Fractional / Virtual CISO · Hourly Rate UK 2026
Fractional CISO Hourly Rate 2026
The fractional / virtual CISO (vCISO) hourly rate in the UK is roughly £160–£333/hour — our arithmetic on Cypro's vCISO day rate of £1,200–£2,500 ÷ ~7.5 billable hours a day.
Engagements are usually priced as a day rate of £1,200–£2,500 (Cypro) or a monthly retainer — £3,000–£15,000 (Cypro), or £8,000–£18,000 for 2–3 days a week (Optima Europe).
This page shows the hourly rate and how it converts to day, retainer and annual cost.
Sourced from Cypro and Optima Europe; reviewed 25 September 2026.
How a brief runswhat we undertake
- 01Brief30-MINUTE SCOPING CALLDay 0
- 02Shortlist of 3–5VETTED · RATE BENCHMARK · IR35After the brief
- 03InterviewsYOU MEET THE SHORTLISTYour diary
- 04Scoped startFIRST-MONTH OUTCOMES AGREEDYou set the date
- 05Fractional, interim and permanentIR35 POSITION SET OUTOn every brief
Shortlist3–5
15 minutes · video or phone
Book 15 minutes to hire a fractional CISO
Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with CISO Hourly Rate candidates, their day rates and availability.
- 0115 minutes, video or phone
- 02We scope the role and the days a week
- 03A shortlist of 3–5 after the call
- 04Fractional, interim and permanent briefs
Pick a day that suits · live availability
On the board · last 3 months
Fractional CISO jobs on the board
Current fractional / virtual CISO opportunities
How fractional recruitment agencies compare is set out in one place, including how we work: a CISO Hourly Rate brief and a shortlist of three to five.
01/ the cross
Where a permanent hire becomes cheaper.
Move the day rate and the days a week: the rising line is a month of part-week cost, the flat line a permanent hire’s month. Where they cross, the seat should go full-time.
At 2.4 days a week a permanent hire costs less.
Our arithmetic. Permanent a month = the salary ÷ 12 plus 15% employer NI, plus the 30% search fee spread over 12 months — the calculator’s inputs. Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for each step.
Permanent = the £135,250 Robert Half 2026 median salary. The full calculator below adds the months, the totals and the currency tabs.
- The fractional CISO at 2 days a week never passes permanent inside 24 months.
- Interim passes permanent at month 3.
Our arithmetic, cumulative. Permanent = the salary’s 30% search fee in month 0, then salary ÷ 12 plus 15% employer NI each month. Interim = the midpoint of the published interim band (£1,250 a day, Barclay Simpson) × 5 days × 4.33 weeks. Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for each month.
02/ the route
Fractional, interim or permanent?
Four taps. The answer names the route for the seat and the page that covers it.
The route · Fractional
A fractional CISO hourly rate.The work fills part of the week, so buy the days it needs.
A fractional CISO hourly rate holds the seat on agreed days for as long as the seat is needed, and works for other clients on the rest.
The route · Interim
An interim CISO hourly rate.The work fills the week, and it has an end: a programme, a cover, a transaction.
An interim CISO hourly rate takes the seat full time for that stretch and hands it over when it is done.
The route · Interim, then permanent
Interim now, a permanent CISO hourly rate after.The seat is full time and long term, and the need is now.
An interim CISO hourly rate holds it while the permanent search runs, so the seat is not left empty.
The route · Permanent
A permanent CISO hourly rate.A full-time seat that sits at the table for years is a permanent hire.
There is time to run a search, so run one.
03/ the role
What a fractional / virtual CISO charges per hour in the UK in 2026
A UK fractional or virtual CISO (vCISO) day rate is £1,200–£2,500 (Cypro; Optima Europe publishes £1,200–£2,000).
At ~7.5 billable hours a day, Cypro's band works out at an hourly rate of roughly £160–£333/hour (our arithmetic: £1,200 ÷ 7.5 = £160; £2,500 ÷ 7.5 ≈ £333).
Because security leadership is usually retained continuously, most vCISOs quote a monthly retainer rather than pure hourly.
How it converts: the retainer is £3,000–£18,000/month — Cypro puts vCISO at £3,000–£15,000/mo and Optima 2–3-day weekly retainers at £8,000–£18,000/mo.
At 5–10 days a month that is £40,000–£120,000/yr, making a vCISO ~40–70% cheaper than a full-time CISO (£140,000–£220,000 base, £180,000–£270,000 fully loaded) — all Cypro's figures.
For the full-time and retainer picture see Fractional & Virtual CISO Salary UK.
04/ scope
Hourly, day rate or retainer — which to use
Hourly
Best for occasional security advisory — a risk assessment, a policy review, an incident post-mortem — where you pay only for the hours used.
At ~7.5 billable hours, Cypro's £1,200–£2,500 day rate is ≈ £160–£333/hour (our arithmetic).
Day rate (£1,200–£2,500/day, Cypro)
Best for project-shaped work — a certification push (ISO 27001, SOC 2), a security remediation, a board risk report.
Cypro puts financial services, healthcare and M&A work above £2,000/day.
Monthly retainer (£3,000–£15,000/mo, Cypro)
Best for continuous security leadership — owning the security programme without a full-time hire.
Optima Europe prices 2–3-day weekly retainers at £8,000–£18,000/mo.
Conversion rule of thumb: hourly ≈ day rate ÷ 7.5 billable hours — our arithmetic, not a published hourly rate.
05/ the maths
What the seat costs, by the days a week
Move the day rate, the days a week and the months: the totals and the permanent comparison for the period. The curve above shows where a permanent hire becomes the cheaper seat.
The slider runs across the published band for a fractional CISO: £1,200–£2,000 a day (Optima Europe).
Cost over 12 months
£166,400
104 working days · 2 d/wk · 12 mo · before tax
Fractional costs less over 12 months£29,713
Fractional CISO, 12 months£166,400
Fractional CISO, a month at 2 d/wk£13,856
Permanent CISO, same period£196,113
Fractional CISO, 12 months$220,463
Fractional CISO, a month at 2 d/wk$18,358
Permanent CISO, same period$259,829
Converted from £ at $1.3249 per £1 (Bank of England spot rate), 2 Oct 2026. A conversion, not a US market rate. Source ↗
Fractional CISO, 12 months€195,453
Fractional CISO, a month at 2 d/wk€16,275
Permanent CISO, same period€230,354
Converted from £ at €1.1746 per £1 (Bank of England spot rate), 2 Oct 2026. A conversion, not a EU market rate. Source ↗
Our arithmetic, indicative. Permanent = the £135,250 Robert Half 2026 median salary pro rata for the same months, plus 15% employer NI, plus a 30% search fee on the annual base (UK retained search runs 25–35%, Headhunters.co.uk). Excludes pension, bonus and equity.
06/ the week
How a week divides.
The days you buy are yours; the rest of the week goes to other clients. Move the days a week in the calculator above and the week redraws.
Illustration only: one way a fractional CISO’s week can divide at 2 days a week for you. Each block is half a day.
07/ the board
What the board holds.
A read of the roles on the board on this page, counted as they stand: how each is engaged, whether the posting gives the days and the rate, and where the work happens.
On this board, last 90 days · 1 role · Fractional CISO
Engagement
- Fractional1
Days a week
- Stated in the posting1
- Not stated0
Day rate
- Verified rate0
- Estimated (est)1
- Rate not stated0
Work arrangement (as the job feed classifies it)
- Remote1
- Hybrid0
- On-site0
Newest posting on the board: 27 Sept 2026.
08/ rates by stage
Fractional / Virtual CISO Hourly Rate by source
UK fractional / virtual CISO rates as each source publishes them, with hourly equivalents at 7.5 billable hours (our arithmetic). Cypro, Optima Europe.
09/ rates by commitment
Hourly vs day rate vs retainer engagement models
The three UK vCISO engagement models and when each wins. Retainers from Cypro (£3–15k/mo) and Optima (£8–18k/mo for 2–3 days).
10/ vetting
How we vet fractional CISOs
What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.
- 01
Qualification screen
Verify CISO Hourly Rate tenure, sector context and stage fit.
SOURCING - 02
Mandate fit
Match to your situation — stage, board dynamics, timing.
MATCHING - 03
Reference deep-dive
We take references ourselves, from recent past clients — real outcomes, not titles.
VERIFY - 04
Shortlist
Three to five candidates with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
SHORTLIST OF 3–5
11/ hourly
Virtual CISO hourly rate: what an hour should buy
A virtual CISO hourly rate makes sense for bounded questions: reviewing a security policy, answering a customer’s security questionnaire, checking readiness for Cyber Essentials or sitting in on an incident review.
Agree the output for each block of hours — a written finding, a decision, a note for the board — so you are paying for judgement rather than time on a call.
If a block of hours is meant to prepare for an incident, the NCSC’s incident management guidance is the place to start the response plan.
It is a poor fit for owning security.
Under the UK GDPR an organisation must protect personal data with appropriate technical and organisational measures, and the ICO expects those measures to be reviewed and tested regularly (ICO guide to data security).
The government’s Digital and Data framework describes the chief information security officer as setting the security strategy, advising the board on risk and preparing the organisation to detect, respond to and recover from attacks — work that needs continuity, not hours booked ad hoc.
When a personal data breach does happen, the ICO’s guide to personal data breaches sets a short legal deadline for reporting it, which is hard to meet if your security lead is only on call by the hour.
Scale matters too.
A certification programme to ISO/IEC 27001, the international standard for information security management systems, means establishing, maintaining and continually improving a management system — ongoing work that is better priced by the day or on retainer.
NIST’s Cybersecurity Framework is another way to scope the hours, because it organises security work into outcomes a board can track.
For how often UK businesses report breaches and attacks, the government publishes the annual Cyber Security Breaches Survey.
If the hours settle into a pattern, move to a day rate or retainer: fractional CISO cost sets out those models, and interim CISO cover suits a full-time vacancy.
For remote-delivery roles, see virtual CISO jobs.
12/ questions
Fractional CISO Hourly Rate FAQ
The questions people ask before bringing in a fractional CISO.
Book 15 minutes · shortlist of 3–5
Bring the brief. We architect the team.
A shortlist of 3–5 with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.
