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

6 months to
14 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 26 51 9
Rank change year-on-year +25 -42 +10
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 284 162 815
As % of all permanent jobs in the Thames Valley 5.06% 4.83% 12.54%
As % of the Qualifications category 23.59% 9.80% 33.05%
Number of salaries quoted 173 106 605
10th Percentile £39,280 £40,000 £30,000
25th Percentile £50,000 £47,500 £36,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £57,835 £54,000
Median % change year-on-year +12.39% +7.10% +18.42%
75th Percentile £75,000 £70,000 £63,500
90th Percentile £83,750 £78,750 £77,000
South East median annual salary £65,000 £57,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year +13.04% +4.55% +11.11%

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 1,204 1,653 2,466
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Thames Valley 21.43% 49.30% 37.93%
Number of salaries quoted 636 438 1,578
10th Percentile £32,375 £31,250 £30,813
25th Percentile £41,250 £41,250 £38,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £58,000 £52,500 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +10.48% - +7.14%
75th Percentile £71,250 £70,000 £68,500
90th Percentile £82,500 £85,375 £85,000
South East median annual salary £58,500 £53,000 £51,500
% change year-on-year +10.38% +2.91% +2.49%

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 14 May 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 14 May 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 +21 181 £67,500 +12.50% 77
Buckinghamshire +29 79 £55,000 - 28
Oxfordshire +4 24 £65,000 +30.00% 32
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 9 (3.17%) SharePoint
2 5 (1.76%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.35%) Camunda
Applications
1 13 (4.58%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.41%) Adobe XD
2 4 (1.41%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 1 (0.35%) Primavera
1 1 (0.35%) SAP MM
Cloud Services
1 37 (13.03%) Azure
2 35 (12.32%) AWS
3 19 (6.69%) GCP
4 12 (4.23%) Amazon EKS
5 11 (3.87%) Serverless
6 7 (2.46%) Amazon EC2
6 7 (2.46%) AWS Lambda
6 7 (2.46%) Azure Sentinel
6 7 (2.46%) Microsoft 365
6 7 (2.46%) Power Platform
7 6 (2.11%) Amazon ECS
7 6 (2.11%) Dynamics 365
7 6 (2.11%) Google Analytics
7 6 (2.11%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
7 6 (2.11%) Salesforce Service Cloud
8 5 (1.76%) Amazon S3
9 4 (1.41%) Azure DevOps
9 4 (1.41%) Cloudflare
9 4 (1.41%) Entra ID
9 4 (1.41%) Figma
Communications & Networking
1 40 (14.08%) DNS
2 36 (12.68%) Firewall
3 14 (4.93%) Structured Cabling
4 11 (3.87%) NetScaler
5 10 (3.52%) TCP/IP
6 8 (2.82%) NAS
6 8 (2.82%) SAN
6 8 (2.82%) Wireshark
7 6 (2.11%) HTTP
7 6 (2.11%) SSL
8 4 (1.41%) VPN
9 3 (1.06%) Cisco ISE
9 3 (1.06%) DHCP
9 3 (1.06%) Internet
9 3 (1.06%) Network Security
9 3 (1.06%) Remote Desktop
10 2 (0.70%) FTP
10 2 (0.70%) LAN
10 2 (0.70%) SMTP
10 2 (0.70%) WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 9 (3.17%) PostgreSQL
1 9 (3.17%) SQL Server
2 6 (2.11%) Relational Database
3 5 (1.76%) Power BI
4 2 (0.70%) MySQL
5 1 (0.35%) DynamoDB
5 1 (0.35%) Metadata
5 1 (0.35%) Oracle Database
5 1 (0.35%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 12 (4.23%) Git
1 12 (4.23%) Jenkins
2 11 (3.87%) JIRA
3 9 (3.17%) GitLab
4 5 (1.76%) Cucumber
4 5 (1.76%) SonarQube
5 4 (1.41%) Axure RP
5 4 (1.41%) Balsamiq
5 4 (1.41%) JUnit
5 4 (1.41%) Subversion
6 3 (1.06%) Artifactory
6 3 (1.06%) Mockito
7 2 (0.70%) JMeter
8 1 (0.35%) Ant
8 1 (0.35%) Cypress.io
8 1 (0.35%) Gradle
8 1 (0.35%) Maven
8 1 (0.35%) SoapUI
8 1 (0.35%) TestDirector
General
1 76 (26.76%) Social Skills
2 49 (17.25%) Public Sector
3 42 (14.79%) Finance
4 36 (12.68%) Analytical Skills
5 27 (9.51%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 26 (9.15%) Law
7 15 (5.28%) Manufacturing
8 12 (4.23%) Organisational Skills
9 8 (2.82%) Influencing Skills
10 6 (2.11%) Documentation Skills
11 5 (1.76%) Aerospace
11 5 (1.76%) Banking
11 5 (1.76%) French Language
11 5 (1.76%) Games
11 5 (1.76%) Legal
12 4 (1.41%) Aviation
12 4 (1.41%) Presentation Skills
13 3 (1.06%) Military
14 2 (0.70%) Retail
15 1 (0.35%) Automotive
Job Titles
1 57 (20.07%) Architect
2 48 (16.90%) Senior
3 44 (15.49%) Developer
4 29 (10.21%) Analyst
4 29 (10.21%) Applications Architect
5 24 (8.45%) Lead
6 23 (8.10%) Security Architect
7 17 (5.99%) Java Developer
8 14 (4.93%) DevOps Engineer
9 13 (4.58%) Senior Developer
10 11 (3.87%) .NET Developer
10 11 (3.87%) Lead Architect
10 11 (3.87%) Senior .NET Developer
10 11 (3.87%) SOC Analyst
11 10 (3.52%) Salesforce Developer
12 9 (3.17%) Senior Data Warehouse Specialist
12 9 (3.17%) Test Specialist
13 8 (2.82%) Consultant
13 8 (2.82%) Solutions Architect
13 8 (2.82%) Support Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (8.10%) .NET
2 16 (5.63%) Regular Expression
3 15 (5.28%) REST
4 14 (4.93%) LDAP
4 14 (4.93%) Spring
5 12 (4.23%) XMPP
6 10 (3.52%) React
7 8 (2.82%) Elastic Stack
7 8 (2.82%) JSON
7 8 (2.82%) RabbitMQ
7 8 (2.82%) SOAP
8 7 (2.46%) Middleware
8 7 (2.46%) Spring Boot
9 6 (2.11%) AngularJS
9 6 (2.11%) Java EE
9 6 (2.11%) JPA
9 6 (2.11%) Lightning Web Components
9 6 (2.11%) RESTful
9 6 (2.11%) Visualforce
10 5 (1.76%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 17 (5.99%) Cloud Native
2 14 (4.93%) Cyber Defence
3 12 (4.23%) Cyber Threat
3 12 (4.23%) Product Ownership
4 10 (3.52%) Distributed Systems
4 10 (3.52%) Onboarding
5 9 (3.17%) PKI
6 7 (2.46%) Analytical Mindset
7 6 (2.11%) Security Posture
7 6 (2.11%) Self-Motivation
8 5 (1.76%) Legacy Systems
9 4 (1.41%) Management Information System
9 4 (1.41%) Security Operations Centre
10 3 (1.06%) Arduino
10 3 (1.06%) Cloud Security Posture
10 3 (1.06%) Enterprise Software
10 3 (1.06%) Linux Command Line
10 3 (1.06%) Raspberry Pi
11 2 (0.70%) Distributed Architecture
11 2 (0.70%) Low-Code
Operating Systems
1 50 (17.61%) Windows
2 47 (16.55%) Linux
3 37 (13.03%) Windows Server
4 20 (7.04%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 3 (1.06%) Windows Server 2019
6 1 (0.35%) Android
6 1 (0.35%) Apple iOS
6 1 (0.35%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 53 (18.66%) Agile
2 52 (18.31%) Continuous Improvement
3 36 (12.68%) DevOps
4 32 (11.27%) Cybersecurity
5 29 (10.21%) SIEM
6 28 (9.86%) Community of Practice
6 28 (9.86%) Problem-Solving
7 26 (9.15%) CI/CD
8 23 (8.10%) Mentoring
8 23 (8.10%) Technology Strategy
9 22 (7.75%) ITIL
10 20 (7.04%) Validation
11 18 (6.34%) Containerisation
11 18 (6.34%) Platform Engineering
11 18 (6.34%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 17 (5.99%) Application Security
12 17 (5.99%) Service Design
13 16 (5.63%) Analytics
13 16 (5.63%) Service Delivery
13 16 (5.63%) Service Management
Programming Languages
1 30 (10.56%) Python
2 26 (9.15%) Java
3 18 (6.34%) SQL
4 9 (3.17%) JavaScript
5 8 (2.82%) Shell Script
6 7 (2.46%) C#
6 7 (2.46%) PL/SQL
6 7 (2.46%) PowerShell
7 6 (2.11%) Apex Code
8 5 (1.76%) Groovy
8 5 (1.76%) Ladder Logic
9 4 (1.41%) C
10 3 (1.06%) Go
10 3 (1.06%) Pascal
10 3 (1.06%) Perl
10 3 (1.06%) Search Processing Language
10 3 (1.06%) TypeScript
11 2 (0.70%) Bash
12 1 (0.35%) C++
12 1 (0.35%) Korn
Qualifications
1 181 (63.73%) SC Cleared
2 109 (38.38%) DV Cleared
3 54 (19.01%) Degree
4 14 (4.93%) HNC
5 8 (2.82%) CISSP
5 8 (2.82%) CRISC
6 7 (2.46%) CompTIA Security+
6 7 (2.46%) ISACA
6 7 (2.46%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 6 (2.11%) CREST Certified
7 6 (2.11%) DBS Check
7 6 (2.11%) OSCP
8 5 (1.76%) CHECK Team Member
9 4 (1.41%) GCIA
9 4 (1.41%) GCIH
9 4 (1.41%) GIAC
10 3 (1.06%) CHECK Team Leader
10 3 (1.06%) Computer Science Degree
10 3 (1.06%) GCED
10 3 (1.06%) SANS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 13 (4.58%) GDPR
2 9 (3.17%) NCSC
3 8 (2.82%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 8 (2.82%) QA
4 7 (2.46%) Accessibility
5 6 (2.11%) PMO
6 5 (1.76%) NEBOSH
7 4 (1.41%) WCAG
8 3 (1.06%) ISO 9001
9 2 (0.70%) ISO 22301
9 2 (0.70%) ISO/IEC 15288
9 2 (0.70%) NIST
10 1 (0.35%) Cyber Essentials
10 1 (0.35%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 1 (0.35%) GRC
10 1 (0.35%) ISO/IEC 20000
10 1 (0.35%) MISRA
10 1 (0.35%) SLA
System Software
1 37 (13.03%) Active Directory
2 20 (7.04%) vSphere
3 13 (4.58%) Docker
4 9 (3.17%) VMware NSX
5 4 (1.41%) VMware Infrastructure
6 2 (0.70%) Firmware
6 2 (0.70%) Terminal Server
7 1 (0.35%) Oracle RAC
7 1 (0.35%) Virtual Desktop
7 1 (0.35%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 20 (7.04%) Kubernetes
2 10 (3.52%) Kibana
3 9 (3.17%) Ansible
3 9 (3.17%) Terraform
3 9 (3.17%) vRealize
4 4 (1.41%) Graylog
4 4 (1.41%) Packer
5 3 (1.06%) SCCM
5 3 (1.06%) SCOM
6 2 (0.70%) Argo
6 2 (0.70%) Grafana
6 2 (0.70%) Istio
6 2 (0.70%) Kustomize
6 2 (0.70%) Prometheus
6 2 (0.70%) QRadar
7 1 (0.35%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
7 1 (0.35%) Oracle RMAN
Vendors
1 57 (20.07%) Microsoft
2 34 (11.97%) VMware
3 15 (5.28%) Google
3 15 (5.28%) Red Hat
4 13 (4.58%) Oracle
5 12 (4.23%) Citrix
6 10 (3.52%) McAfee
6 10 (3.52%) Salesforce
7 9 (3.17%) AppDynamics
7 9 (3.17%) Splunk
8 8 (2.82%) IBM
8 8 (2.82%) NetApp
9 7 (2.46%) ServiceNow
10 5 (1.76%) MuleSoft
11 4 (1.41%) Adobe
11 4 (1.41%) Carbon Black
11 4 (1.41%) CrowdStrike
12 3 (1.06%) Juniper
12 3 (1.06%) Motorola
12 3 (1.06%) SAP