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

6 months to
19 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 22 9 11
Rank change year-on-year -13 +2 +7
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 729 1,065 1,439
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 6.37% 13.16% 11.64%
As % of the Qualifications category 22.33% 27.57% 32.76%
Number of salaries quoted 457 670 1,131
10th Percentile £36,500 £41,250 £31,250
25th Percentile £50,000 £47,500 £42,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year - +9.09% +10.00%
75th Percentile £75,000 £77,500 £67,000
90th Percentile £89,700 £85,000 £78,750
England median annual salary £62,500 £61,500 £57,500
% change year-on-year +1.63% +6.96% +1.81%

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 3,264 3,863 4,393
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 28.52% 47.74% 35.55%
Number of salaries quoted 1,453 1,595 2,989
10th Percentile £27,789 £32,500 £28,000
25th Percentile £37,750 £46,250 £36,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,500 £57,500 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year -8.70% +9.52% +2.24%
75th Percentile £67,500 £75,000 £67,500
90th Percentile £85,000 £85,000 £82,500
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% +9.09% -4.35%

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 19 February 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 19 February 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 -1 403 £62,500 +4.17% 214
Thames Valley -4 201 £60,000 +4.04% 195
Berkshire -9 121 £54,375 -9.38% 102
Surrey -15 76 £52,500 -19.23% 31
Buckinghamshire +22 58 £60,000 +4.35% 77
West Sussex +9 22 £34,000 -9.33% 9
Oxfordshire -1 22 £65,000 +33.33% 25
Kent -12 14 £39,000 -37.60% 24
Sussex - 9 £85,000 - 6
Home Counties 0 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 41 (5.62%) SharePoint
2 35 (4.80%) Microsoft Exchange
3 24 (3.29%) Exchange Server 2003
4 5 (0.69%) Confluence
4 5 (0.69%) WordPress
5 4 (0.55%) Apache
5 4 (0.55%) 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
7 1 (0.14%) SAS
Applications
1 39 (5.35%) Microsoft Office
2 34 (4.66%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (0.69%) Adobe XD
4 3 (0.41%) Microsoft Project
5 2 (0.27%) Adobe After Effects
5 2 (0.27%) Adobe Captivate
5 2 (0.27%) Adobe Creative Suite
5 2 (0.27%) Adobe Illustrator
5 2 (0.27%) Adobe Premiere
5 2 (0.27%) Elementor
5 2 (0.27%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 2 (0.27%) Photoshop
6 1 (0.14%) CATIA
6 1 (0.14%) GNU Octave
6 1 (0.14%) MS Visio
6 1 (0.14%) OrCAD
6 1 (0.14%) Windchill
Business Applications
1 3 (0.41%) SAP S/4HANA
2 2 (0.27%) C-CURE
2 2 (0.27%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
3 1 (0.14%) Primavera
3 1 (0.14%) Q-Pulse
3 1 (0.14%) Remedy ITSM
3 1 (0.14%) Salesforce CRM
3 1 (0.14%) SAP GTS
3 1 (0.14%) SAP HR
3 1 (0.14%) SAP Payroll
3 1 (0.14%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 72 (9.88%) Azure
2 65 (8.92%) AWS
3 40 (5.49%) Microsoft 365
4 28 (3.84%) Power Platform
5 27 (3.70%) Azure DevOps
6 20 (2.74%) GCP
7 18 (2.47%) PowerApps
8 16 (2.19%) Dynamics 365
9 14 (1.92%) Amazon EKS
10 13 (1.78%) Amazon EC2
11 11 (1.51%) Serverless
12 10 (1.37%) Amazon ECS
13 9 (1.23%) GitHub
13 9 (1.23%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
13 9 (1.23%) Salesforce Service Cloud
14 7 (0.96%) OpenShift
15 6 (0.82%) AWS CloudFormation
15 6 (0.82%) Entra ID
15 6 (0.82%) Figma
15 6 (0.82%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 63 (8.64%) Firewall
2 54 (7.41%) DNS
3 33 (4.53%) DHCP
4 25 (3.43%) Structured Cabling
5 24 (3.29%) VPN
6 21 (2.88%) Junos
7 20 (2.74%) WAN
8 18 (2.47%) LAN
9 16 (2.19%) Cisco Firepower
9 16 (2.19%) Cisco IOS
9 16 (2.19%) Wi-Fi
10 15 (2.06%) BGP
11 14 (1.92%) Cisco ISE
11 14 (1.92%) Network Security
12 12 (1.65%) TCP/IP
13 10 (1.37%) NX-OS
14 9 (1.23%) MPLS
15 7 (0.96%) VSAT
16 6 (0.82%) Cisco ASA
16 6 (0.82%) IPsec
Database & Business Intelligence
1 29 (3.98%) Oracle Database
2 25 (3.43%) Oracle Database 10g
3 20 (2.74%) Power BI
4 12 (1.65%) PostgreSQL
5 11 (1.51%) Relational Database
6 9 (1.23%) RDBMS
7 5 (0.69%) SQL Server
8 3 (0.41%) Airbyte
8 3 (0.41%) Big Data
8 3 (0.41%) Data Mining
9 2 (0.27%) BigQuery
9 2 (0.27%) MongoDB
9 2 (0.27%) NoSQL
10 1 (0.14%) Data Warehouse
10 1 (0.14%) DB2
10 1 (0.14%) Hadoop
10 1 (0.14%) MySQL
10 1 (0.14%) Neo4j
10 1 (0.14%) Redis
10 1 (0.14%) SAP Data Services
Development Applications
1 28 (3.84%) Git
2 25 (3.43%) GitLab
3 24 (3.29%) Jenkins
3 24 (3.29%) Selenium
4 20 (2.74%) JIRA
5 19 (2.61%) Robot Framework
6 17 (2.33%) Snyk
7 11 (1.51%) JUnit
8 10 (1.37%) Mockito
9 9 (1.23%) JMeter
10 6 (0.82%) Subversion
11 5 (0.69%) Atlassian Bamboo
11 5 (0.69%) Axure RP
11 5 (0.69%) Balsamiq
12 4 (0.55%) Cypress.io
13 3 (0.41%) Rational Rhapsody
14 2 (0.27%) TestRail
14 2 (0.27%) Visual Studio
14 2 (0.27%) Visual Studio Code
14 2 (0.27%) WebDriver
General
1 218 (29.90%) Social Skills
2 107 (14.68%) Analytical Skills
3 64 (8.78%) Public Sector
4 59 (8.09%) Finance
5 31 (4.25%) Law
6 30 (4.12%) Aviation
7 28 (3.84%) Aeronautics
7 28 (3.84%) Manufacturing
8 27 (3.70%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 21 (2.88%) Telecoms
10 17 (2.33%) Aerospace
10 17 (2.33%) Electronics
11 16 (2.19%) Organisational Skills
12 14 (1.92%) Marketing
13 13 (1.78%) Legal
14 12 (1.65%) Military
15 11 (1.51%) Documentation Skills
16 10 (1.37%) Banking
17 8 (1.10%) Influencing Skills
18 7 (0.96%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 85 (11.66%) Senior
2 76 (10.43%) Architect
3 57 (7.82%) Lead
4 51 (7.00%) Business Manager
5 50 (6.86%) Business Systems Manager
5 50 (6.86%) Systems Manager
6 46 (6.31%) Developer
7 44 (6.04%) Consultant
7 44 (6.04%) Systems Engineer
8 42 (5.76%) Support Engineer
9 39 (5.35%) Analyst
10 34 (4.66%) Network Engineer
11 32 (4.39%) Systems Support
12 29 (3.98%) Software Engineer
13 28 (3.84%) Data Engineer
14 26 (3.57%) Infrastructure Engineer
15 25 (3.43%) 3rd Line Support
16 21 (2.88%) Technical Support
17 18 (2.47%) Technical Engineer
17 18 (2.47%) Technical Support Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 31 (4.25%) REST
2 21 (2.88%) SOAP
3 17 (2.33%) HTML
4 14 (1.92%) Spring
5 13 (1.78%) .NET
5 13 (1.78%) Middleware
5 13 (1.78%) XML
6 12 (1.65%) JSON
6 12 (1.65%) Spring Boot
7 11 (1.51%) React
7 11 (1.51%) Web Services
8 10 (1.37%) Hibernate
9 9 (1.23%) ActiveMQ
9 9 (1.23%) Apache Camel
9 9 (1.23%) jQuery
9 9 (1.23%) Kafka
9 9 (1.23%) Lightning Web Components
9 9 (1.23%) Visualforce
9 9 (1.23%) WireMock
10 4 (0.55%) Elastic Stack
Miscellaneous
1 52 (7.13%) Robotics
2 27 (3.70%) Product Ownership
3 24 (3.29%) PKI
4 20 (2.74%) Driving Licence
5 17 (2.33%) Cloud Native
6 15 (2.06%) Data Centre
7 13 (1.78%) Distributed Systems
7 13 (1.78%) Onboarding
7 13 (1.78%) Security Posture
8 12 (1.65%) Security Operations Centre
9 9 (1.23%) e-Learning
10 8 (1.10%) Fibre Optics
10 8 (1.10%) Management Information System
10 8 (1.10%) Self-Motivation
11 6 (0.82%) Enterprise Software
12 5 (0.69%) Cloud Security Posture
12 5 (0.69%) Low-Code
13 4 (0.55%) Algorithms
13 4 (0.55%) Cyber Defence
13 4 (0.55%) Embedded Systems
Operating Systems
1 113 (15.50%) Windows
2 54 (7.41%) Linux
3 48 (6.58%) Windows Server
4 31 (4.25%) Unix
5 25 (3.43%) HPUX
5 25 (3.43%) Solaris
6 24 (3.29%) Windows Server 2003
7 23 (3.16%) Windows 7
8 22 (3.02%) Windows Server 2008
9 9 (1.23%) Android
9 9 (1.23%) Windows Server 2016
10 5 (0.69%) Apple iOS
11 4 (0.55%) Ubuntu
11 4 (0.55%) Windows 10
11 4 (0.55%) Windows Server 2019
12 3 (0.41%) AIX
12 3 (0.41%) CentOS
12 3 (0.41%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
13 1 (0.14%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 142 (19.48%) Agile
2 95 (13.03%) Project Management
3 94 (12.89%) Problem-Solving
4 93 (12.76%) Software Engineering
5 92 (12.62%) Continuous Improvement
6 78 (10.70%) CI/CD
7 75 (10.29%) AI
8 70 (9.60%) DevOps
9 61 (8.37%) Process Improvement
9 61 (8.37%) Risk Management
10 53 (7.27%) IT Strategy
10 53 (7.27%) Mentoring
11 52 (7.13%) Budget Management
11 52 (7.13%) Strategic Planning
12 51 (7.00%) Contract Negotiation
13 42 (5.76%) Cybersecurity
13 42 (5.76%) Data Analysis
14 40 (5.49%) Test Automation
15 38 (5.21%) Decision-Making
16 37 (5.08%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 83 (11.39%) Python
2 49 (6.72%) PowerShell
3 44 (6.04%) Java
4 37 (5.08%) SQL
5 34 (4.66%) JavaScript
6 22 (3.02%) C#
6 22 (3.02%) Perl
7 19 (2.61%) C++
8 18 (2.47%) VBA
9 12 (1.65%) Bash
9 12 (1.65%) Rust
10 9 (1.23%) Apex Code
10 9 (1.23%) C
10 9 (1.23%) Shell Script
11 6 (0.82%) MATLAB
11 6 (0.82%) PL/SQL
12 5 (0.69%) Ladder Logic
13 4 (0.55%) Go
13 4 (0.55%) TypeScript
14 2 (0.27%) Kotlin
Qualifications
1 461 (63.24%) SC Cleared
2 272 (37.31%) DV Cleared
3 106 (14.54%) Degree
4 28 (3.84%) Master's Degree
5 24 (3.29%) Cisco Certification
6 23 (3.16%) CCNA
7 17 (2.33%) CCNP
7 17 (2.33%) HNC
8 16 (2.19%) BPSS Clearance
9 15 (2.06%) APMP
10 13 (1.78%) JNCIA
11 12 (1.65%) CISSP
11 12 (1.65%) MBA
11 12 (1.65%) Microsoft Certification
12 9 (1.23%) DBS Check
13 8 (1.10%) Computer Science Degree
13 8 (1.10%) JNCIS
14 7 (0.96%) CISM
14 7 (0.96%) CRISC
14 7 (0.96%) ISTQB
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 35 (4.80%) SLA
2 21 (2.88%) GDPR
3 19 (2.61%) QA
4 16 (2.19%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 13 (1.78%) Accessibility
6 12 (1.65%) NIST
7 10 (1.37%) NCSC
8 9 (1.23%) GRC
9 8 (1.10%) ISO 9001
10 7 (0.96%) PMO
11 6 (0.82%) WCAG
12 5 (0.69%) ISO 13485
13 4 (0.55%) PCI DSS
14 3 (0.41%) JSP 440
14 3 (0.41%) NIST 800
15 2 (0.27%) Data Quality
15 2 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 20000
15 2 (0.27%) ISO/IEC 42001
15 2 (0.27%) RMADS
16 1 (0.14%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 61 (8.37%) Active Directory
2 29 (3.98%) Docker
3 25 (3.43%) VMware NSX
4 22 (3.02%) VMware Infrastructure
5 16 (2.19%) Firmware
6 6 (0.82%) VMware ESXi
6 6 (0.82%) vSphere
7 3 (0.41%) Hyper-V
7 3 (0.41%) Virtual Machines
8 2 (0.27%) Terminal Server
9 1 (0.14%) Apache ZooKeeper
Systems Management
1 39 (5.35%) Kubernetes
2 37 (5.08%) Terraform
3 32 (4.39%) Ansible
4 22 (3.02%) vCenter Server
5 11 (1.51%) SCCM
5 11 (1.51%) SCOM
6 10 (1.37%) Grafana
7 9 (1.23%) Kibana
7 9 (1.23%) Prometheus
7 9 (1.23%) vRealize
8 6 (0.82%) Endace
8 6 (0.82%) Nessus
9 5 (0.69%) ZABBIX
10 4 (0.55%) Jamf Pro
10 4 (0.55%) QRadar
10 4 (0.55%) WSUS
11 3 (0.41%) Netcool
12 2 (0.27%) Nagios
12 2 (0.27%) SCSM
12 2 (0.27%) Sysdig
Vendors
1 107 (14.68%) Microsoft
2 66 (9.05%) VMware
3 53 (7.27%) Cisco
4 41 (5.62%) Juniper
5 39 (5.35%) Oracle
6 21 (2.88%) Splunk
7 19 (2.61%) Salesforce
7 19 (2.61%) SolarWinds
8 17 (2.33%) Black Duck
8 17 (2.33%) Coverity
9 15 (2.06%) SAP
10 12 (1.65%) Google
11 10 (1.37%) Broadcom
11 10 (1.37%) CheckPoint
11 10 (1.37%) ServiceNow
12 9 (1.23%) Dynatrace
12 9 (1.23%) F5
12 9 (1.23%) LogRhythm
13 8 (1.10%) MuleSoft
13 8 (1.10%) Palo Alto