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 21 January 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
21 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 21 8 8
Rank change year-on-year -13 0 +10
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 724 1,251 1,318
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 6.85% 14.02% 13.02%
As % of the Qualifications category 22.29% 30.93% 35.28%
Number of salaries quoted 411 787 993
10th Percentile £33,500 £41,238 £31,250
25th Percentile £46,250 £47,500 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £58,000 £60,000 £54,995
Median % change year-on-year -3.33% +9.10% +9.99%
75th Percentile £73,500 £77,500 £64,796
90th Percentile £82,500 £85,000 £77,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £61,419 £57,500
% change year-on-year -2.31% +6.82% +1.79%

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 3,248 4,044 3,736
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 30.71% 45.32% 36.91%
Number of salaries quoted 1,388 1,738 2,456
10th Percentile £27,500 £33,675 £28,000
25th Percentile £36,250 £46,250 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £60,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year -12.50% +14.29% +0.96%
75th Percentile £66,250 £76,500 £66,438
90th Percentile £83,750 £86,250 £82,500
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% +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 21 January 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 21 January 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 -1 401 £60,000 - 154
Thames Valley -7 216 £60,000 +4.04% 112
Berkshire -17 116 £55,000 -7.59% 56
Buckinghamshire +32 85 £60,000 +4.35% 35
Surrey -10 72 £50,000 -23.08% 42
West Sussex +17 19 £34,000 -9.33% 16
Oxfordshire -11 15 £68,750 +46.52% 22
Kent -17 13 £39,000 -29.09% 17
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 (4.97%) Microsoft Exchange
2 34 (4.70%) SharePoint
3 26 (3.59%) Exchange Server 2003
4 5 (0.69%) WordPress
5 4 (0.55%) Apache
5 4 (0.55%) Confluence
6 3 (0.41%) Apache Airflow
6 3 (0.41%) Appian
7 1 (0.14%) Apache Qpid
7 1 (0.14%) Camunda
7 1 (0.14%) IIS
7 1 (0.14%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 42 (5.80%) Microsoft Office
2 32 (4.42%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (0.69%) Adobe XD
3 5 (0.69%) Windchill
4 3 (0.41%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.28%) Adobe After Effects
5 2 (0.28%) Adobe Captivate
5 2 (0.28%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 2 (0.28%) Adobe Illustrator
5 2 (0.28%) Adobe Premiere
5 2 (0.28%) Elementor
5 2 (0.28%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.28%) Photoshop
6 1 (0.14%) CATIA
6 1 (0.14%) GNU Octave
6 1 (0.14%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.14%) OrCAD
Business Applications
1 13 (1.80%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
2 3 (0.41%) SAP S/4HANA
3 2 (0.28%) C-CURE
4 1 (0.14%) Q-Pulse
4 1 (0.14%) Salesforce CRM
4 1 (0.14%) SAP GTS
4 1 (0.14%) SAP HR
4 1 (0.14%) SAP Payroll
4 1 (0.14%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 64 (8.84%) Azure
2 62 (8.56%) AWS
3 31 (4.28%) Microsoft 365
4 23 (3.18%) Azure DevOps
4 23 (3.18%) Power Platform
5 16 (2.21%) Amazon EKS
6 15 (2.07%) Amazon EC2
7 14 (1.93%) GCP
7 14 (1.93%) PowerApps
8 13 (1.80%) Dynamics 365
9 12 (1.66%) Amazon ECS
9 12 (1.66%) Serverless
10 7 (0.97%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
10 7 (0.97%) Salesforce Service Cloud
11 6 (0.83%) AWS CloudFormation
11 6 (0.83%) Entra ID
11 6 (0.83%) Figma
11 6 (0.83%) GitHub
11 6 (0.83%) OpenShift
12 5 (0.69%) Amazon S3
Communications & Networking
1 59 (8.15%) Firewall
2 53 (7.32%) DNS
3 31 (4.28%) DHCP
4 23 (3.18%) VPN
5 21 (2.90%) Junos
5 21 (2.90%) LAN
6 18 (2.49%) Structured Cabling
6 18 (2.49%) WAN
7 16 (2.21%) Cisco IOS
8 15 (2.07%) Network Security
8 15 (2.07%) Wi-Fi
9 14 (1.93%) Cisco ISE
10 13 (1.80%) TCP/IP
11 12 (1.66%) Cisco Firepower
11 12 (1.66%) Wireless
12 11 (1.52%) BGP
13 10 (1.38%) NX-OS
13 10 (1.38%) VSAT
14 9 (1.24%) Software-Defined Radio
15 6 (0.83%) Cisco ASA
Database & Business Intelligence
1 31 (4.28%) Oracle Database
2 27 (3.73%) Oracle Database 10g
3 15 (2.07%) Power BI
4 14 (1.93%) PostgreSQL
5 12 (1.66%) Relational Database
6 11 (1.52%) RDBMS
7 3 (0.41%) Airbyte
7 3 (0.41%) Big Data
7 3 (0.41%) Data Mining
7 3 (0.41%) SQL Server
8 2 (0.28%) BigQuery
8 2 (0.28%) MongoDB
8 2 (0.28%) NoSQL
9 1 (0.14%) Amazon RDS
9 1 (0.14%) DynamoDB
9 1 (0.14%) Elasticsearch
9 1 (0.14%) Metadata
9 1 (0.14%) Neo4j
9 1 (0.14%) Redis
9 1 (0.14%) SAP Data Services
Development Applications
1 52 (7.18%) Jenkins
2 50 (6.91%) Git
3 48 (6.63%) JIRA
4 25 (3.45%) Selenium
5 19 (2.62%) Robot Framework
6 17 (2.35%) Snyk
7 13 (1.80%) GitLab
7 13 (1.80%) JUnit
8 12 (1.66%) Mockito
9 11 (1.52%) JMeter
10 5 (0.69%) Axure RP
10 5 (0.69%) Balsamiq
10 5 (0.69%) Cypress.io
10 5 (0.69%) Subversion
11 3 (0.41%) Rational Rhapsody
11 3 (0.41%) WebDriver
12 2 (0.28%) Artifactory
12 2 (0.28%) Atlassian Bamboo
12 2 (0.28%) TestRail
12 2 (0.28%) Visual Studio
General
1 245 (33.84%) Social Skills
2 103 (14.23%) Analytical Skills
3 71 (9.81%) Finance
4 65 (8.98%) Public Sector
5 47 (6.49%) Organisational Skills
6 32 (4.42%) Law
6 32 (4.42%) Manufacturing
7 28 (3.87%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 27 (3.73%) Aeronautics
9 26 (3.59%) Telecoms
10 25 (3.45%) Aerospace
10 25 (3.45%) Aviation
11 23 (3.18%) Electronics
12 15 (2.07%) Marketing
13 11 (1.52%) Automotive
13 11 (1.52%) Documentation Skills
13 11 (1.52%) Legal
13 11 (1.52%) Military
14 10 (1.38%) Banking
15 9 (1.24%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 77 (10.64%) Senior
2 73 (10.08%) Lead
3 63 (8.70%) Architect
4 61 (8.43%) Systems Engineer
5 58 (8.01%) Support Engineer
6 50 (6.91%) Business Manager
6 50 (6.91%) Business Systems Manager
6 50 (6.91%) Systems Manager
7 40 (5.52%) Analyst
7 40 (5.52%) Developer
8 37 (5.11%) Systems Support
9 36 (4.97%) Consultant
9 36 (4.97%) Network Engineer
10 34 (4.70%) Technical Support
11 31 (4.28%) Technical Engineer
11 31 (4.28%) Technical Support Engineer
12 29 (4.01%) Software Engineer
13 25 (3.45%) 3rd Line Support
13 25 (3.45%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 23 (3.18%) Data Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 36 (4.97%) REST
2 25 (3.45%) SOAP
3 18 (2.49%) HTML
4 15 (2.07%) Spring
5 14 (1.93%) Spring Boot
6 13 (1.80%) XML
7 12 (1.66%) Hibernate
7 12 (1.66%) JSON
7 12 (1.66%) Web Services
8 11 (1.52%) .NET
8 11 (1.52%) ActiveMQ
8 11 (1.52%) Apache Camel
8 11 (1.52%) jQuery
8 11 (1.52%) Middleware
8 11 (1.52%) WireMock
9 9 (1.24%) React
10 7 (0.97%) Lightning Web Components
10 7 (0.97%) Visualforce
11 6 (0.83%) Kafka
12 5 (0.69%) AngularJS
Miscellaneous
1 52 (7.18%) Robotics
2 27 (3.73%) e-Learning
3 26 (3.59%) Driving Licence
4 22 (3.04%) Product Ownership
5 19 (2.62%) PKI
6 18 (2.49%) Cloud Native
7 17 (2.35%) Data Centre
8 15 (2.07%) Distributed Systems
9 14 (1.93%) Onboarding
9 14 (1.93%) Security Operations Centre
9 14 (1.93%) Security Posture
10 13 (1.80%) Self-Motivation
11 10 (1.38%) Management Information System
12 9 (1.24%) Embedded Systems
13 7 (0.97%) Fibre Optics
13 7 (0.97%) MicroBlaze
13 7 (0.97%) Renewable Energy
13 7 (0.97%) RISC-V
14 5 (0.69%) Cloud Security Posture
14 5 (0.69%) Low-Code
Operating Systems
1 111 (15.33%) Windows
2 53 (7.32%) Linux
3 41 (5.66%) Windows Server
4 33 (4.56%) Unix
5 27 (3.73%) Solaris
6 26 (3.59%) HPUX
6 26 (3.59%) Windows Server 2003
7 23 (3.18%) Windows 7
8 22 (3.04%) Windows Server 2008
9 8 (1.10%) Android
9 8 (1.10%) Windows Server 2016
10 7 (0.97%) Embedded Linux
11 5 (0.69%) Apple iOS
11 5 (0.69%) Windows 10
12 4 (0.55%) Windows Server 2019
13 3 (0.41%) AIX
14 1 (0.14%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
14 1 (0.14%) Ubuntu
14 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 136 (18.78%) Agile
2 112 (15.47%) Continuous Improvement
3 102 (14.09%) Problem-Solving
4 95 (13.12%) Software Engineering
5 91 (12.57%) Project Management
6 81 (11.19%) Process Improvement
7 76 (10.50%) AI
8 65 (8.98%) CI/CD
9 63 (8.70%) Risk Management
10 56 (7.73%) DevOps
10 56 (7.73%) Technical Leadership
11 53 (7.32%) IT Strategy
11 53 (7.32%) Strategic Planning
12 52 (7.18%) Budget Management
13 51 (7.04%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 50 (6.91%) Change Management
14 50 (6.91%) Contract Negotiation
14 50 (6.91%) Data Analysis
15 46 (6.35%) Mentoring
16 40 (5.52%) Configuration Management
Programming Languages
1 66 (9.12%) Python
2 52 (7.18%) PowerShell
3 41 (5.66%) SQL
4 40 (5.52%) Java
5 32 (4.42%) JavaScript
6 23 (3.18%) C#
7 22 (3.04%) C++
7 22 (3.04%) Perl
8 14 (1.93%) VBA
9 12 (1.66%) C
10 11 (1.52%) Shell Script
11 10 (1.38%) Bash
12 8 (1.10%) Rust
13 7 (0.97%) Apex Code
14 6 (0.83%) Go
15 5 (0.69%) MATLAB
16 3 (0.41%) PL/SQL
16 3 (0.41%) TypeScript
17 2 (0.28%) Kotlin
18 1 (0.14%) Ladder Logic
Qualifications
1 439 (60.64%) SC Cleared
2 244 (33.70%) DV Cleared
3 129 (17.82%) Degree
4 29 (4.01%) Cisco Certification
5 28 (3.87%) CCNA
6 20 (2.76%) Master's Degree
7 18 (2.49%) BPSS Clearance
8 17 (2.35%) CCNP
9 16 (2.21%) JNCIA
10 13 (1.80%) APMP
11 11 (1.52%) Microsoft Certification
12 10 (1.38%) CISSP
12 10 (1.38%) Computer Science Degree
13 9 (1.24%) HNC
14 8 (1.10%) JNCIS
14 8 (1.10%) MBA
15 7 (0.97%) CISM
15 7 (0.97%) ISTQB
16 6 (0.83%) Azure Certification
16 6 (0.83%) DBS Check
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 38 (5.25%) QA
2 36 (4.97%) SLA
3 30 (4.14%) Def Stans
4 17 (2.35%) GDPR
5 16 (2.21%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 14 (1.93%) Accessibility
7 11 (1.52%) NIST
8 9 (1.24%) GRC
8 9 (1.24%) NCSC
9 7 (0.97%) ISO 9001
10 6 (0.83%) WCAG
11 5 (0.69%) ISO 13485
12 4 (0.55%) PCI DSS
12 4 (0.55%) PMO
13 3 (0.41%) JSP 440
13 3 (0.41%) NIST 800
14 2 (0.28%) Data Quality
14 2 (0.28%) ISO/IEC 42001
14 2 (0.28%) RMADS
15 1 (0.14%) ISO/IEC 20000
System Software
1 64 (8.84%) Active Directory
2 23 (3.18%) VMware NSX
3 22 (3.04%) Docker
4 21 (2.90%) Firmware
4 21 (2.90%) VMware Infrastructure
5 7 (0.97%) Embedded Firmware
6 6 (0.83%) VMware ESXi
6 6 (0.83%) vSphere
7 3 (0.41%) Hyper-V
7 3 (0.41%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (0.28%) Terminal Server
9 1 (0.14%) Apache ZooKeeper
Systems Management
1 33 (4.56%) Kubernetes
2 29 (4.01%) Terraform
3 24 (3.31%) Ansible
4 22 (3.04%) vCenter Server
5 12 (1.66%) SCCM
6 11 (1.52%) Kibana
6 11 (1.52%) SCOM
7 7 (0.97%) vRealize
8 6 (0.83%) Grafana
9 5 (0.69%) Endace
9 5 (0.69%) Nessus
9 5 (0.69%) Prometheus
9 5 (0.69%) ZABBIX
10 4 (0.55%) Jamf Pro
10 4 (0.55%) QRadar
11 3 (0.41%) Netcool
11 3 (0.41%) WSUS
12 2 (0.28%) SCSM
12 2 (0.28%) Sysdig
12 2 (0.28%) WMI
Vendors
1 107 (14.78%) Microsoft
2 66 (9.12%) VMware
3 53 (7.32%) Cisco
4 45 (6.22%) Juniper
5 36 (4.97%) Oracle
6 21 (2.90%) SAP
7 19 (2.62%) SolarWinds
8 17 (2.35%) Black Duck
8 17 (2.35%) Coverity
8 17 (2.35%) Splunk
9 16 (2.21%) Salesforce
10 13 (1.80%) Sparx
11 11 (1.52%) Dynatrace
12 10 (1.38%) Broadcom
13 9 (1.24%) Google
14 8 (1.10%) Adobe
15 7 (0.97%) HP
15 7 (0.97%) MuleSoft
15 7 (0.97%) ServiceNow
15 7 (0.97%) Starlink