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

6 months to
17 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 536 387 409
As % of all contract jobs in the North West 15.33% 19.44% 14.52%
As % of the Qualifications category 55.54% 56.17% 52.64%
Number of daily rates quoted 350 221 246
10th Percentile £360 £250 £375
25th Percentile £425 £413 £450
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £520 £500 £513
Median % change year-on-year +3.91% -2.44% -2.38%
75th Percentile £638 £600 £650
90th Percentile £773 £700 £725
England median daily rate £525 £537 £550
% change year-on-year -2.23% -2.36% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 40 27 63
10th Percentile £22.68 £25.15 -
25th Percentile £29.99 £25.26 £10.95
Median hourly rate £64.05 £40.59 £14.50
Median % change year-on-year +57.79% +179.93% -65.88%
75th Percentile £74.26 £59.95 £49.50
90th Percentile £83.75 £67.00 £73.75
England median hourly rate £62.25 £28.91 £57.29
% change year-on-year +115.32% -49.53% -4.53%

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 965 689 777
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the North West 27.60% 34.61% 27.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 631 398 427
10th Percentile £343 £273 £300
25th Percentile £400 £400 £419
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £483 £490 £500
Median % change year-on-year -1.43% -2.00% -2.96%
75th Percentile £608 £580 £629
90th Percentile £688 £700 £713
England median daily rate £525 £525 £534
% change year-on-year - -1.75% -2.84%
Number of hourly rates quoted 76 51 132
10th Percentile £22.68 £17.44 £10.95
25th Percentile £30.00 £21.76 £11.94
Median hourly rate £43.96 £30.00 £16.06
Median % change year-on-year +46.53% +86.80% -60.43%
75th Percentile £74.26 £59.95 £43.10
90th Percentile £97.45 £76.25 £68.24
England median hourly rate £52.50 £30.31 £41.27
% change year-on-year +73.24% -26.56% -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 17 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 17 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 17 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 -10 172 £525 +8.19% 127
Cumbria 0 163 £481 -8.68% 20
Lancashire +3 93 £735 +64.43% 36
Cheshire +12 81 £450 +28.57% 21
Merseyside -16 20 £625 +4.17% 5
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 (4.66%) Microsoft Exchange
2 12 (2.24%) SharePoint
3 11 (2.05%) Skype for Business
4 7 (1.31%) Confluence
5 5 (0.93%) Apache Spark
6 3 (0.56%) Apache
6 3 (0.56%) 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 (0.19%) IIS
8 1 (0.19%) NetWeaver
8 1 (0.19%) nginx
8 1 (0.19%) OpenStack
8 1 (0.19%) SAS
Applications
1 19 (3.54%) Microsoft Office
2 11 (2.05%) Microsoft Excel
3 6 (1.12%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 4 (0.75%) Microsoft Project
4 4 (0.75%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.19%) Siemens NX
Business Applications
1 7 (1.31%) Oracle Payables
2 5 (0.93%) SAP S/4HANA
3 3 (0.56%) Primavera
3 3 (0.56%) Remedy ITSM
3 3 (0.56%) SAP MM
4 2 (0.37%) Oracle Cash Management
4 2 (0.37%) Oracle EBS
4 2 (0.37%) Oracle Subledger Accounting
4 2 (0.37%) Teamcenter
5 1 (0.19%) Dynamics AX
5 1 (0.19%) Dynamics CRM
5 1 (0.19%) SAP PM
Cloud Services
1 89 (16.60%) AWS
2 68 (12.69%) Azure
3 26 (4.85%) Microsoft 365
4 19 (3.54%) Power Platform
5 18 (3.36%) SaaS
6 15 (2.80%) GCP
6 15 (2.80%) Serverless
7 13 (2.43%) OCI
8 12 (2.24%) Azure DevOps
9 11 (2.05%) Entra ID
9 11 (2.05%) GitHub
10 9 (1.68%) Google Workspace
11 7 (1.31%) Google Drive
12 6 (1.12%) Amazon S3
13 5 (0.93%) AWS Lambda
13 5 (0.93%) OpenShift
13 5 (0.93%) Power Automate
14 4 (0.75%) Dynamics 365
14 4 (0.75%) PowerApps
15 3 (0.56%) BrowserStack
Communications & Networking
1 66 (12.31%) Firewall
2 40 (7.46%) VLAN
3 33 (6.16%) Wireless
4 32 (5.97%) Network Security
5 29 (5.41%) DNS
6 26 (4.85%) WAN
7 22 (4.10%) DHCP
7 22 (4.10%) Structured Cabling
8 20 (3.73%) Wi-Fi
9 19 (3.54%) LAN
10 17 (3.17%) NAS
10 17 (3.17%) SAN
10 17 (3.17%) VPN
11 16 (2.99%) Cisco IOS
11 16 (2.99%) NX-OS
12 11 (2.05%) Skype
13 9 (1.68%) Broadband
13 9 (1.68%) Converged Networks
13 9 (1.68%) TCP/IP
14 8 (1.49%) BGP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (2.99%) Oracle Database
1 16 (2.99%) PostgreSQL
2 14 (2.61%) Power BI
2 14 (2.61%) Relational Database
3 13 (2.43%) MongoDB
4 12 (2.24%) SQL Server
5 9 (1.68%) Elasticsearch
5 9 (1.68%) MySQL
6 6 (1.12%) Metadata
6 6 (1.12%) RDBMS
7 5 (0.93%) Oracle Database 12c
8 4 (0.75%) Hadoop
8 4 (0.75%) NoSQL
8 4 (0.75%) Oracle Exadata
8 4 (0.75%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 4 (0.75%) Tableau
9 3 (0.56%) Data Lake
9 3 (0.56%) Data Warehouse
10 2 (0.37%) Amazon Redshift
10 2 (0.37%) SAP HANA
Development Applications
1 30 (5.60%) GitLab
2 13 (2.43%) Selenium
3 12 (2.24%) JIRA
4 10 (1.87%) Git
5 9 (1.68%) Jenkins
5 9 (1.68%) REST Assured
6 6 (1.12%) Gatling
7 5 (0.93%) Cucumber
7 5 (0.93%) MSI
7 5 (0.93%) Serenity BDD
8 3 (0.56%) Cypress.io
8 3 (0.56%) JMeter
9 2 (0.37%) JDeveloper
9 2 (0.37%) Postman
9 2 (0.37%) SonarQube
9 2 (0.37%) WebDriver
10 1 (0.19%) ClearCase
10 1 (0.19%) Rational Robot
10 1 (0.19%) Sonatype Nexus
10 1 (0.19%) Visual Studio Coded UI
General
1 134 (25.00%) Public Sector
2 114 (21.27%) Social Skills
3 38 (7.09%) Military
4 30 (5.60%) Documentation Skills
5 29 (5.41%) Analytical Skills
6 28 (5.22%) Finance
7 16 (2.99%) Legal
8 14 (2.61%) Aerospace
9 9 (1.68%) Banking
9 9 (1.68%) Manufacturing
10 7 (1.31%) Presentation Skills
11 4 (0.75%) Aviation
11 4 (0.75%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 4 (0.75%) Retail
12 2 (0.37%) Corporate Banking
12 2 (0.37%) General Ledger
12 2 (0.37%) Influencing Skills
12 2 (0.37%) Local Government
12 2 (0.37%) Organisational Skills
13 1 (0.19%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 74 (13.81%) Architect
2 73 (13.62%) Lead
3 46 (8.58%) Network Engineer
4 33 (6.16%) Developer
5 30 (5.60%) Analyst
5 30 (5.60%) Senior
6 29 (5.41%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
7 27 (5.04%) Administrator
7 27 (5.04%) Unix Engineer
8 23 (4.29%) Consultant
9 21 (3.92%) Technical Architect
10 20 (3.73%) DBA
11 19 (3.54%) Data Engineer
11 19 (3.54%) Lead Architect
12 17 (3.17%) DevOps Engineer
12 17 (3.17%) Wintel Engineer
13 16 (2.99%) Coordinator
14 13 (2.43%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 13 (2.43%) Security Architect
14 13 (2.43%) Security Assurance Coordinator
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (4.85%) Spring
2 23 (4.29%) Spring Boot
3 16 (2.99%) Node.js
4 15 (2.80%) Kafka
5 10 (1.87%) OAuth
6 8 (1.49%) Playwright
6 8 (1.49%) REST
7 6 (1.12%) 802.1X
7 6 (1.12%) OpenID
7 6 (1.12%) RESTful
8 5 (0.93%) Apache NiFi
8 5 (0.93%) Leaflet
8 5 (0.93%) Nunjucks
8 5 (0.93%) Spring Cloud
8 5 (0.93%) Web Services
9 4 (0.75%) AWS CDK
9 4 (0.75%) ModSecurity
9 4 (0.75%) Oracle GoldenGate
9 4 (0.75%) React
10 3 (0.56%) OAuth2
Miscellaneous
1 41 (7.65%) Data Centre
2 24 (4.48%) Onboarding
3 23 (4.29%) Clustering
4 22 (4.10%) Replication
5 18 (3.36%) Product Ownership
6 17 (3.17%) Cloud Native
7 15 (2.80%) Operational Technology
8 9 (1.68%) Enterprise Software
8 9 (1.68%) Management Information System
9 6 (1.12%) Cyber Threat
9 6 (1.12%) Hybrid Cloud
9 6 (1.12%) Legacy Systems
10 5 (0.93%) Private Cloud
10 5 (0.93%) Public Cloud
10 5 (0.93%) Security Posture
11 4 (0.75%) Data Protection Act
11 4 (0.75%) Mobile App
12 3 (0.56%) Fat Client
12 3 (0.56%) Freedom of Information
12 3 (0.56%) SCADA
Operating Systems
1 55 (10.26%) Windows
2 33 (6.16%) Unix
3 31 (5.78%) Solaris
4 26 (4.85%) Linux
5 21 (3.92%) Windows 10
5 21 (3.92%) Windows Server
6 11 (2.05%) Windows 7
7 6 (1.12%) AIX
8 4 (0.75%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 3 (0.56%) VMS
10 2 (0.37%) Android
10 2 (0.37%) Apple iOS
10 2 (0.37%) Mac OS
11 1 (0.19%) Mac OS X
11 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2012
11 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2016
11 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 72 (13.43%) Agile
2 69 (12.87%) DevOps
3 65 (12.13%) CI/CD
4 58 (10.82%) High Availability
5 57 (10.63%) Project Delivery
6 56 (10.45%) Stakeholder Management
7 55 (10.26%) Continuous Improvement
8 53 (9.89%) Migration
9 52 (9.70%) ITSM
10 47 (8.77%) Problem-Solving
10 47 (8.77%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 45 (8.40%) Cybersecurity
11 45 (8.40%) Service Management
12 42 (7.84%) Disaster Recovery
13 34 (6.34%) Risk Management
14 32 (5.97%) Technical Leadership
15 30 (5.60%) Test Automation
16 29 (5.41%) Microservices
17 25 (4.66%) Infrastructure as Code
18 24 (4.48%) Information Assurance
Programming Languages
1 59 (11.01%) Python
2 49 (9.14%) Java
3 45 (8.40%) PowerShell
4 29 (5.41%) SQL
5 25 (4.66%) JavaScript
6 12 (2.24%) TypeScript
7 11 (2.05%) VB
7 11 (2.05%) VBScript
8 5 (0.93%) Go
8 5 (0.93%) Rust
9 4 (0.75%) C#
10 3 (0.56%) Bash
11 2 (0.37%) COBOL
11 2 (0.37%) PL/SQL
12 1 (0.19%) ABAP
12 1 (0.19%) Perl
12 1 (0.19%) Ruby
12 1 (0.19%) Scala
12 1 (0.19%) Shell Script
12 1 (0.19%) VB6
Qualifications
1 385 (71.83%) SC Cleared
2 65 (12.13%) DV Cleared
3 46 (8.58%) Cisco Certification
4 44 (8.21%) CCNA
5 33 (6.16%) CCNP
6 32 (5.97%) BPSS Clearance
7 25 (4.66%) Microsoft Certification
8 23 (4.29%) Degree
9 15 (2.80%) Network+ Certification
9 15 (2.80%) Server+ Certification
10 14 (2.61%) MCSA
10 14 (2.61%) MCSE
10 14 (2.61%) VCAP
10 14 (2.61%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 12 (2.24%) CISSP
12 9 (1.68%) AWS Certification
12 9 (1.68%) Azure Certification
13 6 (1.12%) CISM
13 6 (1.12%) DBS Check
14 5 (0.93%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 27 (5.04%) NIST
2 23 (4.29%) PMO
3 19 (3.54%) Accessibility
4 16 (2.99%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 15 (2.80%) QA
5 15 (2.80%) SLA
6 12 (2.24%) JSP 440
7 11 (2.05%) GDPR
7 11 (2.05%) GRC
8 10 (1.87%) Data Quality
9 8 (1.49%) NCSC
10 6 (1.12%) NIST 800
11 3 (0.56%) WCAG
12 2 (0.37%) IFRS
12 2 (0.37%) IFRS 17
13 1 (0.19%) Cyber Essentials
13 1 (0.19%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 1 (0.19%) HMG Security Policy Framework
13 1 (0.19%) SOC 2
13 1 (0.19%) Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)
System Software
1 27 (5.04%) Active Directory
2 22 (4.10%) Docker
3 21 (3.92%) VMware Infrastructure
4 19 (3.54%) Virtual Machines
5 18 (3.36%) VMware ESXi
6 17 (3.17%) vSphere
7 12 (2.24%) BitLocker
8 4 (0.75%) Oracle RAC
9 2 (0.37%) Virtual Desktop
10 1 (0.19%) GPFS
10 1 (0.19%) Hyper-V
10 1 (0.19%) NFS
10 1 (0.19%) Squid
Systems Management
1 42 (7.84%) Terraform
2 29 (5.41%) Ansible
3 27 (5.04%) Kubernetes
4 18 (3.36%) SCCM
5 17 (3.17%) vCenter Server
6 10 (1.87%) Grafana
7 9 (1.68%) Oracle RMAN
8 7 (1.31%) Prometheus
9 5 (0.93%) Single Sign-On
10 4 (0.75%) Data Guard
11 3 (0.56%) Active Directory Federation Services
12 2 (0.37%) Microsoft Intune
12 2 (0.37%) WSUS
13 1 (0.19%) McAfee ePO
13 1 (0.19%) Nagios
13 1 (0.19%) Netcool
13 1 (0.19%) Norton AntiVirus
13 1 (0.19%) Tivoli
13 1 (0.19%) vMotion
13 1 (0.19%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 71 (13.25%) Microsoft
2 68 (12.69%) Cisco
3 49 (9.14%) Oracle
4 38 (7.09%) ServiceNow
5 29 (5.41%) SAP
6 28 (5.22%) Palo Alto
7 22 (4.10%) VMware
8 13 (2.43%) Aruba
9 10 (1.87%) Google
10 8 (1.49%) F5
10 8 (1.49%) Splunk
11 6 (1.12%) Arista
12 5 (0.93%) CheckPoint
12 5 (0.93%) Ekahau
12 5 (0.93%) IBM
12 5 (0.93%) SolarWinds
13 4 (0.75%) Citrix
13 4 (0.75%) RedGate
14 3 (0.56%) Dynatrace
14 3 (0.56%) Remedy