IT Security Specialist Job Trends

IT Security Specialist
UK

The median IT Security Specialist salary in the UK is £90,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 13 March 2026.

The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
13 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 660 656 820
Rank change year-on-year -4 +164 +165
Permanent jobs requiring an IT Security Specialist 25 4 11
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.034% 0.009% 0.013%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.037% 0.010% 0.014%
Number of salaries quoted 24 3 10
10th Percentile - £41,500 £34,550
25th Percentile £80,000 £43,750 £43,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £90,000 £52,000 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year +73.08% -0.95% -34.38%
75th Percentile £92,500 £58,250 £65,000
90th Percentile - £59,300 £66,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £43,000 £52,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year -17.31% -0.95% +84.21%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of permanent jobs in our overall sample.

Permanent vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 67,702 39,587 79,421
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 91.82% 90.67% 94.61%
Number of salaries quoted 43,107 22,950 61,067
10th Percentile £30,000 £32,000 £28,500
25th Percentile £38,750 £43,750 £38,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +9.09% -8.33%
75th Percentile £75,000 £80,000 £72,500
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £92,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £54,793 £50,000
% change year-on-year -8.75% +9.59% -4.76%

IT Security Specialist
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring 'IT Security Specialist' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

IT Security Specialist job vacancy trend in the UK

IT Security Specialist
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for IT Security Specialist job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for IT Security Specialist job vacancies in the UK

IT Security Specialist
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing IT Security Specialist over the 6 months to 13 March 2026.

Salary histogram for IT Security Specialist in the UK

IT Security Specialist
Top 7 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing IT Security Specialist within the UK over the 6 months to 13 March 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 +14 25 £90,000 +80.00% 1
London +38 23 £90,000 -
Work from Home - 17 £90,000 -
UK excluding London -29 2 £43,000 -17.31% 1
North of England -40 1 £40,000 -20.00%
North West - 1 £40,000 -
South East - 1 £46,000 -

IT Security Specialist Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 13 March 2026, IT Security Specialist job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all permanent job ads featuring IT Security Specialist in the job title.

1 22 (88.00%) Cybersecurity
2 17 (68.00%) Azure
3 16 (64.00%) Infrastructure Engineering
3 16 (64.00%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 16 (64.00%) NIST
3 16 (64.00%) Vulnerability Management
4 15 (60.00%) BCP
4 15 (60.00%) CEH
4 15 (60.00%) Commvault
4 15 (60.00%) Disaster Recovery
4 15 (60.00%) ISO 22301
4 15 (60.00%) Nutanix
4 15 (60.00%) PowerShell
4 15 (60.00%) Python
4 15 (60.00%) Resilience Testing
4 15 (60.00%) Runbook
4 15 (60.00%) Test Automation
4 15 (60.00%) VMware
5 8 (32.00%) Security Operations
6 7 (28.00%) CISSP
6 7 (28.00%) Firewall
7 6 (24.00%) Incident Response
7 6 (24.00%) Microsoft
7 6 (24.00%) SIEM
8 5 (20.00%) Change Management
8 5 (20.00%) Incident Management
8 5 (20.00%) Microsoft 365
8 5 (20.00%) Privileged Access Management
8 5 (20.00%) Security Management
8 5 (20.00%) Threat and Vulnerability Management

IT Security Specialist Skill Set
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:

Applications
1 1 (4.00%) Microsoft Excel
1 1 (4.00%) Microsoft Office
1 1 (4.00%) Microsoft PowerPoint
1 1 (4.00%) MS Visio
Cloud Services
1 17 (68.00%) Azure
2 15 (60.00%) Nutanix
3 5 (20.00%) Microsoft 365
4 1 (4.00%) AWS
4 1 (4.00%) GCP
Communications & Networking
1 7 (28.00%) Firewall
2 1 (4.00%) Intrusion Detection
2 1 (4.00%) Network Security
2 1 (4.00%) VPN
General
1 15 (60.00%) Law
2 9 (36.00%) Finance
3 1 (4.00%) Analytical Skills
3 1 (4.00%) Legal
3 1 (4.00%) Public Sector
3 1 (4.00%) Social Skills
Miscellaneous
1 15 (60.00%) Hybrid Cloud
2 1 (4.00%) Management Information System
2 1 (4.00%) Self-Motivation
Operating Systems
1 1 (4.00%) Linux
1 1 (4.00%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 22 (88.00%) Cybersecurity
2 16 (64.00%) Infrastructure Engineering
2 16 (64.00%) Vulnerability Management
3 15 (60.00%) BCP
3 15 (60.00%) Disaster Recovery
3 15 (60.00%) Resilience Testing
3 15 (60.00%) Runbook
3 15 (60.00%) Test Automation
4 8 (32.00%) Security Operations
5 6 (24.00%) Incident Response
5 6 (24.00%) SIEM
6 5 (20.00%) Change Management
6 5 (20.00%) Incident Management
6 5 (20.00%) Privileged Access Management
6 5 (20.00%) Security Management
6 5 (20.00%) Threat and Vulnerability Management
6 5 (20.00%) Threat Detection
7 3 (12.00%) Information Security
8 2 (8.00%) Computer Science
8 2 (8.00%) Risk Management
Programming Languages
1 15 (60.00%) PowerShell
1 15 (60.00%) Python
Qualifications
1 15 (60.00%) CEH
2 7 (28.00%) CISSP
3 4 (16.00%) (ISC)2 CCSP
3 4 (16.00%) Cisco Certification
4 2 (8.00%) Degree
5 1 (4.00%) CISA
5 1 (4.00%) CISM
5 1 (4.00%) CompTIA Security+
5 1 (4.00%) Computer Science Degree
5 1 (4.00%) ISACA
5 1 (4.00%) Postgraduate
5 1 (4.00%) SANS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 16 (64.00%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 16 (64.00%) NIST
2 15 (60.00%) ISO 22301
3 1 (4.00%) GRC
3 1 (4.00%) NIST 800
Systems Management
1 1 (4.00%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
1 1 (4.00%) RSA Archer
Vendors
1 15 (60.00%) Commvault
1 15 (60.00%) VMware
2 6 (24.00%) Microsoft