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

6 months to
13 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 2 3 3
Rank change year-on-year +1 0 -1
Contract jobs citing Security Cleared 797 400 412
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 19.96% 18.20% 17.08%
As % of the Qualifications category 63.51% 53.40% 60.41%
Number of daily rates quoted 530 240 212
10th Percentile £340 £324 £294
25th Percentile £437 £431 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £553 £496
Median % change year-on-year -4.98% +11.39% -9.82%
75th Percentile £625 £650 £600
90th Percentile £675 £720 £682
England median daily rate £550 £538 £550
% change year-on-year +2.33% -2.27% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 58 49 38
10th Percentile £26.25 £15.50 £18.03
25th Percentile £29.12 £22.16 £22.71
Median hourly rate £47.31 £27.38 £45.59
Median % change year-on-year +72.82% -39.95% -1.28%
75th Percentile £66.56 £52.50 £55.65
90th Percentile £83.75 £67.80 £73.92
England median hourly rate £65.00 £25.15 £61.60
% change year-on-year +158.45% -59.17% +2.67%

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 1,255 749 682
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 31.43% 34.08% 28.28%
Number of daily rates quoted 790 477 346
10th Percentile £300 £289 £294
25th Percentile £419 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £519 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.83% - -4.76%
75th Percentile £604 £638 £600
90th Percentile £672 £717 £675
England median daily rate £535 £525 £525
% change year-on-year +1.90% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 140 74 61
10th Percentile £17.69 £15.50 £18.03
25th Percentile £28.10 £19.47 £24.18
Median hourly rate £43.56 £28.32 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year +53.80% -37.06% -2.56%
75th Percentile £51.69 £62.12 £55.79
90th Percentile £73.48 £71.06 £79.17
England median hourly rate £48.81 £25.15 £52.50
% change year-on-year +94.08% -52.10% -1.87%

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 13 October 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 13 October 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 13 October 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 -1 305 £569 +3.45% 230
Cumbria 0 204 £497 -2.63% 6
Lancashire 0 183 £585 +6.36% 58
Cheshire 0 93 £525 -16.00% 26
Merseyside -19 9 £688 -8.33% 2
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 (3.39%) Microsoft Exchange
2 24 (3.01%) SharePoint
3 15 (1.88%) Skype for Business
4 14 (1.76%) SAS
5 6 (0.75%) Apache Airflow
5 6 (0.75%) Confluence
6 4 (0.50%) Apache
6 4 (0.50%) Apache Spark
7 2 (0.25%) Oracle Workflow
7 2 (0.25%) SharePoint 2013
8 1 (0.13%) Exchange Server 2010
8 1 (0.13%) IIS
8 1 (0.13%) Jupyter
8 1 (0.13%) NetWeaver
8 1 (0.13%) nginx
8 1 (0.13%) SharePoint 2010
8 1 (0.13%) Traefik
Applications
1 27 (3.39%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (0.63%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.38%) AutoCAD
3 3 (0.38%) MS Visio
4 1 (0.13%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Project
4 1 (0.13%) Navisworks
4 1 (0.13%) ProjectWise
4 1 (0.13%) Revit
Business Applications
1 10 (1.25%) SAP S/4HANA
2 8 (1.00%) Oracle Payables
3 5 (0.63%) Remedy ITSM
3 5 (0.63%) SAP HR
3 5 (0.63%) Teamcenter
4 3 (0.38%) Oracle EBS
4 3 (0.38%) SAP MDG
5 2 (0.25%) Oracle Cash Management
5 2 (0.25%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
5 2 (0.25%) SAP PLM
6 1 (0.13%) Dynamics AX
6 1 (0.13%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle Assets
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle E-Business Tax
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle ERP
6 1 (0.13%) Oracle General Ledger
6 1 (0.13%) Primavera
6 1 (0.13%) SAP ERP
6 1 (0.13%) SAP MM
6 1 (0.13%) SAP PM
Cloud Services
1 103 (12.92%) Azure
2 101 (12.67%) AWS
3 37 (4.64%) Microsoft 365
4 32 (4.02%) Azure DevOps
5 31 (3.89%) Power Platform
6 30 (3.76%) SuccessFactors
7 25 (3.14%) Entra ID
8 22 (2.76%) GitHub
9 20 (2.51%) SaaS
10 19 (2.38%) OCI
11 16 (2.01%) Serverless
12 15 (1.88%) Azure Monitor
12 15 (1.88%) GCP
13 13 (1.63%) GitHub Actions
14 11 (1.38%) Google Workspace
15 8 (1.00%) AWS Lambda
15 8 (1.00%) Azure AKS
15 8 (1.00%) Power Automate
16 7 (0.88%) Amazon ECS
16 7 (0.88%) Google Drive
Communications & Networking
1 61 (7.65%) Firewall
2 37 (4.64%) VPN
3 36 (4.52%) Wireless
4 31 (3.89%) Network Security
4 31 (3.89%) WAN
5 27 (3.39%) Wi-Fi
6 25 (3.14%) BGP
6 25 (3.14%) OSPF
7 24 (3.01%) DNS
8 23 (2.89%) LAN
9 21 (2.63%) Cisco ASA
10 19 (2.38%) VLAN
11 18 (2.26%) DHCP
11 18 (2.26%) EIGRP
11 18 (2.26%) NetScaler
11 18 (2.26%) Skype
12 17 (2.13%) Cisco Firepower
12 17 (2.13%) Structured Cabling
13 14 (1.76%) SAN
14 12 (1.51%) NAS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 47 (5.90%) SQL Server
2 30 (3.76%) MySQL
3 21 (2.63%) PostgreSQL
4 20 (2.51%) Oracle Database
5 17 (2.13%) MongoDB
6 16 (2.01%) Power BI
7 15 (1.88%) Relational Database
8 11 (1.38%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 10 (1.25%) RDBMS
10 8 (1.00%) Oracle Exadata
11 7 (0.88%) Data Warehouse
12 6 (0.75%) NoSQL
13 4 (0.50%) DynamoDB
14 3 (0.38%) Big Data
14 3 (0.38%) Metadata
15 2 (0.25%) Amazon QuickSight
15 2 (0.25%) Amazon Redshift
15 2 (0.25%) Oracle BI Publisher
15 2 (0.25%) Oracle Database 12c
15 2 (0.25%) Power Query
Development Applications
1 33 (4.14%) GitLab
2 18 (2.26%) Git
3 13 (1.63%) Jenkins
3 13 (1.63%) Selenium
4 11 (1.38%) Cucumber
4 11 (1.38%) JIRA
5 10 (1.25%) REST Assured
6 5 (0.63%) Gatling
7 4 (0.50%) Sonatype Nexus
8 3 (0.38%) JUnit
8 3 (0.38%) Mockito
8 3 (0.38%) MSI
8 3 (0.38%) Serenity BDD
8 3 (0.38%) TestNG
8 3 (0.38%) Toad
8 3 (0.38%) WebDriver
9 2 (0.25%) ClearCase
9 2 (0.25%) JDeveloper
9 2 (0.25%) Rational Robot
9 2 (0.25%) Visual Studio
General
1 148 (18.57%) Social Skills
2 130 (16.31%) Public Sector
3 56 (7.03%) Military
4 50 (6.27%) Analytical Skills
5 23 (2.89%) Finance
6 20 (2.51%) Documentation Skills
7 19 (2.38%) Legal
7 19 (2.38%) Manufacturing
8 18 (2.26%) Organisational Skills
9 11 (1.38%) Aerospace
10 7 (0.88%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 7 (0.88%) Police
11 6 (0.75%) Presentation Skills
12 5 (0.63%) Influencing Skills
13 3 (0.38%) General Ledger
13 3 (0.38%) Local Government
14 2 (0.25%) Billing
14 2 (0.25%) Marketing
14 2 (0.25%) Retail
14 2 (0.25%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 98 (12.30%) Architect
2 87 (10.92%) Lead
3 72 (9.03%) Consultant
4 70 (8.78%) Senior
5 62 (7.78%) Network Engineer
6 59 (7.40%) Analyst
7 48 (6.02%) DBA
8 42 (5.27%) Unix Engineer
9 39 (4.89%) Administrator
9 39 (4.89%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
10 36 (4.52%) Developer
11 31 (3.89%) SQL DBA
12 27 (3.39%) DevOps Engineer
13 24 (3.01%) Technical Architect
14 23 (2.89%) Security Architect
15 21 (2.63%) Desktop Engineer
16 20 (2.51%) Infrastructure Engineer
16 20 (2.51%) Senior Consultant
17 18 (2.26%) Test Engineer
18 16 (2.01%) Incident Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 60 (7.53%) Terraform
2 18 (2.26%) Node.js
2 18 (2.26%) REST
3 14 (1.76%) Kafka
3 14 (1.76%) OAuth
3 14 (1.76%) Spring Boot
4 12 (1.51%) Spring
5 8 (1.00%) Oracle GoldenGate
6 7 (0.88%) AWS CDK
6 7 (0.88%) Playwright
6 7 (0.88%) RESTful
7 5 (0.63%) OpenID
7 5 (0.63%) SOAP
7 5 (0.63%) XML
8 4 (0.50%) .NET
9 3 (0.38%) ActiveMQ
9 3 (0.38%) Django
9 3 (0.38%) JAX-RS
9 3 (0.38%) OAuth2
9 3 (0.38%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 44 (5.52%) Onboarding
2 28 (3.51%) Clustering
2 28 (3.51%) Data Centre
3 25 (3.14%) Replication
4 24 (3.01%) Cloud Native
5 16 (2.01%) CMDB
6 13 (1.63%) Enterprise Software
6 13 (1.63%) Legacy Systems
7 12 (1.51%) Hybrid Cloud
7 12 (1.51%) Management Information System
8 11 (1.38%) Public Cloud
9 10 (1.25%) Product Ownership
10 9 (1.13%) PKI
11 7 (0.88%) Operational Technology
11 7 (0.88%) Security Operations Centre
12 6 (0.75%) Cyber Threat
12 6 (0.75%) Driving Licence
13 5 (0.63%) CSOC
13 5 (0.63%) Data Protection Act
13 5 (0.63%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 86 (10.79%) Windows
2 57 (7.15%) Unix
3 53 (6.65%) Solaris
4 40 (5.02%) Windows 10
4 40 (5.02%) Windows Server
5 38 (4.77%) Linux
6 19 (2.38%) Windows 7
7 11 (1.38%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 8 (1.00%) AIX
9 5 (0.63%) Android
9 5 (0.63%) CentOS
9 5 (0.63%) macOS
9 5 (0.63%) Windows Server 2003
10 4 (0.50%) Apple iOS
11 2 (0.25%) VMS
11 2 (0.25%) Windows Server 2012
12 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2016
12 1 (0.13%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 104 (13.05%) Cybersecurity
2 93 (11.67%) Stakeholder Management
3 91 (11.42%) ITIL
4 90 (11.29%) DevOps
5 88 (11.04%) Migration
6 81 (10.16%) Continuous Improvement
7 79 (9.91%) CI/CD
8 78 (9.79%) Service Management
9 65 (8.16%) ITSM
10 64 (8.03%) Agile
11 58 (7.28%) Problem-Solving
12 56 (7.03%) Incident Management
13 55 (6.90%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 53 (6.65%) Project Delivery
15 49 (6.15%) Infrastructure as Code
15 49 (6.15%) Roadmaps
16 48 (6.02%) High Availability
17 46 (5.77%) Technical Leadership
18 44 (5.52%) Validation
19 43 (5.40%) Risk Management
Programming Languages
1 70 (8.78%) SQL
2 60 (7.53%) Python
3 57 (7.15%) PowerShell
4 37 (4.64%) Java
5 17 (2.13%) JavaScript
6 16 (2.01%) VBScript
7 15 (1.88%) VB
8 11 (1.38%) T-SQL
8 11 (1.38%) TypeScript
9 10 (1.25%) Bicep
10 8 (1.00%) Bash
11 5 (0.63%) C#
12 3 (0.38%) Shell Script
13 2 (0.25%) ABAP
13 2 (0.25%) Objective-C
13 2 (0.25%) PL/SQL
13 2 (0.25%) Search Processing Language
13 2 (0.25%) Swift
13 2 (0.25%) VB6
14 1 (0.13%) Kusto Query Language
Qualifications
1 666 (83.56%) SC Cleared
2 78 (9.79%) BPSS Clearance
3 42 (5.27%) Microsoft Certification
4 39 (4.89%) DV Cleared
5 26 (3.26%) Cisco Certification
5 26 (3.26%) Degree
6 24 (3.01%) CCNA
7 20 (2.51%) DBS Check
8 19 (2.38%) Azure Certification
9 14 (1.76%) CCNP
10 11 (1.38%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 9 (1.13%) Network+ Certification
11 9 (1.13%) Server+ Certification
12 8 (1.00%) CISSP
12 8 (1.00%) MCSA
12 8 (1.00%) MCSE
12 8 (1.00%) VCAP
12 8 (1.00%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
13 7 (0.88%) AWS Certification
14 6 (0.75%) HNC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 38 (4.77%) SLA
2 37 (4.64%) NCSC
3 36 (4.52%) NIST
4 26 (3.26%) GRC
5 25 (3.14%) PMO
6 23 (2.89%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 19 (2.38%) Data Quality
8 14 (1.76%) Accessibility
9 13 (1.63%) QA
10 10 (1.25%) GDPR
11 5 (0.63%) NIST 800
12 3 (0.38%) Actionable Recommendations
13 2 (0.25%) Cyber Essentials
13 2 (0.25%) IEC 61508
13 2 (0.25%) WCAG
14 1 (0.13%) COBIT
14 1 (0.13%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
14 1 (0.13%) PCI DSS
14 1 (0.13%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 1 (0.13%) Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)
System Software
1 51 (6.40%) Active Directory
2 32 (4.02%) VMware Infrastructure
3 25 (3.14%) Docker
3 25 (3.14%) Virtual Machines
4 21 (2.63%) Hyper-V
5 16 (2.01%) BitLocker
5 16 (2.01%) Oracle RAC
6 13 (1.63%) Citrix Hypervisor
7 10 (1.25%) VMware ESXi
7 10 (1.25%) vSphere
8 7 (0.88%) XenApp
8 7 (0.88%) XenDesktop
9 6 (0.75%) Virtual Desktop
10 1 (0.13%) Microsoft App-V
10 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Virtual Server
10 1 (0.13%) Squid
10 1 (0.13%) Virtual Servers
10 1 (0.13%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 35 (4.39%) Ansible
2 32 (4.02%) SCCM
3 27 (3.39%) Kubernetes
4 16 (2.01%) Data Guard
5 12 (1.51%) Microsoft Intune
6 10 (1.25%) Oracle RMAN
6 10 (1.25%) SCOM
6 10 (1.25%) vCenter Server
7 9 (1.13%) Grafana
8 8 (1.00%) Failover Clustering
8 8 (1.00%) Prometheus
8 8 (1.00%) SysTrack
9 6 (0.75%) Single Sign-On
10 4 (0.50%) Nagios
10 4 (0.50%) Oracle ZFS
11 3 (0.38%) McAfee ePO
11 3 (0.38%) Microsoft Clustering
12 2 (0.25%) CASB
12 2 (0.25%) Enterprise Manager Cloud Control
12 2 (0.25%) Progress Chef
Vendors
1 132 (16.56%) Microsoft
2 78 (9.79%) Oracle
3 69 (8.66%) ServiceNow
4 61 (7.65%) Cisco
5 58 (7.28%) SAP
6 38 (4.77%) VMware
7 37 (4.64%) Palo Alto
8 26 (3.26%) Citrix
9 18 (2.26%) CheckPoint
10 15 (1.88%) F5
11 14 (1.76%) Google
12 12 (1.51%) Splunk
13 10 (1.25%) Aruba
14 8 (1.00%) Meraki
14 8 (1.00%) Nexthink
15 7 (0.88%) Informatica
16 6 (0.75%) Ivanti
17 5 (0.63%) CyberArk
17 5 (0.63%) Remedy
17 5 (0.63%) Siemens