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

6 months to
16 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 235 385 318
Rank change year-on-year +150 -67 +18
Permanent jobs citing Security Operations 751 316 894
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.81% 0.71% 0.83%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.10% 0.77% 1.01%
Number of salaries quoted 564 225 650
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 £77,500
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 67,964 41,274 88,698
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 72.85% 92.59% 81.93%
Number of salaries quoted 46,731 22,044 62,765
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,822 £29,525
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 16 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 16 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 +126 680 £70,000 +12.00% 265
UK excluding London +115 438 £65,000 +18.18% 207
London +90 260 £74,250 -4.19% 112
Work from Home +108 240 £62,500 +13.64% 121
South East +69 133 £55,000 -13.73% 66
North of England +56 120 £70,000 +14.75% 53
Midlands +23 81 £60,000 +9.09% 20
North West +58 71 £75,000 +25.00% 32
East Midlands +23 47 £55,000 -3.51% 8
Yorkshire -5 42 £62,500 -3.85% 17
South West -44 36 £65,000 +27.31% 27
West Midlands -31 34 £66,250 +20.45% 12
East of England -13 27 £56,250 +2.74% 13
Wales -19 27 £25,000 -52.56% 12
Scotland +9 14 £75,000 +36.36% 14
North East -40 7 £75,000 +22.45% 4
Northern Ireland - 2 £40,750 - 9

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 11 (1.46%) SharePoint
2 4 (0.53%) Microsoft Exchange
3 2 (0.27%) Confluence
Applications
1 1 (0.13%) Microsoft Excel
1 1 (0.13%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 1 (0.13%) Exchequer
Cloud Services
1 159 (21.17%) Azure
2 88 (11.72%) AWS
3 76 (10.12%) Microsoft 365
4 63 (8.39%) Azure Sentinel
5 48 (6.39%) Entra ID
6 41 (5.46%) GCP
7 24 (3.20%) SaaS
8 15 (2.00%) Mimecast
9 14 (1.86%) Anthropic Claude
10 12 (1.60%) Microsoft Purview
10 12 (1.60%) Zapier
11 9 (1.20%) Azure Logic Apps
11 9 (1.20%) GitHub
11 9 (1.20%) GitHub Actions
12 8 (1.07%) AWS CloudFormation
13 7 (0.93%) IaaS
13 7 (0.93%) PaaS
14 6 (0.80%) Cloudflare
14 6 (0.80%) Google Workspace
15 5 (0.67%) Sumo Logic
Communications & Networking
1 111 (14.78%) Firewall
2 77 (10.25%) Network Security
3 35 (4.66%) DNS
4 34 (4.53%) TCP/IP
5 32 (4.26%) WAN
6 30 (3.99%) VPN
7 29 (3.86%) LAN
8 16 (2.13%) HTTP
8 16 (2.13%) Intrusion Detection
9 14 (1.86%) Cisco Nexus
9 14 (1.86%) Wi-Fi
10 13 (1.73%) Internet
11 10 (1.33%) Cisco ISE
11 10 (1.33%) FTP
11 10 (1.33%) SMTP
12 9 (1.20%) SSL
13 7 (0.93%) SD-WAN
14 5 (0.67%) NGFW
15 4 (0.53%) HTTPS
15 4 (0.53%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (0.40%) Power BI
1 3 (0.40%) SQL Server
2 2 (0.27%) Elasticsearch
2 2 (0.27%) MongoDB
2 2 (0.27%) 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 (21.97%) Social Skills
2 101 (13.45%) Analytical Skills
3 83 (11.05%) Finance
4 51 (6.79%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 38 (5.06%) Law
6 33 (4.39%) Legal
6 33 (4.39%) Public Sector
7 27 (3.60%) Retail
8 18 (2.40%) Influencing Skills
9 13 (1.73%) Banking
10 9 (1.20%) Aerospace
11 8 (1.07%) Financial Institution
12 7 (0.93%) Advertising
12 7 (0.93%) Organisational Skills
13 6 (0.80%) Aviation
13 6 (0.80%) Back Office
13 6 (0.80%) Police
13 6 (0.80%) Presentation Skills
14 4 (0.53%) Games
14 4 (0.53%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 184 (24.50%) Analyst
2 136 (18.11%) Security Analyst
3 109 (14.51%) Senior
4 93 (12.38%) Security Engineer
5 91 (12.12%) Security Manager
6 82 (10.92%) Lead
7 79 (10.52%) Cybersecurity Analyst
8 55 (7.32%) Senior Analyst
9 52 (6.92%) SOC Engineer
10 51 (6.79%) Cybersecurity Manager
11 49 (6.52%) Operational Security Manager
11 49 (6.52%) Security Operations Manager
12 46 (6.13%) Operations Manager
13 44 (5.86%) Architect
14 43 (5.73%) SOC Analyst
15 42 (5.59%) Senior Security Analyst
16 35 (4.66%) Cybersecurity Engineer
17 33 (4.39%) Operations Analyst
17 33 (4.39%) Security Specialist
18 28 (3.73%) Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 12 (1.60%) LDAP
2 6 (0.80%) Regular Expression
3 5 (0.67%) REST
4 4 (0.53%) ARM Templates
5 3 (0.40%) JSON
6 2 (0.27%) OpenID
6 2 (0.27%) RESTful
6 2 (0.27%) 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 (24.50%) Security Operations Centre
2 118 (15.71%) Security Posture
3 69 (9.19%) Cyber Defence
4 52 (6.92%) Cyber Threat
5 51 (6.79%) Management Information System
6 37 (4.93%) CSOC
7 30 (3.99%) Cloud Native
8 22 (2.93%) Onboarding
9 13 (1.73%) Cyberattack
9 13 (1.73%) Data Centre
9 13 (1.73%) Self-Motivation
10 12 (1.60%) Cloud Security Posture
11 9 (1.20%) Analytical Mindset
12 8 (1.07%) AI Agents
12 8 (1.07%) Client/Server
13 7 (0.93%) Hybrid Cloud
13 7 (0.93%) Virtual Team
14 6 (0.80%) Cyber Kill Chain
14 6 (0.80%) Driving Licence
14 6 (0.80%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 95 (12.65%) Windows
2 60 (7.99%) Linux
3 17 (2.26%) Windows 10
4 13 (1.73%) Unix
5 8 (1.07%) 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 (0.27%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 1 (0.13%) CentOS
9 1 (0.13%) Data ONTAP
9 1 (0.13%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 416 (55.39%) Cybersecurity
2 279 (37.15%) SIEM
3 260 (34.62%) Incident Response
4 166 (22.10%) Continuous Improvement
5 142 (18.91%) Cloud Security
5 142 (18.91%) Vulnerability Management
6 135 (17.98%) Information Security
7 110 (14.65%) Threat Intelligence
8 97 (12.92%) Problem-Solving
9 95 (12.65%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
9 95 (12.65%) Threat Detection
10 86 (11.45%) Risk Management
11 84 (11.19%) SOAR
12 70 (9.32%) MITRE ATT&CK
13 66 (8.79%) AI
13 66 (8.79%) Roadmaps
14 65 (8.66%) Security Monitoring
15 64 (8.52%) Mentoring
16 57 (7.59%) Incident Management
17 55 (7.32%) Penetration Testing
Programming Languages
1 103 (13.72%) PowerShell
2 91 (12.12%) Python
3 30 (3.99%) Kusto Query Language
4 25 (3.33%) Bash
5 12 (1.60%) SQL
6 10 (1.33%) Perl
7 9 (1.20%) C++
8 6 (0.80%) Bicep
9 5 (0.67%) C
9 5 (0.67%) JavaScript
10 4 (0.53%) Search Processing Language
11 3 (0.40%) C#
12 2 (0.27%) Go
12 2 (0.27%) Java
12 2 (0.27%) Shell Script
13 1 (0.13%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 145 (19.31%) Security Cleared
2 113 (15.05%) SC Cleared
3 97 (12.92%) CISSP
4 66 (8.79%) CompTIA Security+
5 58 (7.72%) Degree
6 50 (6.66%) GIAC
7 44 (5.86%) CISM
8 33 (4.39%) Cisco Certification
9 32 (4.26%) CEH
10 26 (3.46%) SANS
11 24 (3.20%) DV Cleared
12 22 (2.93%) (ISC)2 CCSP
12 22 (2.93%) Computer Science Degree
12 22 (2.93%) CREST Certified
13 21 (2.80%) GCIH
14 20 (2.66%) CompTIA CySA+
15 16 (2.13%) CCSP
15 16 (2.13%) GCIA
16 15 (2.00%) Azure Certification
17 14 (1.86%) CISA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 145 (19.31%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 138 (18.38%) NIST
3 61 (8.12%) GDPR
4 48 (6.39%) Cyber Essentials
4 48 (6.39%) GRC
5 36 (4.79%) PCI DSS
6 23 (3.06%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 18 (2.40%) NCSC
7 18 (2.40%) SOC 2
8 16 (2.13%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 10 (1.33%) SLA
10 5 (0.67%) Accessibility
10 5 (0.67%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
11 4 (0.53%) SOC 3
12 3 (0.40%) COBIT
12 3 (0.40%) NIST 800
13 2 (0.27%) Actionable Recommendations
13 2 (0.27%) ISO 22301
13 2 (0.27%) ISO 9001
13 2 (0.27%) PMO
System Software
1 28 (3.73%) Active Directory
2 11 (1.46%) Docker
3 5 (0.67%) Virtual Machines
4 4 (0.53%) VMware ESXi
5 3 (0.40%) VMware Infrastructure
6 2 (0.27%) Firmware
7 1 (0.13%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 33 (4.39%) Microsoft Intune
2 26 (3.46%) SCCM
3 24 (3.20%) QRadar
3 24 (3.20%) Terraform
4 22 (2.93%) Kubernetes
5 13 (1.73%) Ansible
6 12 (1.60%) Single Sign-On
7 7 (0.93%) FortiGate
8 6 (0.80%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
8 6 (0.80%) Graylog
9 5 (0.67%) vCenter Server
10 4 (0.53%) CASB
10 4 (0.53%) Computer Incident Response Team
10 4 (0.53%) Grafana
11 3 (0.40%) CSIRT
11 3 (0.40%) Kibana
11 3 (0.40%) Nessus
12 2 (0.27%) Red Hat Satellite
13 1 (0.13%) Host Intrusion Detection System
Vendors
1 223 (29.69%) Microsoft
2 58 (7.72%) Splunk
3 50 (6.66%) ServiceNow
4 38 (5.06%) CrowdStrike
5 35 (4.66%) Qualys
6 32 (4.26%) Cisco
7 21 (2.80%) SolarWinds
8 20 (2.66%) Palo Alto
9 18 (2.40%) Tenable
10 15 (2.00%) OpenAI
11 14 (1.86%) Fortinet
11 14 (1.86%) Google
12 11 (1.46%) Aruba
13 10 (1.33%) Rapid7
14 9 (1.20%) Sophos
14 9 (1.20%) VMware
15 7 (0.93%) Okta
15 7 (0.93%) Zscaler
16 6 (0.80%) Carbon Black
16 6 (0.80%) iManage