Senior Penetration Tester Job Trends

Senior Penetration Tester
UK

The median Senior Penetration Tester salary in the UK is £82,500 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 6 January 2026.

The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
6 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 643 692 691
Rank change year-on-year +49 -1 +286
Permanent jobs requiring a Senior Penetration Tester 4 12 14
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.007% 0.022% 0.026%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.007% 0.024% 0.028%
Number of salaries quoted 2 4 12
10th Percentile £70,250 £65,913 £57,500
25th Percentile £74,375 £74,969 £59,375
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £82,500 £85,000 £67,500
Median % change year-on-year -2.94% +25.93% -22.86%
75th Percentile £89,375 £90,000 £71,250
90th Percentile £92,750 - £79,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £95,000 - £65,000
% change year-on-year - - -10.34%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
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 53,793 50,378 50,490
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 90.57% 92.94% 95.24%
Number of salaries quoted 33,153 26,319 38,828
10th Percentile £28,500 £33,200 £31,125
25th Percentile £36,250 £44,956 £42,430
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £58,500
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% +2.56% -2.50%
75th Percentile £75,000 £78,750 £77,500
90th Percentile £93,750 £97,500 £96,539
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £52,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year -4.76% +5.00% -4.76%

Senior Penetration Tester
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring 'Senior Penetration Tester' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

Senior Penetration Tester job vacancy trend in the UK

Senior Penetration Tester
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for Senior Penetration Tester job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for Senior Penetration Tester job vacancies in the UK

Senior Penetration Tester
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Senior Penetration Tester over the 6 months to 6 January 2026.

Salary histogram for Senior Penetration Tester in the UK

Senior Penetration Tester
Top 6 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Senior Penetration Tester within the UK over the 6 months to 6 January 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
Work from Home +63 4 £82,500 -
England +58 3 £95,000 +11.76%
London +46 2 - -
UK excluding London +37 1 £95,000 -
North of England - 1 £95,000 -
North West - 1 £95,000 -

Senior Penetration Tester Skill Set
Top 28 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 6 January 2026, Senior Penetration Tester job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all permanent job ads featuring Senior Penetration Tester in the job title.

1 3 (75.00%) Cybersecurity
1 3 (75.00%) OSCP
1 3 (75.00%) Penetration Testing
1 3 (75.00%) Security Testing
2 2 (50.00%) Agile
2 2 (50.00%) Android
2 2 (50.00%) Apple iOS
2 2 (50.00%) Application Security
2 2 (50.00%) AWS
2 2 (50.00%) Cloud Security
2 2 (50.00%) CREST Certified
2 2 (50.00%) Disruptive Innovation
2 2 (50.00%) Fintech
2 2 (50.00%) GCP
2 2 (50.00%) Go
2 2 (50.00%) Information Security
2 2 (50.00%) Java
2 2 (50.00%) Kubernetes
2 2 (50.00%) Reverse Engineering
2 2 (50.00%) SDLC
2 2 (50.00%) Technical Architecture
2 2 (50.00%) Test Automation
2 2 (50.00%) Threat Modelling
3 1 (25.00%) Advanced Persistent Threat
3 1 (25.00%) Red Team
3 1 (25.00%) SaaS
3 1 (25.00%) Social Engineering
3 1 (25.00%) Vulnerability Research

Senior Penetration Tester Skill Set
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:

Cloud Services
1 2 (50.00%) AWS
1 2 (50.00%) GCP
2 1 (25.00%) SaaS
General
1 2 (50.00%) Banking
1 2 (50.00%) Inclusion and Diversity
1 2 (50.00%) Law
1 2 (50.00%) Retail
1 2 (50.00%) Social Skills
Miscellaneous
1 2 (50.00%) Security Posture
Operating Systems
1 2 (50.00%) Android
1 2 (50.00%) Apple iOS
Processes & Methodologies
1 3 (75.00%) Cybersecurity
1 3 (75.00%) Penetration Testing
1 3 (75.00%) Security Testing
2 2 (50.00%) Agile
2 2 (50.00%) Application Security
2 2 (50.00%) Cloud Security
2 2 (50.00%) Disruptive Innovation
2 2 (50.00%) Fintech
2 2 (50.00%) Information Security
2 2 (50.00%) Reverse Engineering
2 2 (50.00%) SDLC
2 2 (50.00%) Technical Architecture
2 2 (50.00%) Test Automation
2 2 (50.00%) Threat Modelling
3 1 (25.00%) Advanced Persistent Threat
3 1 (25.00%) Red Team
3 1 (25.00%) Social Engineering
3 1 (25.00%) Vulnerability Research
Programming Languages
1 2 (50.00%) Go
1 2 (50.00%) Java
Qualifications
1 3 (75.00%) OSCP
2 2 (50.00%) CREST Certified
Systems Management
1 2 (50.00%) Kubernetes