Security Operations Centre Job Trends in the South East

Security Operations Centre
England > South East

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Security Operations Centre in permanent job vacancies in the South East. Included is a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered in vacancies that cited Security Operations Centre over the 6 months leading up to 11 January 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
11 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 218 280 262
Rank change year-on-year +62 -18 +77
Permanent jobs citing Security Operations Centre 49 18 27
As % of all permanent jobs in the South East 0.47% 0.20% 0.31%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.58% 0.57% 0.95%
Number of salaries quoted 32 10 18
10th Percentile £51,500 £46,750 £31,650
25th Percentile £62,188 £50,000 £59,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £73,250 £63,750
Median % change year-on-year -11.26% +14.90% +6.25%
75th Percentile £68,125 £76,500 £68,750
90th Percentile £78,150 - £69,125
England median annual salary £65,000 £51,058 £60,500
% change year-on-year +27.31% -15.61% -3.20%

All Generic Skills
South East

Security Operations Centre falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring generic IT skills in the South East.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills 3,104 3,172 2,839
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the South East 30.09% 35.06% 32.14%
Number of salaries quoted 1,586 1,360 1,910
10th Percentile £26,500 £32,750 £30,000
25th Percentile £32,000 £42,500 £38,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £56,509 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -20.37% +2.74% -
75th Percentile £65,000 £70,000 £67,500
90th Percentile £77,500 £85,000 £81,275
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -7.69%

Security Operations Centre
Job Vacancy Trend in the South East

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Security Operations Centre relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the South East.

Security Operations Centre job vacancy trend in the South East

Security Operations Centre
Salary Trend in the South East

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Security Operations Centre.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the South East citing Security Operations Centre

Security Operations Centre
Salary Histogram in the South East

Salary distribution for jobs citing Security Operations Centre in the South East over the 6 months to 11 January 2026.

Salary histogram for Security Operations Centre in the South East

Security Operations Centre
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 Operations Centre within the South East region over the 6 months to 11 January 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 +69 34 £65,000 -15.03% 7
Thames Valley +14 12 £65,000 +30.00% 8
Berkshire +6 7 £65,000 +30.00% 5
Buckinghamshire +9 5 £70,000 +75.00% 3
Surrey +15 3 - - 2
Security Operations Centre
England

Security Operations Centre
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:

Cloud Services
1 9 (18.37%) AWS
1 9 (18.37%) Azure
2 4 (8.16%) Azure Sentinel
2 4 (8.16%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 12 (24.49%) Network Security
1 12 (24.49%) TCP/IP
2 9 (18.37%) Firewall
3 5 (10.20%) DNS
General
1 17 (34.69%) Social Skills
2 10 (20.41%) Analytical Skills
3 3 (6.12%) Inclusion and Diversity
3 3 (6.12%) Influencing Skills
3 3 (6.12%) Organisational Skills
4 2 (4.08%) Documentation Skills
Job Titles
1 16 (32.65%) Lead
2 15 (30.61%) Senior
3 11 (22.45%) Security Engineer
3 11 (22.45%) Senior Security Engineer
4 10 (20.41%) Cybersecurity Manager
4 10 (20.41%) Security Manager
5 8 (16.33%) SOC Manager
6 7 (14.29%) Cybersecurity Engineer
6 7 (14.29%) Security Assurance Manager
7 6 (12.24%) Analyst
8 4 (8.16%) Senior Analyst
9 3 (6.12%) Security Analyst
9 3 (6.12%) SOC Analyst
10 2 (4.08%) Cybersecurity Analyst
11 1 (2.04%) Senior Security Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 4 (8.16%) ARM Templates
Miscellaneous
1 13 (26.53%) Cyber Threat
2 8 (16.33%) Cyber Kill Chain
2 8 (16.33%) Operational Technology
3 7 (14.29%) Security Posture
4 4 (8.16%) ARM Cortex
4 4 (8.16%) Hybrid Cloud
4 4 (8.16%) Onboarding
5 1 (2.04%) Cyber Defence
Processes & Methodologies
1 49 (100.00%) Security Operations
2 29 (59.18%) Cybersecurity
3 24 (48.98%) SIEM
4 18 (36.73%) Incident Response
5 16 (32.65%) Continuous Improvement
6 15 (30.61%) ITIL
6 15 (30.61%) Mentoring
6 15 (30.61%) Vulnerability Management
7 13 (26.53%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
7 13 (26.53%) Threat Intelligence
8 12 (24.49%) Threat and Vulnerability Management
9 10 (20.41%) Problem-Solving
9 10 (20.41%) SOAR
10 9 (18.37%) Stakeholder Management
11 8 (16.33%) Coaching
11 8 (16.33%) Cyber Intelligence
11 8 (16.33%) Risk Management
11 8 (16.33%) Roadmaps
11 8 (16.33%) SABSA
11 8 (16.33%) Technology Roadmap
Programming Languages
1 9 (18.37%) Kusto Query Language
2 6 (12.24%) PowerShell
2 6 (12.24%) Python
3 5 (10.20%) SQL
4 4 (8.16%) Bicep
5 2 (4.08%) Bash
Qualifications
1 15 (30.61%) SC Cleared
1 15 (30.61%) Security Cleared
2 14 (28.57%) CompTIA Security+
3 11 (22.45%) Degree
3 11 (22.45%) GCIA
4 7 (14.29%) CCNA
4 7 (14.29%) CCNP
4 7 (14.29%) Cisco Certification
4 7 (14.29%) CISSP
4 7 (14.29%) CREST Certified
4 7 (14.29%) SANS
5 6 (12.24%) CEH
5 6 (12.24%) CompTIA CySA+
5 6 (12.24%) GCIH
6 5 (10.20%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 24 (48.98%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 17 (34.69%) NIST
3 11 (22.45%) Cyber Essentials
4 8 (16.33%) ISO/IEC 27005
5 4 (8.16%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 4 (8.16%) GDPR
5 4 (8.16%) NCSC
5 4 (8.16%) PCI DSS
5 4 (8.16%) SOC 2
6 3 (6.12%) GRC
6 3 (6.12%) SOC 3
Systems Management
1 4 (8.16%) Terraform
Vendors
1 9 (18.37%) Microsoft
2 4 (8.16%) CrowdStrike
2 4 (8.16%) ServiceNow
2 4 (8.16%) Splunk