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

6 months to
17 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 22 13 11
Rank change year-on-year -9 -2 +10
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 781 781 1,759
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 5.40% 9.95% 10.69%
As % of the Qualifications category 23.69% 20.10% 31.52%
Number of salaries quoted 566 537 1,345
10th Percentile £40,555 £41,250 £33,250
25th Percentile £51,250 £47,500 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £67,500 £57,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +17.39% +4.55% +11.11%
75th Percentile £82,500 £77,500 £70,000
90th Percentile £92,500 £87,500 £82,500
England median annual salary £65,000 £60,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year +8.33% +4.35% -0.86%

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 3,297 3,886 5,580
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 22.80% 49.48% 33.90%
Number of salaries quoted 1,652 1,584 3,636
10th Percentile £31,000 £31,750 £30,000
25th Percentile £41,250 £40,000 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £59,490 £53,000 £51,500
Median % change year-on-year +12.25% +2.91% +1.48%
75th Percentile £75,000 £70,000 £67,500
90th Percentile £87,159 £82,500 £82,500
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 17 May 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 May 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 -5 355 £75,000 +30.43% 218
Thames Valley +28 290 £65,000 +12.71% 142
Berkshire +18 185 £67,500 +12.50% 96
Buckinghamshire +29 79 £55,000 - 28
Surrey -7 74 £57,303 +27.34% 39
Oxfordshire 0 26 £65,000 +25.60% 30
West Sussex -6 24 £35,000 -6.67% 11
Kent -30 20 £52,500 -19.23% 19
Sussex - 11 £85,000 - 2
East Sussex -16 2 £70,000 - 3
Home Counties -2 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 25 (3.20%) SharePoint
2 5 (0.64%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (0.38%) Confluence
4 1 (0.13%) Apache
4 1 (0.13%) Apache Airflow
4 1 (0.13%) Apache Qpid
4 1 (0.13%) Camunda
4 1 (0.13%) Oracle SOA Suite
4 1 (0.13%) SAS
Applications
1 23 (2.94%) Microsoft Office
2 19 (2.43%) Microsoft Excel
3 10 (1.28%) Simulink
4 3 (0.38%) Adobe XD
5 2 (0.26%) Lectora
6 1 (0.13%) CATIA
Business Applications
1 1 (0.13%) Primavera
1 1 (0.13%) Remedy ITSM
1 1 (0.13%) SAP MM
1 1 (0.13%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 109 (13.96%) Azure
2 70 (8.96%) AWS
3 36 (4.61%) GCP
3 36 (4.61%) Microsoft 365
4 20 (2.56%) Power Platform
5 18 (2.30%) Amazon EKS
5 18 (2.30%) Azure DevOps
5 18 (2.30%) Serverless
6 13 (1.66%) Dynamics 365
7 12 (1.54%) OpenShift
8 11 (1.41%) GitHub
8 11 (1.41%) PowerApps
9 10 (1.28%) Amazon EC2
10 8 (1.02%) Azure AKS
10 8 (1.02%) Entra ID
10 8 (1.02%) GitHub Actions
11 7 (0.90%) AWS Lambda
11 7 (0.90%) Azure Sentinel
12 6 (0.77%) Amazon ECS
12 6 (0.77%) Azure Stack
Communications & Networking
1 75 (9.60%) Firewall
2 52 (6.66%) DNS
3 32 (4.10%) WAN
4 23 (2.94%) VPN
5 22 (2.82%) LAN
6 21 (2.69%) BGP
7 20 (2.56%) Structured Cabling
8 16 (2.05%) Network Security
9 13 (1.66%) DHCP
9 13 (1.66%) TCP/IP
10 12 (1.54%) Cisco Firepower
10 12 (1.54%) HTTP
11 11 (1.41%) NetScaler
12 9 (1.15%) Cisco IOS
12 9 (1.15%) Cisco ISE
12 9 (1.15%) MPLS
12 9 (1.15%) MQTT
12 9 (1.15%) OSPF
12 9 (1.15%) Wireshark
13 8 (1.02%) NAS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (2.18%) Power BI
2 14 (1.79%) PostgreSQL
3 10 (1.28%) Relational Database
3 10 (1.28%) SQL Server
4 4 (0.51%) Elasticsearch
5 2 (0.26%) GIS
5 2 (0.26%) Metadata
5 2 (0.26%) MySQL
5 2 (0.26%) Oracle Database
5 2 (0.26%) Redis
6 1 (0.13%) Big Data
6 1 (0.13%) Data Lake
6 1 (0.13%) Data Warehouse
6 1 (0.13%) DynamoDB
6 1 (0.13%) Geospatial Data
6 1 (0.13%) MongoDB
6 1 (0.13%) NoSQL
6 1 (0.13%) SAS Visual Analytics
6 1 (0.13%) Tableau
6 1 (0.13%) Weaviate
Development Applications
1 55 (7.04%) Git
2 49 (6.27%) GitLab
3 24 (3.07%) Jenkins
4 17 (2.18%) JIRA
5 14 (1.79%) Visual Studio Code
6 10 (1.28%) SonarQube
7 7 (0.90%) Selenium
8 6 (0.77%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 6 (0.77%) Cucumber
9 5 (0.64%) JUnit
9 5 (0.64%) Subversion
10 4 (0.51%) Artifactory
10 4 (0.51%) Rational DOORS
10 4 (0.51%) Snyk
11 3 (0.38%) Android Studio
11 3 (0.38%) Axure RP
11 3 (0.38%) Balsamiq
11 3 (0.38%) JMeter
11 3 (0.38%) Mockito
11 3 (0.38%) Robot Framework
General
1 156 (19.97%) Social Skills
2 79 (10.12%) Finance
3 78 (9.99%) Public Sector
4 55 (7.04%) Analytical Skills
5 28 (3.59%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 27 (3.46%) Electronics
7 26 (3.33%) Law
8 23 (2.94%) Aerospace
8 23 (2.94%) Manufacturing
9 21 (2.69%) Military
10 17 (2.18%) Aviation
11 16 (2.05%) Telecoms
12 15 (1.92%) Organisational Skills
13 14 (1.79%) Documentation Skills
14 12 (1.54%) Banking
15 9 (1.15%) Games
15 9 (1.15%) Influencing Skills
16 8 (1.02%) Retail
17 6 (0.77%) Aeronautics
18 5 (0.64%) French Language
Job Titles
1 121 (15.49%) Senior
2 106 (13.57%) Architect
3 69 (8.83%) Developer
4 57 (7.30%) Lead
4 57 (7.30%) Software Engineer
5 43 (5.51%) Analyst
6 40 (5.12%) Network Engineer
7 36 (4.61%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 36 (4.61%) Systems Engineer
8 31 (3.97%) Applications Architect
9 29 (3.71%) Consultant
10 28 (3.59%) Security Architect
11 26 (3.33%) Java Developer
12 24 (3.07%) Data Engineer
12 24 (3.07%) DevOps Engineer
13 23 (2.94%) IT Engineer
14 22 (2.82%) Support Engineer
15 20 (2.56%) Azure Engineer
15 20 (2.56%) IT Support
16 19 (2.43%) Cloud Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (3.71%) .NET
2 24 (3.07%) REST
3 17 (2.18%) React
4 16 (2.05%) Regular Expression
4 16 (2.05%) Spring
5 15 (1.92%) LDAP
6 12 (1.54%) JSON
6 12 (1.54%) SOAP
6 12 (1.54%) XMPP
7 11 (1.41%) Kafka
8 10 (1.28%) Elastic Stack
9 9 (1.15%) Middleware
10 8 (1.02%) RabbitMQ
10 8 (1.02%) RESTful
10 8 (1.02%) Spring Boot
11 7 (0.90%) AngularJS
11 7 (0.90%) XML
12 6 (0.77%) HTML
12 6 (0.77%) Visualforce
12 6 (0.77%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 34 (4.35%) Product Ownership
2 24 (3.07%) Algorithms
3 23 (2.94%) Data Centre
4 22 (2.82%) PKI
5 19 (2.43%) Onboarding
6 18 (2.30%) Cloud Native
7 14 (1.79%) Cyber Defence
7 14 (1.79%) Embedded Systems
7 14 (1.79%) FPGA
8 13 (1.66%) Security Posture
9 12 (1.54%) Cyber Threat
9 12 (1.54%) Distributed Systems
9 12 (1.54%) Self-Motivation
10 11 (1.41%) Driving Licence
11 9 (1.15%) Analytical Mindset
11 9 (1.15%) Fibre Optics
11 9 (1.15%) Robotics
12 8 (1.02%) Legacy Systems
12 8 (1.02%) Management Information System
13 5 (0.64%) Data Structures
Operating Systems
1 114 (14.60%) Linux
2 95 (12.16%) Windows
3 64 (8.19%) Windows Server
4 25 (3.20%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 10 (1.28%) CentOS
5 10 (1.28%) Ubuntu
5 10 (1.28%) Windows Server 2016
6 7 (0.90%) Android
7 6 (0.77%) Windows Server 2019
8 2 (0.26%) AIX
9 1 (0.13%) Apple iOS
9 1 (0.13%) Mac OS
9 1 (0.13%) Unix
9 1 (0.13%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 146 (18.69%) Agile
2 100 (12.80%) DevOps
3 97 (12.42%) CI/CD
4 84 (10.76%) Continuous Improvement
5 81 (10.37%) Software Engineering
6 77 (9.86%) Problem-Solving
7 64 (8.19%) Cybersecurity
8 48 (6.15%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 48 (6.15%) Mentoring
8 48 (6.15%) Scrum
9 44 (5.63%) Infrastructure as Code
10 43 (5.51%) Containerisation
10 43 (5.51%) Decision-Making
11 41 (5.25%) AI
12 40 (5.12%) SIEM
13 38 (4.87%) Service Management
13 38 (4.87%) Technical Leadership
14 37 (4.74%) Microservices
15 36 (4.61%) Stakeholder Management
16 35 (4.48%) Kanban
Programming Languages
1 104 (13.32%) Python
2 54 (6.91%) Java
3 42 (5.38%) C++
4 34 (4.35%) SQL
5 31 (3.97%) C#
6 26 (3.33%) C
7 25 (3.20%) PowerShell
8 23 (2.94%) JavaScript
9 17 (2.18%) Rust
10 13 (1.66%) MATLAB
11 12 (1.54%) Bash
11 12 (1.54%) TypeScript
12 11 (1.41%) VBA
13 10 (1.28%) Shell Script
14 9 (1.15%) PL/SQL
15 8 (1.02%) Embedded C
15 8 (1.02%) Embedded C++
16 7 (0.90%) Go
17 6 (0.77%) Apex Code
17 6 (0.77%) Groovy
Qualifications
1 477 (61.08%) SC Cleared
2 295 (37.77%) DV Cleared
3 121 (15.49%) Degree
4 21 (2.69%) HNC
5 20 (2.56%) Master's Degree
6 14 (1.79%) CISSP
7 12 (1.54%) Computer Science Degree
8 11 (1.41%) BPSS Clearance
9 10 (1.28%) CRISC
10 9 (1.15%) APMP
10 9 (1.15%) CCNP
10 9 (1.15%) Cisco Certification
10 9 (1.15%) MBA
11 8 (1.02%) CompTIA Security+
11 8 (1.02%) DBS Check
12 7 (0.90%) CREST Certified
12 7 (0.90%) ISACA
12 7 (0.90%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
12 7 (0.90%) Microsoft Certification
13 6 (0.77%) OSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (2.69%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 17 (2.18%) GDPR
3 16 (2.05%) NCSC
3 16 (2.05%) QA
4 14 (1.79%) NIST
5 13 (1.66%) SLA
6 12 (1.54%) PMO
7 9 (1.15%) Accessibility
7 9 (1.15%) ISO 9001
8 7 (0.90%) Def Stans
9 5 (0.64%) ISO/IEC 20000
9 5 (0.64%) NEBOSH
9 5 (0.64%) WCAG
10 4 (0.51%) GRC
11 3 (0.38%) ISO/IEC 15288
11 3 (0.38%) JSP 440
12 2 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials
12 2 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 2 (0.26%) NIST 800
12 2 (0.26%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 57 (7.30%) Active Directory
2 56 (7.17%) Docker
3 25 (3.20%) vSphere
4 22 (2.82%) VMware NSX
5 21 (2.69%) Firmware
6 17 (2.18%) VMware Infrastructure
7 5 (0.64%) Virtual Machines
8 3 (0.38%) Hyper-V
9 2 (0.26%) Terminal Server
9 2 (0.26%) UAG
9 2 (0.26%) VMware ESXi
10 1 (0.13%) Embedded Firmware
10 1 (0.13%) Oracle RAC
10 1 (0.13%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 64 (8.19%) Kubernetes
2 50 (6.40%) Terraform
3 45 (5.76%) Ansible
4 16 (2.05%) vCenter Server
5 12 (1.54%) Grafana
5 12 (1.54%) Prometheus
6 10 (1.28%) Kibana
7 9 (1.15%) Nessus
7 9 (1.15%) vRealize
8 7 (0.90%) Podman
8 7 (0.90%) Puppet
8 7 (0.90%) SCCM
8 7 (0.90%) SCOM
9 6 (0.77%) Endace
10 5 (0.64%) Nagios
10 5 (0.64%) Packer
10 5 (0.64%) WSUS
11 4 (0.51%) Graylog
11 4 (0.51%) QRadar
12 3 (0.38%) FortiGate
Vendors
1 95 (12.16%) Microsoft
2 56 (7.17%) VMware
3 38 (4.87%) Cisco
4 24 (3.07%) Oracle
5 22 (2.82%) Splunk
6 20 (2.56%) Red Hat
7 18 (2.30%) Juniper
8 15 (1.92%) Google
9 14 (1.79%) McAfee
10 12 (1.54%) Citrix
10 12 (1.54%) SolarWinds
11 11 (1.41%) CheckPoint
11 11 (1.41%) ServiceNow
11 11 (1.41%) Tenable
12 10 (1.28%) Salesforce
13 9 (1.15%) AppDynamics
13 9 (1.15%) IBM
14 8 (1.02%) NetApp
14 8 (1.02%) NVIDIA
14 8 (1.02%) Palo Alto