GRC Job Trends in the North West

Governance, Risk Management and Compliance (GRC)
England > North West

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs advertised in the North West requiring GRC skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 31 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
31 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 156 137 178
Rank change year-on-year -19 +41 +97
Permanent jobs citing GRC 27 72 10
As % of all permanent jobs in the North West 0.44% 1.38% 0.26%
As % of the Quality Assurance & Compliance category 5.52% 7.56% 2.09%
Number of salaries quoted 23 15 9
10th Percentile £55,000 £35,100 £52,500
25th Percentile £62,500 £54,793 £57,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £57,500 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +13.04% -4.17% +15.38%
75th Percentile £75,000 £68,750 £75,000
90th Percentile £78,500 £76,158 £78,500
England median annual salary £65,000 £73,000 £70,000
% change year-on-year -10.96% +4.29% -

All Quality Assurance and Compliance Skills
North West

GRC falls under the Quality Assurance and Compliance category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring quality assurance or compliance skills in the North West.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for quality assurance or compliance skills 489 953 479
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the North West 7.95% 18.25% 12.41%
Number of salaries quoted 262 401 350
10th Percentile £30,750 £30,750 £27,000
25th Percentile £35,854 £35,750 £35,920
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £52,250 £47,500 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year +10.00% - -5.00%
75th Percentile £65,480 £62,500 £62,500
90th Percentile £80,000 £77,500 £76,250
England median annual salary £57,750 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -3.75% - +4.35%

GRC
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing GRC relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised in the North West.

GRC job vacancy trend in the North West

GRC
Salary Trend in the North West

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing GRC.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the North West citing GRC

GRC
Salary Histogram in the North West

Salary distribution for jobs citing GRC in the North West over the 6 months to 31 December 2025.

Salary histogram for GRC in the North West

GRC
Job Locations in the North West

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing GRC within the North West region over the 6 months to 31 December 2025. 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
Manchester -13 14 £72,500 +26.09% 26
Cheshire -15 10 £65,000 - 17
Cumbria - 2 - -
Merseyside -5 1 £45,000 - 6
GRC
England

GRC
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the North West 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 (3.70%) Firewall
1 1 (3.70%) Intrusion Detection
General
1 4 (14.81%) Organisational Skills
2 2 (7.41%) Social Skills
3 1 (3.70%) Inclusion and Diversity
3 1 (3.70%) Legal
3 1 (3.70%) Telecoms
Job Titles
1 14 (51.85%) Compliance Manager
2 7 (25.93%) Security Compliance Manager
2 7 (25.93%) Security Manager
3 4 (14.81%) Cybersecurity Manager
3 4 (14.81%) Risk Manager
4 3 (11.11%) Analyst
4 3 (11.11%) Lead
5 2 (7.41%) Architect
5 2 (7.41%) Cybersecurity Engineer
5 2 (7.41%) Enterprise Architect
5 2 (7.41%) Enterprise Information Architect
5 2 (7.41%) Enterprise Security Architect
5 2 (7.41%) Information Architect
5 2 (7.41%) Information Security Architect
5 2 (7.41%) PCI DSS Specialist
5 2 (7.41%) Principal Engineer
5 2 (7.41%) Principal Security Engineer
5 2 (7.41%) Security Analyst
5 2 (7.41%) Security Architect
5 2 (7.41%) Security Engineer
Miscellaneous
1 4 (14.81%) Data Protection Act
1 4 (14.81%) Management Information System
2 1 (3.70%) Cyber Defence
2 1 (3.70%) Security Posture
Processes & Methodologies
1 13 (48.15%) Cybersecurity
2 10 (37.04%) Information Security
3 7 (25.93%) Data Protection
4 6 (22.22%) Risk Management
5 5 (18.52%) Security Management
6 4 (14.81%) Attestation
6 4 (14.81%) Information Security Management
6 4 (14.81%) Security Architecture
7 3 (11.11%) Architecture Governance
7 3 (11.11%) Decision-Making
7 3 (11.11%) Security Operations
7 3 (11.11%) Stakeholder Management
8 2 (7.41%) Cyber Resilience
8 2 (7.41%) Enterprise Architecture
8 2 (7.41%) ISMS
8 2 (7.41%) Risk Assessment
8 2 (7.41%) SABSA
8 2 (7.41%) Strategic Thinking
8 2 (7.41%) TOGAF
8 2 (7.41%) Vulnerability Management
Qualifications
1 9 (33.33%) CISM
2 7 (25.93%) CISSP
3 5 (18.52%) CRISC
4 2 (7.41%) BPSS Clearance
4 2 (7.41%) CESG Certified Professional
4 2 (7.41%) CompTIA Security+
4 2 (7.41%) DBS Check
4 2 (7.41%) Degree
4 2 (7.41%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
4 2 (7.41%) TOGAF Certification
5 1 (3.70%) CISA
5 1 (3.70%) CISMP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 13 (48.15%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 7 (25.93%) NIST
2 7 (25.93%) PCI DSS
3 4 (14.81%) GDPR
4 2 (7.41%) Def Stans
4 2 (7.41%) ISO 22301
5 1 (3.70%) Cyber Essentials