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

6 months to
22 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 22 14 10
Rank change year-on-year -8 -4 +11
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 777 766 1,761
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 5.37% 9.97% 10.68%
As % of the Qualifications category 23.60% 20.05% 31.46%
Number of salaries quoted 562 515 1,345
10th Percentile £41,110 £41,250 £33,850
25th Percentile £52,500 £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 £92,250 £87,500 £82,500
England median annual salary £65,000 £60,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year +8.33% +4.35% -2.54%

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 3,293 3,821 5,598
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 22.75% 49.73% 33.96%
Number of salaries quoted 1,666 1,518 3,640
10th Percentile £31,000 £31,750 £30,000
25th Percentile £41,145 £40,000 £38,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £53,000 £51,500
Median % change year-on-year +13.21% +2.91% +0.98%
75th Percentile £75,000 £68,750 £67,500
90th Percentile £86,790 £81,475 £82,500
England median annual salary £60,000 £55,000 £54,967
% change year-on-year +9.09% +0.06% -8.39%

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 22 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 22 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 -5 349 £75,000 +30.43% 213
Thames Valley +27 290 £65,000 +12.71% 149
Berkshire +17 188 £67,500 +12.50% 85
Buckinghamshire +33 76 £55,000 - 47
Surrey -7 72 £57,303 +27.34% 42
Oxfordshire +4 26 £70,000 +30.84% 28
West Sussex -7 26 £35,000 -6.67% 11
Kent -35 21 £52,500 -16.00% 16
Sussex - 11 £85,000 - 3
East Sussex -20 3 £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 (3.22%) SharePoint
2 5 (0.64%) Microsoft Exchange
3 3 (0.39%) Confluence
3 3 (0.39%) SAS
4 2 (0.26%) Apache
5 1 (0.13%) Apache Airflow
5 1 (0.13%) Apache Qpid
5 1 (0.13%) Camunda
5 1 (0.13%) IIS
5 1 (0.13%) Oracle SOA Suite
Applications
1 22 (2.83%) Microsoft Office
2 19 (2.45%) Microsoft Excel
3 10 (1.29%) Simulink
4 2 (0.26%) Lectora
5 1 (0.13%) Adobe XD
5 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
1 107 (13.77%) Azure
2 70 (9.01%) AWS
3 36 (4.63%) GCP
3 36 (4.63%) Microsoft 365
4 20 (2.57%) Power Platform
5 19 (2.45%) Serverless
6 18 (2.32%) Amazon EKS
7 16 (2.06%) Azure DevOps
8 13 (1.67%) Dynamics 365
9 11 (1.42%) OpenShift
9 11 (1.42%) PowerApps
10 10 (1.29%) Amazon EC2
11 9 (1.16%) Entra ID
11 9 (1.16%) GitHub
12 8 (1.03%) Azure AKS
13 7 (0.90%) AWS Lambda
13 7 (0.90%) Azure Sentinel
14 6 (0.77%) Amazon ECS
14 6 (0.77%) Azure Stack
14 6 (0.77%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 74 (9.52%) Firewall
2 52 (6.69%) DNS
3 33 (4.25%) WAN
4 25 (3.22%) VPN
5 23 (2.96%) LAN
6 21 (2.70%) BGP
7 19 (2.45%) Structured Cabling
8 15 (1.93%) Network Security
9 14 (1.80%) HTTP
9 14 (1.80%) TCP/IP
10 12 (1.54%) DHCP
11 11 (1.42%) NetScaler
12 10 (1.29%) Cisco Firepower
12 10 (1.29%) MQTT
13 9 (1.16%) MPLS
13 9 (1.16%) OSPF
13 9 (1.16%) Wireshark
14 8 (1.03%) NAS
14 8 (1.03%) SAN
14 8 (1.03%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 17 (2.19%) Power BI
2 14 (1.80%) PostgreSQL
3 11 (1.42%) Relational Database
4 10 (1.29%) SQL Server
5 4 (0.51%) Elasticsearch
6 3 (0.39%) GIS
6 3 (0.39%) MySQL
7 2 (0.26%) Metadata
7 2 (0.26%) Oracle Database
7 2 (0.26%) Redis
8 1 (0.13%) Big Data
8 1 (0.13%) Data Lake
8 1 (0.13%) Data Warehouse
8 1 (0.13%) DynamoDB
8 1 (0.13%) Geospatial Data
8 1 (0.13%) MongoDB
8 1 (0.13%) NoSQL
8 1 (0.13%) SAS Visual Analytics
8 1 (0.13%) Tableau
8 1 (0.13%) Weaviate
Development Applications
1 58 (7.46%) Git
2 47 (6.05%) GitLab
3 22 (2.83%) Jenkins
4 18 (2.32%) JIRA
5 14 (1.80%) Visual Studio Code
6 11 (1.42%) SonarQube
7 7 (0.90%) Selenium
8 6 (0.77%) Cucumber
9 5 (0.64%) JUnit
9 5 (0.64%) Subversion
10 4 (0.51%) Artifactory
10 4 (0.51%) Atlassian Bamboo
10 4 (0.51%) Rational DOORS
10 4 (0.51%) Snyk
11 3 (0.39%) Android Studio
11 3 (0.39%) JMeter
11 3 (0.39%) Mockito
11 3 (0.39%) Robot Framework
12 2 (0.26%) MSTest
12 2 (0.26%) Visual Studio
General
1 160 (20.59%) Social Skills
2 80 (10.30%) Finance
3 78 (10.04%) Public Sector
4 57 (7.34%) Analytical Skills
5 31 (3.99%) Electronics
6 24 (3.09%) Aerospace
6 24 (3.09%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 23 (2.96%) Law
8 22 (2.83%) Manufacturing
9 20 (2.57%) Military
10 18 (2.32%) Aviation
11 15 (1.93%) Organisational Skills
11 15 (1.93%) Telecoms
12 13 (1.67%) Documentation Skills
13 12 (1.54%) Banking
14 9 (1.16%) Games
14 9 (1.16%) Influencing Skills
15 8 (1.03%) Retail
16 7 (0.90%) Aeronautics
17 6 (0.77%) Legal
Job Titles
1 124 (15.96%) Senior
2 106 (13.64%) Architect
3 69 (8.88%) Developer
4 58 (7.46%) Software Engineer
5 53 (6.82%) Lead
6 44 (5.66%) Analyst
7 37 (4.76%) Network Engineer
8 36 (4.63%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 34 (4.38%) Systems Engineer
10 31 (3.99%) Applications Architect
11 30 (3.86%) Consultant
11 30 (3.86%) Security Architect
12 27 (3.47%) Data Engineer
13 26 (3.35%) Java Developer
14 24 (3.09%) DevOps Engineer
15 22 (2.83%) Support Engineer
16 21 (2.70%) IT Engineer
17 20 (2.57%) Azure Engineer
17 20 (2.57%) Senior Developer
17 20 (2.57%) Senior Software Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (3.73%) .NET
2 23 (2.96%) REST
3 19 (2.45%) React
4 16 (2.06%) LDAP
4 16 (2.06%) Regular Expression
4 16 (2.06%) Spring
5 12 (1.54%) JSON
5 12 (1.54%) Kafka
5 12 (1.54%) XMPP
6 11 (1.42%) SOAP
7 10 (1.29%) Elastic Stack
8 8 (1.03%) RabbitMQ
8 8 (1.03%) RESTful
8 8 (1.03%) Spring Boot
9 7 (0.90%) AngularJS
9 7 (0.90%) Middleware
9 7 (0.90%) XML
10 6 (0.77%) JPA
10 6 (0.77%) Web Services
10 6 (0.77%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 33 (4.25%) Product Ownership
2 25 (3.22%) Algorithms
3 24 (3.09%) Data Centre
4 19 (2.45%) Onboarding
4 19 (2.45%) PKI
5 17 (2.19%) Cloud Native
6 15 (1.93%) Cyber Defence
6 15 (1.93%) Embedded Systems
7 14 (1.80%) FPGA
8 13 (1.67%) Cyber Threat
8 13 (1.67%) Self-Motivation
9 12 (1.54%) Distributed Systems
9 12 (1.54%) Driving Licence
9 12 (1.54%) Security Posture
10 11 (1.42%) Analytical Mindset
10 11 (1.42%) Robotics
11 10 (1.29%) Fibre Optics
12 9 (1.16%) Management Information System
13 8 (1.03%) Legacy Systems
14 6 (0.77%) Security Operations Centre
Operating Systems
1 115 (14.80%) Linux
2 95 (12.23%) Windows
3 61 (7.85%) Windows Server
4 25 (3.22%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 11 (1.42%) Ubuntu
6 10 (1.29%) CentOS
6 10 (1.29%) Windows Server 2016
7 7 (0.90%) Android
8 6 (0.77%) Windows Server 2019
9 2 (0.26%) AIX
10 1 (0.13%) Apple iOS
10 1 (0.13%) Debian
10 1 (0.13%) Mac OS
10 1 (0.13%) Unix
10 1 (0.13%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 147 (18.92%) Agile
2 100 (12.87%) CI/CD
3 97 (12.48%) DevOps
4 85 (10.94%) Software Engineering
5 83 (10.68%) Continuous Improvement
6 78 (10.04%) Problem-Solving
7 66 (8.49%) Cybersecurity
8 49 (6.31%) Infrastructure Engineering
9 48 (6.18%) Mentoring
10 47 (6.05%) Scrum
11 43 (5.53%) Containerisation
11 43 (5.53%) Decision-Making
11 43 (5.53%) SIEM
12 41 (5.28%) Infrastructure as Code
13 39 (5.02%) AI
13 39 (5.02%) Technical Leadership
14 38 (4.89%) Microservices
15 37 (4.76%) Test Automation
16 36 (4.63%) Computer Science
17 35 (4.50%) Validation
Programming Languages
1 106 (13.64%) Python
2 54 (6.95%) Java
3 45 (5.79%) C++
4 34 (4.38%) SQL
5 33 (4.25%) C#
6 27 (3.47%) C
7 26 (3.35%) PowerShell
8 21 (2.70%) JavaScript
9 17 (2.19%) Rust
10 14 (1.80%) Bash
10 14 (1.80%) MATLAB
11 13 (1.67%) TypeScript
12 11 (1.42%) VBA
13 10 (1.29%) Embedded C
13 10 (1.29%) Embedded C++
13 10 (1.29%) Shell Script
14 9 (1.16%) PL/SQL
15 8 (1.03%) Go
16 6 (0.77%) Groovy
17 5 (0.64%) Apex Code
Qualifications
1 479 (61.65%) SC Cleared
2 287 (36.94%) DV Cleared
3 123 (15.83%) Degree
4 23 (2.96%) HNC
5 20 (2.57%) Master's Degree
6 13 (1.67%) BPSS Clearance
6 13 (1.67%) CISSP
6 13 (1.67%) Computer Science Degree
7 10 (1.29%) CRISC
8 9 (1.16%) APMP
8 9 (1.16%) CCNP
8 9 (1.16%) Cisco Certification
8 9 (1.16%) CompTIA Security+
8 9 (1.16%) CREST Certified
8 9 (1.16%) MBA
9 7 (0.90%) DBS Check
9 7 (0.90%) ISACA
9 7 (0.90%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
9 7 (0.90%) OSCP
10 5 (0.64%) CHECK Team Member
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (2.70%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 17 (2.19%) GDPR
3 16 (2.06%) QA
4 14 (1.80%) NCSC
5 13 (1.67%) NIST
5 13 (1.67%) SLA
6 12 (1.54%) PMO
7 10 (1.29%) ISO 9001
8 8 (1.03%) Def Stans
9 7 (0.90%) Accessibility
10 6 (0.77%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 5 (0.64%) NEBOSH
12 4 (0.51%) JSP 440
13 3 (0.39%) GRC
13 3 (0.39%) ISO/IEC 15288
13 3 (0.39%) NIST 800
13 3 (0.39%) WCAG
14 2 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials
14 2 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
14 2 (0.26%) ISO 22301
System Software
1 59 (7.59%) Active Directory
1 59 (7.59%) Docker
2 25 (3.22%) vSphere
3 20 (2.57%) Firmware
3 20 (2.57%) VMware NSX
4 17 (2.19%) VMware Infrastructure
5 5 (0.64%) Virtual Machines
6 3 (0.39%) Hyper-V
7 2 (0.26%) Embedded Firmware
7 2 (0.26%) Terminal Server
7 2 (0.26%) UAG
7 2 (0.26%) VMware ESXi
8 1 (0.13%) Oracle RAC
8 1 (0.13%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 66 (8.49%) Kubernetes
2 51 (6.56%) Terraform
3 46 (5.92%) Ansible
4 14 (1.80%) vCenter Server
5 12 (1.54%) Grafana
5 12 (1.54%) Prometheus
6 11 (1.42%) Kibana
7 9 (1.16%) vRealize
8 7 (0.90%) Nessus
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%) QRadar
11 4 (0.51%) Graylog
12 3 (0.39%) Docker Swarm
12 3 (0.39%) FortiGate
Vendors
1 93 (11.97%) Microsoft
2 56 (7.21%) VMware
3 35 (4.50%) Cisco
4 24 (3.09%) Oracle
4 24 (3.09%) Splunk
5 20 (2.57%) Red Hat
6 15 (1.93%) Juniper
7 14 (1.80%) Google
7 14 (1.80%) McAfee
8 12 (1.54%) Citrix
9 11 (1.42%) CheckPoint
9 11 (1.42%) ServiceNow
9 11 (1.42%) Tenable
10 10 (1.29%) SolarWinds
11 9 (1.16%) AppDynamics
11 9 (1.16%) IBM
11 9 (1.16%) Salesforce
12 8 (1.03%) NetApp
12 8 (1.03%) NVIDIA
12 8 (1.03%) Palo Alto