Penetration Testing
UK

The following table provides summary statistics for permanent job vacancies with a requirement for Penetration Testing skills. Included is a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered in vacancies that have cited Penetration Testing over the 6 months to 10 May 2024 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years.

6 months to
10 May 2024
Same period 2023 Same period 2022
Rank 457 471 543
Rank change year-on-year +14 +72 -111
Permanent jobs citing Penetration Testing 519 632 936
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 0.52% 0.63% 0.60%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.61% 0.65% 0.62%
Number of salaries quoted 407 423 657
10th Percentile £38,987 £43,477 £37,380
25th Percentile £47,500 £50,070 £51,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £67,500 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -3.70% +12.50% -
75th Percentile £82,500 £90,000 £77,500
90th Percentile £95,000 £103,750 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £55,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year - -8.33% +9.09%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK

Penetration Testing is in the Processes and Methodologies category. The following table is for comparison with the above and provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 84,917 96,578 150,488
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 85.59% 95.61% 95.67%
Number of salaries quoted 59,883 56,844 82,330
10th Percentile £29,008 £34,000 £33,515
25th Percentile £40,000 £45,000 £43,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £61,190 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -10.12% +1.98% +9.09%
75th Percentile £72,500 £81,250 £80,000
90th Percentile £92,500 £100,000 £96,250
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £55,000 £52,500
% change year-on-year -9.09% +4.76% +9.38%

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 10 May 2024.

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 10 May 2024. 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 +39 470 £65,000 -3.70% 111
UK excluding London -63 239 £55,000 - 68
London +72 229 £75,000 -8.46% 46
Work from Home -28 214 £60,000 -11.11% 74
South East -2 66 £43,750 -32.69% 14
Midlands -20 53 £55,000 -8.33% 6
North of England +28 51 £58,750 +11.64% 15
South West -6 50 £62,500 +22.55% 19
North West +12 39 £60,000 +12.15% 8
West Midlands -21 31 £55,000 -8.33% 2
East Midlands +1 22 £65,000 - 4
Yorkshire +63 12 £44,250 -15.71% 6
East of England +4 8 £41,250 -25.00%
Scotland -78 7 £60,000 +7.75% 7
Wales +4 3 £90,000 +50.00% 3
Channel Islands - 1 £100,000 -

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 5 (0.96%) Microsoft Exchange
2 4 (0.77%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.19%) Apache
3 1 (0.19%) Confluence
3 1 (0.19%) IIS
3 1 (0.19%) WebSphere
Applications
1 3 (0.58%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 1 (0.19%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 111 (21.39%) Azure
2 80 (15.41%) AWS
3 50 (9.63%) Microsoft 365
4 27 (5.20%) GCP
5 22 (4.24%) Cloud Computing
6 11 (2.12%) Entra ID
6 11 (2.12%) Google Workspace
7 8 (1.54%) Amazon ECS
7 8 (1.54%) Cloudflare
7 8 (1.54%) PaaS
7 8 (1.54%) SaaS
8 7 (1.35%) Dynamics 365
8 7 (1.35%) IaaS
9 6 (1.16%) Azure Sentinel
10 5 (0.96%) Azure DevOps
11 4 (0.77%) Azure Service Bus
11 4 (0.77%) Mimecast
12 3 (0.58%) Azure Synapse Analytics
12 3 (0.58%) Power Platform
12 3 (0.58%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 127 (24.47%) Firewall
2 73 (14.07%) Network Security
3 40 (7.71%) Wireless
4 33 (6.36%) DNS
5 31 (5.97%) Intrusion Detection
6 18 (3.47%) Wi-Fi
7 17 (3.28%) TCP/IP
8 14 (2.70%) VPN
9 11 (2.12%) Broadband
9 11 (2.12%) NAS
10 10 (1.93%) Internet
10 10 (1.93%) Wireshark
11 9 (1.73%) SSL
12 7 (1.35%) LAN
13 6 (1.16%) BGP
13 6 (1.16%) WAN
14 5 (0.96%) HTTP
14 5 (0.96%) IPsec
14 5 (0.96%) OSPF
14 5 (0.96%) SMTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (1.93%) SQL Server
2 6 (1.16%) MongoDB
2 6 (1.16%) NoSQL
3 4 (0.77%) InfluxDB
4 3 (0.58%) Data Lake
5 2 (0.39%) Azure SQL Database
6 1 (0.19%) Redis
Development Applications
1 40 (7.71%) Burp Suite
1 40 (7.71%) Metasploit
2 9 (1.73%) Jenkins
3 8 (1.54%) Git
4 6 (1.16%) JIRA
5 5 (0.96%) Postman
6 4 (0.77%) JMeter
6 4 (0.77%) SoapUI
7 3 (0.58%) Cucumber
7 3 (0.58%) SpecFlow
8 2 (0.39%) Bitbucket
8 2 (0.39%) Selenium
9 1 (0.19%) GitLab
9 1 (0.19%) Snyk
General
1 163 (31.41%) Social Skills
2 93 (17.92%) Analytical Skills
3 75 (14.45%) Finance
4 48 (9.25%) Legal
5 35 (6.74%) Law
6 30 (5.78%) Retail
7 29 (5.59%) Presentation Skills
8 26 (5.01%) Telecoms
9 25 (4.82%) Banking
9 25 (4.82%) Games
10 21 (4.05%) Aerospace
11 20 (3.85%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 19 (3.66%) Marketing
13 18 (3.47%) Public Sector
14 14 (2.70%) Influencing Skills
14 14 (2.70%) Military
15 8 (1.54%) Manufacturing
16 7 (1.35%) Automotive
16 7 (1.35%) Aviation
16 7 (1.35%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 133 (25.63%) Penetration Tester
1 133 (25.63%) Tester
2 74 (14.26%) Analyst
3 68 (13.10%) Senior
4 67 (12.91%) Lead
5 56 (10.79%) Security Analyst
6 39 (7.51%) Consultant
7 37 (7.13%) Security Engineer
8 32 (6.17%) Security Manager
8 32 (6.17%) Team Leader
9 26 (5.01%) Security Consultant
10 25 (4.82%) Architect
11 24 (4.62%) Cybersecurity Analyst
12 23 (4.43%) Senior Penetration Tester
12 23 (4.43%) Senior Tester
13 21 (4.05%) Security Tester
13 21 (4.05%) Test Team Leader
14 20 (3.85%) Security Architect
14 20 (3.85%) Security Penetration Tester
15 18 (3.47%) Cybersecurity Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 14 (2.70%) OAuth
2 12 (2.31%) OAuth2
3 8 (1.54%) Laravel
4 6 (1.16%) Web Services
5 4 (0.77%) EDI
5 4 (0.77%) OpenID
5 4 (0.77%) SOAP
5 4 (0.77%) XML
6 3 (0.58%) RESTful
6 3 (0.58%) WPF
7 2 (0.39%) Kafka
7 2 (0.39%) SAML
8 1 (0.19%) .NET
8 1 (0.19%) HTML
8 1 (0.19%) JSON
8 1 (0.19%) Loki
8 1 (0.19%) React
8 1 (0.19%) SignalR
8 1 (0.19%) Spring Boot
8 1 (0.19%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 57 (10.98%) Cyber Threat
2 45 (8.67%) Security Posture
3 44 (8.48%) Management Information System
4 38 (7.32%) Cyberattack
5 29 (5.59%) Mobile App
6 27 (5.20%) Onboarding
7 23 (4.43%) Self-Motivation
8 20 (3.85%) Operational Technology
9 16 (3.08%) Data Centre
10 14 (2.70%) Cyber Defence
10 14 (2.70%) Hybrid Cloud
10 14 (2.70%) IoT
11 11 (2.12%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
11 11 (2.12%) Video Conferencing
12 8 (1.54%) Cyber Security Posture
13 7 (1.35%) Analytical Mindset
13 7 (1.35%) Data Protection Act
14 6 (1.16%) Embedded Systems
15 5 (0.96%) Data Structures
15 5 (0.96%) SWIFT Messaging Network
Operating Systems
1 74 (14.26%) Windows
2 60 (11.56%) Linux
3 42 (8.09%) Kali Linux
4 26 (5.01%) Apple iOS
5 25 (4.82%) Android
6 23 (4.43%) Windows Server
7 16 (3.08%) Unix
8 12 (2.31%) Mac OS
9 3 (0.58%) Mac OS X
10 2 (0.39%) AIX
10 2 (0.39%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
10 2 (0.39%) Windows 10
11 1 (0.19%) VMS
11 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2012
11 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2016
11 1 (0.19%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 378 (72.83%) Cybersecurity
2 156 (30.06%) Information Security
3 118 (22.74%) Computer Science
4 115 (22.16%) Problem-Solving
5 107 (20.62%) Incident Response
6 96 (18.50%) Application Security
7 91 (17.53%) Vulnerability Scanning
8 88 (16.96%) Red Team
9 85 (16.38%) Security Testing
10 73 (14.07%) SIEM
11 68 (13.10%) Vulnerability Management
12 63 (12.14%) Mentoring
13 61 (11.75%) Vulnerability Assessment
14 57 (10.98%) Security Operations
15 56 (10.79%) OWASP
16 48 (9.25%) Risk Management
17 47 (9.06%) Patch Management
18 43 (8.29%) Data Protection
19 42 (8.09%) Reverse Engineering
20 41 (7.90%) Malware Analysis
Programming Languages
1 49 (9.44%) Python
2 31 (5.97%) Bash
3 14 (2.70%) Java
4 13 (2.50%) PowerShell
5 12 (2.31%) SQL
6 8 (1.54%) PHP
6 8 (1.54%) Rust
7 7 (1.35%) C#
7 7 (1.35%) Go
7 7 (1.35%) JavaScript
8 2 (0.39%) Ruby
9 1 (0.19%) Bicep
9 1 (0.19%) C++
9 1 (0.19%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 123 (23.70%) Degree
2 107 (20.62%) CISSP
3 87 (16.76%) CREST Certified
4 71 (13.68%) OSCP
5 67 (12.91%) Computer Science Degree
6 62 (11.95%) CISM
7 48 (9.25%) Security Cleared
8 39 (7.51%) SC Cleared
9 37 (7.13%) CEH
9 37 (7.13%) CompTIA Security+
10 32 (6.17%) GIAC
11 31 (5.97%) CHECK Team Member
12 29 (5.59%) CISA
13 24 (4.62%) CHECK Team Leader
13 24 (4.62%) CompTIA CySA+
14 23 (4.43%) Cisco Certification
15 18 (3.47%) GPEN
16 17 (3.28%) Network+ Certification
17 15 (2.89%) Cyber Scheme
18 13 (2.50%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 102 (19.65%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 62 (11.95%) NIST
3 58 (11.18%) Cyber Essentials
4 30 (5.78%) GRC
5 28 (5.39%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 26 (5.01%) GDPR
6 26 (5.01%) PCI DSS
7 24 (4.62%) QA
7 24 (4.62%) SOC 2
8 9 (1.73%) NCSC
9 8 (1.54%) NIST 800
10 7 (1.35%) Actionable Recommendations
10 7 (1.35%) DO-254
11 6 (1.16%) COBIT
11 6 (1.16%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
12 5 (0.96%) HIPAA
13 4 (0.77%) Accessibility
13 4 (0.77%) HMG Security Policy Framework
14 3 (0.58%) JSP 440
14 3 (0.58%) JTAG
System Software
1 47 (9.06%) Active Directory
2 27 (5.20%) VMware Infrastructure
3 9 (1.73%) Virtual Machines
4 7 (1.35%) Docker
5 2 (0.39%) Hyper-V
5 2 (0.39%) Virtual Servers
6 1 (0.19%) VMware Server
Systems Management
1 21 (4.05%) Nessus
2 18 (3.47%) Kubernetes
3 13 (2.50%) WSUS
4 12 (2.31%) Ansible
5 11 (2.12%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
5 11 (2.12%) Single Sign-On
6 9 (1.73%) Nmap
7 8 (1.54%) Microsoft Intune
7 8 (1.54%) QRadar
8 7 (1.35%) SCCM
9 5 (0.96%) CASB
9 5 (0.96%) Grafana
9 5 (0.96%) Progress Chef
9 5 (0.96%) Suricata
9 5 (0.96%) Terraform
10 4 (0.77%) DatAdvantage
10 4 (0.77%) HP Fortify
11 3 (0.58%) FortiGate
12 2 (0.39%) CSIRT
13 1 (0.19%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 92 (17.73%) Microsoft
2 27 (5.20%) VMware
3 23 (4.43%) Qualys
4 22 (4.24%) Cisco
5 20 (3.85%) Google
6 15 (2.89%) Splunk
7 11 (2.12%) Apple
8 8 (1.54%) Palo Alto
9 6 (1.16%) HubSpot
9 6 (1.16%) Oracle
9 6 (1.16%) Rapid7
10 5 (0.96%) Alibaba
10 5 (0.96%) IBM
10 5 (0.96%) Juniper
10 5 (0.96%) Kenna
10 5 (0.96%) Red Hat
10 5 (0.96%) Veeam
11 4 (0.77%) Darktrace
11 4 (0.77%) ServiceNow
11 4 (0.77%) Varonis