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

6 months to
14 Oct 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 2 4 3
Rank change year-on-year +2 -1 -1
Contract jobs citing Security Cleared 802 400 412
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 19.92% 18.04% 17.11%
As % of the Qualifications category 63.35% 53.19% 60.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 534 240 212
10th Percentile £341 £324 £294
25th Percentile £438 £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 1,266 752 681
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 31.45% 33.92% 28.28%
Number of daily rates quoted 800 478 346
10th Percentile £300 £292 £294
25th Percentile £419 £401 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £519 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year +3.81% - -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 £48.83 £25.15 £52.50
% change year-on-year +94.14% -52.10% -2.17%

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 14 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 14 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 14 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 0 307 £569 +3.45% 232
Cumbria 0 204 £497 -2.63% 8
Lancashire 0 185 £585 +6.36% 63
Cheshire +1 94 £525 -16.00% 30
Merseyside -23 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 (3.37%) Microsoft Exchange
2 24 (2.99%) SharePoint
3 15 (1.87%) Skype for Business
4 14 (1.75%) 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 (0.12%) Exchange Server 2010
8 1 (0.12%) IIS
8 1 (0.12%) Jupyter
8 1 (0.12%) NetWeaver
8 1 (0.12%) nginx
8 1 (0.12%) SharePoint 2010
8 1 (0.12%) Traefik
Applications
1 27 (3.37%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (0.75%) Microsoft Excel
3 3 (0.37%) AutoCAD
3 3 (0.37%) MS Visio
4 1 (0.12%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.12%) Microsoft Project
4 1 (0.12%) Navisworks
4 1 (0.12%) ProjectWise
4 1 (0.12%) Revit
Business Applications
1 10 (1.25%) SAP S/4HANA
2 8 (1.00%) Oracle Payables
3 5 (0.62%) Remedy ITSM
3 5 (0.62%) SAP HR
3 5 (0.62%) Teamcenter
4 3 (0.37%) Oracle EBS
4 3 (0.37%) SAP MDG
5 2 (0.25%) Oracle Cash Management
5 2 (0.25%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
5 2 (0.25%) SAP PLM
6 1 (0.12%) Dynamics AX
6 1 (0.12%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.12%) Integrated Workplace Management System
6 1 (0.12%) Oracle Assets
6 1 (0.12%) Oracle E-Business Tax
6 1 (0.12%) Oracle General Ledger
6 1 (0.12%) Oracle Receivables
6 1 (0.12%) SAP ERP
6 1 (0.12%) SAP PM
6 1 (0.12%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 103 (12.84%) Azure
2 101 (12.59%) AWS
3 37 (4.61%) Microsoft 365
4 32 (3.99%) Azure DevOps
4 32 (3.99%) Power Platform
5 30 (3.74%) SuccessFactors
6 25 (3.12%) Entra ID
7 23 (2.87%) GitHub
8 20 (2.49%) SaaS
9 19 (2.37%) OCI
10 16 (2.00%) Serverless
11 15 (1.87%) Azure Monitor
11 15 (1.87%) GCP
12 13 (1.62%) GitHub Actions
13 11 (1.37%) Google Workspace
14 8 (1.00%) AWS Lambda
14 8 (1.00%) Azure AKS
14 8 (1.00%) Power Automate
15 7 (0.87%) Amazon ECS
15 7 (0.87%) Google Drive
Communications & Networking
1 62 (7.73%) Firewall
2 37 (4.61%) VPN
2 37 (4.61%) Wireless
3 32 (3.99%) WAN
4 31 (3.87%) Network Security
5 28 (3.49%) Wi-Fi
6 25 (3.12%) BGP
6 25 (3.12%) OSPF
7 24 (2.99%) DNS
7 24 (2.99%) LAN
8 21 (2.62%) Cisco ASA
9 19 (2.37%) VLAN
10 18 (2.24%) DHCP
10 18 (2.24%) EIGRP
10 18 (2.24%) NetScaler
10 18 (2.24%) Skype
10 18 (2.24%) Structured Cabling
11 17 (2.12%) Cisco Firepower
12 14 (1.75%) SAN
13 12 (1.50%) NAS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 47 (5.86%) SQL Server
2 30 (3.74%) MySQL
3 21 (2.62%) PostgreSQL
4 20 (2.49%) Oracle Database
5 17 (2.12%) MongoDB
5 17 (2.12%) Power BI
6 15 (1.87%) Relational Database
7 11 (1.37%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 10 (1.25%) RDBMS
9 8 (1.00%) Oracle Exadata
10 7 (0.87%) Data Warehouse
11 6 (0.75%) NoSQL
12 4 (0.50%) DynamoDB
13 3 (0.37%) Big Data
13 3 (0.37%) Metadata
14 2 (0.25%) Amazon QuickSight
14 2 (0.25%) Amazon Redshift
14 2 (0.25%) Oracle BI Publisher
14 2 (0.25%) Oracle Database 12c
14 2 (0.25%) Power Query
Development Applications
1 33 (4.11%) GitLab
2 18 (2.24%) Git
3 13 (1.62%) Jenkins
3 13 (1.62%) Selenium
4 11 (1.37%) Cucumber
4 11 (1.37%) JIRA
5 10 (1.25%) REST Assured
6 5 (0.62%) Gatling
7 4 (0.50%) Sonatype Nexus
8 3 (0.37%) JUnit
8 3 (0.37%) Mockito
8 3 (0.37%) MSI
8 3 (0.37%) Serenity BDD
8 3 (0.37%) TestNG
8 3 (0.37%) Toad
8 3 (0.37%) WebDriver
9 2 (0.25%) ClearCase
9 2 (0.25%) JDeveloper
9 2 (0.25%) Rational Robot
9 2 (0.25%) Visual Studio
General
1 149 (18.58%) Social Skills
2 131 (16.33%) Public Sector
3 57 (7.11%) Military
4 51 (6.36%) Analytical Skills
5 23 (2.87%) Finance
6 20 (2.49%) Documentation Skills
7 19 (2.37%) Legal
7 19 (2.37%) Manufacturing
8 18 (2.24%) Organisational Skills
9 11 (1.37%) Aerospace
10 7 (0.87%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 7 (0.87%) Police
11 6 (0.75%) Presentation Skills
12 5 (0.62%) Influencing Skills
13 3 (0.37%) General Ledger
13 3 (0.37%) 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 99 (12.34%) Architect
2 87 (10.85%) Lead
3 72 (8.98%) Consultant
4 70 (8.73%) Senior
5 62 (7.73%) Network Engineer
6 61 (7.61%) Analyst
7 48 (5.99%) DBA
8 42 (5.24%) Unix Engineer
9 39 (4.86%) Administrator
9 39 (4.86%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
10 36 (4.49%) Developer
11 31 (3.87%) SQL DBA
12 27 (3.37%) DevOps Engineer
13 24 (2.99%) Security Architect
13 24 (2.99%) Technical Architect
14 21 (2.62%) Desktop Engineer
15 20 (2.49%) Infrastructure Engineer
15 20 (2.49%) Senior Consultant
16 18 (2.24%) Test Engineer
17 17 (2.12%) Security Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 60 (7.48%) Terraform
2 18 (2.24%) Node.js
2 18 (2.24%) REST
3 14 (1.75%) Kafka
3 14 (1.75%) OAuth
3 14 (1.75%) Spring Boot
4 12 (1.50%) Spring
5 8 (1.00%) Oracle GoldenGate
6 7 (0.87%) AWS CDK
6 7 (0.87%) Playwright
6 7 (0.87%) RESTful
7 5 (0.62%) OpenID
7 5 (0.62%) SOAP
7 5 (0.62%) XML
8 4 (0.50%) .NET
9 3 (0.37%) ActiveMQ
9 3 (0.37%) Django
9 3 (0.37%) HTML
9 3 (0.37%) OAuth2
9 3 (0.37%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 44 (5.49%) Onboarding
2 28 (3.49%) Clustering
2 28 (3.49%) Data Centre
3 25 (3.12%) Replication
4 24 (2.99%) Cloud Native
5 16 (2.00%) CMDB
6 13 (1.62%) Enterprise Software
6 13 (1.62%) Legacy Systems
7 12 (1.50%) Hybrid Cloud
7 12 (1.50%) Management Information System
8 11 (1.37%) Public Cloud
9 10 (1.25%) Product Ownership
10 9 (1.12%) PKI
11 7 (0.87%) Driving Licence
11 7 (0.87%) Operational Technology
11 7 (0.87%) Security Operations Centre
12 6 (0.75%) Cyber Threat
13 5 (0.62%) CSOC
13 5 (0.62%) Data Protection Act
13 5 (0.62%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 86 (10.72%) Windows
2 57 (7.11%) Unix
3 53 (6.61%) Solaris
4 40 (4.99%) Windows 10
4 40 (4.99%) Windows Server
5 38 (4.74%) Linux
6 19 (2.37%) Windows 7
7 11 (1.37%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 8 (1.00%) AIX
9 5 (0.62%) Android
9 5 (0.62%) CentOS
9 5 (0.62%) macOS
9 5 (0.62%) Windows Server 2003
10 4 (0.50%) Apple iOS
11 2 (0.25%) VMS
11 2 (0.25%) Windows Server 2012
12 1 (0.12%) Windows Server 2016
12 1 (0.12%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 106 (13.22%) Cybersecurity
2 93 (11.60%) Stakeholder Management
3 92 (11.47%) ITIL
4 90 (11.22%) DevOps
4 90 (11.22%) Migration
5 82 (10.22%) Continuous Improvement
6 79 (9.85%) CI/CD
6 79 (9.85%) Service Management
7 66 (8.23%) Agile
7 66 (8.23%) ITSM
8 58 (7.23%) Problem-Solving
9 57 (7.11%) Incident Management
10 56 (6.98%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 54 (6.73%) Project Delivery
12 49 (6.11%) Infrastructure as Code
12 49 (6.11%) Roadmaps
13 48 (5.99%) High Availability
14 46 (5.74%) Technical Leadership
15 45 (5.61%) Validation
16 43 (5.36%) Risk Management
Programming Languages
1 71 (8.85%) SQL
2 60 (7.48%) Python
3 57 (7.11%) PowerShell
4 37 (4.61%) Java
5 18 (2.24%) JavaScript
6 16 (2.00%) VBScript
7 15 (1.87%) VB
8 11 (1.37%) T-SQL
8 11 (1.37%) TypeScript
9 10 (1.25%) Bicep
10 8 (1.00%) Bash
11 5 (0.62%) C#
12 3 (0.37%) 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 (0.12%) Kotlin
Qualifications
1 671 (83.67%) SC Cleared
2 78 (9.73%) BPSS Clearance
3 42 (5.24%) Microsoft Certification
4 39 (4.86%) DV Cleared
5 26 (3.24%) Cisco Certification
5 26 (3.24%) Degree
6 24 (2.99%) CCNA
7 20 (2.49%) DBS Check
8 19 (2.37%) Azure Certification
9 14 (1.75%) CCNP
10 11 (1.37%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 9 (1.12%) Network+ Certification
11 9 (1.12%) 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 (0.87%) AWS Certification
14 6 (0.75%) HNC
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 38 (4.74%) SLA
2 37 (4.61%) NCSC
2 37 (4.61%) NIST
3 26 (3.24%) GRC
4 25 (3.12%) PMO
5 23 (2.87%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 20 (2.49%) Data Quality
7 15 (1.87%) Accessibility
8 13 (1.62%) QA
9 10 (1.25%) GDPR
10 5 (0.62%) NIST 800
11 3 (0.37%) Actionable Recommendations
11 3 (0.37%) WCAG
12 2 (0.25%) Cyber Essentials
12 2 (0.25%) IEC 61508
13 1 (0.12%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 1 (0.12%) Def Stans
13 1 (0.12%) ISO 19650
13 1 (0.12%) ITGC
13 1 (0.12%) Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)
System Software
1 51 (6.36%) Active Directory
2 32 (3.99%) VMware Infrastructure
3 25 (3.12%) Docker
3 25 (3.12%) Virtual Machines
4 21 (2.62%) Hyper-V
5 16 (2.00%) BitLocker
5 16 (2.00%) Oracle RAC
6 13 (1.62%) Citrix Hypervisor
7 10 (1.25%) VMware ESXi
7 10 (1.25%) vSphere
8 7 (0.87%) XenApp
8 7 (0.87%) XenDesktop
9 6 (0.75%) Virtual Desktop
10 1 (0.12%) Microsoft App-V
10 1 (0.12%) Microsoft Virtual Server
10 1 (0.12%) Squid
10 1 (0.12%) Virtual Servers
10 1 (0.12%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 35 (4.36%) Ansible
2 32 (3.99%) SCCM
3 27 (3.37%) Kubernetes
4 16 (2.00%) Data Guard
5 12 (1.50%) Microsoft Intune
6 10 (1.25%) Oracle RMAN
6 10 (1.25%) SCOM
6 10 (1.25%) vCenter Server
7 9 (1.12%) 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 (0.37%) McAfee ePO
11 3 (0.37%) Microsoft Clustering
12 2 (0.25%) CASB
12 2 (0.25%) Progress Chef
12 2 (0.25%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 133 (16.58%) Microsoft
2 78 (9.73%) Oracle
3 69 (8.60%) ServiceNow
4 62 (7.73%) Cisco
5 58 (7.23%) SAP
6 38 (4.74%) VMware
7 37 (4.61%) Palo Alto
8 26 (3.24%) Citrix
9 18 (2.24%) CheckPoint
10 15 (1.87%) F5
11 14 (1.75%) Google
12 12 (1.50%) Splunk
13 11 (1.37%) Aruba
14 9 (1.12%) Meraki
15 8 (1.00%) Nexthink
16 7 (0.87%) Informatica
17 6 (0.75%) Ivanti
18 5 (0.62%) Qualtrics
18 5 (0.62%) Remedy
18 5 (0.62%) Siemens