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 14 March 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 294 302 314
Rank change year-on-year +8 +12 +15
Permanent jobs citing Security Operations 499 459 760
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.67% 1.05% 0.90%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.86% 1.12% 1.03%
Number of salaries quoted 306 323 619
10th Percentile £44,000 £42,500 £37,500
25th Percentile £51,250 £51,213 £47,863
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £65,000 £62,500
Median % change year-on-year +7.69% +4.00% -6.72%
75th Percentile £80,000 £82,500 £76,250
90th Percentile £92,500 £110,000 £97,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £65,000 £55,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +18.18% - -8.33%

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 57,853 40,823 73,554
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 78.06% 93.60% 87.34%
Number of salaries quoted 35,092 22,156 55,922
10th Percentile £29,750 £32,366 £29,000
25th Percentile £39,911 £45,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +9.09% -11.86%
75th Percentile £76,674 £80,000 £73,750
90th Percentile £97,500 £102,500 £93,750
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -9.09% +10.00% -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 14 March 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 14 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 +4 461 £70,000 +7.69% 211
UK excluding London +28 298 £65,000 +18.18% 176
Work from Home +61 227 £60,000 -4.00% 145
London -8 166 £75,000 - 66
South East +31 100 £62,500 - 54
North of England -40 69 £65,250 +30.50% 41
Midlands -4 56 £54,000 -1.82% 24
South West -16 35 £75,000 +36.36% 20
West Midlands -5 30 £65,000 +18.18% 16
Yorkshire -36 30 £50,000 +11.11% 9
North West -15 28 £63,000 +26.00% 26
East Midlands - 26 £42,000 - 8
East of England -8 17 £80,000 +29.03% 24
Scotland -15 12 £72,500 +20.83% 9
North East -14 11 £105,000 +133.33% 6
Wales -6 7 £55,000 -37.14% 5
Northern Ireland -27 3 £32,500 - 2

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 9 (1.80%) Microsoft Exchange
2 8 (1.60%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.40%) Palantir Foundry
4 1 (0.20%) Confluence
4 1 (0.20%) IIS
Business Applications
1 1 (0.20%) Exchequer
Cloud Services
1 120 (24.05%) Azure
2 66 (13.23%) AWS
3 41 (8.22%) Microsoft 365
4 36 (7.21%) GCP
5 35 (7.01%) Azure Sentinel
6 24 (4.81%) SaaS
7 22 (4.41%) Entra ID
8 15 (3.01%) Mimecast
9 14 (2.81%) PaaS
10 12 (2.40%) IaaS
11 11 (2.20%) GitHub
11 11 (2.20%) Microsoft Purview
12 10 (2.00%) GitHub Actions
13 7 (1.40%) AWS CloudFormation
14 6 (1.20%) Datadog
15 5 (1.00%) Azure DevOps
15 5 (1.00%) Power Platform
15 5 (1.00%) Tessian
16 4 (0.80%) Dynamics 365
16 4 (0.80%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 81 (16.23%) Firewall
2 67 (13.43%) Network Security
3 32 (6.41%) VPN
4 20 (4.01%) Intrusion Detection
5 17 (3.41%) DNS
6 14 (2.81%) TCP/IP
7 10 (2.00%) DHCP
8 7 (1.40%) SAN
9 5 (1.00%) WAN
10 4 (0.80%) Cisco ISE
10 4 (0.80%) HTTPS
10 4 (0.80%) Wireshark
11 3 (0.60%) Cisco Nexus
11 3 (0.60%) Internet
11 3 (0.60%) LAN
11 3 (0.60%) SCCP
12 2 (0.40%) DKIM
12 2 (0.40%) DMARC
12 2 (0.40%) SD-WAN
12 2 (0.40%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (0.60%) Elasticsearch
1 3 (0.60%) Power BI
2 2 (0.40%) Metadata
3 1 (0.20%) Apache Cassandra
3 1 (0.20%) MongoDB
3 1 (0.20%) MySQL
3 1 (0.20%) SQL Server
3 1 (0.20%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 6 (1.20%) CircleCI
1 6 (1.20%) Jenkins
2 4 (0.80%) Bitbucket
2 4 (0.80%) Metasploit
3 2 (0.40%) JIRA
4 1 (0.20%) Git
4 1 (0.20%) IDA Disassembler
4 1 (0.20%) MSBuild
General
1 123 (24.65%) Social Skills
2 85 (17.03%) Finance
3 73 (14.63%) Analytical Skills
4 41 (8.22%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 26 (5.21%) Law
6 20 (4.01%) Legal
7 18 (3.61%) Banking
7 18 (3.61%) Public Sector
7 18 (3.61%) Retail
8 15 (3.01%) Influencing Skills
9 11 (2.20%) Financial Institution
10 10 (2.00%) Back Office
11 8 (1.60%) Advertising
11 8 (1.60%) Organisational Skills
12 7 (1.40%) Presentation Skills
13 3 (0.60%) Aviation
13 3 (0.60%) Documentation Skills
13 3 (0.60%) Games
13 3 (0.60%) Pharmaceutical
14 1 (0.20%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 120 (24.05%) Lead
2 100 (20.04%) Analyst
3 69 (13.83%) Security Analyst
4 57 (11.42%) Security Manager
5 55 (11.02%) Security Engineer
6 54 (10.82%) Senior
7 37 (7.41%) Cybersecurity Analyst
8 28 (5.61%) Cybersecurity Manager
9 27 (5.41%) Operational Security Manager
9 27 (5.41%) Security Operations Manager
10 26 (5.21%) SOC Analyst
11 25 (5.01%) Operations Manager
12 21 (4.21%) SOC Manager
13 18 (3.61%) Consultant
13 18 (3.61%) Head of Security
13 18 (3.61%) Infrastructure Manager
14 17 (3.41%) Infrastructure Engineer
15 16 (3.21%) Security Specialist
15 16 (3.21%) Senior Security Engineer
15 16 (3.21%) SOC Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (1.60%) ARM Templates
2 2 (0.40%) Elastic Stack
2 2 (0.40%) OpenTelemetry
2 2 (0.40%) REST
3 1 (0.20%) .NET
3 1 (0.20%) ASP.NET
3 1 (0.20%) EDI
3 1 (0.20%) Flash
3 1 (0.20%) LDAP
3 1 (0.20%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 194 (38.88%) Security Operations Centre
2 105 (21.04%) Cyber Threat
3 78 (15.63%) Cyber Kill Chain
4 71 (14.23%) Operational Technology
5 66 (13.23%) Security Posture
6 41 (8.22%) Cyber Defence
7 21 (4.21%) Cloud Native
8 20 (4.01%) Management Information System
9 13 (2.61%) CSOC
10 10 (2.00%) Analytical Mindset
10 10 (2.00%) Onboarding
11 7 (1.40%) Cyber Security Posture
11 7 (1.40%) Driving Licence
11 7 (1.40%) Hybrid Cloud
12 6 (1.20%) Enterprise Software
12 6 (1.20%) PKI
13 5 (1.00%) Cyberattack
13 5 (1.00%) Data Centre
13 5 (1.00%) Replication
14 4 (0.80%) Linux Command Line
Operating Systems
1 71 (14.23%) Windows
2 46 (9.22%) Linux
3 16 (3.21%) Windows Server
4 15 (3.01%) Windows 10
5 12 (2.40%) Unix
6 7 (1.40%) Windows Server 2012
6 7 (1.40%) Windows Server 2019
7 5 (1.00%) Mac OS
8 4 (0.80%) Kali Linux
9 1 (0.20%) Data ONTAP
Processes & Methodologies
1 207 (41.48%) Incident Response
2 200 (40.08%) Cybersecurity
3 179 (35.87%) SIEM
4 148 (29.66%) Threat Intelligence
5 135 (27.05%) Vulnerability Management
6 130 (26.05%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
7 111 (22.24%) Risk Management
8 105 (21.04%) Continuous Improvement
8 105 (21.04%) Mentoring
9 102 (20.44%) Roadmaps
10 98 (19.64%) Threat and Vulnerability Management
11 97 (19.44%) Stakeholder Management
12 89 (17.84%) ITIL
13 86 (17.23%) Information Security
14 80 (16.03%) Cloud Security
14 80 (16.03%) Cyber Intelligence
15 79 (15.83%) Coaching
16 73 (14.63%) Business Strategy
17 72 (14.43%) Technology Roadmap
18 69 (13.83%) Change Advisory Board
Programming Languages
1 72 (14.43%) PowerShell
2 65 (13.03%) Python
3 23 (4.61%) Bash
4 17 (3.41%) Kusto Query Language
5 11 (2.20%) Bicep
5 11 (2.20%) SQL
6 3 (0.60%) JavaScript
6 3 (0.60%) Shell Script
7 2 (0.40%) Perl
8 1 (0.20%) C
8 1 (0.20%) C#
8 1 (0.20%) C++
8 1 (0.20%) PHP
Qualifications
1 82 (16.43%) CISSP
2 74 (14.83%) Security Cleared
3 63 (12.63%) Degree
4 59 (11.82%) SC Cleared
5 43 (8.62%) CompTIA Security+
6 36 (7.21%) CISM
7 32 (6.41%) GIAC
8 24 (4.81%) Cisco Certification
9 21 (4.21%) CEH
9 21 (4.21%) GCIH
10 19 (3.81%) CompTIA CySA+
11 18 (3.61%) Computer Science Degree
12 17 (3.41%) CREST Certified
13 15 (3.01%) DV Cleared
14 14 (2.81%) (ISC)2 CCSP
14 14 (2.81%) Azure Certification
15 12 (2.40%) CISA
16 11 (2.20%) Microsoft Certification
17 10 (2.00%) CCNA
18 9 (1.80%) SANS
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 166 (33.27%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 162 (32.46%) NIST
3 68 (13.63%) ISO/IEC 27005
4 48 (9.62%) GDPR
5 42 (8.42%) Cyber Essentials
6 35 (7.01%) PCI DSS
7 30 (6.01%) GRC
8 23 (4.61%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 21 (4.21%) SOC 2
10 15 (3.01%) NCSC
11 9 (1.80%) SLA
12 6 (1.20%) SOC 3
13 5 (1.00%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
14 4 (0.80%) COBIT
15 3 (0.60%) Accessibility
15 3 (0.60%) ITGC
15 3 (0.60%) Sarbanes-Oxley
16 1 (0.20%) Actionable Recommendations
16 1 (0.20%) California Consumer Privacy Act
16 1 (0.20%) HIPAA
System Software
1 17 (3.41%) Active Directory
2 16 (3.21%) Docker
3 9 (1.80%) VMware ESXi
4 2 (0.40%) VMware Infrastructure
5 1 (0.20%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 29 (5.81%) Terraform
2 27 (5.41%) Kubernetes
3 22 (4.41%) SCCM
4 17 (3.41%) Microsoft Intune
5 16 (3.21%) Ansible
6 15 (3.01%) QRadar
7 7 (1.40%) vCenter Server
8 6 (1.20%) Grafana
8 6 (1.20%) Single Sign-On
9 5 (1.00%) CASB
9 5 (1.00%) Computer Incident Response Team
10 3 (0.60%) ArcSight ESM
10 3 (0.60%) CSIRT
11 2 (0.40%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
11 2 (0.40%) Nessus
11 2 (0.40%) Prometheus
12 1 (0.20%) Host Intrusion Detection System
Vendors
1 143 (28.66%) Microsoft
2 39 (7.82%) ServiceNow
3 32 (6.41%) Splunk
4 23 (4.61%) CrowdStrike
4 23 (4.61%) SolarWinds
5 13 (2.61%) Tenable
5 13 (2.61%) VMware
6 10 (2.00%) Qualys
7 8 (1.60%) Cisco
7 8 (1.60%) NetApp
8 7 (1.40%) 3PAR
8 7 (1.40%) Okta
8 7 (1.40%) Palo Alto
8 7 (1.40%) Veeam
9 6 (1.20%) Google
9 6 (1.20%) LogRhythm
10 5 (1.00%) CheckPoint
11 4 (0.80%) Fortinet
11 4 (0.80%) Rapid7
11 4 (0.80%) Zscaler