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

6 months to
16 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 22 13 11
Rank change year-on-year -9 -2 +9
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 774 768 1,753
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 5.36% 9.85% 10.70%
As % of the Qualifications category 23.47% 20.13% 31.51%
Number of salaries quoted 561 530 1,342
10th Percentile £40,000 £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 £69,313
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 3,298 3,815 5,563
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 22.86% 48.92% 33.96%
Number of salaries quoted 1,644 1,567 3,629
10th Percentile £31,000 £31,750 £30,000
25th Percentile £41,250 £40,000 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £59,109 £53,000 £51,500
Median % change year-on-year +11.53% +2.91% +1.98%
75th Percentile £75,000 £70,000 £67,500
90th Percentile £87,077 £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 16 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 16 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 -5 350 £75,000 +30.43% 217
Thames Valley +25 289 £65,000 +12.39% 132
Berkshire +21 185 £67,500 +12.50% 89
Buckinghamshire +32 79 £55,000 - 25
Surrey -12 73 £56,152 +40.38% 39
Oxfordshire +1 25 £65,000 +25.60% 30
West Sussex -8 24 £35,000 -6.67% 10
Kent -31 20 £52,500 -19.23% 18
Sussex - 11 £85,000 - 2
East Sussex -19 2 £70,000 - 4
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 (3.23%) SharePoint
2 5 (0.65%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (0.39%) 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 (2.97%) Microsoft Office
2 19 (2.45%) Microsoft Excel
3 10 (1.29%) Simulink
4 3 (0.39%) 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 (14.08%) Azure
2 70 (9.04%) AWS
3 36 (4.65%) GCP
3 36 (4.65%) Microsoft 365
4 20 (2.58%) Power Platform
5 18 (2.33%) Amazon EKS
5 18 (2.33%) Azure DevOps
5 18 (2.33%) Serverless
6 13 (1.68%) Dynamics 365
7 12 (1.55%) OpenShift
8 11 (1.42%) GitHub
8 11 (1.42%) PowerApps
9 10 (1.29%) Amazon EC2
10 8 (1.03%) Azure AKS
10 8 (1.03%) Entra ID
10 8 (1.03%) GitHub Actions
11 7 (0.90%) AWS Lambda
11 7 (0.90%) Azure Sentinel
12 6 (0.78%) Amazon ECS
12 6 (0.78%) Azure Stack
Communications & Networking
1 74 (9.56%) Firewall
2 52 (6.72%) DNS
3 31 (4.01%) WAN
4 23 (2.97%) VPN
5 21 (2.71%) BGP
5 21 (2.71%) LAN
6 20 (2.58%) Structured Cabling
7 16 (2.07%) Network Security
8 13 (1.68%) DHCP
8 13 (1.68%) TCP/IP
9 12 (1.55%) Cisco Firepower
9 12 (1.55%) HTTP
10 11 (1.42%) NetScaler
11 9 (1.16%) Cisco IOS
11 9 (1.16%) Cisco ISE
11 9 (1.16%) MPLS
11 9 (1.16%) MQTT
11 9 (1.16%) OSPF
11 9 (1.16%) Wireshark
12 8 (1.03%) NAS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (2.20%) Power BI
2 14 (1.81%) PostgreSQL
3 10 (1.29%) Relational Database
3 10 (1.29%) SQL Server
4 4 (0.52%) 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 (7.11%) Git
2 49 (6.33%) GitLab
3 24 (3.10%) Jenkins
4 17 (2.20%) JIRA
5 14 (1.81%) Visual Studio Code
6 10 (1.29%) SonarQube
7 7 (0.90%) Selenium
8 6 (0.78%) Atlassian Bamboo
8 6 (0.78%) Cucumber
9 5 (0.65%) JUnit
9 5 (0.65%) Subversion
10 4 (0.52%) Artifactory
10 4 (0.52%) Rational DOORS
10 4 (0.52%) Snyk
11 3 (0.39%) Android Studio
11 3 (0.39%) Axure RP
11 3 (0.39%) Balsamiq
11 3 (0.39%) JMeter
11 3 (0.39%) Mockito
11 3 (0.39%) Robot Framework
General
1 155 (20.03%) Social Skills
2 79 (10.21%) Finance
3 77 (9.95%) Public Sector
4 55 (7.11%) Analytical Skills
5 28 (3.62%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 27 (3.49%) Electronics
7 26 (3.36%) Law
8 23 (2.97%) Aerospace
8 23 (2.97%) Manufacturing
9 21 (2.71%) Military
10 17 (2.20%) Aviation
11 15 (1.94%) Organisational Skills
11 15 (1.94%) Telecoms
12 14 (1.81%) Documentation Skills
13 12 (1.55%) Banking
14 9 (1.16%) Games
14 9 (1.16%) Influencing Skills
15 8 (1.03%) Retail
16 6 (0.78%) Aeronautics
17 5 (0.65%) French Language
Job Titles
1 120 (15.50%) Senior
2 105 (13.57%) Architect
3 68 (8.79%) Developer
4 57 (7.36%) Lead
5 56 (7.24%) Software Engineer
6 43 (5.56%) Analyst
7 39 (5.04%) Network Engineer
8 36 (4.65%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 36 (4.65%) Systems Engineer
9 31 (4.01%) Applications Architect
10 28 (3.62%) Consultant
11 27 (3.49%) Security Architect
12 26 (3.36%) Java Developer
13 24 (3.10%) DevOps Engineer
14 23 (2.97%) Data Engineer
14 23 (2.97%) IT Engineer
15 22 (2.84%) Support Engineer
16 20 (2.58%) Azure Engineer
16 20 (2.58%) IT Support
17 19 (2.45%) Cloud Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (3.75%) .NET
2 24 (3.10%) REST
3 17 (2.20%) React
4 16 (2.07%) Regular Expression
4 16 (2.07%) Spring
5 15 (1.94%) LDAP
6 12 (1.55%) JSON
6 12 (1.55%) SOAP
6 12 (1.55%) XMPP
7 11 (1.42%) Kafka
8 10 (1.29%) Elastic Stack
9 9 (1.16%) Middleware
10 8 (1.03%) RabbitMQ
10 8 (1.03%) RESTful
10 8 (1.03%) Spring Boot
11 7 (0.90%) AngularJS
11 7 (0.90%) XML
12 6 (0.78%) HTML
12 6 (0.78%) Visualforce
12 6 (0.78%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 34 (4.39%) Product Ownership
2 24 (3.10%) Algorithms
3 22 (2.84%) Data Centre
3 22 (2.84%) PKI
4 19 (2.45%) Onboarding
5 18 (2.33%) Cloud Native
6 14 (1.81%) Cyber Defence
6 14 (1.81%) Embedded Systems
6 14 (1.81%) FPGA
7 13 (1.68%) Security Posture
8 12 (1.55%) Cyber Threat
8 12 (1.55%) Distributed Systems
9 11 (1.42%) Driving Licence
9 11 (1.42%) Self-Motivation
10 9 (1.16%) Analytical Mindset
10 9 (1.16%) Robotics
11 8 (1.03%) Fibre Optics
11 8 (1.03%) Legacy Systems
11 8 (1.03%) Management Information System
12 5 (0.65%) Data Structures
Operating Systems
1 114 (14.73%) Linux
2 95 (12.27%) Windows
3 64 (8.27%) Windows Server
4 25 (3.23%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 10 (1.29%) CentOS
5 10 (1.29%) Ubuntu
5 10 (1.29%) Windows Server 2016
6 7 (0.90%) Android
7 6 (0.78%) 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 (18.86%) Agile
2 100 (12.92%) DevOps
3 97 (12.53%) CI/CD
4 84 (10.85%) Continuous Improvement
5 80 (10.34%) Software Engineering
6 77 (9.95%) Problem-Solving
7 64 (8.27%) Cybersecurity
8 48 (6.20%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 48 (6.20%) Mentoring
8 48 (6.20%) Scrum
9 44 (5.68%) Infrastructure as Code
10 43 (5.56%) Containerisation
10 43 (5.56%) Decision-Making
11 41 (5.30%) AI
12 40 (5.17%) SIEM
13 38 (4.91%) Service Management
13 38 (4.91%) Technical Leadership
14 37 (4.78%) Microservices
15 36 (4.65%) Stakeholder Management
16 35 (4.52%) Kanban
Programming Languages
1 104 (13.44%) Python
2 54 (6.98%) Java
3 42 (5.43%) C++
4 34 (4.39%) SQL
5 31 (4.01%) C#
6 26 (3.36%) C
7 25 (3.23%) PowerShell
8 23 (2.97%) JavaScript
9 17 (2.20%) Rust
10 13 (1.68%) MATLAB
11 12 (1.55%) Bash
11 12 (1.55%) TypeScript
12 11 (1.42%) VBA
13 10 (1.29%) Shell Script
14 9 (1.16%) PL/SQL
15 8 (1.03%) Embedded C
15 8 (1.03%) Embedded C++
16 7 (0.90%) Go
17 6 (0.78%) Apex Code
17 6 (0.78%) Groovy
Qualifications
1 470 (60.72%) SC Cleared
2 292 (37.73%) DV Cleared
3 121 (15.63%) Degree
4 21 (2.71%) HNC
5 20 (2.58%) Master's Degree
6 14 (1.81%) CISSP
7 12 (1.55%) Computer Science Degree
8 10 (1.29%) CRISC
9 9 (1.16%) APMP
9 9 (1.16%) BPSS Clearance
9 9 (1.16%) CCNP
9 9 (1.16%) Cisco Certification
9 9 (1.16%) MBA
10 8 (1.03%) CompTIA Security+
10 8 (1.03%) DBS Check
11 7 (0.90%) CREST Certified
11 7 (0.90%) ISACA
11 7 (0.90%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 7 (0.90%) Microsoft Certification
12 6 (0.78%) OSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (2.58%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 17 (2.20%) GDPR
3 16 (2.07%) NCSC
3 16 (2.07%) QA
4 14 (1.81%) NIST
5 13 (1.68%) SLA
6 12 (1.55%) PMO
7 9 (1.16%) Accessibility
8 8 (1.03%) ISO 9001
9 7 (0.90%) Def Stans
10 5 (0.65%) NEBOSH
10 5 (0.65%) WCAG
11 4 (0.52%) GRC
11 4 (0.52%) ISO/IEC 20000
12 3 (0.39%) ISO/IEC 15288
12 3 (0.39%) JSP 440
13 2 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials
13 2 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 2 (0.26%) NIST 800
13 2 (0.26%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 57 (7.36%) Active Directory
2 56 (7.24%) Docker
3 25 (3.23%) vSphere
4 22 (2.84%) VMware NSX
5 21 (2.71%) Firmware
6 17 (2.20%) VMware Infrastructure
7 5 (0.65%) Virtual Machines
8 3 (0.39%) 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 (8.27%) Kubernetes
2 50 (6.46%) Terraform
3 45 (5.81%) Ansible
4 16 (2.07%) vCenter Server
5 12 (1.55%) Grafana
5 12 (1.55%) Prometheus
6 10 (1.29%) Kibana
7 9 (1.16%) Nessus
7 9 (1.16%) vRealize
8 7 (0.90%) Podman
8 7 (0.90%) Puppet
8 7 (0.90%) SCCM
8 7 (0.90%) SCOM
9 6 (0.78%) Endace
10 5 (0.65%) Nagios
10 5 (0.65%) Packer
10 5 (0.65%) WSUS
11 4 (0.52%) Graylog
11 4 (0.52%) QRadar
12 3 (0.39%) FortiGate
Vendors
1 95 (12.27%) Microsoft
2 56 (7.24%) VMware
3 38 (4.91%) Cisco
4 24 (3.10%) Oracle
5 22 (2.84%) Splunk
6 20 (2.58%) Red Hat
7 18 (2.33%) Juniper
8 15 (1.94%) Google
9 14 (1.81%) McAfee
10 12 (1.55%) Citrix
10 12 (1.55%) SolarWinds
11 11 (1.42%) CheckPoint
11 11 (1.42%) ServiceNow
11 11 (1.42%) Tenable
12 10 (1.29%) Salesforce
13 9 (1.16%) AppDynamics
13 9 (1.16%) IBM
14 8 (1.03%) NetApp
14 8 (1.03%) NVIDIA
14 8 (1.03%) Palo Alto