Principal Penetration Tester
Core
Leads comprehensive penetration testing, adversary emulation, and offensive/defensive security operations across applications, cloud, network, hardware, and OT systems.
Role type
Principal Penetration Tester (Offensive Security Lead)
Builds
Security testing engagements, attack path demonstrations, and actionable detections for federal/state/local government agency customers.
Domain
Cybersecurity / Operational Technology (OT) / Industrial Control Systems (ICS)
Required skills
Penetration testing, adversary emulation, vulnerability identification, offensive security operations, team leadership, executive risk communication, AI/automation for security, statistical analysis, anomaly detection, KQL queries, OT/ICS security, cloud security (Azure/AWS/GCP), coding/scripting (C#, Python, C++, Go, PowerShell, .NET, Rust), security frameworks (OWASP, MITRE ATT&CK, NIST), LLMs/embeddings/RAG.
Preferred skills
Offensive security certifications (OSCP, OSEP, OSCE, GPEN, GXPN), OT/ICS certifications (GICSP, GRID).
Technologies
Python, C#, C++, Go, PowerShell, .NET, Rust, KQL, Power BI, Azure DevOps, Azure, AWS, GCP, LLMs.
Responsibilities
Lead and participate in penetration testing across all service layers; perform end-to-end adversary emulation; organize and direct the team on engagement rules and scoping; mentor team members; research emerging threats and tools; apply AI/automation to scale testing; partner with detection and incident response teams; create executive-level presentations and data-driven reports.
Seniority
Principal, strategic leadership with hands-on technical execution.
