Intelligence agency GCHQ is looking for an “outstanding” CISO to take “one of the most high‑profile technical leadership roles in government.” 

The job is being advertised at a £96,981-£130,000 salary – which, at the lower end of that range, puts it on a par with a holiday parks GM.

(American readers, this works out at roughly $7,500/m-$9,000/m after tax, albeit with some nice perks and, of course, an NHS which means you don't need to sell your left nut to pay for, say, childbirth in a hospital.)

The successful candidate should have “expertise in securing cloud environments and emerging technologies” the job description said. 

Data from the Intelligence select committee in December 2025 suggests that GCHQ has been struggling to recruit at its desired levels in recent years.

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Its annual report showed that GCHQ recruited 586 new staff against a target of 820 in 2022/23 – and cut its recruitment target to 601 (which it still missed) in-year “due to recruitment and vetting capacity issues.” 

In late 2023 UK auditors flagged that the UK Security Vetting (UKSV) organisation is being held back by reliance on legacy IT which “is old and unstable, with regular outages that slow down and stop the clearance process for extended periods” - adding friction to an already slow process.

(The signals intelligence agency missed targets the prior year too – recruiting 386 staff against a target of 739 in the pandemic year 2021/22.)

New GCHQ CISO: Strategic direction…. 

The new GCHQ CISO will be involved in “shaping the strategic direction of information security to protect the UK against the most capable and persistent adversaries. The successful candidate will ensure operational resilience and secure innovation in support of national intelligence objectives,” an advert said – applications close Monday, March 23, 2026.

The British government appears to have started paying something closely approximating private sector salaries for senior technology leaders.

See : Is this HMG's highest tech salary yet?

The Department of Health and Social Care recently recruited for a Director General (DG) of Technology, Digital and Data at a salary of £285,000. The Ministry of Defence was recently recruiting for a DG/CIO at a similar level. 

This role however is at Deputy Director level in the  Civil Service’s hierarchy.

As cybersecurity professionals lined up to pooh-pooh the salary on social media, others hit back with the predictable response that the job is about the mission: “When you serve, you do so to support the mission,” said Horizon3.ai CEO Snehal Antani. “I took a 99% pay cut and proudly served within the government,” he added on X. (Antani served as Chief Technology Officer for Joint Special Operations Command between 2018-2021.)

He added: “I returned to industry a better leader that had the privilege of working on problems that truly mattered. I’d do the CISO job for free if it meant the $130k salary was spent on more body armor or more talent…”

GCHQ’s advert noted that “You will receive a minimum salary of £96,981 plus a non-concessionary payment of £3030 (subject to security compliance) and London Pay Addition of £6250 if contracted to a London work location.” (Alternative venues are Cheltenham or Manchester.)

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