Senior Penetration Testing Engineer

Alliant Credit Union; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 92,600 - 144,100; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual performance bonus

Work from home up to 3 days a week

Paid parental leave

Employee discount programs

Time off including paid personal and S

11 paid holidays

Education reimbursement

Health care

Vision and dental

401k with employer match

Job summary

Alliant Credit Union in Chicago is seeking a security professional to plan, execute, and report on penetration tests with a focus on web applications and web APIs across both internally developed and vendor SaaS solutions. Perform hands‑on offensive security testing to identify, validate, and drive remediation of vulnerabilities in modern application and API architectures.

Work with software engineering, application security, and cyber threat mitigation teams to strengthen the organization’s

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required in CS, cybersecurity, information systems or related field.
• Minimum 3 years of penetration testing or offensive security experience.
• In lieu of education: 6 years of penetration testing experience.

Responsibilities

• Perform hands-on penetration testing focused on web apps and web APIs.
• Conduct manual and automated testing including authenticated scenarios.
• Identify, exploit, and validate vulnerabilities with risk assessments.
• Develop proof-of-concept exploits and document attack paths.
• Guide remediation with engineering and validate fixes.
• Collaborate on threat modeling and security reviews before code is written.
• Prioritize findings by exploitability, severity, and business impact.
• Produce clear penetration test reports for technical and non-technical audiences.
• Present findings to security leadership and management.
• Contribute to improving testing methodologies and tooling.

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Information Systems or related field

Minimum 3 years of penetration testing, offensive security or related experience

Job description

In this hybrid role based at our Chicago Headquarters, you will plan, execute, and report on penetration tests with a focus on web applications and web APIs across both internally developed and vendor SaaS solutions. Perform hands‑on offensive security testing to identify, validate, and drive remediation of vulnerabilities in modern application and API architectures. Support targeted testing of related infrastructure, cloud services, and internal systems as needed. Work with software engineering, application security, and cyber threat mitigation teams to strengthen the organization’s overall security posture.

Essential Responsibilities

• Perform hands‑on penetration testing with a primary focus on web applications and web APIs across homegrown and vendor systems, support testing of cloud, mobile, and internal systems.
• Conduct manual and automated testing, including authenticated and unauthenticated attack scenarios.
• Identify, exploit, and validate vulnerabilities; provide realistic assessments of risk and impact.
• Develop proof‑of‑concept exploits and document attack paths when appropriate.
• Work with development teams to guide remediation efforts, provide recommendations, review fixes, validate resolutions, and retest.
• Collaborate proactively with engineering through threat assessments, threat modeling, and “what‑could‑go‑wrong” reviews before code is written.
• Analyze and prioritize vulnerability findings based on exploitability, severity, and business impact.
• Produce clear, actionable penetration test reports tailored for technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Present findings and trends to engineering teams, security leadership, and management.
• Contribute to improving internal testing methodologies, tooling, and standards.
• Stay current on emerging threats, attack techniques, and best practices relevant to modern web applications, APIs, and cloud environments.

Education & Years of Experience

• Minimum – 4‑year Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Information Systems or related field.
• Minimum – 3 years of penetration testing, offensive security or related experience.

In Lieu of Education

• 6 years of penetration testing, offensive security or related experience.

License / Certifications / Training

• Preferred: Industry certifications such as OSWE, OSCP, OSCE, GPEN, GWAPT, CRTO, or related offensive security credentials.

Compensation & Benefits

Typical hiring range: $92,600.00 to $144,100.00 Annually. Actual compensation will be determined using factors such as experience, skills & knowledge.

Benefits include alliant provides a benefits package including health care, vision, dental, and 401k with employer match.

• Annual performance bonus
• Work from home up to 3 days a week
• Paid parental leave
• Employee discount programs
• Time off including paid personal and sick days
• 11 paid holidays
• Education reimbursement

*Note that eligibility and cost of benefits can vary depending on the number of regularly scheduled hours, and job status such as regular full-time, regular part-time, or temporary employment.

Equal Opportunity Employer

This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.