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 19 March 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
19 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 26 11 11
Rank change year-on-year -15 0 +7
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 674 896 1,595
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 5.46% 12.73% 11.05%
As % of the Qualifications category 21.03% 26.17% 31.90%
Number of salaries quoted 445 640 1,262
10th Percentile £39,112 £41,700 £31,250
25th Percentile £50,025 £47,500 £42,200
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £58,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +12.07% +5.45% +14.43%
75th Percentile £77,500 £77,500 £67,500
90th Percentile £90,000 £85,000 £78,750
England median annual salary £65,000 £60,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year +8.33% +4.35% +1.81%

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 3,205 3,424 5,000
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 25.95% 48.64% 34.65%
Number of salaries quoted 1,440 1,553 3,401
10th Percentile £28,500 £32,500 £28,750
25th Percentile £37,917 £43,750 £36,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £53,750 £55,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year -2.27% +4.76% +5.00%
75th Percentile £71,250 £72,500 £67,500
90th Percentile £85,000 £85,000 £82,500
England median annual salary £57,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -5.00% +9.09% -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 19 March 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 19 March 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 -1 349 £65,000 +13.04% 166
Thames Valley +10 216 £60,000 - 161
Berkshire +11 136 £65,000 +8.33% 91
Surrey -23 61 £55,000 -8.33% 34
Buckinghamshire +2 56 £60,000 +4.04% 49
Oxfordshire +6 24 £65,000 +30.00% 24
West Sussex +2 20 £35,000 -10.26% 13
Kent -17 15 £39,000 -33.62% 15
Sussex - 10 £85,000 - 4
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 38 (5.64%) SharePoint
2 32 (4.75%) Microsoft Exchange
3 23 (3.41%) Exchange Server 2003
4 5 (0.74%) WordPress
5 3 (0.45%) Apache
5 3 (0.45%) Apache Airflow
5 3 (0.45%) Confluence
6 2 (0.30%) Appian
7 1 (0.15%) Apache Qpid
7 1 (0.15%) Camunda
7 1 (0.15%) IIS
7 1 (0.15%) Oracle SOA Suite
7 1 (0.15%) SAS
Applications
1 27 (4.01%) Microsoft Excel
1 27 (4.01%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (0.74%) Adobe XD
3 2 (0.30%) Adobe After Effects
3 2 (0.30%) Adobe Captivate
3 2 (0.30%) Adobe Creative Suite
3 2 (0.30%) Adobe Illustrator
3 2 (0.30%) Adobe Premiere
3 2 (0.30%) Elementor
3 2 (0.30%) Microsoft Project
3 2 (0.30%) Photoshop
4 1 (0.15%) CATIA
4 1 (0.15%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.15%) OrCAD
4 1 (0.15%) Simulink
Business Applications
1 3 (0.45%) SAP S/4HANA
2 1 (0.15%) Primavera
2 1 (0.15%) Q-Pulse
2 1 (0.15%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.15%) Salesforce CRM
2 1 (0.15%) SAP GTS
2 1 (0.15%) SAP HR
2 1 (0.15%) SAP Payroll
2 1 (0.15%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 72 (10.68%) Azure
2 58 (8.61%) AWS
3 36 (5.34%) Microsoft 365
4 27 (4.01%) Azure DevOps
5 25 (3.71%) Power Platform
6 22 (3.26%) GCP
7 17 (2.52%) Dynamics 365
8 16 (2.37%) PowerApps
9 11 (1.63%) Amazon EKS
10 9 (1.34%) GitHub
10 9 (1.34%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
10 9 (1.34%) Salesforce Service Cloud
11 7 (1.04%) Amazon EC2
11 7 (1.04%) OpenShift
11 7 (1.04%) Serverless
12 6 (0.89%) Amazon ECS
12 6 (0.89%) GitHub Actions
13 5 (0.74%) AWS CloudFormation
13 5 (0.74%) Entra ID
13 5 (0.74%) Figma
Communications & Networking
1 60 (8.90%) Firewall
2 59 (8.75%) DNS
3 33 (4.90%) DHCP
4 22 (3.26%) Structured Cabling
5 16 (2.37%) Cisco Firepower
5 16 (2.37%) WAN
6 15 (2.23%) VPN
7 14 (2.08%) Junos
8 13 (1.93%) Cisco ISE
9 12 (1.78%) BGP
10 11 (1.63%) Cisco IOS
11 10 (1.48%) LAN
12 9 (1.34%) Network Security
12 9 (1.34%) NX-OS
12 9 (1.34%) Wi-Fi
13 8 (1.19%) MPLS
14 7 (1.04%) NetScaler
14 7 (1.04%) SNMP
14 7 (1.04%) TCP/IP
15 6 (0.89%) Cisco ASA
Database & Business Intelligence
1 25 (3.71%) Oracle Database
2 24 (3.56%) Oracle Database 10g
3 18 (2.67%) Power BI
4 11 (1.63%) PostgreSQL
5 9 (1.34%) SQL Server
6 8 (1.19%) Relational Database
7 6 (0.89%) RDBMS
8 3 (0.45%) Data Mining
9 2 (0.30%) Airbyte
9 2 (0.30%) Big Data
9 2 (0.30%) MySQL
10 1 (0.15%) DynamoDB
10 1 (0.15%) Elasticsearch
10 1 (0.15%) Geospatial Data
10 1 (0.15%) MongoDB
10 1 (0.15%) NoSQL
10 1 (0.15%) Pinecone
10 1 (0.15%) Redis
10 1 (0.15%) SAP Data Services
10 1 (0.15%) Weaviate
Development Applications
1 29 (4.30%) Git
2 27 (4.01%) GitLab
3 21 (3.12%) Jenkins
4 20 (2.97%) Selenium
5 18 (2.67%) Robot Framework
6 16 (2.37%) JIRA
6 16 (2.37%) Snyk
7 8 (1.19%) JUnit
8 7 (1.04%) Mockito
9 6 (0.89%) Atlassian Bamboo
9 6 (0.89%) JMeter
9 6 (0.89%) Subversion
10 5 (0.74%) Axure RP
10 5 (0.74%) Balsamiq
11 3 (0.45%) Cypress.io
12 2 (0.30%) Artifactory
12 2 (0.30%) Rational DOORS
12 2 (0.30%) TestRail
12 2 (0.30%) Visual Studio
12 2 (0.30%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 177 (26.26%) Social Skills
2 82 (12.17%) Analytical Skills
3 61 (9.05%) Public Sector
4 53 (7.86%) Finance
5 28 (4.15%) Aeronautics
5 28 (4.15%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 28 (4.15%) Law
6 22 (3.26%) Manufacturing
7 16 (2.37%) Aerospace
7 16 (2.37%) Telecoms
8 12 (1.78%) Marketing
8 12 (1.78%) Military
9 11 (1.63%) Electronics
10 10 (1.48%) Banking
10 10 (1.48%) Documentation Skills
11 9 (1.34%) Legal
11 9 (1.34%) Organisational Skills
12 8 (1.19%) Games
12 8 (1.19%) Influencing Skills
13 7 (1.04%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 97 (14.39%) Architect
2 80 (11.87%) Senior
3 60 (8.90%) Lead
4 48 (7.12%) Developer
5 37 (5.49%) Consultant
6 35 (5.19%) Systems Engineer
7 34 (5.04%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 33 (4.90%) Analyst
9 31 (4.60%) Software Engineer
10 29 (4.30%) Business Manager
10 29 (4.30%) Network Engineer
10 29 (4.30%) Support Engineer
10 29 (4.30%) Systems Support
11 27 (4.01%) Business Systems Manager
11 27 (4.01%) Systems Manager
12 24 (3.56%) 3rd Line Support
13 23 (3.41%) Data Engineer
14 18 (2.67%) Applications Architect
15 17 (2.52%) Cloud Engineer
16 16 (2.37%) Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 20 (2.97%) REST
2 18 (2.67%) .NET
3 14 (2.08%) HTML
4 13 (1.93%) SOAP
4 13 (1.93%) XML
5 12 (1.78%) JSON
6 10 (1.48%) Middleware
6 10 (1.48%) Spring
7 9 (1.34%) Kafka
7 9 (1.34%) Lightning Web Components
7 9 (1.34%) React
7 9 (1.34%) Visualforce
8 8 (1.19%) Spring Boot
8 8 (1.19%) Web Services
9 7 (1.04%) Hibernate
9 7 (1.04%) Regular Expression
10 6 (0.89%) ActiveMQ
10 6 (0.89%) Apache Camel
10 6 (0.89%) jQuery
10 6 (0.89%) WireMock
Miscellaneous
1 29 (4.30%) Robotics
2 28 (4.15%) Product Ownership
3 26 (3.86%) PKI
4 16 (2.37%) Data Centre
5 15 (2.23%) Cloud Native
6 14 (2.08%) Security Posture
7 12 (1.78%) Driving Licence
8 11 (1.63%) Onboarding
9 10 (1.48%) Distributed Systems
10 9 (1.34%) Self-Motivation
11 8 (1.19%) Security Operations Centre
12 7 (1.04%) Fibre Optics
12 7 (1.04%) FPGA
13 6 (0.89%) Enterprise Software
14 5 (0.74%) Algorithms
14 5 (0.74%) Cloud Security Posture
14 5 (0.74%) Embedded Systems
14 5 (0.74%) Management Information System
15 4 (0.59%) e-Learning
15 4 (0.59%) Low-Code
Operating Systems
1 120 (17.80%) Windows
2 70 (10.39%) Linux
3 61 (9.05%) Windows Server
4 26 (3.86%) Unix
5 24 (3.56%) HPUX
5 24 (3.56%) Solaris
6 23 (3.41%) Windows 7
6 23 (3.41%) Windows Server 2003
7 22 (3.26%) Windows Server 2008
8 13 (1.93%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 10 (1.48%) Windows Server 2016
10 8 (1.19%) Android
11 6 (0.89%) Ubuntu
12 5 (0.74%) CentOS
13 4 (0.59%) Apple iOS
13 4 (0.59%) Windows 10
13 4 (0.59%) Windows Server 2019
14 1 (0.15%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 127 (18.84%) Agile
2 75 (11.13%) Problem-Solving
3 72 (10.68%) Continuous Improvement
3 72 (10.68%) Software Engineering
4 71 (10.53%) CI/CD
5 68 (10.09%) DevOps
6 61 (9.05%) Project Management
7 50 (7.42%) Mentoring
8 44 (6.53%) AI
9 43 (6.38%) Infrastructure Engineering
10 41 (6.08%) Cybersecurity
11 39 (5.79%) Risk Management
12 37 (5.49%) Process Improvement
12 37 (5.49%) Scrum
12 37 (5.49%) Test Automation
13 35 (5.19%) Decision-Making
14 34 (5.04%) Technical Leadership
15 33 (4.90%) Infrastructure as Code
15 33 (4.90%) Service Management
16 29 (4.30%) Contract Negotiation
Programming Languages
1 69 (10.24%) Python
2 38 (5.64%) PowerShell
3 36 (5.34%) Java
4 31 (4.60%) JavaScript
5 24 (3.56%) SQL
6 22 (3.26%) Perl
7 18 (2.67%) C++
8 16 (2.37%) VBA
9 13 (1.93%) C
9 13 (1.93%) Rust
10 12 (1.78%) C#
11 10 (1.48%) Bash
11 10 (1.48%) Shell Script
12 9 (1.34%) Apex Code
13 5 (0.74%) Ladder Logic
13 5 (0.74%) PL/SQL
14 4 (0.59%) TypeScript
15 2 (0.30%) Go
15 2 (0.30%) Kotlin
15 2 (0.30%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 413 (61.28%) SC Cleared
2 277 (41.10%) DV Cleared
3 103 (15.28%) Degree
4 22 (3.26%) Master's Degree
5 16 (2.37%) HNC
6 14 (2.08%) APMP
6 14 (2.08%) MBA
7 12 (1.78%) CISSP
8 11 (1.63%) BPSS Clearance
9 10 (1.48%) Cisco Certification
9 10 (1.48%) Microsoft Certification
10 9 (1.34%) CCNA
10 9 (1.34%) DBS Check
11 8 (1.19%) CCNP
12 7 (1.04%) CISM
12 7 (1.04%) Computer Science Degree
12 7 (1.04%) CRISC
12 7 (1.04%) ISTQB
13 6 (0.89%) Azure Certification
14 5 (0.74%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (4.90%) SLA
2 20 (2.97%) GDPR
3 18 (2.67%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 13 (1.93%) NIST
5 12 (1.78%) QA
6 11 (1.63%) NCSC
7 10 (1.48%) Accessibility
8 9 (1.34%) GRC
9 7 (1.04%) PMO
10 5 (0.74%) WCAG
11 4 (0.59%) ISO 9001
11 4 (0.59%) PCI DSS
12 3 (0.45%) ISO/IEC 20000
12 3 (0.45%) JSP 440
12 3 (0.45%) NIST 800
13 2 (0.30%) Data Quality
13 2 (0.30%) ISO/IEC 15288
13 2 (0.30%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 2 (0.30%) RMADS
14 1 (0.15%) HIPAA
System Software
1 70 (10.39%) Active Directory
2 28 (4.15%) Docker
3 24 (3.56%) VMware NSX
4 22 (3.26%) VMware Infrastructure
5 17 (2.52%) Firmware
6 16 (2.37%) vSphere
7 6 (0.89%) VMware ESXi
8 3 (0.45%) Hyper-V
8 3 (0.45%) Virtual Machines
9 2 (0.30%) Terminal Server
10 1 (0.15%) Apache ZooKeeper
10 1 (0.15%) Oracle RAC
10 1 (0.15%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 36 (5.34%) Terraform
2 35 (5.19%) Kubernetes
3 32 (4.75%) Ansible
4 21 (3.12%) vCenter Server
5 10 (1.48%) SCCM
5 10 (1.48%) SCOM
6 9 (1.34%) Grafana
6 9 (1.34%) Prometheus
6 9 (1.34%) vRealize
7 7 (1.04%) Endace
7 7 (1.04%) Nessus
8 6 (0.89%) Kibana
9 5 (0.74%) ZABBIX
10 4 (0.59%) WSUS
11 3 (0.45%) Jamf Pro
11 3 (0.45%) Nagios
12 2 (0.30%) QRadar
12 2 (0.30%) SCSM
12 2 (0.30%) Sysdig
12 2 (0.30%) Tivoli
Vendors
1 91 (13.50%) Microsoft
2 74 (10.98%) VMware
3 45 (6.68%) Cisco
4 37 (5.49%) Oracle
5 33 (4.90%) Juniper
6 20 (2.97%) Splunk
7 19 (2.82%) Salesforce
8 16 (2.37%) Black Duck
8 16 (2.37%) Coverity
9 15 (2.23%) SolarWinds
10 13 (1.93%) Google
11 11 (1.63%) CheckPoint
11 11 (1.63%) SAP
12 10 (1.48%) ServiceNow
13 9 (1.34%) Broadcom
13 9 (1.34%) Palo Alto
14 8 (1.19%) F5
14 8 (1.19%) LogRhythm
14 8 (1.19%) McAfee
14 8 (1.19%) MuleSoft