Security Posture Contract Job Trends

Security Posture
UK

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Security Posture in contract job vacancies. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Security Posture over the 6 months leading up to 13 June 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
13 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 279 294 374
Rank change year-on-year +15 +80 +146
Contract jobs citing Security Posture 433 247 217
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.87% 0.84% 0.50%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 2.66% 2.44% 1.66%
Number of daily rates quoted 336 171 150
10th Percentile £413 £419 £424
25th Percentile £500 £475 £477
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £575 £575 £564
Median % change year-on-year - +1.95% -1.91%
75th Percentile £688 £683 £675
90th Percentile £750 £838 £789
UK excluding London median daily rate £529 £550 £575
% change year-on-year -3.86% -4.35% +6.98%
Number of hourly rates quoted 4 8 1
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile £73.75 £26.88 £62.50
Median hourly rate £77.50 £28.75 £65.00
Median % change year-on-year +169.57% -55.77% -
75th Percentile £81.25 £31.34 £67.50
90th Percentile - £53.43 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £74.26 £28.75 £65.00
% change year-on-year +158.30% -55.77% -

All Generic Skills
UK

Security Posture falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring generic IT skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills 16,252 10,120 13,071
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 32.49% 34.29% 29.93%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,979 6,363 8,322
10th Percentile £315 £300 £275
25th Percentile £413 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £518 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year -1.43% -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £630 £650 £660
90th Percentile £750 £775 £800
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 821 435 942
10th Percentile £16.00 £15.84 £12.25
25th Percentile £20.82 £20.21 £15.39
Median hourly rate £41.00 £33.05 £35.58
Median % change year-on-year +24.05% -7.10% +58.75%
75th Percentile £70.00 £62.24 £61.30
90th Percentile £85.40 £82.40 £71.81
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.96 £32.43 £35.00
% change year-on-year +35.55% -7.34% +59.09%

Security Posture
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Security Posture relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Security Posture job vacancy trend in the UK

Security Posture
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Security Posture.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Security Posture

Security Posture
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Security Posture over the 6 months to 13 June 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Security Posture in the UK

Security Posture
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Security Posture.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Security Posture

Security Posture
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 Posture within the UK over the 6 months to 13 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 +20 392 £575 -2.13% 163
UK excluding London -11 199 £529 -3.86% 127
London +20 196 £625 +4.17% 62
Work from Home +15 178 £550 +1.48% 89
North of England -8 72 £578 +3.13% 31
North West 0 49 £550 -12.00% 20
South East -41 44 £500 -9.09% 46
South West -1 31 £525 -32.80% 24
Midlands -58 28 £525 -12.94% 14
Yorkshire -34 23 £600 - 7
West Midlands -50 23 £525 -16.00% 4
Scotland -10 12 £600 +41.18% 2
East of England -20 10 £588 - 9
East Midlands -23 5 £435 -13.00% 10
Wales - 3 £588 - 3

Security Posture
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 11 (2.54%) Confluence
2 6 (1.39%) SharePoint
3 4 (0.92%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.23%) CMS
4 1 (0.23%) nginx
4 1 (0.23%) OpenStack
4 1 (0.23%) Umbraco
Applications
1 10 (2.31%) Microsoft Excel
2 8 (1.85%) Microsoft Office
3 7 (1.62%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.23%) CATIA
4 1 (0.23%) MS Visio
4 1 (0.23%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 3 (0.69%) Oracle ERP
Cloud Services
1 169 (39.03%) Azure
2 142 (32.79%) AWS
3 78 (18.01%) GCP
4 44 (10.16%) Microsoft 365
5 41 (9.47%) Entra ID
6 26 (6.00%) SaaS
7 24 (5.54%) Microsoft Purview
8 22 (5.08%) Azure Sentinel
9 14 (3.23%) Virtual Private Cloud
10 13 (3.00%) GitHub
11 10 (2.31%) Google Kubernetes Engine
11 10 (2.31%) Power Platform
12 9 (2.08%) Microsoft Copilot
13 8 (1.85%) OpenShift
13 8 (1.85%) Serverless
14 7 (1.62%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 7 (1.62%) Azure AI
15 6 (1.39%) AWS Control Tower
15 6 (1.39%) AWS Lambda
15 6 (1.39%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 74 (17.09%) Firewall
2 57 (13.16%) Network Security
3 19 (4.39%) WAN
4 16 (3.70%) LAN
5 15 (3.46%) VPN
6 14 (3.23%) SD-WAN
6 14 (3.23%) TCP/IP
7 13 (3.00%) SSL
8 12 (2.77%) DNS
8 12 (2.77%) Internet
9 10 (2.31%) Wireless
10 9 (2.08%) NGFW
11 7 (1.62%) Cisco Nexus
11 7 (1.62%) MPLS
11 7 (1.62%) Wi-Fi
12 6 (1.39%) Intrusion Detection
13 5 (1.15%) BGP
14 4 (0.92%) OSPF
14 4 (0.92%) VLAN
15 3 (0.69%) DHCP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (1.62%) Power BI
2 6 (1.39%) SQL Server
3 5 (1.15%) PostgreSQL
4 4 (0.92%) Data Lake
4 4 (0.92%) Relational Database
5 3 (0.69%) Azure SQL Database
5 3 (0.69%) Elasticsearch
6 2 (0.46%) Amazon RDS
6 2 (0.46%) Apache Cassandra
6 2 (0.46%) Data Hub
6 2 (0.46%) MongoDB
6 2 (0.46%) MySQL
6 2 (0.46%) NoSQL
6 2 (0.46%) RDBMS
6 2 (0.46%) Redis
7 1 (0.23%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 13 (3.00%) JIRA
2 7 (1.62%) Burp Suite
3 5 (1.15%) Git
3 5 (1.15%) GitLab
3 5 (1.15%) Metasploit
4 4 (0.92%) Jaeger
4 4 (0.92%) Jenkins
5 3 (0.69%) Xcode
5 3 (0.69%) XCTest
5 3 (0.69%) XCUITest
6 2 (0.46%) fastlane
7 1 (0.23%) Artifactory
7 1 (0.23%) SonarQube
General
1 137 (31.64%) Social Skills
2 77 (17.78%) Finance
3 52 (12.01%) Analytical Skills
4 27 (6.24%) Banking
4 27 (6.24%) Public Sector
5 23 (5.31%) Legal
6 13 (3.00%) Law
7 8 (1.85%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 7 (1.62%) Aerospace
9 6 (1.39%) Documentation Skills
9 6 (1.39%) Organisational Skills
10 5 (1.15%) Local Government
10 5 (1.15%) Retail
11 3 (0.69%) Influencing Skills
11 3 (0.69%) Manufacturing
12 2 (0.46%) Aviation
12 2 (0.46%) Investment Banking
12 2 (0.46%) Telecoms
13 1 (0.23%) Polish Language
13 1 (0.23%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 89 (20.55%) Architect
2 79 (18.24%) Security Engineer
3 45 (10.39%) Security Architect
4 43 (9.93%) Consultant
5 34 (7.85%) Analyst
6 31 (7.16%) CyberArk Architect
7 27 (6.24%) Senior
8 26 (6.00%) Security Consultant
9 21 (4.85%) Cloud Engineer
9 21 (4.85%) Lead
10 20 (4.62%) Network Engineer
11 19 (4.39%) Security Manager
12 14 (3.23%) Security Analyst
13 13 (3.00%) Project Manager
14 12 (2.77%) Cloud Security Engineer
15 11 (2.54%) DevSecOps Consultant
16 10 (2.31%) Penetration Tester
16 10 (2.31%) Platform Engineer
16 10 (2.31%) Security Project Manager
16 10 (2.31%) Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 44 (10.16%) REST
2 37 (8.55%) LDAP
3 36 (8.31%) SOAP
4 11 (2.54%) OAuth
5 10 (2.31%) SAML
6 7 (1.62%) Elastic Stack
6 7 (1.62%) OpenTelemetry
7 6 (1.39%) J2EE
7 6 (1.39%) JSP
8 5 (1.15%) .NET
8 5 (1.15%) 802.1X
8 5 (1.15%) OpenID
8 5 (1.15%) Web Services
9 4 (0.92%) Kafka
9 4 (0.92%) Loki
9 4 (0.92%) Microsoft Graph
9 4 (0.92%) OAuth2
9 4 (0.92%) Vert.x
10 3 (0.69%) LangChain
10 3 (0.69%) PyTorch
Miscellaneous
1 52 (12.01%) Cloud Security Posture
2 51 (11.78%) Cloud Native
3 32 (7.39%) Enterprise Software
3 32 (7.39%) Management Information System
4 20 (4.62%) Cyber Threat
5 19 (4.39%) Operational Technology
6 18 (4.16%) Security Operations Centre
7 14 (3.23%) Onboarding
8 12 (2.77%) Product Ownership
9 11 (2.54%) Mobile App
10 10 (2.31%) AI Agents
10 10 (2.31%) Cyber Security Posture
10 10 (2.31%) Data Centre
10 10 (2.31%) Distributed Systems
11 8 (1.85%) CMDB
11 8 (1.85%) Cyber Defence
11 8 (1.85%) Hybrid Cloud
12 7 (1.62%) Data Protection Act
12 7 (1.62%) Linux Command Line
12 7 (1.62%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 51 (11.78%) Windows
2 49 (11.32%) Linux
3 18 (4.16%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 9 (2.08%) Windows Server
5 7 (1.62%) Android
6 6 (1.39%) Unix
7 5 (1.15%) Apple iOS
8 4 (0.92%) Ubuntu
9 2 (0.46%) Alpine Linux
9 2 (0.46%) Mac OS
9 2 (0.46%) Windows Server 2016
9 2 (0.46%) Windows Server 2019
9 2 (0.46%) zOS
10 1 (0.23%) Kali Linux
10 1 (0.23%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 142 (32.79%) Cybersecurity
2 139 (32.10%) Cloud Security
3 117 (27.02%) SIEM
4 89 (20.55%) Vulnerability Management
5 75 (17.32%) Incident Response
6 74 (17.09%) CI/CD
7 71 (16.40%) Security Operations
8 70 (16.17%) Problem-Solving
8 70 (16.17%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 69 (15.94%) Roadmaps
10 62 (14.32%) Security Architecture
11 60 (13.86%) Risk Management
12 58 (13.39%) Information Security
13 56 (12.93%) Continuous Improvement
14 53 (12.24%) DevOps
15 52 (12.01%) Technical Leadership
16 51 (11.78%) Stakeholder Management
17 48 (11.09%) ITSM
17 48 (11.09%) Threat Modelling
18 44 (10.16%) Infrastructure as Code
Programming Languages
1 94 (21.71%) Python
2 88 (20.32%) PowerShell
3 33 (7.62%) Bash
4 29 (6.70%) Java
5 17 (3.93%) SQL
6 7 (1.62%) Kusto Query Language
7 6 (1.39%) Bicep
8 5 (1.15%) Go
9 3 (0.69%) Perl
9 3 (0.69%) Search Processing Language
9 3 (0.69%) Shell Script
9 3 (0.69%) Swift
10 2 (0.46%) BeanShell
10 2 (0.46%) Kotlin
10 2 (0.46%) RPG
11 1 (0.23%) Groovy
Qualifications
1 127 (29.33%) Security Cleared
2 102 (23.56%) SC Cleared
3 71 (16.40%) CISSP
4 45 (10.39%) CISM
5 39 (9.01%) Degree
6 30 (6.93%) Cisco Certification
7 23 (5.31%) DV Cleared
8 21 (4.85%) (ISC)2 CCSP
9 18 (4.16%) AWS Certification
10 16 (3.70%) Azure Certification
11 15 (3.46%) CCSP
12 13 (3.00%) Microsoft Certification
13 12 (2.77%) Computer Science Degree
14 10 (2.31%) CompTIA Security+
15 8 (1.85%) CRISC
16 7 (1.62%) CCNP
16 7 (1.62%) CEH
16 7 (1.62%) CREST Certified
17 6 (1.39%) GIAC
18 5 (1.15%) Cyber Scheme
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 54 (12.47%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 47 (10.85%) GDPR
3 44 (10.16%) NIST
4 28 (6.47%) GRC
5 24 (5.54%) PCI DSS
6 13 (3.00%) NCSC
7 11 (2.54%) SOC 2
8 9 (2.08%) Actionable Recommendations
8 9 (2.08%) HIPAA
9 8 (1.85%) QA
10 7 (1.62%) PMO
11 6 (1.39%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 5 (1.15%) Cyber Essentials
12 5 (1.15%) NIST 800
12 5 (1.15%) SLA
13 4 (0.92%) Def Stans
14 3 (0.69%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
14 3 (0.69%) HMG Security Policy Framework
14 3 (0.69%) ISO 19650
14 3 (0.69%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
System Software
1 60 (13.86%) Active Directory
2 18 (4.16%) Docker
3 8 (1.85%) VMware Infrastructure
4 5 (1.15%) Firmware
5 4 (0.92%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (0.46%) Squid
6 2 (0.46%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 51 (11.78%) Kubernetes
2 40 (9.24%) Terraform
3 16 (3.70%) CASB
4 15 (3.46%) Ansible
5 11 (2.54%) Progress Chef
6 10 (2.31%) Microsoft Intune
7 8 (1.85%) Nessus
8 7 (1.62%) Cisco Prime
8 7 (1.62%) Nmap
9 6 (1.39%) Prometheus
9 6 (1.39%) Single Sign-On
10 4 (0.92%) Grafana
10 4 (0.92%) Istio
10 4 (0.92%) QRadar
11 3 (0.69%) Rancher
12 2 (0.46%) Computer Incident Response Team
12 2 (0.46%) Host Intrusion Detection System
12 2 (0.46%) Kibana
12 2 (0.46%) SCCM
13 1 (0.23%) Puppet
Vendors
1 90 (20.79%) Microsoft
2 41 (9.47%) CyberArk
3 31 (7.16%) BeyondTrust
3 31 (7.16%) Centrify
4 27 (6.24%) ServiceNow
5 21 (4.85%) Google
6 20 (4.62%) Cisco
7 19 (4.39%) Palo Alto
7 19 (4.39%) Zscaler
8 18 (4.16%) CrowdStrike
9 17 (3.93%) Splunk
10 13 (3.00%) Red Hat
11 11 (2.54%) Aruba
11 11 (2.54%) Fortinet
11 11 (2.54%) Qualys
11 11 (2.54%) Tenable
12 9 (2.08%) SolarWinds
13 8 (1.85%) VMware
14 7 (1.62%) Oracle
15 6 (1.39%) Varonis