Penetration Testing Job Trends

Penetration Testing
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs requiring Penetration Testing skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 9 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
9 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 443 443 454
Rank change year-on-year 0 +11 +20
Permanent jobs citing Penetration Testing 320 241 521
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.35% 0.54% 0.49%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.48% 0.59% 0.60%
Number of salaries quoted 215 181 412
10th Percentile £42,500 £42,500 £38,987
25th Percentile £50,000 £55,000 £48,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £67,500 £65,000
Median % change year-on-year +3.70% +3.85% -
75th Percentile £89,000 £81,250 £82,500
90th Percentile £99,000 £95,000 £95,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £67,500 £58,750
% change year-on-year -18.52% +14.89% +6.82%

All Process & 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 66,949 41,023 87,141
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 72.83% 92.72% 82.59%
Number of salaries quoted 45,661 21,815 61,905
10th Percentile £30,000 £29,000 £29,500
25th Percentile £41,250 £40,000 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £57,500 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% +4.55% -9.54%
75th Percentile £78,750 £77,500 £72,500
90th Percentile £100,000 £100,000 £92,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £52,500 £50,055 £50,000
% change year-on-year +4.89% +0.11% -9.09%

Penetration Testing
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Penetration Testing relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

Penetration Testing job vacancy trend in the UK

Penetration Testing
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Penetration Testing.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Penetration Testing

Penetration Testing
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Penetration Testing over the 6 months to 9 June 2026.

Salary histogram for Penetration Testing in the UK

Penetration Testing
Top 15 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 9 June 2026. 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 -5 290 £67,500 - 82
UK excluding London -50 162 £55,000 -18.52% 63
London -10 126 £82,500 +13.79% 42
Work from Home +42 110 £70,000 -6.67% 42
South East -7 47 £72,500 +3.57% 27
South West -5 46 £50,000 -27.27% 10
Midlands -26 29 £51,058 -24.36% 5
North of England -51 27 £56,000 -8.20% 9
West Midlands -33 18 £65,000 -3.70% 4
Yorkshire -42 14 £55,000 - 6
East Midlands -16 11 £48,901 +22.25% 1
Scotland +12 9 £85,000 +21.97% 8
North West -7 7 £56,000 -8.20% 2
North East -41 6 £75,000 +3.18% 1
East of England -5 4 £30,000 -

Penetration Testing
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 7 (2.19%) Microsoft Exchange
2 6 (1.88%) SharePoint
3 3 (0.94%) IIS
4 2 (0.63%) Confluence
5 1 (0.31%) Apache
5 1 (0.31%) Drupal
5 1 (0.31%) nginx
5 1 (0.31%) WordPress
Business Applications
1 1 (0.31%) Exchequer
1 1 (0.31%) Magento
1 1 (0.31%) SAP EHS
1 1 (0.31%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 76 (23.75%) AWS
2 73 (22.81%) Azure
3 30 (9.38%) Microsoft 365
4 29 (9.06%) GCP
5 14 (4.38%) Entra ID
6 13 (4.06%) GitHub
7 12 (3.75%) Azure Sentinel
8 10 (3.13%) SaaS
9 9 (2.81%) GitHub Actions
10 5 (1.56%) Microsoft Purview
11 4 (1.25%) Amazon EKS
11 4 (1.25%) AWS CloudFormation
11 4 (1.25%) Azure DevOps
11 4 (1.25%) Azure Key Vault
11 4 (1.25%) Mimecast
12 3 (0.94%) IaaS
12 3 (0.94%) OneDrive
12 3 (0.94%) PaaS
12 3 (0.94%) Rubrik
13 2 (0.63%) Figma
Communications & Networking
1 55 (17.19%) Firewall
2 27 (8.44%) Network Security
3 20 (6.25%) Wireless
4 19 (5.94%) VPN
5 15 (4.69%) Internet
6 12 (3.75%) Cisco Nexus
7 11 (3.44%) DNS
7 11 (3.44%) Wi-Fi
8 10 (3.13%) TCP/IP
9 8 (2.50%) Cisco ISE
9 8 (2.50%) LAN
9 8 (2.50%) WAN
10 7 (2.19%) VLAN
11 6 (1.88%) Intrusion Detection
12 4 (1.25%) DHCP
12 4 (1.25%) HTTPS
13 3 (0.94%) DMARC
13 3 (0.94%) DMZ
13 3 (0.94%) SSL
13 3 (0.94%) VoIP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 5 (1.56%) SQL Server
2 3 (0.94%) Amazon RDS
3 1 (0.31%) InterSystems Cache
3 1 (0.31%) KNIME
3 1 (0.31%) MongoDB
3 1 (0.31%) Power BI
3 1 (0.31%) Redis
Development Applications
1 23 (7.19%) Burp Suite
2 22 (6.88%) Metasploit
3 8 (2.50%) Jenkins
4 7 (2.19%) JIRA
5 6 (1.88%) Bitbucket
6 3 (0.94%) Git
7 2 (0.63%) Gatling
7 2 (0.63%) NUnit
7 2 (0.63%) Yeoman
8 1 (0.31%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.31%) GitLab
8 1 (0.31%) IDA Disassembler
8 1 (0.31%) JMeter
8 1 (0.31%) JUnit
8 1 (0.31%) Postman
8 1 (0.31%) Selenium
8 1 (0.31%) Vagrant
General
1 102 (31.88%) Social Skills
2 80 (25.00%) Finance
3 32 (10.00%) Public Sector
4 31 (9.69%) Law
5 29 (9.06%) Analytical Skills
6 22 (6.88%) Banking
6 22 (6.88%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 21 (6.56%) Retail
8 10 (3.13%) Legal
9 7 (2.19%) Pharmaceutical
10 6 (1.88%) Marketing
11 5 (1.56%) Telecoms
12 4 (1.25%) Financial Institution
13 3 (0.94%) Back Office
13 3 (0.94%) Influencing Skills
14 2 (0.63%) Aerospace
14 2 (0.63%) Social Housing
15 1 (0.31%) French Language
15 1 (0.31%) German Language
15 1 (0.31%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 65 (20.31%) Senior
2 51 (15.94%) Penetration Tester
2 51 (15.94%) Tester
3 50 (15.63%) Consultant
4 43 (13.44%) Security Consultant
5 41 (12.81%) Analyst
6 34 (10.63%) Security Analyst
7 30 (9.38%) Lead
8 27 (8.44%) Security Manager
9 25 (7.81%) Senior Analyst
9 25 (7.81%) Senior Security Analyst
10 24 (7.50%) Security Engineer
11 21 (6.56%) Team Leader
12 20 (6.25%) Cybersecurity Consultant
13 19 (5.94%) Security Specialist
14 14 (4.38%) Cybersecurity Analyst
15 13 (4.06%) Senior Penetration Tester
15 13 (4.06%) Senior Tester
16 12 (3.75%) Test Team Leader
17 10 (3.13%) Architect
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 4 (1.25%) .NET
2 3 (0.94%) .NET Framework
2 3 (0.94%) OAuth
2 3 (0.94%) RESTful
3 2 (0.63%) AngularJS
3 2 (0.63%) ASP.NET
3 2 (0.63%) ASP.NET Core
3 2 (0.63%) Entity Framework
3 2 (0.63%) OAuth2
3 2 (0.63%) OpenAPI
3 2 (0.63%) OpenID
3 2 (0.63%) RxJS
3 2 (0.63%) Swagger
3 2 (0.63%) Vitest
4 1 (0.31%) ARM Templates
4 1 (0.31%) LDAP
4 1 (0.31%) Memcached
4 1 (0.31%) Playwright
Miscellaneous
1 72 (22.50%) Security Posture
2 38 (11.88%) Mobile App
3 31 (9.69%) Cyber Defence
4 27 (8.44%) Cyber Threat
5 19 (5.94%) Management Information System
6 13 (4.06%) Self-Motivation
7 12 (3.75%) Security Operations Centre
8 8 (2.50%) Blog
8 8 (2.50%) Cyber Security Posture
8 8 (2.50%) Data Centre
9 6 (1.88%) Insider Threat
9 6 (1.88%) Onboarding
9 6 (1.88%) Operational Technology
10 5 (1.56%) Cloud Native
11 4 (1.25%) Cyberattack
11 4 (1.25%) Enterprise Software
11 4 (1.25%) Public Cloud
12 3 (0.94%) CCTV
12 3 (0.94%) Hybrid Cloud
12 3 (0.94%) PKI
Operating Systems
1 41 (12.81%) Windows
2 36 (11.25%) Linux
3 20 (6.25%) Android
3 20 (6.25%) Apple iOS
4 10 (3.13%) Windows Server
5 4 (1.25%) Unix
6 2 (0.63%) Windows Server 2016
7 1 (0.31%) Kali Linux
7 1 (0.31%) Mac OS
7 1 (0.31%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
Processes & Methodologies
1 213 (66.56%) Cybersecurity
2 97 (30.31%) Red Team
3 95 (29.69%) Incident Response
4 75 (23.44%) Vulnerability Management
5 70 (21.88%) Security Testing
6 67 (20.94%) Offensive Security
7 63 (19.69%) Application Security
7 63 (19.69%) SIEM
8 58 (18.13%) Mentoring
9 56 (17.50%) Information Security
10 54 (16.88%) Cloud Security
10 54 (16.88%) Problem-Solving
11 48 (15.00%) Security Operations
12 41 (12.81%) Agile
13 40 (12.50%) Threat Modelling
14 34 (10.63%) Disaster Recovery
14 34 (10.63%) OWASP
15 33 (10.31%) Continuous Improvement
16 31 (9.69%) Coaching
16 31 (9.69%) Vulnerability Assessment
Programming Languages
1 50 (15.63%) Python
2 47 (14.69%) PowerShell
3 32 (10.00%) Bash
4 16 (5.00%) Java
5 14 (4.38%) Go
6 7 (2.19%) C#
6 7 (2.19%) Perl
7 6 (1.88%) C
7 6 (1.88%) C++
8 5 (1.56%) Bicep
8 5 (1.56%) Ruby
9 4 (1.25%) SQL
10 3 (0.94%) Objective-C
10 3 (0.94%) Rust
11 2 (0.63%) Kusto Query Language
11 2 (0.63%) PHP
11 2 (0.63%) TypeScript
12 1 (0.31%) JavaScript
Qualifications
1 94 (29.38%) CREST Certified
2 73 (22.81%) OSCP
3 64 (20.00%) CISSP
4 61 (19.06%) Security Cleared
5 50 (15.63%) SC Cleared
6 36 (11.25%) Degree
7 35 (10.94%) CISM
8 31 (9.69%) CHECK Team Leader
9 28 (8.75%) CEH
9 28 (8.75%) CHECK Team Member
10 23 (7.19%) Cisco Certification
11 21 (6.56%) CCSAM
12 19 (5.94%) CompTIA Security+
13 17 (5.31%) CCNA
14 15 (4.69%) CCNP
15 13 (4.06%) DV Cleared
15 13 (4.06%) GIAC
16 12 (3.75%) SANS
17 11 (3.44%) GPEN
18 8 (2.50%) OSCE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 88 (27.50%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 47 (14.69%) NIST
3 44 (13.75%) GDPR
4 38 (11.88%) Cyber Essentials
5 21 (6.56%) PCI DSS
6 16 (5.00%) Actionable Recommendations
6 16 (5.00%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 16 (5.00%) GRC
7 13 (4.06%) NCSC
8 10 (3.13%) Accessibility
9 7 (2.19%) SOC 2
10 5 (1.56%) QA
11 4 (1.25%) Data Quality
11 4 (1.25%) Def Stans
11 4 (1.25%) NIST 800
12 3 (0.94%) COBIT
13 2 (0.63%) Sarbanes-Oxley
14 1 (0.31%) GxP
14 1 (0.31%) HIPAA
14 1 (0.31%) WCAG
System Software
1 35 (10.94%) Active Directory
2 6 (1.88%) VMware Infrastructure
3 3 (0.94%) Docker
3 3 (0.94%) EMC RecoverPoint
3 3 (0.94%) VMware ESXi
4 1 (0.31%) Virtual Desktop
4 1 (0.31%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 18 (5.63%) Kubernetes
2 14 (4.38%) Nessus
3 12 (3.75%) Nmap
4 11 (3.44%) Microsoft Intune
5 9 (2.81%) Terraform
6 5 (1.56%) Ansible
6 5 (1.56%) CSIRT
7 3 (0.94%) FortiGate
7 3 (0.94%) SCCM
7 3 (0.94%) Single Sign-On
7 3 (0.94%) VxRail
8 2 (0.63%) CASB
8 2 (0.63%) Jamf Pro
9 1 (0.31%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
9 1 (0.31%) Consul
9 1 (0.31%) Packer
9 1 (0.31%) Progress Chef
9 1 (0.31%) Puppet
9 1 (0.31%) Red Hat Satellite
Vendors
1 70 (21.88%) Microsoft
2 21 (6.56%) Cisco
3 17 (5.31%) Splunk
4 13 (4.06%) Qualys
4 13 (4.06%) Sophos
5 12 (3.75%) Palo Alto
6 10 (3.13%) CrowdStrike
6 10 (3.13%) Zscaler
7 9 (2.81%) VMware
8 8 (2.50%) Aruba
8 8 (2.50%) CheckPoint
8 8 (2.50%) Fortinet
9 5 (1.56%) TOWER Software
10 4 (1.25%) Google
10 4 (1.25%) Okta
11 3 (0.94%) Dell
11 3 (0.94%) Rapid7
11 3 (0.94%) Veeam
12 2 (0.63%) Darktrace
12 2 (0.63%) DevExpress