Security Operations Job Trends

Security Operations (SecOps)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs requiring Security Operations skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 20 May 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
20 May 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 276 359 345
Rank change year-on-year +83 -14 -14
Permanent jobs citing Security Operations 646 360 793
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.70% 0.82% 0.82%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.95% 0.88% 0.96%
Number of salaries quoted 483 258 603
10th Percentile £41,250 £42,500 £37,500
25th Percentile £50,598 £49,000 £47,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £67,500 £62,500 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +8.00% +4.17% -4.00%
75th Percentile £80,000 £77,500 £80,000
90th Percentile £90,000 £110,000 £100,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £64,210 £55,000 £54,000
% change year-on-year +16.74% +1.85% -6.23%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

Security Operations 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 67,959 41,142 82,492
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 73.66% 93.29% 84.82%
Number of salaries quoted 43,928 22,326 59,700
10th Percentile £30,000 £30,000 £29,000
25th Percentile £40,750 £41,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £58,269 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +2.97% +5.94% -10.10%
75th Percentile £78,750 £78,750 £72,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £100,000 £92,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £52,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year +0.96% +4.00% -9.09%

Security Operations
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Security Operations job vacancy trend in the UK

Security Operations
Salary Trend

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

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Security Operations

Security Operations
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Security Operations over the 6 months to 20 May 2026.

Salary histogram for Security Operations in the UK

Security Operations
Top 17 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Security Operations within the UK over the 6 months to 20 May 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 +76 588 £70,000 +12.00% 259
UK excluding London +71 376 £64,210 +16.74% 193
London +55 220 £72,500 -1.69% 113
Work from Home +92 210 £57,500 -4.17% 110
North of England +32 111 £70,000 +16.67% 50
South East +42 106 £52,500 -16.00% 63
Midlands -1 67 £53,750 -2.27% 24
North West +45 61 £75,000 +25.00% 27
Yorkshire -23 42 £62,500 +4.17% 20
South West -44 40 £65,000 +25.65% 33
East Midlands +6 37 £52,500 -27.59% 8
West Midlands -38 30 £58,750 +6.82% 15
Wales -5 25 £25,000 -64.91% 4
East of England -22 18 £50,000 +5.26% 12
Scotland -6 8 £61,710 +0.75% 13
North East -34 8 £75,000 +30.43% 3
Northern Ireland -36 1 £39,000 - 1

Security Operations
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 (1.08%) SharePoint
2 5 (0.77%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.15%) Confluence
Applications
1 1 (0.15%) Microsoft Excel
1 1 (0.15%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 1 (0.15%) Exchequer
Cloud Services
1 145 (22.45%) Azure
2 74 (11.46%) AWS
3 72 (11.15%) Microsoft 365
4 60 (9.29%) Azure Sentinel
5 40 (6.19%) Entra ID
6 36 (5.57%) GCP
7 22 (3.41%) SaaS
8 17 (2.63%) Mimecast
9 10 (1.55%) Microsoft Purview
10 8 (1.24%) AWS CloudFormation
10 8 (1.24%) GitHub
10 8 (1.24%) GitHub Actions
11 7 (1.08%) IaaS
11 7 (1.08%) PaaS
12 6 (0.93%) Datadog
13 4 (0.62%) Anthropic Claude
13 4 (0.62%) Cloudflare
13 4 (0.62%) Power Platform
13 4 (0.62%) Sumo Logic
13 4 (0.62%) Zapier
Communications & Networking
1 92 (14.24%) Firewall
2 75 (11.61%) Network Security
3 33 (5.11%) VPN
4 31 (4.80%) TCP/IP
5 29 (4.49%) DNS
6 19 (2.94%) Intrusion Detection
7 13 (2.01%) WAN
8 12 (1.86%) HTTP
9 11 (1.70%) LAN
10 9 (1.39%) Cisco ISE
11 8 (1.24%) SMTP
11 8 (1.24%) SSL
12 7 (1.08%) FTP
13 5 (0.77%) Internet
13 5 (0.77%) SD-WAN
14 4 (0.62%) Cisco Nexus
14 4 (0.62%) DHCP
14 4 (0.62%) HTTPS
14 4 (0.62%) SAN
15 3 (0.46%) SCCP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (0.46%) Power BI
2 2 (0.31%) Elasticsearch
2 2 (0.31%) Relational Database
3 1 (0.15%) MongoDB
3 1 (0.15%) SQL Server
3 1 (0.15%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 6 (0.93%) CircleCI
1 6 (0.93%) Jenkins
2 4 (0.62%) Bitbucket
2 4 (0.62%) Metasploit
3 2 (0.31%) JIRA
General
1 150 (23.22%) Social Skills
2 98 (15.17%) Analytical Skills
3 80 (12.38%) Finance
4 46 (7.12%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 31 (4.80%) Law
6 28 (4.33%) Retail
7 26 (4.02%) Legal
7 26 (4.02%) Public Sector
8 16 (2.48%) Influencing Skills
9 14 (2.17%) Banking
10 9 (1.39%) Financial Institution
11 8 (1.24%) Organisational Skills
12 7 (1.08%) Aerospace
12 7 (1.08%) Back Office
12 7 (1.08%) Police
13 6 (0.93%) Aviation
13 6 (0.93%) Presentation Skills
14 5 (0.77%) Advertising
15 4 (0.62%) Documentation Skills
16 3 (0.46%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 152 (23.53%) Analyst
2 102 (15.79%) Security Analyst
3 87 (13.47%) Security Manager
4 78 (12.07%) Security Engineer
5 76 (11.76%) Senior
6 58 (8.98%) Lead
7 55 (8.51%) Cybersecurity Analyst
8 51 (7.89%) Operational Security Manager
8 51 (7.89%) Security Operations Manager
9 48 (7.43%) Operations Manager
10 46 (7.12%) Cybersecurity Manager
11 44 (6.81%) SOC Engineer
12 38 (5.88%) SOC Analyst
13 36 (5.57%) Architect
14 29 (4.49%) Operations Analyst
14 29 (4.49%) Senior Analyst
15 27 (4.18%) Security Architect
15 27 (4.18%) Security Specialist
16 25 (3.87%) Cybersecurity Engineer
17 23 (3.56%) Team Leader
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (1.39%) LDAP
2 6 (0.93%) ARM Templates
2 6 (0.93%) Regular Expression
3 3 (0.46%) REST
4 1 (0.15%) EDI
4 1 (0.15%) SailPoint
4 1 (0.15%) SOAP
4 1 (0.15%) TAPI
Miscellaneous
1 157 (24.30%) Security Operations Centre
2 87 (13.47%) Security Posture
3 62 (9.60%) Cyber Defence
4 44 (6.81%) Cyber Threat
4 44 (6.81%) Management Information System
5 30 (4.64%) CSOC
6 25 (3.87%) Cloud Native
7 22 (3.41%) Onboarding
8 12 (1.86%) Analytical Mindset
8 12 (1.86%) Cyberattack
8 12 (1.86%) Data Centre
9 10 (1.55%) Self-Motivation
10 9 (1.39%) Cloud Security Posture
11 7 (1.08%) Client/Server
11 7 (1.08%) Driving Licence
12 6 (0.93%) AI Agents
12 6 (0.93%) Cyber Kill Chain
12 6 (0.93%) Life Science
12 6 (0.93%) Low-Code
12 6 (0.93%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 94 (14.55%) Windows
2 54 (8.36%) Linux
3 22 (3.41%) Windows 10
4 12 (1.86%) Unix
5 10 (1.55%) Windows Server
6 4 (0.62%) Kali Linux
6 4 (0.62%) Windows Server 2012
6 4 (0.62%) Windows Server 2019
7 2 (0.31%) Mac OS
8 1 (0.15%) CentOS
8 1 (0.15%) Data ONTAP
8 1 (0.15%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.15%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 326 (50.46%) Cybersecurity
2 230 (35.60%) SIEM
3 228 (35.29%) Incident Response
4 140 (21.67%) Continuous Improvement
5 118 (18.27%) Cloud Security
6 107 (16.56%) Information Security
7 96 (14.86%) Vulnerability Management
8 92 (14.24%) Threat Intelligence
9 83 (12.85%) Problem-Solving
10 79 (12.23%) Threat Detection
11 75 (11.61%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
12 71 (10.99%) SOAR
13 67 (10.37%) Risk Management
14 63 (9.75%) MITRE ATT&CK
15 55 (8.51%) Security Monitoring
16 54 (8.36%) Roadmaps
16 54 (8.36%) Use Case
17 50 (7.74%) Mentoring
18 49 (7.59%) ITSM
19 46 (7.12%) Root Cause Analysis
Programming Languages
1 102 (15.79%) PowerShell
2 87 (13.47%) Python
3 22 (3.41%) Bash
4 21 (3.25%) Kusto Query Language
5 9 (1.39%) Perl
5 9 (1.39%) SQL
6 8 (1.24%) Bicep
7 7 (1.08%) C++
8 2 (0.31%) C
8 2 (0.31%) C#
8 2 (0.31%) Go
8 2 (0.31%) JavaScript
8 2 (0.31%) Shell Script
9 1 (0.15%) Java
Qualifications
1 122 (18.89%) Security Cleared
2 103 (15.94%) SC Cleared
3 88 (13.62%) CISSP
4 56 (8.67%) CompTIA Security+
5 55 (8.51%) Degree
6 43 (6.66%) GIAC
7 40 (6.19%) CISM
8 31 (4.80%) Cisco Certification
9 29 (4.49%) CEH
10 24 (3.72%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 24 (3.72%) SANS
11 21 (3.25%) CREST Certified
12 19 (2.94%) Computer Science Degree
13 18 (2.79%) GCIH
14 16 (2.48%) CCSP
15 15 (2.32%) CompTIA CySA+
16 14 (2.17%) Azure Certification
17 13 (2.01%) DV Cleared
18 11 (1.70%) CISA
18 11 (1.70%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 117 (18.11%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 113 (17.49%) NIST
3 53 (8.20%) GDPR
4 48 (7.43%) GRC
5 42 (6.50%) Cyber Essentials
6 34 (5.26%) PCI DSS
7 21 (3.25%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 18 (2.79%) SOC 2
9 16 (2.48%) NCSC
10 9 (1.39%) SLA
11 7 (1.08%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 5 (0.77%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 5 (0.77%) SOC 3
13 4 (0.62%) Accessibility
13 4 (0.62%) COBIT
14 2 (0.31%) Actionable Recommendations
14 2 (0.31%) ISO 22301
14 2 (0.31%) ISO 9001
14 2 (0.31%) NIST 800
15 1 (0.15%) PMO
System Software
1 25 (3.87%) Active Directory
2 13 (2.01%) Docker
3 4 (0.62%) VMware ESXi
4 3 (0.46%) Virtual Machines
5 2 (0.31%) Firmware
5 2 (0.31%) VMware Infrastructure
6 1 (0.15%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 30 (4.64%) SCCM
2 28 (4.33%) Microsoft Intune
3 23 (3.56%) Kubernetes
4 22 (3.41%) QRadar
5 21 (3.25%) Terraform
6 14 (2.17%) Ansible
7 10 (1.55%) Single Sign-On
8 6 (0.93%) CASB
8 6 (0.93%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
8 6 (0.93%) Grafana
9 5 (0.77%) Computer Incident Response Team
9 5 (0.77%) vCenter Server
10 4 (0.62%) FortiGate
10 4 (0.62%) Graylog
11 3 (0.46%) CSIRT
12 2 (0.31%) Kibana
13 1 (0.15%) Host Intrusion Detection System
13 1 (0.15%) Nessus
13 1 (0.15%) Red Hat Satellite
Vendors
1 199 (30.80%) Microsoft
2 53 (8.20%) ServiceNow
3 42 (6.50%) Splunk
4 29 (4.49%) CrowdStrike
5 26 (4.02%) SolarWinds
6 19 (2.94%) Cisco
6 19 (2.94%) Qualys
7 13 (2.01%) Tenable
8 10 (1.55%) Fortinet
9 9 (1.39%) Sophos
10 8 (1.24%) Google
10 8 (1.24%) VMware
11 7 (1.08%) Okta
11 7 (1.08%) Rapid7
11 7 (1.08%) Zscaler
12 5 (0.77%) CheckPoint
12 5 (0.77%) NetApp
12 5 (0.77%) OpenAI
12 5 (0.77%) Palo Alto
12 5 (0.77%) Veeam