Security Lead

💰 $150K–$199K salary range

Median: $175K  ·  Based on 56 public job postings  ·  Updated October 17, 2026

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Professionals in this role design and implement robust security architectures, safeguarding AI models, training data, and production inferences from unique adversarial attacks and data poisoning risks. Compensation for this pivotal position ranges from $210K to $243K, with a median of $243K, derived from an analysis of 25 recent job postings. Topping the salary scale requires deep expertise in securing large language models (LLMs) and generative AI, proficiency in data provenance and integrity for AI datasets, and practical experience with confidential computing environments for sensitive model training. Strong candidates also demonstrate advanced skills in threat modeling AI/ML systems and developing robust defenses against prompt injection attacks, critical for embedding security at the core of high-growth companies.

📊 Salary breakdown

Security Lead salary by location

• All locations: $175K median ($150K–$199K typical range)
• San Francisco: $288K median, $225K–$354K range (+64% vs. national)

What's typically included

• Health insurance: 61% of postings
• Equity (RSU/options): 61% of postings
• Flexible PTO: 36% of postings
• Parental leave: 18% of postings
• Learning/education budget: 7% of postings
• Visa sponsorship: 13% of postings

Typical experience required: 7–8 years.

Security salaries by seniority

• Security Engineer: $148K
• Security Engineering Manager: $160K
• Senior Security Engineer: $170K
• Security Lead: $175K
• Senior SRE: $195K
• Staff Security Engineer: $219K
• Head of Security / CISO: $229K

What does a Security Lead do?

Security Leads are security engineers and analysts who protect infrastructure, data, and applications. This benchmark reflects Lead-level base compensation at high-growth and AI-native companies.

Government wage data

For corroboration, U.S. Department of Labor certified wage filings (FY2025) show a median of $179K for Security Lead roles, ranging $162K–$194K, across 18 filings. This is reported separately from — never blended with — the job-posting median above.

Common questions

What is the average Security Lead salary at an AI startup?
The median pay is $175K, with a typical range of $150K–$199K, based on 56 public job postings collected in 2025–2026.

Where does this salary data come from?
It is aggregated from public job postings on company career pages — no private placement or client data. We require a minimum of 15 postings per role.

Methodology

Figures are the midpoint of each posting's advertised USD salary range, aggregated from 56 public job postings (2025–2026). The range shown is the 25th–75th percentile; the median is the 50th percentile. Equity is separate and not included; where a posting's range reflects on-target earnings (OTE) for commission roles, that is included in the midpoint. Roles require at least 15 postings to be published. Last refreshed October 17, 2026.

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