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 31 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
31 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 75 77 42
Rank change year-on-year +2 -35 +17
Permanent jobs citing Firewall 103 105 232
As % of all permanent jobs in the Thames Valley 2.42% 3.13% 4.60%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 27.84% 22.58% 37.18%
Number of salaries quoted 66 68 222
10th Percentile £30,500 £34,200 £32,500
25th Percentile £33,625 £44,106 £34,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £46,750 £56,750 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -17.62% +19.47% +26.67%
75th Percentile £57,375 £63,750 £59,000
90th Percentile £67,500 £92,500 £72,250
South East median annual salary £47,500 £53,000 £43,000
% change year-on-year -10.38% +23.26% -4.44%

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 370 465 624
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Thames Valley 8.70% 13.86% 12.38%
Number of salaries quoted 195 208 526
10th Percentile £27,000 £27,850 £29,500
25th Percentile £30,750 £37,500 £34,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £40,000 £50,000 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -20.00% +5.26% +5.56%
75th Percentile £53,750 £63,750 £60,000
90th Percentile £68,750 £92,000 £75,000
South East median annual salary £45,000 £55,000 £47,500
% change year-on-year -18.18% +15.79% +2.15%

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 31 January 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 31 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
Berkshire +8 65 £49,000 -10.91% 22
Oxfordshire +13 21 £31,000 -50.40% 6
Buckinghamshire -5 17 £45,000 -10.00% 13
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 22 (21.36%) SharePoint
2 8 (7.77%) Microsoft Exchange
3 4 (3.88%) IIS
4 2 (1.94%) CMS
4 2 (1.94%) FactoryTalk
4 2 (1.94%) WinCC
4 2 (1.94%) WordPress
5 1 (0.97%) ArchestrA
5 1 (0.97%) Exchange Server 2013
Applications
1 10 (9.71%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.97%) Spreadsheet
Cloud Services
1 45 (43.69%) Azure
2 43 (41.75%) Microsoft 365
3 19 (18.45%) AWS
4 10 (9.71%) Google Workspace
5 8 (7.77%) GCP
6 7 (6.80%) Entra ID
7 5 (4.85%) SaaS
8 4 (3.88%) Azure Sentinel
9 3 (2.91%) Cloud Computing
10 1 (0.97%) Mimecast
10 1 (0.97%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 34 (33.01%) DNS
2 28 (27.18%) VPN
3 26 (25.24%) DHCP
4 24 (23.30%) TCP/IP
5 21 (20.39%) VLAN
5 21 (20.39%) Wireless
6 20 (19.42%) WAN
7 15 (14.56%) VoIP
8 14 (13.59%) Wi-Fi
9 11 (10.68%) DECT
9 11 (10.68%) DSL
9 11 (10.68%) PBX
9 11 (10.68%) Unified Communications
9 11 (10.68%) Wireshark
10 8 (7.77%) Network Security
11 6 (5.83%) LAN
12 5 (4.85%) SAN
13 4 (3.88%) NAS
14 3 (2.91%) BGP
14 3 (2.91%) Modbus
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (3.88%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 2 (1.94%) GitLab
General
1 37 (35.92%) Social Skills
2 15 (14.56%) Telecoms
3 12 (11.65%) Finance
4 11 (10.68%) Marketing
5 6 (5.83%) Retail
6 4 (3.88%) Analytical Skills
7 3 (2.91%) Manufacturing
8 2 (1.94%) Organisational Skills
9 1 (0.97%) Aerospace
9 1 (0.97%) Law
9 1 (0.97%) Legal
Job Titles
1 15 (14.56%) 2nd Line Support
2 14 (13.59%) IT Support
2 14 (13.59%) Senior
2 14 (13.59%) Support Engineer
3 11 (10.68%) Infrastructure Manager
4 10 (9.71%) Analyst
5 9 (8.74%) Architect
5 9 (8.74%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 9 (8.74%) IT Engineer
5 9 (8.74%) IT Support Engineer
5 9 (8.74%) Lead
6 8 (7.77%) Microsoft Engineer
6 8 (7.77%) Security Engineer
7 7 (6.80%) Cybersecurity Engineer
7 7 (6.80%) IT Infrastructure Manager
7 7 (6.80%) IT Manager
7 7 (6.80%) IT Security Manager
7 7 (6.80%) Security Manager
7 7 (6.80%) Senior Security Engineer
8 6 (5.83%) Cisco Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 2 (1.94%) Web Services
2 1 (0.97%) ARM Templates
Miscellaneous
1 11 (10.68%) Driving Licence
1 11 (10.68%) Web Conferencing
2 5 (4.85%) Security Operations Centre
2 5 (4.85%) Video Conferencing
3 4 (3.88%) Data Centre
4 3 (2.91%) Cloud Native
4 3 (2.91%) Onboarding
4 3 (2.91%) Operational Technology
4 3 (2.91%) Replication
4 3 (2.91%) SCADA
4 3 (2.91%) Self-Motivation
5 2 (1.94%) Clustering
5 2 (1.94%) Cyber Defence
5 2 (1.94%) Fibre Optics
5 2 (1.94%) PKI
5 2 (1.94%) Renewable Energy
6 1 (0.97%) CMDB
6 1 (0.97%) Legacy Systems
6 1 (0.97%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 56 (54.37%) Windows
2 38 (36.89%) Windows Server
3 18 (17.48%) Linux
4 7 (6.80%) Android
4 7 (6.80%) Apple iOS
4 7 (6.80%) Windows Server 2019
5 4 (3.88%) Mac OS
5 4 (3.88%) Windows 10
5 4 (3.88%) Windows Server 2016
6 2 (1.94%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 26 (25.24%) Problem-Solving
2 25 (24.27%) Cybersecurity
3 16 (15.53%) ITIL
4 15 (14.56%) Customer Service
4 15 (14.56%) Presales
5 11 (10.68%) Case Management
5 11 (10.68%) Infrastructure Engineering
5 11 (10.68%) Time Management
6 10 (9.71%) Mentoring
6 10 (9.71%) Network Design
6 10 (9.71%) Project Delivery
7 8 (7.77%) Continuous Improvement
7 8 (7.77%) Disaster Recovery
7 8 (7.77%) Kalman Filter
7 8 (7.77%) Security Operations
7 8 (7.77%) Technical Leadership
8 7 (6.80%) Agile
8 7 (6.80%) Business Continuity
8 7 (6.80%) High Availability
8 7 (6.80%) SIEM
Programming Languages
1 14 (13.59%) PowerShell
2 6 (5.83%) Python
3 4 (3.88%) Bash
4 3 (2.91%) SQL
5 2 (1.94%) Bicep
5 2 (1.94%) T-SQL
6 1 (0.97%) Ladder Logic
6 1 (0.97%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 19 (18.45%) Degree
2 17 (16.50%) Security Cleared
3 10 (9.71%) Cisco Certification
3 10 (9.71%) DV Cleared
4 8 (7.77%) CISSP
5 7 (6.80%) CCNA
6 6 (5.83%) CompTIA Security+
7 5 (4.85%) CCNP
7 5 (4.85%) GCIA
7 5 (4.85%) Microsoft Certification
7 5 (4.85%) SANS
7 5 (4.85%) SC Cleared
8 3 (2.91%) (ISC)2 CCSP
8 3 (2.91%) CCSP
8 3 (2.91%) CEH
8 3 (2.91%) CISA
8 3 (2.91%) CISM
8 3 (2.91%) MCSA
8 3 (2.91%) MCSE
8 3 (2.91%) Microsoft Certified Professional
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 14 (13.59%) Cyber Essentials
2 11 (10.68%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 5 (4.85%) SLA
4 4 (3.88%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 3 (2.91%) GRC
5 3 (2.91%) PCI DSS
6 2 (1.94%) IEC 61508
6 2 (1.94%) NIST
6 2 (1.94%) QA
7 1 (0.97%) IEC 61131
7 1 (0.97%) NIST 800
System Software
1 38 (36.89%) Active Directory
2 18 (17.48%) Hyper-V
3 17 (16.50%) VMware Infrastructure
4 9 (8.74%) VMware NSX
5 8 (7.77%) Virtual Machines
6 4 (3.88%) vSphere
7 2 (1.94%) Docker
8 1 (0.97%) Virtual Servers
Systems Management
1 19 (18.45%) Microsoft Intune
2 9 (8.74%) vRealize
3 5 (4.85%) Terraform
4 2 (1.94%) Ansible
4 2 (1.94%) Failover Clustering
4 2 (1.94%) FortiGate
4 2 (1.94%) Kubernetes
5 1 (0.97%) SCCM
Vendors
1 48 (46.60%) Microsoft
2 36 (34.95%) VMware
3 14 (13.59%) Palo Alto
4 13 (12.62%) Cisco
4 13 (12.62%) Google
5 8 (7.77%) Draytek
5 8 (7.77%) Meraki
5 8 (7.77%) Sophos
6 5 (4.85%) Atlassian
6 5 (4.85%) CheckPoint
7 4 (3.88%) LogicMonitor
7 4 (3.88%) Tenable
8 3 (2.91%) Aruba
8 3 (2.91%) Fortinet
9 2 (1.94%) Rockwell
9 2 (1.94%) Siemens
10 1 (0.97%) arcserve
10 1 (0.97%) Forcepoint
10 1 (0.97%) HP
10 1 (0.97%) ServiceNow