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 11 February 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
11 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 277 272 301
Rank change year-on-year -5 +29 +10
Permanent jobs citing Security Operations 492 553 715
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.74% 1.11% 0.97%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.93% 1.21% 1.09%
Number of salaries quoted 299 358 582
10th Percentile £43,000 £42,500 £37,500
25th Percentile £51,250 £51,250 £51,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £69,384 £65,000 £62,500
Median % change year-on-year +6.74% +4.00% -7.41%
75th Percentile £80,000 £79,688 £76,250
90th Percentile £92,500 £110,000 £96,250
UK excluding London median annual salary £65,000 £55,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year +18.18% -4.35% -4.17%

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 52,730 45,725 65,371
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 79.77% 92.08% 88.28%
Number of salaries quoted 31,308 22,323 50,742
10th Percentile £29,000 £35,000 £29,500
25th Percentile £38,000 £46,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +9.09% -12.00%
75th Percentile £76,250 £81,250 £75,000
90th Percentile £97,125 £102,500 £95,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £55,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year -9.09% +10.00% -8.90%

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 11 February 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 11 February 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 +4 455 £70,000 +7.69% 169
UK excluding London +1 288 £65,000 +18.18% 140
Work from Home +75 239 £63,000 +0.80% 106
London -9 174 £75,000 - 60
South East +44 110 £62,500 - 57
North of England -42 58 £67,442 +34.88% 31
Midlands +30 48 £54,000 -1.82% 22
South West -1 30 £75,000 +42.86% 14
West Midlands +12 29 £49,250 -10.45% 18
North West +10 26 £54,000 +8.00% 18
Yorkshire -54 23 £70,000 +40.00% 7
East of England +4 20 £80,000 +33.33% 16
East Midlands - 19 £60,000 - 4
Scotland -34 13 £70,000 +12.00% 3
North East -2 9 £105,000 +133.33% 6
Wales +6 7 £55,000 -37.14% 5
Northern Ireland -16 3 £32,500 - 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 9 (1.83%) Microsoft Exchange
2 8 (1.63%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.41%) Palantir Foundry
4 1 (0.20%) Confluence
4 1 (0.20%) IIS
Applications
1 1 (0.20%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 1 (0.20%) Exchequer
Cloud Services
1 117 (23.78%) Azure
2 69 (14.02%) AWS
3 49 (9.96%) Microsoft 365
4 36 (7.32%) GCP
5 34 (6.91%) Azure Sentinel
6 25 (5.08%) Entra ID
7 17 (3.46%) SaaS
8 13 (2.64%) Microsoft Purview
8 13 (2.64%) Mimecast
8 13 (2.64%) PaaS
9 11 (2.24%) IaaS
10 10 (2.03%) GitHub
11 9 (1.83%) GitHub Actions
12 7 (1.42%) AWS CloudFormation
13 6 (1.22%) Azure DevOps
13 6 (1.22%) Datadog
13 6 (1.22%) Tessian
14 5 (1.02%) Power Platform
15 4 (0.81%) OneDrive
16 3 (0.61%) Dynamics 365
Communications & Networking
1 82 (16.67%) Firewall
2 66 (13.41%) Network Security
3 36 (7.32%) VPN
4 29 (5.89%) DNS
5 21 (4.27%) Intrusion Detection
5 21 (4.27%) TCP/IP
6 16 (3.25%) DHCP
7 10 (2.03%) SAN
8 7 (1.42%) Wireshark
9 5 (1.02%) WAN
10 3 (0.61%) Internet
10 3 (0.61%) LAN
10 3 (0.61%) SCCP
10 3 (0.61%) SSL
10 3 (0.61%) Wireless
11 2 (0.41%) Cisco ISE
11 2 (0.41%) DKIM
11 2 (0.41%) DMARC
11 2 (0.41%) HTTP
11 2 (0.41%) SD-WAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (0.81%) Elasticsearch
2 3 (0.61%) Power BI
3 2 (0.41%) Metadata
4 1 (0.20%) Apache Cassandra
4 1 (0.20%) MongoDB
4 1 (0.20%) MySQL
4 1 (0.20%) SQL Server
4 1 (0.20%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 6 (1.22%) CircleCI
1 6 (1.22%) Jenkins
2 2 (0.41%) JIRA
3 1 (0.20%) Burp Suite
3 1 (0.20%) Git
3 1 (0.20%) IDA Disassembler
3 1 (0.20%) MSBuild
General
1 135 (27.44%) Social Skills
2 91 (18.50%) Finance
3 68 (13.82%) Analytical Skills
4 38 (7.72%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 24 (4.88%) Legal
6 22 (4.47%) Law
7 20 (4.07%) Banking
8 16 (3.25%) Retail
9 11 (2.24%) Financial Institution
10 10 (2.03%) Influencing Skills
10 10 (2.03%) Public Sector
11 9 (1.83%) Back Office
12 8 (1.63%) Advertising
13 7 (1.42%) Presentation Skills
14 6 (1.22%) Documentation Skills
15 5 (1.02%) Organisational Skills
16 3 (0.61%) Aviation
17 2 (0.41%) Pharmaceutical
18 1 (0.20%) Manufacturing
18 1 (0.20%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 122 (24.80%) Lead
2 99 (20.12%) Analyst
3 70 (14.23%) Security Analyst
4 65 (13.21%) Security Engineer
5 61 (12.40%) Senior
6 45 (9.15%) Security Manager
7 34 (6.91%) Cybersecurity Analyst
8 30 (6.10%) SOC Analyst
9 28 (5.69%) Cybersecurity Manager
10 22 (4.47%) Cybersecurity Engineer
11 20 (4.07%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 20 (4.07%) Senior Security Engineer
12 19 (3.86%) SOC Manager
13 18 (3.66%) Operational Security Manager
13 18 (3.66%) Operations Manager
13 18 (3.66%) Security Operations Manager
14 17 (3.46%) Consultant
14 17 (3.46%) Information Analyst
14 17 (3.46%) Information Security Analyst
14 17 (3.46%) Senior Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (1.63%) ARM Templates
2 2 (0.41%) Django
2 2 (0.41%) Elastic Stack
2 2 (0.41%) LDAP
2 2 (0.41%) OAuth
2 2 (0.41%) OpenID
2 2 (0.41%) OpenTelemetry
2 2 (0.41%) REST
2 2 (0.41%) SAML
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%) SOAP
Miscellaneous
1 183 (37.20%) Security Operations Centre
2 121 (24.59%) Cyber Threat
3 77 (15.65%) Cyber Kill Chain
4 72 (14.63%) Operational Technology
5 65 (13.21%) Security Posture
6 29 (5.89%) Cyber Defence
7 21 (4.27%) Management Information System
8 19 (3.86%) Cloud Native
9 10 (2.03%) Analytical Mindset
9 10 (2.03%) Onboarding
9 10 (2.03%) Virtual Team
10 9 (1.83%) Cyberattack
11 8 (1.63%) Data Centre
12 7 (1.42%) Cyber Security Posture
12 7 (1.42%) Hybrid Cloud
12 7 (1.42%) Insider Threat
13 6 (1.22%) Data Protection Act
13 6 (1.22%) Driving Licence
13 6 (1.22%) Enterprise Software
13 6 (1.22%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 77 (15.65%) Windows
2 50 (10.16%) Linux
3 23 (4.67%) Windows Server
4 12 (2.44%) Windows 10
5 11 (2.24%) Windows Server 2019
6 10 (2.03%) Windows Server 2012
7 6 (1.22%) Unix
8 5 (1.02%) Mac OS
9 1 (0.20%) Data ONTAP
9 1 (0.20%) Kali Linux
9 1 (0.20%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 213 (43.29%) Incident Response
2 205 (41.67%) Cybersecurity
3 169 (34.35%) SIEM
4 146 (29.67%) Threat Intelligence
5 139 (28.25%) Vulnerability Management
6 125 (25.41%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
7 109 (22.15%) Risk Management
8 102 (20.73%) Mentoring
9 98 (19.92%) Information Security
10 97 (19.72%) Continuous Improvement
10 97 (19.72%) Roadmaps
10 97 (19.72%) Threat and Vulnerability Management
11 94 (19.11%) Stakeholder Management
12 90 (18.29%) ITIL
13 83 (16.87%) Cyber Intelligence
14 78 (15.85%) Coaching
15 77 (15.65%) Business Strategy
16 72 (14.63%) Technology Roadmap
17 71 (14.43%) Problem-Solving
18 69 (14.02%) Change Advisory Board
Programming Languages
1 64 (13.01%) PowerShell
2 56 (11.38%) Python
3 21 (4.27%) Bash
4 18 (3.66%) Kusto Query Language
5 13 (2.64%) SQL
6 9 (1.83%) Bicep
7 3 (0.61%) JavaScript
7 3 (0.61%) Shell Script
8 2 (0.41%) Perl
9 1 (0.20%) C
9 1 (0.20%) C#
9 1 (0.20%) C++
9 1 (0.20%) PHP
Qualifications
1 82 (16.67%) CISSP
2 64 (13.01%) Degree
3 60 (12.20%) Security Cleared
4 48 (9.76%) SC Cleared
5 42 (8.54%) CompTIA Security+
6 33 (6.71%) CISM
7 29 (5.89%) Cisco Certification
7 29 (5.89%) GIAC
8 21 (4.27%) GCIH
9 18 (3.66%) CEH
9 18 (3.66%) Computer Science Degree
10 17 (3.46%) Microsoft Certification
11 16 (3.25%) CCNA
12 15 (3.05%) CompTIA CySA+
12 15 (3.05%) GCIA
13 13 (2.64%) (ISC)2 CCSP
13 13 (2.64%) CREST Certified
13 13 (2.64%) DV Cleared
14 12 (2.44%) Azure Certification
14 12 (2.44%) CCNP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 170 (34.55%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 160 (32.52%) NIST
3 68 (13.82%) ISO/IEC 27005
4 58 (11.79%) GDPR
5 50 (10.16%) Cyber Essentials
6 36 (7.32%) PCI DSS
7 28 (5.69%) GRC
8 22 (4.47%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 18 (3.66%) SOC 2
10 14 (2.85%) NCSC
11 11 (2.24%) SLA
12 5 (1.02%) QA
12 5 (1.02%) SOC 3
13 4 (0.81%) Accessibility
13 4 (0.81%) COBIT
14 3 (0.61%) ITGC
15 2 (0.41%) Sarbanes-Oxley
16 1 (0.20%) California Consumer Privacy Act
16 1 (0.20%) Data Quality
16 1 (0.20%) HIPAA
System Software
1 27 (5.49%) Active Directory
2 16 (3.25%) Docker
3 12 (2.44%) VMware ESXi
4 5 (1.02%) VMware Infrastructure
5 3 (0.61%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 25 (5.08%) Terraform
2 23 (4.67%) Kubernetes
3 21 (4.27%) SCCM
4 20 (4.07%) Microsoft Intune
5 17 (3.46%) QRadar
6 12 (2.44%) Ansible
7 10 (2.03%) Single Sign-On
7 10 (2.03%) vCenter Server
8 6 (1.22%) Computer Incident Response Team
8 6 (1.22%) CSIRT
8 6 (1.22%) Grafana
9 5 (1.02%) CASB
10 3 (0.61%) ArcSight ESM
10 3 (0.61%) Nessus
11 2 (0.41%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
11 2 (0.41%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 131 (26.63%) Microsoft
2 35 (7.11%) ServiceNow
3 29 (5.89%) Splunk
4 22 (4.47%) SolarWinds
5 20 (4.07%) CrowdStrike
6 19 (3.86%) VMware
7 12 (2.44%) Tenable
8 11 (2.24%) NetApp
9 10 (2.03%) 3PAR
9 10 (2.03%) Qualys
9 10 (2.03%) Veeam
10 7 (1.42%) Palo Alto
11 6 (1.22%) Cisco
11 6 (1.22%) Google
12 5 (1.02%) LogRhythm
13 4 (0.81%) McAfee
13 4 (0.81%) Rapid7
14 3 (0.61%) ArcSight
14 3 (0.61%) CheckPoint
14 3 (0.61%) LogLogic