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 1 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
1 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 245 376 333
Rank change year-on-year +131 -43 +4
Permanent jobs citing Security Operations 696 329 843
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.75% 0.75% 0.83%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.01% 0.80% 0.99%
Number of salaries quoted 523 232 623
10th Percentile £41,250 £42,500 £37,500
25th Percentile £51,250 £50,295 £47,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £62,500 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +12.00% +4.17% -4.00%
75th Percentile £80,000 £77,500 £78,750
90th Percentile £93,500 £111,125 £100,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £65,000 £55,000 £53,136
% change year-on-year +18.18% +3.51% -7.59%

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 68,914 40,901 84,819
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 73.88% 93.19% 83.44%
Number of salaries quoted 45,055 21,599 60,884
10th Percentile £30,000 £29,750 £29,250
25th Percentile £41,000 £40,500 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -9.69%
75th Percentile £78,750 £78,750 £72,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £100,000 £92,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £50,967 £50,000
% change year-on-year +3.01% +1.93% -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 1 June 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 1 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
England +113 633 £70,000 +12.00% 275
UK excluding London +103 403 £65,000 +18.18% 210
London +76 242 £71,250 -8.06% 118
Work from Home +129 232 £60,000 +8.50% 122
North of England +50 119 £70,000 +16.67% 49
South East +54 115 £52,500 -16.00% 75
Midlands -1 74 £57,500 +4.55% 26
North West +43 68 £75,000 +25.00% 28
Yorkshire -22 43 £62,500 +4.17% 19
East Midlands +2 40 £55,000 -3.51% 11
South West -40 37 £65,000 +25.65% 24
West Midlands -34 34 £65,000 +18.18% 15
Wales -12 27 £25,000 -52.56% 8
East of England -22 20 £50,000 -8.68% 14
Scotland -3 10 £63,419 +5.70% 17
North East -37 8 £75,000 +7.14% 2
Northern Ireland - 1 £39,000 - 3

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 8 (1.15%) SharePoint
2 5 (0.72%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.14%) Confluence
Applications
1 1 (0.14%) Microsoft Excel
1 1 (0.14%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 1 (0.14%) Exchequer
Cloud Services
1 149 (21.41%) Azure
2 78 (11.21%) AWS
3 72 (10.34%) Microsoft 365
4 59 (8.48%) Azure Sentinel
5 43 (6.18%) GCP
6 40 (5.75%) Entra ID
7 23 (3.30%) SaaS
8 16 (2.30%) Mimecast
9 10 (1.44%) Microsoft Purview
10 9 (1.29%) Anthropic Claude
11 8 (1.15%) AWS CloudFormation
11 8 (1.15%) GitHub
11 8 (1.15%) GitHub Actions
11 8 (1.15%) Zapier
12 7 (1.01%) IaaS
12 7 (1.01%) PaaS
13 5 (0.72%) Azure Logic Apps
13 5 (0.72%) Datadog
13 5 (0.72%) Sumo Logic
14 4 (0.57%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 100 (14.37%) Firewall
2 75 (10.78%) Network Security
3 33 (4.74%) TCP/IP
4 31 (4.45%) DNS
5 30 (4.31%) VPN
6 22 (3.16%) WAN
7 19 (2.73%) LAN
8 18 (2.59%) Intrusion Detection
9 15 (2.16%) HTTP
10 10 (1.44%) FTP
10 10 (1.44%) SMTP
11 9 (1.29%) Cisco ISE
11 9 (1.29%) Cisco Nexus
11 9 (1.29%) Internet
11 9 (1.29%) SSL
12 6 (0.86%) Wi-Fi
13 5 (0.72%) SD-WAN
14 4 (0.57%) DHCP
14 4 (0.57%) HTTPS
14 4 (0.57%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (0.43%) Power BI
2 2 (0.29%) Elasticsearch
2 2 (0.29%) Relational Database
2 2 (0.29%) SQL Server
3 1 (0.14%) Big Data
3 1 (0.14%) MongoDB
3 1 (0.14%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 6 (0.86%) Jenkins
2 5 (0.72%) CircleCI
3 4 (0.57%) Bitbucket
3 4 (0.57%) Metasploit
4 2 (0.29%) JIRA
General
1 161 (23.13%) Social Skills
2 98 (14.08%) Analytical Skills
3 84 (12.07%) Finance
4 46 (6.61%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 34 (4.89%) Law
6 31 (4.45%) Public Sector
7 30 (4.31%) Legal
8 28 (4.02%) Retail
9 17 (2.44%) Influencing Skills
10 15 (2.16%) Banking
11 8 (1.15%) Aerospace
11 8 (1.15%) Financial Institution
11 8 (1.15%) Organisational Skills
12 7 (1.01%) Police
13 6 (0.86%) Advertising
13 6 (0.86%) Aviation
13 6 (0.86%) Back Office
13 6 (0.86%) Presentation Skills
14 3 (0.43%) Documentation Skills
14 3 (0.43%) Games
Job Titles
1 166 (23.85%) Analyst
2 117 (16.81%) Security Analyst
3 90 (12.93%) Senior
4 88 (12.64%) Security Manager
5 82 (11.78%) Security Engineer
6 69 (9.91%) Lead
7 63 (9.05%) Cybersecurity Analyst
8 51 (7.33%) Operational Security Manager
8 51 (7.33%) Security Operations Manager
9 49 (7.04%) Cybersecurity Manager
10 48 (6.90%) Operations Manager
11 45 (6.47%) SOC Engineer
12 42 (6.03%) SOC Analyst
13 41 (5.89%) Architect
14 39 (5.60%) Senior Analyst
15 33 (4.74%) Operations Analyst
16 31 (4.45%) Cybersecurity Engineer
17 28 (4.02%) Security Architect
17 28 (4.02%) Security Specialist
18 27 (3.88%) Senior Security Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (1.58%) LDAP
2 6 (0.86%) Regular Expression
3 5 (0.72%) REST
4 4 (0.57%) ARM Templates
5 2 (0.29%) JSON
6 1 (0.14%) EDI
6 1 (0.14%) FFmpeg
6 1 (0.14%) GStreamer
6 1 (0.14%) HTML
6 1 (0.14%) RESTful
6 1 (0.14%) SailPoint
6 1 (0.14%) SOAP
6 1 (0.14%) TAPI
6 1 (0.14%) Unreal Engine
6 1 (0.14%) WebRTC
6 1 (0.14%) WPF
Miscellaneous
1 165 (23.71%) Security Operations Centre
2 99 (14.22%) Security Posture
3 68 (9.77%) Cyber Defence
4 46 (6.61%) Cyber Threat
4 46 (6.61%) Management Information System
5 33 (4.74%) CSOC
6 26 (3.74%) Cloud Native
7 22 (3.16%) Onboarding
8 13 (1.87%) Data Centre
9 12 (1.72%) Analytical Mindset
9 12 (1.72%) Cyberattack
10 10 (1.44%) Cloud Security Posture
10 10 (1.44%) Self-Motivation
11 8 (1.15%) AI Agents
11 8 (1.15%) Client/Server
12 7 (1.01%) Driving Licence
13 6 (0.86%) Cyber Kill Chain
13 6 (0.86%) Life Science
13 6 (0.86%) Low-Code
13 6 (0.86%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 94 (13.51%) Windows
2 55 (7.90%) Linux
3 21 (3.02%) Windows 10
4 12 (1.72%) Unix
5 8 (1.15%) Windows Server
6 4 (0.57%) Kali Linux
6 4 (0.57%) Windows Server 2012
6 4 (0.57%) Windows Server 2019
7 3 (0.43%) Mac OS
8 1 (0.14%) CentOS
8 1 (0.14%) Data ONTAP
8 1 (0.14%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.14%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 364 (52.30%) Cybersecurity
2 253 (36.35%) SIEM
3 248 (35.63%) Incident Response
4 153 (21.98%) Continuous Improvement
5 127 (18.25%) Cloud Security
6 119 (17.10%) Information Security
7 115 (16.52%) Vulnerability Management
8 102 (14.66%) Threat Intelligence
9 86 (12.36%) Problem-Solving
9 86 (12.36%) Threat Detection
10 84 (12.07%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
11 79 (11.35%) SOAR
12 74 (10.63%) Risk Management
13 67 (9.63%) MITRE ATT&CK
14 60 (8.62%) Roadmaps
15 59 (8.48%) Security Monitoring
16 58 (8.33%) Mentoring
17 55 (7.90%) Use Case
18 54 (7.76%) AI
19 51 (7.33%) ITSM
Programming Languages
1 103 (14.80%) PowerShell
2 91 (13.07%) Python
3 24 (3.45%) Bash
3 24 (3.45%) Kusto Query Language
4 11 (1.58%) SQL
5 10 (1.44%) Perl
6 9 (1.29%) C++
7 6 (0.86%) Bicep
8 5 (0.72%) JavaScript
9 4 (0.57%) C
10 3 (0.43%) C#
11 2 (0.29%) Go
11 2 (0.29%) Shell Script
12 1 (0.14%) Java
12 1 (0.14%) MATLAB
12 1 (0.14%) Search Processing Language
Qualifications
1 129 (18.53%) Security Cleared
2 104 (14.94%) SC Cleared
3 95 (13.65%) CISSP
4 58 (8.33%) CompTIA Security+
5 56 (8.05%) Degree
6 43 (6.18%) CISM
6 43 (6.18%) GIAC
7 34 (4.89%) Cisco Certification
8 31 (4.45%) CEH
9 24 (3.45%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 23 (3.30%) SANS
11 22 (3.16%) Computer Science Degree
11 22 (3.16%) CREST Certified
12 18 (2.59%) GCIH
13 17 (2.44%) DV Cleared
14 16 (2.30%) CCSP
15 15 (2.16%) CompTIA CySA+
16 13 (1.87%) Azure Certification
16 13 (1.87%) Microsoft Certification
17 12 (1.72%) CISA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 130 (18.68%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 127 (18.25%) NIST
3 55 (7.90%) GDPR
4 47 (6.75%) GRC
5 44 (6.32%) Cyber Essentials
6 33 (4.74%) PCI DSS
7 21 (3.02%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 17 (2.44%) NCSC
9 16 (2.30%) SOC 2
10 11 (1.58%) Sarbanes-Oxley
11 10 (1.44%) SLA
12 5 (0.72%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 5 (0.72%) SOC 3
13 4 (0.57%) Accessibility
14 3 (0.43%) Actionable Recommendations
14 3 (0.43%) COBIT
15 2 (0.29%) ISO 22301
15 2 (0.29%) ISO 9001
15 2 (0.29%) NIST 800
15 2 (0.29%) PMO
System Software
1 25 (3.59%) Active Directory
2 12 (1.72%) Docker
3 4 (0.57%) VMware ESXi
4 3 (0.43%) Virtual Machines
5 2 (0.29%) Firmware
5 2 (0.29%) VMware Infrastructure
6 1 (0.14%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 30 (4.31%) Microsoft Intune
2 29 (4.17%) SCCM
3 23 (3.30%) QRadar
4 22 (3.16%) Kubernetes
5 21 (3.02%) Terraform
6 13 (1.87%) Ansible
7 11 (1.58%) Single Sign-On
8 6 (0.86%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
9 5 (0.72%) CASB
9 5 (0.72%) FortiGate
9 5 (0.72%) Grafana
9 5 (0.72%) Graylog
9 5 (0.72%) vCenter Server
10 4 (0.57%) Computer Incident Response Team
11 3 (0.43%) CSIRT
12 2 (0.29%) Kibana
13 1 (0.14%) Host Intrusion Detection System
13 1 (0.14%) Nessus
13 1 (0.14%) Red Hat Satellite
Vendors
1 206 (29.60%) Microsoft
2 54 (7.76%) ServiceNow
3 48 (6.90%) Splunk
4 34 (4.89%) CrowdStrike
5 25 (3.59%) SolarWinds
6 24 (3.45%) Cisco
7 23 (3.30%) Qualys
8 14 (2.01%) Tenable
9 12 (1.72%) Google
10 11 (1.58%) Fortinet
10 11 (1.58%) Palo Alto
11 10 (1.44%) OpenAI
12 9 (1.29%) Rapid7
12 9 (1.29%) Sophos
13 8 (1.15%) VMware
14 7 (1.01%) Okta
14 7 (1.01%) Zscaler
15 6 (0.86%) Carbon Black
16 5 (0.72%) CheckPoint
16 5 (0.72%) Veeam