Security Cleared Job Trends in the Thames Valley

Security Clearance
South East > Thames Valley

The table below provides summary statistics for permanent job vacancies advertised in the Thames Valley with a requirement for Security Cleared qualifications. It includes a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered over the 6 months leading up to 4 August 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
4 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 24 51 8
Rank change year-on-year +27 -43 0
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 337 194 659
As % of all permanent jobs in the Thames Valley 5.17% 5.41% 12.53%
As % of the Qualifications category 26.41% 13.18% 39.11%
Number of salaries quoted 200 124 370
10th Percentile £39,900 £38,500 £36,125
25th Percentile £52,500 £45,608 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £67,500 £55,000 £54,000
Median % change year-on-year +22.73% +1.85% +13.68%
75th Percentile £82,813 £75,875 £64,563
90th Percentile £100,000 £84,625 £77,591
South East median annual salary £70,000 £60,000 £55,500
% change year-on-year +16.67% +8.11% +5.71%

All Academic and Professional Certifications
Thames Valley

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 Thames Valley.

Permanent vacancies requiring academic qualifications or professional certifications 1,276 1,472 1,685
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Thames Valley 19.58% 41.04% 32.03%
Number of salaries quoted 750 485 931
10th Percentile £33,088 £30,000 £32,750
25th Percentile £42,500 £40,000 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £59,500 £50,000 £53,263
Median % change year-on-year +19.00% -6.13% +2.43%
75th Percentile £72,500 £67,500 £70,250
90th Percentile £85,000 £82,500 £83,750
South East median annual salary £60,000 £51,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year +17.65% -2.86% -

Security Cleared
Job Vacancy Trend in the Thames Valley

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

Security Cleared job vacancy trend in the Thames Valley

Security Cleared
Salary Trend in the Thames Valley

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the Thames Valley citing Security Cleared.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the Thames Valley citing Security Cleared

Security Cleared
Salary Histogram in the Thames Valley

Salary distribution for jobs citing Security Cleared in the Thames Valley over the 6 months to 4 August 2026.

Salary histogram for Security Cleared in the Thames Valley

Security Cleared
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 Security Cleared within the Thames Valley region over the 6 months to 4 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
Berkshire +24 219 £70,000 +21.74% 106
Buckinghamshire +33 99 £55,000 +4.76% 43
Oxfordshire -13 19 £85,000 +58.88% 31
Security Cleared
South East

Security Cleared
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 5 (1.48%) Apache
1 5 (1.48%) nginx
2 3 (0.89%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.59%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.30%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.30%) Confluence
Applications
1 7 (2.08%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (0.89%) Microsoft Excel
3 2 (0.59%) Solid Edge
3 2 (0.59%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 1 (0.30%) Primavera
1 1 (0.30%) SAP MDG
1 1 (0.30%) SAP MM
1 1 (0.30%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 60 (17.80%) Azure
2 41 (12.17%) AWS
3 16 (4.75%) GCP
4 12 (3.56%) Azure Sentinel
4 12 (3.56%) Serverless
5 11 (3.26%) Amazon EKS
5 11 (3.26%) Entra ID
5 11 (3.26%) Microsoft 365
6 8 (2.37%) OpenShift
7 7 (2.08%) Amazon EC2
7 7 (2.08%) AWS Lambda
8 6 (1.78%) Amazon ECS
9 5 (1.48%) Amazon S3
9 5 (1.48%) Azure DevOps
9 5 (1.48%) Cloudflare
9 5 (1.48%) GitHub
9 5 (1.48%) Power Platform
10 4 (1.19%) Azure Logic Apps
10 4 (1.19%) Google Analytics
11 3 (0.89%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 63 (18.69%) DNS
2 51 (15.13%) Firewall
3 17 (5.04%) TCP/IP
4 13 (3.86%) VPN
5 11 (3.26%) NetScaler
6 10 (2.97%) HTTP
7 8 (2.37%) NAS
7 8 (2.37%) SAN
7 8 (2.37%) Wireshark
8 7 (2.08%) LAN
8 7 (2.08%) Network Security
8 7 (2.08%) SSL
8 7 (2.08%) WAN
9 6 (1.78%) Remote Desktop
10 5 (1.48%) Cisco Firepower
10 5 (1.48%) Cisco Nexus
10 5 (1.48%) NGFW
10 5 (1.48%) SD-WAN
11 4 (1.19%) Structured Cabling
12 3 (0.89%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (4.15%) PostgreSQL
2 10 (2.97%) SQL Server
3 8 (2.37%) Relational Database
4 5 (1.48%) MySQL
4 5 (1.48%) Power BI
5 4 (1.19%) Oracle Database
6 2 (0.59%) Metadata
6 2 (0.59%) Oracle Database 11g
6 2 (0.59%) Oracle Database 12c
7 1 (0.30%) MongoDB
7 1 (0.30%) NoSQL
7 1 (0.30%) Redis
7 1 (0.30%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 14 (4.15%) Jenkins
2 11 (3.26%) Git
3 10 (2.97%) JIRA
4 9 (2.67%) GitLab
5 5 (1.48%) JUnit
5 5 (1.48%) SonarQube
6 4 (1.19%) Cucumber
7 3 (0.89%) Artifactory
8 2 (0.59%) JMeter
8 2 (0.59%) Mockito
9 1 (0.30%) Mocha
9 1 (0.30%) Selenium
9 1 (0.30%) Storybook
9 1 (0.30%) Subversion
9 1 (0.30%) TestDirector
General
1 69 (20.47%) Social Skills
2 49 (14.54%) Public Sector
3 44 (13.06%) Analytical Skills
4 37 (10.98%) Finance
5 22 (6.53%) Manufacturing
6 13 (3.86%) Aerospace
6 13 (3.86%) Law
7 12 (3.56%) Organisational Skills
8 9 (2.67%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 7 (2.08%) Retail
10 6 (1.78%) Documentation Skills
10 6 (1.78%) Electronics
10 6 (1.78%) Games
11 5 (1.48%) Banking
11 5 (1.48%) French Language
11 5 (1.48%) Influencing Skills
12 3 (0.89%) Aviation
12 3 (0.89%) Legal
13 2 (0.59%) Automotive
13 2 (0.59%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 75 (22.26%) Architect
2 46 (13.65%) Senior
3 38 (11.28%) Analyst
4 34 (10.09%) Developer
5 33 (9.79%) Applications Architect
6 26 (7.72%) Security Architect
7 25 (7.42%) Lead
8 17 (5.04%) Java Developer
8 17 (5.04%) SOC Analyst
8 17 (5.04%) Support Specialist
9 13 (3.86%) Infrastructure Support
9 13 (3.86%) Senior Developer
9 13 (3.86%) Software Engineer
10 12 (3.56%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 11 (3.26%) .NET Developer
11 11 (3.26%) DevOps Engineer
11 11 (3.26%) Senior .NET Developer
12 10 (2.97%) Technical Leader
13 9 (2.67%) Infrastructure Specialist
13 9 (2.67%) Security Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (6.82%) Regular Expression
2 21 (6.23%) LDAP
3 19 (5.64%) XMPP
4 17 (5.04%) .NET
5 14 (4.15%) Spring
6 11 (3.26%) JSON
6 11 (3.26%) REST
7 10 (2.97%) React
8 9 (2.67%) Spring Boot
8 9 (2.67%) Web Services
9 8 (2.37%) Elastic Stack
9 8 (2.37%) RabbitMQ
10 7 (2.08%) JSON Schema
10 7 (2.08%) XML
11 6 (1.78%) HTML
11 6 (1.78%) Jakarta EE
11 6 (1.78%) JPA
12 5 (1.48%) AngularJS
12 5 (1.48%) Loki
13 4 (1.19%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 21 (6.23%) Cloud Native
2 20 (5.93%) Cyber Threat
3 17 (5.04%) Cyber Defence
4 13 (3.86%) Onboarding
5 12 (3.56%) PKI
5 12 (3.56%) Security Operations Centre
6 10 (2.97%) Analytical Mindset
7 9 (2.67%) Distributed Systems
8 8 (2.37%) Driving Licence
8 8 (2.37%) Product Ownership
9 7 (2.08%) Data Centre
9 7 (2.08%) Hybrid Cloud
10 6 (1.78%) CSOC
10 6 (1.78%) Management Information System
10 6 (1.78%) Private Cloud
11 5 (1.48%) Legacy Systems
11 5 (1.48%) Self-Motivation
12 4 (1.19%) Embedded Systems
12 4 (1.19%) Hackathon
12 4 (1.19%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 76 (22.55%) Linux
2 68 (20.18%) Windows
3 37 (10.98%) Windows Server
4 27 (8.01%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 5 (1.48%) Windows 10
6 3 (0.89%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 64 (18.99%) Continuous Improvement
2 60 (17.80%) Cybersecurity
3 48 (14.24%) SIEM
4 38 (11.28%) Validation
5 37 (10.98%) Problem-Solving
6 32 (9.50%) Agile
7 28 (8.31%) DevOps
8 26 (7.72%) Stakeholder Management
9 25 (7.42%) CI/CD
10 23 (6.82%) Application Security
10 23 (6.82%) Platform Engineering
11 21 (6.23%) Mentoring
11 21 (6.23%) Software Engineering
12 20 (5.93%) Containerisation
12 20 (5.93%) Decision-Making
12 20 (5.93%) Incident Response
12 20 (5.93%) ITIL
12 20 (5.93%) Service Delivery
13 18 (5.34%) Incident Management
14 17 (5.04%) AI
Programming Languages
1 36 (10.68%) Python
2 24 (7.12%) Java
3 15 (4.45%) SQL
4 14 (4.15%) PowerShell
5 11 (3.26%) Shell Script
6 10 (2.97%) Bash
7 9 (2.67%) C
8 8 (2.37%) C#
9 7 (2.08%) JavaScript
9 7 (2.08%) Search Processing Language
10 6 (1.78%) C++
10 6 (1.78%) Kusto Query Language
10 6 (1.78%) PL/SQL
11 5 (1.48%) Groovy
11 5 (1.48%) Rust
11 5 (1.48%) TypeScript
12 3 (0.89%) Pascal
12 3 (0.89%) Perl
13 2 (0.59%) Go
13 2 (0.59%) Ladder Logic
Qualifications
1 195 (57.86%) SC Cleared
2 134 (39.76%) DV Cleared
3 33 (9.79%) Degree
4 14 (4.15%) CISSP
4 14 (4.15%) CompTIA Security+
5 13 (3.86%) GIAC
6 12 (3.56%) GCIA
7 10 (2.97%) CREST Certified
7 10 (2.97%) OSCP
7 10 (2.97%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
8 8 (2.37%) GCIH
8 8 (2.37%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
9 7 (2.08%) GCED
9 7 (2.08%) SANS
10 6 (1.78%) CompTIA CySA+
10 6 (1.78%) CRISC
11 5 (1.48%) Azure Certification
11 5 (1.48%) BPSS Clearance
11 5 (1.48%) Cisco Certification
11 5 (1.48%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 9 (2.67%) NCSC
2 7 (2.08%) GDPR
2 7 (2.08%) QA
3 6 (1.78%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 6 (1.78%) MISRA
4 5 (1.48%) ISO 9001
4 5 (1.48%) NEBOSH
4 5 (1.48%) PMO
5 3 (0.89%) Accessibility
5 3 (0.89%) ISO 22301
5 3 (0.89%) SLA
6 2 (0.59%) COBIT
6 2 (0.59%) COSO
6 2 (0.59%) ISO/IEC 15288
6 2 (0.59%) NIST
6 2 (0.59%) PCI DSS
7 1 (0.30%) ARP4754
7 1 (0.30%) Data Quality
7 1 (0.30%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 1 (0.30%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 50 (14.84%) Active Directory
2 28 (8.31%) vSphere
3 16 (4.75%) Docker
4 9 (2.67%) VMware Infrastructure
5 7 (2.08%) Firmware
5 7 (2.08%) VMware NSX
6 5 (1.48%) Squid
6 5 (1.48%) VMware ESXi
7 3 (0.89%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.30%) Oracle RAC
8 1 (0.30%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 22 (6.53%) Kubernetes
2 14 (4.15%) Kibana
3 10 (2.97%) Terraform
4 9 (2.67%) Ansible
5 6 (1.78%) Graylog
6 5 (1.48%) Argo
6 5 (1.48%) Grafana
6 5 (1.48%) Kustomize
6 5 (1.48%) Microsoft Intune
6 5 (1.48%) Prometheus
7 4 (1.19%) Packer
8 3 (0.89%) Istio
8 3 (0.89%) Oracle RMAN
9 2 (0.59%) QRadar
9 2 (0.59%) vRealize
10 1 (0.30%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
10 1 (0.30%) SCCM
10 1 (0.30%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 78 (23.15%) Microsoft
2 44 (13.06%) VMware
3 24 (7.12%) Red Hat
4 15 (4.45%) McAfee
4 15 (4.45%) Oracle
4 15 (4.45%) Splunk
5 12 (3.56%) Citrix
6 10 (2.97%) Google
7 9 (2.67%) AppDynamics
7 9 (2.67%) Cisco
8 8 (2.37%) CrowdStrike
8 8 (2.37%) IBM
8 8 (2.37%) NetApp
8 8 (2.37%) ServiceNow
9 7 (2.08%) Carbon Black
10 5 (1.48%) Palo Alto
10 5 (1.48%) Veeam
11 4 (1.19%) CA Agile Central
11 4 (1.19%) Fortinet
11 4 (1.19%) SAP