Penetration Tester

Salt; Melbourne; Hybrid; AUD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Salt in Melbourne seeks an experienced Penetration Tester / SOC Analyst to operate across a large, complex technology environment. The role combines offensive security and security operations in equal measure.

You will identify and exploit vulnerabilities while also improving detection, monitoring and incident response capabilities across enterprise systems.

Qualifications

• Hands-on penetration testing across web apps, APIs, networks and cloud.
• Experience with enterprise SIEM/EDR/XDR platforms and incident investigation.
• Knowledge of MITRE ATT&CK and threat hunting.
• Strong scripting, documentation and stakeholder communication.

Responsibilities

• Plan and deliver authorised penetration tests across web apps, APIs, infrastructure and cloud.
• Monitor and triage alerts across SIEM, EDR/XDR and identity platforms.
• Investigate suspicious activity by correlating endpoint, network and cloud telemetry.
• Develop, tune and validate detection rules and response playbooks.
• Support incident containment, eradication and evidence collection.

Skills

Penetration testing

Security operations

Threat hunting

Incident response

Scripting

Analytical skills

Documentation

Stakeholder communication

Tools

SIEM

EDR

XDR

Job description

Penetration Tester / SOC Analyst Melbourne | Contract | Hybrid Cyber Security Role

We're looking for an experienced Penetration Tester / SOC Analyst to join a large and complex technology environment, working across both offensive security and security operations.

This is a genuinely hands-on role, with an approximate 50/50 split between penetration testing and SOC activities.

You'll have the opportunity to identify and exploit vulnerabilities, while also using those insights to improve detection, monitoring and incident response capabilities.

What you'll be doing

Plan and deliver authorised penetration tests across web applications, APIs, infrastructure, identity services, cloud platforms and enterprise technologies.

Conduct vulnerability discovery, manual validation, controlled exploitation, privilege escalation and attack-path analysis.

Produce detailed penetration testing reports covering evidence, risk, business impact and remediation recommendations.

Map attack activity to MITRE ATT&CK and use testing outcomes to validate security controls and SOC detection capabilities.

Monitor and triage alerts across SIEM, EDR, XDR, identity, cloud, email and network security platforms.

Investigate suspicious activity by correlating endpoint, identity, network, application and cloud telemetry.

Support incident containment, eradication, recovery and evidence collection.

Develop, tune and validate detection rules, dashboards, alert logic and response playbooks.

Conduct proactive threat hunting using threat intelligence, indicators of compromise and recognised adversary behaviours.

What we're looking for

You’ll ideally bring experience across both penetration testing and security operations within a complex enterprise environment.

Strong hands-on penetration testing experience across web applications, APIs, networks, infrastructure, identity and cloud.

Practical experience with enterprise SIEM, EDR or XDR platforms, including alert triage and incident investigation.

Strong knowledge of vulnerabilities, exploitation, privilege escalation, lateral movement, credential access and defence evasion.

Experience developing or tuning detections using KQL, SPL, Sigma, correlation rules or behavioural analytics.

Strong understanding of Active Directory, Microsoft Entra ID, Microsoft 365, Windows and Linux security, networking and endpoint telemetry.

Experience with MITRE ATT&CK, threat hunting and incident response.

Strong scripting, analytical, documentation and stakeholder communication skills.

Relevant tertiary qualifications and extensive cyber security experience are required, with recognised penetration testing, SOC, incident response or cloud security certifications highly regarded.

Why this role?

This is a great opportunity for a security professional who doesn’t want to be confined to one side of cyber. You’ll be able to attack, investigate and improve - using penetration testing findings and real-world threat observations to strengthen security controls, telemetry, detection and incident response across a large enterprise environment.

If you’re a penetration tester with solid SOC experience, a SOC analyst with genuine offensive security capability, or a security professional who has deliberately built experience across both disciplines, we’d be keen to hear from you.

About Salt

At Salt, our mission is Creating Futures by putting our clients, candidates, partners, and team members at the heart of everything we do. We extend our sincere appreciation to everyone who has contributed to our continued success.

Salt acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands across Australia as the continuing custodians of country and culture. We pay our respects to all First Nations Australians and their Elders past and present.