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 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 20 12 11
Rank change year-on-year -8 -1 +4
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 966 842 1,852
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 6.14% 9.78% 10.90%
As % of the Qualifications category 29.06% 23.16% 34.67%
Number of salaries quoted 716 524 1,328
10th Percentile £41,110 £38,500 £35,000
25th Percentile £53,688 £47,500 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +16.67% +9.09% +7.11%
75th Percentile £85,000 £78,750 £70,000
90th Percentile £97,500 £87,500 £85,000
England median annual salary £70,000 £62,500 £57,500
% change year-on-year +12.00% +8.70% -4.17%

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 3,324 3,636 5,342
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 21.14% 42.22% 31.45%
Number of salaries quoted 1,942 1,622 3,458
10th Percentile £30,000 £31,250 £31,000
25th Percentile £41,296 £37,500 £39,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £52,000 £51,020
Median % change year-on-year +15.38% +1.92% -2.82%
75th Percentile £75,000 £70,000 £67,500
90th Percentile £90,000 £82,500 £82,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £54,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% +1.85% -10.00%

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 15 July 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 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Hampshire -4 466 £75,000 +20.00% 262
Thames Valley +30 332 £67,500 +17.39% 188
Berkshire +20 224 £68,750 +13.17% 111
Surrey -8 97 £58,652 +46.63% 77
Buckinghamshire +30 87 £52,500 - 51
West Sussex -4 30 £35,000 -6.67% 20
Oxfordshire -14 21 £82,500 +65.00% 30
Kent -35 18 £52,500 -4.55% 23
Sussex +2 13 £85,000 +61.90% 14
East Sussex -14 4 £70,000 +40.00% 8
Middlesex +43 2 £65,000 -
Home Counties - 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 19 (1.97%) SharePoint
2 7 (0.72%) Confluence
2 7 (0.72%) SAS
3 5 (0.52%) Apache
4 4 (0.41%) Microsoft Exchange
5 2 (0.21%) IIS
5 2 (0.21%) nginx
6 1 (0.10%) Apache Airflow
6 1 (0.10%) Apache Qpid
6 1 (0.10%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.10%) Oracle SOA Suite
6 1 (0.10%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 24 (2.48%) Microsoft Excel
2 16 (1.66%) Microsoft Office
3 13 (1.35%) Simulink
4 2 (0.21%) Lectora
4 2 (0.21%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 1 (0.10%) Primavera
1 1 (0.10%) Remedy ITSM
1 1 (0.10%) SAP MDG
1 1 (0.10%) SAP MM
1 1 (0.10%) SAP S/4HANA
1 1 (0.10%) Siebel CRM
1 1 (0.10%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 138 (14.29%) Azure
2 80 (8.28%) AWS
3 49 (5.07%) Microsoft 365
4 36 (3.73%) GCP
5 22 (2.28%) Serverless
6 21 (2.17%) Entra ID
7 19 (1.97%) Power Platform
8 16 (1.66%) OpenShift
9 15 (1.55%) Amazon EKS
9 15 (1.55%) Azure DevOps
9 15 (1.55%) GitHub
10 12 (1.24%) GitHub Actions
10 12 (1.24%) PowerApps
11 11 (1.14%) Amazon EC2
11 11 (1.14%) Azure AKS
12 10 (1.04%) Azure Sentinel
12 10 (1.04%) Azure Stack
13 7 (0.72%) AWS Lambda
14 6 (0.62%) Amazon ECS
14 6 (0.62%) Amazon S3
Communications & Networking
1 89 (9.21%) Firewall
2 61 (6.31%) DNS
3 56 (5.80%) WAN
4 44 (4.55%) LAN
5 37 (3.83%) VPN
6 32 (3.31%) TCP/IP
7 23 (2.38%) BGP
8 18 (1.86%) Network Security
9 17 (1.76%) HTTP
10 15 (1.55%) ATM
11 14 (1.45%) Structured Cabling
12 12 (1.24%) MQTT
12 12 (1.24%) OSPF
13 11 (1.14%) NetScaler
13 11 (1.14%) VLAN
14 10 (1.04%) MPLS
14 10 (1.04%) NGFW
14 10 (1.04%) SSL
14 10 (1.04%) VoIP
15 9 (0.93%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 21 (2.17%) PostgreSQL
2 19 (1.97%) Power BI
3 12 (1.24%) Relational Database
4 11 (1.14%) SQL Server
5 7 (0.72%) MySQL
6 5 (0.52%) Oracle Database
6 5 (0.52%) Redis
7 4 (0.41%) GIS
8 3 (0.31%) Elasticsearch
8 3 (0.31%) Metadata
9 2 (0.21%) MongoDB
9 2 (0.21%) Oracle Database 11g
9 2 (0.21%) Oracle Database 12c
10 1 (0.10%) Big Data
10 1 (0.10%) Data Lake
10 1 (0.10%) Data Warehouse
10 1 (0.10%) NoSQL
10 1 (0.10%) SAS Visual Analytics
10 1 (0.10%) Siebel EIM
10 1 (0.10%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 66 (6.83%) Git
2 54 (5.59%) GitLab
3 24 (2.48%) Jenkins
4 23 (2.38%) JIRA
5 16 (1.66%) Visual Studio Code
6 11 (1.14%) SonarQube
7 6 (0.62%) Artifactory
7 6 (0.62%) JUnit
8 5 (0.52%) Cucumber
8 5 (0.52%) Selenium
9 4 (0.41%) Atlassian Bamboo
9 4 (0.41%) Bitbucket
9 4 (0.41%) Rational DOORS
10 3 (0.31%) Android Studio
10 3 (0.31%) JMeter
11 2 (0.21%) Cypress.io
11 2 (0.21%) Mockito
11 2 (0.21%) MSTest
11 2 (0.21%) Subversion
11 2 (0.21%) Visual Studio
General
1 196 (20.29%) Social Skills
2 92 (9.52%) Finance
3 75 (7.76%) Public Sector
4 71 (7.35%) Analytical Skills
5 42 (4.35%) Electronics
6 37 (3.83%) Aerospace
7 32 (3.31%) Military
8 23 (2.38%) Aviation
8 23 (2.38%) Organisational Skills
9 21 (2.17%) Telecoms
10 19 (1.97%) Manufacturing
11 18 (1.86%) Documentation Skills
12 14 (1.45%) Games
13 13 (1.35%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 13 (1.35%) Law
14 12 (1.24%) Banking
15 10 (1.04%) Aeronautics
16 8 (0.83%) Advertising
17 7 (0.72%) Influencing Skills
18 5 (0.52%) Retail
Job Titles
1 148 (15.32%) Senior
2 134 (13.87%) Architect
3 109 (11.28%) Software Engineer
4 66 (6.83%) Developer
5 63 (6.52%) Analyst
6 48 (4.97%) Lead
6 48 (4.97%) Security Architect
7 38 (3.93%) Systems Engineer
8 37 (3.83%) Consultant
9 36 (3.73%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 36 (3.73%) Network Engineer
9 36 (3.73%) Senior Software Engineer
10 35 (3.62%) Applications Architect
11 32 (3.31%) Data Engineer
12 30 (3.11%) Azure Engineer
13 27 (2.80%) Java Developer
14 26 (2.69%) SOC Analyst
15 25 (2.59%) Security Engineer
16 23 (2.38%) Solutions Architect
16 23 (2.38%) Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (2.69%) .NET
2 25 (2.59%) React
3 23 (2.38%) LDAP
3 23 (2.38%) Regular Expression
4 19 (1.97%) REST
4 19 (1.97%) XMPP
5 16 (1.66%) Kafka
6 15 (1.55%) JSON
7 14 (1.45%) Spring
8 12 (1.24%) Elastic Stack
9 10 (1.04%) ARM Templates
10 9 (0.93%) XML
11 8 (0.83%) RabbitMQ
11 8 (0.83%) Spring Boot
11 8 (0.83%) Web Services
11 8 (0.83%) YAML
12 7 (0.72%) JSON Schema
12 7 (0.72%) SOAP
13 6 (0.62%) HTML
13 6 (0.62%) Middleware
Miscellaneous
1 32 (3.31%) Product Ownership
2 31 (3.21%) Algorithms
3 29 (3.00%) Driving Licence
4 27 (2.80%) Data Centre
5 24 (2.48%) Cloud Native
5 24 (2.48%) Onboarding
6 22 (2.28%) FPGA
6 22 (2.28%) PKI
7 20 (2.07%) Self-Motivation
8 19 (1.97%) Cyber Threat
8 19 (1.97%) Embedded Systems
9 18 (1.86%) Cyber Defence
9 18 (1.86%) Robotics
10 16 (1.66%) Security Operations Centre
11 15 (1.55%) Analytical Mindset
12 12 (1.24%) Distributed Systems
12 12 (1.24%) Management Information System
13 11 (1.14%) Hybrid Cloud
14 10 (1.04%) Data Structures
15 9 (0.93%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 166 (17.18%) Linux
2 120 (12.42%) Windows
3 74 (7.66%) Windows Server
4 34 (3.52%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 17 (1.76%) Ubuntu
6 14 (1.45%) CentOS
7 11 (1.14%) Windows Server 2016
8 8 (0.83%) Windows Server 2019
9 6 (0.62%) Android
10 4 (0.41%) Debian
10 4 (0.41%) Unix
11 3 (0.31%) AIX
12 2 (0.21%) Windows 10
13 1 (0.10%) Mac OS
13 1 (0.10%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 156 (16.15%) Agile
2 144 (14.91%) Software Engineering
3 115 (11.90%) CI/CD
4 109 (11.28%) Cybersecurity
5 102 (10.56%) DevOps
6 99 (10.25%) Continuous Improvement
7 96 (9.94%) Problem-Solving
8 67 (6.94%) SIEM
9 62 (6.42%) Decision-Making
10 60 (6.21%) ITIL
11 57 (5.90%) AI
11 57 (5.90%) Containerisation
12 56 (5.80%) Mentoring
12 56 (5.80%) Validation
13 53 (5.49%) Infrastructure Engineering
13 53 (5.49%) Platform Engineering
14 52 (5.38%) Infrastructure as Code
15 47 (4.87%) Scrum
15 47 (4.87%) Stakeholder Management
16 46 (4.76%) Computer Science
Programming Languages
1 153 (15.84%) Python
2 71 (7.35%) C++
3 59 (6.11%) Java
4 44 (4.55%) C
5 43 (4.45%) PowerShell
6 39 (4.04%) C#
7 34 (3.52%) SQL
8 30 (3.11%) Bash
9 25 (2.59%) JavaScript
10 23 (2.38%) Rust
11 19 (1.97%) TypeScript
12 18 (1.86%) MATLAB
13 14 (1.45%) Embedded C
13 14 (1.45%) Embedded C++
14 13 (1.35%) Shell Script
15 12 (1.24%) PHP
15 12 (1.24%) VBA
16 11 (1.14%) Go
16 11 (1.14%) PL/SQL
17 8 (0.83%) Ada
Qualifications
1 625 (64.70%) SC Cleared
2 349 (36.13%) DV Cleared
3 142 (14.70%) Degree
4 27 (2.80%) HNC
5 25 (2.59%) BPSS Clearance
5 25 (2.59%) Cisco Certification
5 25 (2.59%) Master's Degree
6 24 (2.48%) CISSP
7 16 (1.66%) CCNP
8 15 (1.55%) Computer Science Degree
9 14 (1.45%) CompTIA Security+
9 14 (1.45%) CREST Certified
9 14 (1.45%) GIAC
10 13 (1.35%) CRISC
11 12 (1.24%) OSCP
12 11 (1.14%) CCNA
13 10 (1.04%) CISM
13 10 (1.04%) GCIA
14 8 (0.83%) GCIH
14 8 (0.83%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (2.90%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 22 (2.28%) NCSC
3 21 (2.17%) SLA
4 15 (1.55%) NIST
4 15 (1.55%) QA
5 14 (1.45%) GDPR
5 14 (1.45%) ISO 9001
6 11 (1.14%) PMO
7 9 (0.93%) Def Stans
7 9 (0.93%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 6 (0.62%) Accessibility
9 5 (0.52%) NEBOSH
10 4 (0.41%) Cyber Essentials
10 4 (0.41%) JSP 440
10 4 (0.41%) MISRA
11 3 (0.31%) GRC
11 3 (0.31%) ISO 22301
11 3 (0.31%) NIST 800
11 3 (0.31%) PCI DSS
12 2 (0.21%) COSO
System Software
1 71 (7.35%) Docker
2 58 (6.00%) Active Directory
3 35 (3.62%) vSphere
4 24 (2.48%) Firmware
5 18 (1.86%) VMware Infrastructure
6 13 (1.35%) VMware NSX
7 12 (1.24%) Virtual Machines
8 7 (0.72%) VMware ESXi
9 6 (0.62%) Hyper-V
10 5 (0.52%) Embedded Firmware
11 2 (0.21%) Squid
11 2 (0.21%) UAG
12 1 (0.10%) Oracle RAC
12 1 (0.10%) Terminal Server
12 1 (0.10%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 85 (8.80%) Kubernetes
2 65 (6.73%) Terraform
3 54 (5.59%) Ansible
4 15 (1.55%) Grafana
4 15 (1.55%) Prometheus
5 14 (1.45%) Kibana
6 12 (1.24%) Microsoft Intune
7 10 (1.04%) vCenter Server
8 9 (0.93%) Podman
9 8 (0.83%) Nessus
10 7 (0.72%) Nagios
10 7 (0.72%) Puppet
11 6 (0.62%) Graylog
11 6 (0.62%) QRadar
12 5 (0.52%) Argo
12 5 (0.52%) Docker Swarm
12 5 (0.52%) Endace
12 5 (0.52%) Kustomize
12 5 (0.52%) Packer
12 5 (0.52%) vRealize
Vendors
1 125 (12.94%) Microsoft
2 65 (6.73%) VMware
3 36 (3.73%) Cisco
4 31 (3.21%) Red Hat
4 31 (3.21%) Splunk
5 29 (3.00%) Oracle
6 23 (2.38%) ServiceNow
7 16 (1.66%) McAfee
8 14 (1.45%) Google
9 12 (1.24%) Citrix
10 11 (1.14%) Palo Alto
10 11 (1.14%) Tenable
11 10 (1.04%) IBM
11 10 (1.04%) NVIDIA
12 9 (0.93%) AppDynamics
12 9 (0.93%) EMC
12 9 (0.93%) Juniper
13 8 (0.83%) CrowdStrike
13 8 (0.83%) LogRhythm
13 8 (0.83%) NetApp