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

6 months to
7 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 22 12 11
Rank change year-on-year -10 -1 +6
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 938 827 1,861
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 6.04% 9.89% 10.62%
As % of the Qualifications category 28.44% 22.86% 33.79%
Number of salaries quoted 700 522 1,342
10th Percentile £40,999 £38,500 £35,000
25th Percentile £52,625 £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 £84,875
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 3,298 3,617 5,507
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 21.25% 43.23% 31.42%
Number of salaries quoted 1,921 1,602 3,542
10th Percentile £30,250 £31,250 £30,083
25th Percentile £41,250 £37,500 £38,603
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £52,500 £51,000
Median % change year-on-year +14.29% +2.94% -1.92%
75th Percentile £75,000 £69,000 £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 7 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 7 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 -4 452 £75,000 +21.95% 270
Thames Valley +28 322 £67,500 +17.39% 155
Berkshire +17 218 £67,500 +12.50% 98
Surrey -4 88 £58,750 +46.88% 39
Buckinghamshire +35 84 £53,750 +2.38% 42
West Sussex -4 30 £35,000 -6.67% 15
Kent -27 23 £52,500 -4.55% 17
Oxfordshire -21 20 £82,500 +59.42% 21
Sussex +2 13 £85,000 +65.85% 2
East Sussex -12 4 £70,000 +40.00% 2
Middlesex +41 2 £65,000 - 2
Home Counties -2 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 (2.56%) SharePoint
2 7 (0.75%) Confluence
2 7 (0.75%) SAS
3 6 (0.64%) Apache
4 4 (0.43%) 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 (2.56%) Microsoft Excel
2 21 (2.24%) Microsoft Office
3 13 (1.39%) 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
1 135 (14.39%) Azure
2 77 (8.21%) AWS
3 52 (5.54%) Microsoft 365
4 38 (4.05%) GCP
5 21 (2.24%) Entra ID
5 21 (2.24%) Serverless
6 20 (2.13%) Power Platform
7 16 (1.71%) Amazon EKS
7 16 (1.71%) Azure DevOps
8 15 (1.60%) OpenShift
9 14 (1.49%) GitHub
10 13 (1.39%) PowerApps
11 12 (1.28%) Azure AKS
12 11 (1.17%) Amazon EC2
12 11 (1.17%) GitHub Actions
13 9 (0.96%) Azure Sentinel
13 9 (0.96%) Azure Stack
14 7 (0.75%) AWS Lambda
15 6 (0.64%) Amazon ECS
15 6 (0.64%) Amazon S3
Communications & Networking
1 91 (9.70%) Firewall
2 64 (6.82%) DNS
3 51 (5.44%) WAN
4 39 (4.16%) LAN
5 36 (3.84%) VPN
6 29 (3.09%) TCP/IP
7 25 (2.67%) BGP
8 17 (1.81%) HTTP
9 16 (1.71%) Network Security
10 15 (1.60%) Structured Cabling
11 13 (1.39%) ATM
12 12 (1.28%) OSPF
13 11 (1.17%) DHCP
13 11 (1.17%) MQTT
13 11 (1.17%) NetScaler
14 10 (1.07%) MPLS
14 10 (1.07%) SSL
15 9 (0.96%) SAN
15 9 (0.96%) VoIP
15 9 (0.96%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 21 (2.24%) PostgreSQL
2 19 (2.03%) Power BI
3 12 (1.28%) Relational Database
4 11 (1.17%) SQL Server
5 7 (0.75%) MySQL
6 5 (0.53%) Oracle Database
6 5 (0.53%) Redis
7 4 (0.43%) 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 64 (6.82%) Git
2 55 (5.86%) GitLab
3 24 (2.56%) Jenkins
4 23 (2.45%) JIRA
5 15 (1.60%) 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 (0.43%) Atlassian Bamboo
9 4 (0.43%) Bitbucket
9 4 (0.43%) 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 (20.36%) Social Skills
2 90 (9.59%) Finance
3 81 (8.64%) Public Sector
4 68 (7.25%) Analytical Skills
5 40 (4.26%) Electronics
6 34 (3.62%) Aerospace
7 28 (2.99%) Military
8 23 (2.45%) Aviation
8 23 (2.45%) Manufacturing
8 23 (2.45%) Telecoms
9 22 (2.35%) Organisational Skills
10 18 (1.92%) Documentation Skills
11 15 (1.60%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 15 (1.60%) Law
12 12 (1.28%) Banking
12 12 (1.28%) Games
13 10 (1.07%) Aeronautics
14 8 (0.85%) Advertising
14 8 (0.85%) Influencing Skills
15 7 (0.75%) Retail
Job Titles
1 145 (15.46%) Senior
2 125 (13.33%) Architect
3 104 (11.09%) Software Engineer
4 66 (7.04%) Developer
5 64 (6.82%) Analyst
6 48 (5.12%) Lead
7 47 (5.01%) Security Architect
8 39 (4.16%) Network Engineer
9 37 (3.94%) Data Engineer
10 36 (3.84%) Consultant
10 36 (3.84%) Senior Software Engineer
10 36 (3.84%) Systems Engineer
11 35 (3.73%) Applications Architect
12 33 (3.52%) Infrastructure Engineer
13 28 (2.99%) Azure Engineer
14 27 (2.88%) Java Developer
15 26 (2.77%) SOC Analyst
16 25 (2.67%) Security Engineer
17 23 (2.45%) DevOps Engineer
17 23 (2.45%) Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (2.88%) .NET
2 26 (2.77%) React
3 23 (2.45%) LDAP
3 23 (2.45%) Regular Expression
4 20 (2.13%) REST
5 19 (2.03%) XMPP
6 15 (1.60%) JSON
6 15 (1.60%) Kafka
6 15 (1.60%) Spring
7 12 (1.28%) Elastic Stack
8 9 (0.96%) ARM Templates
8 9 (0.96%) Spring Boot
8 9 (0.96%) XML
9 8 (0.85%) RabbitMQ
9 8 (0.85%) Web Services
9 8 (0.85%) YAML
10 7 (0.75%) JSON Schema
10 7 (0.75%) RESTful
10 7 (0.75%) SOAP
11 6 (0.64%) HTML
Miscellaneous
1 30 (3.20%) Algorithms
2 29 (3.09%) Product Ownership
3 27 (2.88%) Data Centre
4 26 (2.77%) Driving Licence
5 23 (2.45%) Cloud Native
5 23 (2.45%) Onboarding
5 23 (2.45%) PKI
6 20 (2.13%) FPGA
7 19 (2.03%) Cyber Defence
7 19 (2.03%) Cyber Threat
7 19 (2.03%) Self-Motivation
8 18 (1.92%) Embedded Systems
9 17 (1.81%) Robotics
10 15 (1.60%) Analytical Mindset
10 15 (1.60%) Security Operations Centre
11 13 (1.39%) Distributed Systems
12 12 (1.28%) Management Information System
13 10 (1.07%) Data Structures
13 10 (1.07%) Fibre Optics
14 9 (0.96%) Hybrid Cloud
Operating Systems
1 157 (16.74%) Linux
2 116 (12.37%) Windows
3 71 (7.57%) Windows Server
4 34 (3.62%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 17 (1.81%) 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 (0.43%) 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
1 157 (16.74%) Agile
2 139 (14.82%) Software Engineering
3 114 (12.15%) CI/CD
4 103 (10.98%) Cybersecurity
4 103 (10.98%) DevOps
5 97 (10.34%) Continuous Improvement
5 97 (10.34%) Problem-Solving
6 64 (6.82%) SIEM
7 61 (6.50%) Decision-Making
8 56 (5.97%) AI
8 56 (5.97%) Mentoring
9 55 (5.86%) ITIL
9 55 (5.86%) Validation
10 52 (5.54%) Containerisation
10 52 (5.54%) Infrastructure as Code
10 52 (5.54%) Platform Engineering
11 49 (5.22%) Infrastructure Engineering
12 46 (4.90%) Scrum
13 44 (4.69%) Computer Science
14 43 (4.58%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 149 (15.88%) Python
2 69 (7.36%) C++
3 61 (6.50%) Java
4 44 (4.69%) C
5 41 (4.37%) PowerShell
6 39 (4.16%) C#
7 34 (3.62%) SQL
8 27 (2.88%) Bash
9 24 (2.56%) JavaScript
10 22 (2.35%) Rust
11 19 (2.03%) TypeScript
12 18 (1.92%) MATLAB
13 14 (1.49%) Embedded C
13 14 (1.49%) Embedded C++
14 13 (1.39%) Shell Script
14 13 (1.39%) VBA
15 11 (1.17%) Go
15 11 (1.17%) PHP
16 10 (1.07%) PL/SQL
17 7 (0.75%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 597 (63.65%) SC Cleared
2 342 (36.46%) DV Cleared
3 139 (14.82%) Degree
4 26 (2.77%) HNC
4 26 (2.77%) Master's Degree
5 25 (2.67%) BPSS Clearance
6 23 (2.45%) CISSP
7 22 (2.35%) Cisco Certification
8 15 (1.60%) CCNP
8 15 (1.60%) Computer Science Degree
9 14 (1.49%) CREST Certified
9 14 (1.49%) CRISC
10 13 (1.39%) GIAC
11 12 (1.28%) CompTIA Security+
11 12 (1.28%) OSCP
12 10 (1.07%) CISM
13 9 (0.96%) CCNA
13 9 (0.96%) GCIA
14 8 (0.85%) APMP
14 8 (0.85%) GCIH
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (2.99%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 24 (2.56%) SLA
3 21 (2.24%) NCSC
4 17 (1.81%) GDPR
5 16 (1.71%) QA
6 14 (1.49%) NIST
7 13 (1.39%) ISO 9001
8 12 (1.28%) 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 (0.43%) Cyber Essentials
12 4 (0.43%) JSP 440
12 4 (0.43%) 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 68 (7.25%) Docker
2 61 (6.50%) Active Directory
3 34 (3.62%) vSphere
4 24 (2.56%) Firmware
5 17 (1.81%) VMware Infrastructure
5 17 (1.81%) VMware NSX
6 10 (1.07%) Virtual Machines
7 5 (0.53%) Embedded Firmware
7 5 (0.53%) VMware ESXi
8 4 (0.43%) Hyper-V
9 2 (0.21%) Squid
9 2 (0.21%) UAG
10 1 (0.11%) Oracle RAC
10 1 (0.11%) Terminal Server
10 1 (0.11%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 83 (8.85%) Kubernetes
2 64 (6.82%) Terraform
3 53 (5.65%) Ansible
4 15 (1.60%) Grafana
4 15 (1.60%) Prometheus
5 14 (1.49%) Kibana
6 12 (1.28%) Microsoft Intune
7 11 (1.17%) vCenter Server
8 9 (0.96%) Podman
9 8 (0.85%) Nessus
10 7 (0.75%) Nagios
10 7 (0.75%) 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
1 123 (13.11%) Microsoft
2 63 (6.72%) VMware
3 34 (3.62%) Cisco
4 31 (3.30%) Red Hat
4 31 (3.30%) Splunk
5 28 (2.99%) Oracle
6 22 (2.35%) ServiceNow
7 16 (1.71%) McAfee
8 14 (1.49%) Google
9 12 (1.28%) Citrix
10 11 (1.17%) Juniper
10 11 (1.17%) Tenable
11 10 (1.07%) IBM
11 10 (1.07%) NVIDIA
12 9 (0.96%) AppDynamics
12 9 (0.96%) EMC
12 9 (0.96%) Palo Alto
13 8 (0.85%) CheckPoint
13 8 (0.85%) LogRhythm
13 8 (0.85%) NetApp