Security Manager and CISO salary
What security managers, directors and CISOs are offered right now, taken from the salary ranges employers print in their own open postings rather than from self-reported surveys. The headline band is for every level together; the tables below separate first jobs from senior seats, remote from on-site, and one employer from another.
Typical means the span from the 25th percentile of range midpoints to the 90th percentile of range tops, every figure taken as a full-time year (an hourly rate times 2,080 hours). A group below needs enough distinct ranges for a figure of its own; where it has fewer, the table says so instead of guessing. The methodology explains how postings are read.
By seniority
Pay at each rung, from intern to manager
Titles are grouped by the level they name. A title with no level word is usually a mid-level seat.
| Level | With a salary | Typical | Middle |
|---|---|---|---|
| No level in the title | 10 | $229k–$393k/yr | $294k/yr |
| Senior, staff or principal | 51 | $209k–$320k/yr | $225k/yr |
| Lead or manager | 74 | $188k–$402k/yr | $228k/yr |
Workplace
Remote against on-site and hybrid
| Workplace | With a salary | Typical | Middle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Remote | 56 | $211k–$373k/yr | $228k/yr |
| On-site or hybrid | 79 | $190k–$387k/yr | $229k/yr |
Kind of employer
Who pays more: vendors, banks, cloud companies or labs
| Employer kind | With a salary | Typical | Middle |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI labs | 14 | $228k–$485k/yr | $299k/yr |
| Software and internet companies | 33 | $213k–$401k/yr | $245k/yr |
| Defense, aerospace and hardware | 12 | $203k–$398k/yr | $233k/yr |
| Security software companies | 26 | $186k–$302k/yr | $224k/yr |
| Security consultancies and managed services | 4 | $208k–$312k/yr | $222k/yr |
| Finance, payments and crypto | 13 | $209k–$324k/yr | $221k/yr |
| Cloud, data and infrastructure | 33 | $176k–$315k/yr | $216k/yr |
Employers
Best-paying employers for security managers, directors and CISOs
Only employers with enough stated ranges in this specialty for a figure of their own, highest middle first.
| Employer | With a salary | Typical | Middle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | 6 | $404k–$555k/yr | $430k/yr |
| Roblox | 3 | $319k–$489k/yr | $320k/yr |
| Affirm | 3 | $237k–$341k/yr | $265k/yr |
| Anduril Industries | 4 | $200k–$378k/yr | $265k/yr |
| Palo Alto Networks | 3 | $233k–$288k/yr | $247k/yr |
| CoreWeave | 3 | $241k–$297k/yr | $241k/yr |
| DoorDash | 3 | $239k–$407k/yr | $239k/yr |
| WHOOP | 3 | $214k–$265k/yr | $233k/yr |
| OpenAI | 8 | $224k–$343k/yr | $229k/yr |
| Databricks | 7 | $212k–$309k/yr | $223k/yr |
Open now
The highest salaries stated in open postings
- Engineering Manager, Hardware Platform Security · San Francisco, CA | Seattle, WA$485,000-$625,000 per year
- Senior Director, Privacy, Product and Platform Security · San Mateo, CA, United States$457,970-$525,510 per year
- CISO · Mountain View, CA$424,300 - $489,400 per year
- Engineering Manager, Agent Security Partnerships · New York City, NY | Seattle, WA; San Francisco, CA | New York City, NY$405,000-$485,000 per year
- Software Engineering Manager, Network Security · San Francisco, CA | New York City, NY$405,000-$485,000 per year
- Manager, Applied AI Cyber Specialists · San Francisco, CA | New York City, NY$380,000-$450,000 per year
- Senior Director, Global Cyber Defense · United States - Remote$349,600-$437,000 per year
- Technical Program Manager, Agent Safety & Security · San Francisco, CA | New York City, NY$365,000-$435,000 per year
- Cyber AI Partner Director · New York City$297,000-$420,000 per year
- Director of Product Security · New York$272,000-$408,000 per year
Every security leadership role with a salary, highest first.
Questions
Security Manager and CISO pay, answered from the postings
What salary do security managers, directors and CISOs earn in 2026?
Open postings for security managers, directors and CISOs state a typical $202k–$384k/yr, with the middle at $229k/yr. That rests on 130 distinct salary ranges from 79 employers, read 11 Nov 2026. All figures are full-time yearly salaries in US dollars: an hourly, weekly or monthly rate in a posting is multiplied by 2,080, 52 or 12 (40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year).
Do remote security leadership roles pay less?
On today's postings remote roles state a middle of $228k/yr and on-site or hybrid roles $229k/yr, so on-site and hybrid seats pay more in the middle of the range. Both figures come from 135 open roles that state a salary.
Where do security managers, directors and CISOs get the highest offers?
Of the employers with enough stated ranges to compare, Anthropic has the highest middle, $430k/yr, followed by Roblox ($320k/yr). The table on this page ranks every employer with a figure of its own.
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