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

6 months to
2 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 21 6 7
Rank change year-on-year -15 +1 +11
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 738 1,312 1,211
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 7.13% 14.25% 15.45%
As % of the Qualifications category 22.45% 33.02% 39.22%
Number of salaries quoted 416 820 865
10th Percentile £33,500 £40,013 £31,250
25th Percentile £46,250 £47,500 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £58,000 £60,000 £54,500
Median % change year-on-year -3.33% +10.09% +6.92%
75th Percentile £74,813 £77,500 £63,748
90th Percentile £85,625 £85,000 £77,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £60,000 £57,291
% change year-on-year - +4.73% +3.23%

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 3,287 3,973 3,088
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 31.78% 43.15% 39.41%
Number of salaries quoted 1,401 1,789 1,986
10th Percentile £27,750 £35,000 £28,000
25th Percentile £36,500 £46,250 £37,341
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £60,000 £53,000
Median % change year-on-year -12.50% +13.21% +1.92%
75th Percentile £66,410 £76,500 £67,500
90th Percentile £85,000 £85,000 £82,500
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year -8.33% +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 2 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 2 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 -1 426 £60,000 - 148
Thames Valley -11 202 £57,250 +1.28% 79
Berkshire -27 107 £55,000 -6.98% 48
Buckinghamshire +32 80 £60,000 +6.67% 23
Surrey -14 77 £40,000 -33.88% 38
West Sussex +16 22 £34,000 -9.33% 2
Oxfordshire -5 15 £68,750 +52.65% 13
Kent -18 9 £39,000 -29.09% 18
Sussex - 1 £58,000 -
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 38 (5.15%) Microsoft Exchange
2 28 (3.79%) SharePoint
3 26 (3.52%) Exchange Server 2003
4 6 (0.81%) Apache Airflow
4 6 (0.81%) Appian
5 5 (0.68%) Apache
5 5 (0.68%) Confluence
5 5 (0.68%) WordPress
6 1 (0.14%) Apache Spark
6 1 (0.14%) Camunda
6 1 (0.14%) IIS
Applications
1 44 (5.96%) Microsoft Office
2 35 (4.74%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (0.68%) Adobe XD
3 5 (0.68%) Windchill
4 3 (0.41%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.27%) Adobe After Effects
5 2 (0.27%) Adobe Captivate
5 2 (0.27%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 2 (0.27%) Adobe Illustrator
5 2 (0.27%) Adobe Premiere
5 2 (0.27%) Elementor
5 2 (0.27%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.27%) 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 20 (2.71%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
2 4 (0.54%) SAP S/4HANA
3 2 (0.27%) 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 76 (10.30%) Azure
2 67 (9.08%) AWS
3 27 (3.66%) Microsoft 365
4 25 (3.39%) Azure DevOps
5 23 (3.12%) Power Platform
6 15 (2.03%) Amazon EC2
6 15 (2.03%) Amazon EKS
7 13 (1.76%) Amazon ECS
7 13 (1.76%) Serverless
8 12 (1.63%) Dynamics 365
8 12 (1.63%) GCP
8 12 (1.63%) PowerApps
9 8 (1.08%) Entra ID
10 7 (0.95%) Amazon S3
10 7 (0.95%) GitHub
11 6 (0.81%) Figma
11 6 (0.81%) MinIO
11 6 (0.81%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
11 6 (0.81%) Salesforce Service Cloud
12 5 (0.68%) OpenShift
Communications & Networking
1 52 (7.05%) Firewall
2 50 (6.78%) DNS
3 27 (3.66%) DHCP
4 26 (3.52%) VPN
5 23 (3.12%) LAN
6 22 (2.98%) Junos
7 20 (2.71%) Software-Defined Radio
7 20 (2.71%) WAN
7 20 (2.71%) Wireless
8 19 (2.57%) Wi-Fi
9 18 (2.44%) Network Security
10 16 (2.17%) Cisco IOS
10 16 (2.17%) TCP/IP
11 14 (1.90%) Cisco ISE
11 14 (1.90%) VSAT
12 12 (1.63%) Cisco Firepower
13 11 (1.49%) Structured Cabling
14 9 (1.22%) BGP
14 9 (1.22%) NX-OS
15 7 (0.95%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 30 (4.07%) Oracle Database
2 27 (3.66%) Oracle Database 10g
3 15 (2.03%) PostgreSQL
4 13 (1.76%) Power BI
4 13 (1.76%) Relational Database
5 12 (1.63%) RDBMS
6 5 (0.68%) Airbyte
7 3 (0.41%) Data Mining
7 3 (0.41%) SQL Server
8 2 (0.27%) Big Data
8 2 (0.27%) BigQuery
9 1 (0.14%) Amazon Aurora
9 1 (0.14%) Amazon RDS
9 1 (0.14%) DB2
9 1 (0.14%) DynamoDB
9 1 (0.14%) Elasticsearch
9 1 (0.14%) MongoDB
9 1 (0.14%) Neo4j
9 1 (0.14%) NoSQL
9 1 (0.14%) SAP Data Services
Development Applications
1 53 (7.18%) Jenkins
2 50 (6.78%) Git
3 49 (6.64%) JIRA
4 27 (3.66%) Selenium
5 22 (2.98%) Robot Framework
6 20 (2.71%) Snyk
7 13 (1.76%) JUnit
7 13 (1.76%) Mockito
8 12 (1.63%) JMeter
9 11 (1.49%) GitLab
10 5 (0.68%) Axure RP
10 5 (0.68%) Balsamiq
10 5 (0.68%) Cypress.io
11 4 (0.54%) Subversion
12 3 (0.41%) MSI
12 3 (0.41%) Rational Rhapsody
12 3 (0.41%) WebDriver
13 2 (0.27%) Artifactory
13 2 (0.27%) SoapUI
13 2 (0.27%) TestRail
General
1 247 (33.47%) Social Skills
2 103 (13.96%) Analytical Skills
3 74 (10.03%) Finance
4 59 (7.99%) Public Sector
5 48 (6.50%) Organisational Skills
6 34 (4.61%) Manufacturing
7 30 (4.07%) Electronics
7 30 (4.07%) Telecoms
8 28 (3.79%) Law
9 27 (3.66%) Aeronautics
9 27 (3.66%) Aerospace
10 25 (3.39%) Aviation
11 23 (3.12%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 16 (2.17%) Marketing
13 14 (1.90%) Automotive
14 13 (1.76%) Documentation Skills
15 11 (1.49%) Legal
15 11 (1.49%) Military
16 8 (1.08%) Advertising
16 8 (1.08%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 76 (10.30%) Systems Engineer
2 75 (10.16%) Senior
3 72 (9.76%) Lead
4 69 (9.35%) Support Engineer
5 62 (8.40%) Architect
6 50 (6.78%) Business Manager
6 50 (6.78%) Business Systems Manager
6 50 (6.78%) Systems Manager
7 44 (5.96%) Technical Support
8 41 (5.56%) Technical Engineer
8 41 (5.56%) Technical Support Engineer
9 39 (5.28%) Analyst
10 38 (5.15%) Network Engineer
11 37 (5.01%) Developer
11 37 (5.01%) Systems Support
12 35 (4.74%) Consultant
13 33 (4.47%) Software Engineer
14 27 (3.66%) Technical Manager
15 25 (3.39%) 3rd Line Support
16 24 (3.25%) Cloud Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 35 (4.74%) REST
2 25 (3.39%) SOAP
3 19 (2.57%) HTML
4 15 (2.03%) Spring
4 15 (2.03%) XML
5 14 (1.90%) Spring Boot
6 13 (1.76%) Hibernate
7 12 (1.63%) ActiveMQ
7 12 (1.63%) Apache Camel
7 12 (1.63%) jQuery
7 12 (1.63%) JSON
7 12 (1.63%) Web Services
7 12 (1.63%) WireMock
8 10 (1.36%) Middleware
9 9 (1.22%) .NET
10 7 (0.95%) Kafka
10 7 (0.95%) React
11 6 (0.81%) Apache NiFi
11 6 (0.81%) Lightning Web Components
11 6 (0.81%) Visualforce
Miscellaneous
1 52 (7.05%) Robotics
2 38 (5.15%) e-Learning
3 29 (3.93%) Driving Licence
4 20 (2.71%) Product Ownership
5 19 (2.57%) Cloud Native
5 19 (2.57%) PKI
6 17 (2.30%) Self-Motivation
7 16 (2.17%) Security Operations Centre
8 15 (2.03%) Distributed Systems
8 15 (2.03%) Embedded Systems
9 14 (1.90%) Onboarding
10 13 (1.76%) Data Centre
10 13 (1.76%) Security Posture
11 12 (1.63%) MicroBlaze
11 12 (1.63%) RISC-V
12 10 (1.36%) Management Information System
12 10 (1.36%) Renewable Energy
13 8 (1.08%) FPGA
14 7 (0.95%) Low-Code
15 6 (0.81%) Fibre Optics
Operating Systems
1 112 (15.18%) Windows
2 61 (8.27%) Linux
3 40 (5.42%) Windows Server
4 33 (4.47%) Unix
5 27 (3.66%) Solaris
6 26 (3.52%) HPUX
6 26 (3.52%) Windows Server 2003
7 23 (3.12%) Windows 7
8 22 (2.98%) Windows Server 2008
9 12 (1.63%) Embedded Linux
10 8 (1.08%) Android
10 8 (1.08%) Windows Server 2016
11 7 (0.95%) Windows 10
11 7 (0.95%) Windows Server 2019
12 5 (0.68%) Apple iOS
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
1 139 (18.83%) Agile
2 107 (14.50%) Continuous Improvement
3 99 (13.41%) Problem-Solving
4 98 (13.28%) Software Engineering
5 87 (11.79%) Project Management
6 82 (11.11%) Process Improvement
7 74 (10.03%) AI
8 65 (8.81%) Risk Management
9 63 (8.54%) CI/CD
10 56 (7.59%) Technical Leadership
11 55 (7.45%) DevOps
12 54 (7.32%) IT Strategy
13 53 (7.18%) Data Analysis
13 53 (7.18%) Strategic Planning
14 52 (7.05%) Budget Management
15 50 (6.78%) Contract Negotiation
15 50 (6.78%) Innovative Thinking
15 50 (6.78%) Stakeholder Engagement
16 49 (6.64%) Mentoring
17 46 (6.23%) Change Management
Programming Languages
1 66 (8.94%) Python
2 56 (7.59%) PowerShell
3 42 (5.69%) SQL
4 36 (4.88%) Java
5 31 (4.20%) JavaScript
6 26 (3.52%) C++
7 24 (3.25%) C#
8 22 (2.98%) Perl
9 17 (2.30%) C
10 12 (1.63%) Shell Script
10 12 (1.63%) VBA
11 11 (1.49%) MATLAB
12 10 (1.36%) Bash
13 7 (0.95%) Rust
14 6 (0.81%) Apex Code
14 6 (0.81%) Go
15 4 (0.54%) Kusto Query Language
16 3 (0.41%) TypeScript
17 2 (0.27%) Kotlin
17 2 (0.27%) VB
Qualifications
1 455 (61.65%) SC Cleared
2 236 (31.98%) DV Cleared
3 127 (17.21%) Degree
4 34 (4.61%) Cisco Certification
5 33 (4.47%) CCNA
6 21 (2.85%) JNCIA
7 18 (2.44%) CCNP
7 18 (2.44%) Master's Degree
8 17 (2.30%) BPSS Clearance
9 11 (1.49%) APMP
10 10 (1.36%) Computer Science Degree
10 10 (1.36%) Microsoft Certification
11 8 (1.08%) CISSP
11 8 (1.08%) JNCIS
12 6 (0.81%) CISM
12 6 (0.81%) DBS Check
12 6 (0.81%) HNC
12 6 (0.81%) HND
12 6 (0.81%) ISTQB
12 6 (0.81%) MBA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 37 (5.01%) QA
2 33 (4.47%) SLA
3 30 (4.07%) Def Stans
4 15 (2.03%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 14 (1.90%) Accessibility
6 13 (1.76%) GDPR
7 10 (1.36%) NIST
8 9 (1.22%) GRC
9 7 (0.95%) NCSC
10 6 (0.81%) ISO 9001
10 6 (0.81%) WCAG
11 5 (0.68%) ISO 13485
11 5 (0.68%) JSP 440
12 3 (0.41%) NIST 800
12 3 (0.41%) PCI DSS
12 3 (0.41%) PMO
13 2 (0.27%) Data Quality
13 2 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 2 (0.27%) RMADS
14 1 (0.14%) DO-178B
System Software
1 64 (8.67%) Active Directory
2 33 (4.47%) Firmware
3 23 (3.12%) VMware Infrastructure
4 22 (2.98%) Docker
5 18 (2.44%) Embedded Firmware
5 18 (2.44%) VMware NSX
6 6 (0.81%) VMware ESXi
6 6 (0.81%) vSphere
7 4 (0.54%) Hyper-V
8 2 (0.27%) Terminal Server
8 2 (0.27%) Virtual Machines
9 1 (0.14%) Apache ZooKeeper
Systems Management
1 36 (4.88%) Kubernetes
2 32 (4.34%) Terraform
3 27 (3.66%) Ansible
4 22 (2.98%) vCenter Server
5 12 (1.63%) Kibana
5 12 (1.63%) SCCM
5 12 (1.63%) SCOM
6 7 (0.95%) Grafana
7 6 (0.81%) Prometheus
8 5 (0.68%) Endace
8 5 (0.68%) Nessus
8 5 (0.68%) vRealize
8 5 (0.68%) ZABBIX
9 4 (0.54%) Jamf Pro
9 4 (0.54%) WMI
10 3 (0.41%) Netcool
10 3 (0.41%) QRadar
10 3 (0.41%) WSUS
11 2 (0.27%) Argo
11 2 (0.27%) Sysdig
Vendors
1 113 (15.31%) Microsoft
2 67 (9.08%) VMware
3 56 (7.59%) Cisco
4 48 (6.50%) Juniper
5 35 (4.74%) Oracle
6 28 (3.79%) SAP
7 20 (2.71%) Black Duck
7 20 (2.71%) Sparx
8 19 (2.57%) Coverity
9 18 (2.44%) SolarWinds
9 18 (2.44%) Splunk
10 15 (2.03%) Salesforce
11 12 (1.63%) Dynatrace
12 9 (1.22%) Broadcom
13 8 (1.08%) Adobe
13 8 (1.08%) Google
14 7 (0.95%) Fortinet
14 7 (0.95%) Freshdesk
14 7 (0.95%) HP
14 7 (0.95%) Starlink