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

6 months to
8 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 23 12 11
Rank change year-on-year -11 -1 +6
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 942 828 1,857
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 6.07% 9.88% 10.72%
As % of the Qualifications category 28.48% 22.88% 33.76%
Number of salaries quoted 703 523 1,338
10th Percentile £40,000 £38,500 £35,000
25th Percentile £52,563 £47,500 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +16.67% +9.09% +10.00%
75th Percentile £85,000 £78,750 £70,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £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 3,308 3,619 5,501
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 21.30% 43.18% 31.75%
Number of salaries quoted 1,930 1,603 3,537
10th Percentile £30,225 £31,250 £30,484
25th Percentile £41,250 £37,500 £38,603
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £52,000 £51,000
Median % change year-on-year +15.38% +1.96% -1.92%
75th Percentile £75,000 £68,875 £67,500
90th Percentile £90,000 £81,250 £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 8 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 8 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 -3 453 £75,000 +21.95% 251
Thames Valley +25 325 £67,500 +17.39% 158
Berkshire +15 219 £67,500 +12.50% 102
Surrey -3 89 £57,500 +43.75% 42
Buckinghamshire +33 86 £55,000 +4.76% 44
West Sussex -2 30 £35,000 -6.67% 10
Kent -29 22 £52,500 -4.55% 13
Oxfordshire -17 20 £82,500 +59.42% 18
Sussex +2 13 £85,000 +65.85% 2
East Sussex -12 4 £70,000 +40.00% 1
Middlesex +39 2 £65,000 - 1
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 24 (2.55%) SharePoint
2 7 (0.74%) Confluence
2 7 (0.74%) SAS
3 6 (0.64%) Apache
4 4 (0.42%) Microsoft Exchange
5 2 (0.21%) IIS
5 2 (0.21%) nginx
6 1 (0.11%) Apache Airflow
6 1 (0.11%) Apache Qpid
6 1 (0.11%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 24 (2.55%) Microsoft Excel
2 21 (2.23%) Microsoft Office
3 13 (1.38%) Simulink
4 2 (0.21%) Lectora
4 2 (0.21%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 1 (0.11%) Primavera
1 1 (0.11%) Remedy ITSM
1 1 (0.11%) SAP MDG
1 1 (0.11%) SAP MM
1 1 (0.11%) SAP S/4HANA
1 1 (0.11%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 139 (14.76%) Azure
2 81 (8.60%) AWS
3 53 (5.63%) Microsoft 365
4 39 (4.14%) GCP
5 22 (2.34%) Serverless
6 21 (2.23%) Entra ID
7 20 (2.12%) Power Platform
8 16 (1.70%) Amazon EKS
8 16 (1.70%) Azure DevOps
9 15 (1.59%) OpenShift
10 14 (1.49%) GitHub
11 13 (1.38%) PowerApps
12 12 (1.27%) Azure AKS
13 11 (1.17%) Amazon EC2
13 11 (1.17%) GitHub Actions
14 10 (1.06%) Azure Sentinel
15 9 (0.96%) Azure Stack
16 7 (0.74%) AWS Lambda
17 6 (0.64%) Amazon ECS
17 6 (0.64%) Amazon S3
Communications & Networking
1 94 (9.98%) Firewall
2 66 (7.01%) DNS
3 53 (5.63%) WAN
4 41 (4.35%) LAN
5 37 (3.93%) VPN
6 31 (3.29%) TCP/IP
7 25 (2.65%) BGP
8 18 (1.91%) Network Security
9 17 (1.80%) HTTP
10 14 (1.49%) Structured Cabling
11 13 (1.38%) ATM
12 12 (1.27%) MQTT
12 12 (1.27%) OSPF
13 11 (1.17%) DHCP
13 11 (1.17%) NetScaler
14 10 (1.06%) MPLS
14 10 (1.06%) NGFW
14 10 (1.06%) SSL
15 9 (0.96%) Internet
15 9 (0.96%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 21 (2.23%) PostgreSQL
2 19 (2.02%) Power BI
3 12 (1.27%) Relational Database
4 11 (1.17%) SQL Server
5 7 (0.74%) MySQL
6 5 (0.53%) Oracle Database
6 5 (0.53%) Redis
7 4 (0.42%) GIS
8 3 (0.32%) Elasticsearch
8 3 (0.32%) MongoDB
9 2 (0.21%) Metadata
9 2 (0.21%) NoSQL
9 2 (0.21%) Oracle Database 11g
9 2 (0.21%) Oracle Database 12c
10 1 (0.11%) Big Data
10 1 (0.11%) Data Lake
10 1 (0.11%) Data Warehouse
10 1 (0.11%) Geospatial Data
10 1 (0.11%) SAS Visual Analytics
10 1 (0.11%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 65 (6.90%) Git
2 55 (5.84%) GitLab
3 24 (2.55%) Jenkins
4 23 (2.44%) JIRA
5 15 (1.59%) Visual Studio Code
6 11 (1.17%) SonarQube
7 6 (0.64%) Artifactory
7 6 (0.64%) JUnit
8 5 (0.53%) Cucumber
8 5 (0.53%) Selenium
9 4 (0.42%) Atlassian Bamboo
9 4 (0.42%) Bitbucket
9 4 (0.42%) Rational DOORS
10 3 (0.32%) Android Studio
10 3 (0.32%) 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
1 191 (20.28%) Social Skills
2 90 (9.55%) Finance
3 78 (8.28%) Public Sector
4 68 (7.22%) Analytical Skills
5 41 (4.35%) Electronics
6 34 (3.61%) Aerospace
7 28 (2.97%) Military
8 23 (2.44%) Aviation
8 23 (2.44%) Telecoms
9 22 (2.34%) Manufacturing
9 22 (2.34%) Organisational Skills
10 18 (1.91%) Documentation Skills
11 16 (1.70%) Law
12 15 (1.59%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 12 (1.27%) Banking
13 12 (1.27%) Games
14 10 (1.06%) Aeronautics
15 8 (0.85%) Advertising
15 8 (0.85%) Influencing Skills
16 7 (0.74%) Retail
Job Titles
1 146 (15.50%) Senior
2 126 (13.38%) Architect
3 105 (11.15%) Software Engineer
4 66 (7.01%) Developer
5 64 (6.79%) Analyst
6 49 (5.20%) Lead
7 47 (4.99%) Security Architect
8 39 (4.14%) Network Engineer
9 36 (3.82%) Consultant
9 36 (3.82%) Senior Software Engineer
9 36 (3.82%) Systems Engineer
10 35 (3.72%) Applications Architect
11 34 (3.61%) Data Engineer
11 34 (3.61%) Infrastructure Engineer
12 28 (2.97%) Azure Engineer
13 27 (2.87%) Java Developer
14 26 (2.76%) SOC Analyst
15 25 (2.65%) Security Engineer
16 24 (2.55%) Support Engineer
17 23 (2.44%) DevOps Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (2.87%) .NET
2 26 (2.76%) React
3 23 (2.44%) LDAP
3 23 (2.44%) Regular Expression
4 20 (2.12%) REST
5 19 (2.02%) XMPP
6 16 (1.70%) Kafka
7 15 (1.59%) JSON
7 15 (1.59%) Spring
8 12 (1.27%) Elastic Stack
9 9 (0.96%) ARM Templates
9 9 (0.96%) Spring Boot
9 9 (0.96%) XML
10 8 (0.85%) RabbitMQ
10 8 (0.85%) Web Services
10 8 (0.85%) YAML
11 7 (0.74%) JSON Schema
11 7 (0.74%) RESTful
11 7 (0.74%) SOAP
12 6 (0.64%) HTML
Miscellaneous
1 30 (3.18%) Algorithms
1 30 (3.18%) Product Ownership
2 28 (2.97%) Data Centre
3 26 (2.76%) Driving Licence
4 24 (2.55%) Cloud Native
5 23 (2.44%) Onboarding
6 22 (2.34%) PKI
7 20 (2.12%) FPGA
8 19 (2.02%) Cyber Defence
8 19 (2.02%) Cyber Threat
8 19 (2.02%) Self-Motivation
9 18 (1.91%) Embedded Systems
9 18 (1.91%) Robotics
10 16 (1.70%) Security Operations Centre
11 15 (1.59%) Analytical Mindset
12 13 (1.38%) Distributed Systems
13 12 (1.27%) Management Information System
14 10 (1.06%) Data Structures
14 10 (1.06%) Hybrid Cloud
15 9 (0.96%) Fibre Optics
Operating Systems
1 161 (17.09%) Linux
2 119 (12.63%) Windows
3 71 (7.54%) Windows Server
4 34 (3.61%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 17 (1.80%) Ubuntu
6 14 (1.49%) CentOS
7 9 (0.96%) Windows Server 2016
8 6 (0.64%) Android
8 6 (0.64%) Windows Server 2019
9 4 (0.42%) Debian
10 3 (0.32%) AIX
10 3 (0.32%) Unix
11 2 (0.21%) Windows 10
12 1 (0.11%) Mac OS
12 1 (0.11%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 158 (16.77%) Agile
2 140 (14.86%) Software Engineering
3 115 (12.21%) CI/CD
4 105 (11.15%) Cybersecurity
5 104 (11.04%) DevOps
6 99 (10.51%) Problem-Solving
7 98 (10.40%) Continuous Improvement
8 65 (6.90%) SIEM
9 61 (6.48%) Decision-Making
10 57 (6.05%) AI
11 56 (5.94%) Mentoring
12 55 (5.84%) ITIL
12 55 (5.84%) Validation
13 53 (5.63%) Containerisation
14 52 (5.52%) Infrastructure as Code
14 52 (5.52%) Platform Engineering
15 50 (5.31%) Infrastructure Engineering
16 47 (4.99%) Scrum
17 45 (4.78%) Computer Science
18 44 (4.67%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 152 (16.14%) Python
2 70 (7.43%) C++
3 62 (6.58%) Java
4 44 (4.67%) C
5 42 (4.46%) PowerShell
6 39 (4.14%) C#
7 34 (3.61%) SQL
8 28 (2.97%) Bash
9 25 (2.65%) JavaScript
10 23 (2.44%) Rust
11 19 (2.02%) TypeScript
12 18 (1.91%) MATLAB
13 14 (1.49%) Embedded C
13 14 (1.49%) Embedded C++
14 13 (1.38%) Shell Script
14 13 (1.38%) VBA
15 11 (1.17%) Go
15 11 (1.17%) PHP
16 10 (1.06%) PL/SQL
17 7 (0.74%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 602 (63.91%) SC Cleared
2 342 (36.31%) DV Cleared
3 141 (14.97%) Degree
4 27 (2.87%) HNC
5 26 (2.76%) Master's Degree
6 25 (2.65%) BPSS Clearance
7 24 (2.55%) CISSP
8 23 (2.44%) Cisco Certification
9 16 (1.70%) CCNP
10 15 (1.59%) Computer Science Degree
11 14 (1.49%) CREST Certified
11 14 (1.49%) CRISC
11 14 (1.49%) GIAC
12 13 (1.38%) CompTIA Security+
13 12 (1.27%) OSCP
14 10 (1.06%) CISM
14 10 (1.06%) GCIA
15 9 (0.96%) CCNA
16 8 (0.85%) GCIH
16 8 (0.85%) MBA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (2.97%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 24 (2.55%) SLA
3 22 (2.34%) NCSC
4 17 (1.80%) GDPR
5 16 (1.70%) QA
6 14 (1.49%) NIST
7 13 (1.38%) ISO 9001
8 12 (1.27%) PMO
9 9 (0.96%) Def Stans
9 9 (0.96%) ISO/IEC 20000
10 6 (0.64%) Accessibility
11 5 (0.53%) NEBOSH
12 4 (0.42%) Cyber Essentials
12 4 (0.42%) JSP 440
12 4 (0.42%) MISRA
13 3 (0.32%) GRC
13 3 (0.32%) NIST 800
13 3 (0.32%) PCI DSS
14 2 (0.21%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
14 2 (0.21%) ISO/IEC 15288
System Software
1 69 (7.32%) Docker
2 62 (6.58%) Active Directory
3 34 (3.61%) vSphere
4 23 (2.44%) Firmware
5 18 (1.91%) VMware Infrastructure
6 17 (1.80%) VMware NSX
7 10 (1.06%) Virtual Machines
8 5 (0.53%) Embedded Firmware
8 5 (0.53%) VMware ESXi
9 4 (0.42%) Hyper-V
10 2 (0.21%) Squid
10 2 (0.21%) UAG
11 1 (0.11%) Oracle RAC
11 1 (0.11%) Terminal Server
11 1 (0.11%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 84 (8.92%) Kubernetes
2 65 (6.90%) Terraform
3 54 (5.73%) Ansible
4 15 (1.59%) Grafana
4 15 (1.59%) Prometheus
5 14 (1.49%) Kibana
6 12 (1.27%) Microsoft Intune
7 10 (1.06%) vCenter Server
8 9 (0.96%) Podman
9 8 (0.85%) Nessus
10 7 (0.74%) Nagios
10 7 (0.74%) Puppet
11 6 (0.64%) Graylog
11 6 (0.64%) QRadar
11 6 (0.64%) vRealize
12 5 (0.53%) Argo
12 5 (0.53%) Docker Swarm
12 5 (0.53%) Endace
12 5 (0.53%) Kustomize
12 5 (0.53%) Packer
Vendors
1 126 (13.38%) Microsoft
2 65 (6.90%) VMware
3 36 (3.82%) Cisco
4 31 (3.29%) Red Hat
4 31 (3.29%) Splunk
5 28 (2.97%) Oracle
6 22 (2.34%) ServiceNow
7 16 (1.70%) McAfee
8 14 (1.49%) Google
9 12 (1.27%) Citrix
10 11 (1.17%) Palo Alto
10 11 (1.17%) Tenable
11 10 (1.06%) IBM
11 10 (1.06%) Juniper
11 10 (1.06%) NVIDIA
12 9 (0.96%) AppDynamics
12 9 (0.96%) EMC
13 8 (0.85%) CheckPoint
13 8 (0.85%) CrowdStrike
13 8 (0.85%) LogRhythm