Hybrid/Remote Penetration Testing Job Trends

Penetration Testing
UK > Work from Home

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for remote or hybrid work requiring Penetration Testing skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 31 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
31 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 308 310 293
Rank change year-on-year +2 -17 +155
Permanent jobs citing Penetration Testing 70 145 190
As % of all permanent jobs with remote/hybrid work options 0.46% 0.85% 0.93%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.52% 0.91% 0.99%
Number of salaries quoted 60 92 164
10th Percentile £48,165 £50,000 £42,849
25th Percentile £51,250 £57,500 £52,313
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £60,000 £65,000 £64,902
Median % change year-on-year -7.69% +0.15% -3.85%
75th Percentile £70,000 £87,500 £80,000
90th Percentile £77,500 £93,250 £90,000
UK median annual salary £70,000 £65,000 £65,000
% change year-on-year +7.69% - -6.07%

All Process & Methodology Skills
Work from Home

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 with remote or hybrid options requiring process or methodology skills.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 13,414 15,924 19,130
As % of all permanent jobs with a WFH option 88.55% 93.02% 94.08%
Number of salaries quoted 8,496 9,556 15,380
10th Percentile £30,000 £36,250 £36,250
25th Percentile £41,250 £46,250 £46,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £59,000 £62,500 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -5.60% +4.17% -4.00%
75th Percentile £80,000 £81,250 £80,000
90th Percentile £100,000 £100,000 £97,500
UK median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year -8.33% - -4.00%

Penetration Testing
Job Vacancy Trend for Remote/Hybrid Jobs

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings citing Penetration Testing and offering remote or hybrid work options relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

Penetration Testing job vacancy trend for remote/hybrid jobs

Penetration Testing
Salary Trend for Remote/Hybrid Jobs

Salary distribution trend for jobs with remote/hybrid work options citing Penetration Testing.

Salary distribution trend for jobs with remote/hybrid work options citing Penetration Testing

Penetration Testing
Salary Histogram for Remote/Hybrid Jobs

Salary distribution for jobs with remote/hybrid work options citing Penetration Testing over the 6 months to 31 December 2025.

Penetration Testing salary histogram for jobs with remote/hybrid work options

Penetration Testing
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Remote/Hybrid Jobs 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 3 (4.29%) Microsoft Exchange
1 3 (4.29%) SharePoint
2 1 (1.43%) Confluence
Applications
1 7 (10.00%) Microsoft Excel
1 7 (10.00%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (1.43%) GNU Octave
Cloud Services
1 18 (25.71%) Azure
2 13 (18.57%) AWS
3 7 (10.00%) Power Platform
4 5 (7.14%) Entra ID
5 4 (5.71%) Microsoft 365
6 3 (4.29%) GCP
6 3 (4.29%) IBM Cloud
7 1 (1.43%) Azure Sentinel
7 1 (1.43%) GitHub
7 1 (1.43%) Power Automate
Communications & Networking
1 19 (27.14%) Firewall
2 17 (24.29%) TCP/IP
3 11 (15.71%) Network Security
4 9 (12.86%) Wireshark
5 8 (11.43%) VPN
6 7 (10.00%) Wi-Fi
7 4 (5.71%) Ethernet
8 3 (4.29%) VLAN
9 2 (2.86%) DNS
9 2 (2.86%) HTTP
10 1 (1.43%) ICMP
10 1 (1.43%) Modbus
10 1 (1.43%) NAS
10 1 (1.43%) SAN
10 1 (1.43%) SSH
10 1 (1.43%) Wireless
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (10.00%) Power BI
1 7 (10.00%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 14 (20.00%) Burp Suite
1 14 (20.00%) Metasploit
2 1 (1.43%) IDA Disassembler
2 1 (1.43%) JIRA
General
1 27 (38.57%) Social Skills
2 13 (18.57%) Analytical Skills
3 9 (12.86%) Public Sector
4 8 (11.43%) Retail
5 6 (8.57%) Banking
6 5 (7.14%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 4 (5.71%) Electronics
7 4 (5.71%) Finance
8 2 (2.86%) Law
9 1 (1.43%) Documentation Skills
9 1 (1.43%) Investment Banking
9 1 (1.43%) Manufacturing
9 1 (1.43%) Organisational Skills
Job Titles
1 13 (18.57%) Tester
2 12 (17.14%) Analyst
2 12 (17.14%) Penetration Tester
3 11 (15.71%) Cybersecurity Engineer
3 11 (15.71%) Security Engineer
3 11 (15.71%) Senior
4 9 (12.86%) Security Specialist
5 8 (11.43%) Auditor
5 8 (11.43%) IT Auditor
5 8 (11.43%) IT Manager
5 8 (11.43%) Security Analyst
5 8 (11.43%) Senior Security Engineer
6 7 (10.00%) Audit Manager
6 7 (10.00%) Internal Audit Manager
6 7 (10.00%) Internal Auditor
6 7 (10.00%) IT Audit Manager
7 6 (8.57%) Threat Intelligence Specialist
8 4 (5.71%) Cybersecurity Consultant
8 4 (5.71%) Data Analyst
8 4 (5.71%) Infrastructure Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (1.43%) JSON
1 1 (1.43%) PyTorch
1 1 (1.43%) TensorFlow
Miscellaneous
1 15 (21.43%) Security Posture
2 11 (15.71%) Security Operations Centre
3 6 (8.57%) Cyber Defence
3 6 (8.57%) Cyber Kill Chain
3 6 (8.57%) Cyber Threat
3 6 (8.57%) Insider Threat
3 6 (8.57%) Self-Motivation
4 5 (7.14%) Operational Technology
5 4 (5.71%) Analytical Mindset
5 4 (5.71%) Enterprise Software
6 3 (4.29%) PKI
6 3 (4.29%) SCADA
6 3 (4.29%) Virtual Team
7 2 (2.86%) Cloud Native
7 2 (2.86%) Cyberattack
8 1 (1.43%) Data Centre
8 1 (1.43%) Driving Licence
8 1 (1.43%) Linux Command Line
8 1 (1.43%) Mobile App
8 1 (1.43%) Renewable Energy
Operating Systems
1 16 (22.86%) Windows
2 14 (20.00%) Linux
3 7 (10.00%) Unix
4 3 (4.29%) Android
4 3 (4.29%) Apple iOS
4 3 (4.29%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 43 (61.43%) Cybersecurity
2 27 (38.57%) Incident Response
3 19 (27.14%) Problem-Solving
4 18 (25.71%) Information Security
4 18 (25.71%) SIEM
5 16 (22.86%) ITIL
6 15 (21.43%) Security Operations
7 14 (20.00%) Red Team
8 13 (18.57%) Threat Intelligence
9 12 (17.14%) Application Security
10 11 (15.71%) Analytics
10 11 (15.71%) Data Analysis
10 11 (15.71%) SDLC
10 11 (15.71%) Vulnerability Management
11 10 (14.29%) Business Intelligence
12 9 (12.86%) Offensive Security
12 9 (12.86%) Vulnerability Assessment
13 8 (11.43%) DevOps
13 8 (11.43%) Ethical Hacking
13 8 (11.43%) Security Monitoring
Programming Languages
1 14 (20.00%) Python
2 7 (10.00%) R
2 7 (10.00%) SQL
3 6 (8.57%) C
3 6 (8.57%) C++
4 2 (2.86%) Go
4 2 (2.86%) Java
5 1 (1.43%) Bash
5 1 (1.43%) C#
5 1 (1.43%) JavaScript
5 1 (1.43%) PowerShell
Qualifications
1 26 (37.14%) CISSP
2 22 (31.43%) Security Cleared
3 19 (27.14%) SC Cleared
4 17 (24.29%) CREST Certified
5 15 (21.43%) CompTIA Security+
5 15 (21.43%) Degree
5 15 (21.43%) OSCP
6 14 (20.00%) CCNA
6 14 (20.00%) Cisco Certification
7 12 (17.14%) GCIA
8 11 (15.71%) CHECK Team Member
8 11 (15.71%) GIAC
9 9 (12.86%) CISA
9 9 (12.86%) MCP
9 9 (12.86%) Microsoft Certification
10 8 (11.43%) CCNP
10 8 (11.43%) SANS
11 7 (10.00%) ACCA
11 7 (10.00%) Cyber Scheme
11 7 (10.00%) GPEN
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 30 (42.86%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 11 (15.71%) Cyber Essentials
2 11 (15.71%) NIST
3 6 (8.57%) Actionable Recommendations
4 5 (7.14%) GDPR
5 3 (4.29%) GRC
6 2 (2.86%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 2 (2.86%) NIST 800
7 1 (1.43%) PCI DSS
7 1 (1.43%) QA
System Software
1 5 (7.14%) Active Directory
2 3 (4.29%) Firmware
2 3 (4.29%) VMware ESXi
2 3 (4.29%) VMware Infrastructure
Systems Management
1 14 (20.00%) Nmap
2 12 (17.14%) Nessus
3 4 (5.71%) QRadar
4 3 (4.29%) Proxmox
5 2 (2.86%) Kubernetes
6 1 (1.43%) Microsoft Intune
6 1 (1.43%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 21 (30.00%) Microsoft
2 9 (12.86%) Cisco
3 7 (10.00%) Oracle
4 4 (5.71%) Splunk
5 3 (4.29%) Fortinet
5 3 (4.29%) IBM
5 3 (4.29%) VMware
6 2 (2.86%) Qualys
7 1 (1.43%) Palo Alto
7 1 (1.43%) Tanium
7 1 (1.43%) Tenable
7 1 (1.43%) Zscaler