Head of Security Jobs in the UK excluding London

Head of Security
UK > UK excluding London

The median Head of Security salary in the UK excluding London is £84,400 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 14 May 2025.

The table below provides salary benchmarking and summary statistics, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 561 736 716
Rank change year-on-year +175 -20 +80
Permanent jobs requiring a Head of Security 18 27 40
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 0.046% 0.038% 0.067%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.051% 0.040% 0.075%
Number of salaries quoted 13 22 29
10th Percentile £66,880 £60,639 £65,152
25th Percentile - £70,625 £75,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £84,400 £87,500 £95,000
Median % change year-on-year -3.54% -7.89% +22.58%
75th Percentile £97,500 £103,563 £120,000
90th Percentile £115,000 £114,625 £138,073
UK median annual salary £95,000 £95,000 £105,000
% change year-on-year - -9.52% +12.00%

All Permanent IT Job Vacancies
UK excluding London

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies in the UK excluding 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 the UK excluding London with a recognized job title 35,324 67,152 53,648
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 90.60% 94.79% 89.25%
Number of salaries quoted 18,511 47,504 30,595
10th Percentile £27,000 £26,750 £29,750
25th Percentile £37,574 £35,000 £38,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £51,645 £50,000 £53,000
Median % change year-on-year +3.29% -5.66% +5.64%
75th Percentile £65,000 £63,750 £68,750
90th Percentile £77,500 £76,250 £81,250
UK median annual salary £56,500 £52,500 £60,000
% change year-on-year +7.62% -12.50% -

Head of Security
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Job postings that featured Head of Security in the job title as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Job vacancy trend for Head of Security in the UK excluding London

Head of Security
Salary Trend in the UK excluding London

3-month moving average salary quoted in jobs citing Head of Security in the UK excluding London.

Salary trend for Head of Security in the UK excluding London

Head of Security
Salary Histogram in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution for jobs citing Head of Security in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 14 May 2025.

Salary histogram for Head of Security in the UK excluding London

Head of Security
Job Locations in the UK excluding 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 UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 14 May 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
South East +103 7 £87,500 +16.67% 9
North of England +52 7 £84,400 +10.37% 1
North West +10 7 £84,400 - 1
Midlands +54 2 - - 2
West Midlands +48 2 - - 1
Scotland +118 1 £95,000 -52.50%
East of England +45 1 £95,000 +26.67%
Head of Security
UK

Head of Security Skill Set
Top 30 Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the UK excluding London

For the 6 months to 14 May 2025, Head of Security job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number co-occurrences and as a proportion of all permanent job ads across the UK excluding London region featuring Head of Security in the job title.

1 16 (88.89%) Cybersecurity
2 8 (44.44%) Information Security
3 7 (38.89%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 7 (38.89%) CISSP
3 7 (38.89%) CISM
3 7 (38.89%) Risk Management
3 7 (38.89%) Cyber Essentials
4 6 (33.33%) Microsoft
5 5 (27.78%) BPSS Clearance
5 5 (27.78%) Incident Response
6 4 (22.22%) Entra ID
6 4 (22.22%) PCI DSS
6 4 (22.22%) Security Operations
6 4 (22.22%) ITIL
6 4 (22.22%) SIEM
7 3 (16.67%) Continuous Improvement
7 3 (16.67%) Degree
7 3 (16.67%) Finance
7 3 (16.67%) Microsoft Exchange
7 3 (16.67%) GDPR
7 3 (16.67%) Microsoft 365
7 3 (16.67%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 3 (16.67%) Security Posture
7 3 (16.67%) Cyber Resilience
7 3 (16.67%) Microsoft Purview
8 2 (11.11%) Analytical Skills
8 2 (11.11%) Cost Control
8 2 (11.11%) Tech Ops
8 2 (11.11%) Strategic Roadmap
8 2 (11.11%) NIST

Head of Security Skill Set
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the UK excluding London by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 3 (16.67%) Microsoft Exchange
Cloud Services
1 4 (22.22%) Entra ID
2 3 (16.67%) Microsoft 365
2 3 (16.67%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 2 (11.11%) Intrusion Detection
General
1 3 (16.67%) Finance
1 3 (16.67%) Inclusion and Diversity
2 2 (11.11%) Analytical Skills
2 2 (11.11%) Retail
3 1 (5.56%) Social Skills
Miscellaneous
1 3 (16.67%) Security Posture
2 2 (11.11%) Cyber Threat
2 2 (11.11%) Security Operations Centre
3 1 (5.56%) Cyber Security Posture
3 1 (5.56%) e-Learning
3 1 (5.56%) Greenfield Project
3 1 (5.56%) Management Information System
3 1 (5.56%) Onboarding
Processes & Methodologies
1 16 (88.89%) Cybersecurity
2 8 (44.44%) Information Security
3 7 (38.89%) Risk Management
4 5 (27.78%) Incident Response
5 4 (22.22%) ITIL
5 4 (22.22%) Security Operations
5 4 (22.22%) SIEM
6 3 (16.67%) Continuous Improvement
6 3 (16.67%) Cyber Resilience
7 2 (11.11%) Cost Control
7 2 (11.11%) Digital Strategy
7 2 (11.11%) Malware Analysis
7 2 (11.11%) Network Monitoring
7 2 (11.11%) PRINCE2
7 2 (11.11%) Project Delivery
7 2 (11.11%) Project Management
7 2 (11.11%) Roadmaps
7 2 (11.11%) Service Delivery
7 2 (11.11%) Strategic Roadmap
7 2 (11.11%) Tech Ops
Qualifications
1 7 (38.89%) CISM
1 7 (38.89%) CISSP
2 5 (27.78%) BPSS Clearance
3 3 (16.67%) Degree
4 2 (11.11%) CISA
4 2 (11.11%) CRISC
4 2 (11.11%) IISP
4 2 (11.11%) ITIL Certification
4 2 (11.11%) SANS
5 1 (5.56%) Computer Science Degree
5 1 (5.56%) Master's Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 7 (38.89%) Cyber Essentials
1 7 (38.89%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 4 (22.22%) PCI DSS
3 3 (16.67%) GDPR
4 2 (11.11%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
4 2 (11.11%) NIST
4 2 (11.11%) Sarbanes-Oxley
5 1 (5.56%) Actionable Recommendations
System Software
1 1 (5.56%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 1 (5.56%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 6 (33.33%) Microsoft
2 2 (11.11%) AlienVault