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

6 months to
31 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 19 12 10
Rank change year-on-year -7 -2 +2
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 1,056 849 1,647
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 6.41% 9.78% 11.33%
As % of the Qualifications category 30.73% 23.94% 36.21%
Number of salaries quoted 754 512 1,156
10th Percentile £39,060 £37,500 £36,813
25th Percentile £52,500 £46,250 £43,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +16.67% +9.09% +7.11%
75th Percentile £85,000 £78,750 £71,000
90th Percentile £98,750 £87,500 £85,000
England median annual salary £70,000 £60,750 £57,500
% change year-on-year +15.23% +5.65% -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 3,436 3,546 4,548
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 20.86% 40.86% 31.29%
Number of salaries quoted 2,019 1,627 2,800
10th Percentile £30,000 £31,500 £31,250
25th Percentile £41,250 £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 £68,000
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 31 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 31 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 -3 523 £75,000 +16.28% 224
Thames Valley +23 335 £67,500 +22.73% 123
Berkshire +21 215 £70,000 +16.67% 77
Surrey -2 128 £52,500 +31.25% 41
Buckinghamshire +38 99 £55,000 +4.76% 35
West Sussex -7 29 £35,000 -6.67% 10
Oxfordshire -22 21 £82,500 +59.42% 14
Kent -32 17 £52,500 -4.55% 11
Sussex +1 11 £85,000 +61.90% 3
East Sussex -12 5 £70,000 +40.00% 1
Middlesex +40 2 £65,000 - 2
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 (1.23%) SharePoint
2 10 (0.95%) Apache
3 7 (0.66%) Confluence
4 6 (0.57%) SAS
5 5 (0.47%) nginx
6 3 (0.28%) IIS
7 2 (0.19%) Microsoft Exchange
8 1 (0.095%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.095%) Oracle Workflow
8 1 (0.095%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 25 (2.37%) Microsoft Excel
2 17 (1.61%) Microsoft Office
3 16 (1.52%) Simulink
4 4 (0.38%) Microsoft Project
5 3 (0.28%) Mathcad
5 3 (0.28%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 2 (0.19%) Chatbot
6 2 (0.19%) Lectora
6 2 (0.19%) Solid Edge
6 2 (0.19%) SOLIDWORKS
7 1 (0.095%) AutoCAD
7 1 (0.095%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 2 (0.19%) Primavera
1 2 (0.19%) Workday HCM
2 1 (0.095%) Oracle Applications
2 1 (0.095%) Remedy ITSM
2 1 (0.095%) SAP MDG
2 1 (0.095%) SAP MM
2 1 (0.095%) SAP S/4HANA
2 1 (0.095%) Siebel CRM
2 1 (0.095%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
2 1 (0.095%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 170 (16.10%) Azure
2 101 (9.56%) AWS
3 52 (4.92%) Microsoft 365
4 38 (3.60%) GCP
5 29 (2.75%) Entra ID
6 22 (2.08%) Serverless
7 20 (1.89%) Power Platform
8 17 (1.61%) GitHub
9 16 (1.52%) OpenShift
10 15 (1.42%) Azure DevOps
11 14 (1.33%) Amazon EKS
12 13 (1.23%) GitHub Actions
13 12 (1.14%) Azure Sentinel
14 11 (1.04%) Azure AKS
15 10 (0.95%) Amazon EC2
15 10 (0.95%) Azure Stack
15 10 (0.95%) PowerApps
16 7 (0.66%) AWS Lambda
17 6 (0.57%) Amazon ECS
17 6 (0.57%) SaaS
Communications & Networking
1 110 (10.42%) Firewall
2 70 (6.63%) DNS
3 62 (5.87%) WAN
4 50 (4.73%) LAN
5 41 (3.88%) TCP/IP
6 40 (3.79%) VPN
7 33 (3.13%) Network Security
8 21 (1.99%) BGP
9 17 (1.61%) ATM
9 17 (1.61%) HTTP
10 16 (1.52%) VLAN
11 14 (1.33%) VoIP
12 13 (1.23%) OSPF
13 12 (1.14%) NGFW
13 12 (1.14%) SD-WAN
14 11 (1.04%) MQTT
14 11 (1.04%) NetScaler
14 11 (1.04%) SAN
15 10 (0.95%) MPLS
15 10 (0.95%) NAS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 24 (2.27%) PostgreSQL
2 19 (1.80%) Power BI
3 16 (1.52%) Relational Database
4 13 (1.23%) SQL Server
5 11 (1.04%) MySQL
6 5 (0.47%) Elasticsearch
7 4 (0.38%) GIS
7 4 (0.38%) Oracle Database
7 4 (0.38%) Redis
8 3 (0.28%) MongoDB
9 2 (0.19%) Metadata
9 2 (0.19%) Oracle Database 11g
9 2 (0.19%) Oracle Database 12c
10 1 (0.095%) Data Warehouse
10 1 (0.095%) NoSQL
10 1 (0.095%) RDBMS
10 1 (0.095%) Siebel EIM
10 1 (0.095%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 67 (6.34%) Git
2 51 (4.83%) GitLab
3 27 (2.56%) JIRA
4 25 (2.37%) Jenkins
5 14 (1.33%) Visual Studio Code
6 11 (1.04%) SonarQube
7 8 (0.76%) Rational DOORS
8 6 (0.57%) Artifactory
9 5 (0.47%) Cucumber
9 5 (0.47%) JMeter
9 5 (0.47%) JUnit
10 4 (0.38%) Bitbucket
10 4 (0.38%) Selenium
11 3 (0.28%) Android Studio
11 3 (0.28%) Atlassian Bamboo
11 3 (0.28%) LabVIEW
12 2 (0.19%) Cypress.io
12 2 (0.19%) LoadRunner
12 2 (0.19%) Subversion
12 2 (0.19%) Visual Studio
General
1 237 (22.44%) Social Skills
2 105 (9.94%) Analytical Skills
3 100 (9.47%) Finance
4 95 (9.00%) Public Sector
5 67 (6.34%) Aerospace
6 55 (5.21%) Electronics
7 44 (4.17%) Military
8 36 (3.41%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 29 (2.75%) Manufacturing
10 27 (2.56%) Organisational Skills
11 26 (2.46%) Aviation
12 23 (2.18%) Telecoms
13 21 (1.99%) Documentation Skills
14 19 (1.80%) Law
15 11 (1.04%) Aeronautics
15 11 (1.04%) Games
16 10 (0.95%) Banking
16 10 (0.95%) Influencing Skills
17 9 (0.85%) Legal
18 8 (0.76%) Advertising
Job Titles
1 152 (14.39%) Architect
2 149 (14.11%) Senior
3 116 (10.98%) Software Engineer
4 68 (6.44%) Lead
5 64 (6.06%) Analyst
5 64 (6.06%) Developer
6 52 (4.92%) Security Architect
7 45 (4.26%) Systems Engineer
8 41 (3.88%) Consultant
8 41 (3.88%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 39 (3.69%) Network Engineer
10 35 (3.31%) Applications Architect
10 35 (3.31%) Senior Software Engineer
11 28 (2.65%) Azure Engineer
12 26 (2.46%) Support Engineer
13 25 (2.37%) Data Engineer
13 25 (2.37%) Security Engineer
13 25 (2.37%) Solutions Architect
14 24 (2.27%) Java Developer
15 23 (2.18%) IT Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (2.75%) LDAP
2 28 (2.65%) .NET
2 28 (2.65%) React
3 23 (2.18%) Regular Expression
4 19 (1.80%) XMPP
5 16 (1.52%) REST
5 16 (1.52%) Spring
6 15 (1.42%) Kafka
6 15 (1.42%) ModSecurity
7 13 (1.23%) JSON
8 12 (1.14%) Elastic Stack
8 12 (1.14%) Web Services
9 11 (1.04%) ARM Templates
10 9 (0.85%) Spring Boot
10 9 (0.85%) YAML
11 8 (0.76%) AngularJS
11 8 (0.76%) HTML
11 8 (0.76%) RabbitMQ
11 8 (0.76%) XML
12 7 (0.66%) JSON Schema
Miscellaneous
1 37 (3.50%) Cloud Native
2 35 (3.31%) Driving Licence
3 34 (3.22%) Data Centre
4 32 (3.03%) Onboarding
5 29 (2.75%) Algorithms
5 29 (2.75%) Product Ownership
6 25 (2.37%) Social Media
7 24 (2.27%) Self-Motivation
8 22 (2.08%) Cyber Threat
8 22 (2.08%) Embedded Systems
8 22 (2.08%) FPGA
9 21 (1.99%) PKI
10 19 (1.80%) Robotics
11 18 (1.70%) Cyber Defence
11 18 (1.70%) Management Information System
11 18 (1.70%) Security Operations Centre
12 17 (1.61%) Analytical Mindset
13 15 (1.42%) Hybrid Cloud
14 14 (1.33%) Distributed Systems
14 14 (1.33%) Private Cloud
Operating Systems
1 188 (17.80%) Linux
2 138 (13.07%) Windows
3 82 (7.77%) Windows Server
4 34 (3.22%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 19 (1.80%) Ubuntu
6 16 (1.52%) CentOS
7 10 (0.95%) Windows Server 2016
8 7 (0.66%) Windows Server 2019
9 6 (0.57%) Android
9 6 (0.57%) Windows 10
10 4 (0.38%) Debian
10 4 (0.38%) Unix
11 3 (0.28%) AIX
12 2 (0.19%) Mac OS
13 1 (0.095%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 174 (16.48%) Agile
2 162 (15.34%) Software Engineering
3 131 (12.41%) Problem-Solving
4 129 (12.22%) Continuous Improvement
5 121 (11.46%) Cybersecurity
6 120 (11.36%) CI/CD
7 110 (10.42%) DevOps
8 81 (7.67%) Validation
9 79 (7.48%) Decision-Making
10 75 (7.10%) AI
11 73 (6.91%) Mentoring
11 73 (6.91%) SIEM
12 72 (6.82%) ITIL
13 69 (6.53%) Stakeholder Management
14 61 (5.78%) Technical Leadership
15 59 (5.59%) Containerisation
16 57 (5.40%) Infrastructure as Code
16 57 (5.40%) Infrastructure Engineering
17 55 (5.21%) Platform Engineering
18 50 (4.73%) Computer Science
Programming Languages
1 151 (14.30%) Python
2 75 (7.10%) C++
3 56 (5.30%) Java
4 47 (4.45%) C
4 47 (4.45%) PowerShell
5 42 (3.98%) C#
6 36 (3.41%) Bash
7 31 (2.94%) SQL
8 27 (2.56%) JavaScript
9 22 (2.08%) Rust
9 22 (2.08%) TypeScript
10 20 (1.89%) MATLAB
11 15 (1.42%) Embedded C
12 14 (1.33%) Embedded C++
13 13 (1.23%) PHP
13 13 (1.23%) Shell Script
14 11 (1.04%) Go
14 11 (1.04%) PL/SQL
15 10 (0.95%) Ada
15 10 (0.95%) VBA
Qualifications
1 680 (64.39%) SC Cleared
2 387 (36.65%) DV Cleared
3 155 (14.68%) Degree
4 41 (3.88%) BPSS Clearance
5 38 (3.60%) Cisco Certification
6 36 (3.41%) CISSP
7 29 (2.75%) HNC
8 26 (2.46%) CCNP
9 22 (2.08%) Master's Degree
10 18 (1.70%) Computer Science Degree
11 16 (1.52%) Azure Certification
11 16 (1.52%) CompTIA Security+
11 16 (1.52%) GIAC
12 15 (1.42%) CREST Certified
13 14 (1.33%) CCNA
13 14 (1.33%) CISM
14 12 (1.14%) GCIA
14 12 (1.14%) OSCP
15 11 (1.04%) HND
15 11 (1.04%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 27 (2.56%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 27 (2.56%) QA
1 27 (2.56%) SLA
2 22 (2.08%) NCSC
3 16 (1.52%) NIST
4 14 (1.33%) ISO 9001
5 13 (1.23%) GDPR
6 11 (1.04%) Accessibility
6 11 (1.04%) PMO
7 10 (0.95%) Def Stans
7 10 (0.95%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 6 (0.57%) JSP 440
8 6 (0.57%) MISRA
9 5 (0.47%) NEBOSH
9 5 (0.47%) NIST 800
10 4 (0.38%) GRC
11 3 (0.28%) Cyber Essentials
11 3 (0.28%) ISO 22301
12 2 (0.19%) HMG Security Policy Framework
12 2 (0.19%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 72 (6.82%) Docker
2 70 (6.63%) Active Directory
3 35 (3.31%) vSphere
4 28 (2.65%) VMware Infrastructure
5 22 (2.08%) Firmware
6 14 (1.33%) VMware ESXi
7 12 (1.14%) Virtual Machines
7 12 (1.14%) VMware NSX
8 9 (0.85%) Hyper-V
9 5 (0.47%) Embedded Firmware
9 5 (0.47%) Squid
10 3 (0.28%) KVM
11 2 (0.19%) UAG
12 1 (0.095%) Oracle RAC
12 1 (0.095%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 94 (8.90%) Kubernetes
2 66 (6.25%) Terraform
3 55 (5.21%) Ansible
4 16 (1.52%) Grafana
4 16 (1.52%) Kibana
4 16 (1.52%) Microsoft Intune
5 14 (1.33%) Prometheus
6 10 (0.95%) Single Sign-On
6 10 (0.95%) vCenter Server
7 9 (0.85%) Podman
8 8 (0.76%) Nessus
9 7 (0.66%) Nagios
9 7 (0.66%) Puppet
10 6 (0.57%) Graylog
11 5 (0.47%) Argo
11 5 (0.47%) Docker Swarm
11 5 (0.47%) Kustomize
11 5 (0.47%) Packer
11 5 (0.47%) QRadar
12 4 (0.38%) Istio
Vendors
1 136 (12.88%) Microsoft
2 75 (7.10%) VMware
3 45 (4.26%) Cisco
4 31 (2.94%) Red Hat
5 30 (2.84%) Oracle
6 29 (2.75%) Splunk
7 27 (2.56%) ServiceNow
8 15 (1.42%) Fortinet
8 15 (1.42%) McAfee
8 15 (1.42%) Palo Alto
9 14 (1.33%) Google
10 12 (1.14%) Citrix
10 12 (1.14%) EMC
11 11 (1.04%) AppDynamics
11 11 (1.04%) IBM
12 10 (0.95%) NVIDIA
13 8 (0.76%) Juniper
13 8 (0.76%) NetApp
13 8 (0.76%) SAP
13 8 (0.76%) Veeam