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 1 September 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 12 14 10
Rank change year-on-year +2 -4 +2
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 1,267 880 1,663
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 7.18% 9.70% 12.27%
As % of the Qualifications category 35.36% 23.98% 38.81%
Number of salaries quoted 850 498 1,062
10th Percentile £40,000 £36,250 £39,125
25th Percentile £53,750 £46,250 £43,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £58,000 £56,525
Median % change year-on-year +20.69% +2.61% +7.67%
75th Percentile £85,000 £77,500 £75,000
90th Percentile £98,875 £87,500 £86,000
England median annual salary £70,000 £60,000 £58,800
% change year-on-year +16.67% +2.04% -2.00%

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 3,583 3,669 4,285
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 20.31% 40.46% 31.62%
Number of salaries quoted 2,134 1,685 2,395
10th Percentile £30,000 £30,500 £31,250
25th Percentile £42,500 £37,000 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £50,000 £54,500
Median % change year-on-year +20.00% -8.26% +3.81%
75th Percentile £77,500 £68,750 £70,000
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 1 September 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 1 September 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 0 678 £75,000 +21.95% 294
Thames Valley +25 359 £70,000 +27.27% 218
Berkshire +26 242 £70,000 +27.27% 144
Surrey 0 170 £50,000 +25.00% 70
Buckinghamshire +22 105 £55,000 - 43
West Sussex -19 22 £35,000 -6.67% 27
Kent -25 16 £52,500 -4.55% 24
Oxfordshire -33 12 £100,000 +21.21% 43
East Sussex -16 6 £70,000 +40.00% 1
Middlesex +20 3 £65,000 - 2
Sussex -5 3 £65,000 +23.81% 11
Isle of Wight - 3 £70,000 - 2
Home Counties - 1 £80,000 -
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 12 (0.95%) SharePoint
2 11 (0.87%) Apache
3 6 (0.47%) Confluence
3 6 (0.47%) SAS
4 5 (0.39%) nginx
5 4 (0.32%) IIS
6 2 (0.16%) Microsoft Exchange
6 2 (0.16%) Oracle Workflow
6 2 (0.16%) Palantir Foundry
7 1 (0.079%) Apache Spark
Applications
1 25 (1.97%) Microsoft Excel
2 17 (1.34%) Simulink
3 15 (1.18%) Microsoft Office
4 14 (1.10%) Microsoft Project
5 5 (0.39%) Solid Edge
5 5 (0.39%) SOLIDWORKS
6 4 (0.32%) Mathcad
6 4 (0.32%) Microsoft PowerPoint
7 3 (0.24%) Chatbot
8 2 (0.16%) Lectora
8 2 (0.16%) UserZoom
9 1 (0.079%) Adobe XD
9 1 (0.079%) AutoCAD
9 1 (0.079%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 8 (0.63%) Primavera
2 4 (0.32%) Workday HCM
3 2 (0.16%) Oracle Applications
3 2 (0.16%) Siebel CRM
3 2 (0.16%) Teamcenter
4 1 (0.079%) SAP MDG
4 1 (0.079%) SAP MM
4 1 (0.079%) SAP S/4HANA
4 1 (0.079%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 202 (15.94%) Azure
2 138 (10.89%) AWS
3 53 (4.18%) Microsoft 365
4 40 (3.16%) Entra ID
5 36 (2.84%) GCP
6 23 (1.82%) Power Platform
7 22 (1.74%) Serverless
8 19 (1.50%) OpenShift
9 18 (1.42%) GitHub
10 14 (1.10%) Amazon EKS
10 14 (1.10%) Azure Sentinel
11 13 (1.03%) GitHub Actions
12 12 (0.95%) Azure DevOps
12 12 (0.95%) Cloud Computing
13 11 (0.87%) Azure AKS
14 10 (0.79%) Amazon EC2
15 9 (0.71%) PowerApps
16 8 (0.63%) Azure Stack
16 8 (0.63%) SaaS
17 7 (0.55%) Google Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 123 (9.71%) Firewall
2 71 (5.60%) DNS
3 62 (4.89%) WAN
4 53 (4.18%) LAN
5 47 (3.71%) Network Security
6 44 (3.47%) TCP/IP
7 42 (3.31%) VPN
8 19 (1.50%) BGP
9 18 (1.42%) HTTP
9 18 (1.42%) VLAN
10 17 (1.34%) ATM
11 14 (1.10%) OSPF
12 13 (1.03%) Intrusion Detection
12 13 (1.03%) VoIP
13 12 (0.95%) NGFW
13 12 (0.95%) SD-WAN
14 11 (0.87%) SSL
15 10 (0.79%) DHCP
15 10 (0.79%) SAN
15 10 (0.79%) VSAT
Database & Business Intelligence
1 27 (2.13%) PostgreSQL
2 21 (1.66%) Power BI
2 21 (1.66%) Relational Database
3 15 (1.18%) MySQL
4 12 (0.95%) SQL Server
5 8 (0.63%) Elasticsearch
6 4 (0.32%) GIS
6 4 (0.32%) MongoDB
6 4 (0.32%) Oracle Database
6 4 (0.32%) Redis
7 3 (0.24%) Tableau
8 2 (0.16%) Big Data
8 2 (0.16%) Data Warehouse
8 2 (0.16%) Geospatial Data
8 2 (0.16%) Metadata
8 2 (0.16%) NoSQL
8 2 (0.16%) Oracle Database 11g
8 2 (0.16%) Oracle Database 12c
8 2 (0.16%) RDBMS
8 2 (0.16%) Siebel EIM
Development Applications
1 72 (5.68%) Git
2 43 (3.39%) GitLab
3 26 (2.05%) JIRA
4 24 (1.89%) Jenkins
5 14 (1.10%) Visual Studio Code
6 10 (0.79%) SonarQube
7 8 (0.63%) Rational DOORS
8 7 (0.55%) JMeter
9 6 (0.47%) Artifactory
10 5 (0.39%) Cucumber
10 5 (0.39%) JUnit
11 4 (0.32%) Bitbucket
11 4 (0.32%) Gatling
11 4 (0.32%) LabVIEW
11 4 (0.32%) LoadRunner
11 4 (0.32%) Selenium
12 2 (0.16%) Android Studio
12 2 (0.16%) Cypress.io
12 2 (0.16%) Mockito
12 2 (0.16%) MSTest
General
1 289 (22.81%) Social Skills
2 147 (11.60%) Analytical Skills
3 136 (10.73%) Aerospace
4 123 (9.71%) Finance
5 118 (9.31%) Public Sector
6 66 (5.21%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 64 (5.05%) Military
8 60 (4.74%) Electronics
9 35 (2.76%) Manufacturing
10 31 (2.45%) Aviation
10 31 (2.45%) Organisational Skills
11 26 (2.05%) Law
12 23 (1.82%) Telecoms
13 21 (1.66%) Documentation Skills
14 16 (1.26%) Influencing Skills
15 13 (1.03%) Aeronautics
15 13 (1.03%) Banking
15 13 (1.03%) Police
16 12 (0.95%) Games
16 12 (0.95%) Legal
Job Titles
1 194 (15.31%) Architect
2 177 (13.97%) Senior
3 122 (9.63%) Software Engineer
4 99 (7.81%) Lead
5 89 (7.02%) Systems Engineer
6 84 (6.63%) Analyst
7 77 (6.08%) Security Architect
8 61 (4.81%) Developer
9 49 (3.87%) Consultant
10 46 (3.63%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 39 (3.08%) Network Engineer
12 35 (2.76%) Senior Software Engineer
13 32 (2.53%) Project Manager
14 31 (2.45%) Applications Architect
14 31 (2.45%) Security Analyst
15 29 (2.29%) Azure Engineer
16 27 (2.13%) SOC Analyst
17 26 (2.05%) Solutions Architect
18 25 (1.97%) Platform Engineer
18 25 (1.97%) Senior Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 65 (5.13%) Terraform
2 39 (3.08%) ModSecurity
3 36 (2.84%) LDAP
4 33 (2.60%) React
5 30 (2.37%) .NET
6 21 (1.66%) Regular Expression
7 19 (1.50%) XMPP
8 17 (1.34%) Spring
9 16 (1.26%) HTML
10 15 (1.18%) CSS
11 14 (1.10%) Kafka
11 14 (1.10%) REST
12 13 (1.03%) OAuth
12 13 (1.03%) OpenID
12 13 (1.03%) SAML
13 12 (0.95%) AngularJS
13 12 (0.95%) Elastic Stack
13 12 (0.95%) Web Services
14 10 (0.79%) JSON
14 10 (0.79%) Spring Boot
Miscellaneous
1 54 (4.26%) Cloud Native
2 47 (3.71%) Data Centre
3 44 (3.47%) Onboarding
4 43 (3.39%) Social Media
5 38 (3.00%) Driving Licence
6 34 (2.68%) Algorithms
7 31 (2.45%) Cyber Threat
8 29 (2.29%) Management Information System
8 29 (2.29%) Product Ownership
8 29 (2.29%) Security Operations Centre
9 28 (2.21%) Self-Motivation
10 27 (2.13%) Cyber Defence
11 24 (1.89%) Embedded Systems
12 22 (1.74%) FPGA
12 22 (1.74%) Robotics
13 20 (1.58%) Enterprise Software
14 19 (1.50%) Hybrid Cloud
14 19 (1.50%) Legacy Systems
14 19 (1.50%) Private Cloud
15 17 (1.34%) Analytical Mindset
Operating Systems
1 193 (15.23%) Linux
2 141 (11.13%) Windows
3 76 (6.00%) Windows Server
4 29 (2.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 15 (1.18%) Ubuntu
6 11 (0.87%) CentOS
7 9 (0.71%) Windows Server 2016
8 7 (0.55%) Windows Server 2019
9 6 (0.47%) Windows 10
10 5 (0.39%) Android
10 5 (0.39%) Debian
10 5 (0.39%) Unix
11 3 (0.24%) AIX
12 2 (0.16%) Mac OS
12 2 (0.16%) Rocky
13 1 (0.079%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 199 (15.71%) Agile
2 182 (14.36%) Continuous Improvement
3 180 (14.21%) Software Engineering
4 171 (13.50%) Problem-Solving
5 151 (11.92%) Validation
6 144 (11.37%) Cybersecurity
7 135 (10.66%) CI/CD
8 117 (9.23%) DevOps
9 107 (8.45%) Decision-Making
10 103 (8.13%) Mentoring
11 100 (7.89%) AI
12 92 (7.26%) Stakeholder Management
13 88 (6.95%) Technical Leadership
14 85 (6.71%) SIEM
15 82 (6.47%) ITIL
16 73 (5.76%) Incident Response
17 69 (5.45%) Infrastructure as Code
17 69 (5.45%) Infrastructure Engineering
18 66 (5.21%) Containerisation
18 66 (5.21%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 153 (12.08%) Python
2 82 (6.47%) C++
3 55 (4.34%) Java
4 52 (4.10%) C#
5 51 (4.03%) PowerShell
6 48 (3.79%) C
7 42 (3.31%) Bash
8 37 (2.92%) JavaScript
9 28 (2.21%) SQL
9 28 (2.21%) TypeScript
10 23 (1.82%) Rust
11 22 (1.74%) MATLAB
12 17 (1.34%) Embedded C
13 15 (1.18%) Embedded C++
14 14 (1.10%) Go
14 14 (1.10%) Shell Script
15 13 (1.03%) PHP
16 11 (0.87%) Ada
16 11 (0.87%) Perl
17 10 (0.79%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 777 (61.33%) SC Cleared
2 508 (40.09%) DV Cleared
3 180 (14.21%) Degree
4 60 (4.74%) BPSS Clearance
4 60 (4.74%) CISSP
5 45 (3.55%) Cisco Certification
6 32 (2.53%) CCNP
6 32 (2.53%) CISM
7 29 (2.29%) Azure Certification
8 27 (2.13%) HNC
9 23 (1.82%) Master's Degree
10 20 (1.58%) CompTIA Security+
11 17 (1.34%) Computer Science Degree
11 17 (1.34%) GIAC
12 16 (1.26%) CREST Certified
13 15 (1.18%) CCNA
14 14 (1.10%) PMI Certification
15 13 (1.03%) GCIA
16 12 (0.95%) CompTIA CySA+
16 12 (0.95%) OSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 41 (3.24%) QA
2 38 (3.00%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 33 (2.60%) SLA
4 28 (2.21%) NIST
5 25 (1.97%) Accessibility
6 22 (1.74%) NCSC
7 15 (1.18%) ISO 9001
8 14 (1.10%) GDPR
9 12 (0.95%) Def Stans
10 10 (0.79%) ISO/IEC 20000
11 9 (0.71%) NIST 800
11 9 (0.71%) PMO
12 7 (0.55%) MISRA
13 6 (0.47%) GRC
13 6 (0.47%) JSP 440
14 5 (0.39%) NEBOSH
14 5 (0.39%) WCAG
15 4 (0.32%) Cyber Essentials
16 3 (0.24%) HMG Security Policy Framework
16 3 (0.24%) ISO 22301
System Software
1 78 (6.16%) Active Directory
2 72 (5.68%) Docker
3 34 (2.68%) vSphere
4 31 (2.45%) VMware Infrastructure
5 23 (1.82%) Firmware
6 18 (1.42%) Virtual Machines
6 18 (1.42%) VMware ESXi
7 12 (0.95%) VMware NSX
8 11 (0.87%) Hyper-V
9 5 (0.39%) Embedded Firmware
9 5 (0.39%) Squid
10 4 (0.32%) KVM
11 2 (0.16%) UAG
12 1 (0.079%) Oracle RAC
Systems Management
1 104 (8.21%) Kubernetes
2 56 (4.42%) Ansible
3 19 (1.50%) Single Sign-On
4 18 (1.42%) Kibana
5 16 (1.26%) Grafana
5 16 (1.26%) Microsoft Intune
6 12 (0.95%) Prometheus
7 11 (0.87%) vCenter Server
8 9 (0.71%) Podman
9 7 (0.55%) Argo
9 7 (0.55%) Graylog
9 7 (0.55%) Kustomize
9 7 (0.55%) Puppet
9 7 (0.55%) QRadar
10 6 (0.47%) Nessus
10 6 (0.47%) Packer
10 6 (0.47%) SCCM
11 5 (0.39%) Istio
12 4 (0.32%) Docker Swarm
12 4 (0.32%) Nagios
Vendors
1 137 (10.81%) Microsoft
2 78 (6.16%) VMware
3 48 (3.79%) Cisco
4 34 (2.68%) Oracle
5 31 (2.45%) Red Hat
6 29 (2.29%) ServiceNow
7 25 (1.97%) Splunk
8 22 (1.74%) Fortinet
9 18 (1.42%) Palo Alto
10 17 (1.34%) SAP
11 15 (1.18%) McAfee
12 14 (1.10%) Google
13 13 (1.03%) AppDynamics
14 12 (0.95%) ForgeRock
14 12 (0.95%) Okta
15 11 (0.87%) EMC
15 11 (0.87%) IBM
16 10 (0.79%) NVIDIA
16 10 (0.79%) Veeam
17 9 (0.71%) Citrix