Government and Public Sector - Cybersecurity Penetration Tester - Senior Consultant

Government and Public Sector – Technology Consulting - Cybersecurity – Penetration Tester – Senior

The opportunity

Our cybersecurity professionals possess diverse industry knowledge, along with unique technical expertise and specialized skills. The team works together in planning, pursuing, delivering and managing engagements to assess, improve, build, and in some cases operate integrated security operations for our clients.

As part of our Penetration Testing team, you'll identify potential threats and vulnerabilities to operational environments. Projects here could include penetration testing and simulating physical breaches to identify vulnerabilities.

Your key responsibilities

• Offensive Security Execution - Execute advanced penetration testing and red team activities. Identify, validate, and exploit complex attack paths to demonstrate realistic business and mission risk

• Perform manual validation of vulnerabilities identified through automated or tool-based scanning to confirm exploitability and impact.

• Correlate findings across network, application, cloud, and identity attack vectors to identify systemic security weaknesses.

• Risk Identification and Escalation- Escalate critical and high-risk findings to engagement leadership and client stakeholders during active testing activities.

• Articulate technical risk, potential impact, and exploitation context in clear, client-facing language suitable for both technical and executive audiences.

• Quality Assurance and Reporting - Review, validate, and approve testing evidence and technical findings prior to inclusion in formal deliverables.

• Author and contribute to technical penetration testing reports and executive summaries that clearly describe risk, likelihood, and potential impact.

• Apply consistent evidence handling and documentation practices aligned to engagement and compliance requirements.

• Engagement Support and Team Leadership - Support engagement scoping, testing strategy development, and definition of rules of engagement.

• Provide technical oversight and mentoring to staff-level penetration testers during testing execution and report development.

• Serve as a senior technical authority during client briefings, readouts, and debrief sessions.

Skills and attributes for success

• Perform penetration testing which includes internet, intranet, wireless, web application, social engineering and physical penetration testing.

• Execute red team scenarios to highlight gaps impacting organizations security postures.

• Ability to work both independently as well as lead a team of technical testers on penetration testing and red team engagements.

• Provide technical leadership and advise junior team members on attack and penetration test engagements.

• Identify and exploit security vulnerabilities in a wide array of systems in a variety of situations.

• Perform in-depth analysis of penetration testing results and create reports that describe findings, exploitation procedures, risks and recommendations.

• Execute penetration testing projects using the established methodology, tools and rules of engagements.

• Convey complex technical security concepts to technical and non-technical audiences including executives.

To qualify for the role you must have

• Bachelor’s Degree

• Minimum of 8 years of related work experience

• Must be able to obtain/maintain a secret level clearance

• Must be comfortable working in-person as needed in the greater Washington, DC area

• Demonstrated hands-on execution of penetration testing across infrastructure, application, cloud, and identity-centric environments.

• At least one intermediate or advanced offensive security certification, such as:

  • Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP)
  • GIAC Penetration Tester (GPEN)
  • Equivalent industry-recognized certification

• Demonstrated experience completing approximately 1,000 hours of penetration testing activities, aligned with EY Attack and Penetration Testing senior capability benchmarks.

• Technical Skills:

  • Network, operating system, and application exploitation techniques. Credential-based attack techniques, including password cracking, pass-the-hash, and token abuse.
  • Active Directory and enterprise identity infrastructure assessment. Web application and application programming interface (API) security testing.
  • Cloud and hybrid environment penetration testing; Use of commercial, open-source, and custom penetration testing tools.

Due to the nature of our work in the Government and Public Sector, work may be required to be completed at client, EY and/or contractor sites. Our goal is to assign professionals to projects within a commutable distance of their work location office. In certain circumstances, travel may be required beyond your work location based on client and project needs.

Candidates should be willing to travel 20 – 30% or more.

Ideally, you'll also have

• Experience in penetration testing which includes internet, intranet, web application penetration tests, wireless, social engineering, and red team assessments

• Operates effectively within multi-role delivery teams that include Managers, Seniors, and Staff testers aligned to EY GPS resource structures.

• Demonstrated professionalism and discretion when handling sensitive government systems, data, and assessment findings. Strong client-facing communication skills suitable for interaction with security leadership, compliance personnel, and oversight stakeholders.

What we offer you

• We offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits package where you’ll be rewarded based on your performance and recognized for the value you bring to the business. The base salary range for this job in all geographic locations in the US is $104,800 to $192,200. The base salary range for New York City Metro Area, Washington State and California (excluding Sacramento) is $125,800 to $218,500.

  Individual salaries within those ranges are determined through a wide variety of factors including but not limited to education, experience, knowledge, skills and geography. In addition, our Total Rewards package includes medical and dental coverage, pension and 401(k) plans, and a wide range of paid time off options.

• Join us in our team-led and leader-enabled hybrid model. Our expectation is for most people in external, client serving roles to work together in person 40-60% of the time over the course of an engagement, project or year.

• Under our flexible vacation policy, you’ll decide how much vacation time you need based on your own personal circumstances. You’ll also be granted time off for designated EY Paid Holidays, Winter/Summer breaks, Personal/Family Care, and other leaves of absence when needed to support your physical, financial, and emotional well-being.

EY provides equal employment opportunities to applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, pregnancy, genetic information, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other legally protected basis, including arrest and conviction records, in accordance with applicable law.

EY is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities including veterans with disabilities. If you have a disability and either need assistance applying online or need to request an accommodation during any part of the application process, please call 1-800-EY-HELP3, select Option 2 for candidate related inquiries, then select Option 1 for candidate queries and finally select Option 2 for candidates with an inquiry which will route you to EY’s Talent Shared Services Team (TSS) or email the TSS at [email protected].