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GRC Manager Salary in the United Kingdom 2026: £152K Median & Range

What does a GRC Manager earn in the United Kingdom?

The median GRC Manager salary in the United Kingdom is £152K in 2026, with a typical range from £138K to £166K. Year-on-year movement is still building as more matched salary data is published. This is base salary for permanent employees.

What does A GRC Manager do?

A GRC Manager is responsible for leading the information security governance, risk, and compliance function, owning the risk framework, compliance programme, and policy estate, and reporting to the CISO on the organisation's risk posture.

Day-to-day responsibilities

  • Managing the enterprise information security risk register and risk treatment plans
  • Overseeing ISO 27001
  • GDPR
  • DORA
  • NIS2
  • SOC 2 compliance programmes
Low demand+22% ISO 27001 Lead Implementer+24% DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act)+19% GDPR and Data Protection

Permanent Salary Benchmark for GRC Manager

Permanent salary benchmarks for GRC Manager in the United Kingdom, from the low end to the top of the range, based on published market compensation data.

£152K

national median per year

£152K
£103K£220K
Low
£103K
P25
£138K
Median
£152K
P75
£166K
High
£220K

High evidence · United Kingdom annual benchmark · 2026 data · How we check our numbers

GRC Manager Salary by Seniority Level

Seniority bands are shown where independent benchmarks exist across experience levels for this role and market.

Director

£152K

£138K-£166K middle band

Manager

£80K

£74K-£83K middle band

Skills That Command a Premium for GRC Managers

Certain technical skills push GRC Manager salaries in the United Kingdom significantly above the £152K median. These are the most impactful skills to develop or highlight when negotiating.

ISO 27001 Lead Implementer

+22%

salary premium vs median

DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act)

+24%

salary premium vs median

GDPR and Data Protection

+19%

salary premium vs median

CISM (Certified Information Security Manager)

+21%

salary premium vs median

Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM)

+18%

salary premium vs median

ServiceNow GRC

+17%

salary premium vs median

GRC Manager Take-Home Pay in the UK (2026/27)

After Income Tax & National Insurance · single, standard payroll deductions

Entry

Take-home/year

£84,926

Effective rate

38.5%

Median

Take-home/year

£92,346

Effective rate

39.2%

Senior

Take-home/year

£99,766

Effective rate

39.9%

See the full band-by-band breakdown for GRC Manager

Adjust for your actual salary, see each Income Tax and NI band, and get monthly and weekly figures.

Contract break-even

What day rate beats a £152K GRC Manager salary after tax?

Break-even day rate

£779/day

to match £152K permanent net

Permanent net take-home

£92,346/yr

£152K gross, 2026/27 rates

Outside IR35 (ltd), 220 days, no pension. Net figures are estimates; use the calculators for exact results.

Market Demand & Outlook

Hiring demand, top locations, and career outlook for GRC Manager

High Confidence

Demand level

Low

Based on hiring signals relative to similar roles in this market.

Top hiring locations

LondonScotlandNorth East EnglandNorthern Ireland

Career outlook

Outlook building

GRC Manager pay guidance is based on the current £152K median; year-on-year comparison data is not yet available for this role.

Compare this role

Put the GRC Manager benchmark in context

Compare adjacent roles, employer estimates, published agency guides, and an offer against the market before you make a decision.

Why GRC Manager Salaries Are at This Level

GRC Managers in the United Kingdom earn a median salary of £152K in 2026, with a typical range from £138K at the 25th percentile to £166K at the 75th percentile. This benchmark reflects published market compensation data for annual pay across the United Kingdom market.

City-level salary coverage for this role is still limited, so the country-level benchmark is currently the strongest view. As more location data is published, city comparison depth will expand on this page.

At experience level, and upper bands continue to trend above the median. Demand is currently steady for this role based on recent coverage and salary momentum signals.

Frequently Asked Questions About GRC Manager Salary in the United Kingdom

1

What is the median GRC Manager salary in the United Kingdom?

The median GRC Manager salary in the United Kingdom is £152K in 2026. The typical range runs from £138K at the 25th percentile to £166K at the 75th percentile, based on published market compensation data.

2

Is GRC Manager salary increasing in the United Kingdom?

Year-on-year trend data is not yet available for this role. Check back as the dataset grows.

3

What does a GRC Manager take home after tax in the United Kingdom?

A GRC Manager earning the median £152K gross in the United Kingdom will take home a net amount after income tax and other deductions. Use the PayMetric Labs take-home calculator on this page for an exact breakdown by tax band.

4

What experience level earns the most as a GRC Manager in the United Kingdom?

Pay increases significantly with seniority for GRC Managers in the United Kingdom. See the seniority band breakdown above for exact figures at each level.

5

Is a £152K GRC Manager hybrid role worth the commute in the UK?

On a 3-day hybrid schedule with a typical UK commute (£15/day travel, 60-minute round trip, daily meal premium, annual wardrobe costs), your true net income at £152K is approximately £76,926 per year, compared to £92,346 net without any commute. The commute costs £15,420 per year in direct expenses and lost time. A fully remote role paying £122,100 would leave you equally well off.

6

What remote salary is equivalent to a £152K hybrid GRC Manager salary in the UK?

Assuming a 3-day hybrid schedule with typical commute costs, you would need a remote salary of at least £122,100 to match the true net value of a £152K hybrid GRC Manager role in the UK. For a 5-day fully in-office role, the break-even remote salary rises to £97,300, as the higher office frequency increases travel, meal, and time costs significantly.

7

How many hours per year does a GRC Manager in the UK spend commuting?

On a 3-day hybrid schedule with a 60-minute round trip, a GRC Manager in the UK spends approximately 138 hours commuting per year, equivalent to 17 full working days. Valued at the implied hourly rate for a £152K salary (£88/hr), that time is worth £12,160 annually.

8

How does the 2026 Return to Office trend affect GRC Manager compensation in the UK?

As more employers in the UK reintroduce hybrid or full in-office mandates in 2026, the true value of a GRC Manager salary depends increasingly on the number of required office days. At £152K, each additional day in the office costs roughly £4,973 per year in direct and time costs (moving from 3 to 5 days). Candidates evaluating offers should compare true net income rather than gross salary alone.

9

What day rate do you need to earn more than a GRC Manager permanent salary in the United Kingdom?

A GRC Manager earning £152K permanently takes home approximately £92,346 per year after tax in the United Kingdom. As a outside IR35 limited company contractor at 220 billable days, you need a day rate of at least £779/day to match that net income. Anything above that rate puts more money in your pocket compared to the permanent equivalent. Use the IR35 calculator at /uk/calculators/ir35-calculator for a full breakdown.

10

Is contracting more profitable than a permanent GRC Manager role in the United Kingdom?

Whether contracting beats permanent pay for a GRC Manager in the United Kingdom depends entirely on the day rate you can command. The break-even rate is approximately £779/day (220 working days, outside IR35 limited company), which is the minimum required to match the £152K median permanent net take-home of £92,346 per year. Day rates above this produce a higher net income; rates below it mean the permanent role pays more after tax.

11

How reliable is this GRC Manager salary benchmark?

This benchmark is derived from verified market compensation data and is rated High Confidence. High Confidence means the benchmark is corroborated across independent sources and is citation-ready. Moderate Confidence is directional context while coverage is still building. Limited Market Data means early signals only.

12

Is GRC Manager pay increasing?

There is not enough matched prior-year data yet to publish a reliable growth figure. Growth is matched using the closest comparable prior-year role, location, seniority, currency, and salary type available in the salary intelligence tables.

13

What should employers and candidates take from this benchmark?

Candidates should compare offers against the £138K-£166K middle-market band, while employers should treat £152K as the current market midpoint for this role.

Sources and review

How this salary is built

Reviewed 4 September 2026

This is a PayMetric Labs benchmark, not a salary quote or a guaranteed offer. We align available United Kingdom market-guide evidence by job title, seniority, pay period, and location before publishing the range.

01 · Collect

Recorded salary and rate-guide evidence

02 · Align

Role, seniority, location, and pay period

03 · Review

Outliers, coverage, and data quality

Recorded agency-guide evidence

These organisations have guide evidence recorded for this market. Coverage differs by role and location, so a listed organisation is not necessarily the direct source for every figure on this page.

Adria UKHays UKHenderson Scott UKInta People UKMichael Page UKMorgan McKinley UKOliver Bernard UKRobert Half UK
Read our methodology

Compare GRC Manager pay in another market

The same role has published benchmarks in these markets. Open each local page for its salary range, tax context, and city detail.

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