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 9 August 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
9 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 18 12 10
Rank change year-on-year -6 -2 +2
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 1,124 871 1,596
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 6.66% 9.97% 11.59%
As % of the Qualifications category 31.98% 24.85% 37.33%
Number of salaries quoted 777 513 1,089
10th Percentile £39,000 £37,500 £39,100
25th Percentile £52,500 £46,250 £43,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £60,000 £56,252
Median % change year-on-year +16.67% +6.66% +7.15%
75th Percentile £85,000 £78,750 £72,500
90th Percentile £98,750 £87,500 £85,000
England median annual salary £70,000 £60,000 £58,000
% change year-on-year +16.67% +3.45% -3.33%

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 3,515 3,505 4,275
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 20.82% 40.11% 31.05%
Number of salaries quoted 2,064 1,641 2,581
10th Percentile £30,000 £31,250 £31,250
25th Percentile £41,250 £37,500 £41,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £50,803 £52,550
Median % change year-on-year +18.10% -3.32% +0.10%
75th Percentile £76,250 £70,000 £68,750
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 9 August 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 9 August 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 -2 574 £75,000 +18.58% 256
Thames Valley +21 343 £67,500 +22.73% 165
Berkshire +22 224 £70,000 +21.74% 101
Surrey -3 141 £50,000 +25.00% 49
Buckinghamshire +26 102 £55,000 +4.76% 51
West Sussex -12 27 £35,000 -6.67% 11
Oxfordshire -24 17 £100,000 +86.92% 17
Kent -26 17 £52,500 -4.55% 11
Sussex -3 7 £85,000 +61.90% 2
East Sussex -17 6 £70,000 +40.00% 2
Middlesex +37 3 £65,000 -
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 13 (1.16%) SharePoint
2 11 (0.98%) Apache
3 7 (0.62%) Confluence
4 6 (0.53%) SAS
5 5 (0.44%) nginx
6 3 (0.27%) IIS
7 2 (0.18%) Microsoft Exchange
8 1 (0.089%) Apache Spark
8 1 (0.089%) Oracle Workflow
8 1 (0.089%) Palantir Foundry
Applications
1 27 (2.40%) Microsoft Excel
2 18 (1.60%) Microsoft Office
2 18 (1.60%) Simulink
3 9 (0.80%) Microsoft Project
4 5 (0.44%) Solid Edge
4 5 (0.44%) SOLIDWORKS
5 4 (0.36%) Mathcad
5 4 (0.36%) Microsoft PowerPoint
6 3 (0.27%) Chatbot
7 2 (0.18%) Lectora
8 1 (0.089%) AutoCAD
8 1 (0.089%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 6 (0.53%) Primavera
2 4 (0.36%) Workday HCM
3 2 (0.18%) Oracle Applications
3 2 (0.18%) Teamcenter
4 1 (0.089%) Remedy ITSM
4 1 (0.089%) SAP MDG
4 1 (0.089%) SAP MM
4 1 (0.089%) SAP S/4HANA
4 1 (0.089%) Siebel CRM
4 1 (0.089%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
Cloud Services
1 186 (16.55%) Azure
2 114 (10.14%) AWS
3 54 (4.80%) Microsoft 365
4 38 (3.38%) GCP
5 34 (3.02%) Entra ID
6 22 (1.96%) Serverless
7 21 (1.87%) Power Platform
8 16 (1.42%) GitHub
8 16 (1.42%) OpenShift
9 15 (1.33%) Azure DevOps
10 14 (1.25%) Amazon EKS
11 12 (1.07%) Azure Sentinel
11 12 (1.07%) GitHub Actions
12 11 (0.98%) Azure AKS
13 10 (0.89%) Amazon EC2
13 10 (0.89%) Azure Stack
13 10 (0.89%) PowerApps
14 7 (0.62%) AWS Lambda
15 6 (0.53%) Amazon ECS
15 6 (0.53%) Cloud Computing
Communications & Networking
1 115 (10.23%) Firewall
2 72 (6.41%) DNS
3 64 (5.69%) WAN
4 53 (4.72%) LAN
5 43 (3.83%) TCP/IP
6 42 (3.74%) VPN
7 40 (3.56%) Network Security
8 20 (1.78%) BGP
9 18 (1.60%) HTTP
9 18 (1.60%) VLAN
10 17 (1.51%) ATM
11 14 (1.25%) OSPF
11 14 (1.25%) VoIP
12 12 (1.07%) NGFW
12 12 (1.07%) SAN
12 12 (1.07%) SD-WAN
13 11 (0.98%) MQTT
13 11 (0.98%) NAS
13 11 (0.98%) NetScaler
13 11 (0.98%) Wireshark
Database & Business Intelligence
1 27 (2.40%) PostgreSQL
2 20 (1.78%) Power BI
3 19 (1.69%) Relational Database
4 16 (1.42%) SQL Server
5 14 (1.25%) MySQL
6 6 (0.53%) Elasticsearch
7 4 (0.36%) GIS
7 4 (0.36%) MongoDB
7 4 (0.36%) Oracle Database
7 4 (0.36%) Redis
8 2 (0.18%) Data Warehouse
8 2 (0.18%) Metadata
8 2 (0.18%) Oracle Database 11g
8 2 (0.18%) Oracle Database 12c
8 2 (0.18%) RDBMS
8 2 (0.18%) Tableau
9 1 (0.089%) Big Data
9 1 (0.089%) Geospatial Data
9 1 (0.089%) NoSQL
9 1 (0.089%) Siebel EIM
Development Applications
1 73 (6.49%) Git
2 49 (4.36%) GitLab
3 30 (2.67%) JIRA
4 25 (2.22%) Jenkins
5 14 (1.25%) Visual Studio Code
6 10 (0.89%) SonarQube
7 9 (0.80%) Rational DOORS
8 6 (0.53%) Artifactory
8 6 (0.53%) JMeter
9 5 (0.44%) Cucumber
9 5 (0.44%) JUnit
10 4 (0.36%) Bitbucket
10 4 (0.36%) LabVIEW
10 4 (0.36%) Selenium
11 3 (0.27%) Android Studio
11 3 (0.27%) Gatling
11 3 (0.27%) LoadRunner
12 2 (0.18%) Cypress.io
12 2 (0.18%) Mockito
12 2 (0.18%) MSTest
General
1 267 (23.75%) Social Skills
2 127 (11.30%) Analytical Skills
3 114 (10.14%) Finance
4 110 (9.79%) Public Sector
5 95 (8.45%) Aerospace
6 60 (5.34%) Electronics
7 55 (4.89%) Inclusion and Diversity
8 53 (4.72%) Military
9 33 (2.94%) Manufacturing
10 29 (2.58%) Organisational Skills
11 27 (2.40%) Aviation
12 24 (2.14%) Law
13 23 (2.05%) Documentation Skills
13 23 (2.05%) Telecoms
14 12 (1.07%) Influencing Skills
15 11 (0.98%) Aeronautics
15 11 (0.98%) Games
16 10 (0.89%) Banking
16 10 (0.89%) Legal
16 10 (0.89%) Retail
Job Titles
1 163 (14.50%) Senior
2 161 (14.32%) Architect
3 122 (10.85%) Software Engineer
4 83 (7.38%) Lead
5 72 (6.41%) Analyst
6 62 (5.52%) Developer
7 54 (4.80%) Security Architect
7 54 (4.80%) Systems Engineer
8 46 (4.09%) Infrastructure Engineer
9 44 (3.91%) Consultant
10 40 (3.56%) Network Engineer
11 35 (3.11%) Applications Architect
11 35 (3.11%) Senior Software Engineer
12 27 (2.40%) Azure Engineer
12 27 (2.40%) Solutions Architect
13 25 (2.22%) Project Manager
13 25 (2.22%) SOC Analyst
13 25 (2.22%) Support Engineer
14 24 (2.14%) Security Engineer
15 23 (2.05%) Data Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 34 (3.02%) LDAP
2 32 (2.85%) .NET
3 30 (2.67%) React
4 28 (2.49%) ModSecurity
5 23 (2.05%) Regular Expression
6 19 (1.69%) XMPP
7 17 (1.51%) Spring
8 16 (1.42%) Kafka
8 16 (1.42%) REST
9 12 (1.07%) Elastic Stack
9 12 (1.07%) JSON
9 12 (1.07%) Web Services
10 11 (0.98%) AngularJS
10 11 (0.98%) ARM Templates
10 11 (0.98%) HTML
11 10 (0.89%) CSS
11 10 (0.89%) OAuth
11 10 (0.89%) OpenID
11 10 (0.89%) SAML
11 10 (0.89%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 44 (3.91%) Cloud Native
2 40 (3.56%) Onboarding
3 39 (3.47%) Data Centre
3 39 (3.47%) Social Media
4 37 (3.29%) Driving Licence
5 32 (2.85%) Algorithms
6 28 (2.49%) Product Ownership
7 27 (2.40%) Self-Motivation
8 25 (2.22%) Management Information System
9 24 (2.14%) Cyber Threat
9 24 (2.14%) Embedded Systems
10 23 (2.05%) FPGA
11 20 (1.78%) PKI
12 19 (1.69%) Cyber Defence
12 19 (1.69%) Robotics
12 19 (1.69%) Security Operations Centre
13 18 (1.60%) Legacy Systems
13 18 (1.60%) Private Cloud
14 17 (1.51%) Analytical Mindset
15 16 (1.42%) Hybrid Cloud
Operating Systems
1 195 (17.35%) Linux
2 145 (12.90%) Windows
3 85 (7.56%) Windows Server
4 36 (3.20%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 19 (1.69%) Ubuntu
6 16 (1.42%) CentOS
7 11 (0.98%) Windows Server 2016
8 8 (0.71%) Windows Server 2019
9 6 (0.53%) Android
9 6 (0.53%) Windows 10
10 4 (0.36%) Debian
10 4 (0.36%) Unix
11 3 (0.27%) AIX
12 2 (0.18%) Mac OS
12 2 (0.18%) Rocky
13 1 (0.089%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 190 (16.90%) Agile
2 173 (15.39%) Software Engineering
3 155 (13.79%) Problem-Solving
4 153 (13.61%) Continuous Improvement
5 131 (11.65%) Cybersecurity
6 126 (11.21%) CI/CD
7 113 (10.05%) DevOps
8 106 (9.43%) Validation
9 95 (8.45%) Decision-Making
10 85 (7.56%) AI
11 84 (7.47%) Mentoring
12 81 (7.21%) Stakeholder Management
13 78 (6.94%) ITIL
14 76 (6.76%) SIEM
15 75 (6.67%) Technical Leadership
16 68 (6.05%) Infrastructure Engineering
17 63 (5.60%) Containerisation
18 62 (5.52%) Infrastructure as Code
19 59 (5.25%) Incident Response
20 58 (5.16%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 153 (13.61%) Python
2 81 (7.21%) C++
3 56 (4.98%) Java
4 50 (4.45%) C
4 50 (4.45%) PowerShell
5 49 (4.36%) C#
6 40 (3.56%) Bash
7 33 (2.94%) JavaScript
8 30 (2.67%) SQL
9 24 (2.14%) Rust
9 24 (2.14%) TypeScript
10 22 (1.96%) MATLAB
11 17 (1.51%) Embedded C
12 16 (1.42%) Shell Script
13 15 (1.33%) Embedded C++
14 13 (1.16%) Go
14 13 (1.16%) PHP
15 11 (0.98%) Ada
16 10 (0.89%) PL/SQL
16 10 (0.89%) VBA
Qualifications
1 717 (63.79%) SC Cleared
2 430 (38.26%) DV Cleared
3 171 (15.21%) Degree
4 56 (4.98%) BPSS Clearance
5 47 (4.18%) CISSP
6 44 (3.91%) Cisco Certification
7 31 (2.76%) CCNP
8 29 (2.58%) HNC
9 25 (2.22%) Master's Degree
10 21 (1.87%) CISM
11 20 (1.78%) Azure Certification
12 18 (1.60%) Computer Science Degree
13 17 (1.51%) CompTIA Security+
14 16 (1.42%) CCNA
14 16 (1.42%) GIAC
15 15 (1.33%) CREST Certified
16 12 (1.07%) GCIA
16 12 (1.07%) OSCP
16 12 (1.07%) PMI Certification
17 11 (0.98%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 36 (3.20%) QA
2 32 (2.85%) SLA
3 31 (2.76%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 22 (1.96%) NCSC
5 21 (1.87%) NIST
6 18 (1.60%) Accessibility
7 15 (1.33%) GDPR
7 15 (1.33%) ISO 9001
8 11 (0.98%) Def Stans
8 11 (0.98%) PMO
9 10 (0.89%) ISO/IEC 20000
10 7 (0.62%) MISRA
11 6 (0.53%) JSP 440
11 6 (0.53%) NIST 800
12 5 (0.44%) NEBOSH
13 4 (0.36%) Cyber Essentials
13 4 (0.36%) GRC
14 3 (0.27%) ISO 22301
15 2 (0.18%) HMG Security Policy Framework
15 2 (0.18%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 77 (6.85%) Active Directory
2 76 (6.76%) Docker
3 37 (3.29%) vSphere
4 33 (2.94%) VMware Infrastructure
5 24 (2.14%) Firmware
6 18 (1.60%) VMware ESXi
7 14 (1.25%) Virtual Machines
8 12 (1.07%) VMware NSX
9 11 (0.98%) Hyper-V
10 5 (0.44%) Embedded Firmware
10 5 (0.44%) Squid
11 4 (0.36%) KVM
12 2 (0.18%) UAG
13 1 (0.089%) Oracle RAC
13 1 (0.089%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 98 (8.72%) Kubernetes
2 67 (5.96%) Terraform
3 58 (5.16%) Ansible
4 17 (1.51%) Kibana
5 16 (1.42%) Microsoft Intune
6 15 (1.33%) Grafana
7 14 (1.25%) Single Sign-On
8 12 (1.07%) Prometheus
9 10 (0.89%) Podman
9 10 (0.89%) vCenter Server
10 8 (0.71%) Nessus
11 7 (0.62%) Nagios
11 7 (0.62%) Puppet
12 6 (0.53%) Graylog
12 6 (0.53%) QRadar
13 5 (0.44%) Argo
13 5 (0.44%) Docker Swarm
13 5 (0.44%) Kustomize
13 5 (0.44%) Packer
14 4 (0.36%) Istio
Vendors
1 137 (12.19%) Microsoft
2 81 (7.21%) VMware
3 50 (4.45%) Cisco
4 34 (3.02%) Oracle
5 31 (2.76%) Red Hat
5 31 (2.76%) ServiceNow
6 29 (2.58%) Splunk
7 19 (1.69%) Fortinet
8 18 (1.60%) Palo Alto
9 15 (1.33%) McAfee
10 14 (1.25%) Google
10 14 (1.25%) SAP
11 12 (1.07%) AppDynamics
11 12 (1.07%) Citrix
11 12 (1.07%) EMC
12 11 (0.98%) IBM
13 10 (0.89%) NVIDIA
14 9 (0.80%) ForgeRock
14 9 (0.80%) Okta
14 9 (0.80%) Veeam