Application Security Job Trends

Application Security (AppSec)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs requiring Application Security skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 15 September 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 463 509 529
Rank change year-on-year +46 +20 -103
Permanent jobs citing Application Security 377 162 268
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.33% 0.33% 0.35%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.45% 0.37% 0.43%
Number of salaries quoted 219 114 166
10th Percentile £45,750 £48,125 £48,750
25th Percentile £59,223 £62,500 £53,375
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £75,000 £77,500 £75,000
Median % change year-on-year -3.23% +3.33% -
75th Percentile £100,000 £97,500 £91,250
90th Percentile £105,000 £130,000 £116,875
UK excluding London median annual salary £65,000 £70,000 £65,000
% change year-on-year -7.14% +7.69% +7.44%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

Application Security falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 82,954 43,576 62,762
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 72.83% 88.69% 80.93%
Number of salaries quoted 57,665 24,452 36,140
10th Percentile £31,250 £28,500 £32,000
25th Percentile £42,000 £36,250 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £57,500
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% -4.35% -4.17%
75th Percentile £80,000 £75,000 £76,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £96,250 £95,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £47,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year +15.79% -9.52% -2.78%

Application Security
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Application Security relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

Application Security job vacancy trend in the UK

Application Security
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Application Security.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Application Security

Application Security
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Application Security over the 6 months to 15 September 2026.

Salary histogram for Application Security in the UK

Application Security
Top 16 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Application Security within the UK over the 6 months to 15 September 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
England +24 312 £77,500 -1.59% 481
UK excluding London +13 182 £65,000 -7.14% 202
London +25 164 £100,000 +15.94% 315
Work from Home +45 134 £76,000 +1.33% 213
North of England -19 44 £62,500 -10.71% 42
South East -24 41 £67,500 -5.59% 55
South West -55 29 £80,000 +68.42% 36
North West - 29 £85,000 - 29
Wales - 25 £60,000 - 6
Midlands -42 19 £55,000 - 24
West Midlands -30 16 £55,000 - 17
Scotland +3 12 £100,000 +55.04% 14
East of England -20 12 £25,900 -64.03% 10
Yorkshire -39 12 £60,000 -14.29% 9
East Midlands -30 3 £30,000 -20.00% 7
North East - 3 £95,000 - 4

Application Security
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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 (1.86%) IIS
1 7 (1.86%) Microsoft Exchange
1 7 (1.86%) SharePoint
2 6 (1.59%) SAS
3 4 (1.06%) Apache Spark
4 2 (0.53%) Confluence
5 1 (0.27%) CMS
5 1 (0.27%) NServiceBus
Applications
1 7 (1.86%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 4 (1.06%) Primavera
2 2 (0.53%) Elite 3E
2 2 (0.53%) Shopify
3 1 (0.27%) FLEXCUBE
3 1 (0.27%) Maximo
3 1 (0.27%) Misys Equation
3 1 (0.27%) Misys Midas
3 1 (0.27%) Oracle EBS
3 1 (0.27%) Oracle Payables
3 1 (0.27%) SAP S/4HANA
3 1 (0.27%) SAP SRM
3 1 (0.27%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 135 (35.81%) AWS
2 107 (28.38%) Azure
3 50 (13.26%) GCP
4 41 (10.88%) GitHub
5 39 (10.34%) Serverless
6 32 (8.49%) AWS CloudFormation
7 20 (5.31%) SaaS
8 18 (4.77%) Cloud Computing
9 16 (4.24%) Microsoft 365
10 12 (3.18%) Azure DevOps
10 12 (3.18%) GitHub Actions
11 11 (2.92%) Amazon EC2
11 11 (2.92%) Entra ID
11 11 (2.92%) Virtual Private Cloud
12 10 (2.65%) Amazon S3
13 9 (2.39%) AWS Lambda
14 8 (2.12%) Cloudflare
15 7 (1.86%) Azure Sentinel
15 7 (1.86%) OCI
16 6 (1.59%) Amazon Bedrock
Communications & Networking
1 56 (14.85%) Network Security
2 45 (11.94%) Firewall
3 15 (3.98%) DNS
4 10 (2.65%) TCP/IP
5 9 (2.39%) VPN
6 7 (1.86%) Wireshark
7 5 (1.33%) Broadband
7 5 (1.33%) Intrusion Detection
8 4 (1.06%) LAN
8 4 (1.06%) SAN
8 4 (1.06%) VoIP
8 4 (1.06%) WAN
9 3 (0.80%) BGP
9 3 (0.80%) Unified Communications
9 3 (0.80%) Wireless
10 2 (0.53%) HTTP
10 2 (0.53%) SSL
10 2 (0.53%) Wireless Security
11 1 (0.27%) HTTPS
11 1 (0.27%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 20 (5.31%) MySQL
1 20 (5.31%) PostgreSQL
2 16 (4.24%) MongoDB
3 15 (3.98%) NoSQL
4 14 (3.71%) SQL Server
5 9 (2.39%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 8 (2.12%) Redis
7 7 (1.86%) Amazon RDS
7 7 (1.86%) Relational Database
8 3 (0.80%) Amazon Aurora
8 3 (0.80%) DynamoDB
8 3 (0.80%) Hadoop
9 1 (0.27%) Apache Cassandra
9 1 (0.27%) Power BI
9 1 (0.27%) RDBMS
Development Applications
1 33 (8.75%) Git
2 26 (6.90%) Snyk
3 10 (2.65%) Jenkins
4 9 (2.39%) Burp Suite
5 7 (1.86%) Metasploit
6 4 (1.06%) GitLab
7 3 (0.80%) git-flow
7 3 (0.80%) JIRA
7 3 (0.80%) Maven
8 2 (0.53%) JUnit
8 2 (0.53%) minitest
8 2 (0.53%) NUnit
8 2 (0.53%) RSpec
8 2 (0.53%) Team Foundation Server
8 2 (0.53%) Xcode
8 2 (0.53%) XCTest
8 2 (0.53%) XCUITest
9 1 (0.27%) Mockito
9 1 (0.27%) SonarQube
9 1 (0.27%) Sonatype Nexus
General
1 92 (24.40%) Social Skills
2 84 (22.28%) Finance
3 47 (12.47%) Inclusion and Diversity
4 46 (12.20%) Analytical Skills
5 32 (8.49%) Banking
6 29 (7.69%) Public Sector
7 20 (5.31%) Law
8 17 (4.51%) Legal
9 11 (2.92%) Organisational Skills
10 10 (2.65%) Retail
11 8 (2.12%) Aerospace
11 8 (2.12%) Pharmaceutical
12 7 (1.86%) Military
13 6 (1.59%) Influencing Skills
13 6 (1.59%) Manufacturing
14 4 (1.06%) Advertising
14 4 (1.06%) Documentation Skills
14 4 (1.06%) Financial Institution
14 4 (1.06%) Presentation Skills
15 3 (0.80%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 106 (28.12%) Architect
2 92 (24.40%) Security Architect
3 90 (23.87%) Senior
4 52 (13.79%) Security Engineer
5 47 (12.47%) Lead
6 37 (9.81%) Cloud Architect
7 34 (9.02%) Cloud Security Architect
8 33 (8.75%) Developer
9 31 (8.22%) Applications Engineer
10 30 (7.96%) Solutions Architect
11 28 (7.43%) Senior Architect
12 27 (7.16%) Senior Security Architect
13 26 (6.90%) Security Solutions Architect
14 25 (6.63%) Senior Cloud Architect
15 22 (5.84%) Consultant
16 20 (5.31%) Security Consultant
16 20 (5.31%) Tester
17 19 (5.04%) Analyst
18 18 (4.77%) Applications Architect
18 18 (4.77%) Penetration Tester
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 50 (13.26%) Terraform
2 25 (6.63%) RESTful
3 21 (5.57%) Kafka
4 18 (4.77%) OAuth
5 17 (4.51%) Spring Boot
6 16 (4.24%) OpenID
6 16 (4.24%) RabbitMQ
7 15 (3.98%) .NET
7 15 (3.98%) REST
7 15 (3.98%) Spring
8 14 (3.71%) Hibernate
8 14 (3.71%) JPA
9 12 (3.18%) CSS
9 12 (3.18%) HTML
9 12 (3.18%) LDAP
9 12 (3.18%) React
9 12 (3.18%) Regular Expression
10 11 (2.92%) SAML
10 11 (2.92%) XMPP
11 10 (2.65%) JWT
Miscellaneous
1 54 (14.32%) Cloud Native
2 44 (11.67%) Enterprise Software
2 44 (11.67%) Security Posture
3 43 (11.41%) Management Information System
4 30 (7.96%) Data Centre
5 25 (6.63%) Onboarding
6 23 (6.10%) Distributed Systems
7 19 (5.04%) Cyber Threat
8 16 (4.24%) Product Ownership
9 13 (3.45%) Virtual Team
10 12 (3.18%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
10 12 (3.18%) Operational Technology
10 12 (3.18%) Self-Motivation
11 10 (2.65%) Cloud Security Posture
12 9 (2.39%) Cyber Defence
12 9 (2.39%) Public Cloud
13 8 (2.12%) PKI
13 8 (2.12%) Security Operations Centre
14 7 (1.86%) Hybrid Cloud
14 7 (1.86%) Mobile App
Operating Systems
1 37 (9.81%) Windows
2 35 (9.28%) Linux
3 25 (6.63%) Windows Server
4 13 (3.45%) Apple iOS
4 13 (3.45%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 10 (2.65%) Android
6 8 (2.12%) Mac OS
7 6 (1.59%) Windows Server 2016
8 2 (0.53%) Unix
9 1 (0.27%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 140 (37.14%) CI/CD
1 140 (37.14%) Cybersecurity
2 133 (35.28%) SDLC
3 131 (34.75%) Cloud Security
4 99 (26.26%) Threat Modelling
5 91 (24.14%) Problem-Solving
6 89 (23.61%) DevOps
7 88 (23.34%) Security Testing
8 84 (22.28%) Mentoring
9 78 (20.69%) Security Architecture
10 77 (20.42%) AI
10 77 (20.42%) DevSecOps
11 76 (20.16%) Secure Coding
12 74 (19.63%) Agile
12 74 (19.63%) Vulnerability Management
13 64 (16.98%) Infrastructure as Code
14 61 (16.18%) Penetration Testing
15 59 (15.65%) Continuous Improvement
16 56 (14.85%) SIEM
16 56 (14.85%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 43 (11.41%) Java
1 43 (11.41%) Python
2 25 (6.63%) SQL
3 23 (6.10%) C#
4 19 (5.04%) JavaScript
5 18 (4.77%) PowerShell
6 12 (3.18%) Go
7 9 (2.39%) Bash
8 8 (2.12%) T-SQL
9 7 (1.86%) Bicep
9 7 (1.86%) C++
9 7 (1.86%) Ruby
9 7 (1.86%) VBA
9 7 (1.86%) VBScript
10 6 (1.59%) C
11 5 (1.33%) TypeScript
12 4 (1.06%) Kotlin
13 3 (0.80%) Objective-C
13 3 (0.80%) Perl
13 3 (0.80%) Rust
Qualifications
1 59 (15.65%) CISSP
2 52 (13.79%) Degree
3 49 (13.00%) Security Cleared
4 35 (9.28%) CISM
5 31 (8.22%) Computer Science Degree
6 29 (7.69%) AWS Certification
7 25 (6.63%) Cisco Certification
8 23 (6.10%) OSCP
9 21 (5.57%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 20 (5.31%) CREST Certified
10 20 (5.31%) DV Cleared
11 18 (4.77%) SC Cleared
12 15 (3.98%) Azure Certification
12 15 (3.98%) CCSP
13 12 (3.18%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
14 10 (2.65%) CISA
14 10 (2.65%) Master's Degree
15 9 (2.39%) CompTIA Security+
16 7 (1.86%) CHECK Team Member
16 7 (1.86%) Cyber Scheme
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 50 (13.26%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 43 (11.41%) GRC
3 37 (9.81%) NIST
4 30 (7.96%) GDPR
5 25 (6.63%) QA
6 20 (5.31%) Accessibility
7 11 (2.92%) NIST 800
8 10 (2.65%) NCSC
9 8 (2.12%) HIPAA
10 6 (1.59%) COBIT
10 6 (1.59%) Cyber Essentials
10 6 (1.59%) SOC 2
11 4 (1.06%) Data Quality
12 3 (0.80%) Actionable Recommendations
12 3 (0.80%) PCI DSS
13 2 (0.53%) COSO
13 2 (0.53%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 2 (0.53%) HITRUST
13 2 (0.53%) PMO
13 2 (0.53%) Sarbanes-Oxley
System Software
1 31 (8.22%) Active Directory
1 31 (8.22%) Docker
2 25 (6.63%) Virtual Machines
3 12 (3.18%) vSphere
4 5 (1.33%) VMware Infrastructure
5 1 (0.27%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 43 (11.41%) Kubernetes
2 12 (3.18%) Grafana
2 12 (3.18%) Prometheus
3 10 (2.65%) Nessus
3 10 (2.65%) Single Sign-On
4 7 (1.86%) Nmap
5 6 (1.59%) Ansible
6 4 (1.06%) Microsoft Clustering
7 3 (0.80%) Jamf Pro
7 3 (0.80%) Microsoft Intune
7 3 (0.80%) Progress Chef
8 2 (0.53%) CASB
9 1 (0.27%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 1 (0.27%) Argo
9 1 (0.27%) Oracle RMAN
9 1 (0.27%) QRadar
9 1 (0.27%) SCCM
Vendors
1 64 (16.98%) Microsoft
2 31 (8.22%) CrowdStrike
3 28 (7.43%) Palo Alto
3 28 (7.43%) Tenable
4 17 (4.51%) VMware
5 15 (3.98%) Red Hat
6 13 (3.45%) Google
6 13 (3.45%) Oracle
6 13 (3.45%) Splunk
7 12 (3.18%) Workday
8 11 (2.92%) McAfee
9 8 (2.12%) iManage
10 4 (1.06%) Adaptive Insights
10 4 (1.06%) Autodesk
10 4 (1.06%) Kronos
10 4 (1.06%) Qualys
11 3 (0.80%) OpenAI
11 3 (0.80%) OutSystems
11 3 (0.80%) RedGate
11 3 (0.80%) Salesforce