Senior Penetration Tester

UL, LLC; Northbrook (IL); Hybrid; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

401K

Paid time off

Job summary

UL Solutions in Northbrook, IL is seeking a Senior Penetration Tester to lead security engagements across embedded systems, IoT, web/mobile apps, and cloud environments. You will identify vulnerabilities, responsibly exploit them, validate controls, and deliver high‑value reports to clients.

The role blends hands‑on technical work with client collaboration and internal R&D contributions. A hybrid schedule requires on-site work three days per week at the Northbrook office.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Electronics, CS, or related field with 3–5 years in security testing.
• Strong low-level programming skills in C, C++, and Assembly.
• Experience with hardware debugging tools and FPGA environments.
• Proficiency in communicating complex technical findings to clients.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end security assessments for embedded, IoT, web, mobile, and cloud.
• Identify vulnerabilities, perform exploitation, and validate controls.
• Deliver actionable reports with risk ratings and remediation guidance.
• Collaborate with clients and contribute to internal R&D.

Skills

Penetration testing

Embedded security

Low-level programming

Cloud security

Report writing

Client collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering

Tools

FPGA tooling

Hardware debugging tools

Signal processing tools

Job description

This role is Hybrid, 3 days a week on-site at our Northbrook, IL Office.

As a Senior Penetration Tester, you will lead technical engagements responsible for evaluating and testing the security of embedded systems, cloud environments, web applications and mobile applications.

You will identify and responsibly exploit vulnerabilities, validate implemented security controls, and deliver actionable, high-value reports to clients. The role combines hands‑on technical expertise with customer collaboration and contributions to internal R&D for advancing attack methodologies.

• Lead end-to-end security assessment engagements for embedded products, IoT Medical & Industrial devices, Web/Mobile applications, and Cloud infrastructures.
• Perform comprehensive security evaluations, including vulnerability discovery, exploitation, code review, fuzzing, binary analysis, and validation of implemented security controls across all target environments.
• Interpret and apply cybersecurity compliance standards like EN18031, CRA, UK PSTI, UL Standards to diverse product types, translating requirements into effective test plans.
• Collaborate closely with clients to understand their security objectives, provide technical guidance, and deliver clear, professional reports with findings, risk ratings, and remediation recommendations.
• Provide high‑level technical support in areas like test planning, methodology development, procedure updates, staff training, and resolution of complex quality or testing issues.
• Maintains/improves technical knowledge by attending educational workshops, reviewing professional publications, obtaining applicable certifications, and participating in professional societies and cross‑departmental task forces.
• Follow‑up with the latest technical developments in the physical attacks area that need to be contributed to the internal R&D developments in hardware (analogue and digital electronics) and software (C, C++, Assembly, and others) to enhance the level of our attacks and to explore new forms of attacks.
• Implement sophisticated attacks requiring multiple techniques such as vulnerability analysis, signal processing, FPGA, optical, and others.
• Undertake security evaluation attacks on smart cards or embedded systems. The main activity will be the real product analysis with the aim to highlight its strengths and weaknesses.
• Specialize in the realization of innovative physical attacks using laser or EM techniques, in-depth understanding on how the products work with the aim to stress them using complex hardware techniques.
• Conduct web application penetration testing (covering OWASP Top 10, API security, authentication/authorization flaws, business logic vulnerabilities, and modern web frameworks).
• Perform mobile application security assessments on iOS and Android platforms, including static analysis, dynamic analysis, reverse engineering, and platform‑specific vulnerability testing.
• Execute cloud security testing and configuration reviews across AWS, Azure, GCP, or multi‑cloud environments, focusing on identity and access management (IAM), network security, container/Kubernetes security, serverless architectures, storage security, and cloud misconfigurations.
• University Degree (Equivalent to Bachelor’s Degree) in Electronic/Computer Science/Computer Engineering/Electrical Engineering or a related discipline plus 3-5 years of related experience. Good skills in Cloud security testing preferred.
• Proficiency in low‑level programming (C, C++, Assembly) and scripting. Experience with FPGA, signal processing, or hardware debugging tools is a strong plus.
• Familiar with test equipment and working in a multi‑skills environment mixing electronic, optical, security, mechanical, and IT.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non‑technical stakeholders.
• A self‑motivated team player who can work independently and likes to bring new ideas for technical development.

What you’ll experience working for ULS

UL Solutions has been pioneering change since 1894 and we’re still leading the way. From day one, we’ve blazed a trail protecting the planet and everyone on it. Our teams have influenced billions of products, plus services, software offerings and more. We break things, burn things and blow things up. All in the name of safety science.

That’s where you come in — because none of it could happen without you. It takes passion to protect people, problem‑solving to safeguard personal data and conviction to make the world a more sustainable place. It takes bold ideas and brilliant minds to build a better world for future generations across the globe.

This is more than a job. It’s a calling. A passion to use our expertise and play our part in creating a more secure, sustainable world today — and tomorrow. As a member of our safety science community, you’ll use your ideas, your energy and your ambition to innovate, challenge and ultimately, help create a safer world.

Everyone here is unique. But we’re also a global community, working together to help create a safer world.

Empowering our customers to keep the world safe means thinking ahead. It means investing in training and empowering our people to learn and innovate. At UL Solutions, we help build a better future — one where everyone benefits.

Total Rewards

Total Rewards: We understand compensation is an important factor as you consider the next step in your career. The estimated salary range for this position is $110,000 to $140,000 USD and is based on multiple factors, including job‑related knowledge/skills, experience, geographical location, as well as other factors. This position is eligible for annual bonus compensation with a target payout of 10% of the base salary. This position also provides health benefits such as medical, dental and vision; wellness benefits such as mental and financial health; and retirement savings (401K) commensurate with the standard rewards offered in each individual location or country. We also provide full‑time employees with paid time off including vacation (15 days), holiday and personal days (totaling 12 days) and sick time off (72 hours).

A global leader in applied safety science, UL Solutions (NYSE: ULS) transforms safety, security and sustainability challenges into opportunities for customers in more than 110 countries. UL Solutions delivers testing, inspection and certification services, together with software products and advisory offerings, that support our customers’ product innovation and business growth. The UL Mark serves as a recognized symbol of trust in our customers’ products and reflects an unwavering commitment to advancing our safety mission. We help our customers innovate, launch new products and services, navigate global markets and complex supply chains, and grow sustainably and responsibly into the future. Our science is your advantage.

UL LLC has been and will continue to be an equal opportunity employer. To assure full implementation of this equal employment policy, we will take steps to assure that:

Persons are recruited, hired, assigned and promoted without regard to race, color, age, sex or gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, religion, creed, national origin, ethnicity, citizenship, ancestry, disability, genetic information, military or veteran status, pregnancy, marital or familial status, or any other protected category under applicable law.