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 8 April 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
8 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 4 2 2
Rank change year-on-year -2 0 -1
Contract jobs citing Security Cleared 521 415 452
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 16.46% 21.46% 16.30%
As % of the Qualifications category 57.25% 59.12% 53.87%
Number of daily rates quoted 346 242 291
10th Percentile £354 £232 £363
25th Percentile £413 £412 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £515
Median % change year-on-year - -2.91% -1.90%
75th Percentile £614 £585 £665
90th Percentile £731 £650 £725
England median daily rate £525 £540 £550
% change year-on-year -2.78% -1.82% -1.87%
Number of hourly rates quoted 57 19 66
10th Percentile £22.68 £25.26 -
25th Percentile £28.50 £34.27 £10.95
Median hourly rate £60.61 £60.00 £19.35
Median % change year-on-year +1.02% +210.16% -42.68%
75th Percentile £74.26 £75.00 £46.18
90th Percentile £74.87 £85.82 £62.63
England median hourly rate £52.50 £58.04 £52.00
% change year-on-year -9.55% +11.62% -13.33%

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 910 702 839
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 28.74% 36.30% 30.26%
Number of daily rates quoted 603 406 485
10th Percentile £313 £228 £258
25th Percentile £389 £388 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £490 £510
Median % change year-on-year -3.06% -3.92% -0.24%
75th Percentile £588 £575 £650
90th Percentile £679 £653 £725
England median daily rate £520 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -0.95% -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 90 45 126
10th Percentile £22.68 £21.00 £10.95
25th Percentile £30.12 £25.26 £11.77
Median hourly rate £45.46 £32.50 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year +39.88% +102.37% -57.17%
75th Percentile £71.50 £60.00 £43.53
90th Percentile £76.08 £82.28 £50.00
England median hourly rate £39.50 £50.00 £38.75
% change year-on-year -21.00% +29.03% -25.48%

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 8 April 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 8 April 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 8 April 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 -6 162 £488 -2.50% 107
Lancashire +2 130 £588 +35.09% 48
Cumbria 0 118 £492 -8.89% 14
Cheshire -6 79 £450 +28.57% 17
Merseyside -16 24 £563 +2.27% 4
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 27 (5.18%) Microsoft Exchange
2 9 (1.73%) Skype for Business
3 8 (1.54%) Confluence
4 7 (1.34%) SharePoint
5 6 (1.15%) Apache Spark
6 5 (0.96%) Apache
7 4 (0.77%) Jupyter
8 3 (0.58%) MTS
9 2 (0.38%) Adobe Experience Manager
9 2 (0.38%) Apache Airflow
9 2 (0.38%) CICS
9 2 (0.38%) OpenStack
10 1 (0.19%) CMS
10 1 (0.19%) nginx
10 1 (0.19%) SAS
Applications
1 20 (3.84%) Microsoft Office
2 10 (1.92%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (1.15%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.58%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.38%) MS Visio
5 2 (0.38%) Siemens NX
6 1 (0.19%) Adobe Premiere
6 1 (0.19%) Quicktime
Business Applications
1 10 (1.92%) SAP S/4HANA
2 5 (0.96%) SAP VC
3 3 (0.58%) SAP MM
3 3 (0.58%) SAP QM
4 2 (0.38%) Oracle Payables
4 2 (0.38%) Primavera
4 2 (0.38%) Remedy ITSM
4 2 (0.38%) Teamcenter
5 1 (0.19%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.19%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 74 (14.20%) AWS
2 49 (9.40%) Azure
3 24 (4.61%) Microsoft 365
4 15 (2.88%) GCP
5 13 (2.50%) Entra ID
5 13 (2.50%) Power Platform
6 12 (2.30%) Serverless
7 11 (2.11%) GitHub
8 9 (1.73%) Azure DevOps
9 8 (1.54%) Amazon EKS
10 7 (1.34%) Amazon S3
11 5 (0.96%) Azure Monitor
12 4 (0.77%) Amazon EC2
12 4 (0.77%) AWS CloudFormation
12 4 (0.77%) AWS Lambda
12 4 (0.77%) GitHub Actions
12 4 (0.77%) OneDrive
12 4 (0.77%) OpenShift
12 4 (0.77%) SaaS
13 3 (0.58%) Amazon CloudWatch
Communications & Networking
1 71 (13.63%) Firewall
2 42 (8.06%) VLAN
3 30 (5.76%) WAN
4 27 (5.18%) Wi-Fi
5 24 (4.61%) DNS
5 24 (4.61%) Network Security
6 18 (3.45%) LAN
7 16 (3.07%) DHCP
7 16 (3.07%) VPN
8 15 (2.88%) SAN
9 14 (2.69%) Wireless
10 13 (2.50%) BGP
11 12 (2.30%) TCP/IP
12 10 (1.92%) Cisco ISE
12 10 (1.92%) NetScaler
12 10 (1.92%) WebEx
13 9 (1.73%) Skype
14 8 (1.54%) Software-Defined Networking
15 7 (1.34%) Cisco IOS
15 7 (1.34%) Structured Cabling
Database & Business Intelligence
1 19 (3.65%) PostgreSQL
2 13 (2.50%) Power BI
3 11 (2.11%) MySQL
3 11 (2.11%) SQL Server
4 10 (1.92%) MongoDB
4 10 (1.92%) NoSQL
5 9 (1.73%) Elasticsearch
5 9 (1.73%) Relational Database
6 8 (1.54%) Oracle Database
7 7 (1.34%) Metadata
8 6 (1.15%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 5 (0.96%) Oracle Database 12c
10 4 (0.77%) Data Warehouse
10 4 (0.77%) Hadoop
10 4 (0.77%) Tableau
11 3 (0.58%) Amazon Redshift
11 3 (0.58%) Data Lake
11 3 (0.58%) RDBMS
12 2 (0.38%) DynamoDB
12 2 (0.38%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 24 (4.61%) GitLab
2 18 (3.45%) Git
3 13 (2.50%) JIRA
4 7 (1.34%) Jenkins
5 4 (0.77%) MSI
5 4 (0.77%) Postman
5 4 (0.77%) Selenium
6 3 (0.58%) REST Assured
7 2 (0.38%) Cucumber
7 2 (0.38%) Cypress.io
7 2 (0.38%) Gatling
7 2 (0.38%) Jasmine
7 2 (0.38%) JMeter
7 2 (0.38%) Mockito
7 2 (0.38%) Serenity BDD
7 2 (0.38%) SonarQube
8 1 (0.19%) ClearCase
8 1 (0.19%) InstallShield
8 1 (0.19%) Mocha
8 1 (0.19%) Rational DOORS
General
1 152 (29.17%) Public Sector
2 119 (22.84%) Social Skills
3 35 (6.72%) Analytical Skills
3 35 (6.72%) Finance
4 22 (4.22%) Documentation Skills
5 21 (4.03%) Military
6 18 (3.45%) Legal
7 12 (2.30%) Aerospace
7 12 (2.30%) Banking
8 9 (1.73%) Manufacturing
9 7 (1.34%) Presentation Skills
10 5 (0.96%) Organisational Skills
11 4 (0.77%) Aviation
11 4 (0.77%) Electronics
11 4 (0.77%) Influencing Skills
11 4 (0.77%) Marketing
11 4 (0.77%) Telecoms
12 3 (0.58%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 2 (0.38%) Corporate Banking
13 2 (0.38%) Law
Job Titles
1 70 (13.44%) Architect
2 54 (10.36%) Developer
3 45 (8.64%) Network Engineer
4 41 (7.87%) Lead
5 33 (6.33%) Senior
6 29 (5.57%) Analyst
7 26 (4.99%) Administrator
8 23 (4.41%) Platform Engineer
9 22 (4.22%) Technical Architect
10 21 (4.03%) Consultant
11 20 (3.84%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
12 18 (3.45%) DBA
13 15 (2.88%) Coordinator
13 15 (2.88%) Data Engineer
14 13 (2.50%) DevOps Engineer
14 13 (2.50%) Engagement Manager
14 13 (2.50%) Software Engineer
14 13 (2.50%) Support Engineer
15 12 (2.30%) Business Analyst
15 12 (2.30%) Java Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (4.99%) Spring
2 23 (4.41%) Spring Boot
3 16 (3.07%) 802.1X
4 13 (2.50%) Kafka
4 13 (2.50%) RESTful
5 11 (2.11%) Node.js
6 9 (1.73%) XMPP
7 7 (1.34%) HTML
7 7 (1.34%) JSON
7 7 (1.34%) Playwright
8 6 (1.15%) Apache NiFi
8 6 (1.15%) CSS
8 6 (1.15%) Hibernate
8 6 (1.15%) OAuth
8 6 (1.15%) React
8 6 (1.15%) REST
8 6 (1.15%) XML
9 5 (0.96%) Middleware
9 5 (0.96%) OAuth2
9 5 (0.96%) Spring MVC
Miscellaneous
1 48 (9.21%) Data Centre
2 38 (7.29%) Product Ownership
3 17 (3.26%) Onboarding
4 16 (3.07%) Replication
5 14 (2.69%) Clustering
6 11 (2.11%) Cyber Threat
7 10 (1.92%) Operational Technology
8 8 (1.54%) Cloud Native
9 6 (1.15%) Enterprise Software
9 6 (1.15%) Private Cloud
10 5 (0.96%) Driving Licence
10 5 (0.96%) Fat Client
10 5 (0.96%) Legacy Systems
10 5 (0.96%) Mobile App
10 5 (0.96%) Security Posture
10 5 (0.96%) Thin Client
11 4 (0.77%) Data Protection Act
11 4 (0.77%) Management Information System
12 3 (0.58%) Handset
12 3 (0.58%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 61 (11.71%) Windows
2 40 (7.68%) Linux
3 23 (4.41%) Windows Server
4 22 (4.22%) Windows 10
5 16 (3.07%) Unix
6 14 (2.69%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 11 (2.11%) Solaris
8 9 (1.73%) Windows 7
9 5 (0.96%) Android
10 3 (0.58%) AIX
10 3 (0.58%) Apple iOS
10 3 (0.58%) Mac OS
11 2 (0.38%) Mac OS X
11 2 (0.38%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 73 (14.01%) Agile
2 64 (12.28%) Problem-Solving
3 52 (9.98%) DevOps
3 52 (9.98%) ITSM
4 51 (9.79%) CI/CD
5 49 (9.40%) Continuous Improvement
5 49 (9.40%) Service Management
6 46 (8.83%) Cybersecurity
7 44 (8.45%) Migration
7 44 (8.45%) Project Delivery
8 43 (8.25%) Stakeholder Management
9 41 (7.87%) High Availability
10 37 (7.10%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 34 (6.53%) Containerisation
12 33 (6.33%) Platform Engineering
13 32 (6.14%) Risk Management
14 31 (5.95%) Disaster Recovery
15 30 (5.76%) Technical Leadership
15 30 (5.76%) Test Automation
16 28 (5.37%) Microservices
Programming Languages
1 56 (10.75%) Python
2 54 (10.36%) PowerShell
3 44 (8.45%) Java
4 25 (4.80%) SQL
5 19 (3.65%) Bash
6 18 (3.45%) JavaScript
7 13 (2.50%) Perl
8 12 (2.30%) TypeScript
9 9 (1.73%) VB
9 9 (1.73%) VBScript
10 5 (0.96%) Rust
11 4 (0.77%) Ruby
12 3 (0.58%) C#
12 3 (0.58%) Go
13 2 (0.38%) AWK
13 2 (0.38%) COBOL
13 2 (0.38%) Kotlin
13 2 (0.38%) Kusto Query Language
14 1 (0.19%) ABAP
14 1 (0.19%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 342 (65.64%) SC Cleared
2 74 (14.20%) DV Cleared
3 53 (10.17%) BPSS Clearance
4 38 (7.29%) Cisco Certification
5 35 (6.72%) CCNP
5 35 (6.72%) Degree
6 32 (6.14%) CCNA
7 14 (2.69%) CISSP
7 14 (2.69%) Microsoft Certification
8 11 (2.11%) Computer Science Degree
9 8 (1.54%) AWS Certification
9 8 (1.54%) Azure Certification
9 8 (1.54%) CCDP
9 8 (1.54%) CISM
9 8 (1.54%) ITIL Certification
9 8 (1.54%) MCSA
9 8 (1.54%) MCSE
9 8 (1.54%) VCAP
9 8 (1.54%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
10 6 (1.15%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (4.80%) NIST
2 16 (3.07%) QA
3 15 (2.88%) Accessibility
4 14 (2.69%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 12 (2.30%) SLA
6 11 (2.11%) JSP 440
7 7 (1.34%) Data Quality
7 7 (1.34%) NCSC
8 6 (1.15%) GDPR
9 4 (0.77%) GRC
9 4 (0.77%) WCAG
10 3 (0.58%) IFRS
10 3 (0.58%) PMO
11 2 (0.38%) IFRS 17
11 2 (0.38%) NIST 800
11 2 (0.38%) PCI DSS
11 2 (0.38%) PSD2
12 1 (0.19%) Basel III
12 1 (0.19%) RMADS
12 1 (0.19%) SOC 2
System Software
1 32 (6.14%) Docker
2 28 (5.37%) Active Directory
3 20 (3.84%) VMware Infrastructure
4 11 (2.11%) vSphere
5 10 (1.92%) Virtual Machines
5 10 (1.92%) VMware ESXi
6 9 (1.73%) BitLocker
7 4 (0.77%) Firmware
8 2 (0.38%) ISA Server
9 1 (0.19%) GPFS
9 1 (0.19%) Hyper-V
9 1 (0.19%) NFS
9 1 (0.19%) Oracle RAC
9 1 (0.19%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 33 (6.33%) Kubernetes
2 30 (5.76%) Terraform
3 16 (3.07%) SCCM
4 14 (2.69%) Ansible
5 9 (1.73%) vCenter Server
6 8 (1.54%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 8 (1.54%) Grafana
7 6 (1.15%) Oracle RMAN
7 6 (1.15%) Prometheus
8 5 (0.96%) Microsoft Intune
9 3 (0.58%) FortiGate
9 3 (0.58%) Norton AntiVirus
10 2 (0.38%) Single Sign-On
11 1 (0.19%) Cisco CUCM
11 1 (0.19%) Cisco Prime
11 1 (0.19%) Failover Clustering
11 1 (0.19%) Microsoft Clustering
11 1 (0.19%) Nagios
11 1 (0.19%) vRealize
11 1 (0.19%) VxRail
Vendors
1 73 (14.01%) Cisco
2 71 (13.63%) Microsoft
3 37 (7.10%) Palo Alto
4 35 (6.72%) SAP
5 33 (6.33%) Oracle
6 31 (5.95%) ServiceNow
7 25 (4.80%) VMware
8 14 (2.69%) Citrix
8 14 (2.69%) Meraki
9 11 (2.11%) Red Hat
10 8 (1.54%) Aruba
11 6 (1.15%) CheckPoint
11 6 (1.15%) Dell
11 6 (1.15%) Ekahau
11 6 (1.15%) IBM
11 6 (1.15%) Splunk
12 5 (0.96%) Juniper
12 5 (0.96%) SolarWinds
13 4 (0.77%) NetApp
13 4 (0.77%) Veritas