Security Operations Centre Job Trends in England

Security Operations Centre
UK > England

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Security Operations Centre in permanent job vacancies in England. Included is a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered in vacancies that cited Security Operations Centre over the 6 months leading up to 1 January 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 439 558 520
Rank change year-on-year +119 -38 +204
Permanent jobs citing Security Operations Centre 161 118 146
As % of all permanent jobs in England 0.31% 0.24% 0.32%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 0.86% 0.64% 0.87%
Number of salaries quoted 65 78 109
10th Percentile £51,000 £40,000 £40,000
25th Percentile £61,250 £43,227 £47,725
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £50,683 £61,000
Median % change year-on-year +28.25% -16.91% -2.40%
75th Percentile £74,258 £65,000 £70,000
90th Percentile £78,500 £76,500 £80,534
UK median annual salary £65,000 £50,309 £61,470
% change year-on-year +29.20% -18.16% -1.65%

All Generic Skills
England

Security Operations Centre falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring generic IT skills in England.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills 18,651 18,477 16,791
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in England 35.86% 37.26% 37.03%
Number of salaries quoted 9,385 8,842 12,539
10th Percentile £27,750 £33,750 £32,500
25th Percentile £36,250 £46,250 £43,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% - -7.69%
75th Percentile £78,500 £83,750 £85,000
90th Percentile £100,000 £112,150 £110,000
UK median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -7.69%

Security Operations Centre
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Security Operations Centre relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in England.

Security Operations Centre job vacancy trend in England

Security Operations Centre
Salary Trend in England

Salary distribution trend for jobs in England citing Security Operations Centre.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in England citing Security Operations Centre

Security Operations Centre
Salary Histogram in England

Salary distribution for jobs citing Security Operations Centre in England over the 6 months to 1 January 2026.

Salary histogram for Security Operations Centre in England

Security Operations Centre
Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Security Operations Centre within the England region over the 6 months to 1 January 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
South East +59 50 £65,000 -11.26% 3
Midlands +42 34 £52,500 +2.44% 3
North of England +23 28 £65,000 +30.00% 7
London +14 26 £70,000 +39.14% 14
West Midlands +24 19 £52,500 +2.44% 1
East of England +29 16 £75,000 +20.97% 7
East Midlands - 15 - - 2
North West +17 13 £65,000 +30.00% 3
Yorkshire +2 11 £65,000 +57.58% 4
South West +10 7 £50,000 -2.07%
North East +10 4 - -
Security Operations Centre
UK

Security Operations Centre
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England 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 2 (1.24%) Microsoft Exchange
Business Applications
1 1 (0.62%) Elite 3E
Cloud Services
1 25 (15.53%) Azure
2 19 (11.80%) AWS
3 12 (7.45%) Azure Sentinel
4 8 (4.97%) Microsoft 365
5 4 (2.48%) GCP
6 2 (1.24%) Azure DevOps
6 2 (1.24%) dbt
6 2 (1.24%) Entra ID
7 1 (0.62%) Mimecast
7 1 (0.62%) SaaS
7 1 (0.62%) Tessian
Communications & Networking
1 21 (13.04%) Network Security
2 17 (10.56%) Firewall
3 13 (8.07%) TCP/IP
4 8 (4.97%) DNS
5 4 (2.48%) VPN
6 1 (0.62%) DKIM
6 1 (0.62%) DMARC
6 1 (0.62%) FTP
6 1 (0.62%) HTTP
6 1 (0.62%) Internet
6 1 (0.62%) Modbus
6 1 (0.62%) NAS
6 1 (0.62%) SAN
6 1 (0.62%) SMTP
6 1 (0.62%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (1.24%) Elasticsearch
2 1 (0.62%) GIS
Development Applications
1 1 (0.62%) JIRA
General
1 33 (20.50%) Social Skills
2 18 (11.18%) Analytical Skills
3 8 (4.97%) Finance
4 6 (3.73%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 4 (2.48%) Legal
5 4 (2.48%) Organisational Skills
6 3 (1.86%) Influencing Skills
6 3 (1.86%) Public Sector
7 2 (1.24%) Documentation Skills
7 2 (1.24%) Law
7 2 (1.24%) Manufacturing
8 1 (0.62%) Aerospace
8 1 (0.62%) Back Office
8 1 (0.62%) Marketing
8 1 (0.62%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 84 (52.17%) Lead
2 26 (16.15%) Analyst
3 23 (14.29%) Senior
4 17 (10.56%) Security Manager
5 16 (9.94%) Security Engineer
5 16 (9.94%) SOC Manager
6 14 (8.70%) Security Analyst
7 13 (8.07%) SOC Analyst
8 12 (7.45%) Cybersecurity Engineer
8 12 (7.45%) Senior Security Engineer
9 11 (6.83%) Cybersecurity Manager
10 7 (4.35%) Cybersecurity Analyst
10 7 (4.35%) Security Assurance Manager
11 6 (3.73%) Operational Security Manager
11 6 (3.73%) Operations Manager
11 6 (3.73%) Security Operations Manager
11 6 (3.73%) Senior Analyst
12 5 (3.11%) Operations Analyst
12 5 (3.11%) Security Operations Analyst
13 4 (2.48%) Incident Responder
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 4 (2.48%) ARM Templates
2 2 (1.24%) Django
3 1 (0.62%) LDAP
Miscellaneous
1 81 (50.31%) Cyber Threat
2 67 (41.61%) Cyber Kill Chain
2 67 (41.61%) Operational Technology
3 21 (13.04%) Security Posture
4 4 (2.48%) ARM Cortex
4 4 (2.48%) Cyber Defence
4 4 (2.48%) Cyber Security Posture
4 4 (2.48%) Hybrid Cloud
4 4 (2.48%) Onboarding
5 3 (1.86%) Management Information System
6 2 (1.24%) Cloud Security Posture
6 2 (1.24%) PKI
7 1 (0.62%) Analytical Mindset
7 1 (0.62%) CSOC
7 1 (0.62%) Cyberattack
7 1 (0.62%) Insider Threat
7 1 (0.62%) Linux Command Line
7 1 (0.62%) SCADA
7 1 (0.62%) Smart Energy
7 1 (0.62%) Smart Meter
Operating Systems
1 6 (3.73%) Linux
2 4 (2.48%) Windows
3 1 (0.62%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 161 (100.00%) Security Operations
2 82 (50.93%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
2 82 (50.93%) Threat Intelligence
3 80 (49.69%) Mentoring
4 79 (49.07%) Vulnerability Management
5 75 (46.58%) ITIL
6 71 (44.10%) Threat and Vulnerability Management
7 70 (43.48%) Cyber Intelligence
8 69 (42.86%) Roadmaps
9 68 (42.24%) Business Strategy
9 68 (42.24%) Coaching
9 68 (42.24%) Risk Management
10 67 (41.61%) Stakeholder Management
11 65 (40.37%) Change Advisory Board
11 65 (40.37%) SABSA
11 65 (40.37%) Technology Roadmap
12 56 (34.78%) Cybersecurity
13 47 (29.19%) Incident Response
13 47 (29.19%) SIEM
14 25 (15.53%) Continuous Improvement
Programming Languages
1 14 (8.70%) Kusto Query Language
1 14 (8.70%) Python
2 11 (6.83%) PowerShell
3 10 (6.21%) SQL
4 4 (2.48%) Bicep
5 3 (1.86%) Bash
6 1 (0.62%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 31 (19.25%) Security Cleared
2 26 (16.15%) SC Cleared
3 22 (13.66%) CISSP
3 22 (13.66%) CompTIA Security+
3 22 (13.66%) Degree
4 14 (8.70%) GCIA
5 10 (6.21%) CEH
6 9 (5.59%) GCIH
7 8 (4.97%) CCNA
7 8 (4.97%) CCNP
7 8 (4.97%) Cisco Certification
7 8 (4.97%) SANS
8 7 (4.35%) CISM
8 7 (4.35%) CREST Certified
9 6 (3.73%) CompTIA CySA+
9 6 (3.73%) GIAC
9 6 (3.73%) Network+ Certification
10 5 (3.11%) DV Cleared
11 3 (1.86%) SSCP
12 2 (1.24%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 90 (55.90%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 88 (54.66%) NIST
3 65 (40.37%) ISO/IEC 27005
4 17 (10.56%) Cyber Essentials
5 12 (7.45%) GDPR
6 8 (4.97%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 8 (4.97%) PCI DSS
7 6 (3.73%) NCSC
8 4 (2.48%) GRC
8 4 (2.48%) SOC 2
9 3 (1.86%) SOC 3
10 1 (0.62%) COBIT
10 1 (0.62%) QA
System Software
1 1 (0.62%) Active Directory
1 1 (0.62%) Firmware
1 1 (0.62%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 4 (2.48%) Terraform
2 2 (1.24%) Kubernetes
3 1 (0.62%) CSIRT
3 1 (0.62%) QRadar
3 1 (0.62%) ZENworks
Vendors
1 24 (14.91%) Microsoft
2 9 (5.59%) CrowdStrike
3 7 (4.35%) Splunk
4 4 (2.48%) Palo Alto
4 4 (2.48%) ServiceNow
5 1 (0.62%) Google
5 1 (0.62%) Meraki
5 1 (0.62%) Tanium
5 1 (0.62%) Tenable
5 1 (0.62%) VMware
5 1 (0.62%) Zscaler