IT director salary UK 2026: CIO, technology director and take-home pay
Typical full-time pay for information technology directors is £91,671, with a simple average of £110,618. Compare CIO and technology director scope, London context, the published range and estimated monthly take-home.
What ONS actually measured for it directors
The hourly median (£47.98) is a separately published ONS measure, not an annual salary converted using assumed hours. ONS rates the annual median as reasonably precise, so it is useful for benchmarking but exact pounds should not be over-read.
Compared with the UK: The £91,671 occupation median is about 135% above the overall UK full-time median of £39,039.
Source: PayPrecise analysis of ONS ASHE 2025 provisional occupation data. Methodology and assumptions.
How to read the official IT director salary figure
Information technology director is a senior occupation group, not a general label for every IT manager. It covers roles with organisation-wide responsibility for technology, systems, delivery, security, budgets or digital strategy.
The average sits well above the midpoint, showing that very high senior packages pull the simple average upwards. Company size, sector, board scope, transformation responsibility, bonus and equity can all move an individual offer, so the median remains the safer starting point for a typical comparison.
An IT director title can describe very different jobs. In one employer it may mean leading infrastructure and support; in another it can include cyber security, data, cloud, digital products and board-level change. Match the salary to the budget, team, reporting line and business risk rather than relying on the title alone.
Which senior technology jobs this figure covers
The ONS group is information technology directors. Match the level of responsibility, not just the word IT in a job title.
Good fit for this page
- IT directors, technology directors and closely related senior technology leaders
- Employee packages with organisation-wide technology responsibility
- Gross employee earnings before tax, which may include some payroll bonuses or allowances
Use a different comparison for
- Network managers, IT support managers or project managers without director scope
- A chief information officer package assumed to be identical in every company
- Consulting day rates, contractor revenue or equity treated as base salary
Lower, typical and higher IT director pay
£27,737 separates the median from the published 75th percentile. Two salaries inside that band can still be far apart, so the ladder alone cannot place your own pay or show the after-tax gap to the next point.
- Lower-middle pay25th percentile£69,515
- Typical payMedian£91,671
- Higher pay75th percentile£119,408
Moving from the median to the published 75th percentile is £27,737 gross a year, or about £1,017 more a month after standard tax and employee National Insurance.
For Information technology directors, published ONS pay runs from £91,671 at typical pay to £119,408 for the better-paid quarter. Enter your salary to see where you sit, what salary to target next, and what moving up could add after tax.
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ONS ASHE 2025 provisional · Information technology directors · published pay points shown above. Your personal position is estimated between published points.
Official IT director salary points used in this guide
See the published salary points
| Pay point | Annual salary | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| 25th percentile | £69,515 | Below the occupation midpoint |
| Median | £91,671 | The published midpoint |
| 75th percentile | £119,408 | Above the occupation midpoint |
| Mean average | £110,618 | Simple average, affected by high salaries |
The paid report estimates a position using the verified occupation data. It does not claim an exact ranking of every worker.
IT director salary per month and after tax
At the £91,671 occupation median, gross pay is about £7,639 a month. A standard 2026/27 estimate gives take-home pay of about £5,311 a month after tax and employee National Insurance. The simple average is shown separately where ONS published it.
The estimate uses the standard Personal Allowance, Income Tax bands for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and employee National Insurance. It does not include pension, student loan, salary sacrifice or a different tax code. Scottish Income Tax is different.
Typical IT director salary and the wider pay range
The median is £91,671, between a lower-middle point of £69,515 and an upper-middle point of £119,408. The simple average is £110,618, reflecting the influence of high-responsibility technology leadership roles.
This is one of the highest-paid occupation groups in the production ranking. The range reflects major differences in company scale, technical estate, regulatory risk, leadership remit and whether the role sits on the executive team.
CIO, technology director and London IT director salaries
Senior technology titles overlap, but the scope and package can be very different. Use the ONS range as context and read the responsibilities carefully.
Chief information officer salary
CIO roles often carry board-level strategy, risk and investment responsibility. Some sit above a conventional IT director role, but the ONS source does not publish a separate CIO-only figure.
Technology director salary
Technology director can mean product engineering leadership, enterprise IT or digital transformation. Compare team size, budget, platforms and decision authority before comparing salary.
IT director salary in London
The figures are UK-wide. London packages may differ because of sector and labour market, but bonus, equity, commuting and working hours can matter as much as the location label.
Useful next step: compare this role with the salary percentile calculator, or remote versus office True Wage.
What usually changes IT director pay
Senior technology pay follows business scale and accountability more than a single technical skill.
Company size and sector
A regulated bank, retailer, public body, scale-up and small private business can place very different risk and budget under the same title.
Scope and transformation
Cloud migration, cyber resilience, data platforms, acquisitions and major systems programmes can increase the strategic weight of the role.
Team, budget and board access
Responsibility for large teams, suppliers, investment decisions and executive reporting normally changes the market level.
Bonus, equity and availability
Annual bonus, shares, long-term incentives and out-of-hours incident responsibility should be separated from guaranteed salary.
Technology leadership and progression
The National Careers Service network manager profile describes responsibility for designing, installing and running an organisation's IT, data and communications systems. Director roles build on that foundation with wider strategy, investment, governance and leadership.
People commonly progress through technical, service, security, architecture, programme or product leadership. There is no single required route, but employers usually expect strong delivery evidence, commercial judgement and the ability to explain technology risk in business terms.
Further progression can lead to chief information officer, chief technology officer, chief digital officer, consultancy or wider operations leadership. The package often changes when the role becomes board-level or includes equity.
Higher-paid roles usually require evidence that technology decisions improved the organisation, not only technical knowledge. Examples include reducing outages, strengthening security, controlling large supplier contracts, delivering major change and explaining investment or risk clearly to senior leaders and the board.
What to check in an IT director offer
A senior technology offer should make the real scope and variable package clear.
- Is the role enterprise IT, product technology, digital, data, cyber or a combination?
- What team, budget, suppliers, systems and regulatory risks sit under the role?
- How are bonus, equity and long-term incentives measured and paid?
- What on-call, incident, travel and office-presence expectations apply?
Where the salary and industry information comes from
The pay figures are from the Office for National Statistics Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14, 2025 provisional edition. They cover full-time employee jobs and do not cover self-employed people. Annual gross pay can include overtime, incentive pay, shift premiums and cash allowances reported through payroll, so it should not be read as guaranteed basic salary.
| Official job group | Information technology directors. The everyday page title is narrower than the official group. |
|---|---|
| Quality | ONS marks this full-time estimate as reasonably precise. In plain English, use it as a strong national guide while allowing for some sampling uncertainty. |
| Jobs in the estimate | About 56,000 full-time employee jobs |
| Career and role source | National Careers Service: Network manager IT management duties, entry routes, systems responsibility and progression. View source |
Where the verified source extract leaves a salary point blank, this page leaves it blank too. A missing upper point is never filled with an estimate.
View the ONS salary tableCheck the 2026/27 tax and NI figuresCompare all 412 occupations
IT director salary questions
What is the average IT director salary in the UK?
Typical full-time pay for information technology directors is the £91,671 median. The simple average is £110,618, while CIO and technology director roles may differ by organisation size, remit and variable pay.
How much is an IT director salary per month after tax?
At the £91,671 median, gross pay is about £7,639 per month and a standard 2026/27 estimate gives about £5,311 after Income Tax and employee National Insurance, before pension or other deductions.
What is a CIO salary in the UK?
The ONS table does not publish a separate chief information officer figure. CIO scope can be broader and more board-focused than an IT director role, so compare the actual remit, bonus and equity as well as base salary.
What is an IT director salary in London?
This page uses UK-wide data. London packages may be higher in some sectors, but the ONS extract does not provide a London-only IT director figure.
What do higher-paid IT directors earn?
The upper-middle published point is £119,408. It is the 75th percentile of the full-time occupation distribution, not a guaranteed senior or London rate.
Is £91,671 a good IT director salary?
It is 135% above the UK full-time median and is the fourth-highest occupation median in the production ranking. Company scale and director scope still decide whether it is competitive for a particular role.
Does bonus count in the ONS figure?
ASHE annual earnings can reflect employee pay received, but a real offer should still separate guaranteed base salary from bonus, equity and one-off incentives.
What is the difference between an IT director, CIO and CTO?
An IT director often leads internal technology and service delivery. A CIO may own wider information and digital strategy, while a CTO may focus more on technology products or engineering. Employers use the titles differently, so compare the actual remit.
Should bonus and equity be included when comparing IT director salaries?
Compare guaranteed salary first, then list annual bonus, long-term incentives, shares, pension and benefits separately. The ONS figure is gross employee pay and may include some payroll extras, but it is not a complete total-reward statement.