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

6 months to
15 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 3 3 2
Rank change year-on-year 0 -1 -1
Contract jobs citing Security Cleared 572 389 426
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 15.57% 18.06% 15.77%
As % of the Qualifications category 56.19% 54.25% 55.54%
Number of daily rates quoted 371 208 245
10th Percentile £360 £313 £335
25th Percentile £424 £430 £440
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £503
Median % change year-on-year - +4.48% -4.29%
75th Percentile £638 £638 £608
90th Percentile £751 £722 £720
England median daily rate £529 £538 £550
% change year-on-year -1.58% -2.27% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 38 39 69
10th Percentile £22.68 £21.73 -
25th Percentile £29.00 £23.89 £10.95
Median hourly rate £64.09 £32.00 £21.59
Median % change year-on-year +100.28% +48.22% -49.20%
75th Percentile £74.26 £59.95 £46.18
90th Percentile £85.55 £70.42 £62.50
England median hourly rate £64.09 £25.15 £57.50
% change year-on-year +154.83% -56.26% -4.17%

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 1,018 717 767
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 27.71% 33.29% 28.40%
Number of daily rates quoted 655 406 425
10th Percentile £344 £308 £259
25th Percentile £401 £405 £405
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year - - -3.85%
75th Percentile £613 £602 £600
90th Percentile £700 £716 £689
England median daily rate £525 £525 £537
% change year-on-year - -2.16% -2.44%
Number of hourly rates quoted 86 67 138
10th Percentile £17.25 £17.44 £10.95
25th Percentile £28.63 £22.16 £14.00
Median hourly rate £43.96 £30.00 £17.78
Median % change year-on-year +46.53% +68.71% -56.19%
75th Percentile £71.50 £59.95 £43.10
90th Percentile £93.63 £74.57 £62.50
England median hourly rate £54.25 £27.50 £43.00
% change year-on-year +97.27% -36.05% -21.82%

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 15 July 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 15 July 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 15 July 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 -3 220 £525 -0.45% 157
Cumbria 0 159 £485 -7.97% 7
Cheshire +22 88 £505 +28.95% 21
Lancashire +1 79 £688 +52.86% 46
Merseyside -21 20 £650 +4.00% 4
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 (4.02%) Microsoft Exchange
2 13 (2.27%) SharePoint
3 9 (1.57%) Skype for Business
4 6 (1.05%) Confluence
5 5 (0.87%) Apache Spark
6 4 (0.70%) SAS
7 3 (0.52%) Apache
7 3 (0.52%) Jupyter
8 2 (0.35%) Apache Airflow
8 2 (0.35%) CICS
8 2 (0.35%) Oracle Workflow
8 2 (0.35%) SharePoint 2013
9 1 (0.17%) IIS
9 1 (0.17%) NetWeaver
9 1 (0.17%) nginx
9 1 (0.17%) OpenStack
Applications
1 18 (3.15%) Microsoft Office
2 9 (1.57%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (0.87%) MS Visio
4 4 (0.70%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (0.70%) Microsoft Project
5 1 (0.17%) AutoCAD
5 1 (0.17%) Navisworks
5 1 (0.17%) ProjectWise
5 1 (0.17%) Revit
5 1 (0.17%) Siemens NX
Business Applications
1 7 (1.22%) Oracle Payables
2 6 (1.05%) SAP S/4HANA
3 4 (0.70%) Remedy ITSM
4 3 (0.52%) Primavera
4 3 (0.52%) SAP MM
5 2 (0.35%) Oracle Cash Management
5 2 (0.35%) Oracle EBS
5 2 (0.35%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
5 2 (0.35%) Teamcenter
6 1 (0.17%) Dynamics AX
6 1 (0.17%) Dynamics CRM
6 1 (0.17%) Integrated Workplace Management System
6 1 (0.17%) SAP PM
Cloud Services
1 101 (17.66%) AWS
2 82 (14.34%) Azure
3 27 (4.72%) Microsoft 365
4 24 (4.20%) Power Platform
5 18 (3.15%) Serverless
6 17 (2.97%) SaaS
7 16 (2.80%) Azure DevOps
7 16 (2.80%) OCI
8 13 (2.27%) Entra ID
8 13 (2.27%) GCP
9 11 (1.92%) GitHub
10 9 (1.57%) Google Workspace
11 8 (1.40%) Azure Monitor
12 7 (1.22%) Google Drive
13 6 (1.05%) Amazon S3
13 6 (1.05%) AWS Lambda
13 6 (1.05%) OpenShift
14 5 (0.87%) Dynamics 365
14 5 (0.87%) Power Automate
15 4 (0.70%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 64 (11.19%) Firewall
2 38 (6.64%) Wireless
3 28 (4.90%) DNS
3 28 (4.90%) VLAN
3 28 (4.90%) WAN
4 26 (4.55%) VPN
5 24 (4.20%) Network Security
6 22 (3.85%) Structured Cabling
7 21 (3.67%) LAN
8 20 (3.50%) DHCP
8 20 (3.50%) Wi-Fi
9 17 (2.97%) NAS
9 17 (2.97%) SAN
10 16 (2.80%) BGP
10 16 (2.80%) Cisco IOS
10 16 (2.80%) NX-OS
11 15 (2.62%) OSPF
12 11 (1.92%) Broadband
12 11 (1.92%) Converged Networks
13 9 (1.57%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 31 (5.42%) SQL Server
2 22 (3.85%) Oracle Database
3 21 (3.67%) PostgreSQL
4 17 (2.97%) Power BI
4 17 (2.97%) Relational Database
5 16 (2.80%) MySQL
6 15 (2.62%) MongoDB
7 9 (1.57%) Elasticsearch
7 9 (1.57%) RDBMS
8 8 (1.40%) SQL Server Integration Services
9 7 (1.22%) Metadata
9 7 (1.22%) Oracle Database 12c
9 7 (1.22%) Oracle Exadata
10 4 (0.70%) Hadoop
10 4 (0.70%) NoSQL
11 3 (0.52%) Data Lake
11 3 (0.52%) Data Warehouse
12 2 (0.35%) Amazon Redshift
12 2 (0.35%) Oracle BI Publisher
12 2 (0.35%) Oracle Reports
Development Applications
1 33 (5.77%) GitLab
2 13 (2.27%) Selenium
3 11 (1.92%) Git
3 11 (1.92%) JIRA
4 9 (1.57%) REST Assured
5 8 (1.40%) Jenkins
6 6 (1.05%) Cucumber
6 6 (1.05%) Gatling
7 5 (0.87%) MSI
7 5 (0.87%) Serenity BDD
8 3 (0.52%) Cypress.io
8 3 (0.52%) JMeter
9 2 (0.35%) JDeveloper
9 2 (0.35%) Postman
9 2 (0.35%) SonarQube
9 2 (0.35%) Toad
9 2 (0.35%) WebDriver
10 1 (0.17%) Rational Robot
10 1 (0.17%) Team Foundation Server
10 1 (0.17%) Visual Studio
General
1 129 (22.55%) Public Sector
2 113 (19.76%) Social Skills
3 47 (8.22%) Military
4 38 (6.64%) Analytical Skills
5 29 (5.07%) Finance
6 25 (4.37%) Documentation Skills
7 22 (3.85%) Legal
8 13 (2.27%) Aerospace
9 12 (2.10%) Manufacturing
10 7 (1.22%) Banking
11 5 (0.87%) Organisational Skills
11 5 (0.87%) Presentation Skills
12 4 (0.70%) Aviation
12 4 (0.70%) Retail
13 3 (0.52%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 3 (0.52%) Local Government
14 2 (0.35%) Corporate Banking
14 2 (0.35%) General Ledger
14 2 (0.35%) Influencing Skills
14 2 (0.35%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 87 (15.21%) Lead
2 74 (12.94%) Architect
3 46 (8.04%) Network Engineer
4 45 (7.87%) Developer
5 40 (6.99%) DBA
6 35 (6.12%) Administrator
7 32 (5.59%) Senior
8 27 (4.72%) Analyst
8 27 (4.72%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
9 26 (4.55%) Unix Engineer
10 21 (3.67%) Consultant
10 21 (3.67%) Lead Architect
10 21 (3.67%) SQL DBA
11 19 (3.32%) Data Engineer
11 19 (3.32%) Technical Architect
12 18 (3.15%) DevOps Engineer
12 18 (3.15%) Oracle DBA
13 16 (2.80%) Coordinator
13 16 (2.80%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 15 (2.62%) Test Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (4.55%) Spring
2 23 (4.02%) Node.js
2 23 (4.02%) Spring Boot
3 16 (2.80%) Kafka
4 13 (2.27%) OAuth
4 13 (2.27%) REST
5 8 (1.40%) Playwright
6 7 (1.22%) Oracle GoldenGate
7 6 (1.05%) 802.1X
7 6 (1.05%) OpenID
7 6 (1.05%) RESTful
8 5 (0.87%) Apache NiFi
8 5 (0.87%) Leaflet
8 5 (0.87%) Nunjucks
8 5 (0.87%) Spring Cloud
9 4 (0.70%) AWS CDK
9 4 (0.70%) ModSecurity
9 4 (0.70%) React
9 4 (0.70%) SOAP
10 3 (0.52%) .NET
Miscellaneous
1 33 (5.77%) Data Centre
2 29 (5.07%) Onboarding
3 26 (4.55%) Replication
4 24 (4.20%) Clustering
5 20 (3.50%) Cloud Native
6 16 (2.80%) Operational Technology
7 14 (2.45%) Legacy Systems
7 14 (2.45%) Product Ownership
8 11 (1.92%) Management Information System
9 9 (1.57%) Enterprise Software
10 8 (1.40%) Cyber Threat
11 7 (1.22%) Hybrid Cloud
11 7 (1.22%) Public Cloud
11 7 (1.22%) Security Posture
12 6 (1.05%) Data Protection Act
13 5 (0.87%) CSOC
13 5 (0.87%) Private Cloud
14 4 (0.70%) CMDB
15 3 (0.52%) Fat Client
15 3 (0.52%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 54 (9.44%) Windows
2 34 (5.94%) Linux
3 32 (5.59%) Solaris
3 32 (5.59%) Unix
4 21 (3.67%) Windows 10
5 20 (3.50%) Windows Server
6 10 (1.75%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 9 (1.57%) AIX
7 9 (1.57%) Windows 7
8 4 (0.70%) CentOS
8 4 (0.70%) Mac OS
8 4 (0.70%) VMS
9 2 (0.35%) Android
9 2 (0.35%) Apple iOS
10 1 (0.17%) Mac OS X
10 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2012
10 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2016
10 1 (0.17%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 76 (13.29%) DevOps
2 67 (11.71%) CI/CD
3 61 (10.66%) Agile
4 56 (9.79%) Continuous Improvement
4 56 (9.79%) ITSM
5 55 (9.62%) Problem-Solving
5 55 (9.62%) Stakeholder Engagement
6 54 (9.44%) High Availability
6 54 (9.44%) Stakeholder Management
7 53 (9.27%) Cybersecurity
8 52 (9.09%) Migration
9 44 (7.69%) Project Delivery
10 42 (7.34%) ITIL
11 40 (6.99%) Service Management
12 39 (6.82%) Disaster Recovery
13 36 (6.29%) Technical Leadership
14 34 (5.94%) Microservices
14 34 (5.94%) Risk Management
15 29 (5.07%) Infrastructure as Code
16 27 (4.72%) Test Automation
Programming Languages
1 56 (9.79%) Python
2 53 (9.27%) Java
3 49 (8.57%) SQL
4 47 (8.22%) PowerShell
5 26 (4.55%) JavaScript
6 16 (2.80%) TypeScript
7 11 (1.92%) VBScript
8 9 (1.57%) VB
9 5 (0.87%) Rust
10 4 (0.70%) C#
10 4 (0.70%) Go
10 4 (0.70%) T-SQL
11 3 (0.52%) Bash
11 3 (0.52%) Bicep
12 2 (0.35%) ABAP
12 2 (0.35%) COBOL
12 2 (0.35%) PL/SQL
13 1 (0.17%) Perl
13 1 (0.17%) Shell Script
13 1 (0.17%) VB6
Qualifications
1 431 (75.35%) SC Cleared
2 54 (9.44%) DV Cleared
3 45 (7.87%) BPSS Clearance
4 39 (6.82%) Cisco Certification
5 37 (6.47%) CCNA
6 31 (5.42%) Microsoft Certification
7 26 (4.55%) Degree
8 24 (4.20%) CCNP
9 15 (2.62%) Network+ Certification
9 15 (2.62%) Server+ Certification
10 13 (2.27%) Azure Certification
11 12 (2.10%) MCSA
11 12 (2.10%) MCSE
11 12 (2.10%) VCAP
11 12 (2.10%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
12 11 (1.92%) CISSP
13 9 (1.57%) AWS Certification
14 7 (1.22%) DBS Check
15 6 (1.05%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
16 5 (0.87%) Computer Science Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (4.20%) PMO
2 21 (3.67%) NIST
3 15 (2.62%) QA
3 15 (2.62%) SLA
4 14 (2.45%) Data Quality
5 13 (2.27%) Accessibility
5 13 (2.27%) GRC
6 11 (1.92%) GDPR
6 11 (1.92%) NCSC
7 9 (1.57%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 6 (1.05%) JSP 440
8 6 (1.05%) NIST 800
9 1 (0.17%) Basel III
9 1 (0.17%) Cyber Essentials
9 1 (0.17%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 1 (0.17%) HMG Security Policy Framework
9 1 (0.17%) ISO/IEC 27005
9 1 (0.17%) PCI DSS
9 1 (0.17%) RMADS
9 1 (0.17%) Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)
System Software
1 29 (5.07%) Active Directory
2 24 (4.20%) Docker
3 20 (3.50%) Virtual Machines
3 20 (3.50%) VMware Infrastructure
4 16 (2.80%) VMware ESXi
5 15 (2.62%) Oracle RAC
5 15 (2.62%) vSphere
6 11 (1.92%) BitLocker
7 3 (0.52%) Virtual Desktop
8 1 (0.17%) GPFS
8 1 (0.17%) Hyper-V
8 1 (0.17%) NFS
8 1 (0.17%) Squid
Systems Management
1 49 (8.57%) Terraform
2 33 (5.77%) Ansible
3 30 (5.24%) Kubernetes
4 18 (3.15%) SCCM
5 15 (2.62%) Data Guard
5 15 (2.62%) vCenter Server
6 14 (2.45%) Oracle RMAN
7 11 (1.92%) Grafana
8 7 (1.22%) Prometheus
9 5 (0.87%) Single Sign-On
10 4 (0.70%) Microsoft Intune
10 4 (0.70%) Nagios
10 4 (0.70%) Oracle ZFS
10 4 (0.70%) SCOM
11 3 (0.52%) Active Directory Federation Services
11 3 (0.52%) McAfee ePO
12 2 (0.35%) Enterprise Manager Cloud Control
12 2 (0.35%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
12 2 (0.35%) WSUS
13 1 (0.17%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 89 (15.56%) Microsoft
2 59 (10.31%) Cisco
2 59 (10.31%) Oracle
3 51 (8.92%) ServiceNow
4 29 (5.07%) SAP
5 25 (4.37%) Palo Alto
6 21 (3.67%) VMware
7 14 (2.45%) Aruba
8 12 (2.10%) CheckPoint
8 12 (2.10%) F5
9 10 (1.75%) Google
10 9 (1.57%) Splunk
11 8 (1.40%) Citrix
12 6 (1.05%) Arista
12 6 (1.05%) SolarWinds
13 5 (0.87%) Ekahau
13 5 (0.87%) IBM
13 5 (0.87%) Meraki
14 4 (0.70%) RedGate
14 4 (0.70%) Remedy