And while the capital has been ranked as the European leader in cybersecurity, and security incidents decreased by 14.8% in 2022, down from 1,243 in 2021 to 1,063 in 2022, online threats and data breaches continue to beset the sector.

The ability of hackers and bad actors to create new techniques to undermine and outsmart cybersecurity programmes is one part of the problem.

However the other is a physical lack of tech workers who possess the necessary skills to implement cybersecurity controls—51% of all private sector companies in the UK are unable to deal with cybersecurity threats due to a shortage of staff with adequate technical skills and knowledge.

And as cloud adoption becomes increasingly important for businesses, particularly in the areas of banking and finance, this need is more pronounced.

The silver lining? The sector is ripe with employment opportunities.

In fact, according to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, more than 6,000 vacancies for cybersecurity professionals were posted last year, and the most in demand roles are security engineers (35%), security analysts (18%), security managers (14%), security architects (11%) and security consultants (9%).

Weak spots

The technical and soft skills needed to excel in a career in cybersecurity have been outlined by the UK Cyber Security Council, which has also developed a Careers Route Map detailing the most common job titles, salary ranges and career pathways that can be followed.

This is backed up with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport’s Cyber security skills in the UK labour market 2022 report which has identified that 41% of cyber sector firms are lacking personnel with complementary skills like communication, leadership, management, or sales and marketing.

While in-house learning and development opportunities and facilitating a pivot to a career purely focussed on cybersecurity is one way tech and fintech companies can address the skills gap, external training is another solution.

The National Cyber Security Centre has designed a two-tier approach and offers a foundation-level course in cybersecurity as well as more specialised programmes for tech professionals who are more familiar with the technical skills needed to excel in the field.

The next piece of the puzzle? Identifying employment opportunities and matching your skills to the right role. For those who are ready to pursue a role in cybersecurity now, the Maddyness Job Board features thousands of roles in companies that are actively hiring, like the three below.

Senior Security Engineer, Vulnerability Discovery Operations, Amazon Defensive Security, Amazon Data Services UK Ltd, London

Amazon is seeking an innovative Senior Security Engineer to join the vulnerability management and remediation (VMR) team as a vulnerability discovery operations engineer. The VMR team is responsible for the discovery, assessment, triage, and remediation of vulnerabilities across Amazon. Working with a global team of security engineers, software developers, and technical program managers dedicated to continuously raising the security bar, you will be responsible for the timely and accurate detection of vulnerabilities across the complexity and scale of the Amazon ecosystem. View more information here.

Senior Backend Engineer - Customer Security, Coalition, London

Founded in 2017, Coalition combines cybersecurity and insurance to help organisations prevent digital risk before it strikes. As a Senior Backend Engineer you will be working across multiple software development projects that can range from APIs to scraping and ETL workflows. Your primary focus will be the development of server-side logic, ensuring high performance and receptiveness across the platform and you will also work closely with our product design team. You should enjoy the challenge of building large, scalable infrastructure and components from the ground up. See the full job description here.

Cybersecurity Governance Analyst, Capgemini, London

Capgemini state that this Cybersecurity Governance Analyst role will evolve in response to developments in cybersecurity. As such, the ideal candidate will be responsible for maintaining an effective governance framework for Cybersecurity, including the facilitation of cybersecurity executive management meetings, work with various stakeholders across functions, levels, and geographies to appropriately and accurately message content of reports and presentations to enable informed decision making and drive the continuing development, implementation and improvement of governance processes and framework. Access more details here.

For more opportunities in cybersecurity, visit the Maddyness Job Board today