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

6 months to
17 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 20 8 9
Rank change year-on-year -12 +1 +9
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 726 1,239 1,282
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 6.91% 13.76% 13.58%
As % of the Qualifications category 22.36% 30.65% 35.80%
Number of salaries quoted 409 783 933
10th Percentile £31,940 £41,044 £31,250
25th Percentile £46,250 £47,500 £40,625
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £58,000 £60,000 £54,995
Median % change year-on-year -3.33% +9.10% +9.99%
75th Percentile £73,750 £77,500 £63,750
90th Percentile £85,000 £85,000 £76,200
England median annual salary £60,000 £61,644 £57,495
% change year-on-year -2.67% +7.22% +1.80%

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 3,247 4,042 3,581
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 30.92% 44.90% 37.93%
Number of salaries quoted 1,377 1,742 2,250
10th Percentile £27,500 £35,000 £28,000
25th Percentile £36,500 £46,250 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £60,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year -12.50% +14.29% +2.24%
75th Percentile £66,250 £77,500 £67,500
90th Percentile £85,000 £86,125 £82,500
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £56,500
% change year-on-year -8.33% +6.19% -1.74%

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 17 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 17 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 -1 408 £60,000 - 153
Thames Valley -7 211 £60,000 +4.35% 100
Berkshire -19 112 £55,000 -6.98% 58
Buckinghamshire +38 84 £60,000 +4.35% 26
Surrey -11 73 £45,000 -30.77% 43
West Sussex +15 19 £34,000 -9.33% 15
Oxfordshire -11 15 £68,750 +46.52% 17
Kent -15 12 £39,000 -29.09% 21
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 (4.96%) Microsoft Exchange
2 34 (4.68%) SharePoint
3 26 (3.58%) Exchange Server 2003
4 5 (0.69%) Confluence
4 5 (0.69%) WordPress
5 4 (0.55%) Apache
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 (5.79%) Microsoft Office
2 32 (4.41%) 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 15 (2.07%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
2 4 (0.55%) 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 65 (8.95%) Azure
2 63 (8.68%) AWS
3 30 (4.13%) Microsoft 365
4 23 (3.17%) Azure DevOps
4 23 (3.17%) Power Platform
5 16 (2.20%) Amazon EKS
6 15 (2.07%) Amazon EC2
6 15 (2.07%) GCP
7 14 (1.93%) PowerApps
8 13 (1.79%) Dynamics 365
9 12 (1.65%) Amazon ECS
9 12 (1.65%) Serverless
10 6 (0.83%) AWS CloudFormation
10 6 (0.83%) Entra ID
10 6 (0.83%) Figma
10 6 (0.83%) GitHub
10 6 (0.83%) OpenShift
10 6 (0.83%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
10 6 (0.83%) Salesforce Service Cloud
11 5 (0.69%) Amazon S3
Communications & Networking
1 59 (8.13%) Firewall
2 53 (7.30%) DNS
3 31 (4.27%) DHCP
4 23 (3.17%) VPN
5 21 (2.89%) Junos
5 21 (2.89%) LAN
6 18 (2.48%) WAN
7 16 (2.20%) Cisco IOS
7 16 (2.20%) Wi-Fi
8 15 (2.07%) Network Security
8 15 (2.07%) Wireless
9 14 (1.93%) Cisco ISE
9 14 (1.93%) Structured Cabling
10 13 (1.79%) Software-Defined Radio
10 13 (1.79%) TCP/IP
11 12 (1.65%) Cisco Firepower
11 12 (1.65%) VSAT
12 11 (1.52%) BGP
13 10 (1.38%) NX-OS
14 6 (0.83%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 31 (4.27%) Oracle Database
2 27 (3.72%) Oracle Database 10g
3 15 (2.07%) Power BI
4 14 (1.93%) PostgreSQL
5 12 (1.65%) Relational Database
6 11 (1.52%) RDBMS
7 3 (0.41%) Airbyte
7 3 (0.41%) Data Mining
7 3 (0.41%) SQL Server
8 2 (0.28%) Big Data
8 2 (0.28%) BigQuery
8 2 (0.28%) MongoDB
8 2 (0.28%) NoSQL
9 1 (0.14%) Amazon Aurora
9 1 (0.14%) Amazon RDS
9 1 (0.14%) DynamoDB
9 1 (0.14%) Elasticsearch
9 1 (0.14%) Neo4j
9 1 (0.14%) Redis
9 1 (0.14%) SAP Data Services
Development Applications
1 53 (7.30%) Jenkins
2 51 (7.02%) Git
3 49 (6.75%) JIRA
4 25 (3.44%) Selenium
5 19 (2.62%) Robot Framework
6 17 (2.34%) Snyk
7 14 (1.93%) GitLab
8 13 (1.79%) JUnit
9 12 (1.65%) Mockito
10 11 (1.52%) JMeter
11 5 (0.69%) Axure RP
11 5 (0.69%) Balsamiq
11 5 (0.69%) Cypress.io
11 5 (0.69%) Subversion
12 3 (0.41%) Rational Rhapsody
12 3 (0.41%) WebDriver
13 2 (0.28%) Artifactory
13 2 (0.28%) Atlassian Bamboo
13 2 (0.28%) TestRail
13 2 (0.28%) Visual Studio
General
1 244 (33.61%) Social Skills
2 104 (14.33%) Analytical Skills
3 76 (10.47%) Finance
4 65 (8.95%) Public Sector
5 47 (6.47%) Organisational Skills
6 32 (4.41%) Manufacturing
7 31 (4.27%) Law
8 28 (3.86%) Telecoms
9 27 (3.72%) Aeronautics
9 27 (3.72%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 26 (3.58%) Aerospace
11 25 (3.44%) Aviation
12 24 (3.31%) Electronics
13 15 (2.07%) Marketing
14 12 (1.65%) Automotive
15 11 (1.52%) Documentation Skills
15 11 (1.52%) Legal
15 11 (1.52%) Military
16 10 (1.38%) Banking
17 9 (1.24%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 74 (10.19%) Lead
1 74 (10.19%) Senior
2 65 (8.95%) Systems Engineer
3 62 (8.54%) Architect
4 61 (8.40%) Support Engineer
5 50 (6.89%) Business Manager
5 50 (6.89%) Business Systems Manager
5 50 (6.89%) Systems Manager
6 41 (5.65%) Analyst
7 39 (5.37%) Developer
8 37 (5.10%) Systems Support
8 37 (5.10%) Technical Support
9 36 (4.96%) Consultant
9 36 (4.96%) Network Engineer
10 34 (4.68%) Technical Engineer
10 34 (4.68%) Technical Support Engineer
11 31 (4.27%) Software Engineer
12 25 (3.44%) 3rd Line Support
13 24 (3.31%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 21 (2.89%) Technical Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 35 (4.82%) REST
2 24 (3.31%) SOAP
3 18 (2.48%) HTML
4 15 (2.07%) Spring
5 14 (1.93%) Spring Boot
6 13 (1.79%) XML
7 12 (1.65%) Hibernate
7 12 (1.65%) JSON
7 12 (1.65%) Web Services
8 11 (1.52%) ActiveMQ
8 11 (1.52%) Apache Camel
8 11 (1.52%) jQuery
8 11 (1.52%) WireMock
9 10 (1.38%) .NET
9 10 (1.38%) Middleware
10 9 (1.24%) React
11 6 (0.83%) Kafka
11 6 (0.83%) Lightning Web Components
11 6 (0.83%) Visualforce
12 5 (0.69%) AngularJS
Miscellaneous
1 52 (7.16%) Robotics
2 31 (4.27%) e-Learning
3 25 (3.44%) Driving Licence
4 22 (3.03%) Product Ownership
5 19 (2.62%) PKI
6 18 (2.48%) Cloud Native
7 16 (2.20%) 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 (1.79%) Self-Motivation
11 11 (1.52%) Embedded Systems
12 10 (1.38%) Management Information System
13 9 (1.24%) MicroBlaze
13 9 (1.24%) RISC-V
14 8 (1.10%) Renewable Energy
15 7 (0.96%) Fibre Optics
16 5 (0.69%) Cloud Security Posture
16 5 (0.69%) Low-Code
Operating Systems
1 112 (15.43%) Windows
2 56 (7.71%) Linux
3 41 (5.65%) Windows Server
4 33 (4.55%) Unix
5 27 (3.72%) Solaris
6 26 (3.58%) HPUX
6 26 (3.58%) Windows Server 2003
7 23 (3.17%) Windows 7
8 22 (3.03%) Windows Server 2008
9 9 (1.24%) Embedded Linux
10 8 (1.10%) Android
10 8 (1.10%) Windows Server 2016
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
1 138 (19.01%) Agile
2 111 (15.29%) Continuous Improvement
3 102 (14.05%) Problem-Solving
4 96 (13.22%) Software Engineering
5 90 (12.40%) Project Management
6 82 (11.29%) Process Improvement
7 76 (10.47%) AI
8 65 (8.95%) CI/CD
9 63 (8.68%) Risk Management
10 56 (7.71%) DevOps
10 56 (7.71%) Technical Leadership
11 53 (7.30%) IT Strategy
11 53 (7.30%) Strategic Planning
12 52 (7.16%) Budget Management
12 52 (7.16%) Stakeholder Engagement
13 50 (6.89%) Contract Negotiation
13 50 (6.89%) Data Analysis
14 49 (6.75%) Change Management
15 46 (6.34%) Mentoring
16 40 (5.51%) Configuration Management
Programming Languages
1 64 (8.82%) Python
2 51 (7.02%) PowerShell
3 40 (5.51%) SQL
4 39 (5.37%) Java
5 31 (4.27%) JavaScript
6 24 (3.31%) C++
7 23 (3.17%) C#
8 22 (3.03%) Perl
9 14 (1.93%) C
9 14 (1.93%) VBA
10 11 (1.52%) Shell Script
11 10 (1.38%) Bash
12 8 (1.10%) Rust
13 7 (0.96%) MATLAB
14 6 (0.83%) Apex Code
14 6 (0.83%) Go
15 3 (0.41%) PL/SQL
15 3 (0.41%) TypeScript
16 2 (0.28%) Kotlin
16 2 (0.28%) Kusto Query Language
Qualifications
1 440 (60.61%) SC Cleared
2 241 (33.20%) DV Cleared
3 128 (17.63%) Degree
4 31 (4.27%) Cisco Certification
5 30 (4.13%) CCNA
6 20 (2.75%) Master's Degree
7 18 (2.48%) BPSS Clearance
7 18 (2.48%) JNCIA
8 17 (2.34%) CCNP
9 13 (1.79%) APMP
10 11 (1.52%) Microsoft Certification
11 10 (1.38%) CISSP
11 10 (1.38%) Computer Science Degree
12 8 (1.10%) HNC
12 8 (1.10%) JNCIS
12 8 (1.10%) MBA
13 7 (0.96%) CISM
13 7 (0.96%) ISTQB
14 6 (0.83%) Azure Certification
14 6 (0.83%) DBS Check
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 38 (5.23%) QA
2 36 (4.96%) SLA
3 30 (4.13%) Def Stans
4 16 (2.20%) GDPR
5 15 (2.07%) ISO/IEC 27001
6 14 (1.93%) Accessibility
7 11 (1.52%) NIST
8 9 (1.24%) GRC
8 9 (1.24%) NCSC
9 6 (0.83%) ISO 9001
9 6 (0.83%) WCAG
10 5 (0.69%) ISO 13485
11 4 (0.55%) PMO
12 3 (0.41%) JSP 440
12 3 (0.41%) NIST 800
12 3 (0.41%) PCI DSS
13 2 (0.28%) Data Quality
13 2 (0.28%) ISO/IEC 42001
13 2 (0.28%) RMADS
14 1 (0.14%) DO-178B
System Software
1 64 (8.82%) Active Directory
2 24 (3.31%) Firmware
3 23 (3.17%) VMware NSX
4 22 (3.03%) Docker
5 21 (2.89%) VMware Infrastructure
6 11 (1.52%) Embedded Firmware
7 6 (0.83%) VMware ESXi
7 6 (0.83%) vSphere
8 3 (0.41%) Hyper-V
8 3 (0.41%) Virtual Machines
9 2 (0.28%) Terminal Server
10 1 (0.14%) Apache ZooKeeper
Systems Management
1 34 (4.68%) Kubernetes
2 29 (3.99%) Terraform
3 24 (3.31%) Ansible
4 22 (3.03%) vCenter Server
5 12 (1.65%) SCCM
6 11 (1.52%) Kibana
6 11 (1.52%) SCOM
7 7 (0.96%) Grafana
7 7 (0.96%) vRealize
8 6 (0.83%) Prometheus
9 5 (0.69%) Endace
9 5 (0.69%) Nessus
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%) Argo
12 2 (0.28%) Sysdig
12 2 (0.28%) WMI
Vendors
1 106 (14.60%) Microsoft
2 66 (9.09%) VMware
3 52 (7.16%) Cisco
4 45 (6.20%) Juniper
5 36 (4.96%) Oracle
6 22 (3.03%) SAP
7 19 (2.62%) SolarWinds
8 17 (2.34%) Black Duck
8 17 (2.34%) Coverity
9 16 (2.20%) Splunk
10 15 (2.07%) Salesforce
10 15 (2.07%) Sparx
11 11 (1.52%) Dynatrace
12 10 (1.38%) Broadcom
13 8 (1.10%) Adobe
13 8 (1.10%) Google
14 7 (0.96%) HP
14 7 (0.96%) ServiceNow
14 7 (0.96%) Starlink
15 6 (0.83%) MuleSoft