Security Researcher

Optimyze Consulting; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Hybrid work model

Job summary

Optimyze Consulting in London is seeking a Founding Security Researcher to lead real penetration tests, research vulnerabilities, and shape autonomous AI security capabilities. You will own offensive-security methodologies, work directly with founders, engineers, and customers, and help build a high-performing security team in a hybrid London setup.

The role offers significant ownership of research agendas, product direction, and security culture, with collaboration across real customer

Qualifications

• Significant professional experience in penetration testing, offensive security, or vulnerability research.
• Strong expertise in web application security, API security, or source-code review.
• Ability to lead complex engagements independently and report findings clearly to technical and executive audiences.
• Experience building offensive-security tools, automation, or research frameworks.
• Knowledge of AI/ML security, red teaming, or autonomous AI agent security.
• Experience mentoring, hiring, or developing other security professionals.

Responsibilities

• Lead authorised penetration-testing engagements from scoping and execution through reporting and remediation.
• Test web applications, APIs, cloud environments, enterprise infrastructure, and AI systems.
• Validate and triage findings generated by AI agents, eliminate false positives, and demonstrate real-world exploitability and impact.
• Penetration-test the company's own platform and infrastructure, identifying vulnerabilities and opportunities to strengthen security.
• Conduct original vulnerability research across authorised targets and open-source software.
• Define new attack techniques, testing strategies, and benchmarks to improve autonomous security agents.
• Collaborate with technical teams, security leaders, and senior customer stakeholders.
• Help establish a high-performing offensive-security team and raise technical standards across the organisation.

Skills

Penetration testing

Offensive security

Vulnerability research

AI security

Threat modelling

Code review

Mentoring

Job description

Build the hackers that will shape cybersecurity.

The company develops autonomous offensive-security agents: AI systems designed to attack real-world environments, demonstrate exploitability, and deliver actionable findings that security teams can use.

The company has raised $4 million in pre-seed funding, described as the largest pre-seed round ever raised by a UK cybersecurity startup. Its technology is already uncovering critical vulnerabilities in systems operated by sophisticated organisations.

Its mission is to define what the world's most capable AI hacker should be.

The Opportunity:

This is not a role focused on simply reviewing scanner output. The successful candidate will lead real penetration tests, research vulnerabilities, test the company's own platform, and transform expert human techniques into scalable AI capabilities.

The role involves shaping how autonomous agents reason, chain attacks, validate findings, and learn from failure.

As one of the company's first security hires, the successful candidate will have significant ownership of offensive-security methodologies, the research agenda, product direction, and security culture. The role also involves working directly with founders, engineers, and customers while helping build the security team.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead authorised penetration-testing engagements from scoping and execution through reporting and remediation.
• Test web applications, APIs, cloud environments, enterprise infrastructure, and AI systems.
• Validate and triage findings generated by AI agents, eliminate false positives, and demonstrate real-world exploitability and impact.
• Penetration-test the company's own platform and infrastructure, identifying vulnerabilities and opportunities to strengthen security.
• Conduct original vulnerability research across authorised targets and open-source software.
• Define new attack techniques, testing strategies, and benchmarks to improve autonomous security agents.
• Translate tools, techniques, and practical expertise into scalable, automated capabilities.
• Collaborate with technical teams, security leaders, and senior customer stakeholders.
• Help establish a high-performing offensive-security team and raise technical standards across the organisation.

Required Experience & Skills:

• Significant professional experience in penetration testing, offensive security, or vulnerability research.
• Strong expertise in web application security, API security, application security, or source-code review.
• Ability to lead complex penetration-testing engagements independently and communicate findings clearly to both technical and executive audiences.
• Expertise in at least one additional area, such as cloud security, internal networks, Active Directory, CI/CD, or software supply-chain security.
• Excellent vulnerability analysis, problem-solving skills, and attention to detail.
• Practical understanding of how AI can improve offensive security and where human judgement remains essential.
• Curiosity, initiative, and the confidence to work in an early-stage company where processes and methodologies are still being developed.
• Experience building offensive-security tools, automation, or research frameworks.
• Published CVEs or GitHub Security Advisories (GHSAs), contributions to bug-bounty programmes, or strong results in Capture the Flag (CTF) competitions.
• Knowledge of AI/ML security, LLM red teaming, prompt injection, or autonomous AI agent security.
• Ability to review source code across multiple programming languages.
• Experience presenting research, contributing to open-source projects, or earning recognition within the cybersecurity community.
• Experience mentoring, hiring, or developing other security professionals.

What the Company Offers:

• The opportunity to shape the future of offensive security and AI-driven penetration testing.
• Significant ownership and influence as one of the company's earliest security hires.
• Competitive salary and meaningful equity in an early-stage startup.
• Direct collaboration with founders and exceptional technical peers.
• Hands-on work across real customer environments, original vulnerability research, and AI product development.
• A hybrid working model based in London, with typically 3 days per week in the office.

Job Title: Founding Security Researcher

Location: London Area, United Kingdom

Working Model: Hybrid, typically 3 days per week in the office.