Senior Penetration Tester

You’re motivated by a deep curiosity and a dedication to excellence. Whether dissecting telecoms protocols or navigating the intricacies of enterprise IT systems, you thrive on appreciation how things work — and how they can be fortified. Your approach is hands-on and analytical, grounded in experience and a clear sense of purpose: making systems more secure and resilient.

In this role, you’ll join a collaborative, inclusive team that values expertise, diverse perspectives, and mutual support. You’ll have the opportunity to mentor and guide emerging talent, shaping the next generation of penetration testers. We’ll give you the freedom to explore, experiment, and grow — while contributing to the development of robust, secure networks that have real-world impact

What You’ll Be Doing

• As a senior member of the team, you’ll play a pivotal role in shaping and delivering security assessments across complex hardware and software systems. Your responsibilities will include:
• Steering technical assessments of telecoms equipment, identifying vulnerabilities and guiding the direction of testing activities.
• Mentoring and supporting junior team members, fostering their development through hands-on guidance and knowledge sharing.
• Applying advanced testing techniques, including both positive and negative approaches such as fuzzing, to rigorously evaluate network functions and protocols.
• Scripting and automating assessments to enhance efficiency, consistency, and scalability across projects.
• Investigating and articulating findings.
• Contributing to high-quality technical reports, ensuring they are thorough and insightful.
• Helping to shape the test strategy.

Successful Applicants must be able to commute to the UKTL offices in Birmingham at least twice a week

We strive to offer a great work life balance - if you are looking for full time, part time or flexible options, we will try to make this work where business possible. This will be dependent on the kind of role you do and part of the business you work in. 

UKTL is building leading edge Telecoms testing facilities to keep our telecommunications networks safe, accelerate the roll-out of new technologies, and grow our world leading telecoms sector to maintain resiliency and security. 

Read more about UKTL here!

Successful candidates will join a state-of-the-art facility and be supporting the team conducting testing and research on the latest technologies and innovations in the industry. You will work alongside our infrastructure and Cybersecurity professionals to ensure that the UK’s world class Telecoms infrastructure grows in a resilient and secure manner underpinning growth in other industry sectors.

As a trusted and independent national capability, UKTL interacts with standards bodies, Academia, and Government Departments as well as Communications Service Providers and equipment vendors.

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) is a world-leading centre of excellence that provides cutting-edge measurement science, engineering and technology to underpin prosperity and quality of life in the UK. Find out more about what it is like working here - The measure of us - Overview

NPL and DSIT have strong commitments to diversity and equality of opportunity, and welcome applications from candidates irrespective of their background, gender, race, sexual orientation, religion, or age, providing they meet the required criteria. Applications from women, disabled and black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates in particular are encouraged. All disabled candidates (as defined by the Equality Act 2010) who satisfy the minimum criteria for the role will be guaranteed an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme. 

At NPL, we believe our success is a result of the diversity and talent of our people. We strive to nurture and respect individuals to ensure everyone feels valued by treating everyone on the basis of their own individual merits and abilities regardless of their own or perceived identity, as part of our commitment to diversity & inclusion, we ensure we’re creating an environment where all our colleagues feel supported and welcome. More about this on our Diversity & Inclusion page.