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

6 months to
15 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 769 771 1,760
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 5.35% 9.98% 10.74%
As % of the Qualifications category 23.43% 20.54% 31.52%
Number of salaries quoted 558 538 1,348
10th Percentile £40,000 £41,250 £33,025
25th Percentile £51,250 £47,500 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £57,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +13.04% +4.55% +11.11%
75th Percentile £82,500 £77,500 £68,750
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 3,282 3,754 5,583
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 22.84% 48.61% 34.07%
Number of salaries quoted 1,635 1,559 3,647
10th Percentile £31,000 £31,750 £29,757
25th Percentile £41,055 £40,240 £37,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £58,000 £53,000 £51,500
Median % change year-on-year +9.43% +2.91% +1.98%
75th Percentile £75,000 £70,000 £67,500
90th Percentile £86,790 £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 15 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 15 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 -4 347 £75,000 +30.43% 225
Thames Valley +28 287 £65,000 +12.71% 144
Berkshire +21 183 £67,500 +12.50% 95
Buckinghamshire +31 79 £55,000 - 28
Surrey -13 72 £55,000 +27.91% 42
Oxfordshire +1 25 £65,000 +25.60% 33
West Sussex -7 24 £35,000 -6.67% 12
Kent -23 21 £52,500 -19.23% 17
Sussex - 11 £85,000 - 2
East Sussex -18 2 £70,000 - 5
Home Counties -1 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 (3.25%) 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 (2.99%) Microsoft Office
2 19 (2.47%) Microsoft Excel
3 9 (1.17%) 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
1 105 (13.65%) Azure
2 67 (8.71%) AWS
3 36 (4.68%) Microsoft 365
4 34 (4.42%) GCP
5 21 (2.73%) Power Platform
6 18 (2.34%) Amazon EKS
6 18 (2.34%) Azure DevOps
6 18 (2.34%) Serverless
7 15 (1.95%) Dynamics 365
8 12 (1.56%) OpenShift
9 11 (1.43%) GitHub
9 11 (1.43%) PowerApps
10 10 (1.30%) Amazon EC2
11 8 (1.04%) Azure AKS
11 8 (1.04%) GitHub Actions
12 7 (0.91%) AWS Lambda
12 7 (0.91%) Azure Sentinel
12 7 (0.91%) Entra ID
13 6 (0.78%) Amazon ECS
13 6 (0.78%) Azure Stack
Communications & Networking
1 74 (9.62%) Firewall
2 52 (6.76%) DNS
3 31 (4.03%) WAN
4 23 (2.99%) VPN
5 21 (2.73%) BGP
5 21 (2.73%) LAN
6 20 (2.60%) Structured Cabling
7 16 (2.08%) Network Security
8 13 (1.69%) DHCP
8 13 (1.69%) TCP/IP
9 12 (1.56%) Cisco Firepower
9 12 (1.56%) HTTP
10 11 (1.43%) NetScaler
11 9 (1.17%) Cisco IOS
11 9 (1.17%) Cisco ISE
11 9 (1.17%) MPLS
11 9 (1.17%) MQTT
11 9 (1.17%) OSPF
11 9 (1.17%) Wireshark
12 8 (1.04%) NAS
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (2.21%) Power BI
2 14 (1.82%) PostgreSQL
3 10 (1.30%) Relational Database
3 10 (1.30%) 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 (7.15%) Git
2 49 (6.37%) GitLab
3 24 (3.12%) Jenkins
4 17 (2.21%) JIRA
5 14 (1.82%) Visual Studio Code
6 10 (1.30%) SonarQube
7 7 (0.91%) 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 (20.16%) Social Skills
2 79 (10.27%) Finance
3 74 (9.62%) Public Sector
4 56 (7.28%) Analytical Skills
5 28 (3.64%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 27 (3.51%) Electronics
7 26 (3.38%) Law
8 23 (2.99%) Aerospace
8 23 (2.99%) Manufacturing
9 21 (2.73%) Military
10 17 (2.21%) Aviation
11 15 (1.95%) Organisational Skills
12 14 (1.82%) Documentation Skills
12 14 (1.82%) Telecoms
13 12 (1.56%) Banking
14 9 (1.17%) Games
14 9 (1.17%) Influencing Skills
15 8 (1.04%) Retail
16 6 (0.78%) Aeronautics
17 5 (0.65%) French Language
Job Titles
1 121 (15.73%) Senior
2 105 (13.65%) Architect
3 67 (8.71%) Developer
4 57 (7.41%) Lead
4 57 (7.41%) Software Engineer
5 44 (5.72%) Analyst
6 38 (4.94%) Network Engineer
7 37 (4.81%) Infrastructure Engineer
8 36 (4.68%) Systems Engineer
9 31 (4.03%) Applications Architect
10 29 (3.77%) Consultant
11 27 (3.51%) Security Architect
12 26 (3.38%) Java Developer
13 24 (3.12%) DevOps Engineer
14 23 (2.99%) IT Engineer
15 22 (2.86%) Support Engineer
16 21 (2.73%) Data Engineer
17 20 (2.60%) Azure Engineer
17 20 (2.60%) IT Support
18 19 (2.47%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (3.77%) .NET
2 24 (3.12%) REST
3 17 (2.21%) React
4 16 (2.08%) Regular Expression
4 16 (2.08%) Spring
5 15 (1.95%) LDAP
6 12 (1.56%) JSON
6 12 (1.56%) SOAP
6 12 (1.56%) XMPP
7 11 (1.43%) Kafka
8 10 (1.30%) Elastic Stack
9 9 (1.17%) Middleware
10 8 (1.04%) RabbitMQ
10 8 (1.04%) RESTful
10 8 (1.04%) Spring Boot
11 7 (0.91%) AngularJS
11 7 (0.91%) XML
12 6 (0.78%) HTML
12 6 (0.78%) Visualforce
12 6 (0.78%) Web Services
Miscellaneous
1 32 (4.16%) Product Ownership
2 23 (2.99%) Algorithms
3 22 (2.86%) Data Centre
3 22 (2.86%) PKI
4 19 (2.47%) Onboarding
5 18 (2.34%) Cloud Native
6 14 (1.82%) Cyber Defence
6 14 (1.82%) Embedded Systems
7 13 (1.69%) FPGA
7 13 (1.69%) Security Posture
8 12 (1.56%) Cyber Threat
8 12 (1.56%) Distributed Systems
9 11 (1.43%) Driving Licence
9 11 (1.43%) Self-Motivation
10 9 (1.17%) Analytical Mindset
10 9 (1.17%) Robotics
11 8 (1.04%) Fibre Optics
11 8 (1.04%) Legacy Systems
11 8 (1.04%) Management Information System
12 5 (0.65%) Data Structures
Operating Systems
1 114 (14.82%) Linux
2 96 (12.48%) Windows
3 65 (8.45%) Windows Server
4 25 (3.25%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 11 (1.43%) Windows Server 2016
6 10 (1.30%) CentOS
6 10 (1.30%) Ubuntu
7 6 (0.78%) 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
1 144 (18.73%) Agile
2 98 (12.74%) DevOps
3 95 (12.35%) CI/CD
4 84 (10.92%) Continuous Improvement
5 82 (10.66%) Software Engineering
6 78 (10.14%) Problem-Solving
7 63 (8.19%) Cybersecurity
8 49 (6.37%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 48 (6.24%) Mentoring
10 46 (5.98%) Scrum
11 44 (5.72%) Infrastructure as Code
12 43 (5.59%) Containerisation
12 43 (5.59%) Decision-Making
13 40 (5.20%) SIEM
14 39 (5.07%) AI
15 38 (4.94%) Service Management
15 38 (4.94%) Technical Leadership
16 36 (4.68%) Microservices
16 36 (4.68%) Stakeholder Management
17 35 (4.55%) Kanban
Programming Languages
1 104 (13.52%) Python
2 54 (7.02%) Java
3 41 (5.33%) C++
4 34 (4.42%) SQL
5 31 (4.03%) C#
6 25 (3.25%) C
6 25 (3.25%) PowerShell
7 24 (3.12%) JavaScript
8 18 (2.34%) Rust
9 12 (1.56%) Bash
9 12 (1.56%) MATLAB
9 12 (1.56%) TypeScript
10 11 (1.43%) VBA
11 10 (1.30%) Shell Script
12 9 (1.17%) PL/SQL
13 7 (0.91%) Embedded C
13 7 (0.91%) Embedded C++
13 7 (0.91%) Go
14 6 (0.78%) Apex Code
14 6 (0.78%) Groovy
Qualifications
1 467 (60.73%) SC Cleared
2 286 (37.19%) DV Cleared
3 120 (15.60%) Degree
4 21 (2.73%) HNC
5 20 (2.60%) Master's Degree
6 14 (1.82%) CISSP
7 12 (1.56%) Computer Science Degree
8 10 (1.30%) CRISC
9 9 (1.17%) APMP
9 9 (1.17%) CCNP
9 9 (1.17%) Cisco Certification
9 9 (1.17%) DBS Check
9 9 (1.17%) MBA
10 8 (1.04%) BPSS Clearance
10 8 (1.04%) CompTIA Security+
11 7 (0.91%) CREST Certified
11 7 (0.91%) ISACA
11 7 (0.91%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
11 7 (0.91%) Microsoft Certification
12 6 (0.78%) OSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (2.60%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 17 (2.21%) GDPR
3 16 (2.08%) NCSC
3 16 (2.08%) QA
4 14 (1.82%) NIST
5 13 (1.69%) SLA
6 12 (1.56%) PMO
7 9 (1.17%) Accessibility
8 8 (1.04%) ISO 9001
9 7 (0.91%) 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 56 (7.28%) Active Directory
1 56 (7.28%) Docker
2 25 (3.25%) vSphere
3 22 (2.86%) VMware NSX
4 20 (2.60%) Firmware
5 17 (2.21%) VMware Infrastructure
6 5 (0.65%) Virtual Machines
7 3 (0.39%) Hyper-V
8 2 (0.26%) Terminal Server
8 2 (0.26%) UAG
8 2 (0.26%) VMware ESXi
9 1 (0.13%) Embedded Firmware
9 1 (0.13%) Oracle RAC
9 1 (0.13%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 64 (8.32%) Kubernetes
2 50 (6.50%) Terraform
3 45 (5.85%) Ansible
4 16 (2.08%) vCenter Server
5 12 (1.56%) Grafana
5 12 (1.56%) Prometheus
6 10 (1.30%) Kibana
7 9 (1.17%) Nessus
7 9 (1.17%) vRealize
8 7 (0.91%) Podman
8 7 (0.91%) Puppet
8 7 (0.91%) SCCM
8 7 (0.91%) 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 96 (12.48%) Microsoft
2 56 (7.28%) VMware
3 38 (4.94%) Cisco
4 24 (3.12%) Oracle
5 22 (2.86%) Splunk
6 20 (2.60%) Red Hat
7 18 (2.34%) Juniper
8 15 (1.95%) Google
9 14 (1.82%) McAfee
10 12 (1.56%) Citrix
10 12 (1.56%) SolarWinds
11 11 (1.43%) CheckPoint
11 11 (1.43%) ServiceNow
11 11 (1.43%) Tenable
12 10 (1.30%) Salesforce
13 9 (1.17%) AppDynamics
13 9 (1.17%) IBM
14 8 (1.04%) NetApp
14 8 (1.04%) NVIDIA
14 8 (1.04%) Palo Alto