Head of Security Job Trends

Head of Security
UK

The median Head of Security salary in the UK is £100,000 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 596 649 677
Rank change year-on-year +53 +28 +222
Permanent jobs requiring a Head of Security 57 50 44
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.095% 0.093% 0.079%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.10% 0.10% 0.083%
Number of salaries quoted 55 38 40
10th Percentile £78,125 £72,000 £63,625
25th Percentile £88,875 £76,500 £75,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £100,000 £94,750 £95,000
Median % change year-on-year +5.54% -0.26% -
75th Percentile £119,375 £120,000 £120,000
90th Percentile £126,500 £132,375 £132,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £100,000 £94,500 £95,000
% change year-on-year +5.82% -0.53% +5.56%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
UK

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

Permanent vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 54,426 49,714 53,040
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 90.72% 92.90% 95.25%
Number of salaries quoted 33,710 25,743 40,880
10th Percentile £28,500 £33,625 £30,000
25th Percentile £37,000 £45,000 £41,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £57,500
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +4.35% -4.17%
75th Percentile £75,000 £78,750 £77,500
90th Percentile £95,000 £97,500 £96,250
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £52,609 £50,000
% change year-on-year -4.96% +5.22% -5.25%

Head of Security
Job Vacancy Trend

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.

Head of Security job vacancy trend in the UK

Head of Security
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for Head of Security job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for Head of Security job vacancies in the UK

Head of Security
Salary Histogram

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

Salary histogram for Head of Security in the UK

Head of Security
Top 11 Job Locations

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 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
England +68 55 £100,000 +5.82% 7
UK excluding London +62 29 £100,000 +5.82% 6
London +55 26 £112,500 -2.17% 2
North of England +12 13 £100,000 - 5
Midlands +31 12 £100,000 -
West Midlands +30 12 £100,000 -
Work from Home +71 11 £110,000 - 12
Yorkshire - 7 £100,000 - 4
North East - 5 £105,000 - 1
South East +29 4 £86,500 +1.17%
North West +11 1 £86,000 -14.00%

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

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 featuring Head of Security in the job title.

1 37 (64.91%) Cybersecurity
2 36 (63.16%) Risk Management
3 33 (57.89%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 30 (52.63%) NIST
5 29 (50.88%) CISSP
6 27 (47.37%) Information Security
7 26 (45.61%) Cyber Essentials
7 26 (45.61%) Incident Response
8 22 (38.60%) CISM
8 22 (38.60%) GDPR
8 22 (38.60%) Vulnerability Management
9 19 (33.33%) Azure
10 18 (31.58%) Roadmaps
11 16 (28.07%) AWS
11 16 (28.07%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
11 16 (28.07%) Strategic Roadmap
12 15 (26.32%) Microsoft
13 14 (24.56%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 13 (22.81%) CISA
14 13 (22.81%) Firewall
14 13 (22.81%) Stakeholder Management
15 11 (19.30%) Due Diligence
15 11 (19.30%) PCI DSS
15 11 (19.30%) Security Operations
15 11 (19.30%) Service Delivery
16 10 (17.54%) CASB
16 10 (17.54%) Continuous Improvement
16 10 (17.54%) Microsoft 365
16 10 (17.54%) Nutanix
16 10 (17.54%) SD-WAN

Head of Security 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:

Cloud Services
1 19 (33.33%) Azure
2 16 (28.07%) AWS
3 10 (17.54%) Microsoft 365
3 10 (17.54%) Nutanix
4 1 (1.75%) GCP
Communications & Networking
1 13 (22.81%) Firewall
2 10 (17.54%) SD-WAN
2 10 (17.54%) WAN
3 2 (3.51%) VPN
4 1 (1.75%) Wi-Fi
General
1 15 (26.32%) Legal
2 14 (24.56%) Social Skills
3 10 (17.54%) Retail
4 9 (15.79%) Influencing Skills
4 9 (15.79%) Presentation Skills
5 8 (14.04%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 7 (12.28%) Finance
7 5 (8.77%) Analytical Skills
7 5 (8.77%) Banking
7 5 (8.77%) Law
7 5 (8.77%) Public Sector
8 3 (5.26%) Organisational Skills
9 2 (3.51%) Manufacturing
Miscellaneous
1 10 (17.54%) Management Information System
2 9 (15.79%) Security Posture
3 4 (7.02%) Onboarding
4 2 (3.51%) Cyber Threat
4 2 (3.51%) Cyberattack
5 1 (1.75%) Cyber Defence
5 1 (1.75%) Data Protection Act
5 1 (1.75%) Enterprise Cloud
5 1 (1.75%) IoT
5 1 (1.75%) Operational Technology
5 1 (1.75%) Security Operations Centre
5 1 (1.75%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 1 (1.75%) Linux
1 1 (1.75%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 37 (64.91%) Cybersecurity
2 36 (63.16%) Risk Management
3 27 (47.37%) Information Security
4 26 (45.61%) Incident Response
5 22 (38.60%) Vulnerability Management
6 18 (31.58%) Roadmaps
7 16 (28.07%) Strategic Roadmap
8 14 (24.56%) Stakeholder Engagement
9 13 (22.81%) Stakeholder Management
10 11 (19.30%) Due Diligence
10 11 (19.30%) Security Operations
10 11 (19.30%) Service Delivery
11 10 (17.54%) Continuous Improvement
11 10 (17.54%) Threat Intelligence
11 10 (17.54%) Zero Trust
12 9 (15.79%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
12 9 (15.79%) Threat Detection
13 8 (14.04%) Data Protection
13 8 (14.04%) Incident Management
13 8 (14.04%) Strategic Thinking
Qualifications
1 29 (50.88%) CISSP
2 22 (38.60%) CISM
3 13 (22.81%) CISA
4 5 (8.77%) Azure Certification
4 5 (8.77%) Degree
5 4 (7.02%) AWS Certification
5 4 (7.02%) AWS Certified Solutions Architect
5 4 (7.02%) Computer Science Degree
5 4 (7.02%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
5 4 (7.02%) Master's Degree
5 4 (7.02%) Microsoft Certification
6 2 (3.51%) CRISC
7 1 (1.75%) CGEIT
7 1 (1.75%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
7 1 (1.75%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
7 1 (1.75%) OSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 33 (57.89%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 30 (52.63%) NIST
3 26 (45.61%) Cyber Essentials
4 22 (38.60%) GDPR
5 16 (28.07%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 11 (19.30%) PCI DSS
7 4 (7.02%) COBIT
8 2 (3.51%) GRC
9 1 (1.75%) Actionable Recommendations
9 1 (1.75%) Sarbanes-Oxley
Systems Management
1 10 (17.54%) CASB
2 7 (12.28%) Microsoft Intune
2 7 (12.28%) SCCM
Vendors
1 15 (26.32%) Microsoft
2 2 (3.51%) Rapid7
3 1 (1.75%) Google
3 1 (1.75%) Juniper
3 1 (1.75%) Qualys