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

6 months to
20 Aug 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 228 395 313
Rank change year-on-year +167 -82 -34
Permanent jobs citing Security Operations 921 333 699
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.86% 0.67% 0.84%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.17% 0.75% 1.04%
Number of salaries quoted 667 253 455
10th Percentile £42,000 £38,000 £37,500
25th Percentile £52,500 £47,750 £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 £85,000 £78,750 £79,375
90th Percentile £97,500 £96,250 £100,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £65,000 £55,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year +18.18% +4.76% -14.29%

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 78,808 44,479 67,117
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 73.30% 89.14% 80.83%
Number of salaries quoted 54,325 25,171 42,850
10th Percentile £31,000 £28,500 £31,250
25th Percentile £41,250 £36,750 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +9.09% - -8.71%
75th Percentile £78,750 £75,000 £75,000
90th Percentile £100,000 £97,250 £95,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £47,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year +15.79% -5.00% -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 August 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 August 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 +141 825 £70,000 +12.00% 498
UK excluding London +118 569 £65,000 +18.18% 290
London +94 304 £76,000 -1.94% 265
Work from Home +85 249 £70,000 +12.00% 224
South East +95 200 £59,000 -5.60% 95
North of England +47 124 £70,000 +21.74% 69
Midlands +9 87 £65,000 +23.81% 35
North West +43 81 £75,000 +36.36% 46
East Midlands +28 58 £65,000 +6.34% 16
East of England -4 49 £67,500 +8.87% 20
South West -46 44 £65,000 +27.31% 44
Yorkshire -7 39 £55,000 -12.00% 21
Wales -29 36 £45,000 -18.18% 10
West Midlands -47 29 £67,500 +28.57% 19
Scotland +21 28 £75,000 +30.43% 17
North East -59 4 £75,000 +30.43% 3
Northern Ireland - 3 £42,500 - 4

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 10 (1.09%) SharePoint
2 5 (0.54%) Confluence
3 3 (0.33%) Apache Spark
4 1 (0.11%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 1 (0.11%) Microsoft Excel
1 1 (0.11%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 3 (0.33%) Distributed Ledger
Cloud Services
1 188 (20.41%) Azure
2 117 (12.70%) AWS
3 89 (9.66%) Microsoft 365
4 78 (8.47%) Azure Sentinel
5 59 (6.41%) Entra ID
6 43 (4.67%) GCP
7 23 (2.50%) Microsoft Purview
8 22 (2.39%) Azure Logic Apps
9 19 (2.06%) SaaS
10 15 (1.63%) Mimecast
11 14 (1.52%) Anthropic Claude
12 12 (1.30%) Zapier
13 9 (0.98%) Amazon GuardDuty
14 8 (0.87%) AWS CloudFormation
15 7 (0.76%) Cloudflare
15 7 (0.76%) IaaS
15 7 (0.76%) PaaS
16 6 (0.65%) GitHub Actions
16 6 (0.65%) Google Workspace
16 6 (0.65%) Sumo Logic
Communications & Networking
1 147 (15.96%) Firewall
2 105 (11.40%) Network Security
3 52 (5.65%) WAN
4 50 (5.43%) LAN
5 48 (5.21%) TCP/IP
6 44 (4.78%) VPN
7 38 (4.13%) DNS
8 28 (3.04%) Wi-Fi
9 25 (2.71%) Internet
9 25 (2.71%) Intrusion Detection
10 24 (2.61%) Cisco Nexus
11 19 (2.06%) HTTP
12 14 (1.52%) SSL
13 13 (1.41%) FTP
13 13 (1.41%) SMTP
14 10 (1.09%) Cisco ISE
15 6 (0.65%) IPsec
15 6 (0.65%) NGFW
15 6 (0.65%) SD-WAN
16 5 (0.54%) Kerberos
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (0.65%) SQL Server
2 5 (0.54%) MongoDB
3 3 (0.33%) Hadoop
3 3 (0.33%) NoSQL
4 2 (0.22%) Relational Database
5 1 (0.11%) Azure SQL Database
5 1 (0.11%) Big Data
Development Applications
1 7 (0.76%) JIRA
2 3 (0.33%) Bitbucket
2 3 (0.33%) Jenkins
2 3 (0.33%) Metasploit
3 2 (0.22%) Yeoman
General
1 192 (20.85%) Social Skills
2 109 (11.83%) Analytical Skills
3 99 (10.75%) Finance
4 47 (5.10%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 41 (4.45%) Legal
6 37 (4.02%) Law
6 37 (4.02%) Public Sector
7 33 (3.58%) Aerospace
8 26 (2.82%) Retail
9 17 (1.85%) Influencing Skills
10 15 (1.63%) Military
11 13 (1.41%) Banking
12 8 (0.87%) Financial Institution
13 7 (0.76%) Documentation Skills
14 6 (0.65%) Organisational Skills
14 6 (0.65%) Police
15 5 (0.54%) Advertising
15 5 (0.54%) Manufacturing
16 4 (0.43%) Games
16 4 (0.43%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 232 (25.19%) Analyst
2 157 (17.05%) Security Analyst
3 156 (16.94%) Senior
4 128 (13.90%) Security Manager
5 113 (12.27%) Security Engineer
6 110 (11.94%) Lead
7 95 (10.31%) Senior Analyst
8 82 (8.90%) Cybersecurity Analyst
9 71 (7.71%) SOC Analyst
10 67 (7.27%) Cybersecurity Manager
11 63 (6.84%) Senior Security Analyst
12 62 (6.73%) Operational Security Manager
12 62 (6.73%) Security Operations Manager
13 58 (6.30%) Operations Manager
14 54 (5.86%) SOC Engineer
15 52 (5.65%) Architect
15 52 (5.65%) Cybersecurity Engineer
16 44 (4.78%) Security Specialist
17 36 (3.91%) Security Architect
18 35 (3.80%) Operations Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 31 (3.37%) Terraform
2 17 (1.85%) LDAP
3 13 (1.41%) ModSecurity
4 6 (0.65%) ARM Templates
4 6 (0.65%) Regular Expression
5 5 (0.54%) REST
6 4 (0.43%) OpenID
6 4 (0.43%) SAML
7 3 (0.33%) JSON
7 3 (0.33%) Kafka
7 3 (0.33%) Smart Contracts
8 2 (0.22%) HTML
8 2 (0.22%) RESTful
9 1 (0.11%) CSS
9 1 (0.11%) SailPoint
9 1 (0.11%) SOAP
9 1 (0.11%) TAPI
9 1 (0.11%) WebRTC
9 1 (0.11%) WPF
9 1 (0.11%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 217 (23.56%) Security Operations Centre
2 164 (17.81%) Security Posture
3 93 (10.10%) Cyber Defence
4 78 (8.47%) Cyber Threat
5 61 (6.62%) Management Information System
6 44 (4.78%) CSOC
7 34 (3.69%) Cloud Native
7 34 (3.69%) Onboarding
8 26 (2.82%) Data Centre
9 17 (1.85%) Self-Motivation
10 14 (1.52%) Cloud Security Posture
10 14 (1.52%) Cyberattack
10 14 (1.52%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
11 12 (1.30%) AI Agents
11 12 (1.30%) Hybrid Cloud
11 12 (1.30%) Social Media
12 10 (1.09%) Cyber Security Posture
13 9 (0.98%) Client/Server
13 9 (0.98%) Insider Threat
14 8 (0.87%) Cyber Kill Chain
Operating Systems
1 96 (10.42%) Windows
2 67 (7.27%) Linux
3 11 (1.19%) Unix
3 11 (1.19%) Windows 10
4 8 (0.87%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
4 8 (0.87%) Windows Server
5 5 (0.54%) Mac OS
6 4 (0.43%) Ubuntu
7 3 (0.33%) Kali Linux
8 1 (0.11%) CentOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 527 (57.22%) Cybersecurity
2 346 (37.57%) SIEM
3 339 (36.81%) Incident Response
4 225 (24.43%) Vulnerability Management
5 216 (23.45%) Continuous Improvement
6 200 (21.72%) Information Security
7 175 (19.00%) Cloud Security
8 156 (16.94%) Threat Detection
9 135 (14.66%) Risk Management
10 126 (13.68%) Threat Intelligence
11 117 (12.70%) Problem-Solving
12 102 (11.07%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
13 100 (10.86%) AI
14 98 (10.64%) Security Monitoring
15 97 (10.53%) SOAR
16 86 (9.34%) Stakeholder Management
17 84 (9.12%) Disaster Recovery
18 83 (9.01%) Mentoring
19 78 (8.47%) Incident Management
19 78 (8.47%) Penetration Testing
Programming Languages
1 104 (11.29%) PowerShell
2 95 (10.31%) Python
3 40 (4.34%) Kusto Query Language
4 26 (2.82%) Bash
5 11 (1.19%) C++
5 11 (1.19%) SQL
6 10 (1.09%) Perl
7 9 (0.98%) Search Processing Language
8 8 (0.87%) Bicep
9 6 (0.65%) C
10 5 (0.54%) Java
10 5 (0.54%) JavaScript
11 4 (0.43%) Go
12 3 (0.33%) C#
12 3 (0.33%) Shell Script
13 1 (0.11%) MATLAB
13 1 (0.11%) Objective-C
Qualifications
1 194 (21.06%) Security Cleared
2 142 (15.42%) CISSP
3 133 (14.44%) SC Cleared
4 83 (9.01%) CompTIA Security+
5 76 (8.25%) Degree
6 71 (7.71%) CISM
7 54 (5.86%) Cisco Certification
8 49 (5.32%) DV Cleared
9 47 (5.10%) GIAC
10 44 (4.78%) CEH
11 30 (3.26%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 30 (3.26%) CompTIA CySA+
12 26 (2.82%) SANS
13 25 (2.71%) GCIH
14 24 (2.61%) Computer Science Degree
15 23 (2.50%) GCIA
16 20 (2.17%) CCNP
16 20 (2.17%) CCSP
17 19 (2.06%) CISA
18 18 (1.95%) Azure Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 192 (20.85%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 159 (17.26%) NIST
3 74 (8.03%) GDPR
4 63 (6.84%) GRC
5 54 (5.86%) Cyber Essentials
6 30 (3.26%) PCI DSS
7 24 (2.61%) SOC 2
8 21 (2.28%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 17 (1.85%) Sarbanes-Oxley
10 16 (1.74%) SLA
11 14 (1.52%) NCSC
12 11 (1.19%) Data Quality
13 5 (0.54%) Accessibility
13 5 (0.54%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
13 5 (0.54%) NIST 800
14 2 (0.22%) Actionable Recommendations
14 2 (0.22%) COBIT
14 2 (0.22%) ISO 22301
14 2 (0.22%) ISO 9001
14 2 (0.22%) PMO
System Software
1 26 (2.82%) Active Directory
2 8 (0.87%) Docker
2 8 (0.87%) Virtual Machines
3 6 (0.65%) VMware Infrastructure
4 2 (0.22%) Firmware
5 1 (0.11%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 33 (3.58%) Microsoft Intune
2 28 (3.04%) Kubernetes
2 28 (3.04%) QRadar
3 24 (2.61%) Single Sign-On
4 19 (2.06%) SCCM
5 10 (1.09%) Ansible
6 7 (0.76%) FortiGate
6 7 (0.76%) Graylog
6 7 (0.76%) Nessus
7 6 (0.65%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
8 5 (0.54%) McAfee ePO
8 5 (0.54%) Nagios
8 5 (0.54%) Red Hat Satellite
9 3 (0.33%) Computer Incident Response Team
9 3 (0.33%) Kibana
9 3 (0.33%) Symantec Endpoint Protection
10 2 (0.22%) CASB
10 2 (0.22%) Grafana
10 2 (0.22%) Istio
10 2 (0.22%) Jamf Pro
Vendors
1 245 (26.60%) Microsoft
2 81 (8.79%) Splunk
3 59 (6.41%) Palo Alto
4 57 (6.19%) Cisco
5 54 (5.86%) Qualys
6 48 (5.21%) CrowdStrike
7 44 (4.78%) ServiceNow
8 26 (2.82%) Fortinet
9 23 (2.50%) Aruba
10 22 (2.39%) Tenable
11 18 (1.95%) Google
12 16 (1.74%) OpenAI
12 16 (1.74%) Rapid7
13 12 (1.30%) SolarWinds
14 11 (1.19%) Zscaler
15 9 (0.98%) iManage
15 9 (0.98%) LogRhythm
15 9 (0.98%) Red Hat
15 9 (0.98%) Sophos
16 8 (0.87%) Meraki