AlignerrCybersecurity
Lead Penetration Tester
up to $80/hr
About this role, in Alignerr's words
What if your ability to think like an attacker could directly make organizations more secure? We're looking for a Lead Penetration Tester to conduct sophisticated offensive security engagements — probing applications, networks, and cloud environments for vulnerabilities before the real adversaries do.
What you'll do
- Plan and execute penetration tests across web applications, internal and external networks, and cloud infrastructure
- Identify, validate, and exploit vulnerabilities to demonstrate real-world impact
- Conduct post-exploitation analysis to assess the full scope and blast radius of discovered weaknesses
Show all 6 itemsHide the other 3 in What you'll do
- Deliver clear, structured technical reports with actionable severity assessments and remediation guidance
- Challenge and validate defensive assumptions — test detection logic, not just defenses
- Support recurring red-team and purple-team engagements alongside security operations teams
Quoted from selected sections of Alignerr's posting. The full posting may state other conditions. Read the full posting
A closer look
More context, when you need it.
Full job descriptionThe original posting, in Alignerr's words
Posted by Alignerr, reproduced here so you can judge the role before clicking. Original posting ↗
Lead Penetration Tester
About the Role
What if your ability to think like an attacker could directly make organizations more secure? We're looking for a Lead Penetration Tester to conduct sophisticated offensive security engagements — probing applications, networks, and cloud environments for vulnerabilities before the real adversaries do.
This is a fully remote contract role built for experienced offensive security professionals who thrive on technical challenge, think creatively under pressure, and communicate findings with clarity and precision.
What You'll Do
* Plan and execute penetration tests across web applications, internal and external networks, and cloud infrastructure * Identify, validate, and exploit vulnerabilities to demonstrate real-world impact * Conduct post-exploitation analysis to assess the full scope and blast radius of discovered weaknesses * Deliver clear, structured technical reports with actionable severity assessments and remediation guidance * Challenge and validate defensive assumptions — test detection logic, not just defenses * Support recurring red-team and purple-team engagements alongside security operations teams
Who You Are
Must-Have: * Proven background in offensive security, penetration testing, or red teaming * Hands-on experience with common exploitation frameworks, tools, and methodologies (Metasploit, Burp Suite, Cobalt Strike, or similar) * Strong ability to think like an adversary and replicate real-world attack chains * Skilled at writing structured, professional technical reports that non-technical stakeholders can act on * Self-directed and reliable — you can manage engagements independently without hand-holding
Nice to Have: * Offensive security certifications (OSCP, OSWE, OSEP, CRTO, or similar) * Experience with cloud-specific attack paths (AWS, Azure, GCP) * Background in red team operations, adversary simulation, or threat emulation * Familiarity with purple team collaboration and detection engineering workflows
Why Join Us
* Fully remote — work from wherever you do your best work * Freelance autonomy with consistent, substantive engagements * Work on technically challenging targets across diverse environments * Contribute findings that directly improve real-world security posture * Potential for ongoing contract work and expanded engagements over time
Working with AlignerrPay, getting started and work, from Alignerr's own pages
What the platform publishes in general. These are not extra terms confirmed for this particular role.
- Getting paid
- Billed weekly, Monday to Sunday, with approved work paid by the following Friday, according to Labelbox's help center. Payment goes through Stripe Connect or PayPal depending on your location, with one provider per country. intercom.help/labelbox/en/articles/13600616-alignerr-paym..., alignerr.com/process
- Before your first paid task
- Sign up, apply, verify your identity, set up billing and onboard. Some jobs add a Zara AI interview or domain assessments. alignerr.com/process
- How much work
- Time to your first project depends on demand and your skills, and there is no minimum number of hours. alignerr.com/faqs
- Contract
- Independent contractor, under terms with ALIGNERR LLC. alignerr.com/faqs, alignerr.com/privacy
Read on the pages linked above on 24 Sep 2026. Platforms change these terms, so check the linked page before you rely on one.
How does the pay compare?Across Cybersecurity roles, not this role alone
From our own daily reads of every open listing on the platforms we follow, not from Alignerr's posting. How we count.
Pay across the field: Cybersecurity
Across 54 roles in this field with a stated hourly rate in US dollars, on 10 platforms, the middle half pays $60 to $120 an hour at the top of the range, and the median is $90. This role's top rate, $80, is in the middle half. Of the 27 distinct rates we count, 10 are lower and 15 are higher.
| Platform | Roles | Top of range, per hour |
|---|---|---|
| Alignerr (this platform) | 31 | $55 to $120 · median $60 |
| Mercor | 4 | $90 to $250 |
| micro1 | 4 | $95 to $175 |
| AfterQuery | 4 | $75 to $135 |
| DataAnnotation | 3 | $125 |
Sources and listing historyWhere this information comes from
This listing's history
- First seen here on 27 Aug 2026, and still on Alignerr's list when we last read it on 13 Oct 2026.
- The listed pay has not changed since then.
- Posted by Alignerr
- First seen by AIPayList
- Last seen live
- Listing ID
- 6a2dc6c5-8a79-4808-aa40-10bf5c686989
Pay as the source states it: “$40-80/hr”.
Platforms sometimes change a rate after posting. Every listing here is re-read at least once a day and corrected when its source moves, so a difference you see on the platform is usually a change made since the last read. How freshness works.
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