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The Penetration Testing Section of the NCSC conducts tailored penetration testing against NATO networks and systems. The team assesses the impact, likelihood, and difficulty of exploitation by advanced cyber adversaries, supporting accreditation, IT change management, software development assurance, exercises, and incident response. Reporting to the Team Lead, the Senior Penetration Tester will be responsible for executing comprehensive penetration testing and vulnerability assessments to improve NATO’s cyber hygiene and support its cyber defence posture.

Responsibilities:

• Provide Web, infrastructure and application-level penetration testing, including but not limited to COTS software and NOTS/GOTS software (NATO/Government off the Shelf), following clearly defined methodologies.

• Participate in kick-off meetings with stakeholders and technical points of contact in order to identify requirements for testing.

• Follow the documented procedures and workflows outlined by the technical leads

• Attend team meetings if required

• Write technical reports in fluent English, following defined templates and Reporting Tools.

• Brief at both executive and technical levels on security reports and testing outcome, including at flag officer level.

• In case of new vulnerabilities detected for COTS software, follow the Responsible Disclosure Process and follow-up with vendors and stakeholders.

• In co-ordination with the Technical Lead of the Penetration testing team, ensure proactive collaboration and coordination with internal and external stakeholders.

• Stay abreast of technological developments relevant to the area of work.

• Perform any other duties as may be required.

Essential Qualifications & Experience:

The service contractor will be required to have a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree at a nationally recognised/certified university in a technical subject with substantial Information Technology (IT) content and 3 years post-related experience. As an exception, the lack of a university degree may be compensated by the demonstration of a candidate’s particular abilities or experience that are of interest to the NCI Agency; namely, at least 10 years of extensive and progressive experience in the duties related to the functions of this post.

Extensive knowledge and experience (at least 3 years) in the following areas:

• Web application penetration testing

• IT infrastructure penetration testing

• Network security architecture design

• Assessing security vulnerabilities within OS, software, protocols & networks

• Researching and evaluating security products & technologies

• Knowledge in system and network administration of UNIX and Windows systems

• Use of penetration testing tools, techniques, and recognized testing methodologies

• Scripting skills in at least one of the following: Python, Go, PowerShell, shell (bash, ksh, csh)

• Technical knowledge in system and network security, authentication and security protocols, cryptography, application security, as well as, malware infection techniques and protection technologies.

• Ability to evaluate risks and formulate mitigation plans.

• Proven ability to brief at executive level on security findings, reports and testing outcome.

• Proven ability to write clear and structured technical reports including executive summary, technical findings and remediation plan for several different audiences.

Desirable Experience and Education:

• Professional qualifications: OSCP, OSCE, OSWE, GPEN, CREST Certified Web Application Tester, GXPN, GWAPT or equivalent

• Familiarity with risk analysis methodologies.

• Prior experience of working in an international environment comprising both military and civilian elements.

• Knowledge of NATO organization, internal structure and resultant relationships.

Language Proficiency:

A thorough knowledge of one of the two NATO languages, both written and spoken, is essential and some knowledge of the other is desirable.

NOTE: Most of the work of the NCI Agency is conducted in the English language.

If you've read the description and feel this role is a great match, we'd love to hear from you! Click "Apply for this job" to be directed to a brief questionnaire. It should only take a few moments to complete, and we'll be in touch promptly if your experience aligns with our needs.