Security Cleared Contract Job Trends in the North West

Security Clearance
England > North West

The table below provides summary statistics for contract job vacancies advertised in the North West with a requirement for Security Cleared qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered over the 6 months leading up to 13 July 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
13 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 3 3 2
Rank change year-on-year 0 -1 -1
Contract jobs citing Security Cleared 580 390 426
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 15.74% 17.97% 15.74%
As % of the Qualifications category 56.42% 54.17% 54.90%
Number of daily rates quoted 377 211 245
10th Percentile £360 £308 £335
25th Percentile £425 £425 £440
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £501 £503
Median % change year-on-year +4.79% -0.30% -4.29%
75th Percentile £640 £638 £608
90th Percentile £770 £713 £720
England median daily rate £528 £538 £550
% change year-on-year -1.86% -2.27% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 37 38 69
10th Percentile £22.68 £21.51 -
25th Percentile £28.50 £25.15 £10.95
Median hourly rate £64.09 £33.50 £21.59
Median % change year-on-year +91.31% +55.16% -49.20%
75th Percentile £74.26 £59.98 £46.18
90th Percentile £83.75 £70.55 £62.50
England median hourly rate £63.50 £25.15 £57.50
% change year-on-year +152.49% -56.26% -4.17%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
North West

Security Cleared falls under the Academic Qualifications and Professional Certifications category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications in the North West.

Contract vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 1,028 720 776
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 27.90% 33.18% 28.67%
Number of daily rates quoted 663 410 425
10th Percentile £345 £274 £259
25th Percentile £400 £400 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year - - -3.85%
75th Percentile £620 £600 £600
90th Percentile £709 £713 £689
England median daily rate £525 £525 £537
% change year-on-year - -2.23% -2.36%
Number of hourly rates quoted 84 66 138
10th Percentile £17.53 £17.44 £10.95
25th Percentile £28.88 £22.16 £14.00
Median hourly rate £43.96 £31.00 £17.78
Median % change year-on-year +41.81% +74.33% -56.19%
75th Percentile £71.50 £59.98 £43.10
90th Percentile £87.95 £74.77 £62.50
England median hourly rate £54.00 £28.00 £43.00
% change year-on-year +92.86% -34.88% -21.82%

Security Cleared
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Security Cleared relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Security Cleared job vacancy trend in the North West

Security Cleared
Daily Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Security Cleared.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Security Cleared

Security Cleared
Daily Rate Histogram in the North West

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Security Cleared in the North West over the 6 months to 13 July 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Security Cleared in the North West

Security Cleared
Hourly Rate Trend in the North West

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Security Cleared.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing Security Cleared

Security Cleared
Hourly Rate Histogram in the North West

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Security Cleared in the North West over the 6 months to 13 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Security Cleared in the North West

Security Cleared
Contract Job Locations in the North West

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Security Cleared within the North West region over the 6 months to 13 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
Manchester -2 217 £525 +4.84% 110
Cumbria 0 158 £491 -6.61% 7
Lancashire +1 92 £700 +55.56% 30
Cheshire +21 86 £485 +25.16% 21
Merseyside -21 20 £650 +6.12% 1
Security Cleared
England

Security Cleared
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West 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 25 (4.31%) Microsoft Exchange
2 13 (2.24%) SharePoint
3 11 (1.90%) Skype for Business
4 6 (1.03%) Confluence
5 5 (0.86%) Apache Spark
6 4 (0.69%) SAS
7 3 (0.52%) Apache
7 3 (0.52%) Jupyter
8 2 (0.34%) Apache Airflow
8 2 (0.34%) CICS
8 2 (0.34%) Oracle Workflow
8 2 (0.34%) SharePoint 2013
9 1 (0.17%) IIS
9 1 (0.17%) NetWeaver
9 1 (0.17%) nginx
9 1 (0.17%) OpenStack
Applications
1 20 (3.45%) Microsoft Office
2 9 (1.55%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (0.86%) MS Visio
4 4 (0.69%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (0.69%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.17%) AutoCAD
5 1 (0.17%) Navisworks
5 1 (0.17%) ProjectWise
5 1 (0.17%) Revit
5 1 (0.17%) Siemens NX
Business Applications
1 7 (1.21%) Oracle Payables
2 6 (1.03%) SAP S/4HANA
3 4 (0.69%) Remedy ITSM
4 3 (0.52%) Primavera
4 3 (0.52%) SAP MM
5 2 (0.34%) Oracle Cash Management
5 2 (0.34%) Oracle EBS
5 2 (0.34%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
5 2 (0.34%) Teamcenter
6 1 (0.17%) Dynamics AX
6 1 (0.17%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.17%) Integrated Workplace Management System
6 1 (0.17%) SAP PM
Cloud Services
1 103 (17.76%) AWS
2 85 (14.66%) Azure
3 28 (4.83%) Microsoft 365
4 24 (4.14%) Power Platform
5 19 (3.28%) Serverless
6 18 (3.10%) SaaS
7 16 (2.76%) Azure DevOps
7 16 (2.76%) OCI
8 15 (2.59%) GCP
9 13 (2.24%) Entra ID
10 11 (1.90%) GitHub
11 9 (1.55%) Google Workspace
12 8 (1.38%) Azure Monitor
13 7 (1.21%) Google Drive
14 6 (1.03%) Amazon S3
14 6 (1.03%) AWS Lambda
14 6 (1.03%) OpenShift
15 5 (0.86%) Dynamics 365
15 5 (0.86%) Power Automate
16 4 (0.69%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 64 (11.03%) Firewall
2 38 (6.55%) Wireless
3 30 (5.17%) DNS
3 30 (5.17%) VLAN
3 30 (5.17%) WAN
4 27 (4.66%) VPN
5 24 (4.14%) Network Security
6 23 (3.97%) LAN
7 22 (3.79%) DHCP
7 22 (3.79%) Structured Cabling
8 21 (3.62%) Wi-Fi
9 17 (2.93%) NAS
9 17 (2.93%) SAN
10 16 (2.76%) BGP
10 16 (2.76%) Cisco IOS
10 16 (2.76%) NX-OS
11 15 (2.59%) OSPF
12 11 (1.90%) Broadband
12 11 (1.90%) Converged Networks
12 11 (1.90%) Skype
Database & Business Intelligence
1 28 (4.83%) SQL Server
2 19 (3.28%) Oracle Database
3 18 (3.10%) PostgreSQL
4 17 (2.93%) Power BI
4 17 (2.93%) Relational Database
5 16 (2.76%) MySQL
6 15 (2.59%) MongoDB
7 9 (1.55%) Elasticsearch
7 9 (1.55%) RDBMS
8 8 (1.38%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 7 (1.21%) Metadata
9 7 (1.21%) Oracle Exadata
10 5 (0.86%) Oracle Database 12c
11 4 (0.69%) Hadoop
11 4 (0.69%) NoSQL
12 3 (0.52%) Data Lake
12 3 (0.52%) Data Warehouse
13 2 (0.34%) Amazon Redshift
13 2 (0.34%) Oracle BI Publisher
13 2 (0.34%) WebFOCUS
Development Applications
1 32 (5.52%) GitLab
2 13 (2.24%) Selenium
3 11 (1.90%) Git
3 11 (1.90%) JIRA
4 9 (1.55%) REST Assured
5 8 (1.38%) Jenkins
6 6 (1.03%) Cucumber
6 6 (1.03%) Gatling
7 5 (0.86%) MSI
7 5 (0.86%) Serenity BDD
8 3 (0.52%) Cypress.io
8 3 (0.52%) JMeter
9 2 (0.34%) JDeveloper
9 2 (0.34%) Postman
9 2 (0.34%) SonarQube
9 2 (0.34%) WebDriver
10 1 (0.17%) Mockito
10 1 (0.17%) Rational Robot
10 1 (0.17%) Sonatype Nexus
10 1 (0.17%) Visual Studio Coded UI
General
1 133 (22.93%) Public Sector
2 116 (20.00%) Social Skills
3 46 (7.93%) Military
4 38 (6.55%) Analytical Skills
5 32 (5.52%) Documentation Skills
6 30 (5.17%) Finance
7 21 (3.62%) Legal
8 14 (2.41%) Aerospace
9 12 (2.07%) Manufacturing
10 7 (1.21%) Banking
11 5 (0.86%) Organisational Skills
11 5 (0.86%) Presentation Skills
12 4 (0.69%) Aviation
12 4 (0.69%) Retail
13 3 (0.52%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 3 (0.52%) Local Government
14 2 (0.34%) Corporate Banking
14 2 (0.34%) General Ledger
14 2 (0.34%) Influencing Skills
14 2 (0.34%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 87 (15.00%) Lead
2 81 (13.97%) Architect
3 46 (7.93%) Network Engineer
4 45 (7.76%) Developer
5 36 (6.21%) DBA
6 35 (6.03%) Administrator
7 31 (5.34%) Senior
8 27 (4.66%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
9 25 (4.31%) Analyst
9 25 (4.31%) Unix Engineer
10 24 (4.14%) Consultant
11 22 (3.79%) Technical Architect
12 21 (3.62%) Lead Architect
13 20 (3.45%) SQL DBA
14 19 (3.28%) Data Engineer
15 17 (2.93%) DevOps Engineer
15 17 (2.93%) Oracle DBA
15 17 (2.93%) Security Architect
16 16 (2.76%) Coordinator
16 16 (2.76%) Infrastructure Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (4.48%) Spring
2 23 (3.97%) Node.js
2 23 (3.97%) Spring Boot
3 16 (2.76%) Kafka
4 14 (2.41%) OAuth
5 13 (2.24%) REST
6 8 (1.38%) Playwright
7 7 (1.21%) OpenID
7 7 (1.21%) Oracle GoldenGate
8 6 (1.03%) 802.1X
8 6 (1.03%) RESTful
9 5 (0.86%) Apache NiFi
9 5 (0.86%) Leaflet
9 5 (0.86%) Nunjucks
9 5 (0.86%) Spring Cloud
10 4 (0.69%) AWS CDK
10 4 (0.69%) ModSecurity
10 4 (0.69%) React
10 4 (0.69%) SOAP
11 3 (0.52%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 31 (5.34%) Data Centre
2 29 (5.00%) Onboarding
3 24 (4.14%) Clustering
3 24 (4.14%) Replication
4 20 (3.45%) Cloud Native
5 16 (2.76%) Operational Technology
6 14 (2.41%) Product Ownership
7 13 (2.24%) Legacy Systems
8 11 (1.90%) Management Information System
9 9 (1.55%) Enterprise Software
10 8 (1.38%) Cyber Threat
11 7 (1.21%) Hybrid Cloud
11 7 (1.21%) Public Cloud
12 6 (1.03%) Data Protection Act
13 5 (0.86%) Private Cloud
13 5 (0.86%) Security Posture
14 4 (0.69%) CMDB
14 4 (0.69%) CSOC
15 3 (0.52%) Fat Client
15 3 (0.52%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 58 (10.00%) Windows
2 32 (5.52%) Linux
3 31 (5.34%) Solaris
3 31 (5.34%) Unix
4 23 (3.97%) Windows 10
5 20 (3.45%) Windows Server
6 11 (1.90%) Windows 7
7 9 (1.55%) AIX
7 9 (1.55%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 4 (0.69%) CentOS
8 4 (0.69%) VMS
9 3 (0.52%) Mac OS
10 2 (0.34%) Android
10 2 (0.34%) Apple iOS
11 1 (0.17%) Mac OS X
11 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2012
11 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2016
11 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 76 (13.10%) DevOps
2 68 (11.72%) CI/CD
3 63 (10.86%) Agile
4 60 (10.34%) ITSM
5 58 (10.00%) Stakeholder Management
6 57 (9.83%) Continuous Improvement
7 55 (9.48%) Problem-Solving
7 55 (9.48%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 54 (9.31%) Cybersecurity
9 51 (8.79%) Migration
10 50 (8.62%) High Availability
11 45 (7.76%) Project Delivery
11 45 (7.76%) Service Management
12 41 (7.07%) ITIL
13 39 (6.72%) Risk Management
14 36 (6.21%) Technical Leadership
15 35 (6.03%) Disaster Recovery
15 35 (6.03%) Microservices
16 29 (5.00%) Infrastructure as Code
17 27 (4.66%) Information Assurance
Programming Languages
1 56 (9.66%) Python
2 53 (9.14%) Java
3 49 (8.45%) PowerShell
4 45 (7.76%) SQL
5 26 (4.48%) JavaScript
6 16 (2.76%) TypeScript
7 13 (2.24%) VBScript
8 11 (1.90%) VB
9 5 (0.86%) Rust
10 4 (0.69%) C#
10 4 (0.69%) Go
10 4 (0.69%) T-SQL
11 3 (0.52%) Bash
11 3 (0.52%) Bicep
12 2 (0.34%) ABAP
12 2 (0.34%) COBOL
12 2 (0.34%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.17%) Perl
13 1 (0.17%) Shell Script
13 1 (0.17%) VB6
Qualifications
1 427 (73.62%) SC Cleared
2 66 (11.38%) DV Cleared
3 45 (7.76%) BPSS Clearance
4 39 (6.72%) Cisco Certification
5 37 (6.38%) CCNA
6 31 (5.34%) Microsoft Certification
7 26 (4.48%) Degree
8 24 (4.14%) CCNP
9 15 (2.59%) Network+ Certification
9 15 (2.59%) Server+ Certification
10 14 (2.41%) Azure Certification
11 13 (2.24%) CISSP
12 12 (2.07%) MCSA
12 12 (2.07%) MCSE
12 12 (2.07%) VCAP
12 12 (2.07%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
13 9 (1.55%) AWS Certification
14 7 (1.21%) DBS Check
15 6 (1.03%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
16 5 (0.86%) Computer Science Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 29 (5.00%) NIST
2 24 (4.14%) PMO
3 17 (2.93%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 15 (2.59%) QA
4 15 (2.59%) SLA
5 14 (2.41%) GRC
6 13 (2.24%) Accessibility
6 13 (2.24%) Data Quality
7 12 (2.07%) JSP 440
8 11 (1.90%) GDPR
9 10 (1.72%) NCSC
10 6 (1.03%) NIST 800
11 1 (0.17%) Cyber Essentials
11 1 (0.17%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 1 (0.17%) HMG Security Policy Framework
11 1 (0.17%) ISO 19650
11 1 (0.17%) ISO/IEC 27005
11 1 (0.17%) RMADS
11 1 (0.17%) SOC 2
11 1 (0.17%) Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)
System Software
1 29 (5.00%) Active Directory
2 24 (4.14%) Docker
3 20 (3.45%) Virtual Machines
3 20 (3.45%) VMware Infrastructure
4 16 (2.76%) VMware ESXi
5 15 (2.59%) vSphere
6 13 (2.24%) BitLocker
7 12 (2.07%) Oracle RAC
8 3 (0.52%) Virtual Desktop
9 1 (0.17%) GPFS
9 1 (0.17%) Hyper-V
9 1 (0.17%) NFS
9 1 (0.17%) Squid
Systems Management
1 48 (8.28%) Terraform
2 32 (5.52%) Ansible
3 29 (5.00%) Kubernetes
4 21 (3.62%) SCCM
5 15 (2.59%) vCenter Server
6 12 (2.07%) Data Guard
6 12 (2.07%) Oracle RMAN
7 11 (1.90%) Grafana
8 7 (1.21%) Prometheus
9 5 (0.86%) Single Sign-On
10 4 (0.69%) Microsoft Intune
10 4 (0.69%) Oracle ZFS
10 4 (0.69%) SCOM
11 3 (0.52%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 3 (0.52%) McAfee ePO
12 2 (0.34%) Nagios
12 2 (0.34%) WSUS
13 1 (0.17%) Norton AntiVirus
13 1 (0.17%) vMotion
13 1 (0.17%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 90 (15.52%) Microsoft
2 59 (10.17%) Cisco
3 55 (9.48%) Oracle
4 52 (8.97%) ServiceNow
5 29 (5.00%) SAP
6 25 (4.31%) Palo Alto
7 21 (3.62%) VMware
8 14 (2.41%) Aruba
9 12 (2.07%) CheckPoint
9 12 (2.07%) F5
10 10 (1.72%) Google
11 9 (1.55%) Splunk
12 8 (1.38%) Citrix
13 6 (1.03%) Arista
13 6 (1.03%) SolarWinds
14 5 (0.86%) Ekahau
14 5 (0.86%) IBM
14 5 (0.86%) Meraki
15 4 (0.69%) RedGate
15 4 (0.69%) Remedy