Penetration Testing Lead — NCR (Remote Nearby)

ecsfederal; Virginia (MN); Hybrid; USD 170,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Everforth ECS is seeking a Penetration Testing Team Lead located near the National Capital Region (NCR) to lead offensive security efforts for a major federal civilian agency. You will plan, direct, and execute advanced penetration tests and Red Team engagements across a large-scale environment.

As a senior leader, you will mentor junior testers, coordinate with SOC and threat hunting teams, and deliver high-quality reports with actionable remediation for executives and technical staff.

Qualifications

• 12+ years of experience in offensive security.
• U.S. Citizenship required.
• Active Public Trust 6c clearance or ability to obtain.
• OSCP, OSCE, GXPN, or CEH certification.
• Experience with network, web app, AWS cloud, and API penetration testing.
• Strong collaboration with SOC, threat hunting, and security engineering teams.
• Mentor junior testers and evaluate new tools.
• Produce clear, actionable penetration testing reports for technical and executive audiences.

Responsibilities

• Plan, coordinate, and lead Red Team and penetration testing engagements across federal systems, including network infrastructure, web applications, APIs, and cloud environments.
• Oversee test planning, execution, and reporting with thorough, well-documented findings for technical teams and senior government officials.
• Maintain penetration testing and Red Team tools, including patches, upgrades, configurations, and inventory management.
• Ensure engagements align with NIST SP 800-115, MITRE ATT&CK, and DHS RVA standards.
• Lead Purple Team engagements with SOC and threat hunting teams to validate detection coverage.
• Demonstrate expertise in multi-layer exploitation across networks, OS, web apps, APIs, and cloud platforms.
• Mentor junior testers, provide guidance, and evaluate new tooling.
• Produce high-quality penetration testing reports detailing findings, exploit chains, risk ratings, and remediation.
• Research adversary TTPs and new tooling to keep methods current.
• Collaborate with vulnerability management, security engineering, and SOC to track remediation.

Skills

Penetration testing

Red Team operations

Threat hunting

Mentoring

Technical reporting

Executive communication

Job description

Everforth ECS is seeking a Penetration Testing Team Lead located near the National Capital Region (NCR) to lead offensive security efforts for a major federal civilian agency. You will plan, direct, and execute advanced penetration tests and Red Team engagements across a large-scale environment.

As a senior leader, you will mentor junior testers, coordinate with SOC and threat hunting teams, and deliver high-quality reports with actionable remediation for executives and technical staff.