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

6 months to
4 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 27 54 9
Rank change year-on-year +27 -45 +9
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 284 178 821
As % of all permanent jobs in the Thames Valley 5.02% 5.30% 11.90%
As % of the Qualifications category 23.20% 10.52% 32.92%
Number of salaries quoted 181 120 573
10th Percentile £39,280 £38,500 £31,250
25th Percentile £50,025 £47,344 £38,880
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £57,670 £53,000
Median % change year-on-year +12.71% +8.81% +16.23%
75th Percentile £75,000 £70,000 £63,500
90th Percentile £85,000 £82,625 £77,500
South East median annual salary £67,500 £57,670 £55,000
% change year-on-year +17.05% +4.85% +10.00%

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 1,224 1,692 2,494
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Thames Valley 21.65% 50.39% 36.14%
Number of salaries quoted 688 435 1,529
10th Percentile £33,350 £29,350 £31,000
25th Percentile £41,716 £40,000 £38,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £50,967 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +17.72% -2.92% +5.00%
75th Percentile £72,500 £67,500 £67,500
90th Percentile £83,750 £82,500 £83,750
South East median annual salary £60,000 £52,500 £51,500
% change year-on-year +14.29% +1.94% +0.15%

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 June 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 June 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 +14 185 £67,500 +12.50% 111
Buckinghamshire +40 76 £55,000 - 30
Oxfordshire -6 23 £65,000 +25.60% 29
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 7 (2.46%) SharePoint
2 4 (1.41%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.35%) Confluence
Applications
1 11 (3.87%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.41%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 1 (0.35%) Primavera
1 1 (0.35%) SAP MM
Cloud Services
1 39 (13.73%) Azure
2 33 (11.62%) AWS
3 19 (6.69%) GCP
4 12 (4.23%) Serverless
5 11 (3.87%) Amazon EKS
6 7 (2.46%) Amazon EC2
6 7 (2.46%) AWS Lambda
6 7 (2.46%) Azure Sentinel
6 7 (2.46%) Power Platform
7 6 (2.11%) Amazon ECS
7 6 (2.11%) Entra ID
7 6 (2.11%) Microsoft 365
8 5 (1.76%) Amazon S3
8 5 (1.76%) Dynamics 365
8 5 (1.76%) OpenShift
8 5 (1.76%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
8 5 (1.76%) Salesforce Service Cloud
9 4 (1.41%) Azure DevOps
9 4 (1.41%) Cloudflare
9 4 (1.41%) Google Analytics
Communications & Networking
1 45 (15.85%) DNS
2 39 (13.73%) Firewall
3 12 (4.23%) Structured Cabling
3 12 (4.23%) TCP/IP
4 11 (3.87%) NetScaler
5 9 (3.17%) HTTP
6 8 (2.82%) NAS
6 8 (2.82%) SAN
6 8 (2.82%) Wireshark
7 7 (2.46%) VPN
8 6 (2.11%) SSL
9 3 (1.06%) Internet
9 3 (1.06%) Network Security
9 3 (1.06%) Remote Desktop
10 2 (0.70%) Cisco ISE
10 2 (0.70%) FTP
10 2 (0.70%) LAN
10 2 (0.70%) SMTP
10 2 (0.70%) WAN
11 1 (0.35%) DHCP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (3.87%) PostgreSQL
2 9 (3.17%) SQL Server
3 5 (1.76%) Power BI
3 5 (1.76%) Relational Database
4 2 (0.70%) MySQL
4 2 (0.70%) Oracle Database
5 1 (0.35%) Metadata
5 1 (0.35%) MongoDB
5 1 (0.35%) NoSQL
5 1 (0.35%) Oracle Database 11g
5 1 (0.35%) Oracle Database 12c
5 1 (0.35%) Redis
5 1 (0.35%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 12 (4.23%) Git
2 11 (3.87%) Jenkins
3 10 (3.52%) GitLab
3 10 (3.52%) JIRA
4 5 (1.76%) SonarQube
5 4 (1.41%) Cucumber
5 4 (1.41%) JUnit
6 3 (1.06%) Artifactory
7 2 (0.70%) JMeter
7 2 (0.70%) Mockito
7 2 (0.70%) Subversion
8 1 (0.35%) Mocha
8 1 (0.35%) Selenium
8 1 (0.35%) TestDirector
General
1 70 (24.65%) Social Skills
2 46 (16.20%) Public Sector
3 37 (13.03%) Analytical Skills
4 36 (12.68%) Finance
5 20 (7.04%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 19 (6.69%) Law
7 13 (4.58%) Manufacturing
8 12 (4.23%) Organisational Skills
9 8 (2.82%) Influencing Skills
10 5 (1.76%) Documentation Skills
10 5 (1.76%) French Language
10 5 (1.76%) Games
11 4 (1.41%) Aviation
11 4 (1.41%) Banking
12 3 (1.06%) Aerospace
12 3 (1.06%) Legal
12 3 (1.06%) Military
12 3 (1.06%) Presentation Skills
13 2 (0.70%) Retail
14 1 (0.35%) Automotive
Job Titles
1 61 (21.48%) Architect
2 42 (14.79%) Senior
3 41 (14.44%) Developer
4 32 (11.27%) Applications Architect
5 30 (10.56%) Analyst
6 26 (9.15%) Security Architect
7 24 (8.45%) Lead
8 17 (5.99%) Java Developer
9 13 (4.58%) DevOps Engineer
9 13 (4.58%) Senior Developer
10 12 (4.23%) SOC Analyst
11 11 (3.87%) .NET Developer
11 11 (3.87%) Senior .NET Developer
12 10 (3.52%) Lead Architect
13 8 (2.82%) Salesforce Developer
14 7 (2.46%) 3rd Line Engineer
14 7 (2.46%) 3rd Line Infrastructure Engineer
14 7 (2.46%) Cyber Threat Analyst
14 7 (2.46%) Cybersecurity Analyst
14 7 (2.46%) Lead Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (7.75%) .NET
2 19 (6.69%) Regular Expression
3 17 (5.99%) LDAP
4 15 (5.28%) XMPP
5 14 (4.93%) REST
6 13 (4.58%) Spring
7 9 (3.17%) React
8 8 (2.82%) Elastic Stack
8 8 (2.82%) JSON
8 8 (2.82%) RabbitMQ
9 6 (2.11%) Java EE
9 6 (2.11%) JPA
9 6 (2.11%) Middleware
9 6 (2.11%) RESTful
9 6 (2.11%) SOAP
9 6 (2.11%) Spring Boot
10 5 (1.76%) AngularJS
10 5 (1.76%) Lightning Web Components
10 5 (1.76%) Visualforce
11 4 (1.41%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 20 (7.04%) Cloud Native
2 17 (5.99%) Cyber Defence
3 15 (5.28%) Cyber Threat
4 11 (3.87%) Distributed Systems
5 10 (3.52%) Analytical Mindset
5 10 (3.52%) Onboarding
6 8 (2.82%) PKI
7 7 (2.46%) Product Ownership
8 5 (1.76%) Legacy Systems
8 5 (1.76%) Security Operations Centre
9 4 (1.41%) Management Information System
9 4 (1.41%) Security Posture
9 4 (1.41%) Self-Motivation
10 3 (1.06%) Arduino
10 3 (1.06%) Enterprise Software
10 3 (1.06%) Hackathon
10 3 (1.06%) Linux Command Line
10 3 (1.06%) Raspberry Pi
11 2 (0.70%) Cyber Kill Chain
11 2 (0.70%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 54 (19.01%) Linux
2 51 (17.96%) Windows
3 34 (11.97%) Windows Server
4 23 (8.10%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 2 (0.70%) Unix
6 1 (0.35%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 50 (17.61%) Continuous Improvement
2 42 (14.79%) Agile
3 38 (13.38%) Cybersecurity
4 35 (12.32%) SIEM
5 31 (10.92%) DevOps
6 28 (9.86%) Problem-Solving
7 26 (9.15%) Validation
8 25 (8.80%) CI/CD
9 23 (8.10%) Platform Engineering
10 20 (7.04%) Application Security
10 20 (7.04%) Community of Practice
10 20 (7.04%) Mentoring
11 19 (6.69%) Containerisation
11 19 (6.69%) Technology Strategy
12 17 (5.99%) ITIL
13 16 (5.63%) Architectural Design
13 16 (5.63%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 15 (5.28%) Antivirus Management
14 15 (5.28%) Microservices
14 15 (5.28%) Pattern Matching
Programming Languages
1 33 (11.62%) Python
2 26 (9.15%) Java
3 17 (5.99%) SQL
4 8 (2.82%) PowerShell
4 8 (2.82%) Shell Script
5 7 (2.46%) C#
5 7 (2.46%) JavaScript
5 7 (2.46%) PL/SQL
6 6 (2.11%) Search Processing Language
7 5 (1.76%) Apex Code
7 5 (1.76%) Bash
7 5 (1.76%) Groovy
8 4 (1.41%) C
8 4 (1.41%) Ladder Logic
9 3 (1.06%) Pascal
9 3 (1.06%) Perl
9 3 (1.06%) TypeScript
10 2 (0.70%) Go
11 1 (0.35%) C++
11 1 (0.35%) Korn
Qualifications
1 182 (64.08%) SC Cleared
2 112 (39.44%) DV Cleared
3 46 (16.20%) Degree
4 13 (4.58%) HNC
5 9 (3.17%) CISSP
5 9 (3.17%) CREST Certified
6 8 (2.82%) CRISC
6 8 (2.82%) OSCP
7 7 (2.46%) CompTIA Security+
7 7 (2.46%) GCIA
7 7 (2.46%) GCIH
7 7 (2.46%) GIAC
7 7 (2.46%) ISACA
7 7 (2.46%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
8 6 (2.11%) GCED
8 6 (2.11%) SANS
9 4 (1.41%) BPSS Clearance
9 4 (1.41%) CHECK Team Member
9 4 (1.41%) DBS Check
10 2 (0.70%) Cyber Scheme
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 12 (4.23%) GDPR
2 8 (2.82%) QA
3 7 (2.46%) NCSC
4 6 (2.11%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 6 (2.11%) PMO
5 5 (1.76%) NEBOSH
6 4 (1.41%) Accessibility
7 3 (1.06%) ISO 9001
8 2 (0.70%) ISO 22301
8 2 (0.70%) ISO/IEC 15288
8 2 (0.70%) NIST
9 1 (0.35%) Cyber Essentials
9 1 (0.35%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 1 (0.35%) ISO/IEC 20000
9 1 (0.35%) MISRA
9 1 (0.35%) SLA
System Software
1 37 (13.03%) Active Directory
2 23 (8.10%) vSphere
3 13 (4.58%) Docker
4 7 (2.46%) VMware NSX
5 2 (0.70%) Firmware
5 2 (0.70%) VMware Infrastructure
6 1 (0.35%) Oracle RAC
6 1 (0.35%) Terminal Server
6 1 (0.35%) Virtual Desktop
6 1 (0.35%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 22 (7.75%) Kubernetes
2 13 (4.58%) Kibana
3 9 (3.17%) Ansible
3 9 (3.17%) Terraform
4 7 (2.46%) vRealize
5 5 (1.76%) Graylog
6 4 (1.41%) Argo
6 4 (1.41%) Grafana
6 4 (1.41%) Kustomize
6 4 (1.41%) Packer
6 4 (1.41%) Prometheus
7 3 (1.06%) Istio
8 2 (0.70%) Oracle RMAN
8 2 (0.70%) QRadar
9 1 (0.35%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
9 1 (0.35%) SCCM
9 1 (0.35%) SCOM
Vendors
1 60 (21.13%) Microsoft
2 32 (11.27%) VMware
3 20 (7.04%) Red Hat
4 14 (4.93%) Oracle
5 13 (4.58%) Splunk
6 12 (4.23%) Citrix
6 12 (4.23%) Google
6 12 (4.23%) McAfee
7 9 (3.17%) AppDynamics
8 8 (2.82%) IBM
8 8 (2.82%) NetApp
8 8 (2.82%) Salesforce
9 7 (2.46%) Carbon Black
9 7 (2.46%) CrowdStrike
9 7 (2.46%) ServiceNow
10 4 (1.41%) MuleSoft
11 3 (1.06%) Motorola
12 2 (0.70%) Cisco
12 2 (0.70%) Juniper
12 2 (0.70%) SAP