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

6 months to
8 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 18 12 10
Rank change year-on-year -6 -2 +2
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 1,118 864 1,595
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 6.63% 9.92% 11.55%
As % of the Qualifications category 31.69% 24.71% 37.30%
Number of salaries quoted 781 508 1,083
10th Percentile £39,000 £37,500 £39,000
25th Percentile £52,500 £46,250 £43,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £60,000 £56,252
Median % change year-on-year +16.67% +6.66% +7.15%
75th Percentile £85,000 £78,750 £72,500
90th Percentile £98,750 £87,500 £85,000
England median annual salary £70,000 £60,000 £58,000
% change year-on-year +16.67% +3.45% -3.33%

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 3,528 3,497 4,276
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 20.93% 40.14% 30.97%
Number of salaries quoted 2,077 1,630 2,581
10th Percentile £30,000 £31,000 £31,250
25th Percentile £41,250 £37,500 £40,968
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £50,803 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +18.10% -3.23% -
75th Percentile £76,250 £70,000 £68,750
90th Percentile £90,000 £82,500 £85,000
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +9.09% - -8.33%

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 August 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 August 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 -2 567 £75,000 +18.58% 259
Thames Valley +21 343 £67,500 +22.73% 163
Berkshire +24 223 £70,000 +19.15% 102
Surrey -5 139 £50,000 +25.00% 48
Buckinghamshire +25 102 £55,000 +4.76% 50
West Sussex -9 28 £35,000 -6.67% 11
Oxfordshire -19 18 £92,500 +72.90% 15
Kent -32 17 £52,500 -4.55% 11
Sussex -2 9 £85,000 +61.90% 3
East Sussex -15 6 £70,000 +40.00% 2
Middlesex +40 3 £65,000 -
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 13 (1.16%) SharePoint
2 11 (0.98%) Apache
3 7 (0.63%) Confluence
4 6 (0.54%) SAS
5 5 (0.45%) nginx
6 3 (0.27%) IIS
7 2 (0.18%) Microsoft Exchange
8 1 (0.089%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.089%) Oracle Workflow
8 1 (0.089%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 27 (2.42%) Microsoft Excel
2 18 (1.61%) Microsoft Office
2 18 (1.61%) Simulink
3 9 (0.81%) Microsoft Project
4 5 (0.45%) Solid Edge
4 5 (0.45%) SOLIDWORKS
5 4 (0.36%) Mathcad
5 4 (0.36%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 3 (0.27%) Chatbot
7 2 (0.18%) Lectora
8 1 (0.089%) AutoCAD
8 1 (0.089%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 6 (0.54%) Primavera
2 4 (0.36%) Workday HCM
3 2 (0.18%) Oracle Applications
3 2 (0.18%) Teamcenter
4 1 (0.089%) Remedy ITSM
4 1 (0.089%) SAP MDG
4 1 (0.089%) SAP MM
4 1 (0.089%) SAP S/4HANA
4 1 (0.089%) Siebel CRM
4 1 (0.089%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 185 (16.55%) Azure
2 114 (10.20%) AWS
3 53 (4.74%) Microsoft 365
4 39 (3.49%) GCP
5 33 (2.95%) Entra ID
6 22 (1.97%) Serverless
7 21 (1.88%) Power Platform
8 16 (1.43%) GitHub
8 16 (1.43%) OpenShift
9 15 (1.34%) Azure DevOps
10 14 (1.25%) Amazon EKS
11 12 (1.07%) Azure Sentinel
11 12 (1.07%) GitHub Actions
12 11 (0.98%) Azure AKS
13 10 (0.89%) Amazon EC2
13 10 (0.89%) Azure Stack
13 10 (0.89%) PowerApps
14 7 (0.63%) AWS Lambda
15 6 (0.54%) Cloud Computing
15 6 (0.54%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 114 (10.20%) Firewall
2 72 (6.44%) DNS
3 64 (5.72%) WAN
4 53 (4.74%) LAN
5 43 (3.85%) TCP/IP
6 42 (3.76%) VPN
7 39 (3.49%) Network Security
8 20 (1.79%) BGP
9 18 (1.61%) ATM
9 18 (1.61%) HTTP
9 18 (1.61%) VLAN
10 14 (1.25%) OSPF
10 14 (1.25%) VoIP
11 12 (1.07%) MQTT
11 12 (1.07%) NGFW
11 12 (1.07%) SAN
11 12 (1.07%) SD-WAN
12 11 (0.98%) NAS
12 11 (0.98%) NetScaler
12 11 (0.98%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 26 (2.33%) PostgreSQL
2 20 (1.79%) Power BI
3 18 (1.61%) Relational Database
4 15 (1.34%) SQL Server
5 13 (1.16%) MySQL
6 6 (0.54%) Elasticsearch
7 4 (0.36%) GIS
7 4 (0.36%) MongoDB
7 4 (0.36%) Oracle Database
7 4 (0.36%) Redis
8 2 (0.18%) Data Warehouse
8 2 (0.18%) Metadata
8 2 (0.18%) Oracle Database 11g
8 2 (0.18%) Oracle Database 12c
8 2 (0.18%) RDBMS
8 2 (0.18%) Tableau
9 1 (0.089%) Big Data
9 1 (0.089%) Geospatial Data
9 1 (0.089%) NoSQL
9 1 (0.089%) Siebel EIM
Development Applications
1 72 (6.44%) Git
2 50 (4.47%) GitLab
3 30 (2.68%) JIRA
4 25 (2.24%) Jenkins
5 14 (1.25%) Visual Studio Code
6 10 (0.89%) SonarQube
7 9 (0.81%) Rational DOORS
8 6 (0.54%) Artifactory
8 6 (0.54%) JMeter
9 5 (0.45%) Cucumber
9 5 (0.45%) JUnit
10 4 (0.36%) Bitbucket
10 4 (0.36%) LabVIEW
10 4 (0.36%) Selenium
11 3 (0.27%) Android Studio
11 3 (0.27%) Gatling
11 3 (0.27%) LoadRunner
12 2 (0.18%) Cypress.io
12 2 (0.18%) Mockito
12 2 (0.18%) MSTest
General
1 262 (23.43%) Social Skills
2 124 (11.09%) Analytical Skills
3 113 (10.11%) Finance
4 108 (9.66%) Public Sector
5 93 (8.32%) Aerospace
6 60 (5.37%) Electronics
7 54 (4.83%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 52 (4.65%) Military
9 33 (2.95%) Manufacturing
10 29 (2.59%) Organisational Skills
11 27 (2.42%) Aviation
12 23 (2.06%) Documentation Skills
12 23 (2.06%) Law
12 23 (2.06%) Telecoms
13 11 (0.98%) Aeronautics
13 11 (0.98%) Games
13 11 (0.98%) Influencing Skills
14 10 (0.89%) Banking
15 9 (0.81%) Legal
15 9 (0.81%) Retail
Job Titles
1 161 (14.40%) Senior
2 160 (14.31%) Architect
3 121 (10.82%) Software Engineer
4 80 (7.16%) Lead
5 71 (6.35%) Analyst
6 62 (5.55%) Developer
7 54 (4.83%) Security Architect
7 54 (4.83%) Systems Engineer
8 46 (4.11%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 43 (3.85%) Consultant
10 40 (3.58%) Network Engineer
11 35 (3.13%) Applications Architect
11 35 (3.13%) Senior Software Engineer
12 27 (2.42%) Azure Engineer
12 27 (2.42%) Solutions Architect
13 26 (2.33%) Support Engineer
14 25 (2.24%) Project Manager
14 25 (2.24%) SOC Analyst
15 24 (2.15%) Security Engineer
16 23 (2.06%) Data Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 33 (2.95%) LDAP
2 31 (2.77%) .NET
3 29 (2.59%) React
4 26 (2.33%) ModSecurity
5 23 (2.06%) Regular Expression
6 19 (1.70%) XMPP
7 17 (1.52%) Kafka
7 17 (1.52%) Spring
8 16 (1.43%) REST
9 12 (1.07%) Elastic Stack
9 12 (1.07%) JSON
9 12 (1.07%) Web Services
10 11 (0.98%) ARM Templates
11 10 (0.89%) AngularJS
11 10 (0.89%) HTML
11 10 (0.89%) YAML
12 9 (0.81%) CSS
12 9 (0.81%) OAuth
12 9 (0.81%) OpenID
12 9 (0.81%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 43 (3.85%) Cloud Native
2 40 (3.58%) Onboarding
3 39 (3.49%) Data Centre
4 37 (3.31%) Driving Licence
5 36 (3.22%) Social Media
6 31 (2.77%) Algorithms
7 29 (2.59%) Product Ownership
8 27 (2.42%) Self-Motivation
9 25 (2.24%) Management Information System
10 24 (2.15%) Cyber Threat
10 24 (2.15%) Embedded Systems
11 23 (2.06%) FPGA
12 20 (1.79%) PKI
13 19 (1.70%) Cyber Defence
13 19 (1.70%) Robotics
13 19 (1.70%) Security Operations Centre
14 18 (1.61%) Legacy Systems
14 18 (1.61%) Private Cloud
15 17 (1.52%) Analytical Mindset
16 16 (1.43%) Hybrid Cloud
Operating Systems
1 195 (17.44%) Linux
2 145 (12.97%) Windows
3 85 (7.60%) Windows Server
4 36 (3.22%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 19 (1.70%) Ubuntu
6 16 (1.43%) CentOS
7 11 (0.98%) Windows Server 2016
8 8 (0.72%) Windows Server 2019
9 6 (0.54%) Android
9 6 (0.54%) Windows 10
10 4 (0.36%) Debian
10 4 (0.36%) Unix
11 3 (0.27%) AIX
12 2 (0.18%) Mac OS
12 2 (0.18%) Rocky
13 1 (0.089%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 189 (16.91%) Agile
2 171 (15.30%) Software Engineering
3 152 (13.60%) Problem-Solving
4 149 (13.33%) Continuous Improvement
5 131 (11.72%) Cybersecurity
6 126 (11.27%) CI/CD
7 113 (10.11%) DevOps
8 104 (9.30%) Validation
9 93 (8.32%) Decision-Making
10 84 (7.51%) AI
11 83 (7.42%) Mentoring
12 79 (7.07%) Stakeholder Management
13 78 (6.98%) ITIL
14 75 (6.71%) SIEM
15 73 (6.53%) Technical Leadership
16 67 (5.99%) Infrastructure Engineering
17 63 (5.64%) Containerisation
18 62 (5.55%) Infrastructure as Code
19 57 (5.10%) Incident Response
19 57 (5.10%) Platform Engineering
Programming Languages
1 153 (13.69%) Python
2 80 (7.16%) C++
3 56 (5.01%) Java
4 50 (4.47%) C
4 50 (4.47%) PowerShell
5 47 (4.20%) C#
6 40 (3.58%) Bash
7 31 (2.77%) JavaScript
8 30 (2.68%) SQL
9 24 (2.15%) Rust
10 23 (2.06%) TypeScript
11 22 (1.97%) MATLAB
12 17 (1.52%) Embedded C
13 16 (1.43%) Shell Script
14 15 (1.34%) Embedded C++
15 13 (1.16%) PHP
16 12 (1.07%) Go
17 11 (0.98%) Ada
18 10 (0.89%) Perl
18 10 (0.89%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 718 (64.22%) SC Cleared
2 425 (38.01%) DV Cleared
3 171 (15.30%) Degree
4 56 (5.01%) BPSS Clearance
5 45 (4.03%) CISSP
6 43 (3.85%) Cisco Certification
7 30 (2.68%) CCNP
8 29 (2.59%) HNC
9 24 (2.15%) Master's Degree
10 20 (1.79%) CISM
11 19 (1.70%) Azure Certification
12 18 (1.61%) Computer Science Degree
13 17 (1.52%) CompTIA Security+
14 16 (1.43%) CCNA
14 16 (1.43%) GIAC
15 15 (1.34%) CREST Certified
16 12 (1.07%) GCIA
16 12 (1.07%) OSCP
16 12 (1.07%) PMI Certification
17 11 (0.98%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 37 (3.31%) QA
2 31 (2.77%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 31 (2.77%) SLA
3 22 (1.97%) NCSC
4 21 (1.88%) NIST
5 18 (1.61%) Accessibility
6 15 (1.34%) ISO 9001
7 14 (1.25%) GDPR
8 11 (0.98%) Def Stans
8 11 (0.98%) PMO
9 10 (0.89%) ISO/IEC 20000
10 7 (0.63%) MISRA
11 6 (0.54%) JSP 440
11 6 (0.54%) NIST 800
12 5 (0.45%) NEBOSH
13 4 (0.36%) Cyber Essentials
13 4 (0.36%) GRC
14 3 (0.27%) ISO 22301
15 2 (0.18%) ISO/IEC 27005
15 2 (0.18%) MISRA C
System Software
1 76 (6.80%) Active Directory
1 76 (6.80%) Docker
2 37 (3.31%) vSphere
3 33 (2.95%) VMware Infrastructure
4 24 (2.15%) Firmware
5 18 (1.61%) VMware ESXi
6 14 (1.25%) Virtual Machines
7 12 (1.07%) VMware NSX
8 11 (0.98%) Hyper-V
9 5 (0.45%) Embedded Firmware
9 5 (0.45%) Squid
10 4 (0.36%) KVM
11 2 (0.18%) UAG
12 1 (0.089%) Oracle RAC
12 1 (0.089%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 99 (8.86%) Kubernetes
2 68 (6.08%) Terraform
3 59 (5.28%) Ansible
4 17 (1.52%) Kibana
5 16 (1.43%) Grafana
5 16 (1.43%) Microsoft Intune
6 13 (1.16%) Prometheus
6 13 (1.16%) Single Sign-On
7 10 (0.89%) Podman
7 10 (0.89%) vCenter Server
8 8 (0.72%) Nessus
9 7 (0.63%) Nagios
9 7 (0.63%) Puppet
10 6 (0.54%) Graylog
10 6 (0.54%) QRadar
11 5 (0.45%) Argo
11 5 (0.45%) Docker Swarm
11 5 (0.45%) Kustomize
11 5 (0.45%) Packer
12 4 (0.36%) Istio
Vendors
1 138 (12.34%) Microsoft
2 81 (7.25%) VMware
3 49 (4.38%) Cisco
4 34 (3.04%) Oracle
5 31 (2.77%) Red Hat
5 31 (2.77%) ServiceNow
6 29 (2.59%) Splunk
7 18 (1.61%) Fortinet
8 17 (1.52%) Palo Alto
9 15 (1.34%) McAfee
10 14 (1.25%) Google
10 14 (1.25%) SAP
11 12 (1.07%) AppDynamics
11 12 (1.07%) Citrix
11 12 (1.07%) EMC
12 11 (0.98%) IBM
13 10 (0.89%) NVIDIA
14 9 (0.81%) Veeam
15 8 (0.72%) ForgeRock
15 8 (0.72%) NetApp