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Lead Penetration Tester

The Lead Penetration Tester is a critical role within KAUST's cybersecurity team, responsible for leading and executing advanced security assessments across the organization's infrastructure, cloud environments, and network systems. This position requires a highly skilled and experienced professional who can lead a team of penetration testers, develop custom exploitation tools, and provide technical mentorship. The Lead Penetration Tester will work closely with stakeholders to translate technical findings into actionable remediation strategies, contributing to the continuous improvement of KAUST's security posture.

Major Responsibilities

• Lead and execute penetration testing engagements against enterprise infrastructure, including networks, servers, Active Directory environments, and on-premises systems.
• Perform advanced network penetration testing, such as network segmentation validation, lateral movement assessments, and privilege escalation attacks.
• Conduct wireless security assessments, including rogue access point detection, WPA/WPA2/WPA3 security testing, and wireless infrastructure evaluation.
• Execute physical security assessments and social engineering campaigns when required.
• Assess the security of virtualization platforms (VMware, Hyper-V) and identify hypervisor-level vulnerabilities.

• Lead cloud penetration testing engagements across major cloud platforms (Azure, SAP) and assess IaaS and PaaS environments.
• Evaluate cloud infrastructure configurations, IAM policies, network security groups, and storage security.
• Identify misconfigurations in cloud-native services, including serverless functions, container orchestration (Kubernetes, EKS, AKS, GKE), and managed databases.
• Assess cloud identity and access management implementations and identify privilege escalation paths.
• Test hybrid cloud environments and evaluate the security of cloud-to-on-premises connectivity.

• Plan and execute red team exercises simulating advanced persistent threat (APT) scenarios.
• Conduct adversary emulation exercises based on the MITRE ATT&CK framework.
• Coordinate purple team exercises with the SOC and defensive teams to enhance detection capabilities.

• Research and develop custom exploits for identified vulnerabilities in KAUST's environment.
• Stay updated on emerging attack techniques, zero-day vulnerabilities, and offensive security research.
• Contribute to internal vulnerability research initiatives and follow responsible disclosure processes.
• Maintain and enhance the penetration testing toolkit and infrastructure.

• Produce technical reports detailing findings, attack paths, and exploitation evidence.
• Develop executive-level summaries to translate technical risks into business impact assessments.
• Collaborate with system owners and IT teams to validate remediation efforts through retesting.
• Present findings to technical and non-technical stakeholders, including senior management.

• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to penetration testing team members.
• Develop and maintain penetration testing methodologies, standards, and playbooks.
• Conduct knowledge-sharing sessions and internal training on offensive security techniques.
• Contribute to the hiring and skill development of the penetration testing team.

Personal Requirements

Competencies

• Infrastructure Security Testing: Expertise in testing enterprise environments, including Windows/Linux systems, Active Directory, network devices, and virtualization platforms.
• Cloud Security Assessment: Deep knowledge of cloud penetration testing across AWS, Azure, and GCP, including cloud-native services, IAM, and container security.
• Exploitation Development: Ability to create custom exploits, shellcode, and payloads for identified vulnerabilities.
• Scripting and Automation: Advanced proficiency in Python, PowerShell, Bash, and other scripting languages for tool development and automation.
• Network Security: In-depth understanding of network protocols, firewalls, IDS/IPS evasion, and network-based attacks.
• Operating Systems: Expert knowledge of Windows and Linux internals, privilege escalation techniques, and post-exploitation methods.
• Container Security: Proficiency in assessing Docker, Kubernetes, and container orchestration platform security.
• Infrastructure as Code: Understanding of IaC security assessment for Terraform, CloudFormation, and ARM templates.

• Offensive Security Methodologies: Mastery of penetration testing frameworks such as PTES, OWASP.
• Threat Intelligence: Ability to leverage threat intelligence to inform testing scenarios and adversary behavior.
• MITRE ATT&CK: Expert understanding of the MITRE ATT&CK framework for adversary tactics and techniques.
• Vulnerability Assessment: Comprehensive knowledge of vulnerability identification, classification, and risk assessment.

• Team Leadership: Ability to lead and coordinate penetration testing engagements and team activities.
• Project Management: Strong skills in planning, scoping, and delivering penetration testing projects.
• Mentorship: Demonstrated ability to develop and mentor junior security professionals.
• Stakeholder Management: Ability to manage relationships with technical and business stakeholders.

• Risk Communication: Ability to articulate security risks in terms of business impact and strategic importance.
• Communication Skills: Strong written and verbal communication skills for technical and executive audiences.
• Regulatory Compliance: Understanding of regulatory compliance requirements such as NIST and their implications for security testing.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Cybersecurity, Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.
• Relevant industry certifications are required (e.g., OSCP, OSEP, OSCE, CRTO, GPEN, GXPN).
• Cloud security certifications are preferred (e.g., AWS Security Specialty, Azure Security Engineer, CKS).
• Minimum 7+ years of experience in cybersecurity with at least 5 years focused on penetration testing.
• Demonstrated experience leading penetration testing teams or major engagements.
• Proven track record of discovering and responsibly disclosing vulnerabilities.
• Experience with cloud security assessments in enterprise environments.