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

6 months to
18 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 234 387 323
Rank change year-on-year +153 -64 +15
Permanent jobs citing Security Operations 755 316 893
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.81% 0.71% 0.82%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.11% 0.76% 1.00%
Number of salaries quoted 568 225 650
10th Percentile £41,250 £42,500 £37,500
25th Percentile £51,250 £49,000 £50,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £62,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +12.90% +3.33% -4.00%
75th Percentile £82,500 £77,500 £77,063
90th Percentile £95,000 £110,000 £100,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £65,000 £55,000 £54,000
% change year-on-year +18.18% +1.85% -6.09%

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 68,264 41,362 89,059
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 72.88% 92.48% 81.88%
Number of salaries quoted 46,974 22,138 63,125
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,822 £29,750
25th Percentile £41,250 £39,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -9.54%
75th Percentile £78,750 £77,500 £72,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £100,000 £91,991
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £50,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year +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 18 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 18 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 +130 682 £70,000 +12.00% 234
UK excluding London +116 441 £65,000 +18.18% 193
London +86 260 £74,250 -4.19% 96
Work from Home +114 242 £65,000 +18.18% 116
South East +68 132 £57,500 -9.80% 63
North of England +53 121 £70,000 +14.75% 48
Midlands +8 81 £60,000 +9.09% 20
North West +64 72 £75,000 +25.00% 32
East Midlands +21 47 £55,000 -3.51% 8
Yorkshire -3 43 £62,500 -3.85% 13
South West -48 36 £65,000 +27.31% 19
West Midlands -28 34 £66,250 +20.45% 12
East of England -10 29 £62,500 +14.16% 14
Wales -20 27 £25,000 -52.56% 11
Scotland +20 15 £75,000 +36.36% 13
North East -44 6 £75,000 +22.45% 3
Northern Ireland - 2 £40,750 - 12

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 12 (1.59%) SharePoint
2 4 (0.53%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (0.26%) Confluence
Applications
1 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Excel
1 1 (0.13%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 1 (0.13%) Exchequer
Cloud Services
1 161 (21.32%) Azure
2 87 (11.52%) AWS
3 75 (9.93%) Microsoft 365
4 61 (8.08%) Azure Sentinel
5 49 (6.49%) Entra ID
6 40 (5.30%) GCP
7 23 (3.05%) SaaS
8 15 (1.99%) Mimecast
9 14 (1.85%) Anthropic Claude
10 13 (1.72%) Microsoft Purview
11 12 (1.59%) Zapier
12 9 (1.19%) Azure Logic Apps
12 9 (1.19%) GitHub
12 9 (1.19%) GitHub Actions
13 8 (1.06%) AWS CloudFormation
14 7 (0.93%) IaaS
14 7 (0.93%) PaaS
15 6 (0.79%) Cloudflare
15 6 (0.79%) Google Workspace
16 5 (0.66%) Power Platform
Communications & Networking
1 112 (14.83%) Firewall
2 77 (10.20%) Network Security
3 35 (4.64%) DNS
4 34 (4.50%) TCP/IP
5 33 (4.37%) WAN
6 30 (3.97%) LAN
6 30 (3.97%) VPN
7 16 (2.12%) HTTP
7 16 (2.12%) Intrusion Detection
8 15 (1.99%) Wi-Fi
9 14 (1.85%) Cisco Nexus
9 14 (1.85%) Internet
10 10 (1.32%) Cisco ISE
10 10 (1.32%) FTP
10 10 (1.32%) SMTP
11 9 (1.19%) SSL
12 7 (0.93%) SD-WAN
13 5 (0.66%) NGFW
14 4 (0.53%) HTTPS
14 4 (0.53%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (0.40%) Power BI
1 3 (0.40%) SQL Server
2 2 (0.26%) Elasticsearch
2 2 (0.26%) MongoDB
2 2 (0.26%) Relational Database
3 1 (0.13%) Azure SQL Database
3 1 (0.13%) Big Data
3 1 (0.13%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 7 (0.93%) Jenkins
2 4 (0.53%) Bitbucket
2 4 (0.53%) CircleCI
2 4 (0.53%) Metasploit
3 3 (0.40%) JIRA
General
1 165 (21.85%) Social Skills
2 100 (13.25%) Analytical Skills
3 85 (11.26%) Finance
4 50 (6.62%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 39 (5.17%) Law
6 34 (4.50%) Legal
7 33 (4.37%) Public Sector
8 26 (3.44%) Retail
9 17 (2.25%) Influencing Skills
10 12 (1.59%) Banking
11 10 (1.32%) Aerospace
12 7 (0.93%) Advertising
12 7 (0.93%) Financial Institution
13 6 (0.79%) Aviation
13 6 (0.79%) Organisational Skills
13 6 (0.79%) Police
13 6 (0.79%) Presentation Skills
14 5 (0.66%) Back Office
15 4 (0.53%) Games
15 4 (0.53%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 184 (24.37%) Analyst
2 136 (18.01%) Security Analyst
3 112 (14.83%) Senior
4 95 (12.58%) Security Engineer
5 93 (12.32%) Security Manager
6 82 (10.86%) Lead
7 80 (10.60%) Cybersecurity Analyst
8 56 (7.42%) Senior Analyst
9 52 (6.89%) Cybersecurity Manager
9 52 (6.89%) SOC Engineer
10 49 (6.49%) Operational Security Manager
10 49 (6.49%) Security Operations Manager
11 46 (6.09%) Operations Manager
12 45 (5.96%) Architect
13 43 (5.70%) Senior Security Analyst
13 43 (5.70%) SOC Analyst
14 36 (4.77%) Cybersecurity Engineer
15 33 (4.37%) Operations Analyst
16 32 (4.24%) Security Specialist
17 29 (3.84%) Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (1.59%) LDAP
2 6 (0.79%) Regular Expression
3 5 (0.66%) REST
4 4 (0.53%) ARM Templates
5 3 (0.40%) JSON
6 2 (0.26%) OpenID
6 2 (0.26%) RESTful
6 2 (0.26%) SAML
7 1 (0.13%) EDI
7 1 (0.13%) Elastic Stack
7 1 (0.13%) FFmpeg
7 1 (0.13%) GStreamer
7 1 (0.13%) HTML
7 1 (0.13%) SailPoint
7 1 (0.13%) SOAP
7 1 (0.13%) TAPI
7 1 (0.13%) Unreal Engine
7 1 (0.13%) WebRTC
7 1 (0.13%) WPF
Miscellaneous
1 184 (24.37%) Security Operations Centre
2 122 (16.16%) Security Posture
3 68 (9.01%) Cyber Defence
4 51 (6.75%) Cyber Threat
5 50 (6.62%) Management Information System
6 37 (4.90%) CSOC
7 30 (3.97%) Cloud Native
8 22 (2.91%) Onboarding
9 13 (1.72%) Cloud Security Posture
9 13 (1.72%) Cyberattack
9 13 (1.72%) Data Centre
9 13 (1.72%) Self-Motivation
10 9 (1.19%) AI Agents
11 8 (1.06%) Analytical Mindset
11 8 (1.06%) Client/Server
12 7 (0.93%) Hybrid Cloud
12 7 (0.93%) Virtual Team
13 6 (0.79%) Cyber Kill Chain
13 6 (0.79%) Driving Licence
13 6 (0.79%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 94 (12.45%) Windows
2 60 (7.95%) Linux
3 16 (2.12%) Windows 10
4 13 (1.72%) Unix
5 8 (1.06%) Windows Server
6 4 (0.53%) Kali Linux
6 4 (0.53%) Windows Server 2012
6 4 (0.53%) Windows Server 2019
7 3 (0.40%) Mac OS
8 2 (0.26%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.13%) CentOS
9 1 (0.13%) Data ONTAP
9 1 (0.13%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 421 (55.76%) Cybersecurity
2 283 (37.48%) SIEM
3 262 (34.70%) Incident Response
4 167 (22.12%) Continuous Improvement
5 147 (19.47%) Vulnerability Management
6 145 (19.21%) Cloud Security
7 136 (18.01%) Information Security
8 112 (14.83%) Threat Intelligence
9 100 (13.25%) Problem-Solving
10 97 (12.85%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
11 94 (12.45%) Threat Detection
12 88 (11.66%) Risk Management
13 84 (11.13%) SOAR
14 70 (9.27%) MITRE ATT&CK
15 68 (9.01%) AI
16 67 (8.87%) Security Monitoring
17 66 (8.74%) Roadmaps
18 63 (8.34%) Mentoring
19 56 (7.42%) Penetration Testing
19 56 (7.42%) Use Case
Programming Languages
1 103 (13.64%) PowerShell
2 91 (12.05%) Python
3 31 (4.11%) Kusto Query Language
4 24 (3.18%) Bash
5 12 (1.59%) SQL
6 9 (1.19%) C++
6 9 (1.19%) Perl
7 6 (0.79%) Bicep
8 5 (0.66%) C
8 5 (0.66%) JavaScript
8 5 (0.66%) Search Processing Language
9 3 (0.40%) C#
10 2 (0.26%) Go
10 2 (0.26%) Java
10 2 (0.26%) Shell Script
11 1 (0.13%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 148 (19.60%) Security Cleared
2 114 (15.10%) SC Cleared
3 98 (12.98%) CISSP
4 67 (8.87%) CompTIA Security+
5 57 (7.55%) Degree
6 50 (6.62%) GIAC
7 47 (6.23%) CISM
8 32 (4.24%) CEH
8 32 (4.24%) Cisco Certification
9 26 (3.44%) DV Cleared
9 26 (3.44%) SANS
10 21 (2.78%) Computer Science Degree
10 21 (2.78%) CREST Certified
11 20 (2.65%) (ISC)2 CCSP
11 20 (2.65%) CompTIA CySA+
12 19 (2.52%) GCIH
13 16 (2.12%) CISA
13 16 (2.12%) GCIA
14 15 (1.99%) CCSP
15 14 (1.85%) Azure Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 148 (19.60%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 138 (18.28%) NIST
3 64 (8.48%) GDPR
4 47 (6.23%) GRC
5 46 (6.09%) Cyber Essentials
6 34 (4.50%) PCI DSS
7 21 (2.78%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 17 (2.25%) NCSC
9 16 (2.12%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 16 (2.12%) SOC 2
10 10 (1.32%) SLA
11 5 (0.66%) Accessibility
11 5 (0.66%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 3 (0.40%) COBIT
12 3 (0.40%) NIST 800
12 3 (0.40%) SOC 3
13 2 (0.26%) Data Quality
13 2 (0.26%) ISO 22301
13 2 (0.26%) ISO 9001
13 2 (0.26%) PMO
System Software
1 28 (3.71%) Active Directory
2 11 (1.46%) Docker
3 5 (0.66%) Virtual Machines
4 4 (0.53%) VMware ESXi
5 3 (0.40%) VMware Infrastructure
6 2 (0.26%) Firmware
7 1 (0.13%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 33 (4.37%) Microsoft Intune
2 26 (3.44%) Terraform
3 25 (3.31%) SCCM
4 24 (3.18%) QRadar
5 23 (3.05%) Kubernetes
6 14 (1.85%) Ansible
7 12 (1.59%) Single Sign-On
8 7 (0.93%) FortiGate
9 6 (0.79%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
9 6 (0.79%) Graylog
10 5 (0.66%) vCenter Server
11 4 (0.53%) CASB
11 4 (0.53%) Computer Incident Response Team
11 4 (0.53%) Grafana
12 3 (0.40%) Kibana
12 3 (0.40%) Nessus
13 2 (0.26%) CSIRT
13 2 (0.26%) Red Hat Satellite
14 1 (0.13%) Host Intrusion Detection System
Vendors
1 223 (29.54%) Microsoft
2 59 (7.81%) Splunk
3 49 (6.49%) ServiceNow
4 38 (5.03%) CrowdStrike
5 35 (4.64%) Qualys
6 32 (4.24%) Cisco
7 20 (2.65%) Palo Alto
7 20 (2.65%) SolarWinds
8 18 (2.38%) Tenable
9 16 (2.12%) OpenAI
10 14 (1.85%) Fortinet
10 14 (1.85%) Google
11 11 (1.46%) Aruba
12 10 (1.32%) Rapid7
13 9 (1.19%) Sophos
13 9 (1.19%) VMware
14 8 (1.06%) iManage
15 7 (0.93%) Okta
15 7 (0.93%) Zscaler
16 6 (0.79%) Carbon Black