Security Operations Contracts

Security Operations (SecOps)
UK

The following table provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies with a requirement for Security Operations skills. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that have cited Security Operations over the 6 months to 20 May 2024 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years.

6 months to
20 May 2024
Same period 2023 Same period 2022
Rank 224 293 380
Rank change year-on-year +69 +87 +45
Contract jobs citing Security Operations 443 504 615
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 1.04% 0.88% 0.70%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.21% 0.98% 0.77%
Number of daily rates quoted 314 360 437
10th Percentile £425 £412 £425
25th Percentile £488 £513 £490
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £595 £606 £600
Median % change year-on-year -1.82% +1.00% +17.07%
75th Percentile £688 £715 £725
90th Percentile £771 £813 £800
UK excluding London median daily rate £570 £613 £575
% change year-on-year -6.94% +6.52% +12.20%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2 4 5
10th Percentile - £44.86 £27.26
25th Percentile - £63.11 £36.25
Median hourly rate £11.25 £84.50 £41.95
Median % change year-on-year -86.69% +101.43% +16.53%
75th Percentile - £95.31 £66.00
90th Percentile - £98.13 £76.05
UK excluding London median hourly rate £11.25 £92.50 £61.23
% change year-on-year -87.84% +51.08% +410.21%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK

Security Operations is in the Processes and Methodologies category. The following table is for comparison with the above and provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 36,622 51,397 80,021
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 86.09% 89.76% 90.61%
Number of daily rates quoted 23,613 35,611 56,174
10th Percentile £300 £325 £344
25th Percentile £413 £439 £430
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £550 £530
Median % change year-on-year -4.55% +3.77% +7.07%
75th Percentile £638 £650 £638
90th Percentile £750 £750 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £500 £480
% change year-on-year - +4.17% +9.09%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,439 1,690 1,913
10th Percentile £12.75 £10.63 £12.50
25th Percentile £16.00 £15.77 £15.50
Median hourly rate £36.50 £36.00 £25.68
Median % change year-on-year +1.39% +40.19% +7.00%
75th Percentile £60.00 £65.00 £49.50
90th Percentile £72.50 £75.00 £65.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £38.00 £35.00 £20.00
% change year-on-year +8.57% +75.00% -6.54%

Security Operations
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing Security Operations as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for Security Operations in the UK

Security Operations
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Security Operations.

Daily rate trend for Security Operations in the UK

Security Operations
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Security Operations over the 6 months to 20 May 2024.

Daily rate histogram for Security Operations in the UK

Security Operations
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Security Operations.

Hourly rate trend for Security Operations in the UK

Security Operations
Top 14 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Security Operations within the UK over the 6 months to 20 May 2024. 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 +65 395 £600 -2.04% 212
UK excluding London +72 273 £570 -6.94% 161
London +11 134 £650 +4.00% 84
South West +81 126 £570 -6.94% 18
Work from Home +38 110 £525 -19.23% 90
South East +39 50 £533 -14.72% 44
Midlands +10 38 £634 -0.12% 22
West Midlands +21 36 £635 -2.31% 13
Scotland +50 26 £500 +9.89% 17
East of England +4 19 £650 +8.33% 16
North of England -31 15 £625 +3.14% 39
North West -38 9 £625 +3.14% 14
Yorkshire +10 6 £784 +20.58% 25
East Midlands +10 2 £521 -14.03% 9

Security Operations
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 16 (3.61%) CMS
2 5 (1.13%) Confluence
3 2 (0.45%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.23%) SharePoint
Applications
1 5 (1.13%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.23%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.23%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 4 (0.90%) Dynamics GP
2 3 (0.68%) Teamcenter
3 1 (0.23%) SAP GRC
Cloud Services
1 77 (17.38%) Azure
2 28 (6.32%) AWS
3 27 (6.09%) Azure Sentinel
4 24 (5.42%) Microsoft 365
5 19 (4.29%) Power Platform
6 7 (1.58%) Entra ID
7 6 (1.35%) IaaS
8 5 (1.13%) GCP
8 5 (1.13%) SaaS
9 4 (0.90%) Amazon GuardDuty
9 4 (0.90%) PaaS
10 3 (0.68%) Microsoft Purview
10 3 (0.68%) Mimecast
11 2 (0.45%) AWS CloudTrail
11 2 (0.45%) Azure DevOps
11 2 (0.45%) Azure Stack
11 2 (0.45%) Azure Synapse Analytics
11 2 (0.45%) GitHub
12 1 (0.23%) AWS KMS
12 1 (0.23%) Dynamics 365
Communications & Networking
1 55 (12.42%) Firewall
2 50 (11.29%) Network Security
3 25 (5.64%) Intrusion Detection
4 14 (3.16%) TCP/IP
5 7 (1.58%) DNS
6 5 (1.13%) Internet
6 5 (1.13%) SSL
6 5 (1.13%) WAN
7 4 (0.90%) LAN
7 4 (0.90%) tcpdump
7 4 (0.90%) Wireshark
8 3 (0.68%) Cisco ISE
8 3 (0.68%) DHCP
8 3 (0.68%) VPN
8 3 (0.68%) Wi-Fi
9 2 (0.45%) Broadband
9 2 (0.45%) HTTP
9 2 (0.45%) SD-WAN
9 2 (0.45%) VoIP
9 2 (0.45%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 13 (2.93%) Big Data
2 11 (2.48%) Power BI
3 9 (2.03%) Elasticsearch
4 3 (0.68%) Apache Hive
4 3 (0.68%) Hadoop
4 3 (0.68%) Tableau
5 2 (0.45%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
5 2 (0.45%) Azure SQL Database
5 2 (0.45%) Data Warehouse
5 2 (0.45%) NoSQL
6 1 (0.23%) Data Lake
Development Applications
1 5 (1.13%) JIRA
2 4 (0.90%) Git
2 4 (0.90%) Jenkins
3 3 (0.68%) Burp Suite
3 3 (0.68%) IDA Disassembler
3 3 (0.68%) Metasploit
3 3 (0.68%) Rational DOORS
4 2 (0.45%) Bitbucket
4 2 (0.45%) GitLab
General
1 77 (17.38%) Analytical Skills
2 69 (15.58%) Social Skills
3 54 (12.19%) Finance
4 41 (9.26%) Public Sector
5 28 (6.32%) Banking
6 16 (3.61%) Manufacturing
7 12 (2.71%) Telecoms
8 11 (2.48%) Military
9 7 (1.58%) Financial Institution
9 7 (1.58%) Influencing Skills
10 6 (1.35%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 6 (1.35%) Legal
11 5 (1.13%) Law
12 3 (0.68%) Games
12 3 (0.68%) Marketing
13 2 (0.45%) Electronics
13 2 (0.45%) Retail Banking
14 1 (0.23%) Back Office
14 1 (0.23%) Documentation Skills
14 1 (0.23%) German Language
Job Titles
1 169 (38.15%) Analyst
2 100 (22.57%) SOC Analyst
3 39 (8.80%) Security Analyst
3 39 (8.80%) Senior
4 37 (8.35%) Architect
5 33 (7.45%) SOC Engineer
5 33 (7.45%) Threat Intelligence Analyst
6 32 (7.22%) Lead
6 32 (7.22%) Security Engineer
7 25 (5.64%) Security Specialist
8 21 (4.74%) Security Manager
9 20 (4.51%) Cyber Threat Analyst
9 20 (4.51%) Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst
10 18 (4.06%) Security Architect
11 16 (3.61%) Consultant
11 16 (3.61%) Senior Analyst
12 15 (3.39%) Operations Analyst
12 15 (3.39%) Security Operations Analyst
12 15 (3.39%) SOC Manager
13 13 (2.93%) Cybersecurity Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 13 (2.93%) Apache NiFi
2 9 (2.03%) Elastic Stack
3 8 (1.81%) AngularJS
3 8 (1.81%) CSS
3 8 (1.81%) XML
4 7 (1.58%) HTML
5 6 (1.35%) SOAP
6 5 (1.13%) JSON
7 4 (0.90%) Ajax
7 4 (0.90%) LDAP
7 4 (0.90%) Web Services
8 3 (0.68%) OLE
8 3 (0.68%) SAML
8 3 (0.68%) YAML
9 2 (0.45%) PySpark
10 1 (0.23%) .NET
10 1 (0.23%) JDBC
10 1 (0.23%) OAuth
10 1 (0.23%) OAuth2
10 1 (0.23%) Regular Expression
Miscellaneous
1 154 (34.76%) Security Operations Centre
2 82 (18.51%) Cyber Threat
3 77 (17.38%) Management Information System
4 49 (11.06%) CSOC
5 43 (9.71%) Cyber Defence
6 42 (9.48%) Security Posture
7 23 (5.19%) Cyberattack
8 22 (4.97%) Cyber Kill Chain
9 15 (3.39%) Distributed Applications
10 13 (2.93%) Operational Technology
11 12 (2.71%) Onboarding
12 11 (2.48%) CMDB
12 11 (2.48%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
13 8 (1.81%) CESG
14 6 (1.35%) Cloud Security Posture
14 6 (1.35%) PKI
15 5 (1.13%) Data Centre
16 4 (0.90%) Cloud Native
16 4 (0.90%) Data Protection Act
16 4 (0.90%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 83 (18.74%) Windows
2 63 (14.22%) Linux
3 15 (3.39%) Unix
4 14 (3.16%) Windows Server
5 11 (2.48%) Android
5 11 (2.48%) Apple iOS
6 3 (0.68%) Kali Linux
7 2 (0.45%) Mac OS
7 2 (0.45%) Mac OS X
8 1 (0.23%) Oracle Linux
8 1 (0.23%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.23%) Ubuntu
8 1 (0.23%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 275 (62.08%) Cybersecurity
2 196 (44.24%) SIEM
3 191 (43.12%) Incident Response
4 130 (29.35%) Information Security
5 107 (24.15%) Threat Intelligence
6 92 (20.77%) Vulnerability Management
7 81 (18.28%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
8 69 (15.58%) MITRE ATT&CK
9 62 (14.00%) Use Case
10 53 (11.96%) Analytics
10 53 (11.96%) Problem-Solving
11 48 (10.84%) SOAR
12 45 (10.16%) Agile
12 45 (10.16%) Threat Detection
13 44 (9.93%) Incident Management
14 41 (9.26%) Continuous Improvement
14 41 (9.26%) Penetration Testing
15 39 (8.80%) Security Architecture
16 36 (8.13%) Data Security
16 36 (8.13%) ITIL
Programming Languages
1 31 (7.00%) PowerShell
2 21 (4.74%) Python
3 15 (3.39%) Kusto Query Language
4 13 (2.93%) JavaScript
5 6 (1.35%) Bash
6 4 (0.90%) Search Processing Language
7 3 (0.68%) Java
7 3 (0.68%) Perl
7 3 (0.68%) SQL
8 2 (0.45%) C
8 2 (0.45%) C++
8 2 (0.45%) Go
8 2 (0.45%) Ruby
8 2 (0.45%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 191 (43.12%) Security Cleared
2 122 (27.54%) DV Cleared
3 67 (15.12%) CISSP
4 66 (14.90%) SC Cleared
5 65 (14.67%) Degree
6 34 (7.67%) CISM
7 25 (5.64%) SANS
8 23 (5.19%) CEH
9 19 (4.29%) Computer Science Degree
9 19 (4.29%) Microsoft Certification
10 17 (3.84%) CompTIA Security+
11 12 (2.71%) ITIL Certification
12 11 (2.48%) Azure Certification
12 11 (2.48%) GIAC
13 9 (2.03%) CISA
14 8 (1.81%) CISMP
14 8 (1.81%) ISACA
14 8 (1.81%) MCSE
14 8 (1.81%) SSCP
15 6 (1.35%) Cisco Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 53 (11.96%) NIST
2 44 (9.93%) GDPR
3 33 (7.45%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 20 (4.51%) NCSC
4 20 (4.51%) PCI DSS
5 17 (3.84%) NIST 800
6 13 (2.93%) Actionable Recommendations
7 12 (2.71%) HIPAA
8 6 (1.35%) GRC
9 5 (1.13%) Cyber Essentials
9 5 (1.13%) Data Quality
9 5 (1.13%) Disclosure Scotland
10 4 (0.90%) QA
10 4 (0.90%) SLA
11 2 (0.45%) COBIT
11 2 (0.45%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 2 (0.45%) RMADS
12 1 (0.23%) California Consumer Privacy Act
System Software
1 25 (5.64%) Active Directory
2 9 (2.03%) Virtual Machines
3 6 (1.35%) Hyper-V
4 3 (0.68%) Docker
4 3 (0.68%) Snort
4 3 (0.68%) VMware Infrastructure
5 2 (0.45%) XenApp
Systems Management
1 12 (2.71%) Kibana
1 12 (2.71%) Terraform
2 10 (2.26%) Nessus
2 10 (2.26%) SCCM
3 9 (2.03%) logstash
4 8 (1.81%) Kubernetes
5 7 (1.58%) CSIRT
6 6 (1.35%) Single Sign-On
7 5 (1.13%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
7 5 (1.13%) Microsoft Intune
8 4 (0.90%) CASB
8 4 (0.90%) QRadar
9 3 (0.68%) Ansible
10 2 (0.45%) Network Intrusion Detection System
10 2 (0.45%) SCOrch
10 2 (0.45%) WSUS
11 1 (0.23%) FortiGate
11 1 (0.23%) Grafana
11 1 (0.23%) Puppet
11 1 (0.23%) RSA Archer
Vendors
1 113 (25.51%) Microsoft
2 43 (9.71%) Splunk
3 33 (7.45%) LogRhythm
4 29 (6.55%) Qualys
5 19 (4.29%) Varonis
6 18 (4.06%) Darktrace
7 17 (3.84%) FireEye
7 17 (3.84%) ServiceNow
8 16 (3.61%) Forcepoint
9 13 (2.93%) Red Hat
10 12 (2.71%) CrowdStrike
11 10 (2.26%) Cisco
11 10 (2.26%) Palo Alto
12 7 (1.58%) Virgin Media
13 4 (0.90%) ForeScout
13 4 (0.90%) Google
13 4 (0.90%) Oracle
13 4 (0.90%) Rapid7
13 4 (0.90%) SAP
13 4 (0.90%) VMware