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 2 June 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
2 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 3 2 2
Rank change year-on-year -1 0 -1
Contract jobs citing Security Cleared 521 403 418
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 15.58% 20.60% 15.27%
As % of the Qualifications category 55.90% 57.49% 54.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 335 234 258
10th Percentile £360 £236 £375
25th Percentile £423 £412 £452
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £500 £515
Median % change year-on-year +3.00% -2.91% -1.90%
75th Percentile £630 £600 £672
90th Percentile £750 £700 £725
England median daily rate £525 £538 £550
% change year-on-year -2.33% -2.27% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 42 24 64
10th Percentile £22.68 £25.15 -
25th Percentile £26.45 £25.26 £10.95
Median hourly rate £58.22 £43.86 £14.50
Median % change year-on-year +32.76% +202.45% -65.88%
75th Percentile £74.26 £60.00 £51.22
90th Percentile £83.75 £72.63 £73.75
England median hourly rate £55.97 £40.00 £56.50
% change year-on-year +39.93% -29.20% -5.83%

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 932 701 767
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 27.87% 35.84% 28.01%
Number of daily rates quoted 610 405 429
10th Percentile £336 £230 £297
25th Percentile £400 £388 £415
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £481 £490 £500
Median % change year-on-year -1.81% -2.00% -1.72%
75th Percentile £593 £575 £638
90th Percentile £680 £671 £725
England median daily rate £525 £525 £538
% change year-on-year - -2.33% -2.27%
Number of hourly rates quoted 68 45 132
10th Percentile £22.68 £17.44 £10.95
25th Percentile £28.50 £22.72 £11.94
Median hourly rate £44.90 £29.27 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year +53.40% +82.25% -60.43%
75th Percentile £74.26 £59.90 £43.26
90th Percentile £111.15 £75.25 £68.24
England median hourly rate £48.05 £32.50 £40.00
% change year-on-year +47.85% -18.75% -27.27%

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 2 June 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 2 June 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 2 June 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 -12 164 £520 +4.00% 127
Cumbria 0 162 £481 -9.79% 22
Lancashire +3 91 £775 +73.38% 38
Cheshire +1 78 £445 +27.21% 16
Merseyside -21 19 £625 +4.17% 3
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 (4.80%) Microsoft Exchange
2 11 (2.11%) SharePoint
2 11 (2.11%) Skype for Business
3 7 (1.34%) Confluence
4 4 (0.77%) Apache Spark
5 2 (0.38%) Apache
5 2 (0.38%) CICS
5 2 (0.38%) Jupyter
5 2 (0.38%) Oracle Workflow
6 1 (0.19%) Adobe Experience Manager
6 1 (0.19%) IIS
6 1 (0.19%) nginx
6 1 (0.19%) OpenStack
6 1 (0.19%) SAS
Applications
1 18 (3.45%) Microsoft Office
2 10 (1.92%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (0.96%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 3 (0.58%) Microsoft Project
4 3 (0.58%) MS Visio
5 2 (0.38%) Siemens NX
6 1 (0.19%) Adobe Premiere
6 1 (0.19%) Quicktime
Business Applications
1 5 (0.96%) Oracle Payables
2 3 (0.58%) Remedy ITSM
2 3 (0.58%) Teamcenter
3 2 (0.38%) Oracle Cash Management
3 2 (0.38%) Oracle EBS
3 2 (0.38%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
3 2 (0.38%) Primavera
3 2 (0.38%) SAP MM
3 2 (0.38%) SAP S/4HANA
4 1 (0.19%) Dynamics AX
4 1 (0.19%) Payment Gateway
Cloud Services
1 80 (15.36%) AWS
2 58 (11.13%) Azure
3 24 (4.61%) Microsoft 365
4 16 (3.07%) GCP
4 16 (3.07%) SaaS
5 14 (2.69%) Power Platform
5 14 (2.69%) Serverless
6 10 (1.92%) Entra ID
6 10 (1.92%) GitHub
6 10 (1.92%) OCI
7 9 (1.73%) Google Workspace
8 7 (1.34%) Azure DevOps
8 7 (1.34%) Google Drive
9 6 (1.15%) Amazon S3
10 4 (0.77%) Amazon EKS
10 4 (0.77%) AWS Lambda
10 4 (0.77%) Azure Monitor
10 4 (0.77%) OpenShift
11 3 (0.58%) Datadog
11 3 (0.58%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 68 (13.05%) Firewall
2 42 (8.06%) VLAN
3 31 (5.95%) Wireless
4 30 (5.76%) DNS
4 30 (5.76%) Network Security
5 25 (4.80%) WAN
6 23 (4.41%) DHCP
7 22 (4.22%) Structured Cabling
8 21 (4.03%) SAN
9 19 (3.65%) Wi-Fi
10 17 (3.26%) Cisco IOS
10 17 (3.26%) LAN
10 17 (3.26%) NAS
11 16 (3.07%) NX-OS
12 12 (2.30%) VPN
13 11 (2.11%) Skype
14 9 (1.73%) BGP
14 9 (1.73%) TCP/IP
15 8 (1.54%) OSPF
16 7 (1.34%) BIG-IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (2.69%) Oracle Database
2 13 (2.50%) MongoDB
2 13 (2.50%) PostgreSQL
2 13 (2.50%) Power BI
3 12 (2.30%) Relational Database
4 9 (1.73%) Elasticsearch
4 9 (1.73%) SQL Server
5 6 (1.15%) Metadata
5 6 (1.15%) MySQL
6 5 (0.96%) NoSQL
6 5 (0.96%) Oracle Database 12c
7 4 (0.77%) Hadoop
7 4 (0.77%) RDBMS
7 4 (0.77%) SQL Server Integration Services
7 4 (0.77%) Tableau
8 3 (0.58%) Data Lake
9 2 (0.38%) Amazon Redshift
9 2 (0.38%) DataStage
9 2 (0.38%) Oracle BI Publisher
9 2 (0.38%) Oracle Exadata
Development Applications
1 28 (5.37%) GitLab
2 13 (2.50%) Selenium
3 12 (2.30%) Git
3 12 (2.30%) JIRA
4 9 (1.73%) Jenkins
4 9 (1.73%) REST Assured
5 6 (1.15%) Gatling
6 5 (0.96%) Cucumber
6 5 (0.96%) MSI
6 5 (0.96%) Serenity BDD
7 4 (0.77%) Cypress.io
8 3 (0.58%) JMeter
8 3 (0.58%) Postman
9 2 (0.38%) JDeveloper
9 2 (0.38%) SonarQube
9 2 (0.38%) WebDriver
10 1 (0.19%) Mocha
10 1 (0.19%) Mockito
10 1 (0.19%) Rational Robot
10 1 (0.19%) Team Foundation Server
General
1 139 (26.68%) Public Sector
2 113 (21.69%) Social Skills
3 36 (6.91%) Military
4 30 (5.76%) Documentation Skills
5 29 (5.57%) Finance
6 26 (4.99%) Analytical Skills
7 13 (2.50%) Aerospace
7 13 (2.50%) Legal
8 9 (1.73%) Banking
9 8 (1.54%) Manufacturing
10 7 (1.34%) Presentation Skills
11 4 (0.77%) Aviation
11 4 (0.77%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 4 (0.77%) Retail
12 3 (0.58%) Influencing Skills
13 2 (0.38%) Corporate Banking
13 2 (0.38%) General Ledger
13 2 (0.38%) Organisational Skills
14 1 (0.19%) Advertising
14 1 (0.19%) Retail Banking
Job Titles
1 77 (14.78%) Architect
2 64 (12.28%) Lead
3 41 (7.87%) Network Engineer
4 31 (5.95%) Analyst
4 31 (5.95%) Developer
5 30 (5.76%) Senior
6 29 (5.57%) Unix Engineer
7 25 (4.80%) Administrator
8 24 (4.61%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
9 22 (4.22%) Technical Architect
10 19 (3.65%) Lead Architect
10 19 (3.65%) Wintel Engineer
11 18 (3.45%) Consultant
12 17 (3.26%) Data Engineer
12 17 (3.26%) DBA
13 15 (2.88%) Coordinator
14 13 (2.50%) Business Analyst
14 13 (2.50%) Security Architect
14 13 (2.50%) Security Assurance Coordinator
15 12 (2.30%) Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (5.18%) Spring
2 23 (4.41%) Spring Boot
3 19 (3.65%) Node.js
4 16 (3.07%) Kafka
5 10 (1.92%) OAuth
5 10 (1.92%) Playwright
5 10 (1.92%) REST
6 8 (1.54%) 802.1X
7 7 (1.34%) RESTful
8 6 (1.15%) OpenID
8 6 (1.15%) React
9 5 (0.96%) Apache NiFi
9 5 (0.96%) Leaflet
9 5 (0.96%) Nunjucks
9 5 (0.96%) Spring Cloud
9 5 (0.96%) Web Services
10 4 (0.77%) CSS
10 4 (0.77%) HTML
10 4 (0.77%) Jest
10 4 (0.77%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 41 (7.87%) Data Centre
2 26 (4.99%) Clustering
3 24 (4.61%) Replication
4 21 (4.03%) Onboarding
4 21 (4.03%) Product Ownership
5 14 (2.69%) Cloud Native
6 13 (2.50%) Operational Technology
7 9 (1.73%) Enterprise Software
8 7 (1.34%) Cyber Threat
8 7 (1.34%) Management Information System
9 5 (0.96%) Hybrid Cloud
9 5 (0.96%) Private Cloud
9 5 (0.96%) Security Posture
10 4 (0.77%) Data Protection Act
10 4 (0.77%) Driving Licence
10 4 (0.77%) Legacy Systems
10 4 (0.77%) Mobile App
11 3 (0.58%) Freedom of Information
11 3 (0.58%) PKI
11 3 (0.58%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 57 (10.94%) Windows
2 35 (6.72%) Unix
3 30 (5.76%) Solaris
4 25 (4.80%) Linux
5 24 (4.61%) Windows Server
6 19 (3.65%) Windows 10
7 11 (2.11%) Windows 7
8 4 (0.77%) AIX
8 4 (0.77%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 2 (0.38%) Android
9 2 (0.38%) Apple iOS
9 2 (0.38%) VMS
10 1 (0.19%) Mac OS
10 1 (0.19%) Mac OS X
10 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2012
10 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2016
10 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 73 (14.01%) Agile
2 67 (12.86%) High Availability
2 67 (12.86%) Project Delivery
3 59 (11.32%) CI/CD
4 56 (10.75%) Continuous Improvement
4 56 (10.75%) DevOps
4 56 (10.75%) ITSM
5 55 (10.56%) Migration
5 55 (10.56%) Stakeholder Management
6 53 (10.17%) Disaster Recovery
7 47 (9.02%) Problem-Solving
8 41 (7.87%) Service Management
9 39 (7.49%) Cybersecurity
9 39 (7.49%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 33 (6.33%) Technical Leadership
10 33 (6.33%) Test Automation
11 31 (5.95%) Microservices
11 31 (5.95%) Risk Management
12 25 (4.80%) Roadmaps
13 24 (4.61%) ITIL
Programming Languages
1 57 (10.94%) Python
2 49 (9.40%) Java
3 47 (9.02%) PowerShell
4 25 (4.80%) JavaScript
5 23 (4.41%) SQL
6 14 (2.69%) TypeScript
7 11 (2.11%) VB
7 11 (2.11%) VBScript
8 5 (0.96%) Go
8 5 (0.96%) Rust
9 3 (0.58%) Bash
10 2 (0.38%) C#
10 2 (0.38%) COBOL
10 2 (0.38%) PL/SQL
10 2 (0.38%) Ruby
11 1 (0.19%) Kotlin
11 1 (0.19%) Perl
11 1 (0.19%) Scala
11 1 (0.19%) Shell Script
11 1 (0.19%) VB6
Qualifications
1 362 (69.48%) SC Cleared
2 64 (12.28%) DV Cleared
3 45 (8.64%) Cisco Certification
4 42 (8.06%) CCNA
5 36 (6.91%) CCNP
6 28 (5.37%) BPSS Clearance
7 24 (4.61%) Degree
8 22 (4.22%) Microsoft Certification
9 16 (3.07%) MCSA
9 16 (3.07%) MCSE
9 16 (3.07%) VCAP
9 16 (3.07%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
10 15 (2.88%) Network+ Certification
10 15 (2.88%) Server+ Certification
11 13 (2.50%) CISSP
12 9 (1.73%) AWS Certification
12 9 (1.73%) Azure Certification
12 9 (1.73%) ITIL Certification
13 7 (1.34%) CISM
13 7 (1.34%) Computer Science Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (3.84%) Accessibility
1 20 (3.84%) NIST
2 18 (3.45%) PMO
3 15 (2.88%) QA
4 14 (2.69%) SLA
5 13 (2.50%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 12 (2.30%) JSP 440
7 10 (1.92%) GDPR
8 6 (1.15%) Data Quality
9 5 (0.96%) GRC
9 5 (0.96%) NCSC
10 4 (0.77%) WCAG
11 3 (0.58%) NIST 800
12 2 (0.38%) IFRS
12 2 (0.38%) IFRS 17
12 2 (0.38%) PCI DSS
13 1 (0.19%) Cyber Essentials
13 1 (0.19%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 1 (0.19%) RMADS
13 1 (0.19%) SOC 2
System Software
1 27 (5.18%) Active Directory
2 23 (4.41%) VMware Infrastructure
3 22 (4.22%) Docker
4 21 (4.03%) Virtual Machines
5 20 (3.84%) VMware ESXi
6 19 (3.65%) vSphere
7 12 (2.30%) BitLocker
8 4 (0.77%) Firmware
9 2 (0.38%) Hyper-V
9 2 (0.38%) Oracle RAC
9 2 (0.38%) Virtual Desktop
10 1 (0.19%) GPFS
10 1 (0.19%) ISA Server
10 1 (0.19%) NFS
10 1 (0.19%) Squid
Systems Management
1 34 (6.53%) Terraform
2 29 (5.57%) Ansible
3 26 (4.99%) Kubernetes
4 19 (3.65%) vCenter Server
5 16 (3.07%) SCCM
6 9 (1.73%) Grafana
7 7 (1.34%) Oracle RMAN
7 7 (1.34%) Prometheus
8 5 (0.96%) Single Sign-On
9 3 (0.58%) Active Directory Federation Services
10 2 (0.38%) Data Guard
10 2 (0.38%) Failover Clustering
10 2 (0.38%) Microsoft Clustering
10 2 (0.38%) Nagios
10 2 (0.38%) WSUS
11 1 (0.19%) Cisco Prime
11 1 (0.19%) Netcool
11 1 (0.19%) Norton AntiVirus
11 1 (0.19%) Tivoli
11 1 (0.19%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 73 (14.01%) Cisco
2 63 (12.09%) Microsoft
3 46 (8.83%) Oracle
4 38 (7.29%) ServiceNow
5 30 (5.76%) Palo Alto
6 26 (4.99%) SAP
7 24 (4.61%) VMware
8 14 (2.69%) Aruba
9 10 (1.92%) Google
10 8 (1.54%) Splunk
11 7 (1.34%) F5
12 6 (1.15%) CheckPoint
12 6 (1.15%) Ekahau
12 6 (1.15%) SolarWinds
13 5 (0.96%) Arista
13 5 (0.96%) IBM
14 4 (0.77%) Citrix
14 4 (0.77%) Dell
14 4 (0.77%) EMC
14 4 (0.77%) NetApp