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 16 April 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 25 11 11
Rank change year-on-year -14 0 +7
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 735 766 1,722
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 5.26% 11.25% 10.79%
As % of the Qualifications category 20.57% 23.43% 31.24%
Number of salaries quoted 495 561 1,344
10th Percentile £41,044 £41,250 £31,250
25th Percentile £51,250 £47,500 £42,200
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £57,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +13.04% +4.55% +14.29%
75th Percentile £80,000 £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% -

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 3,574 3,269 5,513
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 25.59% 48.03% 34.55%
Number of salaries quoted 1,550 1,487 3,656
10th Percentile £29,750 £32,500 £29,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £42,500 £37,033
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £56,883 £55,000 £51,000
Median % change year-on-year +3.42% +7.84% +2.00%
75th Percentile £73,750 £70,600 £66,250
90th Percentile £85,000 £82,700 £82,500
England median annual salary £58,000 £57,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +0.87% +4.55% -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 16 April 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 16 April 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 -3 359 £75,000 +36.36% 168
Thames Valley +16 256 £65,000 +8.33% 109
Berkshire +17 169 £67,500 +8.00% 58
Surrey -20 68 £56,152 +18.21% 58
Buckinghamshire +14 64 £60,000 +4.35% 34
Oxfordshire -2 23 £65,000 +30.00% 19
West Sussex -15 19 £35,000 -8.50% 13
Kent -32 17 £39,000 -33.62% 11
Sussex - 11 £85,000 - 6
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 33 (4.49%) SharePoint
2 25 (3.40%) Microsoft Exchange
3 18 (2.45%) Exchange Server 2003
4 2 (0.27%) Confluence
4 2 (0.27%) WordPress
5 1 (0.14%) Apache
5 1 (0.14%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.14%) Apache Qpid
5 1 (0.14%) Camunda
5 1 (0.14%) IIS
5 1 (0.14%) Oracle SOA Suite
5 1 (0.14%) SAS
Applications
1 21 (2.86%) Microsoft Excel
1 21 (2.86%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (0.68%) Adobe XD
3 2 (0.27%) Adobe After Effects
3 2 (0.27%) Adobe Captivate
3 2 (0.27%) Adobe Creative Suite
3 2 (0.27%) Adobe Illustrator
3 2 (0.27%) Adobe Premiere
3 2 (0.27%) Elementor
3 2 (0.27%) Photoshop
3 2 (0.27%) Simulink
4 1 (0.14%) CATIA
4 1 (0.14%) Lectora
4 1 (0.14%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 1 (0.14%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 3 (0.41%) SAP S/4HANA
2 1 (0.14%) Primavera
2 1 (0.14%) Q-Pulse
2 1 (0.14%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.14%) SAP GTS
2 1 (0.14%) SAP MM
2 1 (0.14%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
2 1 (0.14%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 76 (10.34%) Azure
2 54 (7.35%) AWS
3 36 (4.90%) Microsoft 365
4 25 (3.40%) Power Platform
5 23 (3.13%) GCP
6 22 (2.99%) Azure DevOps
7 17 (2.31%) Amazon EKS
7 17 (2.31%) Dynamics 365
8 16 (2.18%) PowerApps
9 12 (1.63%) Serverless
10 10 (1.36%) OpenShift
11 9 (1.22%) GitHub
11 9 (1.22%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
11 9 (1.22%) Salesforce Service Cloud
12 8 (1.09%) Amazon EC2
13 7 (0.95%) AWS Lambda
14 6 (0.82%) Amazon ECS
14 6 (0.82%) Amazon S3
14 6 (0.82%) AWS CloudFormation
14 6 (0.82%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 61 (8.30%) Firewall
2 53 (7.21%) DNS
3 27 (3.67%) DHCP
4 21 (2.86%) WAN
5 20 (2.72%) Structured Cabling
6 15 (2.04%) Cisco Firepower
7 14 (1.90%) LAN
7 14 (1.90%) VPN
8 13 (1.77%) BGP
9 12 (1.63%) Cisco ISE
10 11 (1.50%) Junos
11 10 (1.36%) Cisco IOS
11 10 (1.36%) Network Security
12 9 (1.22%) NX-OS
13 8 (1.09%) NetScaler
13 8 (1.09%) TCP/IP
14 7 (0.95%) HTTP
14 7 (0.95%) MPLS
15 6 (0.82%) SNMP
15 6 (0.82%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 21 (2.86%) Oracle Database
2 20 (2.72%) Power BI
3 19 (2.59%) Oracle Database 10g
4 11 (1.50%) PostgreSQL
5 9 (1.22%) Relational Database
5 9 (1.22%) SQL Server
6 2 (0.27%) Big Data
6 2 (0.27%) Metadata
6 2 (0.27%) MySQL
6 2 (0.27%) RDBMS
7 1 (0.14%) Data Mining
7 1 (0.14%) Data Warehouse
7 1 (0.14%) DynamoDB
7 1 (0.14%) MongoDB
7 1 (0.14%) NoSQL
7 1 (0.14%) Pinecone
7 1 (0.14%) Redis
7 1 (0.14%) SAP Data Services
7 1 (0.14%) Tableau
7 1 (0.14%) Weaviate
Development Applications
1 39 (5.31%) Git
2 36 (4.90%) GitLab
3 27 (3.67%) Jenkins
4 19 (2.59%) JIRA
5 14 (1.90%) Selenium
6 10 (1.36%) Robot Framework
7 8 (1.09%) Snyk
8 6 (0.82%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 6 (0.82%) SonarQube
8 6 (0.82%) Subversion
8 6 (0.82%) Visual Studio Code
9 5 (0.68%) Axure RP
9 5 (0.68%) Balsamiq
9 5 (0.68%) Cucumber
10 4 (0.54%) Artifactory
10 4 (0.54%) JUnit
10 4 (0.54%) Rational DOORS
11 3 (0.41%) Cypress.io
11 3 (0.41%) Mockito
12 2 (0.27%) MSTest
General
1 165 (22.45%) Social Skills
2 79 (10.75%) Analytical Skills
3 70 (9.52%) Finance
3 70 (9.52%) Public Sector
4 31 (4.22%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 30 (4.08%) Law
6 28 (3.81%) Aeronautics
7 25 (3.40%) Aerospace
8 23 (3.13%) Manufacturing
9 18 (2.45%) Electronics
10 15 (2.04%) Organisational Skills
10 15 (2.04%) Telecoms
11 14 (1.90%) Banking
11 14 (1.90%) Military
12 11 (1.50%) Documentation Skills
13 10 (1.36%) Aviation
13 10 (1.36%) Games
14 7 (0.95%) Influencing Skills
14 7 (0.95%) Legal
14 7 (0.95%) Marketing
Job Titles
1 108 (14.69%) Architect
2 97 (13.20%) Senior
3 66 (8.98%) Developer
4 59 (8.03%) Lead
5 40 (5.44%) Software Engineer
6 36 (4.90%) Analyst
6 36 (4.90%) Consultant
7 34 (4.63%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 34 (4.63%) Systems Engineer
8 31 (4.22%) Network Engineer
9 29 (3.95%) Business Manager
10 27 (3.67%) Business Systems Manager
10 27 (3.67%) Systems Manager
11 24 (3.27%) Applications Architect
12 23 (3.13%) Security Architect
13 22 (2.99%) DevOps Engineer
14 21 (2.86%) Data Engineer
14 21 (2.86%) Java Developer
15 20 (2.72%) Support Engineer
16 19 (2.59%) 3rd Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 26 (3.54%) .NET
2 24 (3.27%) REST
3 14 (1.90%) React
3 14 (1.90%) Spring
4 13 (1.77%) SOAP
5 12 (1.63%) JSON
6 11 (1.50%) Elastic Stack
7 10 (1.36%) HTML
7 10 (1.36%) LDAP
7 10 (1.36%) Middleware
7 10 (1.36%) Regular Expression
8 9 (1.22%) Lightning Web Components
8 9 (1.22%) Visualforce
8 9 (1.22%) XML
9 8 (1.09%) RabbitMQ
9 8 (1.09%) Spring Boot
9 8 (1.09%) Web Services
10 7 (0.95%) AngularJS
10 7 (0.95%) Kafka
11 6 (0.82%) XMPP
Miscellaneous
1 29 (3.95%) Robotics
2 27 (3.67%) Product Ownership
3 22 (2.99%) PKI
4 16 (2.18%) Data Centre
5 14 (1.90%) Cloud Native
5 14 (1.90%) Distributed Systems
6 13 (1.77%) Security Posture
7 11 (1.50%) Onboarding
8 10 (1.36%) Self-Motivation
9 9 (1.22%) Algorithms
10 8 (1.09%) Embedded Systems
10 8 (1.09%) FPGA
11 7 (0.95%) Cyber Defence
12 6 (0.82%) Fibre Optics
12 6 (0.82%) Management Information System
13 5 (0.68%) e-Learning
13 5 (0.68%) Enterprise Software
13 5 (0.68%) Legacy Systems
14 4 (0.54%) Cloud Security Posture
14 4 (0.54%) Hybrid Cloud
Operating Systems
1 100 (13.61%) Windows
2 78 (10.61%) Linux
3 58 (7.89%) Windows Server
4 21 (2.86%) Unix
5 19 (2.59%) HPUX
5 19 (2.59%) Solaris
6 18 (2.45%) Windows Server 2003
7 17 (2.31%) Windows 7
7 17 (2.31%) Windows Server 2008
8 16 (2.18%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 11 (1.50%) Windows Server 2016
10 7 (0.95%) Ubuntu
11 6 (0.82%) Android
11 6 (0.82%) CentOS
12 4 (0.54%) Windows Server 2019
13 2 (0.27%) Apple iOS
14 1 (0.14%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 130 (17.69%) Agile
2 86 (11.70%) Software Engineering
3 81 (11.02%) DevOps
4 75 (10.20%) CI/CD
5 74 (10.07%) Problem-Solving
6 70 (9.52%) Continuous Improvement
7 58 (7.89%) Project Management
8 50 (6.80%) Cybersecurity
9 47 (6.39%) AI
10 45 (6.12%) Mentoring
11 43 (5.85%) Infrastructure Engineering
12 40 (5.44%) Decision-Making
12 40 (5.44%) Risk Management
13 39 (5.31%) Scrum
14 37 (5.03%) Process Improvement
15 36 (4.90%) Technical Leadership
16 35 (4.76%) Test Automation
17 32 (4.35%) Containerisation
17 32 (4.35%) Infrastructure as Code
17 32 (4.35%) Technology Strategy
Programming Languages
1 75 (10.20%) Python
2 48 (6.53%) Java
3 31 (4.22%) SQL
4 30 (4.08%) PowerShell
5 26 (3.54%) JavaScript
6 24 (3.27%) C++
7 20 (2.72%) Perl
8 18 (2.45%) C#
9 16 (2.18%) C
9 16 (2.18%) VBA
10 12 (1.63%) Rust
11 11 (1.50%) Bash
12 10 (1.36%) PL/SQL
13 9 (1.22%) Apex Code
14 8 (1.09%) Shell Script
15 7 (0.95%) TypeScript
16 6 (0.82%) Groovy
17 5 (0.68%) Ladder Logic
18 3 (0.41%) MATLAB
18 3 (0.41%) Pascal
Qualifications
1 455 (61.90%) SC Cleared
2 287 (39.05%) DV Cleared
3 113 (15.37%) Degree
4 23 (3.13%) Master's Degree
5 17 (2.31%) HNC
6 12 (1.63%) APMP
6 12 (1.63%) CISSP
6 12 (1.63%) MBA
7 9 (1.22%) DBS Check
7 9 (1.22%) Microsoft Certification
8 7 (0.95%) BPSS Clearance
8 7 (0.95%) CISM
8 7 (0.95%) Computer Science Degree
8 7 (0.95%) CRISC
9 6 (0.82%) Azure Certification
9 6 (0.82%) CCNP
9 6 (0.82%) CHECK Team Member
9 6 (0.82%) Cisco Certification
9 6 (0.82%) ISTQB
10 5 (0.68%) ISTQB Foundation Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (3.54%) SLA
2 19 (2.59%) QA
3 18 (2.45%) GDPR
4 17 (2.31%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 14 (1.90%) NCSC
6 13 (1.77%) Accessibility
7 12 (1.63%) NIST
8 9 (1.22%) GRC
8 9 (1.22%) PMO
9 7 (0.95%) WCAG
10 4 (0.54%) ISO 9001
10 4 (0.54%) NIST 800
11 3 (0.41%) Def Stans
11 3 (0.41%) ISO/IEC 15288
11 3 (0.41%) JSP 440
11 3 (0.41%) PCI DSS
12 2 (0.27%) Data Quality
12 2 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 20000
12 2 (0.27%) NEBOSH
12 2 (0.27%) RMADS
System Software
1 60 (8.16%) Active Directory
2 37 (5.03%) Docker
3 24 (3.27%) VMware NSX
4 19 (2.59%) Firmware
5 16 (2.18%) VMware Infrastructure
5 16 (2.18%) vSphere
6 5 (0.68%) Virtual Machines
7 3 (0.41%) Hyper-V
8 2 (0.27%) Terminal Server
9 1 (0.14%) Apache ZooKeeper
9 1 (0.14%) Oracle RAC
9 1 (0.14%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 44 (5.99%) Kubernetes
2 39 (5.31%) Terraform
3 36 (4.90%) Ansible
4 16 (2.18%) vCenter Server
5 10 (1.36%) vRealize
6 9 (1.22%) Grafana
6 9 (1.22%) Prometheus
6 9 (1.22%) SCCM
6 9 (1.22%) SCOM
7 8 (1.09%) Nessus
8 7 (0.95%) Endace
9 6 (0.82%) Kibana
10 4 (0.54%) Packer
10 4 (0.54%) QRadar
10 4 (0.54%) WSUS
11 3 (0.41%) Nagios
11 3 (0.41%) ZABBIX
12 2 (0.27%) Argo
13 1 (0.14%) Istio
13 1 (0.14%) Kustomize
Vendors
1 88 (11.97%) Microsoft
2 63 (8.57%) VMware
3 39 (5.31%) Cisco
3 39 (5.31%) Oracle
4 27 (3.67%) Juniper
5 17 (2.31%) Splunk
6 15 (2.04%) Salesforce
7 14 (1.90%) Google
7 14 (1.90%) SolarWinds
8 13 (1.77%) Red Hat
9 11 (1.50%) CheckPoint
9 11 (1.50%) McAfee
10 9 (1.22%) AppDynamics
10 9 (1.22%) Broadcom
10 9 (1.22%) Citrix
10 9 (1.22%) IBM
10 9 (1.22%) Palo Alto
11 8 (1.09%) LogRhythm
11 8 (1.09%) MuleSoft
11 8 (1.09%) ServiceNow