Senior Penetration Tester

Cybersecurity Jobs; Herndon (VA); Remote; USD 155,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Dark Wolf Solutions is seeking a Senior Penetration Tester to evaluate and strengthen the security of hardware, software, and embedded systems. The role focuses on penetration testing and red teaming, with remote work and occasional travel to Virginia.

You will plan and execute testing, validate detection and response, and develop exploits to clearly demonstrate risk and impact, while delivering actionable remediation recommendations with detailed technical reports.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in a related field.
• 5+ years across three or more domains including penetration testing, red team operations, or vulnerability assessment.
• Strong written and oral communication across teams and customers.
• U.S. Citizenship with an active Top Secret clearance.

Responsibilities

• Plan and execute testing against threat environments and validate detection and response.
• Develop custom exploits and proof-of-concept demonstrations to show risk and impact.
• Perform application security assessments targeting OWASP Top Ten vulnerabilities and APIs.
• Assess wireless and RF security including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee networks.
• Document technical findings and deliver remediation strategies to strengthen product security.
• Conduct comprehensive testing across hardware, software, firmware, RF, and network components.

Skills

Penetration testing

Red team operations

Threat emulation

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering/Cybersecurity

Tools

AWS

Azure

Google Cloud

NIST SP 800-53

Job description

Dark Wolf Solutions is looking for a Senior Penetration Tester to evaluate and strengthen the security of hardware, software, and embedded systems. This role centers on penetration testing and red teaming, with a focus on finding vulnerabilities, assessing their impact, and driving practical remediation through detailed technical reporting. The position is primarily remote, with potential travel to customer sites and field locations in Virginia as needed.

In this position, you will plan and execute testing against representative threat environments, validate system detection and response, and conduct application and RF assessments. You will also develop custom exploits and proof-of-concept demonstrations to clearly show risk and impact.

Responsibilities

• Outline plans to establish or leverage dynamically configurable, representative threat suites and network environments for scaled testing.
• Define testing scenarios and automated test harnesses to characterize system detection, mitigation, and response against signature- and anomaly-based threats.
• Perform application security assessments targeting OWASP Top Ten vulnerabilities and API security vectors.
• Assess wireless and RF security, including penetration testing on Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee networks.
• Execute advanced vulnerability scanning, risk assessments, and manual verification to evaluate impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
• Conduct comprehensive penetration testing across hardware, software, firmware, RF, and network components.
• Develop and execute custom exploits, proof-of-concept attacks, and threat-emulation environments to demonstrate vulnerability impact.
• Document detailed technical findings, evaluate exploit effort and risk levels, and deliver actionable remediation strategies to strengthen product security.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Cybersecurity, Information Technology, or a related field.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience across three or more domain areas including intelligence analysis, network engineering, network security, penetration testing, red team operations, hardware engineering, software engineering, exploit development, reverse engineering, or vulnerability assessment.
• Proven ability to collaborate effectively across multidisciplinary teams, customers, and external stakeholders.
• Strong oral communication skills, including leading briefing sessions, customer outreach, and user training.
• Strong written communication skills, including drafting technical status reports, case details, and system documentation.
• Demonstrated experience synthesizing complex system analysis into clear technical reports, findings, and actionable recommendations.
• U.S. Citizenship with an active Top Secret security clearance.

Technologies

• OWASP Top Ten
• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee
• Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform
• NIST SP 800-53

Desired Qualifications

• Active professional certifications such as OSCP, PNPT, GPEN, CEH, or similar penetration testing and offensive security credentials.
• Proven ability to research, develop, and execute complex exploits and proof-of-concept attacks.
• Strong technical background in firmware analysis, binary exploitation, and embedded systems security assessments.
• Proficiency in assessing cloud architectures and deployments across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.
• Familiarity with NIST SP 800-53 security controls and risk management frameworks.

Travel / Work Location

• Remote position with potential travel to customer sites in Virginia and field sites as needed.

Compensation

• Salary range: $155,000.00 - $170,000.00 per year, commensurate with experience and technical skillset.

Dark Wolf Solutions notes that it is open to considering a variety of experience levels for these projects, along with potential for a 1099 hourly opportunity.

EEO/AA and Compliance Boilerplate: Dark Wolf Solutions is an EEO/AA Employer Minorities/Women/Veterans/Disabled and other protected categories. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity, confirm U.S. citizenship, and complete required employment eligibility verification upon hire.