2026 Senior Finance Market & Salary Report
Benchmarking pay, packages and career satisfaction across the UK senior finance market, built from 564 CFOs, Finance Directors, Financial Controllers and finance leaders at PE and VC-backed businesses.
“74% of senior finance professionals are open to a new role.”
The most detailed picture of senior finance pay available today
We surveyed 564 senior finance professionals across private equity and venture capital-backed businesses to understand what they’re really being paid, and what would make them consider leaving.
Whether you’re a CFO or Finance Director benchmarking your own package, or a business leader trying to work out what it takes to attract and retain exceptional finance talent, this report gives you the numbers behind the market.
What’s inside the full report
- Average salaries by job title, sector and company size
- Average day rates for interim CFOs, FDs and Transformation Directors
- Bonus and performance incentive benchmarks by role and sector
- Equity and LTIP participation, and how professionals really value it
- Benefits breakdown by sector, from private medical to car allowance
- Job satisfaction drivers by job title
- Who’s open to new roles, and why they’re considering a move
- What retains senior finance talent for 5+ years
What the market is telling us
- Infrastructure & Renewable Energy pays the most
One of the strongest paying sectors in the market, leading on interim day rates at CFO level and placing first or second on permanent salary across most roles. - Three in four are open to a new role
74–77% of senior finance professionals are open to moving, regardless of sector. Openness to new opportunities is now a permanent feature of the market. - Fintech is feeling the squeeze
Lowest role satisfaction, lowest career alignment and lowest work-life balance score of any sector, despite offering broadly competitive headline salaries. - Retention is about alignment, not just pay
Leadership quality and cultural alignment are cited ahead of compensation by the most dissatisfied professionals. Employers who focus only on salary are solving the wrong problem.
