Senior Consultant, Adversary Services (Red Team)

Coalfire Systems; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 152,000 - 189,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible work model

Parental leave

Training reimbursement

Mental health support

Comprehensive insurance options

Job summary

Coalfire is seeking a Senior Consultant to lead covert red team, adversary simulation, purple team, and other offensive security engagements that test and improve clients’ defenses.

You will simulate threat actors, build bespoke tradecraft and tooling, and guide clients on remediation with clear, actionable guidance. A strong track record in adversary services and threat emulation is essential.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of penetration testing/adversary services/red team engagements with leadership experience.
• Experience delivering testing for APTs, ransomware, insider threats.

Responsibilities

• Lead red team, adversary emulation, and purple team engagements across industries with remediation guidance aligned to MITRE ATT&CK.
• Develop and execute offensive tradecraft to gain initial access, persistence, privilege escalation, and evasion.
• Create and maintain custom exploit code, scripts, and tooling for adversary services.
• Stay current with threats and identify improvement areas to enhance security posture.
• Act as trusted advisor to clients on security matters and risk decisions.
• Contribute to internal tradecraft, reusable tooling, and testing methodologies.
• Support thought leadership through research, training, blogs, conferences, or workshops.

Skills

Penetration testing

Adversary services

Red teaming

Purple teaming

C2 infrastructure

Threat emulation

Threat modeling

Communication skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Python/Go

Tools

Cobalt Strike

Sliver

Mythic

Job description

About Coalfire

Coalfire is on a mission to make the world a safer place by solving our clients’ hardest cybersecurity challenges. We work at the cutting edge of technology to advise, assess, automate, and ultimately help companies navigate the ever‑changing cybersecurity landscape. We are headquartered in Chicago, Illinois with offices across the U.S. and U.K., and we support clients around the world.

But that’s not who we are – that’s just what we do.

We are thought leaders, consultants, and cybersecurity experts, but above all else, we are a team of passionate problem‑solvers who are hungry to learn, grow, and make a difference.

Position Summary

We are seeking an exceptionally skilled and experienced Senior Consultant to join our team. This role leads covert red team, adversary simulation, purple team, and other targeted offensive security engagements that help clients measure detection, response, and resilience against realistic threats. You will simulate real‑world threat actors, identify novel vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, build bespoke tradecraft and tooling, and deliver clear guidance that helps clients meaningfully improve their defensive posture. You will play a critical role in shaping our capabilities and ensuring that the Adversary Services team is recognized as one of the leading teams in the offensive security industry.

What You’ll Do

• Lead red team, adversary emulation, and purple team engagements for clients across a range of industries and environments, recommending appropriate remediation measures, with reporting aligned to MITRE ATT&CK and other relevant frameworks.
• Detection and response evasion, creation of novel tactics and exploits, simulation of threat actor TTPs, and the evolution of sophisticated command and control (C2) infrastructure.
• Act as a trusted advisor to our clients on security matters, providing insights and recommendations to inform strategic decision‑making.
• Develop and execute on sophisticated offensive cybersecurity tradecraft to gain initial access, establish persistence, elevate privileges, move laterally, and evade detection and response controls.
• Stay current with emerging security threats and trends, and proactively identify areas of improvement to enhance our security posture.
• Develop and maintain custom exploit code, scripts, and tools to automate and streamline adversary services activities.
• Contribute to internal tradecraft, reusable tooling, testing methodologies, and team knowledge sharing.
• Support thought leadership through research, internal training, blog content, conference presentations, or customer workshops.

What You’ll Bring

• 5+ years of experience in penetration testing, adversary services/red teaming, and purple teaming, with a minimum of 2+ years leading covert Red Team engagements.
• Significant experience creating and delivering specialized testing for customers on the latest threat actor TTPs and capabilities, including advanced persistent threats (APTs), ransomware, and insider threats.
• Experience presenting thought leadership, including talks at security conferences, blogs, or in other forums.
• Deep technical expertise in adversary services‑related tradecraft, including development and management of command and control infrastructure, custom development of leading C2 toolsets (e.g. Cobalt Strike, Sliver, Mythic), and stewardship of evasion techniques to maximize effectiveness.
• Extensive experience conducting adversary services engagements across a variety of platforms and environments, including on‑premise, cloud, and hybrid environments.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to effectively convey complex technical concepts to both technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Experience in all components of the attack chain, including OSINT, social engineering (e.g. phishing, vishing), custom payload creation, C2 infrastructure, lateral movement, privilege escalation, and impact objectives.

• Technical knowledge of programming and scripting languages (e.g. Python, Ruby, Go) to develop and modify custom evasion tooling and infrastructure.
• Ability to thrive in a fast‑paced, dynamic environment, and adapt quickly to changing priorities and requirements.
• Ability to foster a positive work environment and attitude, with a “team first” mentality.

Bonus Points

• Relevant certifications such as CRTO, CRTO II, AT:RTO, OSEP, or related.

$152,000 – $189,000 a year

The salary range listed is a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role based on national salary averages. The actual salary offer to the successful candidate will be based on job‑related education, geographic location, training, licensure and certifications and other factors. You may also be eligible to participate in annual incentive, commission, and/or recognition programs.

Why You’ll Want to Join Us

At Coalfire, you’ll find the support you need to thrive personally and professionally. In many cases, we provide a flexible work model that empowers you to choose when and where you’ll work most effectively – whether you’re at home or an office.

Regardless of location, you’ll experience a company that prioritizes connection and wellbeing and be part of a team where people care about each other and our communities. You’ll have opportunities to join employee resource groups, participate in in‑person and virtual events, and more. And you’ll enjoy competitive perks and benefits to support you and your family, like paid parental leave, flexible time off, certification and training reimbursement, digital mental health and wellbeing support membership, and comprehensive insurance options.

At Coalfire, equal opportunity and pay equity is integral to the way we do business. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. Coalfire is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. To request reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, contact our Human Resources team at [e-mail].