Head of Security Job Trends in London

Head of Security
England > London

The median Head of Security salary in London is £112,500 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 14 January 2026.

The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 348 403 421
Rank change year-on-year +55 +18 +205
Permanent jobs requiring a Head of Security 26 25 22
As % of all permanent jobs in London 0.18% 0.16% 0.12%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.20% 0.17% 0.13%
Number of salaries quoted 25 22 18
10th Percentile £88,150 £65,000 £50,875
25th Percentile £92,500 £78,750 £65,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £112,500 £115,000 £83,750
Median % change year-on-year -2.17% +37.31% -16.25%
75th Percentile £125,000 £128,438 £120,000
90th Percentile £151,000 £135,000 £145,000
England median annual salary £100,000 £94,500 £100,000
% change year-on-year +5.82% -5.50% +5.26%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
London

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies in London. 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 permanent jobs in our overall sample.

Permanent vacancies in London with a recognized job title 12,862 14,378 17,329
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 91.20% 92.68% 95.19%
Number of salaries quoted 8,531 8,295 13,928
10th Percentile £36,250 £42,500 £41,250
25th Percentile £50,000 £56,000 £55,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £72,500 £75,000 £75,000
Median % change year-on-year -3.33% - +3.45%
75th Percentile £95,000 £96,250 £95,000
90th Percentile £113,750 £120,000 £115,000
England median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £57,500
% change year-on-year -8.33% +4.35% -6.50%

Head of Security
Job Vacancy Trend in London

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

Head of Security job vacancy trend in London

Head of Security
Salary Trend in London

Salary distribution trend for Head of Security job vacancies in London.

Salary distribution trend for Head of Security job vacancies in London

Head of Security
Salary Histogram in London

Salary distribution for jobs citing Head of Security in London over the 6 months to 14 January 2026.

Salary histogram for Head of Security in London

Head of Security
Job Locations in London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Head of Security within the London region over the 6 months to 14 January 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
West London +8 9 £95,000 -26.92% 2
Central London +36 1 £112,500 -5.26%
Head of Security
England

Head of Security Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in London

For the 6 months to 14 January 2026, Head of Security 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 permanent job ads across the London region featuring Head of Security in the job title.

1 24 (92.31%) CISSP
2 22 (84.62%) Risk Management
3 21 (80.77%) Cybersecurity
3 21 (80.77%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 20 (76.92%) CISM
5 19 (73.08%) Incident Response
6 18 (69.23%) NIST
7 17 (65.38%) Cyber Essentials
7 17 (65.38%) GDPR
8 16 (61.54%) Information Security
9 13 (50.00%) Firewall
10 12 (46.15%) CISA
10 12 (46.15%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
10 12 (46.15%) Roadmaps
10 12 (46.15%) Vulnerability Management
11 11 (42.31%) AWS
11 11 (42.31%) Azure
11 11 (42.31%) Due Diligence
11 11 (42.31%) Strategic Roadmap
12 10 (38.46%) CASB
12 10 (38.46%) Nutanix
12 10 (38.46%) PCI DSS
12 10 (38.46%) SD-WAN
12 10 (38.46%) WAN
12 10 (38.46%) Zero Trust
13 9 (34.62%) Service Delivery
13 9 (34.62%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 8 (30.77%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
14 8 (30.77%) Data Protection
14 8 (30.77%) Threat Intelligence

Head of Security Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in London 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:

Cloud Services
1 11 (42.31%) AWS
1 11 (42.31%) Azure
2 10 (38.46%) Nutanix
3 4 (15.38%) Microsoft 365
Communications & Networking
1 13 (50.00%) Firewall
2 10 (38.46%) SD-WAN
2 10 (38.46%) WAN
3 2 (7.69%) VPN
4 1 (3.85%) Wi-Fi
General
1 14 (53.85%) Legal
2 9 (34.62%) Influencing Skills
3 6 (23.08%) Retail
4 5 (19.23%) Law
4 5 (19.23%) Social Skills
5 4 (15.38%) Finance
6 3 (11.54%) Banking
6 3 (11.54%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 1 (3.85%) Analytical Skills
7 1 (3.85%) Organisational Skills
7 1 (3.85%) Presentation Skills
7 1 (3.85%) Public Sector
Miscellaneous
1 4 (15.38%) Management Information System
2 2 (7.69%) Cyber Threat
2 2 (7.69%) Security Posture
3 1 (3.85%) Data Protection Act
3 1 (3.85%) Enterprise Cloud
3 1 (3.85%) IoT
3 1 (3.85%) Operational Technology
3 1 (3.85%) Security Operations Centre
3 1 (3.85%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 1 (3.85%) Linux
1 1 (3.85%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 22 (84.62%) Risk Management
2 21 (80.77%) Cybersecurity
3 19 (73.08%) Incident Response
4 16 (61.54%) Information Security
5 12 (46.15%) Roadmaps
5 12 (46.15%) Vulnerability Management
6 11 (42.31%) Due Diligence
6 11 (42.31%) Strategic Roadmap
7 10 (38.46%) Zero Trust
8 9 (34.62%) Service Delivery
8 9 (34.62%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 8 (30.77%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
9 8 (30.77%) Data Protection
9 8 (30.77%) Threat Intelligence
10 7 (26.92%) Data Mapping
10 7 (26.92%) Data Security
10 7 (26.92%) Impact Assessments
11 5 (19.23%) Security Operations
11 5 (19.23%) Stakeholder Management
11 5 (19.23%) Threat Detection
Qualifications
1 24 (92.31%) CISSP
2 20 (76.92%) CISM
3 12 (46.15%) CISA
4 1 (3.85%) Azure Certification
4 1 (3.85%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
4 1 (3.85%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (80.77%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 18 (69.23%) NIST
3 17 (65.38%) Cyber Essentials
3 17 (65.38%) GDPR
4 12 (46.15%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
5 10 (38.46%) PCI DSS
6 1 (3.85%) Actionable Recommendations
6 1 (3.85%) GRC
Systems Management
1 10 (38.46%) CASB
2 7 (26.92%) Microsoft Intune
2 7 (26.92%) SCCM
Vendors
1 6 (23.08%) Microsoft
2 1 (3.85%) Juniper