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 22 October 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
22 Oct 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 2 3 2
Rank change year-on-year +1 -1 +8
Contract jobs citing Security Cleared 427 407 502
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 18.54% 17.14% 17.64%
As % of the Qualifications category 54.60% 59.85% 59.55%
Number of daily rates quoted 259 205 350
10th Percentile £313 £285 £400
25th Percentile £431 £395 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £493 £550
Median % change year-on-year +11.56% -10.36% +4.76%
75th Percentile £650 £588 £644
90th Percentile £719 £680 £688
England median daily rate £538 £550 £550
% change year-on-year -2.27% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 53 38 27
10th Percentile £15.82 £18.03 £34.48
25th Percentile £21.46 £22.71 £45.88
Median hourly rate £25.15 £45.59 £46.18
Median % change year-on-year -44.83% -1.28% -24.00%
75th Percentile £47.12 £55.65 £53.68
90th Percentile £67.25 £73.92 £64.75
England median hourly rate £25.15 £60.60 £60.00
% change year-on-year -58.50% +1.00% +2.61%

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 782 680 843
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 33.96% 28.63% 29.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 502 345 559
10th Percentile £259 £294 £270
25th Percentile £400 £400 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year - -4.76% +2.44%
75th Percentile £633 £600 £638
90th Percentile £716 £675 £700
England median daily rate £525 £530 £550
% change year-on-year -0.94% -3.64% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 78 60 71
10th Percentile £15.50 £18.03 £16.25
25th Percentile £20.00 £24.14 £29.15
Median hourly rate £27.19 £42.66 £46.18
Median % change year-on-year -36.27% -7.62% +15.39%
75th Percentile £57.57 £56.34 -
90th Percentile £70.55 £79.31 £57.50
England median hourly rate £25.15 £52.50 £53.67
% change year-on-year -52.10% -2.17% +19.26%

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 22 October 2025.

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 22 October 2025.

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 22 October 2025. 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 0 165 £550 +22.22% 153
Cheshire +13 101 £625 +24.38% 28
Cumbria 0 77 £517 +3.37% 21
Lancashire 0 57 £550 +62.96% 81
Merseyside -9 18 £750 +185.71% 8
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 9 (2.11%) Confluence
2 6 (1.41%) SharePoint
3 3 (0.70%) IIS
3 3 (0.70%) MTS
3 3 (0.70%) Resin
4 2 (0.47%) Apache
4 2 (0.47%) Apache Airflow
4 2 (0.47%) NetWeaver
4 2 (0.47%) OpenStack
4 2 (0.47%) WebSphere
Applications
1 20 (4.68%) Microsoft Excel
2 16 (3.75%) Microsoft Office
3 13 (3.04%) Siemens NX
4 4 (0.94%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 3 (0.70%) PTC Creo
5 3 (0.70%) Spreadsheet
6 1 (0.23%) SPSS
6 1 (0.23%) Stata
Business Applications
1 56 (13.11%) SAP S/4HANA
2 13 (3.04%) Teamcenter
3 10 (2.34%) SAP EHS
4 9 (2.11%) SAP MM
5 6 (1.41%) SAP QM
5 6 (1.41%) SAP VC
6 2 (0.47%) Maximo
6 2 (0.47%) SAP EWM
7 1 (0.23%) Primavera
7 1 (0.23%) SAP HCM
7 1 (0.23%) SAP PS
7 1 (0.23%) SAP SD
7 1 (0.23%) SAP Travel Management
7 1 (0.23%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 50 (11.71%) AWS
2 39 (9.13%) Azure
3 35 (8.20%) SaaS
4 26 (6.09%) Microsoft 365
5 18 (4.22%) Google Workspace
6 14 (3.28%) Power Platform
7 11 (2.58%) GCP
8 6 (1.41%) Amazon CloudWatch
8 6 (1.41%) Amazon EC2
8 6 (1.41%) Azure DevOps
8 6 (1.41%) GitHub
8 6 (1.41%) Serverless
9 5 (1.17%) Amazon S3
9 5 (1.17%) Amazon SQS
9 5 (1.17%) AWS Lambda
9 5 (1.17%) Entra ID
9 5 (1.17%) IaaS
9 5 (1.17%) PaaS
10 4 (0.94%) Amazon EMR
10 4 (0.94%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 26 (6.09%) Firewall
2 15 (3.51%) Wi-Fi
3 14 (3.28%) DNS
4 12 (2.81%) WAN
5 11 (2.58%) SAN
5 11 (2.58%) TCP/IP
6 9 (2.11%) NetScaler
7 8 (1.87%) Cisco ISE
8 7 (1.64%) Unified Communications
9 6 (1.41%) Wireless
10 5 (1.17%) Internet
10 5 (1.17%) VPN
11 4 (0.94%) DHCP
11 4 (0.94%) DMZ
11 4 (0.94%) HTTPS
11 4 (0.94%) Network Security
11 4 (0.94%) SNMP
12 3 (0.70%) BGP
12 3 (0.70%) SSL
12 3 (0.70%) VLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 8 (1.87%) Power BI
1 8 (1.87%) SAP HANA
2 7 (1.64%) PostgreSQL
3 6 (1.41%) MongoDB
3 6 (1.41%) Redis
4 5 (1.17%) Data Warehouse
4 5 (1.17%) DynamoDB
4 5 (1.17%) Relational Database
5 4 (0.94%) Amazon RDS
5 4 (0.94%) BigQuery
5 4 (0.94%) SQL Server
6 3 (0.70%) Amazon Aurora
6 3 (0.70%) Big Data
6 3 (0.70%) MySQL
6 3 (0.70%) NoSQL
6 3 (0.70%) Siebel EIM
7 2 (0.47%) Amazon Athena
7 2 (0.47%) Amazon Redshift
7 2 (0.47%) Looker
7 2 (0.47%) Metadata
Development Applications
1 18 (4.22%) Git
2 17 (3.98%) JIRA
3 14 (3.28%) Jenkins
4 13 (3.04%) GitLab
5 7 (1.64%) Rational DOORS
5 7 (1.64%) SonarQube
6 4 (0.94%) Artifactory
7 3 (0.70%) Cypress.io
7 3 (0.70%) Gradle
7 3 (0.70%) Grunt
7 3 (0.70%) gulp
7 3 (0.70%) Maven
7 3 (0.70%) ScriptRunner
8 2 (0.47%) Selenium
8 2 (0.47%) SonarLint
9 1 (0.23%) Browser DevTools
9 1 (0.23%) Gatling
9 1 (0.23%) MLflow
9 1 (0.23%) Mockito
9 1 (0.23%) REST Assured
General
1 128 (29.98%) Public Sector
2 96 (22.48%) Social Skills
3 43 (10.07%) Analytical Skills
4 30 (7.03%) Finance
5 27 (6.32%) Manufacturing
6 23 (5.39%) Military
7 17 (3.98%) Documentation Skills
8 14 (3.28%) Aerospace
9 9 (2.11%) Banking
9 9 (2.11%) Electronics
9 9 (2.11%) Telecoms
10 7 (1.64%) Influencing Skills
10 7 (1.64%) Marketing
11 6 (1.41%) Organisational Skills
12 5 (1.17%) Aviation
12 5 (1.17%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 1 (0.23%) Financial Institution
13 1 (0.23%) Law
Job Titles
1 88 (20.61%) Consultant
2 50 (11.71%) Architect
3 42 (9.84%) Senior
4 39 (9.13%) SAP Consultant
5 30 (7.03%) Analyst
6 28 (6.56%) Developer
7 25 (5.85%) Lead
7 25 (5.85%) Management Consultant
8 20 (4.68%) Network Engineer
9 17 (3.98%) Administrator
9 17 (3.98%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 14 (3.28%) IT Support
10 14 (3.28%) Technical Architect
11 13 (3.04%) Desktop Support
12 12 (2.81%) Senior Consultant
13 11 (2.58%) Software Engineer
14 10 (2.34%) DevOps Engineer
14 10 (2.34%) Senior Infrastructure Engineer
15 9 (2.11%) AWS Engineer
15 9 (2.11%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 19 (4.45%) SAP Fiori
2 17 (3.98%) Web Services
3 11 (2.58%) Node.js
3 11 (2.58%) XML
4 10 (2.34%) BAPI
4 10 (2.34%) JSON
4 10 (2.34%) SOAP
5 9 (2.11%) 802.1X
6 8 (1.87%) REST
7 7 (1.64%) Kafka
8 6 (1.41%) HTML
9 5 (1.17%) CSS
9 5 (1.17%) JMS
9 5 (1.17%) SAP TM
10 4 (0.94%) AngularJS
10 4 (0.94%) HTML5
10 4 (0.94%) React
10 4 (0.94%) RESTful
10 4 (0.94%) Sass
10 4 (0.94%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 35 (8.20%) Data Centre
2 25 (5.85%) Onboarding
3 22 (5.15%) Hybrid Cloud
4 11 (2.58%) Analytical Mindset
5 8 (1.87%) Cyber Threat
6 7 (1.64%) Cloud Native
6 7 (1.64%) Enterprise Software
7 6 (1.41%) Low-Code
7 6 (1.41%) Product Ownership
8 5 (1.17%) Fibre Optics
8 5 (1.17%) Management Information System
8 5 (1.17%) Video Conferencing
9 4 (0.94%) CSOC
9 4 (0.94%) Driving Licence
9 4 (0.94%) Operational Technology
9 4 (0.94%) SCADA
9 4 (0.94%) Security Operations Centre
10 3 (0.70%) 3D Printing
10 3 (0.70%) Digital Signage
10 3 (0.70%) Distributed Systems
Operating Systems
1 34 (7.96%) Windows
2 24 (5.62%) Linux
3 8 (1.87%) Windows 10
4 6 (1.41%) Android
4 6 (1.41%) Mac OS
5 4 (0.94%) Unix
5 4 (0.94%) Windows Server
6 2 (0.47%) Apple iOS
6 2 (0.47%) Windows 7
6 2 (0.47%) Windows Server 2016
6 2 (0.47%) Windows Server 2019
7 1 (0.23%) Mac OS X
7 1 (0.23%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 1 (0.23%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 46 (10.77%) Agile
2 45 (10.54%) Problem-Solving
2 45 (10.54%) Stakeholder Management
3 38 (8.90%) User Experience
4 36 (8.43%) Cybersecurity
5 35 (8.20%) DevOps
6 30 (7.03%) CI/CD
6 30 (7.03%) Mentoring
7 28 (6.56%) Migration
8 26 (6.09%) Customer Service
9 24 (5.62%) Change Management
10 23 (5.39%) Logistics
10 23 (5.39%) Process Improvement
11 22 (5.15%) Analytics
11 22 (5.15%) Validation
12 21 (4.92%) Infrastructure as Code
12 21 (4.92%) Risk Management
13 20 (4.68%) Business Intelligence
14 19 (4.45%) Coaching
14 19 (4.45%) Containerisation
Programming Languages
1 44 (10.30%) Python
2 24 (5.62%) Java
3 13 (3.04%) Bash
3 13 (3.04%) SQL
4 12 (2.81%) PowerShell
5 10 (2.34%) ABAP
6 9 (2.11%) JavaScript
7 8 (1.87%) C++
7 8 (1.87%) Perl
8 7 (1.64%) TypeScript
9 4 (0.94%) C
10 3 (0.70%) Go
10 3 (0.70%) Groovy
10 3 (0.70%) PHP
10 3 (0.70%) PL/SQL
10 3 (0.70%) Shell Script
11 2 (0.47%) Kusto Query Language
12 1 (0.23%) Apex Code
12 1 (0.23%) R
12 1 (0.23%) Rust
Qualifications
1 339 (79.39%) SC Cleared
2 69 (16.16%) BPSS Clearance
3 20 (4.68%) Degree
4 8 (1.87%) DV Cleared
5 6 (1.41%) DBS Check
6 5 (1.17%) BC Cleared
6 5 (1.17%) CISM
6 5 (1.17%) CISSP
7 4 (0.94%) Azure Certification
8 3 (0.70%) CCNP
8 3 (0.70%) Cisco Certification
8 3 (0.70%) Computer Science Degree
8 3 (0.70%) CTC Cleared
8 3 (0.70%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
9 2 (0.47%) AWS Certification
9 2 (0.47%) AWS Certified DevOps Engineer
9 2 (0.47%) CCDP
9 2 (0.47%) CompTIA Security+
9 2 (0.47%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
9 2 (0.47%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 17 (3.98%) NIST
2 10 (2.34%) Data Quality
3 8 (1.87%) Accessibility
4 6 (1.41%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 6 (1.41%) QA
5 5 (1.17%) SLA
6 4 (0.94%) IEC 61508
6 4 (0.94%) ISO 26262
6 4 (0.94%) NCSC
7 3 (0.70%) IEC 62304
7 3 (0.70%) PMO
8 2 (0.47%) COBIT
8 2 (0.47%) GDPR
8 2 (0.47%) IEC 61131
9 1 (0.23%) Cyber Essentials
9 1 (0.23%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
9 1 (0.23%) PCI DSS
9 1 (0.23%) WCAG
System Software
1 24 (5.62%) Docker
2 15 (3.51%) VMware Infrastructure
3 14 (3.28%) Active Directory
4 4 (0.94%) UAG
5 3 (0.70%) vSphere
6 2 (0.47%) VMware NSX
7 1 (0.23%) Hyper-V
7 1 (0.23%) Virtual Desktop
7 1 (0.23%) Virtual Machines
7 1 (0.23%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 27 (6.32%) Terraform
2 22 (5.15%) Kubernetes
3 12 (2.81%) SCCM
4 11 (2.58%) Ansible
4 11 (2.58%) Microsoft Intune
5 5 (1.17%) Nessus
6 4 (0.94%) Norton AntiVirus
6 4 (0.94%) SELinux
7 3 (0.70%) Grafana
7 3 (0.70%) Packer
7 3 (0.70%) Podman
7 3 (0.70%) Single Sign-On
7 3 (0.70%) vCenter Server
8 2 (0.47%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 2 (0.47%) PowerCLI
8 2 (0.47%) QRadar
9 1 (0.23%) Microsoft Clustering
9 1 (0.23%) NetApp OnCommand
9 1 (0.23%) Prometheus
9 1 (0.23%) vRealize
Vendors
1 82 (19.20%) SAP
2 62 (14.52%) Microsoft
3 25 (5.85%) Google
4 23 (5.39%) Cisco
5 18 (4.22%) ServiceNow
5 18 (4.22%) VMware
6 15 (3.51%) Oracle
7 13 (3.04%) Palo Alto
8 11 (2.58%) IBM
8 11 (2.58%) Meraki
9 10 (2.34%) Siemens
10 9 (2.11%) Adobe
10 9 (2.11%) Splunk
11 8 (1.87%) Dell
12 7 (1.64%) Atlassian
13 6 (1.41%) Apple
13 6 (1.41%) Axway
13 6 (1.41%) CyberArk
13 6 (1.41%) Siebel
13 6 (1.41%) webMethods