jobfacts

Chief executives and senior officials

SOC 2020 1111

Chief executives and senior officials head large enterprises and organisations. They plan, direct and co-ordinate, with directors and managers, the resources necessary for the various functions and specialist activities of these enterprises and organisations. The chief executives of hospitals will be classified in this unit group. Senior officials in national government direct the operations of government departments. Senior officials in local government participate in the implementation of local government policies and ensure that legal, statutory and other provisions concerning the running of a local authority are observed. Senior officials of special interest organisations ensure that legal, statutory and other regulations concerning the running of trade associations, employers’ associations, learned societies, trades unions, charitable organisations and similar bodies are observed. Chief executives and senior officials also act as representatives of the organisations concerned for the purposes of high-level consultation and negotiation.

Also calledDirectorGrade 2Under secretaryCommand secretarySecond secretaryGeneral managerand 45 more titles
Typical full-time pay£99,9002025 Provisional
People in the job208,000across the UK
Demand for workersCritical
New adverts a month624↑ 3.3%on last year · 242nd of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time chief executives and senior officials earn between £63,200 and £151,900 a year.

What full-time chief executives and senior officials earn, 2025
£99,900 typical£41,800lowest 10%£169,000top 20%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£63,200–£151,900)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£41,800
Lowest 20% earn less than£54,400
25%£63,200
Median£99,900
75%£151,900
Top 20% earn more than£169,000
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Many (21%) of chief executives and senior officials work for themselves. These pay figures only cover employees, so they may not reflect what self-employed chief executives and senior officials earn.
Typical pay by regionUK median £99,900
London£127,000
North West!£90,700
North EastNot published by ONS–
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS–
East MidlandsNot published by ONS–
West MidlandsNot published by ONS–
East of EnglandNot published by ONS–
South EastNot published by ONS–
South WestNot published by ONS–
ScotlandNot published by ONS–
WalesNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £99,900
London£127,000
North West£90,700 (small sample)
North EastNot published by ONS
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS
East MidlandsNot published by ONS
West MidlandsNot published by ONS
East of EnglandNot published by ONS
South EastNot published by ONS
South WestNot published by ONS
ScotlandNot published by ONS
WalesNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £84,200
  • 2024 £88,400
  • 2025 Provisional£99,900
↑ 19% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 624 jobs for chief executives and senior officials are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as critical.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (1 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026636
Jul 2026695
Jun 2026679
May 2026780
Apr 2026577
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 2026613
Jan 2026627
Dec 2025402
Nov 2025621
Oct 2025678
Sept 2025555
Aug 2025521
Jul 2025598
Jun 2025822
May 2025796
Apr 2025637
Mar 2025886
Feb 2025791
Jan 2025560
Dec 2024347
Nov 2024533
Oct 2024566
Sept 2024472
Aug 2024512
Jul 2024523
Jun 2024515
May 2024643
Apr 2024522
Mar 2024662
Feb 2024611
Jan 2024664
Dec 2023575
Nov 2023557
Oct 2023593
Sept 2023559
Aug 2023660
Jul 2023606
Jun 2023803
May 2023856
Apr 2023639
Mar 2023825
Feb 2023772
Jan 2023828
Dec 2022825
Nov 2022895
Oct 2022887
Sept 2022848
Aug 2022792
Jul 20221,012
Jun 20221,018
May 20221,191
Apr 2022948
Mar 20221,037
Feb 2022959
Jan 20221,059
Dec 2021838
Nov 2021707
Oct 2021821
Sept 2021745
Aug 2021732
Jul 2021899
Jun 2021796
May 2021855
Apr 2021663
Mar 2021850
Feb 2021654
Jan 2021775
Dec 2020512
Nov 2020524
Oct 2020580
Sept 2020515
Aug 2020503
Jul 2020595
Jun 2020494
May 2020562
Apr 2020546
Mar 20201,046
Feb 2020931
Jan 2020913
Dec 2019616
Nov 2019833
Oct 2019788
Sept 2019762
Aug 2019709
Jul 2019848
Jun 2019837
May 2019800
Apr 2019657
Mar 2019768
Feb 2019816
Jan 2019923
Dec 2018540
Nov 2018703
Oct 2018786
Sept 2018791
Aug 2018737
Jul 2018711
Jun 2018820
May 2018679
Apr 2018651
Mar 2018732
Feb 2018811
Jan 2018944
Dec 2017534
Nov 2017659
Oct 2017753
Sept 2017689
Aug 2017727
Jul 2017608
Jun 2017701
May 2017681
Apr 20171,269
Mar 2017891
Feb 2017799
Jan 2017897
Is there a shortage of chief executives and senior officials?
Critical

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment; in 2024 it was elevated.

  • Visas grantedWell above usual
  • Online job advertsUsual
  • Wage growthAbove usual
  • Pay against similar jobsWell above usual
  • Hours workedWell above usual
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
18%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for corporate managers and directors, which includes chief executives and senior officials. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London813
Manchester92
Birmingham45
Glasgow City37
City of Edinburgh36
Belfast33
Bristol, City of31
Leeds27
Newcastle upon Tyne24
Liverpool21
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where chief executives and senior officials are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. 1,042 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026, most to people from United States, Japan, France, ranking it 16th of 313. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of chief executives and senior officials
n/p
8.5%!
20%
37%
23%
12%
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–24Not published
25–348.5% (small sample)
35–4420%
45–5437%
55–6423%
65+12%
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent72%
Higher education below degree4%
A levels or equivalent12%
GCSEs or equivalent7.8%
Other qualifications!2.4%
No qualifications!0.6%
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent72%
Higher education below degree4%
A levels or equivalent12%
GCSEs or equivalent7.8%
Other qualifications2.4% (small sample)
No qualifications0.6% (small sample)

Main employers: business and other management consultancy activities (7.4%), other social work activities without accommodation nec (6.1%), general public administration activities (6%), computer programming activities (5.3%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
72%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
1
from level 7
Apprenticeships take
2 years
typically
Self-employed
21%
of people in the job

Apprenticeships

1 for this job

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • analyses economic, social, legal and other data, and plans, formulates and directs at strategic level the operation of a company or organisation
  • consults with subordinates to formulate, implement and review company/organisation policy, authorises funding for policy implementation programmes and institutes reporting, auditing and control systems
  • prepares, or arranges for the preparation of, reports, budgets, forecasts or other information
  • plans and controls the allocation of resources and the selection of senior staff
  • evaluates government/local authority departmental activities, discusses problems with government/local authority officials and administrators and formulates departmental policy
  • negotiates and monitors contracted out services provided to the local authority by the private sector
  • studies and acts upon any legislation that may affect the local authority
  • stimulates public interest by providing publicity, giving lectures and interviews and organising appeals for a variety of causes
  • directs or undertakes the preparation, publication and dissemination of reports and other information of interest to members and other interested parties

Skills

  • manage government policy implementation
  • manage budgets
  • manage staff
  • analyse problems for opportunities
  • apply conflict management
  • build international relations
  • conduct public presentations
  • develop international cooperation strategies
  • develop professional network
  • ensure cross-department cooperation
  • maintain relationships with government agencies
  • advise on legislative acts
  • advise on risk management
  • apply diplomatic principles

Knowledge

  • government policy implementation
  • public finance
  • government representation
  • legislation procedure
  • international law
  • accounting techniques
  • budgetary principles
  • diplomatic principles

Suits people who like

  • Organising and following procedures
  • Leading and persuading

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for corporate managers and directors, a group of 20 jobs that includes chief executives and senior officials.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 3%about 78,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 20351.4 millionincluding people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.