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 20 July 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
20 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 20 12 11
Rank change year-on-year -8 -1 +2
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 984 847 1,769
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 6.18% 9.80% 11.01%
As % of the Qualifications category 29.47% 23.59% 34.92%
Number of salaries quoted 735 519 1,253
10th Percentile £40,400 £38,500 £36,050
25th Percentile £52,625 £47,000 £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 £62,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year +12.90% +7.83% -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 3,339 3,591 5,066
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 20.99% 41.56% 31.52%
Number of salaries quoted 1,975 1,623 3,221
10th Percentile £30,000 £31,250 £31,250
25th Percentile £41,875 £37,500 £39,380
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £52,500 £52,000
Median % change year-on-year +14.29% +0.96% -0.95%
75th Percentile £76,125 £70,000 £67,500
90th Percentile £90,000 £82,500 £82,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% - -8.33%

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 20 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 20 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 -4 478 £75,000 +20.00% 182
Thames Valley +29 326 £67,500 +22.73% 119
Berkshire +21 213 £70,000 +16.67% 66
Surrey -4 106 £55,000 +37.50% 46
Buckinghamshire +39 92 £53,750 +2.38% 40
West Sussex -9 30 £35,000 -6.67% 13
Oxfordshire -16 21 £82,500 +59.42% 16
Kent -28 18 £52,500 -4.55% 8
Sussex +2 13 £85,000 +61.90% 6
East Sussex -15 5 £70,000 +40.00%
Middlesex +40 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 17 (1.73%) SharePoint
2 7 (0.71%) Apache
2 7 (0.71%) Confluence
2 7 (0.71%) SAS
3 3 (0.30%) IIS
3 3 (0.30%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (0.30%) nginx
4 1 (0.10%) Apache Airflow
4 1 (0.10%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.10%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 25 (2.54%) Microsoft Excel
2 17 (1.73%) Microsoft Office
3 14 (1.42%) Simulink
4 3 (0.30%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.20%) Lectora
6 1 (0.10%) Mathcad
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
1 148 (15.04%) Azure
2 86 (8.74%) AWS
3 50 (5.08%) Microsoft 365
4 36 (3.66%) GCP
5 23 (2.34%) Entra ID
6 22 (2.24%) Serverless
7 19 (1.93%) Power Platform
8 16 (1.63%) OpenShift
9 15 (1.52%) Azure DevOps
9 15 (1.52%) GitHub
10 14 (1.42%) Amazon EKS
11 12 (1.22%) GitHub Actions
12 11 (1.12%) Azure AKS
12 11 (1.12%) Azure Sentinel
12 11 (1.12%) PowerApps
13 10 (1.02%) Amazon EC2
13 10 (1.02%) Azure Stack
14 7 (0.71%) AWS Lambda
15 6 (0.61%) Amazon ECS
15 6 (0.61%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 99 (10.06%) Firewall
2 65 (6.61%) DNS
3 59 (6.00%) WAN
4 47 (4.78%) LAN
5 39 (3.96%) VPN
6 37 (3.76%) TCP/IP
7 23 (2.34%) BGP
8 22 (2.24%) Network Security
9 18 (1.83%) HTTP
10 16 (1.63%) ATM
11 13 (1.32%) VoIP
12 12 (1.22%) MQTT
12 12 (1.22%) NGFW
12 12 (1.22%) OSPF
12 12 (1.22%) VLAN
13 11 (1.12%) NetScaler
14 10 (1.02%) Cisco Firepower
14 10 (1.02%) MPLS
14 10 (1.02%) SD-WAN
14 10 (1.02%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 21 (2.13%) PostgreSQL
2 19 (1.93%) Power BI
3 12 (1.22%) Relational Database
4 11 (1.12%) SQL Server
5 8 (0.81%) MySQL
6 4 (0.41%) Elasticsearch
6 4 (0.41%) GIS
6 4 (0.41%) Oracle Database
6 4 (0.41%) Redis
7 3 (0.30%) Metadata
8 2 (0.20%) MongoDB
8 2 (0.20%) Oracle Database 11g
8 2 (0.20%) Oracle Database 12c
9 1 (0.10%) Big Data
9 1 (0.10%) Data Lake
9 1 (0.10%) Data Warehouse
9 1 (0.10%) NoSQL
9 1 (0.10%) SAS Visual Analytics
9 1 (0.10%) Siebel EIM
9 1 (0.10%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 65 (6.61%) Git
2 53 (5.39%) GitLab
3 23 (2.34%) Jenkins
4 22 (2.24%) JIRA
5 16 (1.63%) Visual Studio Code
6 11 (1.12%) SonarQube
7 6 (0.61%) Artifactory
7 6 (0.61%) Rational DOORS
8 5 (0.51%) Cucumber
8 5 (0.51%) JUnit
9 4 (0.41%) Atlassian Bamboo
9 4 (0.41%) Bitbucket
9 4 (0.41%) JMeter
9 4 (0.41%) Selenium
10 3 (0.30%) Android Studio
11 2 (0.20%) Cypress.io
11 2 (0.20%) Mockito
11 2 (0.20%) MSTest
11 2 (0.20%) Visual Studio
12 1 (0.10%) TestDirector
General
1 196 (19.92%) Social Skills
2 88 (8.94%) Finance
3 78 (7.93%) Analytical Skills
4 76 (7.72%) Public Sector
5 45 (4.57%) Electronics
6 39 (3.96%) Aerospace
7 31 (3.15%) Military
8 24 (2.44%) Organisational Skills
9 23 (2.34%) Aviation
10 21 (2.13%) Telecoms
11 20 (2.03%) Manufacturing
12 19 (1.93%) Documentation Skills
13 18 (1.83%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 14 (1.42%) Law
15 12 (1.22%) Games
16 10 (1.02%) Aeronautics
16 10 (1.02%) Banking
17 8 (0.81%) Advertising
18 7 (0.71%) Influencing Skills
19 6 (0.61%) Retail
Job Titles
1 150 (15.24%) Senior
2 137 (13.92%) Architect
3 114 (11.59%) Software Engineer
4 66 (6.71%) Developer
5 64 (6.50%) Analyst
6 49 (4.98%) Security Architect
7 48 (4.88%) Lead
8 41 (4.17%) Systems Engineer
9 37 (3.76%) Consultant
10 36 (3.66%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 36 (3.66%) Network Engineer
10 36 (3.66%) Senior Software Engineer
11 35 (3.56%) Applications Architect
12 30 (3.05%) Azure Engineer
12 30 (3.05%) Data Engineer
13 27 (2.74%) Security Engineer
14 26 (2.64%) Java Developer
15 25 (2.54%) Support Engineer
16 24 (2.44%) SOC Analyst
17 23 (2.34%) IT Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (2.64%) .NET
2 24 (2.44%) React
3 23 (2.34%) LDAP
3 23 (2.34%) Regular Expression
4 19 (1.93%) XMPP
5 18 (1.83%) REST
6 15 (1.52%) Kafka
7 14 (1.42%) JSON
7 14 (1.42%) Spring
8 12 (1.22%) Elastic Stack
9 10 (1.02%) ARM Templates
10 9 (0.91%) Web Services
10 9 (0.91%) XML
11 8 (0.81%) RabbitMQ
11 8 (0.81%) Spring Boot
11 8 (0.81%) YAML
12 7 (0.71%) JSON Schema
13 6 (0.61%) JPA
13 6 (0.61%) Middleware
13 6 (0.61%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 31 (3.15%) Algorithms
1 31 (3.15%) Product Ownership
2 29 (2.95%) Driving Licence
3 28 (2.85%) Data Centre
4 25 (2.54%) Onboarding
5 24 (2.44%) Cloud Native
6 22 (2.24%) FPGA
6 22 (2.24%) PKI
7 21 (2.13%) Cyber Threat
8 20 (2.03%) Self-Motivation
9 19 (1.93%) Embedded Systems
9 19 (1.93%) Robotics
10 18 (1.83%) Cyber Defence
11 17 (1.73%) Analytical Mindset
11 17 (1.73%) Security Operations Centre
12 13 (1.32%) Distributed Systems
12 13 (1.32%) Hybrid Cloud
12 13 (1.32%) Management Information System
13 10 (1.02%) Data Structures
14 9 (0.91%) Private Cloud
Operating Systems
1 174 (17.68%) Linux
2 126 (12.80%) Windows
3 77 (7.83%) Windows Server
4 34 (3.46%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 19 (1.93%) Ubuntu
6 16 (1.63%) CentOS
7 11 (1.12%) Windows Server 2016
8 7 (0.71%) Windows Server 2019
9 6 (0.61%) Android
10 4 (0.41%) Debian
10 4 (0.41%) Unix
10 4 (0.41%) Windows 10
11 3 (0.30%) AIX
12 2 (0.20%) Mac OS
13 1 (0.10%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 158 (16.06%) Agile
2 150 (15.24%) Software Engineering
3 115 (11.69%) CI/CD
4 113 (11.48%) Cybersecurity
5 105 (10.67%) DevOps
6 103 (10.47%) Continuous Improvement
6 103 (10.47%) Problem-Solving
7 69 (7.01%) SIEM
8 62 (6.30%) Decision-Making
8 62 (6.30%) ITIL
9 61 (6.20%) Validation
10 58 (5.89%) AI
10 58 (5.89%) Mentoring
11 55 (5.59%) Containerisation
12 53 (5.39%) Platform Engineering
13 52 (5.28%) Infrastructure as Code
13 52 (5.28%) Infrastructure Engineering
13 52 (5.28%) Stakeholder Management
14 48 (4.88%) Computer Science
15 47 (4.78%) Scrum
Programming Languages
1 155 (15.75%) Python
2 74 (7.52%) C++
3 58 (5.89%) Java
4 45 (4.57%) C
5 44 (4.47%) PowerShell
6 40 (4.07%) C#
7 32 (3.25%) Bash
7 32 (3.25%) SQL
8 25 (2.54%) JavaScript
9 22 (2.24%) Rust
10 19 (1.93%) MATLAB
10 19 (1.93%) TypeScript
11 14 (1.42%) Embedded C
11 14 (1.42%) Embedded C++
12 13 (1.32%) Shell Script
13 12 (1.22%) PHP
14 11 (1.12%) Go
14 11 (1.12%) PL/SQL
14 11 (1.12%) VBA
15 9 (0.91%) Ada
Qualifications
1 641 (65.14%) SC Cleared
2 352 (35.77%) DV Cleared
3 144 (14.63%) Degree
4 28 (2.85%) Cisco Certification
4 28 (2.85%) HNC
5 26 (2.64%) BPSS Clearance
6 24 (2.44%) CISSP
6 24 (2.44%) Master's Degree
7 18 (1.83%) CCNP
8 15 (1.52%) CompTIA Security+
8 15 (1.52%) Computer Science Degree
8 15 (1.52%) GIAC
9 14 (1.42%) CREST Certified
10 12 (1.22%) CCNA
10 12 (1.22%) CRISC
10 12 (1.22%) OSCP
11 11 (1.12%) GCIA
12 9 (0.91%) CISM
12 9 (0.91%) Microsoft Certification
13 8 (0.81%) HND
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 25 (2.54%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 22 (2.24%) NCSC
3 21 (2.13%) SLA
4 18 (1.83%) QA
5 14 (1.42%) NIST
6 13 (1.32%) GDPR
6 13 (1.32%) ISO 9001
7 11 (1.12%) PMO
8 9 (0.91%) Def Stans
8 9 (0.91%) ISO/IEC 20000
9 7 (0.71%) Accessibility
10 5 (0.51%) NEBOSH
11 4 (0.41%) JSP 440
11 4 (0.41%) MISRA
12 3 (0.30%) Cyber Essentials
12 3 (0.30%) GRC
12 3 (0.30%) ISO 22301
12 3 (0.30%) NIST 800
13 2 (0.20%) ISO/IEC 15288
13 2 (0.20%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 70 (7.11%) Docker
2 62 (6.30%) Active Directory
3 35 (3.56%) vSphere
4 23 (2.34%) Firmware
5 20 (2.03%) VMware Infrastructure
6 14 (1.42%) VMware NSX
7 11 (1.12%) Virtual Machines
8 9 (0.91%) VMware ESXi
9 6 (0.61%) Hyper-V
10 5 (0.51%) Embedded Firmware
11 3 (0.30%) Squid
12 2 (0.20%) UAG
13 1 (0.10%) Oracle RAC
13 1 (0.10%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 84 (8.54%) Kubernetes
2 65 (6.61%) Terraform
3 54 (5.49%) Ansible
4 16 (1.63%) Grafana
5 15 (1.52%) Kibana
5 15 (1.52%) Prometheus
6 13 (1.32%) Microsoft Intune
7 10 (1.02%) vCenter Server
8 9 (0.91%) Podman
9 8 (0.81%) Nessus
10 7 (0.71%) Nagios
10 7 (0.71%) Puppet
11 6 (0.61%) Graylog
12 5 (0.51%) Argo
12 5 (0.51%) Docker Swarm
12 5 (0.51%) Endace
12 5 (0.51%) Kustomize
12 5 (0.51%) Packer
12 5 (0.51%) QRadar
13 4 (0.41%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 131 (13.31%) Microsoft
2 68 (6.91%) VMware
3 41 (4.17%) Cisco
4 32 (3.25%) Splunk
5 31 (3.15%) Red Hat
6 28 (2.85%) Oracle
7 23 (2.34%) ServiceNow
8 15 (1.52%) McAfee
9 14 (1.42%) Google
10 13 (1.32%) Palo Alto
11 12 (1.22%) Citrix
12 11 (1.12%) IBM
12 11 (1.12%) Tenable
13 10 (1.02%) AppDynamics
13 10 (1.02%) Juniper
13 10 (1.02%) NVIDIA
14 9 (0.91%) EMC
14 9 (0.91%) Fortinet
15 8 (0.81%) CrowdStrike
15 8 (0.81%) NetApp