Def Stans Job Trends in the UK excluding London

UK Defence Standards (Def Stans)
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the UK excluding London requiring Def Stans skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 18 August 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 608 485 639
Rank change year-on-year -123 +154 -59
Permanent jobs citing Def Stans 43 74 20
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 0.055% 0.21% 0.034%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 0.57% 1.51% 0.27%
Number of salaries quoted 25 24 9
10th Percentile £40,250 £52,500 £43,863
25th Percentile £52,500 £57,500 £46,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £67,500 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +3.70% +28.57% -22.22%
75th Percentile £77,500 £82,500 £72,500
90th Percentile £85,000 - £72,750
UK median annual salary £70,000 £67,500 £56,250
% change year-on-year +3.70% +20.00% -16.67%

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
UK excluding London

Def Stans falls under the Quality Assurance and Compliance category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring quality assurance or compliance skills in the UK excluding London.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 7,565 4,898 7,452
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 9.67% 14.09% 12.55%
Number of salaries quoted 4,797 2,624 4,325
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,500 £26,000
25th Percentile £38,750 £34,755 £34,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £50,000 £50,000 £47,683
Median % change year-on-year - +4.86% -6.50%
75th Percentile £67,500 £66,250 £63,250
90th Percentile £82,500 £80,000 £77,500
UK median annual salary £57,500 £57,500 £55,000
% change year-on-year - +4.55% -8.33%

Def Stans
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Def Stans relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Def Stans job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Def Stans
Salary Trend in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Def Stans.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Def Stans

Def Stans
Salary Histogram in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution for jobs citing Def Stans in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 18 August 2026.

Salary histogram for Def Stans in the UK excluding London

Def Stans
Job Locations in the UK excluding London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Def Stans within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 18 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
South East -50 21 £50,000 -25.93% 5
South West -75 15 £85,000 +25.93% 10
Midlands -28 6 £70,000 -6.67% 4
East Midlands - 6 £70,000 - 1
Scotland - 1 - - 2
Def Stans
UK

Def Stans
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London 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 4 (9.30%) SharePoint
Applications
1 4 (9.30%) Microsoft Excel
1 4 (9.30%) Microsoft PowerPoint
1 4 (9.30%) Windchill
2 3 (6.98%) Simulink
3 1 (2.33%) Microsoft Office
3 1 (2.33%) SOLIDWORKS
Cloud Services
1 6 (13.95%) AWS
2 4 (9.30%) Azure
2 4 (9.30%) GCP
2 4 (9.30%) GitHub
3 2 (4.65%) AWS CodePipeline
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (9.30%) GIS
Development Applications
1 2 (4.65%) Git
1 2 (4.65%) Jenkins
1 2 (4.65%) Polyspace
1 2 (4.65%) VectorCAST
General
1 22 (51.16%) Social Skills
2 12 (27.91%) Military
3 11 (25.58%) Analytical Skills
3 11 (25.58%) Electronics
4 9 (20.93%) Aerospace
4 9 (20.93%) Finance
5 7 (16.28%) Organisational Skills
6 6 (13.95%) Legal
7 4 (9.30%) Environmental Health
7 4 (9.30%) Public Sector
8 3 (6.98%) Automotive
8 3 (6.98%) Documentation Skills
8 3 (6.98%) Law
9 2 (4.65%) Manufacturing
10 1 (2.33%) Aviation
10 1 (2.33%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 1 (2.33%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 12 (27.91%) Systems Engineer
2 6 (13.95%) Lead
3 4 (9.30%) Architect
3 4 (9.30%) Configuration and Release Manager
3 4 (9.30%) Configuration Manager
3 4 (9.30%) Release and Configuration Manager
3 4 (9.30%) Release Manager
3 4 (9.30%) Safety Engineer
3 4 (9.30%) Security Architect
4 3 (6.98%) Administrator
4 3 (6.98%) EMC Engineer
4 3 (6.98%) Systems Safety Engineer
5 2 (4.65%) Chief Systems Engineer
5 2 (4.65%) QA Engineer
5 2 (4.65%) QA Test Engineer
5 2 (4.65%) Security Engineer
5 2 (4.65%) Test Engineer
6 1 (2.33%) Information Security Engineer
6 1 (2.33%) Product Engineer
6 1 (2.33%) Security Assurance Coordinator
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 2 (4.65%) pytest
Miscellaneous
1 5 (11.63%) Embedded Systems
2 4 (9.30%) Analytical Mindset
2 4 (9.30%) CMDB
2 4 (9.30%) Management Information System
3 3 (6.98%) Driving Licence
4 2 (4.65%) Analogue Electronics
4 2 (4.65%) Robotics
5 1 (2.33%) CESG
5 1 (2.33%) Security Posture
Processes & Methodologies
1 11 (25.58%) FMEA
2 10 (23.26%) Continuous Improvement
2 10 (23.26%) Problem-Solving
2 10 (23.26%) Software Engineering
2 10 (23.26%) Systems Engineering
3 9 (20.93%) Stakeholder Engagement
4 8 (18.60%) Configuration Management
4 8 (18.60%) Matrix Organization
4 8 (18.60%) Release Management
4 8 (18.60%) Validation
4 8 (18.60%) Verification and Validation
5 7 (16.28%) Physics
5 7 (16.28%) Risk Identification and Mitigation
6 6 (13.95%) Contract Management
6 6 (13.95%) Cybersecurity
6 6 (13.95%) Hardware Maintenance
6 6 (13.95%) Performance Metrics
6 6 (13.95%) Programme Management
6 6 (13.95%) Risk Assessment
6 6 (13.95%) Risk Management
Programming Languages
1 7 (16.28%) MATLAB
2 6 (13.95%) Python
3 4 (9.30%) C
3 4 (9.30%) C#
3 4 (9.30%) C++
3 4 (9.30%) Embedded C
3 4 (9.30%) Embedded C++
4 2 (4.65%) Bash
Qualifications
1 27 (62.79%) Security Cleared
2 24 (55.81%) SC Cleared
3 21 (48.84%) Degree
4 4 (9.30%) PMI Certification
4 4 (9.30%) PMP
5 3 (6.98%) BPSS Clearance
6 2 (4.65%) Chartered Engineer
6 2 (4.65%) Computer Science Degree
6 2 (4.65%) DV Cleared
7 1 (2.33%) CISM
7 1 (2.33%) CISSP
7 1 (2.33%) CRISC
7 1 (2.33%) EMC Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 8 (18.60%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 7 (16.28%) NIST
2 7 (16.28%) QA
3 6 (13.95%) NIST 800
3 6 (13.95%) SLA
4 5 (11.63%) Accessibility
4 5 (11.63%) IEC 61508
5 4 (9.30%) Cyber Essentials
5 4 (9.30%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 4 (9.30%) ISO 9000
5 4 (9.30%) ISO/IEC 15288
6 3 (6.98%) DO-160
6 3 (6.98%) HAZOP
6 3 (6.98%) JSP 440
7 2 (4.65%) ISO 26262
8 1 (2.33%) ARP4754
8 1 (2.33%) ARP4761
8 1 (2.33%) HMG Security Policy Framework
8 1 (2.33%) ISO 14001
8 1 (2.33%) ISO 9001
Systems Management
1 4 (9.30%) Functional Safety
Vendors
1 8 (18.60%) EMC
2 5 (11.63%) Microsoft
3 4 (9.30%) Facebook
3 4 (9.30%) Instagram