Def Stans Job Trends in the South East

UK Defence Standards (Def Stans)
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the South East requiring Def Stans skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 13 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
13 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 240 286 293
Rank change year-on-year +46 +7 +92
Permanent jobs citing Def Stans 33 10 3
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 0.32% 0.11% 0.034%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 2.45% 0.77% 0.23%
Number of salaries quoted 4 8 1
10th Percentile - £33,000 -
25th Percentile £77,500 £40,500 £57,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £80,000 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +33.33% - -
75th Percentile £82,500 £74,063 £62,500
90th Percentile - £78,750 -
England median annual salary £80,000 £42,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +88.24% -22.73% +27.91%

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
South East

Def Stans falls under the Quality Assurance and Compliance category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring quality assurance or compliance skills in the South East.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 1,349 1,303 1,313
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 13.02% 14.54% 14.83%
Number of salaries quoted 695 658 800
10th Percentile £29,000 £31,250 £27,965
25th Percentile £36,250 £45,000 £38,220
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £58,250 £52,147
Median % change year-on-year -9.87% +11.70% -1.61%
75th Percentile £67,500 £78,750 £67,500
90th Percentile £87,216 £87,500 £83,750
England median annual salary £58,000 £60,000 £59,000
% change year-on-year -3.33% +1.69% +2.61%

Def Stans
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Def Stans relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the South East.

Def Stans job vacancy trend in the South East

Def Stans
Salary Trend in the South East

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Def Stans.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Def Stans

Def Stans
Job Locations in the South East

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Def Stans within the South East region over the 6 months to 13 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
Buckinghamshire - 30 £80,000 - 1
Thames Valley - 30 £80,000 - 3
Hampshire +28 2 - - 3
Surrey +1 1 - - 2
Def Stans
England

Def Stans
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the South East 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:

Applications
1 4 (12.12%) Windchill
Communications & Networking
1 2 (6.06%) Cisco IOS
1 2 (6.06%) VoIP
Development Applications
1 30 (90.91%) Git
1 30 (90.91%) Jenkins
1 30 (90.91%) JIRA
General
1 32 (96.97%) Social Skills
2 30 (90.91%) Organisational Skills
3 2 (6.06%) Electronics
3 2 (6.06%) Military
Job Titles
1 26 (78.79%) Lead
2 4 (12.12%) Configuration Management Specialist
2 4 (12.12%) Configuration Specialist
2 4 (12.12%) Senior
2 4 (12.12%) Technical Specialist
3 2 (6.06%) Systems Engineer
4 1 (3.03%) Linux Engineer
4 1 (3.03%) Linux Systems Engineer
4 1 (3.03%) Principal Engineer
4 1 (3.03%) Safety Engineer
Miscellaneous
1 2 (6.06%) Linux Command Line
Operating Systems
1 2 (6.06%) Linux
1 2 (6.06%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 30 (90.91%) Change Control
1 30 (90.91%) Configuration Management
1 30 (90.91%) Continuous Improvement
2 26 (78.79%) Change Management
2 26 (78.79%) Data-Driven Decision Making
2 26 (78.79%) Stakeholder Engagement
2 26 (78.79%) Technical Leadership
3 24 (72.73%) Customer Requirements
4 22 (66.67%) Process Improvement
4 22 (66.67%) Programme Management
4 22 (66.67%) Strategic Thinking
5 4 (12.12%) Performance Metrics
6 2 (6.06%) Computer Science
6 2 (6.06%) Project Delivery
6 2 (6.06%) Requirements Engineering
7 1 (3.03%) Mathematics
7 1 (3.03%) Physics
7 1 (3.03%) Safety Engineering
Qualifications
1 33 (100.00%) Degree
2 30 (90.91%) Security Cleared
3 8 (24.24%) SC Cleared
4 2 (6.06%) Computer Science Degree
5 1 (3.03%) BPSS Clearance
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (66.67%) QA
2 1 (3.03%) IEC 61508
Vendors
1 2 (6.06%) Cisco