Penetration Tester Team Lead

Job Description

The U.S.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Security Operations Center (SOC) is a U
.
S
.

Government program responsible to prevent, identify, contain and eradicate cyber threats to CBP networks through monitoring, intrusion detection and protective security services to CBP information systems including local area networks/wide area networks (LAN/WAN), commercial Internet connection, public facing websites, wireless, mobile/cellular, cloud, security devices, servers and workstations.  The CBP SOC

is responsible for

the

overall security of CBP Enterprise-wide information systems, and collects, investigates, and reports any suspected and confirmed security

violations.

We

are

seeking

a highly skilled and experienced Penetration

Testing Team Lead

to join our team supporting

CBP.

As the leader of this highly technical Penetration Testing Team supporting CBP, you

will be responsible for

managing the

day-to-day

operations of the team,

coordinating efforts of the team, leading by example, and

conducting comprehensive security assessments of

CBP

FISMA systems with the purpose of identifying vulnerabilities and providing actionable recommendations to enhance the security posture of CBP's critical systems and networks. This role requires a deep understanding of offensive cybersecurity techniques, strong analytical capabilities, detailed report writing skills and the ability to

lead

a team

of

skilled penetration testers
.

Primary Responsibilities:

Responsible for managing the team of Penetration Testers, penetration tests, the

scheduling

and coordination of

pentests
,

Lead and execute advanced penetration testing
, purple team engagements, and

red team engagements across complex enterprise environments, including internal/external network infrastructure,

Active Directory domains, APIs,

hybrid cloud architectures
,

and on-prem systems
.

Develop
,

coordinate

and

enforce Rules of Engagement (ROE) for penetration tests
,

lead stakeholder planning sessions to define scope and constraints

of upcoming

pentests
,

and deliver clear, actionable

outbriefings

on findings, impact, and remediation to technical and executive audiences.

Develop,

modify
, and deploy custom exploits, payloads, and tooling, including scripting in Python,

Ruby,

PowerShell, Bash, and

other languages

to bypass security controls, automate attack paths, and enhance tradecraft
.

Conduct penetration testing activities aligned with CBP and industry best practices.

Provide real-time technical mentorship during engagements, including pair
ed

testing, whiteboarding attack paths, and guiding junior testers through exploitation chains

and industry best practices.

Maintain accountability for engagement quality and technical depth, reviewing findings,

validating

exploit paths, and ensuring reports accurately reflect risk, attack feasibility,

potential

impact
s, and recommended remediations.

Conduct technical oversight and quality assurance across all engagements, reviewing testing approaches,

validating

exploit chains, and ensuring consistency in

methodology
, depth, and reporting standards across the team

and engagements.

Lead purple team collaboration efforts

from the

pentest

perspective
, working directly with

the CBP SOC,

detection engineering team
, and Cyber Threat Hunt team

to

execute actions designed to

validate

detections, tune SIEM use cases, and improve defensive posture
.

Mentor and develop team members through structured and

ad hoc

technical coaching, raising the overall capability of the team while

maintaining

individual technical

skillsets and experience.

Utilize the MITRE ATT&CK framework to understand

and emulate

TTPs of adversaries, threat actors, APTs, and threats targeting

CBP

and map

operations

to ATT&CK techniques and sub-techniques.

Create detailed reports listing vulnerabilities

identified

during

pentests
, with actionable mitigation recommendations following completion of

pentest

engagements.

Stay actively engaged in emerging vulnerability research, exploit techniques, and adversary methodologies, rapidly integrating new capabilities into both personal and team operations
.

Foster a high-performance, technically rigorous team culture, driving continuous learning through labs, internal exercises, and knowledge-sharing sessions while

nurturing

cutting-edge

offensive skillsets
.

Basic Qualifications:

T5:

Candidate shall have a minimum of a Bachelors and

twelve

(
12
) years of professional experience

penetration testing, red teaming, or offensive security

experience
,

with a minimum of four (4) years of experience directly leading a Penetration Testing Team.
Additional years of experience can be accepted in lieu of degree.

T6:

Candidate shall have a minimum of
a Bachelors and
fifteen

(
15
) years of professional experience

penetration testing, red teaming, or offensive security

experience,

with a minimum of four (4) years of experience directly leading a Penetration Testing Team.
Additional years of experience can be accepted in lieu of degree.

Must have an active TS/SCI.

Demonstrated

expertise

in multi-layer exploitation, with the ability to

identify
, chain, and execute attacks across network infrastructure, operating systems (Windows/Linux), web applications, APIs, and cloud platforms; proven capability to move from

initial

access through full domain or environment compromise
.

P
roficiency

with offensive security tooling and frameworks, including Cobalt Strike, Mythic, Sliver, Metasploit, Burp Suite Pro,

BloodHound
, Nmap, and similar tools

with specific

experience

modifying

and extending tools to evade controls
.

Strong understanding of enterprise networking and protocols

with the

ability to

enumerate
, pivot, and exploit across complex, segmented network environments
.

Hands-on experience with cloud and modern infrastructure security, familiarity with IAM abuse, privilege escalation, token theft, insecure configurations, and lateral movement within cloud-native services and hybrid environments
.

In-depth knowledge of operating systems and security controls, including Windows
/Linux

internals, endpoint protections, logging mechanisms, and common defensive controls

with a

demonstrated ability to bypass or evade these protections during engagements
.

Proven leadership and team management experience, including leading technical teams through complex engagements, mentoring junior and mid-level testers, conducting quality assurance on deliverables, and managing multiple concurrent assessments without sacrificing technical depth
.

Strong communication

skills, with the ability to clearly articulate complex technical findings, attack paths, and risk implications to both technical stakeholders and executive leadership through written reports and verbal briefings

Must be a US Citizen
Must be able to travel to the Ashburn VA office location up to 5 days per week

Core Certifications:

At least one certification

from the

below

list
:

OSCP

OSCE

OSWP

OSEE

GPEN

GISF

GXPN

GWAPT

Clearance:

All CBP SOC employees

are required to

favorably pass a 5-year Background Investigation

(BI)

The candidate must currently

possess

a

Top Secret

Clearance with the ability to obtain a Top Secret/SCI Clearance

Preferred Qualifications:

Experience conducting full-scope red team operations and adversary emulation campaigns
.

Familiarity with MITRE ATT&CK framework and threat-informed testing methodologies
.

Knowledge of container and Kubernetes security testing
.

Prior experience supporting federal or regulated environments
.
If you're looking for comfort, keep scrolling. At Leidos, we outthink, outbuild, and outpace the status quo - because the mission demands it. We're not hiring followers. We're recruiting the ones who disrupt, provoke, and refuse to fail. Step 10 is ancient history. We're already at step 30 - and moving faster than anyone else dares.
Original Posting:
June 4, 2026
For U.S. Positions: While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.
Pay Range:
Pay Range $131,300.00 - $237,350.00
The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.