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

6 months to
16 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 3 3 3
Rank change year-on-year 0 0 -2
Contract jobs citing Security Cleared 541 392 410
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 15.56% 19.63% 14.56%
As % of the Qualifications category 56.00% 56.48% 52.70%
Number of daily rates quoted 353 226 247
10th Percentile £360 £250 £375
25th Percentile £425 £411 £451
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £500 £513
Median % change year-on-year +4.00% -2.44% -2.84%
75th Percentile £638 £600 £652
90th Percentile £770 £700 £725
England median daily rate £525 £537 £550
% change year-on-year -2.23% -2.36% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 42 26 63
10th Percentile £22.68 £25.15 -
25th Percentile £29.00 £25.26 £10.95
Median hourly rate £62.75 £36.30 £14.50
Median % change year-on-year +72.89% +150.31% -65.88%
75th Percentile £74.26 £59.98 £49.50
90th Percentile £83.75 £67.50 £73.75
England median hourly rate £62.00 £28.55 £57.09
% change year-on-year +117.16% -49.99% -4.86%

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 966 694 778
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 27.79% 34.75% 27.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 634 405 428
10th Percentile £343 £250 £300
25th Percentile £400 £390 £419
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £482 £480 £500
Median % change year-on-year +0.44% -4.00% -3.66%
75th Percentile £608 £580 £631
90th Percentile £688 £695 £713
England median daily rate £525 £525 £535
% change year-on-year - -1.87% -2.73%
Number of hourly rates quoted 77 48 132
10th Percentile £22.68 £17.44 £10.95
25th Percentile £30.00 £22.13 £11.94
Median hourly rate £43.96 £29.64 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year +48.34% +84.53% -60.43%
75th Percentile £74.26 £59.93 £43.10
90th Percentile £94.71 £74.50 £68.24
England median hourly rate £52.00 £30.29 £41.27
% change year-on-year +71.67% -26.60% -24.97%

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 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 16 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 16 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 -9 171 £525 +5.95% 118
Cumbria 0 166 £481 -8.68% 28
Lancashire +3 96 £700 +56.60% 31
Cheshire +6 82 £450 +28.57% 21
Merseyside -20 19 £638 +6.25% 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 25 (4.62%) Microsoft Exchange
2 12 (2.22%) SharePoint
3 11 (2.03%) Skype for Business
4 7 (1.29%) Confluence
5 5 (0.92%) Apache Spark
6 3 (0.55%) Apache
6 3 (0.55%) Jupyter
7 2 (0.37%) Apache Airflow
7 2 (0.37%) CICS
7 2 (0.37%) Oracle Workflow
7 2 (0.37%) SharePoint 2013
8 1 (0.18%) IIS
8 1 (0.18%) NetWeaver
8 1 (0.18%) nginx
8 1 (0.18%) OpenStack
8 1 (0.18%) SAS
Applications
1 19 (3.51%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (2.03%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (1.11%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (0.74%) Microsoft Project
4 4 (0.74%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.18%) Siemens NX
Business Applications
1 5 (0.92%) Oracle Payables
1 5 (0.92%) SAP S/4HANA
2 3 (0.55%) Primavera
2 3 (0.55%) Remedy ITSM
2 3 (0.55%) SAP MM
3 2 (0.37%) Oracle Cash Management
3 2 (0.37%) Oracle EBS
3 2 (0.37%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
3 2 (0.37%) Teamcenter
4 1 (0.18%) Dynamics AX
4 1 (0.18%) Dynamics CRM
4 1 (0.18%) SAP PM
Cloud Services
1 89 (16.45%) AWS
2 67 (12.38%) Azure
3 26 (4.81%) Microsoft 365
4 18 (3.33%) Power Platform
4 18 (3.33%) SaaS
5 15 (2.77%) GCP
5 15 (2.77%) Serverless
6 13 (2.40%) OCI
7 11 (2.03%) Azure DevOps
7 11 (2.03%) Entra ID
8 10 (1.85%) GitHub
9 9 (1.66%) Google Workspace
10 7 (1.29%) Google Drive
11 6 (1.11%) Amazon S3
12 5 (0.92%) AWS Lambda
12 5 (0.92%) OpenShift
13 4 (0.74%) Power Automate
14 3 (0.55%) Amazon EKS
14 3 (0.55%) Azure Key Vault
14 3 (0.55%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 66 (12.20%) Firewall
2 41 (7.58%) VLAN
3 31 (5.73%) Network Security
4 30 (5.55%) Wireless
5 29 (5.36%) DNS
6 23 (4.25%) WAN
7 22 (4.07%) DHCP
7 22 (4.07%) Structured Cabling
8 20 (3.70%) Wi-Fi
9 17 (3.14%) NAS
9 17 (3.14%) SAN
10 16 (2.96%) Cisco IOS
10 16 (2.96%) LAN
10 16 (2.96%) NX-OS
11 14 (2.59%) VPN
12 11 (2.03%) Skype
13 10 (1.85%) TCP/IP
14 8 (1.48%) BGP
14 8 (1.48%) BIG-IP
14 8 (1.48%) VXLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (2.96%) Oracle Database
2 14 (2.59%) Power BI
2 14 (2.59%) Relational Database
3 13 (2.40%) PostgreSQL
4 12 (2.22%) MongoDB
5 9 (1.66%) Elasticsearch
5 9 (1.66%) SQL Server
6 6 (1.11%) Metadata
6 6 (1.11%) MySQL
6 6 (1.11%) RDBMS
7 5 (0.92%) Oracle Database 12c
8 4 (0.74%) Hadoop
8 4 (0.74%) NoSQL
8 4 (0.74%) Oracle Exadata
8 4 (0.74%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 4 (0.74%) Tableau
9 3 (0.55%) Data Lake
9 3 (0.55%) Data Warehouse
10 2 (0.37%) Amazon Redshift
10 2 (0.37%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 30 (5.55%) GitLab
2 13 (2.40%) Selenium
3 12 (2.22%) JIRA
4 10 (1.85%) Git
5 9 (1.66%) Jenkins
5 9 (1.66%) REST Assured
6 6 (1.11%) Gatling
7 5 (0.92%) Cucumber
7 5 (0.92%) MSI
7 5 (0.92%) Serenity BDD
8 3 (0.55%) Cypress.io
8 3 (0.55%) JMeter
9 2 (0.37%) JDeveloper
9 2 (0.37%) Postman
9 2 (0.37%) SonarQube
9 2 (0.37%) WebDriver
10 1 (0.18%) ClearCase
10 1 (0.18%) Rational Robot
10 1 (0.18%) Sonatype Nexus
10 1 (0.18%) Visual Studio Coded UI
General
1 135 (24.95%) Public Sector
2 118 (21.81%) Social Skills
3 38 (7.02%) Military
4 30 (5.55%) Analytical Skills
4 30 (5.55%) Documentation Skills
5 29 (5.36%) Finance
6 16 (2.96%) Legal
7 14 (2.59%) Aerospace
8 9 (1.66%) Banking
8 9 (1.66%) Manufacturing
9 7 (1.29%) Presentation Skills
10 4 (0.74%) Aviation
10 4 (0.74%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 4 (0.74%) Retail
11 2 (0.37%) Corporate Banking
11 2 (0.37%) General Ledger
11 2 (0.37%) Influencing Skills
11 2 (0.37%) Local Government
11 2 (0.37%) Organisational Skills
12 1 (0.18%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 77 (14.23%) Architect
2 73 (13.49%) Lead
3 44 (8.13%) Network Engineer
4 32 (5.91%) Developer
5 31 (5.73%) Analyst
5 31 (5.73%) Senior
6 30 (5.55%) Unix Engineer
7 28 (5.18%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
8 25 (4.62%) Administrator
9 23 (4.25%) Consultant
10 21 (3.88%) Technical Architect
11 19 (3.51%) Data Engineer
11 19 (3.51%) Lead Architect
11 19 (3.51%) Wintel Engineer
12 17 (3.14%) DBA
12 17 (3.14%) DevOps Engineer
13 16 (2.96%) Coordinator
14 13 (2.40%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 13 (2.40%) Security Architect
14 13 (2.40%) Security Assurance Coordinator
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (4.81%) Spring
2 23 (4.25%) Spring Boot
3 16 (2.96%) Node.js
4 15 (2.77%) Kafka
5 10 (1.85%) OAuth
6 8 (1.48%) Playwright
6 8 (1.48%) REST
7 7 (1.29%) 802.1X
8 6 (1.11%) OpenID
8 6 (1.11%) RESTful
9 5 (0.92%) Apache NiFi
9 5 (0.92%) Leaflet
9 5 (0.92%) Nunjucks
9 5 (0.92%) Spring Cloud
9 5 (0.92%) Web Services
10 4 (0.74%) AWS CDK
10 4 (0.74%) Oracle GoldenGate
10 4 (0.74%) React
11 3 (0.55%) OAuth2
11 3 (0.55%) PySpark
Miscellaneous
1 42 (7.76%) Data Centre
2 25 (4.62%) Clustering
3 24 (4.44%) Onboarding
3 24 (4.44%) Replication
4 19 (3.51%) Product Ownership
5 17 (3.14%) Cloud Native
6 15 (2.77%) Operational Technology
7 9 (1.66%) Enterprise Software
7 9 (1.66%) Management Information System
8 7 (1.29%) Cyber Threat
9 6 (1.11%) Hybrid Cloud
10 5 (0.92%) Legacy Systems
10 5 (0.92%) Private Cloud
10 5 (0.92%) Public Cloud
10 5 (0.92%) Security Posture
11 4 (0.74%) Data Protection Act
11 4 (0.74%) Mobile App
12 3 (0.55%) Fat Client
12 3 (0.55%) Freedom of Information
12 3 (0.55%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 58 (10.72%) Windows
2 36 (6.65%) Unix
3 31 (5.73%) Solaris
4 27 (4.99%) Linux
5 24 (4.44%) Windows Server
6 21 (3.88%) Windows 10
7 11 (2.03%) Windows 7
8 6 (1.11%) AIX
9 4 (0.74%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 3 (0.55%) VMS
11 2 (0.37%) Android
11 2 (0.37%) Apple iOS
11 2 (0.37%) Mac OS
12 1 (0.18%) Mac OS X
12 1 (0.18%) Windows Server 2012
12 1 (0.18%) Windows Server 2016
12 1 (0.18%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 71 (13.12%) Agile
2 68 (12.57%) DevOps
3 64 (11.83%) CI/CD
4 63 (11.65%) High Availability
5 62 (11.46%) Project Delivery
6 59 (10.91%) Continuous Improvement
7 57 (10.54%) Stakeholder Management
8 56 (10.35%) ITSM
8 56 (10.35%) Migration
9 51 (9.43%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 49 (9.06%) Service Management
11 47 (8.69%) Cybersecurity
11 47 (8.69%) Disaster Recovery
11 47 (8.69%) Problem-Solving
12 34 (6.28%) Risk Management
13 32 (5.91%) Technical Leadership
14 31 (5.73%) Test Automation
15 28 (5.18%) Microservices
16 25 (4.62%) Infrastructure as Code
17 24 (4.44%) Information Assurance
Programming Languages
1 62 (11.46%) Python
2 48 (8.87%) Java
3 47 (8.69%) PowerShell
4 25 (4.62%) SQL
5 24 (4.44%) JavaScript
6 12 (2.22%) TypeScript
7 11 (2.03%) VB
7 11 (2.03%) VBScript
8 5 (0.92%) Go
8 5 (0.92%) Rust
9 3 (0.55%) Bash
9 3 (0.55%) C#
10 2 (0.37%) COBOL
10 2 (0.37%) PL/SQL
11 1 (0.18%) ABAP
11 1 (0.18%) Perl
11 1 (0.18%) Ruby
11 1 (0.18%) Scala
11 1 (0.18%) Shell Script
11 1 (0.18%) VB6
Qualifications
1 388 (71.72%) SC Cleared
2 66 (12.20%) DV Cleared
3 45 (8.32%) Cisco Certification
4 42 (7.76%) CCNA
5 35 (6.47%) CCNP
6 32 (5.91%) BPSS Clearance
7 24 (4.44%) Microsoft Certification
8 23 (4.25%) Degree
9 16 (2.96%) MCSA
9 16 (2.96%) MCSE
9 16 (2.96%) VCAP
9 16 (2.96%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
10 15 (2.77%) Network+ Certification
10 15 (2.77%) Server+ Certification
11 13 (2.40%) CISSP
12 9 (1.66%) AWS Certification
12 9 (1.66%) Azure Certification
12 9 (1.66%) ITIL Certification
13 7 (1.29%) CISM
14 6 (1.11%) DBS Check
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 27 (4.99%) NIST
2 23 (4.25%) PMO
3 19 (3.51%) Accessibility
4 16 (2.96%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 15 (2.77%) QA
5 15 (2.77%) SLA
6 12 (2.22%) JSP 440
7 11 (2.03%) GDPR
7 11 (2.03%) GRC
8 10 (1.85%) Data Quality
9 8 (1.48%) NCSC
10 6 (1.11%) NIST 800
11 3 (0.55%) WCAG
12 2 (0.37%) IFRS
12 2 (0.37%) IFRS 17
13 1 (0.18%) Cyber Essentials
13 1 (0.18%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 1 (0.18%) HMG Security Policy Framework
13 1 (0.18%) SOC 2
13 1 (0.18%) Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)
System Software
1 28 (5.18%) Active Directory
2 23 (4.25%) VMware Infrastructure
3 22 (4.07%) Docker
4 21 (3.88%) Virtual Machines
5 20 (3.70%) VMware ESXi
6 19 (3.51%) vSphere
7 12 (2.22%) BitLocker
8 4 (0.74%) Oracle RAC
9 2 (0.37%) Virtual Desktop
10 1 (0.18%) GPFS
10 1 (0.18%) Hyper-V
10 1 (0.18%) NFS
10 1 (0.18%) Squid
Systems Management
1 42 (7.76%) Terraform
2 31 (5.73%) Ansible
3 27 (4.99%) Kubernetes
4 19 (3.51%) vCenter Server
5 18 (3.33%) SCCM
6 10 (1.85%) Grafana
7 9 (1.66%) Oracle RMAN
8 7 (1.29%) Prometheus
9 5 (0.92%) Single Sign-On
10 4 (0.74%) Data Guard
11 3 (0.55%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 2 (0.37%) Microsoft Intune
12 2 (0.37%) WSUS
13 1 (0.18%) McAfee ePO
13 1 (0.18%) Nagios
13 1 (0.18%) Netcool
13 1 (0.18%) Norton AntiVirus
13 1 (0.18%) Tivoli
13 1 (0.18%) vMotion
13 1 (0.18%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 69 (12.75%) Cisco
1 69 (12.75%) Microsoft
2 49 (9.06%) Oracle
3 39 (7.21%) ServiceNow
4 29 (5.36%) Palo Alto
4 29 (5.36%) SAP
5 24 (4.44%) VMware
6 13 (2.40%) Aruba
7 10 (1.85%) Google
8 8 (1.48%) F5
8 8 (1.48%) Splunk
9 6 (1.11%) Arista
10 5 (0.92%) CheckPoint
10 5 (0.92%) Ekahau
10 5 (0.92%) IBM
10 5 (0.92%) SolarWinds
11 4 (0.74%) Citrix
11 4 (0.74%) RedGate
12 3 (0.55%) Dynatrace
12 3 (0.55%) Remedy