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

6 months to
20 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 2 2 2
Rank change year-on-year 0 0 +2
Contract jobs citing Security Cleared 541 428 417
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 19.52% 20.63% 14.86%
As % of the Qualifications category 60.79% 62.21% 49.52%
Number of daily rates quoted 366 246 293
10th Percentile £333 £256 £413
25th Percentile £418 £388 £475
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £475 £550
Median % change year-on-year +5.26% -13.64% +4.76%
75th Percentile £627 £568 £645
90th Percentile £704 £658 £699
England median daily rate £525 £540 £550
% change year-on-year -2.78% -1.82% -2.65%
Number of hourly rates quoted 56 21 44
10th Percentile £17.19 £25.26 £14.50
25th Percentile £25.15 £37.00 £33.23
Median hourly rate £52.78 £54.51 £46.18
Median % change year-on-year -3.18% +18.04% +53.93%
75th Percentile £70.21 £73.75 £54.56
90th Percentile £74.26 £85.78 £73.75
England median hourly rate £25.15 £60.00 £58.00
% change year-on-year -58.08% +3.45% -3.33%

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 890 688 842
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 32.12% 33.16% 30.00%
Number of daily rates quoted 597 392 506
10th Percentile £228 £214 £265
25th Percentile £381 £363 £444
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £475 £531
Median % change year-on-year - -10.59% +4.17%
75th Percentile £582 £563 £649
90th Percentile £682 £650 £720
England median daily rate £520 £525 £540
% change year-on-year -0.95% -2.78% -1.82%
Number of hourly rates quoted 83 41 101
10th Percentile £19.00 £24.00 £14.00
25th Percentile £25.46 £26.25 £16.06
Median hourly rate £45.46 £32.50 £34.21
Median % change year-on-year +39.88% -5.00% -4.97%
75th Percentile £67.84 £60.00 £46.18
90th Percentile £74.26 £80.59 £63.75
England median hourly rate £25.15 £47.50 £45.00
% change year-on-year -47.05% +5.56% -1.64%

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 20 February 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 20 February 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 20 February 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 -6 163 £480 +2.13% 117
Cheshire +6 120 £593 +48.13% 9
Cumbria 0 111 £500 - 13
Lancashire +1 110 £550 +69.23% 28
Merseyside -4 30 £623 +71.13% 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 23 (4.25%) Microsoft Exchange
2 10 (1.85%) Confluence
2 10 (1.85%) SharePoint
3 9 (1.66%) Skype for Business
4 6 (1.11%) Apache Spark
5 4 (0.74%) Apache
5 4 (0.74%) Apache Airflow
6 3 (0.55%) Jupyter
6 3 (0.55%) MTS
7 2 (0.37%) Adobe Experience Manager
7 2 (0.37%) CICS
7 2 (0.37%) OpenStack
8 1 (0.18%) CMS
8 1 (0.18%) nginx
8 1 (0.18%) SAS
Applications
1 26 (4.81%) Microsoft Office
2 6 (1.11%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (0.92%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 2 (0.37%) Microsoft Project
4 2 (0.37%) Siemens NX
5 1 (0.18%) Adobe Premiere
5 1 (0.18%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.18%) Quicktime
Business Applications
1 55 (10.17%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (1.85%) SAP MM
2 10 (1.85%) SAP VC
3 9 (1.66%) SAP QM
4 6 (1.11%) SAP EHS
5 2 (0.37%) Remedy ITSM
5 2 (0.37%) SAP EWM
5 2 (0.37%) Teamcenter
6 1 (0.18%) Oracle EBS
6 1 (0.18%) Payment Gateway
6 1 (0.18%) Primavera
6 1 (0.18%) SAP HCM
6 1 (0.18%) SAP SD
6 1 (0.18%) SAP Travel Management
6 1 (0.18%) SAP WM
Cloud Services
1 67 (12.38%) AWS
2 45 (8.32%) Azure
3 33 (6.10%) Microsoft 365
4 19 (3.51%) Power Platform
5 16 (2.96%) GCP
6 13 (2.40%) Entra ID
6 13 (2.40%) GitHub
7 10 (1.85%) Azure DevOps
8 9 (1.66%) SaaS
9 8 (1.48%) Amazon EKS
9 8 (1.48%) Serverless
10 7 (1.29%) Amazon S3
11 6 (1.11%) AWS CloudFormation
11 6 (1.11%) GitHub Actions
12 5 (0.92%) Amazon CloudWatch
12 5 (0.92%) Amazon EC2
12 5 (0.92%) Azure Monitor
12 5 (0.92%) OneDrive
13 4 (0.74%) AWS Lambda
13 4 (0.74%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 62 (11.46%) Firewall
2 32 (5.91%) VLAN
3 26 (4.81%) Wi-Fi
4 25 (4.62%) WAN
5 24 (4.44%) Network Security
6 23 (4.25%) DNS
7 17 (3.14%) VPN
8 14 (2.59%) LAN
8 14 (2.59%) SAN
9 12 (2.22%) BGP
10 11 (2.03%) DHCP
11 10 (1.85%) Cisco ISE
11 10 (1.85%) NetScaler
12 9 (1.66%) Skype
12 9 (1.66%) TCP/IP
12 9 (1.66%) WebEx
13 8 (1.48%) Software-Defined Networking
13 8 (1.48%) Unified Communications
13 8 (1.48%) Wireless
14 7 (1.29%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (2.59%) Power BI
2 12 (2.22%) PostgreSQL
3 10 (1.85%) SAP HANA
4 9 (1.66%) MongoDB
4 9 (1.66%) SQL Server
5 8 (1.48%) Elasticsearch
5 8 (1.48%) NoSQL
5 8 (1.48%) Relational Database
6 7 (1.29%) Data Warehouse
6 7 (1.29%) MySQL
7 6 (1.11%) Metadata
7 6 (1.11%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 4 (0.74%) DynamoDB
8 4 (0.74%) Hadoop
8 4 (0.74%) Redis
9 3 (0.55%) Big Data
10 2 (0.37%) Amazon Redshift
10 2 (0.37%) BigQuery
10 2 (0.37%) Data Lake
10 2 (0.37%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 28 (5.18%) GitLab
2 24 (4.44%) Git
3 15 (2.77%) JIRA
4 12 (2.22%) Jenkins
5 4 (0.74%) Cypress.io
5 4 (0.74%) SonarQube
6 3 (0.55%) Mockito
6 3 (0.55%) Postman
6 3 (0.55%) Rational DOORS
6 3 (0.55%) Selenium
7 2 (0.37%) Artifactory
7 2 (0.37%) Gatling
7 2 (0.37%) Grunt
7 2 (0.37%) gulp
7 2 (0.37%) Jasmine
7 2 (0.37%) JMeter
7 2 (0.37%) MSI
7 2 (0.37%) REST Assured
7 2 (0.37%) Serenity BDD
8 1 (0.18%) ClearCase
General
1 166 (30.68%) Public Sector
2 121 (22.37%) Social Skills
3 39 (7.21%) Analytical Skills
4 36 (6.65%) Finance
5 17 (3.14%) Documentation Skills
5 17 (3.14%) Military
6 14 (2.59%) Legal
7 12 (2.22%) Manufacturing
8 9 (1.66%) Telecoms
9 8 (1.48%) Aerospace
9 8 (1.48%) Banking
9 8 (1.48%) Electronics
10 7 (1.29%) Marketing
11 6 (1.11%) Organisational Skills
12 5 (0.92%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 5 (0.92%) Influencing Skills
13 3 (0.55%) Presentation Skills
14 2 (0.37%) Aviation
14 2 (0.37%) Corporate Banking
14 2 (0.37%) Law
Job Titles
1 70 (12.94%) Consultant
2 68 (12.57%) Architect
3 57 (10.54%) Developer
4 39 (7.21%) Senior
5 38 (7.02%) Network Engineer
6 36 (6.65%) SAP Consultant
7 32 (5.91%) Analyst
8 25 (4.62%) Administrator
9 22 (4.07%) Lead
10 21 (3.88%) Technical Architect
11 20 (3.70%) Management Consultant
12 19 (3.51%) Platform Engineer
13 17 (3.14%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
14 16 (2.96%) DevOps Engineer
15 14 (2.59%) IT Support
15 14 (2.59%) Support Engineer
16 12 (2.22%) Business Analyst
16 12 (2.22%) Engagement Manager
16 12 (2.22%) Java Developer
16 12 (2.22%) Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (3.88%) Spring
2 19 (3.51%) Spring Boot
3 17 (3.14%) SAP Fiori
4 14 (2.59%) JSON
4 14 (2.59%) Kafka
5 13 (2.40%) RESTful
6 12 (2.22%) Web Services
6 12 (2.22%) XML
7 11 (2.03%) 802.1X
7 11 (2.03%) HTML
7 11 (2.03%) Node.js
8 10 (1.85%) BAPI
8 10 (1.85%) REST
9 9 (1.66%) CSS
9 9 (1.66%) Playwright
9 9 (1.66%) React
10 8 (1.48%) XMPP
11 7 (1.29%) Jest
11 7 (1.29%) SOAP
12 6 (1.11%) Hibernate
Miscellaneous
1 55 (10.17%) Data Centre
2 32 (5.91%) Product Ownership
3 27 (4.99%) Onboarding
4 14 (2.59%) Clustering
4 14 (2.59%) Replication
5 10 (1.85%) Enterprise Software
6 9 (1.66%) Cyber Threat
7 6 (1.11%) Driving Licence
7 6 (1.11%) Legacy Systems
8 5 (0.92%) Cloud Native
8 5 (0.92%) Distributed Systems
8 5 (0.92%) Low-Code
8 5 (0.92%) Video Conferencing
9 4 (0.74%) Fat Client
9 4 (0.74%) Mobile App
9 4 (0.74%) Operational Technology
9 4 (0.74%) SCADA
9 4 (0.74%) Thin Client
10 3 (0.55%) Analytical Mindset
10 3 (0.55%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 70 (12.94%) Windows
2 43 (7.95%) Linux
3 24 (4.44%) Windows Server
4 23 (4.25%) Windows 10
5 19 (3.51%) Unix
6 14 (2.59%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 11 (2.03%) Solaris
8 9 (1.66%) Windows 7
9 8 (1.48%) Android
10 7 (1.29%) Mac OS
11 4 (0.74%) Apple iOS
12 3 (0.55%) Mac OS X
13 2 (0.37%) AIX
14 1 (0.18%) VMS
14 1 (0.18%) Windows Server 2016
14 1 (0.18%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 69 (12.75%) Problem-Solving
2 68 (12.57%) Agile
3 55 (10.17%) DevOps
4 52 (9.61%) CI/CD
5 45 (8.32%) ITSM
5 45 (8.32%) Service Management
6 44 (8.13%) Migration
7 43 (7.95%) Stakeholder Management
8 41 (7.58%) Continuous Improvement
8 41 (7.58%) Cybersecurity
9 38 (7.02%) High Availability
10 37 (6.84%) Project Delivery
11 35 (6.47%) Containerisation
12 33 (6.10%) Test Automation
13 31 (5.73%) Disaster Recovery
14 30 (5.55%) Validation
15 29 (5.36%) Platform Engineering
16 28 (5.18%) Change Management
17 27 (4.99%) Stakeholder Engagement
18 26 (4.81%) Risk Management
Programming Languages
1 65 (12.01%) Python
2 53 (9.80%) PowerShell
3 42 (7.76%) Java
4 22 (4.07%) Bash
5 18 (3.33%) SQL
6 16 (2.96%) JavaScript
7 14 (2.59%) Perl
7 14 (2.59%) TypeScript
8 11 (2.03%) ABAP
9 9 (1.66%) VB
9 9 (1.66%) VBScript
10 4 (0.74%) Go
10 4 (0.74%) Ruby
10 4 (0.74%) Rust
11 3 (0.55%) C#
12 2 (0.37%) AWK
12 2 (0.37%) C
12 2 (0.37%) C++
12 2 (0.37%) COBOL
12 2 (0.37%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 390 (72.09%) SC Cleared
2 63 (11.65%) BPSS Clearance
3 50 (9.24%) DV Cleared
4 37 (6.84%) Degree
5 26 (4.81%) CCNP
5 26 (4.81%) Cisco Certification
6 21 (3.88%) CCNA
7 11 (2.03%) Microsoft Certification
8 10 (1.85%) Computer Science Degree
9 9 (1.66%) CISSP
9 9 (1.66%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
10 8 (1.48%) AWS Certification
10 8 (1.48%) CCDP
10 8 (1.48%) MCSA
10 8 (1.48%) MCSE
10 8 (1.48%) VCAP
11 7 (1.29%) CISM
12 6 (1.11%) ITIL Certification
13 5 (0.92%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
13 5 (0.92%) CompTIA Security+
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 19 (3.51%) Accessibility
2 18 (3.33%) NIST
3 12 (2.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 9 (1.66%) Data Quality
4 9 (1.66%) QA
4 9 (1.66%) SLA
5 7 (1.29%) NCSC
6 6 (1.11%) JSP 440
7 4 (0.74%) GDPR
7 4 (0.74%) WCAG
8 3 (0.55%) IFRS
8 3 (0.55%) PMO
9 2 (0.37%) GRC
9 2 (0.37%) IEC 61131
9 2 (0.37%) IEC 61508
9 2 (0.37%) IEC 62304
9 2 (0.37%) IFRS 17
9 2 (0.37%) ISO 26262
9 2 (0.37%) PSD2
10 1 (0.18%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 34 (6.28%) Active Directory
1 34 (6.28%) Docker
2 19 (3.51%) VMware Infrastructure
3 10 (1.85%) Virtual Machines
3 10 (1.85%) vSphere
4 9 (1.66%) BitLocker
4 9 (1.66%) VMware ESXi
5 4 (0.74%) Firmware
6 2 (0.37%) ISA Server
7 1 (0.18%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 36 (6.65%) Kubernetes
2 33 (6.10%) Terraform
3 26 (4.81%) SCCM
4 15 (2.77%) Ansible
5 12 (2.22%) Microsoft Intune
6 9 (1.66%) vCenter Server
7 8 (1.48%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 7 (1.29%) Grafana
9 6 (1.11%) Norton AntiVirus
9 6 (1.11%) Prometheus
10 3 (0.55%) FortiGate
11 2 (0.37%) Single Sign-On
12 1 (0.18%) Cisco CUCM
12 1 (0.18%) Cisco Prime
12 1 (0.18%) Failover Clustering
12 1 (0.18%) Microsoft Clustering
12 1 (0.18%) Nagios
12 1 (0.18%) Packer
12 1 (0.18%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
12 1 (0.18%) vRealize
Vendors
1 77 (14.23%) Microsoft
2 75 (13.86%) SAP
3 69 (12.75%) Cisco
4 32 (5.91%) Palo Alto
5 31 (5.73%) ServiceNow
6 29 (5.36%) Oracle
7 26 (4.81%) VMware
8 14 (2.59%) Citrix
8 14 (2.59%) Meraki
9 12 (2.22%) Adobe
10 11 (2.03%) Red Hat
11 9 (1.66%) Dell
11 9 (1.66%) IBM
12 7 (1.29%) HP
12 7 (1.29%) McAfee
12 7 (1.29%) Symantec
13 6 (1.11%) Apple
13 6 (1.11%) CyberArk
13 6 (1.11%) Splunk
14 5 (0.92%) Juniper