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

6 months to
16 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 3 2 2
Rank change year-on-year -1 0 -1
Contract jobs citing Security Cleared 531 419 434
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 16.77% 21.73% 15.75%
As % of the Qualifications category 57.65% 59.26% 53.32%
Number of daily rates quoted 351 248 278
10th Percentile £355 £244 £350
25th Percentile £419 £412 £463
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year - -4.76% -0.94%
75th Percentile £618 £588 £672
90th Percentile £750 £650 £725
England median daily rate £525 £538 £550
% change year-on-year -2.33% -2.27% -1.79%
Number of hourly rates quoted 55 18 60
10th Percentile £22.68 £25.26 -
25th Percentile £32.75 £32.51 £10.95
Median hourly rate £61.57 £59.29 £14.50
Median % change year-on-year +3.85% +308.90% -57.04%
75th Percentile £74.26 £75.63 £46.18
90th Percentile £75.18 £85.85 £73.75
England median hourly rate £55.00 £57.50 £52.50
% change year-on-year -4.35% +9.52% -12.50%

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 921 707 814
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 29.09% 36.67% 29.55%
Number of daily rates quoted 611 411 466
10th Percentile £313 £225 £244
25th Percentile £393 £386 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £478 £490 £513
Median % change year-on-year -2.37% -4.39% +0.49%
75th Percentile £588 £575 £656
90th Percentile £680 £650 £725
England median daily rate £520 £525 £538
% change year-on-year -0.95% -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 88 43 120
10th Percentile £22.68 £17.95 £10.95
25th Percentile £34.87 £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 £71.75 £60.00 £38.43
90th Percentile £79.58 £82.85 £50.19
England median hourly rate £45.46 £50.00 £39.44
% change year-on-year -9.08% +26.79% -24.19%

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 16 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 16 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 16 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 -8 164 £488 -2.47% 99
Lancashire +3 131 £623 +43.02% 30
Cumbria 0 120 £492 -8.89% 16
Cheshire -4 80 £450 +28.57% 18
Merseyside -11 29 £625 +13.64% 6
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 29 (5.46%) Microsoft Exchange
2 9 (1.69%) Confluence
2 9 (1.69%) SharePoint
2 9 (1.69%) Skype for Business
3 6 (1.13%) Apache Spark
4 5 (0.94%) Apache
5 4 (0.75%) Jupyter
6 3 (0.56%) MTS
7 2 (0.38%) Adobe Experience Manager
7 2 (0.38%) Apache Airflow
7 2 (0.38%) CICS
7 2 (0.38%) OpenStack
8 1 (0.19%) CMS
8 1 (0.19%) nginx
8 1 (0.19%) SAS
Applications
1 19 (3.58%) Microsoft Office
2 10 (1.88%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (1.13%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.56%) 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 9 (1.69%) SAP S/4HANA
2 5 (0.94%) SAP VC
3 3 (0.56%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.56%) SAP QM
4 2 (0.38%) Oracle Payables
4 2 (0.38%) Primavera
4 2 (0.38%) SAP MM
4 2 (0.38%) Teamcenter
5 1 (0.19%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.19%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 77 (14.50%) AWS
2 52 (9.79%) Azure
3 26 (4.90%) Microsoft 365
4 19 (3.58%) GCP
5 13 (2.45%) Entra ID
5 13 (2.45%) Power Platform
6 12 (2.26%) Serverless
7 11 (2.07%) GitHub
8 9 (1.69%) Azure DevOps
9 8 (1.51%) Amazon EKS
10 7 (1.32%) Amazon S3
11 6 (1.13%) SaaS
12 5 (0.94%) Azure Monitor
13 4 (0.75%) Amazon EC2
13 4 (0.75%) AWS CloudFormation
13 4 (0.75%) AWS Lambda
13 4 (0.75%) GitHub Actions
13 4 (0.75%) OpenShift
14 3 (0.56%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 3 (0.56%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 68 (12.81%) Firewall
2 42 (7.91%) VLAN
3 29 (5.46%) WAN
4 26 (4.90%) DNS
4 26 (4.90%) Wi-Fi
5 24 (4.52%) Network Security
6 18 (3.39%) LAN
7 16 (3.01%) DHCP
8 14 (2.64%) VPN
9 13 (2.45%) BGP
9 13 (2.45%) Wireless
10 12 (2.26%) SAN
11 10 (1.88%) TCP/IP
11 10 (1.88%) WebEx
12 9 (1.69%) Cisco ISE
12 9 (1.69%) NetScaler
12 9 (1.69%) Skype
13 8 (1.51%) Software-Defined Networking
14 7 (1.32%) Cisco IOS
14 7 (1.32%) Structured Cabling
Database & Business Intelligence
1 20 (3.77%) PostgreSQL
2 13 (2.45%) Power BI
3 11 (2.07%) MySQL
3 11 (2.07%) SQL Server
4 10 (1.88%) MongoDB
4 10 (1.88%) NoSQL
5 9 (1.69%) Elasticsearch
5 9 (1.69%) Oracle Database
5 9 (1.69%) Relational Database
6 7 (1.32%) Metadata
7 6 (1.13%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 5 (0.94%) Oracle Database 12c
9 4 (0.75%) Data Warehouse
9 4 (0.75%) Hadoop
9 4 (0.75%) Tableau
10 3 (0.56%) Amazon Redshift
10 3 (0.56%) Data Lake
10 3 (0.56%) RDBMS
11 2 (0.38%) DynamoDB
11 2 (0.38%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 24 (4.52%) GitLab
2 18 (3.39%) Git
3 16 (3.01%) JIRA
4 7 (1.32%) Jenkins
5 4 (0.75%) MSI
5 4 (0.75%) Postman
5 4 (0.75%) Selenium
6 3 (0.56%) 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
1 153 (28.81%) Public Sector
2 118 (22.22%) Social Skills
3 35 (6.59%) Analytical Skills
4 33 (6.21%) Finance
5 23 (4.33%) Documentation Skills
6 21 (3.95%) Military
7 19 (3.58%) Legal
8 12 (2.26%) Aerospace
8 12 (2.26%) Banking
9 9 (1.69%) Manufacturing
10 7 (1.32%) Presentation Skills
11 4 (0.75%) Aviation
11 4 (0.75%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 4 (0.75%) Influencing Skills
11 4 (0.75%) Organisational Skills
12 3 (0.56%) Electronics
12 3 (0.56%) Marketing
12 3 (0.56%) Telecoms
13 2 (0.38%) Corporate Banking
13 2 (0.38%) Retail
Job Titles
1 72 (13.56%) Architect
2 56 (10.55%) Developer
3 50 (9.42%) Lead
4 42 (7.91%) Network Engineer
5 32 (6.03%) Senior
6 29 (5.46%) Analyst
7 28 (5.27%) Administrator
8 24 (4.52%) Platform Engineer
9 21 (3.95%) Technical Architect
10 20 (3.77%) Consultant
11 19 (3.58%) DBA
11 19 (3.58%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
12 16 (3.01%) Coordinator
12 16 (3.01%) Lead Architect
13 15 (2.82%) Data Engineer
14 14 (2.64%) Support Engineer
15 13 (2.45%) Engagement Manager
15 13 (2.45%) Java Developer
15 13 (2.45%) Software Engineer
15 13 (2.45%) Unix Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 28 (5.27%) Spring
2 24 (4.52%) Spring Boot
3 15 (2.82%) 802.1X
4 13 (2.45%) Kafka
4 13 (2.45%) Node.js
4 13 (2.45%) RESTful
5 9 (1.69%) XMPP
6 8 (1.51%) OAuth
7 7 (1.32%) HTML
7 7 (1.32%) JSON
7 7 (1.32%) Playwright
7 7 (1.32%) REST
8 6 (1.13%) Apache NiFi
8 6 (1.13%) CSS
8 6 (1.13%) Hibernate
8 6 (1.13%) React
8 6 (1.13%) XML
9 5 (0.94%) Leaflet
9 5 (0.94%) Middleware
9 5 (0.94%) Spring MVC
Miscellaneous
1 41 (7.72%) Data Centre
2 38 (7.16%) Product Ownership
3 17 (3.20%) Onboarding
4 16 (3.01%) Replication
5 14 (2.64%) Clustering
6 10 (1.88%) Cyber Threat
6 10 (1.88%) Operational Technology
7 8 (1.51%) Cloud Native
8 7 (1.32%) Enterprise Software
9 6 (1.13%) Management Information System
9 6 (1.13%) Private Cloud
10 5 (0.94%) Distributed Systems
10 5 (0.94%) Driving Licence
10 5 (0.94%) Fat Client
10 5 (0.94%) Legacy Systems
10 5 (0.94%) Mobile App
10 5 (0.94%) Security Posture
10 5 (0.94%) Thin Client
11 4 (0.75%) Data Protection Act
12 3 (0.56%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 60 (11.30%) Windows
2 38 (7.16%) Linux
3 23 (4.33%) Windows 10
3 23 (4.33%) Windows Server
4 19 (3.58%) Unix
5 14 (2.64%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 14 (2.64%) Solaris
6 9 (1.69%) Windows 7
7 4 (0.75%) Android
8 3 (0.56%) AIX
8 3 (0.56%) Apple iOS
9 2 (0.38%) Mac OS
9 2 (0.38%) Mac OS X
9 2 (0.38%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 76 (14.31%) Agile
2 66 (12.43%) Problem-Solving
3 53 (9.98%) CI/CD
3 53 (9.98%) DevOps
3 53 (9.98%) ITSM
4 51 (9.60%) Continuous Improvement
4 51 (9.60%) Service Management
5 49 (9.23%) Cybersecurity
5 49 (9.23%) Migration
5 49 (9.23%) Project Delivery
5 49 (9.23%) Stakeholder Management
6 46 (8.66%) High Availability
7 40 (7.53%) Stakeholder Engagement
8 34 (6.40%) Disaster Recovery
8 34 (6.40%) Platform Engineering
9 33 (6.21%) Containerisation
10 31 (5.84%) Risk Management
11 30 (5.65%) Microservices
11 30 (5.65%) Technical Leadership
11 30 (5.65%) Test Automation
Programming Languages
1 59 (11.11%) Python
2 52 (9.79%) PowerShell
3 48 (9.04%) Java
4 25 (4.71%) SQL
5 19 (3.58%) JavaScript
6 17 (3.20%) Bash
7 12 (2.26%) TypeScript
8 11 (2.07%) Perl
9 9 (1.69%) VB
9 9 (1.69%) VBScript
10 5 (0.94%) Go
10 5 (0.94%) Rust
11 4 (0.75%) Ruby
12 3 (0.56%) C#
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%) Bicep
Qualifications
1 347 (65.35%) SC Cleared
2 76 (14.31%) DV Cleared
3 53 (9.98%) BPSS Clearance
4 38 (7.16%) Cisco Certification
5 35 (6.59%) CCNP
5 35 (6.59%) Degree
6 32 (6.03%) CCNA
7 14 (2.64%) CISSP
7 14 (2.64%) Microsoft Certification
8 11 (2.07%) Computer Science Degree
9 8 (1.51%) AWS Certification
9 8 (1.51%) Azure Certification
9 8 (1.51%) CCDP
9 8 (1.51%) CISM
9 8 (1.51%) ITIL Certification
9 8 (1.51%) MCSA
9 8 (1.51%) MCSE
9 8 (1.51%) VCAP
9 8 (1.51%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
10 6 (1.13%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (4.71%) NIST
2 16 (3.01%) QA
3 15 (2.82%) Accessibility
4 14 (2.64%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 12 (2.26%) JSP 440
5 12 (2.26%) SLA
6 7 (1.32%) Data Quality
7 6 (1.13%) GDPR
7 6 (1.13%) NCSC
8 4 (0.75%) GRC
8 4 (0.75%) PMO
8 4 (0.75%) WCAG
9 3 (0.56%) IFRS
10 2 (0.38%) IFRS 17
10 2 (0.38%) NIST 800
10 2 (0.38%) PCI DSS
10 2 (0.38%) PSD2
11 1 (0.19%) Basel III
11 1 (0.19%) RMADS
11 1 (0.19%) SOC 2
System Software
1 32 (6.03%) Docker
2 30 (5.65%) Active Directory
3 18 (3.39%) VMware Infrastructure
4 11 (2.07%) vSphere
5 10 (1.88%) Virtual Machines
5 10 (1.88%) VMware ESXi
6 9 (1.69%) BitLocker
7 4 (0.75%) 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 36 (6.78%) Kubernetes
2 30 (5.65%) Terraform
3 16 (3.01%) SCCM
4 14 (2.64%) Ansible
5 9 (1.69%) vCenter Server
6 8 (1.51%) Active Directory Federation Services
6 8 (1.51%) Grafana
7 6 (1.13%) Oracle RMAN
7 6 (1.13%) Prometheus
8 5 (0.94%) Microsoft Intune
9 4 (0.75%) Single Sign-On
10 3 (0.56%) FortiGate
10 3 (0.56%) Norton AntiVirus
11 1 (0.19%) Cisco CUCM
11 1 (0.19%) Cisco Prime
11 1 (0.19%) Data Guard
11 1 (0.19%) Failover Clustering
11 1 (0.19%) Microsoft Clustering
11 1 (0.19%) Nagios
11 1 (0.19%) vRealize
Vendors
1 71 (13.37%) Microsoft
2 69 (12.99%) Cisco
3 36 (6.78%) Oracle
3 36 (6.78%) Palo Alto
4 33 (6.21%) SAP
5 32 (6.03%) ServiceNow
6 23 (4.33%) VMware
7 14 (2.64%) Citrix
8 13 (2.45%) Meraki
9 11 (2.07%) Red Hat
10 8 (1.51%) Aruba
11 6 (1.13%) CheckPoint
11 6 (1.13%) Ekahau
11 6 (1.13%) IBM
11 6 (1.13%) Splunk
12 5 (0.94%) Dell
12 5 (0.94%) SolarWinds
13 4 (0.75%) EMC
13 4 (0.75%) Google
13 4 (0.75%) RedGate