Is the AWS Security – Specialty worth it? What 155 job postings say
155 open job postings from 122 employers name AWS Security – Specialty. 23% require it; the rest list it as a nice-to-have. It's asked for most in security jobs, where 3% of postings name it.
23% of the 155 postings that name it require it. It signals experience: 95% of the postings that state a level are senior or above.
- Employers name it
- 12219th of 40 we track
- Require it
- 23%of postings that name it
- Level
- ProfessionalAWS: “Specialty”
- Exam fee
- $300official price
- Valid for
- 3 yearsthen renew
Who should take it?
Built from what the 155 postings ask for, not from opinions.
Take it if you…
- target employers that screen for it23% of the postings that name it require it
- already have years in the field95% of these postings are senior or above
Skip it (for now) if you…
- want it to land your first jobOnly 1% of the postings that name it are junior or intern roles
- don't meet the requirements yetRequired: none formally; AWS recommends 5 years of IT security and 2+ years securing AWS workloads
Recognition: recognised by a narrower set of employers, 19th of 40 by the number of employers that name it (122). We can't yet measure whether AWS Security – Specialty gets a particular person hired: that needs outcomes from people who earned it.
How much it counts in each kind of job
Share of each job family's postings that name AWS Security – Specialty, and how many of those require it.
Job titles
AWS Security – Specialty shows up most in Security Engineer, Cloud Security Engineer and Security Architect postings. Ranked by the number of different employers, so one big hirer can't fill the list.
| Job (level and location removed) | Employers | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| Security Engineer | 28 | 32 |
| Cloud Security Engineer | 18 | 19 |
| Security Architect | 8 | 9 |
| DevSecOps Engineer | 8 | 8 |
| Application Security Engineer | 3 | 4 |
Required or a plus?
How the 155 postings that name AWS Security – Specialty ask for it.
Who it's for: seniority
Level stated in the job title, 104 postings.
Who asks for it
Employers with the most postings
- Accenture Federal Services · 6
- True Zero Technologies · 6
- Dark Wolf Solutions · 4
- Muon Space · 3
- SteerBridge · 3
- Veeam Software · 3
- AnaVation · 2
- Applied Intuition · 2
- AppViewX · 2
- GuidePoint Security · 2
Where the jobs are
59% are fully remote (of 81 postings that say).
67% of the postings are in the United States: the job boards we read lean towards US tech companies, so other markets are under-represented.
What these jobs pay
Advertised US base pay in postings that name AWS Security – Specialty and publish a salary range (70 postings).
Often asked for together
Other certifications named in the same postings as AWS Security – Specialty.
Share of the postings that name AWS Security – Specialty. Postings often list several certifications as alternatives (“CISSP, CISM or equivalent”).
Compared with similar certifications
AWS certification (any), Azure certification (any) and Google Cloud certification (any) are named by more employers.
| Certification | Level | Exam fee | Employers | Required | Senior or above | Junior or intern |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AWS certification (any) | – | – | 428 | 27% | 94% | 3% |
| Azure certification (any) | – | – | 280 | 30% | 93% | 3% |
| Google Cloud certification (any) | – | – | 129 | 33% | 95% | 2% |
| AWS Security – Specialty | Professional | $300 | 122 | 23% | 95% | 1% |
| Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305) | Expert | $165 (US) | 84 | 36% | 99% | 1% |
| AWS Solutions Architect – Professional | Professional | $300 | 72 | 24% | 100% | 0% |
| Azure Administrator (AZ-104) | Associate | $165 (US) | 67 | 34% | 81% | 5% |
| Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) | Entry level | – | 54 | 42% | 69% | 19% |
| AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner | Entry level | $100 | 51 | 30% | 61% | 32% |
| Google Professional Cloud Architect | Professional | $200 | 50 | 25% | 95% | 2% |
Exam and requirements
SCS-C03. From the official AWS pages, checked 14 November 2026. Formats change: confirm before you book.
What the exam covers
Share of the exam, from the official exam outline.
What it costs
- Exam
- $300
Official prices only. Courses, practice tests and retakes come on top; their prices vary too much between providers to average.
Sources: AWS: SCS-C03 exam guide, AWS: Security – Specialty.
How we count
- Source. 199,799 unique open postings from company job boards on Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, crawled November 2026.
- Named only. A posting counts when it names AWS Security – Specialty, not the bare word “certified”. Certifications offered as a benefit (“we pay for your exam”) don't count.
- Required or a plus. Read from the section and the sentence the mention sits in.
- Checked by hand. In 150 random matches the extractor had never seen, 148 named the right certification and 147 had the right type.
- Minimum sample. Seniority, locations and pay are shown only with at least 30 postings behind them.
- Limits. A posting is what an employer asks for, not who they hire. The boards lean towards tech companies and the US.
FAQ
Is AWS Security – Specialty worth it in 2026?
It depends on the job you're aiming at. 122 employers name it in 155 open postings, most often in security (3% of that family's postings). 23% require it. For those jobs it can decide whether your application gets past the first screen.
Will AWS Security – Specialty help me get an entry-level job?
Rarely on its own. Only 1% of the postings that name it and state a level are junior or intern roles; 95% are senior, lead or staff. Employers treat it as a mark of experience, not a way in.
How much do jobs that ask for AWS Security – Specialty pay?
US postings that name it and publish a salary advertise a median base pay of $185K (middle half $160K–$206K, 70 postings). That's what the jobs pay, not what the certificate adds.
Which certifications are asked for together with AWS Security – Specialty?
Most often AWS certification (any) (named in 81% of the same postings), CISSP (named in 61% of the same postings) and CCSP (named in 35% of the same postings).
What is on the AWS Security – Specialty exam, and what is the pass mark?
The official outline weights identity and access management (20%), infrastructure security (18%) and data protection (18%) most. Pass mark: 750 on a scale of 100–1,000.
Does AWS Security – Specialty expire?
3 years.
How much does AWS Security – Specialty cost?
SCS-C03: $300, according to the official page as of 14 November 2026. Prices change, so check before you pay.
Not sure a certification is your gap?
See all 40 certifications side by side, or check the skills employers in your target role ask for.