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

6 months to
11 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 24 45 8
Rank change year-on-year +21 -37 -1
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 344 213 657
As % of all permanent jobs in the Thames Valley 5.13% 5.87% 12.62%
As % of the Qualifications category 26.65% 14.26% 39.13%
Number of salaries quoted 203 132 364
10th Percentile £39,200 £38,500 £36,788
25th Percentile £52,500 £45,608 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £67,500 £55,000 £54,125
Median % change year-on-year +22.73% +1.62% +10.80%
75th Percentile £83,750 £75,188 £65,000
90th Percentile £100,000 £83,750 £78,648
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 1,291 1,494 1,679
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Thames Valley 19.27% 41.18% 32.24%
Number of salaries quoted 758 491 919
10th Percentile £33,213 £30,000 £33,250
25th Percentile £42,500 £39,965 £41,263
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £59,000 £50,000 £54,000
Median % change year-on-year +18.00% -7.41% +2.86%
75th Percentile £72,500 £67,500 £70,938
90th Percentile £85,000 £82,500 £83,750
South East median annual salary £60,000 £51,000 £52,550
% change year-on-year +17.65% -2.95% +0.10%

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 11 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 11 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 +19 223 £70,000 +21.74% 104
Buckinghamshire +23 105 £55,000 +2.33% 50
Oxfordshire -29 16 £100,000 +86.92% 21
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 (1.45%) Apache
1 5 (1.45%) nginx
2 3 (0.87%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.58%) Microsoft Exchange
4 1 (0.29%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.29%) Confluence
Applications
1 5 (1.45%) Microsoft Office
2 3 (0.87%) Solid Edge
2 3 (0.87%) SOLIDWORKS
3 2 (0.58%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 1 (0.29%) Primavera
1 1 (0.29%) SAP MDG
1 1 (0.29%) SAP MM
1 1 (0.29%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 61 (17.73%) Azure
2 44 (12.79%) AWS
3 15 (4.36%) GCP
4 13 (3.78%) Azure Sentinel
5 12 (3.49%) Entra ID
5 12 (3.49%) Serverless
6 11 (3.20%) Amazon EKS
6 11 (3.20%) Microsoft 365
7 10 (2.91%) OpenShift
8 7 (2.03%) Amazon EC2
8 7 (2.03%) AWS Lambda
9 6 (1.74%) Amazon ECS
10 5 (1.45%) Amazon S3
10 5 (1.45%) Azure Logic Apps
10 5 (1.45%) Cloudflare
10 5 (1.45%) GitHub
10 5 (1.45%) Power Platform
11 4 (1.16%) Azure DevOps
11 4 (1.16%) Google Analytics
12 3 (0.87%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 64 (18.60%) DNS
2 52 (15.12%) Firewall
3 18 (5.23%) TCP/IP
4 13 (3.78%) VPN
5 11 (3.20%) NetScaler
6 10 (2.91%) HTTP
7 8 (2.33%) NAS
7 8 (2.33%) SAN
7 8 (2.33%) Wireshark
8 7 (2.03%) LAN
8 7 (2.03%) Network Security
8 7 (2.03%) SSL
8 7 (2.03%) WAN
9 6 (1.74%) Remote Desktop
10 5 (1.45%) Cisco Firepower
10 5 (1.45%) Cisco Nexus
10 5 (1.45%) NGFW
10 5 (1.45%) SD-WAN
11 3 (0.87%) Internet
11 3 (0.87%) Structured Cabling
Database & Business Intelligence
1 14 (4.07%) PostgreSQL
2 9 (2.62%) SQL Server
3 8 (2.33%) Relational Database
4 5 (1.45%) MySQL
4 5 (1.45%) Power BI
5 4 (1.16%) Oracle Database
6 2 (0.58%) Metadata
6 2 (0.58%) Oracle Database 11g
6 2 (0.58%) Oracle Database 12c
7 1 (0.29%) Big Data
7 1 (0.29%) MongoDB
7 1 (0.29%) NoSQL
7 1 (0.29%) Redis
7 1 (0.29%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 14 (4.07%) Jenkins
2 10 (2.91%) Git
2 10 (2.91%) JIRA
3 9 (2.62%) GitLab
4 5 (1.45%) JUnit
4 5 (1.45%) SonarQube
5 4 (1.16%) Cucumber
6 3 (0.87%) Artifactory
7 2 (0.58%) JMeter
7 2 (0.58%) Mockito
8 1 (0.29%) Mocha
8 1 (0.29%) Selenium
8 1 (0.29%) Storybook
8 1 (0.29%) TestDirector
General
1 65 (18.90%) Social Skills
2 53 (15.41%) Public Sector
3 43 (12.50%) Analytical Skills
4 37 (10.76%) Finance
5 22 (6.40%) Manufacturing
6 14 (4.07%) Aerospace
7 13 (3.78%) Law
8 11 (3.20%) Organisational Skills
9 9 (2.62%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 7 (2.03%) Electronics
10 7 (2.03%) Retail
11 6 (1.74%) Documentation Skills
11 6 (1.74%) Games
12 5 (1.45%) Banking
12 5 (1.45%) French Language
13 4 (1.16%) Influencing Skills
13 4 (1.16%) Marketing
13 4 (1.16%) Public Speaking
14 3 (0.87%) Automotive
15 2 (0.58%) Legal
Job Titles
1 77 (22.38%) Architect
2 46 (13.37%) Senior
3 39 (11.34%) Analyst
4 34 (9.88%) Developer
5 33 (9.59%) Applications Architect
6 26 (7.56%) Security Architect
7 25 (7.27%) Lead
8 18 (5.23%) SOC Analyst
8 18 (5.23%) Support Specialist
9 17 (4.94%) Java Developer
10 13 (3.78%) Infrastructure Support
10 13 (3.78%) Senior Developer
11 12 (3.49%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 12 (3.49%) Software Engineer
12 11 (3.20%) .NET Developer
12 11 (3.20%) DevOps Engineer
12 11 (3.20%) Senior .NET Developer
12 11 (3.20%) Technical Leader
13 9 (2.62%) Cyber Threat Analyst
13 9 (2.62%) Infrastructure Support Specialist
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (6.69%) Regular Expression
2 21 (6.10%) LDAP
3 19 (5.52%) XMPP
4 16 (4.65%) .NET
5 14 (4.07%) Spring
6 11 (3.20%) JSON
6 11 (3.20%) REST
7 9 (2.62%) Spring Boot
7 9 (2.62%) Web Services
8 8 (2.33%) Elastic Stack
8 8 (2.33%) RabbitMQ
8 8 (2.33%) React
9 7 (2.03%) JSON Schema
9 7 (2.03%) XML
10 6 (1.74%) HTML
10 6 (1.74%) Jakarta EE
10 6 (1.74%) JPA
10 6 (1.74%) Loki
11 5 (1.45%) AngularJS
12 4 (1.16%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 22 (6.40%) Cloud Native
2 21 (6.10%) Cyber Threat
3 17 (4.94%) Cyber Defence
4 13 (3.78%) Onboarding
4 13 (3.78%) Security Operations Centre
5 12 (3.49%) PKI
6 10 (2.91%) Analytical Mindset
7 9 (2.62%) Data Centre
7 9 (2.62%) Distributed Systems
7 9 (2.62%) Hybrid Cloud
8 8 (2.33%) Driving Licence
8 8 (2.33%) Product Ownership
9 7 (2.03%) CSOC
9 7 (2.03%) Hackathon
10 6 (1.74%) Management Information System
10 6 (1.74%) Private Cloud
11 5 (1.45%) Legacy Systems
11 5 (1.45%) Self-Motivation
12 4 (1.16%) Embedded Systems
12 4 (1.16%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 79 (22.97%) Linux
2 70 (20.35%) Windows
3 38 (11.05%) Windows Server
4 29 (8.43%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 5 (1.45%) Windows 10
6 3 (0.87%) Unix
7 2 (0.58%) Rocky
Processes & Methodologies
1 66 (19.19%) Cybersecurity
2 61 (17.73%) Continuous Improvement
3 49 (14.24%) SIEM
4 40 (11.63%) Validation
5 39 (11.34%) Problem-Solving
6 31 (9.01%) Agile
7 28 (8.14%) DevOps
8 27 (7.85%) CI/CD
8 27 (7.85%) Stakeholder Management
9 24 (6.98%) Platform Engineering
10 23 (6.69%) Application Security
11 22 (6.40%) Incident Response
11 22 (6.40%) Service Delivery
12 21 (6.10%) Decision-Making
12 21 (6.10%) Mentoring
13 20 (5.81%) AI
13 20 (5.81%) Containerisation
13 20 (5.81%) ITIL
13 20 (5.81%) Technical Leadership
14 19 (5.52%) Software Engineering
Programming Languages
1 36 (10.47%) Python
2 24 (6.98%) Java
3 15 (4.36%) PowerShell
4 14 (4.07%) SQL
5 13 (3.78%) Bash
5 13 (3.78%) Shell Script
6 8 (2.33%) C
6 8 (2.33%) C#
7 7 (2.03%) JavaScript
7 7 (2.03%) Kusto Query Language
7 7 (2.03%) Search Processing Language
8 5 (1.45%) C++
8 5 (1.45%) Groovy
8 5 (1.45%) PL/SQL
8 5 (1.45%) Rust
8 5 (1.45%) TypeScript
9 3 (0.87%) Pascal
9 3 (0.87%) Perl
10 2 (0.58%) Go
11 1 (0.29%) Apex Code
Qualifications
1 198 (57.56%) SC Cleared
2 135 (39.24%) DV Cleared
3 34 (9.88%) Degree
4 15 (4.36%) CISSP
4 15 (4.36%) CompTIA Security+
5 14 (4.07%) GIAC
6 13 (3.78%) GCIA
7 10 (2.91%) CREST Certified
7 10 (2.91%) OSCP
7 10 (2.91%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
8 8 (2.33%) GCIH
8 8 (2.33%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
9 7 (2.03%) CompTIA CySA+
9 7 (2.03%) GCED
9 7 (2.03%) SANS
10 6 (1.74%) BPSS Clearance
10 6 (1.74%) CRISC
11 5 (1.45%) CEH
11 5 (1.45%) Cisco Certification
11 5 (1.45%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 9 (2.62%) NCSC
2 7 (2.03%) QA
3 6 (1.74%) GDPR
3 6 (1.74%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 5 (1.45%) ISO 9001
4 5 (1.45%) MISRA
4 5 (1.45%) NEBOSH
5 4 (1.16%) PMO
6 3 (0.87%) Accessibility
6 3 (0.87%) ISO 22301
6 3 (0.87%) SLA
7 2 (0.58%) COBIT
7 2 (0.58%) COSO
7 2 (0.58%) ISO/IEC 15288
7 2 (0.58%) NIST
7 2 (0.58%) PCI DSS
8 1 (0.29%) ARP4754
8 1 (0.29%) Data Quality
8 1 (0.29%) ISO/IEC 20000
8 1 (0.29%) Software Quality Assurance
System Software
1 51 (14.83%) Active Directory
2 30 (8.72%) vSphere
3 16 (4.65%) Docker
4 10 (2.91%) VMware Infrastructure
5 7 (2.03%) Firmware
5 7 (2.03%) VMware ESXi
5 7 (2.03%) VMware NSX
6 5 (1.45%) Squid
7 4 (1.16%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.29%) Oracle RAC
8 1 (0.29%) Virtual Desktop
Systems Management
1 24 (6.98%) Kubernetes
2 14 (4.07%) Kibana
3 11 (3.20%) Ansible
3 11 (3.20%) Terraform
4 6 (1.74%) Argo
4 6 (1.74%) Grafana
4 6 (1.74%) Graylog
4 6 (1.74%) Kustomize
4 6 (1.74%) Prometheus
5 5 (1.45%) Microsoft Intune
6 4 (1.16%) Packer
7 3 (0.87%) Istio
7 3 (0.87%) Oracle RMAN
8 2 (0.58%) QRadar
8 2 (0.58%) vRealize
9 1 (0.29%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
9 1 (0.29%) SCCM
9 1 (0.29%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 76 (22.09%) Microsoft
2 46 (13.37%) VMware
3 25 (7.27%) Red Hat
4 15 (4.36%) McAfee
4 15 (4.36%) Splunk
5 14 (4.07%) Oracle
6 12 (3.49%) Citrix
7 10 (2.91%) Cisco
8 9 (2.62%) AppDynamics
8 9 (2.62%) Google
9 8 (2.33%) CrowdStrike
9 8 (2.33%) IBM
9 8 (2.33%) NetApp
9 8 (2.33%) ServiceNow
10 7 (2.03%) Carbon Black
11 5 (1.45%) Fortinet
11 5 (1.45%) Palo Alto
11 5 (1.45%) Veeam
12 4 (1.16%) CA Agile Central
12 4 (1.16%) SAP