Penetration Testing Jobs

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 1 June 2024 with a comparison to the same period in the previous 2 years.

6 months to
1 Jun 2024
Same period 2023 Same period 2022
Rank 474 467 570
Rank change year-on-year -7 +103 -122
Permanent jobs citing Penetration Testing 509 585 950
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 0.48% 0.62% 0.56%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 0.58% 0.65% 0.59%
Number of salaries quoted 402 401 631
10th Percentile £38,774 £43,750 £37,442
25th Percentile £48,750 £50,015 £51,250
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £65,000 £65,000
Median % change year-on-year - - +7.44%
75th Percentile £82,500 £87,500 £78,750
90th Percentile £95,000 £103,750 £92,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £57,500 £55,000 £60,000
% change year-on-year +4.55% -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 87,829 90,354 161,874
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 83.68% 95.46% 95.93%
Number of salaries quoted 61,251 54,292 82,971
10th Percentile £29,250 £34,000 £33,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £45,000 £43,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,800 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -9.54% +1.33% +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 1 June 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 1 June 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 +7 454 £65,000 - 130
UK excluding London -76 233 £57,500 +4.55% 79
London +72 221 £75,000 -8.46% 52
Work from Home -41 200 £60,000 -11.11% 98
South East -12 65 £43,750 -27.69% 19
Midlands -13 52 £55,000 -8.33% 9
North of England +9 48 £60,000 +14.29% 24
South West -16 46 £63,750 +25.00% 12
North West +4 36 £60,000 +14.29% 17
West Midlands -30 30 £55,000 -8.33% 8
East Midlands -2 22 £65,000 - 1
Yorkshire +35 12 £44,250 -15.71% 7
Scotland -81 11 £60,000 +7.75% 10
East of England -14 7 £40,000 -27.27% 3
Wales +6 3 £90,000 +60.71% 1
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 4 (0.79%) Microsoft Exchange
2 3 (0.59%) SharePoint
3 2 (0.39%) Confluence
4 1 (0.20%) Apache
4 1 (0.20%) CMS
4 1 (0.20%) IIS
4 1 (0.20%) WebSphere
Applications
1 3 (0.59%) Microsoft Office
2 1 (0.20%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 1 (0.20%) Remedy ITSM
Cloud Services
1 115 (22.59%) Azure
2 76 (14.93%) AWS
3 49 (9.63%) Microsoft 365
4 27 (5.30%) GCP
5 21 (4.13%) Cloud Computing
6 13 (2.55%) SaaS
7 11 (2.16%) Google Workspace
8 9 (1.77%) Entra ID
9 8 (1.57%) Amazon ECS
9 8 (1.57%) Cloudflare
10 7 (1.38%) Dynamics 365
10 7 (1.38%) PaaS
11 6 (1.18%) Azure DevOps
11 6 (1.18%) Azure Sentinel
11 6 (1.18%) IaaS
12 4 (0.79%) Azure Service Bus
12 4 (0.79%) Mimecast
13 3 (0.59%) Azure Synapse Analytics
13 3 (0.59%) Power Platform
13 3 (0.59%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 121 (23.77%) Firewall
2 71 (13.95%) Network Security
3 41 (8.06%) Wireless
4 31 (6.09%) DNS
5 27 (5.30%) Intrusion Detection
6 20 (3.93%) Wi-Fi
7 15 (2.95%) TCP/IP
8 13 (2.55%) VPN
9 11 (2.16%) Broadband
9 11 (2.16%) NAS
10 10 (1.96%) Wireshark
11 9 (1.77%) Internet
11 9 (1.77%) LAN
11 9 (1.77%) SSL
11 9 (1.77%) WAN
12 8 (1.57%) NGFW
13 6 (1.18%) BGP
14 5 (0.98%) HTTP
14 5 (0.98%) IPsec
14 5 (0.98%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 9 (1.77%) SQL Server
2 6 (1.18%) MongoDB
3 5 (0.98%) NoSQL
4 4 (0.79%) InfluxDB
5 3 (0.59%) Data Lake
6 2 (0.39%) Azure SQL Database
7 1 (0.20%) Redis
Development Applications
1 39 (7.66%) Burp Suite
1 39 (7.66%) Metasploit
2 8 (1.57%) Git
2 8 (1.57%) Jenkins
3 7 (1.38%) JIRA
4 5 (0.98%) Postman
5 4 (0.79%) JMeter
5 4 (0.79%) SoapUI
6 3 (0.59%) Cucumber
6 3 (0.59%) SpecFlow
7 2 (0.39%) Bitbucket
8 1 (0.20%) GitLab
8 1 (0.20%) Selenium
8 1 (0.20%) Snyk
General
1 156 (30.65%) Social Skills
2 87 (17.09%) Analytical Skills
3 74 (14.54%) Finance
4 42 (8.25%) Legal
5 31 (6.09%) Law
6 30 (5.89%) Retail
7 27 (5.30%) Presentation Skills
8 26 (5.11%) Banking
8 26 (5.11%) Telecoms
9 25 (4.91%) Games
10 20 (3.93%) Marketing
11 18 (3.54%) Aerospace
11 18 (3.54%) Public Sector
12 17 (3.34%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 11 (2.16%) Influencing Skills
13 11 (2.16%) Military
14 9 (1.77%) Manufacturing
15 7 (1.38%) Automotive
15 7 (1.38%) Pharmaceutical
16 5 (0.98%) Electronics
Job Titles
1 140 (27.50%) Penetration Tester
1 140 (27.50%) Tester
2 71 (13.95%) Senior
3 68 (13.36%) Analyst
4 67 (13.16%) Lead
5 50 (9.82%) Security Analyst
6 38 (7.47%) Security Engineer
7 36 (7.07%) Consultant
8 31 (6.09%) Team Leader
9 28 (5.50%) Security Manager
10 27 (5.30%) Architect
10 27 (5.30%) Senior Penetration Tester
10 27 (5.30%) Senior Tester
11 24 (4.72%) Security Consultant
12 22 (4.32%) Security Architect
13 20 (3.93%) Security Tester
13 20 (3.93%) Test Team Leader
14 19 (3.73%) Cybersecurity Analyst
14 19 (3.73%) Security Penetration Tester
15 16 (3.14%) Cybersecurity Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 14 (2.75%) OAuth
2 12 (2.36%) OAuth2
3 8 (1.57%) Laravel
4 6 (1.18%) Web Services
5 4 (0.79%) EDI
5 4 (0.79%) OpenID
5 4 (0.79%) SOAP
5 4 (0.79%) XML
6 3 (0.59%) RESTful
6 3 (0.59%) WPF
7 2 (0.39%) SAML
8 1 (0.20%) ARM Templates
8 1 (0.20%) HTML
8 1 (0.20%) JSON
8 1 (0.20%) Kafka
8 1 (0.20%) Loki
8 1 (0.20%) SignalR
8 1 (0.20%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 44 (8.64%) Cyber Threat
2 42 (8.25%) Security Posture
3 40 (7.86%) Management Information System
4 36 (7.07%) Cyberattack
5 29 (5.70%) Mobile App
6 24 (4.72%) Self-Motivation
7 22 (4.32%) Onboarding
8 21 (4.13%) Operational Technology
9 15 (2.95%) Data Centre
10 14 (2.75%) Cyber Defence
10 14 (2.75%) IoT
11 13 (2.55%) Hybrid Cloud
12 11 (2.16%) Video Conferencing
13 8 (1.57%) Cyber Security Posture
14 7 (1.38%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
15 6 (1.18%) Analytical Mindset
15 6 (1.18%) Product Ownership
16 5 (0.98%) Cyber Kill Chain
16 5 (0.98%) Data Structures
16 5 (0.98%) Virtual Team
Operating Systems
1 72 (14.15%) Windows
2 60 (11.79%) Linux
3 41 (8.06%) Kali Linux
4 26 (5.11%) Apple iOS
5 25 (4.91%) Android
6 22 (4.32%) Windows Server
7 18 (3.54%) Unix
8 12 (2.36%) Mac OS
9 4 (0.79%) Windows XP
10 3 (0.59%) Mac OS X
11 2 (0.39%) AIX
11 2 (0.39%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
12 1 (0.20%) VMS
12 1 (0.20%) Windows 10
12 1 (0.20%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 363 (71.32%) Cybersecurity
2 147 (28.88%) Information Security
3 116 (22.79%) Problem-Solving
4 115 (22.59%) Computer Science
5 104 (20.43%) Incident Response
6 90 (17.68%) Application Security
7 88 (17.29%) Vulnerability Scanning
8 87 (17.09%) Red Team
9 80 (15.72%) Security Testing
10 70 (13.75%) SIEM
10 70 (13.75%) Vulnerability Management
11 60 (11.79%) Mentoring
12 55 (10.81%) Vulnerability Assessment
13 54 (10.61%) OWASP
14 48 (9.43%) Security Operations
15 46 (9.04%) Patch Management
16 45 (8.84%) Risk Management
17 44 (8.64%) Cloud Security
18 42 (8.25%) Malware Analysis
18 42 (8.25%) Threat Modelling
Programming Languages
1 52 (10.22%) Python
2 32 (6.29%) Bash
3 14 (2.75%) PowerShell
4 13 (2.55%) Java
5 11 (2.16%) SQL
6 8 (1.57%) PHP
6 8 (1.57%) Rust
7 7 (1.38%) Go
7 7 (1.38%) JavaScript
8 6 (1.18%) C#
9 2 (0.39%) Ruby
10 1 (0.20%) C++
10 1 (0.20%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 126 (24.75%) Degree
2 93 (18.27%) CISSP
3 90 (17.68%) CREST Certified
4 71 (13.95%) OSCP
5 69 (13.56%) Computer Science Degree
6 58 (11.39%) CISM
7 53 (10.41%) Security Cleared
8 46 (9.04%) SC Cleared
9 33 (6.48%) CEH
9 33 (6.48%) CHECK Team Member
10 32 (6.29%) GIAC
11 27 (5.30%) CISA
11 27 (5.30%) CompTIA Security+
12 25 (4.91%) CHECK Team Leader
13 17 (3.34%) Cisco Certification
13 17 (3.34%) CompTIA CySA+
14 15 (2.95%) GPEN
15 14 (2.75%) Cyber Scheme
16 11 (2.16%) AWS Certification
16 11 (2.16%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 95 (18.66%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 56 (11.00%) NIST
3 52 (10.22%) Cyber Essentials
4 29 (5.70%) GRC
5 27 (5.30%) GDPR
6 26 (5.11%) PCI DSS
7 25 (4.91%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 21 (4.13%) QA
9 17 (3.34%) SOC 2
10 9 (1.77%) NCSC
11 8 (1.57%) NIST 800
12 7 (1.38%) Actionable Recommendations
13 6 (1.18%) COBIT
13 6 (1.18%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
14 5 (0.98%) Accessibility
14 5 (0.98%) HIPAA
15 4 (0.79%) DO-254
15 4 (0.79%) JSP 440
16 3 (0.59%) JTAG
17 2 (0.39%) SLA
System Software
1 44 (8.64%) Active Directory
2 25 (4.91%) VMware Infrastructure
3 10 (1.96%) Virtual Machines
4 7 (1.38%) Docker
5 2 (0.39%) Virtual Servers
6 1 (0.20%) Hyper-V
Systems Management
1 21 (4.13%) Nessus
2 19 (3.73%) Kubernetes
3 13 (2.55%) Ansible
4 12 (2.36%) WSUS
5 11 (2.16%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
5 11 (2.16%) Single Sign-On
6 10 (1.96%) QRadar
7 9 (1.77%) Nmap
8 7 (1.38%) CASB
8 7 (1.38%) SCCM
9 6 (1.18%) Microsoft Intune
9 6 (1.18%) Terraform
10 5 (0.98%) Grafana
10 5 (0.98%) Progress Chef
10 5 (0.98%) Suricata
11 4 (0.79%) DatAdvantage
11 4 (0.79%) HP Fortify
12 3 (0.59%) FortiGate
13 2 (0.39%) CSIRT
14 1 (0.20%) Prometheus
Vendors
1 96 (18.86%) Microsoft
2 25 (4.91%) VMware
3 23 (4.52%) Cisco
4 22 (4.32%) Qualys
5 20 (3.93%) Google
6 16 (3.14%) Splunk
7 11 (2.16%) Apple
8 9 (1.77%) Palo Alto
9 7 (1.38%) IBM
9 7 (1.38%) Kenna
9 7 (1.38%) Rapid7
10 6 (1.18%) HubSpot
10 6 (1.18%) Oracle
11 5 (0.98%) Alibaba
11 5 (0.98%) Juniper
11 5 (0.98%) Red Hat
12 4 (0.79%) Darktrace
12 4 (0.79%) ServiceNow
12 4 (0.79%) Varonis
12 4 (0.79%) Veeam