MANDATORY / MUST-HAVE SKILLS :

Technical Expertise :

- 7+ years of hands-on penetration testing & offensive security experience

- Red Team Operations - Minimum 2 years (initial access, lateral movement, persistence, exfiltration)

- Cloud Penetration Testing - Minimum 2 years (AWS, Azure, GCP misconfigurations, IAM attacks, container/K8s security)

- Strong experience in infrastructure penetration testing, and manual Web, Mobile & API testing

- Deep knowledge of Active Directory, network protocols, privilege escalation, exploitation

- Expertise with C2 frameworks like Cobalt Strike, Outflank, Silver, Core Impact etc.

- Strong proficiency in scripting/programming - Python, PowerShell, Bash (for automation, custom tooling)

- Ability to perform advanced offensive security assessments simulating real attacker TTPs

- Strong understanding of MITRE ATT&CK, APT tactics & modern threat landscape

Tools & Technologies :

Hands-on with offensive tools :

- Burp Suite, BloodHound, Cobalt Strike, Outflank, Silver, Core Impact, custom tool development

- Experience developing or modifying custom scripts/tools for evasion and post-exploitation

Communication & Reporting :

- Excellent report-writing: detailed exploitation steps, risk severity, reproducible evidence & remediation guidance

- Ability to communicate findings to technical teams and executive stakeholders

- Experience in client engagement, presentations, and scoping SOWs

Education :

- Bachelor's in Computer Science / IT or equivalent experience

GOOD-TO-HAVE SKILLS :

Additional Technical Skills :

- Experience in social engineering, phishing campaigns, or physical security testing

- Application security assessments (secure coding, SAST/DAST exposure)

- Hardware or embedded device testing experience

- Ability to contribute to methodology development, red team infrastructure, or tooling improvements

Certifications (High Value) :

- OSCP, OSCE, OSEP, OSED, OSWE

- CREST CRT / CCT, GIAC GPEN / GXPN / GCPN

- Cloud security certifications: AWS Security Specialty, Azure Security Engineer, GCP Professional Cloud Security

Soft / Leadership Skills :

- Experience mentoring junior pentesters

- Ability to conduct internal team training and lead knowledge-sharing sessions

- Strong analytical mindset and ability to adapt quickly to new environments/technology

Other Preferred :

- Involvement in community contributions: writing blogs, research papers, CVEs, speaking at conferences/webinars

- Experience drafting marketing or training materials