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

6 months to
4 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 248 378 327
Rank change year-on-year +130 -51 +9
Permanent jobs citing Security Operations 704 321 855
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.76% 0.73% 0.83%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.03% 0.79% 1.00%
Number of salaries quoted 531 228 632
10th Percentile £41,250 £42,500 £37,500
25th Percentile £51,250 £50,295 £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 £80,000 £77,500 £77,500
90th Percentile £95,000 £111,250 £100,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £65,000 £55,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year +18.18% +4.76% -8.70%

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 68,107 40,669 85,373
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 73.51% 93.11% 83.11%
Number of salaries quoted 45,062 21,401 61,158
10th Percentile £30,000 £29,500 £29,250
25th Percentile £41,114 £40,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -9.69%
75th Percentile £78,750 £77,500 £72,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £100,000 £92,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £50,967 £50,000
% change year-on-year +3.01% +1.93% -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 4 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 4 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 +118 639 £70,000 +12.00% 294
UK excluding London +104 409 £65,000 +18.18% 230
London +75 245 £72,500 -4.92% 120
Work from Home +120 238 £62,500 +13.64% 141
North of England +41 120 £70,000 +14.75% 58
South East +52 115 £52,500 -17.65% 77
Midlands -6 77 £60,000 +9.09% 25
North West +53 69 £75,000 +23.97% 31
East Midlands +16 43 £57,500 +0.88% 12
Yorkshire -13 43 £62,500 - 24
South West -38 37 £65,000 +25.65% 35
West Midlands -40 34 £65,000 +18.18% 13
Wales -12 27 £25,000 -52.56% 9
East of England -28 20 £52,500 -4.11% 12
Scotland +7 11 £64,210 +7.02% 16
North East -30 8 £75,000 +7.14% 3
Northern Ireland - 2 £40,750 - 6

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 (1.28%) SharePoint
2 4 (0.57%) Microsoft Exchange
3 1 (0.14%) Confluence
Applications
1 1 (0.14%) Microsoft Excel
1 1 (0.14%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 1 (0.14%) Exchequer
Cloud Services
1 153 (21.73%) Azure
2 81 (11.51%) AWS
3 72 (10.23%) Microsoft 365
4 61 (8.66%) Azure Sentinel
5 43 (6.11%) GCP
6 39 (5.54%) Entra ID
7 24 (3.41%) SaaS
8 14 (1.99%) Anthropic Claude
8 14 (1.99%) Mimecast
9 12 (1.70%) Zapier
10 11 (1.56%) Microsoft Purview
11 9 (1.28%) GitHub
11 9 (1.28%) GitHub Actions
12 8 (1.14%) AWS CloudFormation
13 7 (0.99%) IaaS
13 7 (0.99%) PaaS
14 6 (0.85%) Azure Logic Apps
15 5 (0.71%) Cloudflare
15 5 (0.71%) Google Workspace
15 5 (0.71%) Sumo Logic
Communications & Networking
1 99 (14.06%) Firewall
2 72 (10.23%) Network Security
3 33 (4.69%) TCP/IP
4 31 (4.40%) DNS
5 29 (4.12%) VPN
6 22 (3.13%) WAN
7 19 (2.70%) LAN
8 16 (2.27%) Intrusion Detection
9 15 (2.13%) HTTP
10 10 (1.42%) FTP
10 10 (1.42%) SMTP
11 9 (1.28%) Cisco ISE
11 9 (1.28%) Cisco Nexus
11 9 (1.28%) Internet
11 9 (1.28%) SSL
12 6 (0.85%) Wi-Fi
13 5 (0.71%) SD-WAN
14 4 (0.57%) DHCP
14 4 (0.57%) HTTPS
14 4 (0.57%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 3 (0.43%) Power BI
2 2 (0.28%) Elasticsearch
2 2 (0.28%) Relational Database
2 2 (0.28%) SQL Server
3 1 (0.14%) Big Data
3 1 (0.14%) MongoDB
3 1 (0.14%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 7 (0.99%) Jenkins
2 5 (0.71%) CircleCI
3 4 (0.57%) Bitbucket
3 4 (0.57%) Metasploit
4 2 (0.28%) JIRA
General
1 162 (23.01%) Social Skills
2 96 (13.64%) Analytical Skills
3 81 (11.51%) Finance
4 48 (6.82%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 36 (5.11%) Law
6 32 (4.55%) Legal
7 31 (4.40%) Public Sector
8 28 (3.98%) Retail
9 17 (2.41%) Influencing Skills
10 14 (1.99%) Banking
11 8 (1.14%) Aerospace
11 8 (1.14%) Financial Institution
12 7 (0.99%) Advertising
12 7 (0.99%) Organisational Skills
12 7 (0.99%) Police
13 6 (0.85%) Aviation
13 6 (0.85%) Back Office
13 6 (0.85%) Presentation Skills
14 4 (0.57%) Manufacturing
15 3 (0.43%) Games
Job Titles
1 166 (23.58%) Analyst
2 116 (16.48%) Security Analyst
3 92 (13.07%) Senior
4 88 (12.50%) Security Manager
5 84 (11.93%) Security Engineer
6 69 (9.80%) Lead
7 64 (9.09%) Cybersecurity Analyst
8 50 (7.10%) Cybersecurity Manager
9 49 (6.96%) Operational Security Manager
9 49 (6.96%) Security Operations Manager
10 47 (6.68%) SOC Engineer
11 46 (6.53%) Operations Manager
12 45 (6.39%) Architect
13 43 (6.11%) SOC Analyst
14 40 (5.68%) Senior Analyst
15 33 (4.69%) Operations Analyst
16 31 (4.40%) Cybersecurity Engineer
17 28 (3.98%) Security Architect
17 28 (3.98%) Security Specialist
17 28 (3.98%) Senior Security Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 11 (1.56%) LDAP
2 6 (0.85%) Regular Expression
3 5 (0.71%) REST
4 4 (0.57%) ARM Templates
5 3 (0.43%) JSON
6 2 (0.28%) RESTful
7 1 (0.14%) EDI
7 1 (0.14%) FFmpeg
7 1 (0.14%) GStreamer
7 1 (0.14%) HTML
7 1 (0.14%) SailPoint
7 1 (0.14%) SOAP
7 1 (0.14%) TAPI
7 1 (0.14%) Unreal Engine
7 1 (0.14%) WebRTC
7 1 (0.14%) WPF
Miscellaneous
1 164 (23.30%) Security Operations Centre
2 101 (14.35%) Security Posture
3 66 (9.38%) Cyber Defence
4 47 (6.68%) Cyber Threat
4 47 (6.68%) Management Information System
5 33 (4.69%) CSOC
6 28 (3.98%) Cloud Native
7 23 (3.27%) Onboarding
8 13 (1.85%) Data Centre
9 12 (1.70%) Cyberattack
10 11 (1.56%) Analytical Mindset
10 11 (1.56%) Cloud Security Posture
11 10 (1.42%) Self-Motivation
12 8 (1.14%) AI Agents
12 8 (1.14%) Client/Server
13 7 (0.99%) Virtual Team
14 6 (0.85%) Cyber Kill Chain
14 6 (0.85%) Driving Licence
14 6 (0.85%) Low-Code
14 6 (0.85%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 94 (13.35%) Windows
2 56 (7.95%) Linux
3 20 (2.84%) Windows 10
4 12 (1.70%) Unix
5 8 (1.14%) Windows Server
6 4 (0.57%) Kali Linux
6 4 (0.57%) Windows Server 2012
6 4 (0.57%) Windows Server 2019
7 3 (0.43%) Mac OS
8 1 (0.14%) CentOS
8 1 (0.14%) Data ONTAP
8 1 (0.14%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.14%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 368 (52.27%) Cybersecurity
2 254 (36.08%) SIEM
3 249 (35.37%) Incident Response
4 154 (21.88%) Continuous Improvement
5 129 (18.32%) Cloud Security
6 123 (17.47%) Information Security
7 118 (16.76%) Vulnerability Management
8 103 (14.63%) Threat Intelligence
9 88 (12.50%) Problem-Solving
10 86 (12.22%) Threat Detection
11 85 (12.07%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
12 79 (11.22%) SOAR
13 76 (10.80%) Risk Management
14 68 (9.66%) MITRE ATT&CK
15 64 (9.09%) Roadmaps
16 60 (8.52%) AI
17 59 (8.38%) Mentoring
18 57 (8.10%) Security Monitoring
19 54 (7.67%) Use Case
20 51 (7.24%) ITSM
Programming Languages
1 103 (14.63%) PowerShell
2 91 (12.93%) Python
3 25 (3.55%) Bash
3 25 (3.55%) Kusto Query Language
4 11 (1.56%) SQL
5 10 (1.42%) Perl
6 9 (1.28%) C++
7 6 (0.85%) Bicep
8 5 (0.71%) JavaScript
9 4 (0.57%) C
10 3 (0.43%) C#
11 2 (0.28%) Go
11 2 (0.28%) Search Processing Language
11 2 (0.28%) Shell Script
12 1 (0.14%) Java
12 1 (0.14%) MATLAB
Qualifications
1 131 (18.61%) Security Cleared
2 105 (14.91%) SC Cleared
3 95 (13.49%) CISSP
4 62 (8.81%) CompTIA Security+
5 56 (7.95%) Degree
6 44 (6.25%) GIAC
7 43 (6.11%) CISM
8 33 (4.69%) Cisco Certification
9 31 (4.40%) CEH
10 23 (3.27%) (ISC)2 CCSP
10 23 (3.27%) Computer Science Degree
10 23 (3.27%) SANS
11 21 (2.98%) CREST Certified
12 18 (2.56%) GCIH
13 17 (2.41%) CompTIA CySA+
13 17 (2.41%) DV Cleared
14 16 (2.27%) CCSP
15 15 (2.13%) Azure Certification
16 14 (1.99%) Microsoft Certification
17 12 (1.70%) CISA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 132 (18.75%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 131 (18.61%) NIST
3 54 (7.67%) GDPR
4 47 (6.68%) GRC
5 45 (6.39%) Cyber Essentials
6 33 (4.69%) PCI DSS
7 21 (2.98%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 17 (2.41%) NCSC
9 15 (2.13%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 15 (2.13%) SOC 2
10 10 (1.42%) SLA
11 5 (0.71%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 4 (0.57%) Accessibility
12 4 (0.57%) SOC 3
13 3 (0.43%) Actionable Recommendations
13 3 (0.43%) COBIT
14 2 (0.28%) ISO 22301
14 2 (0.28%) ISO 9001
14 2 (0.28%) NIST 800
14 2 (0.28%) PMO
System Software
1 26 (3.69%) Active Directory
2 12 (1.70%) Docker
3 4 (0.57%) VMware ESXi
4 3 (0.43%) Virtual Machines
5 2 (0.28%) Firmware
5 2 (0.28%) VMware Infrastructure
6 1 (0.14%) vSphere
Systems Management
1 31 (4.40%) Microsoft Intune
2 28 (3.98%) SCCM
3 24 (3.41%) QRadar
4 22 (3.13%) Kubernetes
4 22 (3.13%) Terraform
5 13 (1.85%) Ansible
6 12 (1.70%) Single Sign-On
7 6 (0.85%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
8 5 (0.71%) CASB
8 5 (0.71%) FortiGate
8 5 (0.71%) Grafana
8 5 (0.71%) Graylog
8 5 (0.71%) vCenter Server
9 4 (0.57%) Computer Incident Response Team
10 3 (0.43%) CSIRT
11 2 (0.28%) Kibana
11 2 (0.28%) Nessus
12 1 (0.14%) Host Intrusion Detection System
12 1 (0.14%) Red Hat Satellite
Vendors
1 206 (29.26%) Microsoft
2 53 (7.53%) ServiceNow
3 50 (7.10%) Splunk
4 35 (4.97%) CrowdStrike
5 24 (3.41%) Cisco
5 24 (3.41%) SolarWinds
6 23 (3.27%) Qualys
7 15 (2.13%) OpenAI
8 14 (1.99%) Tenable
9 13 (1.85%) Google
10 11 (1.56%) Fortinet
10 11 (1.56%) Palo Alto
11 9 (1.28%) Rapid7
11 9 (1.28%) Sophos
12 8 (1.14%) VMware
13 7 (0.99%) Okta
13 7 (0.99%) Zscaler
14 6 (0.85%) Carbon Black
15 5 (0.71%) CheckPoint
15 5 (0.71%) Veeam