Penetration Tester

Darktrace Ltd; Hartford; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading cybersecurity firm in the UK is seeking a Penetration Tester to identify and mitigate security risks across the organization's digital landscape. The role involves performing penetration tests and producing detailed reports. The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience with industry-standard tools, relevant certifications, and strong communication skills. This hybrid role requires 2 days a week in the Cambridge or London office and offers extensive benefits including private medical insurance and extra holiday days.

Benefits

23 days' holiday + all public holidays, rising to 25 days after 2 years of service

Additional day off for your birthday

Private medical insurance

Life insurance of 4 times your base salary

Salary sacrifice pension scheme

Enhanced family leave

Confidential Employee Assistance Program

Cycle to work scheme

Qualifications

• Solid background in penetration testing or offensive security.
• Hands-on experience using industry-standard tools and frameworks.
• Ability to communicate findings clearly and effectively.

Responsibilities

• Perform penetration tests on web applications, networks, APIs, and cloud environments.
• Simulate real-world attack scenarios to assess system resilience.
• Produce detailed technical reports and executive summaries.
• Collaborate with internal teams for remediation.
• Stay up to date with emerging threats and vulnerabilities.

Skills

Burp Suite

Nmap

Metasploit

Nessus

Kali Linux

Python

Bash

PowerShell

OWASP Top 10

MITRE ATT&CK

CVSS scoring

Education

Relevant certifications such as OSCP, CREST CRT or eCPPT

Job description

As a Penetration Tester within the internal cybersecurity team, you'll play a key role in identifying and mitigating security risks across the organisation's digital landscape. This position requires hands‑on experience in offensive security and a deep understanding of network, application, and cloud‑based vulnerabilities.

Responsibilities

• Performing penetration tests on web applications, networks, APIs, mobile apps and cloud environments.
• Simulating real‑world attack scenarios to assess system and infrastructure resilience.
• Producing detailed technical reports and executive summaries for stakeholders.
• Collaborating with internal teams to validate findings and support remediation efforts.
• Staying up to date with emerging threats, vulnerabilities and offensive security techniques.

Please note this is a hybrid role, with a compulsory attendance of 2 days a week in either the Cambridge or London office.

Qualifications

To succeed in this role, you'll need a solid background in penetration testing or offensive security, along with hands‑on experience using industry‑standard tools and frameworks. A strong grasp of security principles and methodologies is essential, as is the ability to communicate findings clearly and effectively.

• Proficiency with tools like Burp Suite, Nmap, Metasploit, Nessus and Kali Linux, plus scripting skills in Python, Bash or PowerShell.
• Strong understanding of OWASP Top 10, MITRE ATT&CK, CVSS scoring and familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and container security.
• Relevant certifications such as OSCP, CREST CRT or eCPPT are highly desirable, along with excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to mentor junior testers and contribute to internal tooling.

About the Company

Darktrace is a global leader in AI for cybersecurity that keeps organisations ahead of the changing threat landscape every day. Founded in 2013, Darktrace provides the essential cybersecurity platform protecting nearly 10,000 organisations from unknown threats using its proprietary AI. The Darktrace Active AI Security Platform delivers a proactive approach to cyber resilience to secure the business across the entire digital estate – from network to cloud to email. Breakthrough innovations from our R&D teams have resulted in over 200 patent applications filed. Darktrace's platform and services are supported by over 2,400 employees around the world. To learn more, visit http://www.darktrace.com.

Benefits

• 23 days' holiday + all public holidays, rising to 25 days after 2 years of service
• Additional day off for your birthday
• Private medical insurance which covers you, your cohabiting partner and children
• Life insurance of 4 times your base salary
• Salary sacrifice pension scheme
• Enhanced family leave
• Confidential Employee Assistance Program
• Cycle to work scheme