Security test engineer cost in the United Kingdom
Runs application security testing and coordinates penetration tests. Total employer cost by level, GBP, computed .
Hiring a security test engineer as an employee in the United Kingdom costs a median of GBP 95,473Confidence B a year at senior level.
Each total includes base salary, employer contributions (social security and payroll taxes the employer pays on top of salary), benefits, equipment, recruiting and ramp (the weeks before a new hire works at full productivity).
By level
| Level | Base salary | Total, median | Scenario range | First year | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior | GBP 75,369[1][2] | GBP 95,473 | GBP 88,146GBP 113,357 | GBP 106,531 | Confidence B |
Sources for the totals in this table (base salary footnotes are on each row): [1] to [18] in the source list below.
Not published: junior and mid-level, fewer sources than the threshold. Reasons.
Where the cost goes
Senior
- Base salary 78.9%
- Employer contributions 12.4%
- Equipment and tooling 0.9%
- Recruiting, amortised over 2.5 years 6.3%
- Onboarding ramp, amortised over 2.5 years 1.4%
Versus contractor and outsourced
| Level | Employee | Employer of record | Contractor | Outsourced | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior | GBP 95,473 | GBP 101,371 | not published | not published | Confidence B |
Sources for the totals in this table (the shared employee lines and each model's fee or rate): [1] to [22] in the source list below.
- Contractor: No contractor hourly rate for this role in the Western Europe region meets the two-source rule.
- Outsourced: No QA vendor rate for the security test engineer role in the Western Europe region meets the threshold (three vendor pages, or a rate survey plus two vendor pages); in this region the threshold is met for manual QA engineer and test automation engineer.
What is not published and why.
2 of 4 models published. Employee · Contractor and EOR · Outsourced.
Sources
- HM Revenue & Customs (GOV.UK). Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027
- PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries. United Kingdom - Individual - Other taxes
- Department for Work and Pensions (GOV.UK). Review of the Automatic Enrolment Earnings Trigger and Qualifying Earnings Band for 2026/27
- GOV.UK. Holiday entitlement
- GOV.UK. UK bank holidays
- Apple. Buy MacBook Air
- Apple. Buy MacBook Pro
- Testing tool list price (vendor not named)
- Testing tool list price (vendor not named)
- Linear. Linear pricing
- Manatal. Recruitment fees (agency fee guide)
- Apollo Technical. What is a placement fee for engineering hiring
- HeroHunt.ai. True Cost to Hire an AI Engineer in 2026
- Deel. Deel pricing
- Remote. Remote pricing
- Oyster HR. Oyster pricing
- Multiplier. Multiplier pricing
Formula v1.0How each component is computed
version: 1.0
total_annual_cost =
base_salary
+ employer_contributions # statutory rates applied to base with caps; per country
+ mandatory_benefits # 13th or 14th salary, paid leave value above base, mandatory insurance; per country
+ voluntary_benefits # health, pension top-up, meal and transport; market survey medians per country and level; shown as a separate line
+ equipment_and_tooling # laptop amortised over 3 years, licences, test devices for mobile roles; per level and role
+ recruiting_cost_amortised # recruiting cost / expected tenure years; per country, role and model
+ onboarding_ramp # ramp_weeks x weekly cost x (1 - productivity_factor); per level
first_year_cost = total_annual_cost - recruiting_cost_amortised + recruiting_cost - onboarding_ramp_amortised + onboarding_ramp
monthly_cost = total_annual_cost / 12
hourly_equivalent = total_annual_cost / productive_hours
# Defaults (overridable per country in data with a source)
expected_tenure_years: 2.5
productive_hours: 1,700 per year, adjusted by statutory paid leave per country
ramp_weeks: junior 10, mid 6, senior 4
productivity_factor_during_ramp: 0.5
equipment_amortisation_years: 3
# Hiring models
employee: full formula
contractor: contractor_rate x hours + platform_or_eor_fee; no employer_contributions, no mandatory_benefits unless the EOR passes them through (sourced); recruiting as for employee; ramp as for employee
outsourced: published vendor monthly or hourly rate per role and region; no recruiting, no ramp, no equipment; show typical minimum engagement from sources
# Output per combination
p25, median, p75 for each component and for the totals, in local currency and USD at fx.json date; confidence grade; source ids; computedOnFormula v1.0
version: 1.0
total_annual_cost =
base_salary
+ employer_contributions # statutory rates applied to base with caps; per country
+ mandatory_benefits # 13th or 14th salary, paid leave value above base, mandatory insurance; per country
+ voluntary_benefits # health, pension top-up, meal and transport; market survey medians per country and level; shown as a separate line
+ equipment_and_tooling # laptop amortised over 3 years, licences, test devices for mobile roles; per level and role
+ recruiting_cost_amortised # recruiting cost / expected tenure years; per country, role and model
+ onboarding_ramp # ramp_weeks x weekly cost x (1 - productivity_factor); per level
first_year_cost = total_annual_cost - recruiting_cost_amortised + recruiting_cost - onboarding_ramp_amortised + onboarding_ramp
monthly_cost = total_annual_cost / 12
hourly_equivalent = total_annual_cost / productive_hours
# Defaults (overridable per country in data with a source)
expected_tenure_years: 2.5
productive_hours: 1,700 per year, adjusted by statutory paid leave per country
ramp_weeks: junior 10, mid 6, senior 4
productivity_factor_during_ramp: 0.5
equipment_amortisation_years: 3
# Hiring models
employee: full formula
contractor: contractor_rate x hours + platform_or_eor_fee; no employer_contributions, no mandatory_benefits unless the EOR passes them through (sourced); recruiting as for employee; ramp as for employee
outsourced: published vendor monthly or hourly rate per role and region; no recruiting, no ramp, no equipment; show typical minimum engagement from sources
# Output per combination
p25, median, p75 for each component and for the totals, in local currency and USD at fx.json date; confidence grade; source ids; computedOnQuestions
- How much does a security test engineer cost in the United Kingdom?
- Senior: GBP 95,473 a year at the median, total employer cost, computed 17 October 2026.