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

6 months to
28 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 19 12 10
Rank change year-on-year -7 -2 +1
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 1,031 846 1,667
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 6.35% 9.76% 11.30%
As % of the Qualifications category 30.28% 23.80% 36.04%
Number of salaries quoted 746 513 1,171
10th Percentile £40,000 £37,500 £36,250
25th Percentile £52,500 £46,250 £42,999
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +16.67% +9.09% +6.28%
75th Percentile £85,000 £78,750 £70,250
90th Percentile £98,750 £87,500 £85,000
England median annual salary £70,000 £61,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year +14.75% +6.09% -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 3,405 3,554 4,626
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 20.97% 41.02% 31.35%
Number of salaries quoted 1,994 1,631 2,877
10th Percentile £30,075 £31,250 £31,250
25th Percentile £42,000 £37,500 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £51,500 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +16.50% -1.90% -
75th Percentile £76,250 £70,000 £67,500
90th Percentile £90,000 £82,500 £83,750
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 28 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 28 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 -4 508 £75,000 +15.38% 210
Thames Valley +26 330 £67,500 +22.73% 108
Berkshire +22 214 £70,000 +16.67% 67
Surrey -7 122 £53,750 +34.38% 36
Buckinghamshire +31 95 £55,000 +4.76% 30
West Sussex -6 30 £35,000 -6.67% 8
Oxfordshire -17 21 £82,500 +59.42% 14
Kent -39 17 £52,500 -4.55% 11
Sussex +2 11 £85,000 +61.90% 1
East Sussex -10 5 £70,000 +40.00%
Middlesex +43 2 £65,000 - 1
Home Counties - 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 14 (1.36%) SharePoint
2 10 (0.97%) Apache
3 7 (0.68%) Confluence
3 7 (0.68%) SAS
4 5 (0.48%) nginx
5 3 (0.29%) IIS
6 2 (0.19%) Microsoft Exchange
7 1 (0.097%) Apache Airflow
7 1 (0.097%) Apache Spark
7 1 (0.097%) Oracle Workflow
7 1 (0.097%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 25 (2.42%) Microsoft Excel
2 16 (1.55%) Microsoft Office
3 15 (1.45%) Simulink
4 3 (0.29%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.19%) Lectora
5 2 (0.19%) Mathcad
6 1 (0.097%) Chatbot
6 1 (0.097%) Microsoft Project
Business Applications
1 2 (0.19%) Workday HCM
2 1 (0.097%) Oracle Applications
2 1 (0.097%) Primavera
2 1 (0.097%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.097%) SAP MDG
2 1 (0.097%) SAP MM
2 1 (0.097%) SAP S/4HANA
2 1 (0.097%) Siebel CRM
2 1 (0.097%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
2 1 (0.097%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 165 (16.00%) Azure
2 98 (9.51%) AWS
3 52 (5.04%) Microsoft 365
4 38 (3.69%) GCP
5 27 (2.62%) Entra ID
6 22 (2.13%) Serverless
7 20 (1.94%) Power Platform
8 17 (1.65%) GitHub
9 16 (1.55%) OpenShift
10 15 (1.45%) Azure DevOps
11 14 (1.36%) Amazon EKS
12 13 (1.26%) GitHub Actions
13 12 (1.16%) Azure Sentinel
14 11 (1.07%) Azure AKS
14 11 (1.07%) PowerApps
15 10 (0.97%) Amazon EC2
15 10 (0.97%) Azure Stack
16 7 (0.68%) AWS Lambda
16 7 (0.68%) SaaS
17 6 (0.58%) Amazon ECS
Communications & Networking
1 108 (10.48%) Firewall
2 70 (6.79%) DNS
3 62 (6.01%) WAN
4 50 (4.85%) LAN
5 41 (3.98%) TCP/IP
6 40 (3.88%) VPN
7 29 (2.81%) Network Security
8 22 (2.13%) BGP
9 18 (1.75%) HTTP
10 17 (1.65%) ATM
11 16 (1.55%) VLAN
12 14 (1.36%) VoIP
13 13 (1.26%) OSPF
14 12 (1.16%) MQTT
14 12 (1.16%) NGFW
15 11 (1.07%) NetScaler
15 11 (1.07%) SD-WAN
16 10 (0.97%) MPLS
16 10 (0.97%) SAN
16 10 (0.97%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 24 (2.33%) PostgreSQL
2 19 (1.84%) Power BI
3 16 (1.55%) Relational Database
4 13 (1.26%) SQL Server
5 11 (1.07%) MySQL
6 5 (0.48%) Elasticsearch
7 4 (0.39%) GIS
7 4 (0.39%) Oracle Database
7 4 (0.39%) Redis
8 3 (0.29%) MongoDB
9 2 (0.19%) Metadata
9 2 (0.19%) Oracle Database 11g
9 2 (0.19%) Oracle Database 12c
10 1 (0.097%) Data Warehouse
10 1 (0.097%) NoSQL
10 1 (0.097%) RDBMS
10 1 (0.097%) SAS Visual Analytics
10 1 (0.097%) Siebel EIM
10 1 (0.097%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 66 (6.40%) Git
2 51 (4.95%) GitLab
3 24 (2.33%) Jenkins
4 23 (2.23%) JIRA
5 14 (1.36%) Visual Studio Code
6 11 (1.07%) SonarQube
7 7 (0.68%) Rational DOORS
8 6 (0.58%) Artifactory
9 5 (0.48%) Cucumber
9 5 (0.48%) JMeter
9 5 (0.48%) JUnit
10 4 (0.39%) Bitbucket
10 4 (0.39%) Selenium
11 3 (0.29%) Android Studio
11 3 (0.29%) Atlassian Bamboo
12 2 (0.19%) LabVIEW
12 2 (0.19%) LoadRunner
12 2 (0.19%) Mockito
12 2 (0.19%) Subversion
12 2 (0.19%) Visual Studio
General
1 226 (21.92%) Social Skills
2 98 (9.51%) Analytical Skills
3 97 (9.41%) Finance
4 92 (8.92%) Public Sector
5 54 (5.24%) Aerospace
6 49 (4.75%) Electronics
7 38 (3.69%) Military
8 31 (3.01%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 26 (2.52%) Organisational Skills
10 24 (2.33%) Manufacturing
11 23 (2.23%) Aviation
12 22 (2.13%) Telecoms
13 21 (2.04%) Documentation Skills
14 18 (1.75%) Law
15 12 (1.16%) Games
16 10 (0.97%) Aeronautics
16 10 (0.97%) Banking
17 9 (0.87%) Influencing Skills
17 9 (0.87%) Legal
18 8 (0.78%) Advertising
Job Titles
1 151 (14.65%) Senior
2 146 (14.16%) Architect
3 116 (11.25%) Software Engineer
4 65 (6.30%) Developer
5 64 (6.21%) Analyst
6 63 (6.11%) Lead
7 52 (5.04%) Security Architect
8 44 (4.27%) Systems Engineer
9 42 (4.07%) Consultant
10 39 (3.78%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 37 (3.59%) Network Engineer
12 36 (3.49%) Senior Software Engineer
13 35 (3.39%) Applications Architect
14 29 (2.81%) Azure Engineer
15 27 (2.62%) Data Engineer
16 26 (2.52%) Support Engineer
17 25 (2.42%) Security Engineer
18 24 (2.33%) Java Developer
18 24 (2.33%) Solutions Architect
19 23 (2.23%) SOC Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 28 (2.72%) React
2 27 (2.62%) .NET
2 27 (2.62%) LDAP
3 23 (2.23%) Regular Expression
4 19 (1.84%) XMPP
5 17 (1.65%) REST
6 16 (1.55%) Kafka
7 15 (1.45%) Spring
8 14 (1.36%) JSON
9 12 (1.16%) Elastic Stack
9 12 (1.16%) Web Services
10 11 (1.07%) ARM Templates
11 9 (0.87%) HTML
11 9 (0.87%) ModSecurity
11 9 (0.87%) Spring Boot
11 9 (0.87%) XML
11 9 (0.87%) YAML
12 8 (0.78%) AngularJS
12 8 (0.78%) CSS
12 8 (0.78%) RabbitMQ
Miscellaneous
1 33 (3.20%) Cloud Native
1 33 (3.20%) Driving Licence
2 32 (3.10%) Data Centre
3 31 (3.01%) Product Ownership
4 30 (2.91%) Onboarding
5 28 (2.72%) Algorithms
6 23 (2.23%) Self-Motivation
7 22 (2.13%) PKI
8 21 (2.04%) Cyber Threat
8 21 (2.04%) FPGA
9 20 (1.94%) Embedded Systems
10 19 (1.84%) Robotics
11 18 (1.75%) Cyber Defence
11 18 (1.75%) Security Operations Centre
12 17 (1.65%) Analytical Mindset
12 17 (1.65%) Social Media
13 15 (1.45%) Management Information System
14 14 (1.36%) Distributed Systems
14 14 (1.36%) Hybrid Cloud
15 11 (1.07%) Legacy Systems
Operating Systems
1 186 (18.04%) Linux
2 136 (13.19%) Windows
3 81 (7.86%) Windows Server
4 34 (3.30%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 19 (1.84%) Ubuntu
6 16 (1.55%) CentOS
7 10 (0.97%) Windows Server 2016
8 7 (0.68%) Windows Server 2019
9 6 (0.58%) Android
9 6 (0.58%) Windows 10
10 4 (0.39%) Debian
10 4 (0.39%) Unix
11 3 (0.29%) AIX
12 2 (0.19%) Mac OS
13 1 (0.097%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 174 (16.88%) Agile
2 160 (15.52%) Software Engineering
3 121 (11.74%) CI/CD
3 121 (11.74%) Cybersecurity
4 119 (11.54%) Continuous Improvement
4 119 (11.54%) Problem-Solving
5 108 (10.48%) DevOps
6 73 (7.08%) Validation
7 72 (6.98%) SIEM
8 71 (6.89%) Decision-Making
9 70 (6.79%) AI
9 70 (6.79%) Mentoring
10 69 (6.69%) ITIL
11 65 (6.30%) Stakeholder Management
12 58 (5.63%) Containerisation
13 56 (5.43%) Infrastructure Engineering
14 55 (5.33%) Platform Engineering
14 55 (5.33%) Technical Leadership
15 54 (5.24%) Infrastructure as Code
16 50 (4.85%) Scrum
Programming Languages
1 154 (14.94%) Python
2 74 (7.18%) C++
3 56 (5.43%) Java
4 47 (4.56%) PowerShell
5 46 (4.46%) C
6 41 (3.98%) C#
7 36 (3.49%) Bash
8 32 (3.10%) SQL
9 28 (2.72%) JavaScript
10 23 (2.23%) Rust
11 22 (2.13%) TypeScript
12 19 (1.84%) MATLAB
13 14 (1.36%) Embedded C
13 14 (1.36%) Embedded C++
14 13 (1.26%) PHP
14 13 (1.26%) Shell Script
15 11 (1.07%) Go
15 11 (1.07%) PL/SQL
15 11 (1.07%) VBA
16 10 (0.97%) Ada
Qualifications
1 667 (64.69%) SC Cleared
2 371 (35.98%) DV Cleared
3 149 (14.45%) Degree
4 35 (3.39%) Cisco Certification
5 32 (3.10%) BPSS Clearance
6 31 (3.01%) CISSP
7 26 (2.52%) HNC
8 23 (2.23%) CCNP
8 23 (2.23%) Master's Degree
9 17 (1.65%) Computer Science Degree
10 16 (1.55%) CompTIA Security+
10 16 (1.55%) GIAC
11 15 (1.45%) CREST Certified
12 14 (1.36%) CCNA
13 13 (1.26%) Azure Certification
14 12 (1.16%) CISM
14 12 (1.16%) GCIA
14 12 (1.16%) OSCP
15 11 (1.07%) Microsoft Certification
16 10 (0.97%) HND
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 27 (2.62%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 24 (2.33%) SLA
3 23 (2.23%) QA
4 22 (2.13%) NCSC
5 16 (1.55%) NIST
6 13 (1.26%) ISO 9001
7 12 (1.16%) GDPR
8 11 (1.07%) PMO
9 9 (0.87%) Accessibility
9 9 (0.87%) Def Stans
9 9 (0.87%) ISO/IEC 20000
10 5 (0.48%) JSP 440
10 5 (0.48%) MISRA
10 5 (0.48%) NEBOSH
11 4 (0.39%) GRC
11 4 (0.39%) NIST 800
12 3 (0.29%) Cyber Essentials
12 3 (0.29%) ISO 22301
13 2 (0.19%) ISO/IEC 15288
13 2 (0.19%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 71 (6.89%) Docker
2 68 (6.60%) Active Directory
3 35 (3.39%) vSphere
4 27 (2.62%) VMware Infrastructure
5 22 (2.13%) Firmware
6 14 (1.36%) VMware ESXi
7 12 (1.16%) VMware NSX
8 11 (1.07%) Virtual Machines
9 8 (0.78%) Hyper-V
10 5 (0.48%) Embedded Firmware
10 5 (0.48%) Squid
11 2 (0.19%) KVM
11 2 (0.19%) UAG
12 1 (0.097%) Oracle RAC
12 1 (0.097%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 91 (8.83%) Kubernetes
2 67 (6.50%) Terraform
3 56 (5.43%) Ansible
4 17 (1.65%) Grafana
5 16 (1.55%) Kibana
6 15 (1.45%) Microsoft Intune
6 15 (1.45%) Prometheus
7 10 (0.97%) vCenter Server
8 9 (0.87%) Podman
9 8 (0.78%) Nessus
9 8 (0.78%) Single Sign-On
10 7 (0.68%) Nagios
10 7 (0.68%) Puppet
11 6 (0.58%) Graylog
12 5 (0.48%) Argo
12 5 (0.48%) Docker Swarm
12 5 (0.48%) Kustomize
12 5 (0.48%) Packer
12 5 (0.48%) QRadar
13 4 (0.39%) Endace
Vendors
1 135 (13.09%) Microsoft
2 74 (7.18%) VMware
3 45 (4.36%) Cisco
4 31 (3.01%) Red Hat
5 30 (2.91%) Oracle
5 30 (2.91%) Splunk
6 25 (2.42%) ServiceNow
7 15 (1.45%) McAfee
8 14 (1.36%) Palo Alto
9 13 (1.26%) Fortinet
9 13 (1.26%) Google
10 12 (1.16%) Citrix
11 11 (1.07%) AppDynamics
11 11 (1.07%) IBM
12 10 (0.97%) EMC
12 10 (0.97%) NVIDIA
13 9 (0.87%) Juniper
13 9 (0.87%) Tenable
14 8 (0.78%) CrowdStrike
14 8 (0.78%) NetApp