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

6 months to
13 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 28 53 9
Rank change year-on-year +25 -44 +5
Permanent jobs citing Security Cleared 291 187 809
As % of all permanent jobs in the Thames Valley 5.04% 5.54% 11.22%
As % of the Qualifications category 23.95% 11.35% 32.27%
Number of salaries quoted 184 123 551
10th Percentile £39,280 £38,500 £31,250
25th Percentile £50,025 £47,188 £38,880
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £66,250 £57,670 £52,550
Median % change year-on-year +14.88% +9.74% +14.86%
75th Percentile £80,000 £71,875 £61,375
90th Percentile £85,000 £83,750 £77,500
South East median annual salary £67,500 £58,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +16.38% +5.45% +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 1,215 1,648 2,507
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the Thames Valley 21.04% 48.80% 34.77%
Number of salaries quoted 703 448 1,502
10th Percentile £33,430 £28,675 £31,000
25th Percentile £42,500 £40,000 £38,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £50,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +20.00% -4.76% +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 £51,350
% change year-on-year +14.29% +2.24% -1.25%

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 13 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 13 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 +16 197 £67,500 +12.50% 85
Buckinghamshire +36 74 £53,750 -2.27% 35
Oxfordshire -13 20 £80,000 +54.59% 15
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 (2.41%) SharePoint
2 5 (1.72%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.34%) Confluence
Applications
1 9 (3.09%) Microsoft Office
2 4 (1.37%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 1 (0.34%) Primavera
1 1 (0.34%) SAP MDG
1 1 (0.34%) SAP MM
1 1 (0.34%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 39 (13.40%) Azure
2 30 (10.31%) AWS
3 17 (5.84%) GCP
4 12 (4.12%) Serverless
5 11 (3.78%) Amazon EKS
6 9 (3.09%) Azure Sentinel
7 8 (2.75%) Entra ID
8 7 (2.41%) Amazon EC2
8 7 (2.41%) AWS Lambda
8 7 (2.41%) Microsoft 365
9 6 (2.06%) Amazon ECS
9 6 (2.06%) OpenShift
9 6 (2.06%) Power Platform
10 5 (1.72%) Amazon S3
10 5 (1.72%) Cloudflare
11 4 (1.37%) Azure DevOps
11 4 (1.37%) Google Analytics
11 4 (1.37%) Salesforce Sales Cloud
11 4 (1.37%) Salesforce Service Cloud
12 3 (1.03%) OCI
Communications & Networking
1 51 (17.53%) DNS
2 43 (14.78%) Firewall
3 13 (4.47%) TCP/IP
4 12 (4.12%) Structured Cabling
5 11 (3.78%) NetScaler
6 10 (3.44%) HTTP
7 8 (2.75%) NAS
7 8 (2.75%) SAN
7 8 (2.75%) VPN
7 8 (2.75%) Wireshark
8 7 (2.41%) SSL
9 5 (1.72%) Remote Desktop
10 3 (1.03%) Internet
11 2 (0.69%) FTP
11 2 (0.69%) LAN
11 2 (0.69%) Network Security
11 2 (0.69%) SMTP
11 2 (0.69%) WAN
12 1 (0.34%) Cisco ISE
12 1 (0.34%) Junos
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (3.78%) PostgreSQL
2 9 (3.09%) SQL Server
3 5 (1.72%) Power BI
3 5 (1.72%) Relational Database
4 4 (1.37%) Oracle Database
5 2 (0.69%) MySQL
5 2 (0.69%) Oracle Database 11g
5 2 (0.69%) Oracle Database 12c
6 1 (0.34%) Metadata
6 1 (0.34%) MongoDB
6 1 (0.34%) NoSQL
6 1 (0.34%) Redis
6 1 (0.34%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 11 (3.78%) Git
1 11 (3.78%) Jenkins
2 10 (3.44%) GitLab
2 10 (3.44%) JIRA
3 5 (1.72%) SonarQube
4 4 (1.37%) Cucumber
4 4 (1.37%) JUnit
5 3 (1.03%) Artifactory
6 2 (0.69%) JMeter
6 2 (0.69%) Mockito
6 2 (0.69%) Subversion
7 1 (0.34%) Mocha
7 1 (0.34%) Selenium
7 1 (0.34%) TestDirector
General
1 66 (22.68%) Social Skills
2 43 (14.78%) Public Sector
3 37 (12.71%) Analytical Skills
4 35 (12.03%) Finance
5 16 (5.50%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 15 (5.15%) Law
7 13 (4.47%) Manufacturing
8 11 (3.78%) Organisational Skills
9 8 (2.75%) Influencing Skills
10 6 (2.06%) Games
11 5 (1.72%) Banking
11 5 (1.72%) Documentation Skills
11 5 (1.72%) French Language
12 4 (1.37%) Aviation
13 3 (1.03%) Aerospace
13 3 (1.03%) Legal
13 3 (1.03%) Military
13 3 (1.03%) Presentation Skills
14 2 (0.69%) Retail
15 1 (0.34%) Aeronautics
Job Titles
1 62 (21.31%) Architect
2 40 (13.75%) Senior
3 39 (13.40%) Developer
4 33 (11.34%) Analyst
4 33 (11.34%) Applications Architect
5 28 (9.62%) Security Architect
6 25 (8.59%) Lead
7 17 (5.84%) Java Developer
8 14 (4.81%) SOC Analyst
9 13 (4.47%) DevOps Engineer
9 13 (4.47%) Senior Developer
10 11 (3.78%) .NET Developer
10 11 (3.78%) Senior .NET Developer
11 9 (3.09%) Lead Architect
11 9 (3.09%) Security Analyst
12 8 (2.75%) Cybersecurity Analyst
13 7 (2.41%) 3rd Line Engineer
13 7 (2.41%) 3rd Line Infrastructure Engineer
13 7 (2.41%) Cyber Threat Analyst
13 7 (2.41%) Lead Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 22 (7.56%) Regular Expression
2 20 (6.87%) LDAP
3 19 (6.53%) .NET
4 18 (6.19%) XMPP
5 13 (4.47%) REST
6 12 (4.12%) Spring
7 10 (3.44%) JSON
8 8 (2.75%) Elastic Stack
8 8 (2.75%) RabbitMQ
8 8 (2.75%) React
9 6 (2.06%) Java EE
9 6 (2.06%) JPA
9 6 (2.06%) JSON Schema
9 6 (2.06%) Spring Boot
9 6 (2.06%) XML
10 5 (1.72%) AngularJS
10 5 (1.72%) Loki
10 5 (1.72%) Middleware
10 5 (1.72%) RESTful
10 5 (1.72%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 19 (6.53%) Cloud Native
1 19 (6.53%) Cyber Defence
2 16 (5.50%) Cyber Threat
3 10 (3.44%) Analytical Mindset
3 10 (3.44%) Distributed Systems
3 10 (3.44%) Onboarding
3 10 (3.44%) PKI
4 9 (3.09%) Security Operations Centre
5 5 (1.72%) Legacy Systems
5 5 (1.72%) Product Ownership
6 4 (1.37%) Management Information System
6 4 (1.37%) Self-Motivation
7 3 (1.03%) Arduino
7 3 (1.03%) CSOC
7 3 (1.03%) Hackathon
7 3 (1.03%) Linux Command Line
7 3 (1.03%) Raspberry Pi
7 3 (1.03%) Security Posture
8 2 (0.69%) Distributed Architecture
8 2 (0.69%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 62 (21.31%) Linux
2 57 (19.59%) Windows
3 37 (12.71%) Windows Server
4 26 (8.93%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 3 (1.03%) Unix
6 1 (0.34%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 54 (18.56%) Continuous Improvement
2 49 (16.84%) Cybersecurity
3 43 (14.78%) SIEM
4 38 (13.06%) Agile
5 31 (10.65%) Validation
6 29 (9.97%) DevOps
7 28 (9.62%) Problem-Solving
8 24 (8.25%) CI/CD
8 24 (8.25%) Platform Engineering
9 22 (7.56%) Mentoring
10 21 (7.22%) Application Security
11 19 (6.53%) Containerisation
12 18 (6.19%) ITIL
13 16 (5.50%) Antivirus Management
13 16 (5.50%) Architectural Design
13 16 (5.50%) Community of Practice
13 16 (5.50%) Pattern Matching
14 15 (5.15%) Service Management
14 15 (5.15%) Technology Strategy
15 14 (4.81%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 34 (11.68%) Python
2 24 (8.25%) Java
3 17 (5.84%) SQL
4 10 (3.44%) PowerShell
4 10 (3.44%) Shell Script
5 7 (2.41%) PL/SQL
5 7 (2.41%) Search Processing Language
6 6 (2.06%) Bash
6 6 (2.06%) JavaScript
7 5 (1.72%) C
7 5 (1.72%) C#
7 5 (1.72%) Groovy
8 4 (1.37%) Apex Code
8 4 (1.37%) Ladder Logic
9 3 (1.03%) Kusto Query Language
9 3 (1.03%) Pascal
9 3 (1.03%) Perl
9 3 (1.03%) TypeScript
10 2 (0.69%) C++
10 2 (0.69%) Go
Qualifications
1 179 (61.51%) SC Cleared
2 125 (42.96%) DV Cleared
3 41 (14.09%) Degree
4 13 (4.47%) HNC
5 10 (3.44%) CISSP
5 10 (3.44%) CompTIA Security+
5 10 (3.44%) CREST Certified
5 10 (3.44%) GIAC
6 9 (3.09%) GCIA
7 8 (2.75%) CRISC
7 8 (2.75%) GCIH
7 8 (2.75%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
7 8 (2.75%) OSCP
8 7 (2.41%) GCED
8 7 (2.41%) ISACA
8 7 (2.41%) SANS
9 4 (1.37%) BPSS Clearance
10 3 (1.03%) CHECK Team Member
10 3 (1.03%) CompTIA CySA+
10 3 (1.03%) DBS Check
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 12 (4.12%) GDPR
2 7 (2.41%) QA
3 6 (2.06%) NCSC
3 6 (2.06%) PMO
4 5 (1.72%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 5 (1.72%) NEBOSH
5 3 (1.03%) Accessibility
5 3 (1.03%) ISO 9001
6 2 (0.69%) ISO 22301
6 2 (0.69%) ISO/IEC 15288
6 2 (0.69%) MISRA
6 2 (0.69%) NIST
7 1 (0.34%) Cyber Essentials
7 1 (0.34%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 1 (0.34%) Data Quality
7 1 (0.34%) ISO/IEC 20000
7 1 (0.34%) SLA
System Software
1 42 (14.43%) Active Directory
2 26 (8.93%) vSphere
3 12 (4.12%) Docker
4 7 (2.41%) VMware NSX
5 3 (1.03%) Firmware
6 2 (0.69%) Virtual Machines
7 1 (0.34%) Oracle RAC
7 1 (0.34%) Terminal Server
7 1 (0.34%) Virtual Desktop
7 1 (0.34%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 22 (7.56%) Kubernetes
2 14 (4.81%) Kibana
3 9 (3.09%) Ansible
3 9 (3.09%) Terraform
4 7 (2.41%) vRealize
5 6 (2.06%) Graylog
6 5 (1.72%) Argo
6 5 (1.72%) Grafana
6 5 (1.72%) Kustomize
6 5 (1.72%) Prometheus
7 4 (1.37%) Packer
8 3 (1.03%) Istio
8 3 (1.03%) Oracle RMAN
9 2 (0.69%) QRadar
10 1 (0.34%) Oracle Enterprise Manager
10 1 (0.34%) SCCM
10 1 (0.34%) SCOM
Vendors
1 62 (21.31%) Microsoft
2 34 (11.68%) VMware
3 23 (7.90%) Red Hat
4 16 (5.50%) Oracle
5 15 (5.15%) McAfee
5 15 (5.15%) Splunk
6 12 (4.12%) Citrix
7 10 (3.44%) Google
8 9 (3.09%) AppDynamics
9 8 (2.75%) CrowdStrike
9 8 (2.75%) IBM
9 8 (2.75%) NetApp
10 7 (2.41%) Carbon Black
10 7 (2.41%) ServiceNow
11 6 (2.06%) Salesforce
12 3 (1.03%) Motorola
12 3 (1.03%) MuleSoft
12 3 (1.03%) SAP
13 2 (0.69%) ArcSight
13 2 (0.69%) Dynatrace