Information Security Manager
Impact: Organisational security, risk reduction, and regulatory compliance
Manage an organisation's information security programme, overseeing risk assessments, security policies, compliance frameworks, and security awareness training to protect information assets. Lead a team of security analysts and engineers, coordinate with IT and business units, and report on security posture to senior leadership.
What the day looks like
- People interaction
- Extensive
- Team vs solo
- 70% Team / 30% Solo
- Client facing
- Sometimes
- Impact visibility
- High
- Travel
- Minimal
- Schedule flexibility
- Moderate
- Remote work
- Hybrid
- Typical work hours
- 45-50 hours/week
- Stress level
- High
At a glance
- Median salary
- $135,000
- Entry-level
- $95,000 - $120,000
- Senior
- $175,000+
- Growth by 2033
- 33% (much faster than average)
- Demand
- Growing Fast
- Freelance potential
- Low
- Salary growth potential
- High to 55-75% growth from entry to senior
- Typical student debt
- $20,000 - $50,000
Skills you'll use
Hard skills
- ISO 27001 / NIST CSF / SOC 2 Frameworks
- Risk Assessment & Treatment
- Security Awareness Programme Design
- Vendor Risk Management
- Incident Management
- GRC Platforms (ServiceNow / Archer)
Soft skills
- Leadership
- Stakeholder Management
- Risk Communication
- Strategic Thinking
- Programme Management
Technical complexity: High
How to get there
- Minimum education
- Bachelor's Degree
- Licensing
- No
- Years to mid-career
- 5-7 years
- Years to senior
- 9-13 years
- Career switching
- Moderate
Where this career leads
How people arrive here
Where you can go from here
Typical progression
- Security Analyst
- Senior Security Analyst
- Information Security Manager
- Director of Information Security
- CISO
Future outlook
- Automation probability
- 15% to programme management and strategic risk decisions require human judgment
- AI disruption risk
- Low
- Demand trend
- Growing Fast
How people feel about it
- Overall satisfaction
- 3.8/10
- Meaning
- 3.8/10
- Work-life balance
- 3.2/10
- Prestige
- 7.8/10
- Social perception
- High