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

6 months to
17 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 25 47 8
Rank change year-on-year +22 -39 -2
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 348 220 651
As % of all permanent jobs in the Thames Valley 5.11% 5.84% 12.65%
As % of the Qualifications category 26.93% 13.85% 39.48%
Number of salaries quoted 206 134 356
10th Percentile £40,000 £38,500 £36,813
25th Percentile £53,063 £45,608 £41,732
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £67,500 £55,000 £54,125
Median % change year-on-year +22.73% +1.62% +10.07%
75th Percentile £83,750 £74,688 £65,000
90th Percentile £100,000 £83,750 £78,580
South East median annual salary £70,000 £60,000 £56,252
% change year-on-year +16.67% +6.66% +7.15%

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 1,292 1,588 1,649
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Thames Valley 18.98% 42.14% 32.04%
Number of salaries quoted 760 495 888
10th Percentile £33,250 £31,250 £33,500
25th Percentile £42,500 £40,000 £41,263
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £50,000 £54,313
Median % change year-on-year +20.00% -7.94% +3.45%
75th Percentile £72,500 £67,500 £72,500
90th Percentile £85,125 £81,250 £83,750
South East median annual salary £60,000 £51,000 £52,973
% change year-on-year +17.65% -3.72% +0.90%

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 17 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 17 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 +21 225 £70,000 +26.13% 117
Buckinghamshire +24 108 £55,000 - 42
Oxfordshire -27 15 £100,000 +53.85% 35
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 (1.44%) Apache
1 5 (1.44%) nginx
2 3 (0.86%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.57%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.29%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.29%) Confluence
Applications
1 4 (1.15%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (0.86%) Solid Edge
2 3 (0.86%) SOLIDWORKS
3 1 (0.29%) Adobe XD
3 1 (0.29%) Microsoft Excel
3 1 (0.29%) UserZoom
Business Applications
1 1 (0.29%) SAP MDG
1 1 (0.29%) SAP MM
1 1 (0.29%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 62 (17.82%) Azure
2 47 (13.51%) AWS
3 16 (4.60%) GCP
4 13 (3.74%) Azure Sentinel
5 12 (3.45%) Entra ID
5 12 (3.45%) Serverless
6 11 (3.16%) Amazon EKS
7 10 (2.87%) Microsoft 365
7 10 (2.87%) OpenShift
8 7 (2.01%) Amazon EC2
8 7 (2.01%) AWS Lambda
9 6 (1.72%) Amazon ECS
9 6 (1.72%) GitHub
9 6 (1.72%) Google Analytics
10 5 (1.44%) Amazon S3
10 5 (1.44%) Azure Logic Apps
10 5 (1.44%) Cloud Computing
10 5 (1.44%) Cloudflare
10 5 (1.44%) Power Platform
11 4 (1.15%) Azure DevOps
Communications & Networking
1 64 (18.39%) DNS
2 52 (14.94%) Firewall
3 18 (5.17%) TCP/IP
4 13 (3.74%) VPN
5 11 (3.16%) NetScaler
6 10 (2.87%) HTTP
7 8 (2.30%) NAS
7 8 (2.30%) SAN
7 8 (2.30%) Wireshark
8 7 (2.01%) LAN
8 7 (2.01%) Network Security
8 7 (2.01%) SSL
8 7 (2.01%) WAN
9 6 (1.72%) Remote Desktop
10 5 (1.44%) Cisco Firepower
10 5 (1.44%) Cisco Nexus
10 5 (1.44%) NGFW
10 5 (1.44%) SD-WAN
11 3 (0.86%) Internet
12 2 (0.57%) SMTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (4.31%) PostgreSQL
2 9 (2.59%) Relational Database
2 9 (2.59%) SQL Server
3 6 (1.72%) MySQL
4 5 (1.44%) Power BI
5 4 (1.15%) Oracle Database
6 2 (0.57%) Big Data
6 2 (0.57%) Metadata
6 2 (0.57%) Oracle Database 11g
6 2 (0.57%) Oracle Database 12c
7 1 (0.29%) MongoDB
7 1 (0.29%) NoSQL
7 1 (0.29%) Redis
7 1 (0.29%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 15 (4.31%) Jenkins
2 10 (2.87%) Git
3 9 (2.59%) GitLab
3 9 (2.59%) JIRA
4 5 (1.44%) JUnit
4 5 (1.44%) SonarQube
5 4 (1.15%) Cucumber
6 3 (0.86%) Artifactory
7 2 (0.57%) JMeter
7 2 (0.57%) Mockito
8 1 (0.29%) Axure RP
8 1 (0.29%) Balsamiq
8 1 (0.29%) Mocha
8 1 (0.29%) Selenium
8 1 (0.29%) Storybook
8 1 (0.29%) TestDirector
General
1 65 (18.68%) Social Skills
2 55 (15.80%) Public Sector
3 44 (12.64%) Analytical Skills
4 39 (11.21%) Finance
5 22 (6.32%) Manufacturing
6 15 (4.31%) Law
7 14 (4.02%) Aerospace
8 11 (3.16%) Organisational Skills
9 10 (2.87%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 7 (2.01%) Electronics
10 7 (2.01%) Games
10 7 (2.01%) Retail
11 6 (1.72%) Banking
11 6 (1.72%) Documentation Skills
12 5 (1.44%) French Language
13 4 (1.15%) Influencing Skills
13 4 (1.15%) Marketing
13 4 (1.15%) Public Speaking
14 3 (0.86%) Automotive
14 3 (0.86%) Presentation Skills
Job Titles
1 76 (21.84%) Architect
2 44 (12.64%) Senior
3 39 (11.21%) Analyst
4 34 (9.77%) Developer
5 33 (9.48%) Applications Architect
6 27 (7.76%) Security Architect
7 24 (6.90%) Lead
8 19 (5.46%) Support Specialist
9 18 (5.17%) SOC Analyst
10 17 (4.89%) Java Developer
11 13 (3.74%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 13 (3.74%) Infrastructure Support
11 13 (3.74%) Senior Developer
11 13 (3.74%) Software Engineer
12 11 (3.16%) .NET Developer
12 11 (3.16%) DevOps Engineer
12 11 (3.16%) Senior .NET Developer
12 11 (3.16%) Technical Leader
13 9 (2.59%) Infrastructure Specialist
13 9 (2.59%) Security Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (6.61%) Regular Expression
2 21 (6.03%) LDAP
3 19 (5.46%) XMPP
4 16 (4.60%) .NET
5 15 (4.31%) Spring
6 11 (3.16%) JSON
6 11 (3.16%) REST
7 10 (2.87%) Spring Boot
8 9 (2.59%) HTML
8 9 (2.59%) React
8 9 (2.59%) Web Services
9 8 (2.30%) Elastic Stack
9 8 (2.30%) RabbitMQ
10 7 (2.01%) CSS
10 7 (2.01%) JSON Schema
10 7 (2.01%) XML
11 6 (1.72%) Jakarta EE
11 6 (1.72%) JPA
11 6 (1.72%) Loki
12 5 (1.44%) AngularJS
Miscellaneous
1 22 (6.32%) Cloud Native
2 21 (6.03%) Cyber Threat
3 17 (4.89%) Cyber Defence
4 15 (4.31%) Onboarding
5 13 (3.74%) Security Operations Centre
6 12 (3.45%) PKI
7 11 (3.16%) Data Centre
8 10 (2.87%) Analytical Mindset
8 10 (2.87%) Product Ownership
9 9 (2.59%) Distributed Systems
9 9 (2.59%) Hybrid Cloud
10 8 (2.30%) Driving Licence
11 7 (2.01%) CSOC
11 7 (2.01%) Hackathon
12 6 (1.72%) Management Information System
12 6 (1.72%) Private Cloud
13 5 (1.44%) Legacy Systems
13 5 (1.44%) Self-Motivation
14 4 (1.15%) Embedded Systems
14 4 (1.15%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 81 (23.28%) Linux
2 71 (20.40%) Windows
3 38 (10.92%) Windows Server
4 29 (8.33%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 5 (1.44%) Windows 10
6 3 (0.86%) Unix
7 2 (0.57%) Rocky
Processes & Methodologies
1 67 (19.25%) Cybersecurity
2 62 (17.82%) Continuous Improvement
3 50 (14.37%) SIEM
4 44 (12.64%) Validation
5 40 (11.49%) Problem-Solving
6 33 (9.48%) Agile
7 29 (8.33%) DevOps
8 28 (8.05%) CI/CD
9 27 (7.76%) Stakeholder Management
10 24 (6.90%) Platform Engineering
11 23 (6.61%) Application Security
11 23 (6.61%) Mentoring
12 22 (6.32%) Incident Response
12 22 (6.32%) Service Delivery
13 21 (6.03%) Containerisation
13 21 (6.03%) Decision-Making
14 20 (5.75%) AI
14 20 (5.75%) Software Engineering
14 20 (5.75%) Technical Leadership
15 19 (5.46%) Incident Management
Programming Languages
1 37 (10.63%) Python
2 25 (7.18%) Java
3 15 (4.31%) PowerShell
4 14 (4.02%) SQL
5 13 (3.74%) Bash
5 13 (3.74%) Shell Script
6 10 (2.87%) JavaScript
7 8 (2.30%) C
7 8 (2.30%) C#
8 7 (2.01%) Kusto Query Language
8 7 (2.01%) Search Processing Language
9 6 (1.72%) TypeScript
10 5 (1.44%) C++
10 5 (1.44%) Groovy
10 5 (1.44%) PL/SQL
10 5 (1.44%) Rust
11 3 (0.86%) Pascal
11 3 (0.86%) Perl
12 2 (0.57%) Go
13 1 (0.29%) Korn
Qualifications
1 199 (57.18%) SC Cleared
2 131 (37.64%) DV Cleared
3 37 (10.63%) Degree
4 15 (4.31%) CISSP
4 15 (4.31%) CompTIA Security+
5 14 (4.02%) GIAC
6 13 (3.74%) GCIA
7 10 (2.87%) CREST Certified
7 10 (2.87%) OSCP
7 10 (2.87%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
8 8 (2.30%) GCIH
8 8 (2.30%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
9 7 (2.01%) CompTIA CySA+
9 7 (2.01%) GCED
9 7 (2.01%) SANS
10 6 (1.72%) BPSS Clearance
10 6 (1.72%) CRISC
11 5 (1.44%) CEH
11 5 (1.44%) Cisco Certification
11 5 (1.44%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 9 (2.59%) NCSC
2 7 (2.01%) QA
3 6 (1.72%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 5 (1.44%) Accessibility
4 5 (1.44%) GDPR
4 5 (1.44%) ISO 9001
4 5 (1.44%) MISRA
4 5 (1.44%) NEBOSH
5 4 (1.15%) PMO
6 3 (0.86%) ISO 22301
7 2 (0.57%) COBIT
7 2 (0.57%) COSO
7 2 (0.57%) ISO/IEC 15288
7 2 (0.57%) NIST
7 2 (0.57%) PCI DSS
7 2 (0.57%) SLA
7 2 (0.57%) WCAG
8 1 (0.29%) Actionable Recommendations
8 1 (0.29%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 1 (0.29%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 52 (14.94%) Active Directory
2 31 (8.91%) vSphere
3 17 (4.89%) Docker
4 10 (2.87%) VMware Infrastructure
5 7 (2.01%) Firmware
5 7 (2.01%) VMware ESXi
5 7 (2.01%) VMware NSX
6 5 (1.44%) Squid
6 5 (1.44%) Virtual Machines
7 1 (0.29%) Oracle RAC
7 1 (0.29%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 24 (6.90%) Kubernetes
2 14 (4.02%) Kibana
3 11 (3.16%) Ansible
3 11 (3.16%) Terraform
4 6 (1.72%) Argo
4 6 (1.72%) Grafana
4 6 (1.72%) Graylog
4 6 (1.72%) Kustomize
4 6 (1.72%) Prometheus
5 5 (1.44%) Microsoft Intune
6 4 (1.15%) Packer
7 3 (0.86%) Istio
7 3 (0.86%) Oracle RMAN
8 2 (0.57%) QRadar
8 2 (0.57%) SCCM
8 2 (0.57%) vCenter Server
8 2 (0.57%) vRealize
9 1 (0.29%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
Vendors
1 77 (22.13%) Microsoft
2 47 (13.51%) VMware
3 25 (7.18%) Red Hat
4 15 (4.31%) McAfee
4 15 (4.31%) Splunk
5 14 (4.02%) Oracle
6 12 (3.45%) Citrix
7 11 (3.16%) Google
8 10 (2.87%) Cisco
9 9 (2.59%) AppDynamics
10 8 (2.30%) CrowdStrike
10 8 (2.30%) IBM
10 8 (2.30%) NetApp
11 7 (2.01%) Carbon Black
11 7 (2.01%) ServiceNow
12 5 (1.44%) Fortinet
12 5 (1.44%) Palo Alto
12 5 (1.44%) Veeam
13 4 (1.15%) CA Agile Central
13 4 (1.15%) SAP