Penetration Tester Team Lead at Leidos in Ashburn, VA

Penetration Tester Team Lead Location: Ashburn, VA 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 SOCis responsible fortheoverall security of CBP Enterprise-wide information systems, and collects, investigates, and reports any suspected and confirmed securityviolations. Weareseekinga highly skilled and experienced PenetrationTesting Team Leadto join our team supportingCBP.As the leader of this highly technical Penetration Testing Team supporting CBP, youwill be responsible formanaging theday-to-dayoperations of the team,coordinating efforts of the team, leading by example, andconducting comprehensive security assessments ofCBP 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 toleada teamofskilled penetration testers. Primary Responsibilities: Responsible for managing the team of Penetration Testers, penetration tests, theschedulingand coordination ofpentests, Lead and execute advanced penetration testing, purple team engagements, andred team engagements across complex enterprise environments, including internal/external network infrastructure,Active Directory domains, APIs,hybrid cloud architectures,and on-prem systems. Develop,coordinateandenforce Rules of Engagement (ROE) for penetration tests,lead stakeholder planning sessions to define scope and constraintsof upcomingpentests,and deliver clear, actionableoutbriefingson 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, andother languagesto 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 pairedtesting, whiteboarding attack paths, and guiding junior testers through exploitation chainsand industry best practices. Maintain accountability for engagement quality and technical depth, reviewing findings,validatingexploit paths, and ensuring reports accurately reflect risk, attack feasibility,potentialimpacts, and recommended remediations. Conduct technical oversight and quality assurance across all engagements, reviewing testing approaches,validatingexploit chains, and ensuring consistency inmethodology, depth, and reporting standards across the teamand engagements. Lead purple team collaboration effortsfrom thepentestperspective, working directly withthe CBP SOC,detection engineering team, and Cyber Threat Hunt teamtoexecute actions designed tovalidatedetections, tune SIEM use cases, and improve defensive posture. Mentor and develop team members through structured andad hoctechnical coaching, raising the overall capability of the team whilemaintainingindividual technicalskillsets and experience. Utilize the MITRE ATT&CK framework to understandand emulateTTPs of adversaries, threat actors, APTs, and threats targetingCBPand mapoperationsto ATT&CK techniques and sub-techniques. Create detailed reports listing vulnerabilitiesidentifiedduringpentests, with actionable mitigation recommendations following completion ofpentestengagements. 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 whilenurturingcutting-edgeoffensive skillsets. Basic Qualifications: T5:Candidate shall have a minimum of a Bachelors andtwelve(12) years of professional experiencepenetration testing, red teaming, or offensive securityexperience,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 experiencepenetration testing, red teaming, or offensive securityexperience,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. Demonstratedexpertisein multi-layer exploitation, with the ability toidentify, chain, and execute attacks across network infrastructure, operating systems (Windows/Linux), web applications, APIs, and cloud platforms; proven capability to move frominitialaccess through full domain or environment compromise. Proficiencywith offensive security tooling and frameworks, including Cobalt Strike, Mythic, Sliver, Metasploit, Burp Suite Pro,BloodHound, Nmap, and similar toolswith specificexperiencemodifyingand extending tools to evade controls. Strong understanding of enterprise networking and protocolswith theability toenumerate, 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/Linuxinternals, endpoint protections, logging mechanisms, and common defensive controlswith ademonstrated 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 communicationskills, 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 certificationfrom thebelowlist: OSCP OSCE OSWP OSEE GPEN GISF GXPN GWAPT Clearance: All CBP SOC employeesare required tofavorably pass a 5-year Background Investigation(BI) The candidate must currentlypossessaTop SecretClearance 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.