Firewall Job Trends in the Thames Valley

Firewall
South East > Thames Valley

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the Thames Valley requiring Firewall skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 15 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 74 84 44
Rank change year-on-year +10 -40 +19
Permanent jobs citing Firewall 102 98 259
As % of all permanent jobs in the Thames Valley 2.34% 3.01% 4.78%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 27.06% 21.92% 38.14%
Number of salaries quoted 65 64 247
10th Percentile £30,500 £34,575 £32,500
25th Percentile £32,000 £47,188 £34,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £60,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -25.00% +26.32% +26.67%
75th Percentile £58,750 £63,750 £59,000
90th Percentile £67,500 £95,000 £65,000
South East median annual salary £48,000 £53,000 £43,250
% change year-on-year -9.43% +22.54% -3.89%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
Thames Valley

Firewall falls under the Communications and Computer Networking category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring communications or computer networking skills in the Thames Valley.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 377 447 679
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Thames Valley 8.64% 13.74% 12.53%
Number of salaries quoted 193 193 570
10th Percentile £26,400 £27,500 £29,250
25th Percentile £30,500 £37,500 £34,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £40,000 £50,000 £47,000
Median % change year-on-year -20.00% +6.38% +4.44%
75th Percentile £53,750 £63,750 £59,000
90th Percentile £69,750 £92,000 £72,275
South East median annual salary £45,000 £55,000 £47,500
% change year-on-year -18.18% +15.79% +3.83%

Firewall
Job Vacancy Trend in the Thames Valley

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Firewall relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the Thames Valley.

Firewall job vacancy trend in the Thames Valley

Firewall
Salary Trend in the Thames Valley

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the Thames Valley citing Firewall.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the Thames Valley citing Firewall

Firewall
Salary Histogram in the Thames Valley

Salary distribution for jobs citing Firewall in the Thames Valley over the 6 months to 15 February 2026.

Salary histogram for Firewall in the Thames Valley

Firewall
Job Locations in the Thames Valley

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Firewall within the Thames Valley region over the 6 months to 15 February 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
Berkshire +12 63 £52,500 -6.67% 28
Oxfordshire +14 25 £34,000 -45.60% 9
Buckinghamshire -4 14 £45,000 -10.00% 28
Firewall
South East

Firewall
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the Thames Valley 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 19 (18.63%) SharePoint
2 7 (6.86%) Microsoft Exchange
3 4 (3.92%) IIS
4 2 (1.96%) CMS
4 2 (1.96%) WordPress
Applications
1 10 (9.80%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.98%) Spreadsheet
Cloud Services
1 47 (46.08%) Azure
2 44 (43.14%) Microsoft 365
3 20 (19.61%) AWS
4 10 (9.80%) Entra ID
4 10 (9.80%) Google Workspace
5 9 (8.82%) GCP
6 5 (4.90%) SaaS
7 4 (3.92%) Azure Sentinel
8 3 (2.94%) Cloud Computing
9 2 (1.96%) OpenShift
10 1 (0.98%) Apigee
10 1 (0.98%) Kong
10 1 (0.98%) Mimecast
10 1 (0.98%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 36 (35.29%) VPN
2 35 (34.31%) DNS
3 25 (24.51%) WAN
4 24 (23.53%) DHCP
4 24 (23.53%) TCP/IP
5 20 (19.61%) VLAN
6 17 (16.67%) VoIP
7 16 (15.69%) Wireless
8 15 (14.71%) Wi-Fi
9 13 (12.75%) DECT
9 13 (12.75%) DSL
9 13 (12.75%) PBX
9 13 (12.75%) Unified Communications
9 13 (12.75%) Wireshark
10 9 (8.82%) LAN
11 8 (7.84%) Network Security
12 3 (2.94%) BGP
13 2 (1.96%) Ethernet
13 2 (1.96%) SAN
13 2 (1.96%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (3.92%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 4 (3.92%) GitLab
2 1 (0.98%) Git
General
1 45 (44.12%) Social Skills
2 19 (18.63%) Telecoms
3 13 (12.75%) Marketing
4 12 (11.76%) Finance
5 6 (5.88%) Analytical Skills
5 6 (5.88%) Retail
6 5 (4.90%) Organisational Skills
7 3 (2.94%) Manufacturing
8 2 (1.96%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 1 (0.98%) Aerospace
9 1 (0.98%) Documentation Skills
9 1 (0.98%) Law
9 1 (0.98%) Legal
Job Titles
1 17 (16.67%) 2nd Line Support
1 17 (16.67%) IT Support
1 17 (16.67%) Support Engineer
2 15 (14.71%) Senior
3 12 (11.76%) IT Engineer
3 12 (11.76%) IT Support Engineer
4 10 (9.80%) Analyst
5 9 (8.82%) Architect
5 9 (8.82%) Infrastructure Manager
6 8 (7.84%) Microsoft Engineer
6 8 (7.84%) Security Engineer
7 7 (6.86%) Cybersecurity Engineer
7 7 (6.86%) Infrastructure Engineer
7 7 (6.86%) Lead
7 7 (6.86%) Senior Security Engineer
8 5 (4.90%) Lead Architect
8 5 (4.90%) Linux Engineer
8 5 (4.90%) Linux Support
8 5 (4.90%) Technical Analyst
8 5 (4.90%) Technical Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 2 (1.96%) Jinja
1 2 (1.96%) JSON
1 2 (1.96%) Web Services
1 2 (1.96%) YAML
2 1 (0.98%) ARM Templates
2 1 (0.98%) REST
2 1 (0.98%) XML
2 1 (0.98%) YANG
Miscellaneous
1 13 (12.75%) Web Conferencing
2 8 (7.84%) Driving Licence
3 5 (4.90%) Security Operations Centre
3 5 (4.90%) Self-Motivation
3 5 (4.90%) Video Conferencing
4 3 (2.94%) Cloud Native
4 3 (2.94%) Data Centre
4 3 (2.94%) Onboarding
5 2 (1.96%) Clustering
5 2 (1.96%) Cyber Defence
5 2 (1.96%) Fibre Optics
5 2 (1.96%) PKI
5 2 (1.96%) Replication
6 1 (0.98%) CMDB
6 1 (0.98%) Cyber Threat
6 1 (0.98%) Operational Technology
6 1 (0.98%) Renewable Energy
6 1 (0.98%) SCADA
6 1 (0.98%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 55 (53.92%) Windows
2 37 (36.27%) Windows Server
3 22 (21.57%) Linux
4 7 (6.86%) Android
4 7 (6.86%) Apple iOS
4 7 (6.86%) Mac OS
4 7 (6.86%) Windows Server 2019
5 4 (3.92%) Windows 10
6 3 (2.94%) Windows Server 2016
7 2 (1.96%) Windows Server 2012
8 1 (0.98%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 32 (31.37%) Problem-Solving
2 19 (18.63%) Customer Service
2 19 (18.63%) Cybersecurity
3 14 (13.73%) ITIL
4 13 (12.75%) Case Management
4 13 (12.75%) Presales
4 13 (12.75%) Time Management
5 10 (9.80%) Network Design
6 9 (8.82%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 8 (7.84%) Continuous Improvement
7 8 (7.84%) Kalman Filter
7 8 (7.84%) Project Delivery
7 8 (7.84%) SIEM
7 8 (7.84%) Technical Leadership
8 7 (6.86%) Disaster Recovery
8 7 (6.86%) Mentoring
8 7 (6.86%) Security Operations
8 7 (6.86%) Task Automation
9 6 (5.88%) Penetration Testing
9 6 (5.88%) Service Delivery
Programming Languages
1 13 (12.75%) PowerShell
2 6 (5.88%) Python
3 3 (2.94%) SQL
4 2 (1.96%) Bash
4 2 (1.96%) Bicep
4 2 (1.96%) T-SQL
5 1 (0.98%) JavaScript
Qualifications
1 21 (20.59%) Degree
2 17 (16.67%) Security Cleared
3 10 (9.80%) Cisco Certification
3 10 (9.80%) DV Cleared
4 8 (7.84%) CISSP
5 7 (6.86%) CCNA
6 6 (5.88%) CompTIA Security+
6 6 (5.88%) Microsoft Certification
7 5 (4.90%) CCNP
7 5 (4.90%) GCIA
7 5 (4.90%) SANS
7 5 (4.90%) SC Cleared
8 4 (3.92%) MCSE
9 3 (2.94%) (ISC)2 CCSP
9 3 (2.94%) CCSP
9 3 (2.94%) CEH
9 3 (2.94%) CISA
9 3 (2.94%) CISM
9 3 (2.94%) MCSA
9 3 (2.94%) Microsoft Certified Professional
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 13 (12.75%) Cyber Essentials
2 11 (10.78%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 5 (4.90%) SLA
4 4 (3.92%) GRC
5 3 (2.94%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 3 (2.94%) NIST
5 3 (2.94%) PCI DSS
6 1 (0.98%) NIST 800
System Software
1 39 (38.24%) Active Directory
2 14 (13.73%) Hyper-V
3 13 (12.75%) VMware Infrastructure
4 9 (8.82%) VMware NSX
5 3 (2.94%) Virtual Machines
6 2 (1.96%) Docker
6 2 (1.96%) vSphere
7 1 (0.98%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 16 (15.69%) Microsoft Intune
2 9 (8.82%) vRealize
3 5 (4.90%) Terraform
4 2 (1.96%) Ansible
4 2 (1.96%) Failover Clustering
4 2 (1.96%) FortiGate
4 2 (1.96%) Kubernetes
Vendors
1 51 (50.00%) Microsoft
2 31 (30.39%) VMware
3 13 (12.75%) Google
3 13 (12.75%) Palo Alto
4 11 (10.78%) Cisco
5 5 (4.90%) Atlassian
5 5 (4.90%) CheckPoint
5 5 (4.90%) Meraki
6 4 (3.92%) Draytek
6 4 (3.92%) Sophos
6 4 (3.92%) Tenable
7 2 (1.96%) F5
7 2 (1.96%) LogicMonitor
7 2 (1.96%) Red Hat
8 1 (0.98%) 3PAR
8 1 (0.98%) HP
8 1 (0.98%) Qualys
8 1 (0.98%) SolarWinds
8 1 (0.98%) Splunk
8 1 (0.98%) Veeam