Security Cleared Job Trends in the South East

Security Clearance
England > South East

The table below provides summary statistics for permanent job vacancies advertised in the South East with a requirement for Security Cleared qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered over the 6 months leading up to 12 April 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
12 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 25 11 11
Rank change year-on-year -14 0 +7
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 726 764 1,707
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 5.27% 11.31% 10.93%
As % of the Qualifications category 20.68% 23.51% 32.10%
Number of salaries quoted 491 563 1,339
10th Percentile £41,000 £41,250 £31,250
25th Percentile £51,250 £47,500 £42,200
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £57,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +13.04% +4.55% +14.43%
75th Percentile £80,000 £77,500 £67,500
90th Percentile £90,000 £85,000 £79,000
England median annual salary £65,000 £60,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year +8.33% +4.35% -

All Academic and Professional Certifications
South East

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 permanent job vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications in the South East.

Permanent vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 3,511 3,250 5,318
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 25.50% 48.09% 34.06%
Number of salaries quoted 1,548 1,472 3,627
10th Percentile £29,750 £32,500 £29,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £42,500 £37,375
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £56,562 £55,000 £51,000
Median % change year-on-year +2.84% +7.84% +2.00%
75th Percentile £73,750 £70,600 £66,250
90th Percentile £85,000 £83,000 £82,500
England median annual salary £57,661 £57,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +0.28% +4.55% -4.35%

Security Cleared
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

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

Security Cleared job vacancy trend in the South East

Security Cleared
Salary Trend in the South East

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Security Cleared.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Security Cleared

Security Cleared
Salary Histogram in the South East

Salary distribution for jobs citing Security Cleared in the South East over the 6 months to 12 April 2026.

Salary histogram for Security Cleared in the South East

Security Cleared
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 Security Cleared within the South East region over the 6 months to 12 April 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
Hampshire -3 355 £74,000 +34.55% 162
Thames Valley +15 253 £65,000 +8.33% 116
Berkshire +16 164 £67,500 +3.85% 63
Buckinghamshire +9 66 £60,000 +4.19% 38
Surrey -18 66 £56,152 +18.21% 50
Oxfordshire -3 23 £65,000 +30.00% 17
West Sussex -16 19 £35,000 -8.50% 11
Kent -33 17 £39,000 -33.62% 9
Sussex - 11 £85,000 - 3
Home Counties 0 1 - -
Security Cleared
England

Security Cleared
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:

Application Platforms
1 36 (4.96%) SharePoint
2 29 (3.99%) Microsoft Exchange
3 20 (2.75%) Exchange Server 2003
4 2 (0.28%) Confluence
4 2 (0.28%) WordPress
5 1 (0.14%) Apache
5 1 (0.14%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.14%) Apache Qpid
5 1 (0.14%) Camunda
5 1 (0.14%) IIS
5 1 (0.14%) Oracle SOA Suite
5 1 (0.14%) SAS
Applications
1 23 (3.17%) Microsoft Excel
1 23 (3.17%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (0.69%) Adobe XD
3 2 (0.28%) Adobe After Effects
3 2 (0.28%) Adobe Captivate
3 2 (0.28%) Adobe Creative Suite
3 2 (0.28%) Adobe Illustrator
3 2 (0.28%) Adobe Premiere
3 2 (0.28%) Elementor
3 2 (0.28%) Microsoft Project
3 2 (0.28%) Photoshop
3 2 (0.28%) Simulink
4 1 (0.14%) CATIA
4 1 (0.14%) Lectora
4 1 (0.14%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 3 (0.41%) SAP S/4HANA
2 1 (0.14%) Primavera
2 1 (0.14%) Q-Pulse
2 1 (0.14%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.14%) Salesforce CRM
2 1 (0.14%) SAP GTS
2 1 (0.14%) SAP MM
2 1 (0.14%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
2 1 (0.14%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 76 (10.47%) Azure
2 55 (7.58%) AWS
3 39 (5.37%) Microsoft 365
4 27 (3.72%) Power Platform
5 23 (3.17%) Azure DevOps
6 21 (2.89%) GCP
7 17 (2.34%) Amazon EKS
7 17 (2.34%) Dynamics 365
7 17 (2.34%) PowerApps
8 13 (1.79%) Serverless
9 9 (1.24%) Amazon EC2
9 9 (1.24%) GitHub
9 9 (1.24%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
9 9 (1.24%) Salesforce Service Cloud
10 8 (1.10%) OpenShift
11 7 (0.96%) Amazon ECS
11 7 (0.96%) AWS Lambda
12 6 (0.83%) Amazon S3
12 6 (0.83%) GitHub Actions
13 5 (0.69%) AWS CloudFormation
Communications & Networking
1 61 (8.40%) Firewall
2 55 (7.58%) DNS
3 29 (3.99%) DHCP
4 20 (2.75%) Structured Cabling
4 20 (2.75%) WAN
5 15 (2.07%) Cisco Firepower
6 14 (1.93%) VPN
7 13 (1.79%) BGP
7 13 (1.79%) LAN
8 12 (1.65%) Cisco ISE
9 11 (1.52%) Junos
10 10 (1.38%) Cisco IOS
10 10 (1.38%) Network Security
11 9 (1.24%) NX-OS
12 8 (1.10%) NetScaler
13 7 (0.96%) MPLS
13 7 (0.96%) TCP/IP
14 6 (0.83%) HTTP
14 6 (0.83%) SNMP
14 6 (0.83%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 23 (3.17%) Oracle Database
2 22 (3.03%) Power BI
3 21 (2.89%) Oracle Database 10g
4 10 (1.38%) PostgreSQL
4 10 (1.38%) Relational Database
4 10 (1.38%) SQL Server
5 3 (0.41%) Data Mining
5 3 (0.41%) RDBMS
6 2 (0.28%) Big Data
6 2 (0.28%) Metadata
6 2 (0.28%) MySQL
7 1 (0.14%) DynamoDB
7 1 (0.14%) Elasticsearch
7 1 (0.14%) MongoDB
7 1 (0.14%) NoSQL
7 1 (0.14%) Pinecone
7 1 (0.14%) Redis
7 1 (0.14%) SAP Data Services
7 1 (0.14%) Tableau
7 1 (0.14%) Weaviate
Development Applications
1 37 (5.10%) Git
2 33 (4.55%) GitLab
3 27 (3.72%) Jenkins
4 19 (2.62%) JIRA
5 15 (2.07%) Selenium
6 11 (1.52%) Robot Framework
7 9 (1.24%) Snyk
8 6 (0.83%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 6 (0.83%) SonarQube
8 6 (0.83%) Subversion
9 5 (0.69%) Axure RP
9 5 (0.69%) Balsamiq
9 5 (0.69%) Cucumber
9 5 (0.69%) JUnit
10 4 (0.55%) Artifactory
10 4 (0.55%) Mockito
10 4 (0.55%) Rational DOORS
10 4 (0.55%) Visual Studio Code
11 3 (0.41%) Cypress.io
11 3 (0.41%) JMeter
General
1 166 (22.87%) Social Skills
2 82 (11.29%) Analytical Skills
3 71 (9.78%) Public Sector
4 66 (9.09%) Finance
5 31 (4.27%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 30 (4.13%) Law
7 28 (3.86%) Aeronautics
8 23 (3.17%) Aerospace
8 23 (3.17%) Manufacturing
9 16 (2.20%) Electronics
10 15 (2.07%) Telecoms
11 14 (1.93%) Organisational Skills
12 13 (1.79%) Military
13 12 (1.65%) Banking
14 11 (1.52%) Documentation Skills
15 9 (1.24%) Aviation
15 9 (1.24%) Games
16 7 (0.96%) Influencing Skills
16 7 (0.96%) Legal
16 7 (0.96%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 105 (14.46%) Architect
2 91 (12.53%) Senior
3 63 (8.68%) Developer
4 61 (8.40%) Lead
5 38 (5.23%) Consultant
5 38 (5.23%) Software Engineer
6 37 (5.10%) Analyst
7 36 (4.96%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 34 (4.68%) Systems Engineer
9 31 (4.27%) Network Engineer
10 29 (3.99%) Business Manager
11 27 (3.72%) Business Systems Manager
11 27 (3.72%) Systems Manager
12 24 (3.31%) Applications Architect
13 22 (3.03%) Java Developer
13 22 (3.03%) Security Architect
14 21 (2.89%) 3rd Line Support
14 21 (2.89%) Data Engineer
15 20 (2.75%) DevOps Engineer
15 20 (2.75%) Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 25 (3.44%) REST
2 23 (3.17%) .NET
3 15 (2.07%) Spring
4 14 (1.93%) React
5 13 (1.79%) JSON
5 13 (1.79%) SOAP
6 11 (1.52%) Elastic Stack
6 11 (1.52%) HTML
7 10 (1.38%) Middleware
7 10 (1.38%) Regular Expression
7 10 (1.38%) XML
8 9 (1.24%) LDAP
8 9 (1.24%) Lightning Web Components
8 9 (1.24%) Spring Boot
8 9 (1.24%) Visualforce
8 9 (1.24%) Web Services
9 8 (1.10%) RabbitMQ
10 7 (0.96%) AngularJS
10 7 (0.96%) Kafka
11 6 (0.83%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 28 (3.86%) Robotics
2 26 (3.58%) Product Ownership
3 23 (3.17%) PKI
4 16 (2.20%) Data Centre
5 15 (2.07%) Distributed Systems
6 14 (1.93%) Security Posture
7 13 (1.79%) Cloud Native
8 11 (1.52%) Onboarding
9 10 (1.38%) Self-Motivation
10 8 (1.10%) FPGA
11 7 (0.96%) Algorithms
11 7 (0.96%) Embedded Systems
12 6 (0.83%) Fibre Optics
12 6 (0.83%) Management Information System
13 5 (0.69%) Cloud Security Posture
13 5 (0.69%) Cyber Defence
13 5 (0.69%) e-Learning
13 5 (0.69%) Enterprise Software
13 5 (0.69%) Legacy Systems
13 5 (0.69%) Security Operations Centre
Operating Systems
1 105 (14.46%) Windows
2 77 (10.61%) Linux
3 60 (8.26%) Windows Server
4 23 (3.17%) Unix
5 21 (2.89%) HPUX
5 21 (2.89%) Solaris
6 20 (2.75%) Windows Server 2003
7 19 (2.62%) Windows 7
7 19 (2.62%) Windows Server 2008
8 16 (2.20%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 11 (1.52%) Windows Server 2016
10 7 (0.96%) Ubuntu
11 6 (0.83%) Android
11 6 (0.83%) CentOS
12 4 (0.55%) Windows Server 2019
13 3 (0.41%) Windows 10
14 2 (0.28%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 128 (17.63%) Agile
2 83 (11.43%) Software Engineering
3 77 (10.61%) DevOps
4 72 (9.92%) Problem-Solving
5 71 (9.78%) CI/CD
6 70 (9.64%) Continuous Improvement
7 60 (8.26%) Project Management
8 48 (6.61%) Cybersecurity
9 47 (6.47%) AI
10 45 (6.20%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 44 (6.06%) Mentoring
12 41 (5.65%) Risk Management
13 39 (5.37%) Decision-Making
13 39 (5.37%) Scrum
14 37 (5.10%) Process Improvement
15 36 (4.96%) Test Automation
16 35 (4.82%) Technical Leadership
17 32 (4.41%) Technology Strategy
18 31 (4.27%) Community of Practice
18 31 (4.27%) Infrastructure as Code
Programming Languages
1 73 (10.06%) Python
2 49 (6.75%) Java
3 34 (4.68%) PowerShell
4 30 (4.13%) SQL
5 27 (3.72%) JavaScript
6 22 (3.03%) C++
6 22 (3.03%) Perl
7 17 (2.34%) VBA
8 16 (2.20%) C
8 16 (2.20%) C#
9 12 (1.65%) Rust
10 10 (1.38%) Bash
11 9 (1.24%) Apex Code
11 9 (1.24%) PL/SQL
12 8 (1.10%) Shell Script
13 7 (0.96%) TypeScript
14 6 (0.83%) Groovy
15 5 (0.69%) Ladder Logic
16 3 (0.41%) MATLAB
16 3 (0.41%) Pascal
Qualifications
1 452 (62.26%) SC Cleared
2 284 (39.12%) DV Cleared
3 112 (15.43%) Degree
4 24 (3.31%) Master's Degree
5 16 (2.20%) HNC
6 13 (1.79%) APMP
6 13 (1.79%) CISSP
6 13 (1.79%) MBA
7 9 (1.24%) DBS Check
7 9 (1.24%) Microsoft Certification
8 8 (1.10%) BPSS Clearance
8 8 (1.10%) CISM
8 8 (1.10%) CRISC
9 7 (0.96%) Computer Science Degree
10 6 (0.83%) Azure Certification
10 6 (0.83%) CCNP
10 6 (0.83%) Cisco Certification
10 6 (0.83%) ISTQB
11 5 (0.69%) CHECK Team Member
11 5 (0.69%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (3.86%) SLA
2 20 (2.75%) GDPR
3 19 (2.62%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 18 (2.48%) QA
5 14 (1.93%) NCSC
5 14 (1.93%) NIST
6 13 (1.79%) Accessibility
7 10 (1.38%) GRC
8 9 (1.24%) PMO
9 7 (0.96%) WCAG
10 4 (0.55%) ISO 9001
10 4 (0.55%) JSP 440
10 4 (0.55%) NIST 800
10 4 (0.55%) PCI DSS
11 3 (0.41%) Def Stans
11 3 (0.41%) ISO/IEC 15288
12 2 (0.28%) Data Quality
12 2 (0.28%) ISO/IEC 20000
12 2 (0.28%) ISO/IEC 42001
12 2 (0.28%) RMADS
System Software
1 64 (8.82%) Active Directory
2 35 (4.82%) Docker
3 24 (3.31%) VMware NSX
4 19 (2.62%) Firmware
5 18 (2.48%) VMware Infrastructure
5 18 (2.48%) vSphere
6 4 (0.55%) Virtual Machines
7 3 (0.41%) Hyper-V
8 2 (0.28%) Terminal Server
9 1 (0.14%) Apache ZooKeeper
9 1 (0.14%) Oracle RAC
9 1 (0.14%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 41 (5.65%) Kubernetes
2 39 (5.37%) Terraform
3 36 (4.96%) Ansible
4 16 (2.20%) vCenter Server
5 10 (1.38%) SCCM
5 10 (1.38%) SCOM
5 10 (1.38%) vRealize
6 8 (1.10%) Grafana
6 8 (1.10%) Nessus
6 8 (1.10%) Prometheus
7 7 (0.96%) Endace
7 7 (0.96%) Kibana
8 4 (0.55%) Packer
8 4 (0.55%) WSUS
9 3 (0.41%) Nagios
9 3 (0.41%) QRadar
9 3 (0.41%) ZABBIX
10 2 (0.28%) SCSM
11 1 (0.14%) AirWatch
11 1 (0.14%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 92 (12.67%) Microsoft
2 67 (9.23%) VMware
3 41 (5.65%) Oracle
4 39 (5.37%) Cisco
5 27 (3.72%) Juniper
6 17 (2.34%) Splunk
7 16 (2.20%) Salesforce
8 14 (1.93%) Google
8 14 (1.93%) SolarWinds
9 12 (1.65%) Red Hat
10 11 (1.52%) CheckPoint
10 11 (1.52%) McAfee
11 9 (1.24%) AppDynamics
11 9 (1.24%) Black Duck
11 9 (1.24%) Broadcom
11 9 (1.24%) Citrix
11 9 (1.24%) Coverity
11 9 (1.24%) IBM
11 9 (1.24%) Palo Alto
11 9 (1.24%) ServiceNow