Security Penetration Tester Jobs

Penetration/Security Tester
UK

The median Penetration/Security Tester salary in the UK is £70,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 18 July 2025.

The table below provides salary benchmarking and summary statistics, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 Jul 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 732 875 873
Rank change year-on-year +143 -2 +402
Permanent jobs requiring a Security Penetration Tester 2 14 24
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 0.003% 0.014% 0.028%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.004% 0.015% 0.031%
Number of salaries quoted 1 2 16
10th Percentile - £28,500 £60,000
25th Percentile - £30,000 £83,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £70,000 £37,500 £87,500
Median % change year-on-year +86.67% -57.14% +60.55%
75th Percentile - £47,500 £122,500
90th Percentile - £50,500 -
UK excluding London median annual salary £70,000 £37,500 -
% change year-on-year +86.67% - -

All Permanent IT Job Vacancies
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of permanent jobs in our overall sample.

Permanent vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 53,808 94,839 77,253
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 89.50% 94.85% 91.59%
Number of salaries quoted 29,775 65,861 52,945
10th Percentile £27,250 £29,250 £32,500
25th Percentile £37,500 £39,500 £44,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £52,500 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% -12.50% -
75th Percentile £73,205 £70,000 £80,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £90,000 £100,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £50,000 £52,700
% change year-on-year - -5.12% +2.63%

Security Penetration Tester
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings that featured Security Penetration Tester in the job title as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for Security Penetration Tester in the UK

Security Penetration Tester
Salary Trend

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

Salary trend for Security Penetration Tester in the UK

Security Penetration Tester
Top 3 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Security Penetration Tester within the UK over the 6 months to 18 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
UK excluding London +134 2 £70,000 +86.67% 1
Northern Ireland - 2 £70,000 - 1
Work from Home +90 1 - - 3

Security Penetration Tester Skill Set
Top 19 Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities

For the 6 months to 18 July 2025, Security Penetration Tester job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number co-occurrences and as a proportion of all permanent job ads featuring Security Penetration Tester in the job title.

1 2 (100.00%) Penetration Testing
1 2 (100.00%) Cybersecurity
1 2 (100.00%) NCSC
2 1 (50.00%) Public Sector
2 1 (50.00%) Social Skills
2 1 (50.00%) Operational Technology
2 1 (50.00%) Burp Suite
2 1 (50.00%) Kali Linux
2 1 (50.00%) CHECK Team Leader
2 1 (50.00%) CHECK Team Member
2 1 (50.00%) Cyber Essentials
2 1 (50.00%) Manual Testing
2 1 (50.00%) Security Cleared
2 1 (50.00%) OWASP
2 1 (50.00%) Metasploit
2 1 (50.00%) Test Automation
2 1 (50.00%) Nessus
2 1 (50.00%) Windows
2 1 (50.00%) Linux

Security Penetration Tester Skill Set
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:

Development Applications
1 1 (50.00%) Burp Suite
1 1 (50.00%) Metasploit
General
1 1 (50.00%) Public Sector
1 1 (50.00%) Social Skills
Miscellaneous
1 1 (50.00%) Operational Technology
Operating Systems
1 1 (50.00%) Kali Linux
1 1 (50.00%) Linux
1 1 (50.00%) Windows
Processes & Methodologies
1 2 (100.00%) Cybersecurity
1 2 (100.00%) Penetration Testing
2 1 (50.00%) Manual Testing
2 1 (50.00%) OWASP
2 1 (50.00%) Test Automation
Qualifications
1 1 (50.00%) CHECK Team Leader
1 1 (50.00%) CHECK Team Member
1 1 (50.00%) Security Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 2 (100.00%) NCSC
2 1 (50.00%) Cyber Essentials
Systems Management
1 1 (50.00%) Nessus