Penetration Testing Jobs

Penetration Testing
UK

The table below provides summary statistics for permanent job vacancies requiring Penetration Testing skills. It includes a benchmarking guide to the annual salaries offered in vacancies that cited Penetration Testing over the 6 months leading up to 15 July 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
15 Jul 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 518 479 446
Rank change year-on-year -39 -33 +125
Permanent jobs citing Penetration Testing 211 470 556
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 0.35% 0.45% 0.65%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.39% 0.55% 0.68%
Number of salaries quoted 174 369 397
10th Percentile £46,000 £38,750 £42,500
25th Percentile £54,063 £47,500 £50,015
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £67,500 £64,000 £62,500
Median % change year-on-year +5.47% +2.40% -3.85%
75th Percentile £79,875 £78,750 £85,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £100,000 £102,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £67,500 £60,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year +12.50% +9.09% -9.19%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK

Penetration Testing falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 53,919 85,323 81,485
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 89.84% 82.53% 95.47%
Number of salaries quoted 28,350 58,286 52,442
10th Percentile £27,500 £29,913 £33,750
25th Percentile £38,000 £40,000 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £55,000 £60,249
Median % change year-on-year - -8.71% +0.42%
75th Percentile £74,398 £72,500 £80,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £92,500 £100,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £50,000 £55,000
% change year-on-year - -9.09% +4.76%

Penetration Testing
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings citing Penetration Testing as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for Penetration Testing in the UK

Penetration Testing
Salary Trend

3-month moving average salary quoted in jobs citing Penetration Testing.

Salary trend for Penetration Testing in the UK

Penetration Testing
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Penetration Testing over the 6 months to 15 July 2025.

Salary histogram for Penetration Testing in the UK

Penetration Testing
Top 16 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Penetration Testing within the UK over the 6 months to 15 July 2025. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England -19 192 £67,500 +3.85% 186
UK excluding London +42 108 £67,500 +12.50% 110
London +8 94 £72,500 +3.57% 97
Work from Home -29 65 £74,000 +23.33% 154
North of England +33 37 £57,500 -4.17% 25
Midlands +48 25 £67,500 +3.85% 11
South East +40 25 £60,000 +20.00% 31
West Midlands +48 24 £67,500 +22.73% 11
North West -8 17 £57,500 -4.17% 14
Yorkshire +52 16 £55,000 +10.00% 7
Northern Ireland - 8 £70,000 - 6
South West +75 6 £68,750 +6.59% 19
Scotland +93 5 £70,000 +16.67% 9
North East - 4 £72,692 - 4
Wales +28 2 £75,574 -16.03% 2
East Midlands +24 1 £40,000 -38.46%

Penetration Testing
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 2 (0.95%) TPMS
2 1 (0.47%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 1 (0.47%) Microsoft Excel
1 1 (0.47%) Microsoft Office
Cloud Services
1 54 (25.59%) Azure
2 30 (14.22%) AWS
3 24 (11.37%) Microsoft 365
4 14 (6.64%) Entra ID
5 12 (5.69%) GCP
6 10 (4.74%) PaaS
7 6 (2.84%) Azure Sentinel
7 6 (2.84%) Google Workspace
8 5 (2.37%) Azure DevOps
8 5 (2.37%) SaaS
9 4 (1.90%) Azure Key Vault
9 4 (1.90%) IaaS
10 3 (1.42%) Azure Logic Apps
10 3 (1.42%) Cloud Computing
10 3 (1.42%) Microsoft Purview
11 2 (0.95%) Azure Data Factory
11 2 (0.95%) Azure Monitor
11 2 (0.95%) Azure Stack
11 2 (0.95%) Serverless
11 2 (0.95%) Slack
Communications & Networking
1 55 (26.07%) Firewall
2 46 (21.80%) Network Security
3 11 (5.21%) BGP
3 11 (5.21%) OSPF
4 10 (4.74%) Spanning Tree
4 10 (4.74%) Wireless
5 9 (4.27%) TCP/IP
6 6 (2.84%) HTTP
6 6 (2.84%) SSL
6 6 (2.84%) VLAN
7 5 (2.37%) Intrusion Detection
7 5 (2.37%) VPN
8 4 (1.90%) HTTPS
8 4 (1.90%) WAN
8 4 (1.90%) Wireshark
9 3 (1.42%) DNS
9 3 (1.42%) Wi-Fi
10 2 (0.95%) Internet
10 2 (0.95%) NAS
10 2 (0.95%) SAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (0.95%) Elasticsearch
1 2 (0.95%) Power BI
2 1 (0.47%) Amazon RDS
2 1 (0.47%) PostgreSQL
Development Applications
1 18 (8.53%) Burp Suite
1 18 (8.53%) JIRA
1 18 (8.53%) Metasploit
2 14 (6.64%) Selenium
3 3 (1.42%) AppScan
4 2 (0.95%) Git
4 2 (0.95%) Postman
4 2 (0.95%) REST Assured
5 1 (0.47%) Cypress.io
5 1 (0.47%) GitLab
5 1 (0.47%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.47%) JMeter
5 1 (0.47%) JUnit
5 1 (0.47%) LoadRunner
5 1 (0.47%) SoapUI
5 1 (0.47%) TestRail
General
1 80 (37.91%) Social Skills
2 34 (16.11%) Finance
3 25 (11.85%) Analytical Skills
4 18 (8.53%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 13 (6.16%) Legal
6 12 (5.69%) Law
7 11 (5.21%) Mandarin Language
8 10 (4.74%) Influencing Skills
9 5 (2.37%) Manufacturing
9 5 (2.37%) Organisational Skills
9 5 (2.37%) Telecoms
10 4 (1.90%) Aerospace
10 4 (1.90%) Banking
11 3 (1.42%) Public Sector
12 2 (0.95%) Documentation Skills
12 2 (0.95%) Games
12 2 (0.95%) Marketing
12 2 (0.95%) Military
12 2 (0.95%) Presentation Skills
13 1 (0.47%) Aviation
Job Titles
1 39 (18.48%) Lead
2 37 (17.54%) Security Engineer
3 25 (11.85%) Analyst
4 23 (10.90%) Senior
4 23 (10.90%) Tester
5 21 (9.95%) Penetration Tester
5 21 (9.95%) Security Analyst
6 20 (9.48%) Architect
6 20 (9.48%) Security Architect
7 15 (7.11%) Network Engineer
8 13 (6.16%) Automation Engineer
8 13 (6.16%) Security Manager
8 13 (6.16%) Security Specialist
8 13 (6.16%) Validation Engineer
9 11 (5.21%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 10 (4.74%) IT Analyst
10 10 (4.74%) IT Security Analyst
11 9 (4.27%) Cybersecurity Engineer
11 9 (4.27%) Cybersecurity Specialist
12 8 (3.79%) Lead Security Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 2 (0.95%) Elastic Stack
1 2 (0.95%) REST
2 1 (0.47%) AngularJS
2 1 (0.47%) EDI
2 1 (0.47%) JWT
2 1 (0.47%) ModSecurity
2 1 (0.47%) Node.js
2 1 (0.47%) OAuth
2 1 (0.47%) OAuth2
2 1 (0.47%) SAML
2 1 (0.47%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 30 (14.22%) Security Posture
2 28 (13.27%) Management Information System
3 18 (8.53%) Operational Technology
4 15 (7.11%) Security Operations Centre
5 14 (6.64%) Cyber Threat
5 14 (6.64%) SCADA
6 12 (5.69%) Mobile App
7 11 (5.21%) Data Centre
8 8 (3.79%) Self-Motivation
9 5 (2.37%) Cyber Security Posture
10 4 (1.90%) Cloud Native
10 4 (1.90%) Distributed Systems
10 4 (1.90%) Onboarding
10 4 (1.90%) Virtual Team
11 3 (1.42%) Analytical Mindset
11 3 (1.42%) Cyber Defence
11 3 (1.42%) Greenfield Project
11 3 (1.42%) Hybrid Cloud
11 3 (1.42%) PKI
11 3 (1.42%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 30 (14.22%) Windows
2 17 (8.06%) Linux
3 8 (3.79%) Kali Linux
4 6 (2.84%) Android
4 6 (2.84%) Apple iOS
4 6 (2.84%) Windows Server
5 3 (1.42%) VMS
6 2 (0.95%) Windows Server 2019
7 1 (0.47%) CentOS
7 1 (0.47%) Ubuntu
Processes & Methodologies
1 136 (64.45%) Cybersecurity
2 71 (33.65%) Incident Response
3 65 (30.81%) Information Security
4 58 (27.49%) Vulnerability Management
5 49 (23.22%) SIEM
6 45 (21.33%) Vulnerability Assessment
7 41 (19.43%) Security Testing
8 38 (18.01%) Risk Management
9 37 (17.54%) Computer Science
10 35 (16.59%) Cloud Security
11 34 (16.11%) Mentoring
12 31 (14.69%) Test Automation
13 28 (13.27%) Security Architecture
14 27 (12.80%) Red Team
15 26 (12.32%) Security Operations
16 25 (11.85%) Problem-Solving
16 25 (11.85%) Risk Assessment
17 23 (10.90%) Vulnerability Scanning
18 21 (9.95%) Offensive Security
19 20 (9.48%) Application Security
Programming Languages
1 26 (12.32%) PowerShell
2 25 (11.85%) Python
3 18 (8.53%) Bash
4 7 (3.32%) Java
5 6 (2.84%) SQL
6 5 (2.37%) Go
7 4 (1.90%) C
7 4 (1.90%) C++
7 4 (1.90%) Kotlin
7 4 (1.90%) Objective-C
8 3 (1.42%) C#
8 3 (1.42%) Perl
9 2 (0.95%) JavaScript
9 2 (0.95%) Kusto Query Language
Qualifications
1 57 (27.01%) Degree
2 36 (17.06%) Security Cleared
3 35 (16.59%) SC Cleared
4 32 (15.17%) CISSP
5 25 (11.85%) OSCP
6 24 (11.37%) CREST Certified
7 16 (7.58%) CISM
8 15 (7.11%) ISTQB
9 14 (6.64%) CEH
10 8 (3.79%) CCSAS
10 8 (3.79%) SANS
11 7 (3.32%) Computer Science Degree
11 7 (3.32%) CRISC
11 7 (3.32%) GIAC
11 7 (3.32%) Master's Degree
12 6 (2.84%) Azure Certification
12 6 (2.84%) CISA
13 5 (2.37%) CHECK Team Leader
13 5 (2.37%) CompTIA Security+
14 4 (1.90%) CHECK Team Member
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 66 (31.28%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 54 (25.59%) NIST
3 20 (9.48%) NCSC
4 17 (8.06%) Cyber Essentials
4 17 (8.06%) GDPR
5 11 (5.21%) PCI DSS
6 10 (4.74%) QA
7 8 (3.79%) Accessibility
8 6 (2.84%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
9 4 (1.90%) GRC
9 4 (1.90%) NIST 800
10 3 (1.42%) Actionable Recommendations
10 3 (1.42%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
10 3 (1.42%) SOC 2
11 2 (0.95%) ISO/IEC 17025
12 1 (0.47%) COBIT
12 1 (0.47%) ISO 9001
12 1 (0.47%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 30 (14.22%) Active Directory
2 4 (1.90%) VMware Infrastructure
3 3 (1.42%) Firmware
3 3 (1.42%) Hyper-V
4 2 (0.95%) Docker
4 2 (0.95%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 12 (5.69%) Nessus
2 10 (4.74%) Microsoft Intune
3 9 (4.27%) Single Sign-On
4 8 (3.79%) Kubernetes
4 8 (3.79%) Nmap
5 6 (2.84%) Jamf Pro
6 5 (2.37%) Terraform
7 2 (0.95%) Kibana
7 2 (0.95%) QRadar
8 1 (0.47%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 1 (0.47%) Argo
8 1 (0.47%) CASB
8 1 (0.47%) Grafana
8 1 (0.47%) HP Quality Center
8 1 (0.47%) OpenVAS
8 1 (0.47%) Progress Chef
8 1 (0.47%) Prometheus
8 1 (0.47%) SCCM
8 1 (0.47%) ZENworks
Vendors
1 53 (25.12%) Microsoft
2 20 (9.48%) Cisco
3 10 (4.74%) Google
4 7 (3.32%) Juniper
4 7 (3.32%) Meraki
5 4 (1.90%) Palo Alto
5 4 (1.90%) Splunk
5 4 (1.90%) VMware
6 3 (1.42%) Tenable
6 3 (1.42%) Trustwave
7 2 (0.95%) Checkmarx
7 2 (0.95%) Dell
7 2 (0.95%) EMC
7 2 (0.95%) Fortinet
7 2 (0.95%) LogRhythm
7 2 (0.95%) Qualys
7 2 (0.95%) ServiceNow
7 2 (0.95%) SonicWALL
7 2 (0.95%) Sophos
8 1 (0.47%) Citrix