Head of Cybersecurity Contract Job Trends

Head of Cybersecurity
UK

The median Head of Cybersecurity daily rate in the UK is £900, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 6 February 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
6 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 598 526 576
Rank change year-on-year -72 +50 +175
Contract jobs requiring a Head of Cybersecurity 3 1 9
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.008% 0.003% 0.020%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.008% 0.003% 0.022%
Number of daily rates quoted 1 0 6
10th Percentile - - £675
25th Percentile £850 - £775
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £900 - £850
Median % change year-on-year - - +21.43%
75th Percentile £949 - £966
90th Percentile - - £994
UK excluding London median daily rate £900 - £1,000
% change year-on-year - - +31.15%

All Contract IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 35,834 28,947 41,693
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.51% 92.90% 93.12%
Number of daily rates quoted 22,581 17,764 27,572
10th Percentile £300 £291 £275
25th Percentile £406 £408 £410
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £613 £638 £638
90th Percentile £719 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £477 £490
% change year-on-year -0.42% -2.65% -2.00%
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,159 838 2,289
10th Percentile £14.50 £15.98 £13.15
25th Percentile £18.54 £21.25 £16.54
Median hourly rate £29.65 £33.00 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -10.17% -5.71% -
75th Percentile £61.25 £62.64 £61.60
90th Percentile £71.00 £75.00 £73.05
UK excluding London median hourly rate £27.77 £31.76 £36.00
% change year-on-year -12.56% -11.78% +10.77%

Head of Cybersecurity
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Head of Cybersecurity' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Head of Cybersecurity job vacancy trend in the UK

Head of Cybersecurity
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Head of Cybersecurity job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Head of Cybersecurity job vacancies in the UK

Head of Cybersecurity
Top 5 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Head of Cybersecurity within the UK over the 6 months to 6 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
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England -62 3 £900 - 9
London - 2 - - 5
UK excluding London -74 1 £900 - 6
Work from Home - 1 £900 - 4
South East - 1 £900 - 2

Head of Cybersecurity Skill Set
Top 17 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 6 February 2026, Head of Cybersecurity contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads featuring Head of Cybersecurity in the job title.

1 3 (100.00%) Cybersecurity
2 1 (33.33%) Application Security
2 1 (33.33%) Cloud Security
2 1 (33.33%) Cyber Resilience
2 1 (33.33%) Firewall
2 1 (33.33%) Identity Management
2 1 (33.33%) Information Security
2 1 (33.33%) Intrusion Detection
2 1 (33.33%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 1 (33.33%) Network Security
2 1 (33.33%) NIST
2 1 (33.33%) People Management
2 1 (33.33%) Problem-Solving
2 1 (33.33%) Roadmaps
2 1 (33.33%) SC Cleared
2 1 (33.33%) Security Architecture
2 1 (33.33%) Security Cleared

Head of Cybersecurity Skill Set
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:

Communications & Networking
1 1 (33.33%) Firewall
1 1 (33.33%) Intrusion Detection
1 1 (33.33%) Network Security
General
1 1 (33.33%) Public Sector
1 1 (33.33%) Social Skills
Miscellaneous
1 1 (33.33%) Cyber Security Posture
1 1 (33.33%) Operational Technology
1 1 (33.33%) Security Posture
Processes & Methodologies
1 3 (100.00%) Cybersecurity
2 1 (33.33%) Application Security
2 1 (33.33%) Cloud Security
2 1 (33.33%) Cyber Resilience
2 1 (33.33%) Identity Management
2 1 (33.33%) Information Security
2 1 (33.33%) People Management
2 1 (33.33%) Problem-Solving
2 1 (33.33%) Roadmaps
2 1 (33.33%) Security Architecture
Qualifications
1 1 (33.33%) SC Cleared
1 1 (33.33%) Security Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (33.33%) ISO/IEC 27001
1 1 (33.33%) NIST