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

6 months to
15 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 279 264 296
Rank change year-on-year -15 +32 +15
Permanent jobs citing Security Operations 492 555 717
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.73% 1.12% 0.96%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.92% 1.21% 1.09%
Number of salaries quoted 297 351 585
10th Percentile £43,000 £42,500 £37,500
25th Percentile £51,250 £51,251 £50,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £65,000 £62,500
Median % change year-on-year +7.69% +4.00% -7.41%
75th Percentile £80,000 £81,250 £76,250
90th Percentile £92,500 £110,000 £97,500
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 53,424 45,785 66,046
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 79.46% 92.29% 88.34%
Number of salaries quoted 31,947 22,286 51,175
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 £76,000 £81,250 £75,000
90th Percentile £96,375 £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 15 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 15 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 +26 456 £70,000 +7.69% 172
UK excluding London +4 292 £65,000 +18.18% 139
Work from Home +54 236 £63,000 +0.80% 111
London -19 170 £75,000 - 54
South East +45 109 £63,750 -1.16% 51
North of England -34 60 £67,750 +35.50% 32
Midlands +20 48 £54,000 -1.82% 27
South West +6 32 £75,000 +42.18% 12
West Midlands +12 29 £49,250 -10.45% 21
North West -3 25 £45,000 -10.00% 20
Yorkshire -49 25 £70,000 +33.33% 8
East of England +9 21 £80,000 +33.33% 17
East Midlands - 19 £60,000 - 6
Scotland -35 13 £70,000 +12.00% 3
North East +1 10 £105,000 +133.33% 4
Wales +3 7 £55,000 -37.14% 5
Northern Ireland -19 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 (1.83%) 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
1 115 (23.37%) Azure
2 67 (13.62%) AWS
3 47 (9.55%) Microsoft 365
4 36 (7.32%) GCP
5 30 (6.10%) Azure Sentinel
6 25 (5.08%) Entra ID
7 20 (4.07%) SaaS
8 14 (2.85%) PaaS
9 13 (2.64%) Microsoft Purview
9 13 (2.64%) Mimecast
10 12 (2.44%) IaaS
11 10 (2.03%) GitHub
12 9 (1.83%) GitHub Actions
13 7 (1.42%) AWS CloudFormation
14 6 (1.22%) Azure DevOps
14 6 (1.22%) Datadog
14 6 (1.22%) Tessian
15 5 (1.02%) Power Platform
16 4 (0.81%) OneDrive
17 3 (0.61%) Dynamics 365
Communications & Networking
1 83 (16.87%) Firewall
2 63 (12.80%) Network Security
3 35 (7.11%) VPN
4 27 (5.49%) DNS
5 22 (4.47%) Intrusion Detection
6 20 (4.07%) TCP/IP
7 15 (3.05%) DHCP
8 9 (1.83%) SAN
9 6 (1.22%) Wireshark
10 5 (1.02%) WAN
11 3 (0.61%) Internet
11 3 (0.61%) LAN
11 3 (0.61%) SCCP
11 3 (0.61%) SSL
11 3 (0.61%) Wireless
12 2 (0.41%) Cisco ISE
12 2 (0.41%) DKIM
12 2 (0.41%) DMARC
12 2 (0.41%) HTTP
12 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%) Bitbucket
3 1 (0.20%) Burp Suite
3 1 (0.20%) Git
3 1 (0.20%) IDA Disassembler
3 1 (0.20%) Metasploit
3 1 (0.20%) MSBuild
General
1 131 (26.63%) Social Skills
2 94 (19.11%) Finance
3 66 (13.41%) Analytical Skills
4 36 (7.32%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 24 (4.88%) Law
6 23 (4.67%) Legal
7 21 (4.27%) Banking
8 17 (3.46%) Retail
9 12 (2.44%) Financial Institution
9 12 (2.44%) Public Sector
10 11 (2.24%) Influencing Skills
11 10 (2.03%) Back Office
12 8 (1.63%) Advertising
13 7 (1.42%) Presentation Skills
14 6 (1.22%) Organisational Skills
15 5 (1.02%) Documentation Skills
16 3 (0.61%) Aviation
17 2 (0.41%) Pharmaceutical
18 1 (0.20%) Marketing
18 1 (0.20%) Police
Job Titles
1 122 (24.80%) Lead
2 96 (19.51%) Analyst
3 69 (14.02%) Security Analyst
4 62 (12.60%) Security Engineer
5 60 (12.20%) Senior
6 47 (9.55%) Security Manager
7 32 (6.50%) Cybersecurity Analyst
8 28 (5.69%) Cybersecurity Manager
8 28 (5.69%) SOC Analyst
9 20 (4.07%) Cybersecurity Engineer
9 20 (4.07%) Senior Security Engineer
9 20 (4.07%) SOC Manager
10 19 (3.86%) Infrastructure Engineer
11 18 (3.66%) Information Analyst
11 18 (3.66%) Information Security Analyst
11 18 (3.66%) Operational Security Manager
11 18 (3.66%) Operations Manager
11 18 (3.66%) Security Operations Manager
12 17 (3.46%) Infrastructure Manager
12 17 (3.46%) Senior Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (1.63%) ARM Templates
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
1 179 (36.38%) Security Operations Centre
2 117 (23.78%) Cyber Threat
3 77 (15.65%) Cyber Kill Chain
4 72 (14.63%) Operational Technology
5 65 (13.21%) Security Posture
6 30 (6.10%) Cyber Defence
7 22 (4.47%) 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 74 (15.04%) Windows
2 48 (9.76%) Linux
3 21 (4.27%) Windows Server
4 12 (2.44%) Windows 10
5 9 (1.83%) Windows Server 2012
5 9 (1.83%) Windows Server 2019
6 7 (1.42%) Unix
7 5 (1.02%) Mac OS
8 1 (0.20%) Data ONTAP
8 1 (0.20%) Kali Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 207 (42.07%) Incident Response
2 200 (40.65%) Cybersecurity
3 168 (34.15%) SIEM
4 144 (29.27%) Threat Intelligence
5 136 (27.64%) Vulnerability Management
6 123 (25.00%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
7 110 (22.36%) Risk Management
8 103 (20.93%) Mentoring
9 99 (20.12%) Threat and Vulnerability Management
10 98 (19.92%) Information Security
11 97 (19.72%) Continuous Improvement
11 97 (19.72%) Roadmaps
12 95 (19.31%) Stakeholder Management
13 91 (18.50%) ITIL
14 81 (16.46%) Cyber Intelligence
15 79 (16.06%) Coaching
16 77 (15.65%) Business Strategy
17 72 (14.63%) Technology Roadmap
18 70 (14.23%) Problem-Solving
19 69 (14.02%) Change Advisory Board
Programming Languages
1 63 (12.80%) PowerShell
2 55 (11.18%) Python
3 21 (4.27%) Bash
4 15 (3.05%) Kusto Query Language
5 11 (2.24%) 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 84 (17.07%) CISSP
2 64 (13.01%) Degree
3 59 (11.99%) Security Cleared
4 47 (9.55%) SC Cleared
5 43 (8.74%) CompTIA Security+
6 33 (6.71%) CISM
7 29 (5.89%) Cisco Certification
7 29 (5.89%) GIAC
8 20 (4.07%) GCIH
9 18 (3.66%) Computer Science Degree
10 17 (3.46%) CEH
11 16 (3.25%) CCNA
12 15 (3.05%) CompTIA CySA+
12 15 (3.05%) Microsoft Certification
13 14 (2.85%) CREST Certified
13 14 (2.85%) GCIA
14 13 (2.64%) (ISC)2 CCSP
14 13 (2.64%) DV Cleared
15 12 (2.44%) Azure Certification
15 12 (2.44%) CCNP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 169 (34.35%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 158 (32.11%) NIST
3 68 (13.82%) ISO/IEC 27005
4 60 (12.20%) GDPR
5 51 (10.37%) Cyber Essentials
6 38 (7.72%) PCI DSS
7 29 (5.89%) GRC
8 22 (4.47%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 19 (3.86%) SOC 2
10 12 (2.44%) NCSC
10 12 (2.44%) SLA
11 5 (1.02%) QA
11 5 (1.02%) SOC 3
12 4 (0.81%) Accessibility
12 4 (0.81%) COBIT
13 3 (0.61%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
13 3 (0.61%) ITGC
14 2 (0.41%) Sarbanes-Oxley
15 1 (0.20%) Data Quality
15 1 (0.20%) HIPAA
System Software
1 25 (5.08%) Active Directory
2 16 (3.25%) Docker
3 11 (2.24%) VMware ESXi
4 5 (1.02%) VMware Infrastructure
5 3 (0.61%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 25 (5.08%) Terraform
2 24 (4.88%) Kubernetes
3 21 (4.27%) SCCM
4 19 (3.86%) Microsoft Intune
5 16 (3.25%) QRadar
6 13 (2.64%) Ansible
7 9 (1.83%) Single Sign-On
7 9 (1.83%) 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
12 1 (0.20%) Host Intrusion Detection System
Vendors
1 127 (25.81%) Microsoft
2 36 (7.32%) ServiceNow
3 28 (5.69%) Splunk
4 22 (4.47%) SolarWinds
5 19 (3.86%) CrowdStrike
6 18 (3.66%) VMware
7 12 (2.44%) Tenable
8 10 (2.03%) NetApp
9 9 (1.83%) 3PAR
9 9 (1.83%) Qualys
9 9 (1.83%) Veeam
10 7 (1.42%) Palo Alto
11 6 (1.22%) Google
12 5 (1.02%) Cisco
12 5 (1.02%) LogRhythm
13 4 (0.81%) McAfee
14 3 (0.61%) ArcSight
14 3 (0.61%) CheckPoint
14 3 (0.61%) LogLogic
14 3 (0.61%) Salesforce