Penetration Testing Expert Duties & Responsibilities
The role and function of a Penetration Testing Expert includes the following duties and responsibilities:
- Operate a hands-on role involving penetration testing and vulnerability assessment activities of complex applications, operating systems, wired and wireless networks, and mobile applications/devices
- Develop and maintain security testing plans
- Automate penetration and other security testing on networks, systems and applications
- Develop meaningful metrics to reflect the true posture of the environment allowing the organization to make educated decisions based on risk
- Produce actionable, threat-based, reports on security testing results
- Communicate security issues to a wide variety of internal and external “customers” to include technical teams, executives, risk groups, vendors and regulators
- Deliver the annual penetration testing schedule and conducting awareness campaigns to ensure proper budgeting by business lines for annual tests
- Act as a source of direction, training, and guidance for less experienced staff
- Mentor and coach other IT security staff to provide guidance and expertise in their growth
- Consult with application developers, systems administrators, and management to demonstrate security testing results, explain the threat presented by the results, and consult on remediation
- Foster and maintain relationships with key stakeholders and business partners
Note that this is not an exhaustive list of Penetration Testing Expert duties and responsibilities. Job functions for specific Penetration Testing Expert roles may vary, depending on the industry and type of employer.