 3 (0.54%) Apache Spark
3 2 (0.36%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.18%) SharePoint
Applications
1 3 (0.54%) 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
1 193 (34.96%) Azure
2 154 (27.90%) AWS
3 67 (12.14%) GCP
4 51 (9.24%) Microsoft Purview
5 47 (8.51%) Microsoft 365
6 34 (6.16%) Entra ID
7 23 (4.17%) Virtual Private Cloud
8 22 (3.99%) SaaS
9 21 (3.80%) AWS CloudFormation
10 19 (3.44%) Amazon GuardDuty
10 19 (3.44%) GitHub
11 18 (3.26%) Azure Sentinel
12 16 (2.90%) Mimecast
13 14 (2.54%) AWS CloudTrail
13 14 (2.54%) Google Kubernetes Engine
14 12 (2.17%) Akamai
15 10 (1.81%) AWS KMS
15 10 (1.81%) OpenShift
15 10 (1.81%) Serverless
16 9 (1.63%) Amazon ECS
Communications & Networking
1 117 (21.20%) Firewall
2 115 (20.83%) Network Security
3 74 (13.41%) VPN
4 62 (11.23%) DNS
5 50 (9.06%) BGP
6 36 (6.52%) DMZ
7 34 (6.16%) Multicast
8 25 (4.53%) TCP/IP
8 25 (4.53%) WAN
9 24 (4.35%) SSL
10 21 (3.80%) SD-WAN
11 18 (3.26%) HTTP
12 14 (2.54%) Internet
13 12 (2.17%) TACACS
14 11 (1.99%) VLAN
15 10 (1.81%) Cisco ISE
15 10 (1.81%) MPLS
15 10 (1.81%) Wireless
16 9 (1.63%) NGFW
16 9 (1.63%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (1.45%) Power BI
2 5 (0.91%) Data Lake
2 5 (0.91%) SQL Server
3 4 (0.72%) MongoDB
3 4 (0.72%) PostgreSQL
4 3 (0.54%) Amazon RDS
4 3 (0.54%) Big Data
5 2 (0.36%) Apache Cassandra
5 2 (0.36%) Elasticsearch
5 2 (0.36%) Metadata
5 2 (0.36%) NoSQL
5 2 (0.36%) RDBMS
5 2 (0.36%) Relational Database
6 1 (0.18%) Amazon Athena
6 1 (0.18%) Amazon Redshift
6 1 (0.18%) Data Warehouse
6 1 (0.18%) Db2
6 1 (0.18%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 25 (4.53%) JIRA
2 11 (1.99%) GitLab
3 8 (1.45%) Git
3 8 (1.45%) Jenkins
4 7 (1.27%) Snyk
5 4 (0.72%) Burp Suite
6 2 (0.36%) Browser DevTools
6 2 (0.36%) Claude Code
6 2 (0.36%) Sonatype Nexus
7 1 (0.18%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 1 (0.18%) Bitbucket
7 1 (0.18%) Metasploit
7 1 (0.18%) SonarQube
7 1 (0.18%) sqlmap
7 1 (0.18%) TruffleHog
General
1 109 (19.75%) Social Skills
2 89 (16.12%) Finance
3 48 (8.70%) Analytical Skills
4 41 (7.43%) Banking
5 30 (5.43%) Public Sector
6 23 (4.17%) Investment Banking
7 17 (3.08%) Documentation Skills
8 7 (1.27%) Legal
8 7 (1.27%) Marketing
8 7 (1.27%) Presentation Skills
9 5 (0.91%) Telecoms
10 4 (0.72%) Health Technology
10 4 (0.72%) Manufacturing
11 3 (0.54%) Aerospace
11 3 (0.54%) Cyber-Physical System
11 3 (0.54%) Military
11 3 (0.54%) Retail
12 2 (0.36%) Financial Institution
12 2 (0.36%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 2 (0.36%) Local Government
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (1.63%) LDAP
1 9 (1.63%) SAML
2 8 (1.45%) SLSA
3 7 (1.27%) Elastic Stack
3 7 (1.27%) LangChain
3 7 (1.27%) REST
4 6 (1.09%) PyTorch
4 6 (1.09%) scikit-learn
5 5 (0.91%) 802.1X
6 4 (0.72%) .NET
6 4 (0.72%) Microsoft Graph
6 4 (0.72%) OAuth
7 3 (0.54%) AWS CDK
8 2 (0.36%) GraphQL
8 2 (0.36%) JSON
8 2 (0.36%) NestJS
8 2 (0.36%) SailPoint
8 2 (0.36%) Web Services
9 1 (0.18%) JCE
9 1 (0.18%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 83 (15.04%) Security Posture
2 59 (10.69%) Cloud Native
3 34 (6.16%) Management Information System
4 29 (5.25%) Cloud Security Posture
5 19 (3.44%) Data Centre
6 17 (3.08%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
6 17 (3.08%) Operational Technology
7 14 (2.54%) AI Agents
8 12 (2.17%) Cyber Threat
8 12 (2.17%) Data Protection Act
8 12 (2.17%) Hybrid Cloud
8 12 (2.17%) Onboarding
9 10 (1.81%) PKI
9 10 (1.81%) Public Cloud
10 9 (1.63%) Enterprise Cloud
11 8 (1.45%) Security Operations Centre
12 6 (1.09%) Cyber Defence
12 6 (1.09%) Linux Command Line
12 6 (1.09%) SCADA
13 4 (0.72%) Cyber Kill Chain
Operating Systems
1 61 (11.05%) Windows
2 52 (9.42%) Linux
3 12 (2.17%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
3 12 (2.17%) Windows Server
4 10 (1.81%) Mac OS
5 7 (1.27%) Apple iOS
5 7 (1.27%) Windows 10
6 6 (1.09%) Ubuntu
7 3 (0.54%) Unix
8 2 (0.36%) Android
9 1 (0.18%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 168 (30.43%) Cybersecurity
2 156 (28.26%) Cloud Security
3 123 (22.28%) SIEM
4 105 (19.02%) CI/CD
5 82 (14.86%) Incident Response
6 70 (12.68%) Security Architecture
7 65 (11.78%) Security Operations
8 64 (11.59%) Vulnerability Management
9 63 (11.41%) Data Loss Prevention
9 63 (11.41%) Threat Modelling
10 62 (11.23%) DevOps
11 59 (10.69%) DevSecOps
12 55 (9.96%) Load Balancing
13 54 (9.78%) Information Security
14 50 (9.06%) Infrastructure as Code
15 49 (8.88%) Agile
16 47 (8.51%) Continuous Improvement
17 45 (8.15%) Zero Trust
18 44 (7.97%) Validation
19 43 (7.79%) AI
Programming Languages
1 131 (23.73%) Python
2 88 (15.94%) PowerShell
3 50 (9.06%) Bash
4 20 (3.62%) Java
5 14 (2.54%) Kusto Query Language
6 9 (1.63%) SQL
7 6 (1.09%) Bicep
8 5 (0.91%) PHP
8 5 (0.91%) Search Processing Language
9 3 (0.54%) Perl
9 3 (0.54%) Shell Script
10 2 (0.36%) Go
10 2 (0.36%) JavaScript
10 2 (0.36%) Ruby
10 2 (0.36%) TypeScript
11 1 (0.18%) C
11 1 (0.18%) C#
Qualifications
1 93 (16.85%) Security Cleared
2 75 (13.59%) SC Cleared
3 66 (11.96%) CISSP
4 50 (9.06%) Degree
5 35 (6.34%) Cisco Certification
6 30 (5.43%) CISM
7 25 (4.53%) AWS Certification
8 20 (3.62%) DV Cleared
9 18 (3.26%) Azure Certification
10 17 (3.08%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 17 (3.08%) CCNP
11 12 (2.17%) CEH
12 11 (1.99%) CompTIA Security+
12 11 (1.99%) Computer Science Degree
12 11 (1.99%) GIAC
13 10 (1.81%) Microsoft Certification
14 8 (1.45%) CCIE
14 8 (1.45%) CCSP
15 7 (1.27%) OSCP
16 6 (1.09%) CISA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 67 (12.14%) NIST
2 57 (10.33%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 31 (5.62%) GDPR
4 27 (4.89%) Cyber Essentials
5 22 (3.99%) PCI DSS
6 16 (2.90%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 9 (1.63%) NCSC
8 8 (1.45%) HIPAA
8 8 (1.45%) SLA
9 6 (1.09%) California Consumer Privacy Act
9 6 (1.09%) NIST 800
10 5 (0.91%) GRC
10 5 (0.91%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 4 (0.72%) JSP 440
11 4 (0.72%) RMADS
12 3 (0.54%) Actionable Recommendations
12 3 (0.54%) Government Security Classifications
12 3 (0.54%) ISA99
12 3 (0.54%) SOC 2
13 2 (0.36%) COBIT
System Software
1 29 (5.25%) Active Directory
2 26 (4.71%) Docker
3 12 (2.17%) VMware Infrastructure
4 8 (1.45%) VMware ESXi
5 6 (1.09%) Virtual Machines
5 6 (1.09%) VMware NSX
5 6 (1.09%) vSphere
6 2 (0.36%) Firmware
6 2 (0.36%) Squid
6 2 (0.36%) Virtual Servers
7 1 (0.18%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.18%) RACF
7 1 (0.18%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 68 (12.32%) Terraform
2 55 (9.96%) Kubernetes
3 20 (3.62%) Ansible
4 14 (2.54%) Microsoft Intune
5 13 (2.36%) Single Sign-On
6 11 (1.99%) FortiGate
7 10 (1.81%) Progress Chef
8 7 (1.27%) vCenter Server
9 6 (1.09%) CASB
10 5 (0.91%) Nessus
11 3 (0.54%) AirWatch
11 3 (0.54%) Functional Safety
11 3 (0.54%) Grafana
11 3 (0.54%) Kibana
11 3 (0.54%) SCOM
12 2 (0.36%) logstash
12 2 (0.36%) QRadar
13 1 (0.18%) CSIRT
13 1 (0.18%) Host Intrusion Detection System
13 1 (0.18%) HP Fortify
Vendors
1 120 (21.74%) Microsoft
2 87 (15.76%) Cisco
3 56 (10.14%) F5
4 42 (7.61%) CrowdStrike
4 42 (7.61%) Palo Alto
5 36 (6.52%) Fortinet
6 31 (5.62%) Zscaler
7 26 (4.71%) CyberArk
7 26 (4.71%) Google
8 21 (3.80%) ServiceNow
8 21 (3.80%) Splunk
9 19 (3.44%) CheckPoint
10 18 (3.26%) VMware
11 17 (3.08%) Netskope
11 17 (3.08%) Tenable
12 12 (2.17%) BeyondTrust
13 11 (1.99%) Blue Coat
13 11 (1.99%) Qualys
13 11 (1.99%) Red Hat
14 8 (1.45%) Oracle