Penetration tester job description: template and real figures
A template for hiring a penetration tester, with what employers in today’s 116 open postings for this work ask for and offer. Copy it, fill in the brackets, then post the job free.
- Open postings today
- 116
- Experience asked, median
- 5 years
- Postings that state pay
- 44%
- Median advertised pay
- $213K
- Open to remote work
- 36%
Penetration Tester [Company] · [City, or Remote and the countries it is open to] · [Full-time] About us [Two sentences: what the company does, for whom, and one number that shows where it is now.] About the role Our Penetration Tester attacks a company’s own systems, with permission, to find the holes first. You will report to [manager’s title] and work with [team]. What you will do - [The most important result of the first year, with a number] - Web and network testing: [what this means in your team] - Exploit development: [what this means in your team] - Report writing: [what this means in your team] - [One more duty that is specific to this job] What we are looking for - [5]+ years of experience as a penetration tester - Experience with Python - Experience with LLM - Experience with AWS - Experience with GCP - [One or two must-haves that are specific to this job] Pay and benefits - Pay range: $[lowest] – $[highest] a year, [plus equity or bonus if any] - Parental leave - Equity - Visa sponsorship - [Paid time off, health cover and the rest of your benefits] How to apply [What to send, the interview steps and how long they take. Name the date you will reply by.]
What today’s penetration tester postings say
| Experience asked | Median 5 years; the middle half ask 3–6 years (65 postings name a number) |
|---|---|
| Pay advertised | $170K – $247K for the middle half; median $213K (44 postings with a yearly US-dollar range) |
| Skills named most | Python (56%), LLM (38%), AWS (35%), GCP (30%) |
| Benefits named most | Parental leave (28%), Equity (25%), Visa sponsorship (4%) |
| Most common level | Senior (30% of postings) |
| Titles employers use | Offensive Security Engineer, Senior Security Researcher, Penetration Tester, Principal Product Security Researcher, Senior Security Research Engineer, Senior Offensive Security Engineer |
Counted from the 116 open postings for this work on Nov 14, 2026, read from employers’ own careers pages. Recounted on every update.
Questions about hiring a penetration tester
- What should a penetration tester job description include?
- What the person will achieve in the first year, the duties, the must-have experience, the pay range and how the hiring steps work. For this work, today’s postings name Python, LLM, AWS most often.
- Should a penetration tester job posting show the salary?
- Yes, if you can: 44% of today’s 116 open penetration tester postings here do. A range filters out people who would turn the offer down, and several US states and EU countries now require it.
- How many years of experience should I ask for?
- The median in today’s penetration tester postings is 5 years. Ask for what the work needs: every extra year you require shrinks the pool of applicants.
Everything about penetration tester work
See also: 116 open penetration tester jobs · penetration tester pay · how to hire a penetration tester · all job description templates