Vice President, Penetration Testing & Red Team

We are hiring a Vice President – Penetration Testing & Red Team to lead the offensive cyber security function within a large, complex enterprise environment. The role is open to expats, full relocation package provided by the bank.

This is a hands-on leadership role for an experienced penetration tester who can operate at depth while building and running a mature Red Team capability across applications, infrastructure, cloud, and emerging technologies.

The Role

You will own the penetration testing and red team strategy, leading internal and third-party resources to proactively identify and exploit weaknesses before real attackers do.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading and expanding an in-house Red Team (strategy, tooling, methodology, delivery)
• Managing enterprise-wide penetration testing and vulnerability assessment programmes
• Conducting and overseeing advanced testing of:
• Internet-facing and internal applications
• Networks, servers, databases, and cloud environments
• Active Directory, identity and access controls
• Designing and executing simulated attack scenarios, threat-led testing, and adversary emulation
• Managing relationships with external penetration testing vendors
• Providing expert guidance on security architecture, control weaknesses, and remediation
• Advising senior stakeholders on offensive security risk and emerging threats
• Supporting risk, technology, and business teams on new technologies and security design
• Ensuring testing aligns with internal security standards and regulatory expectations

About You

• 15+ years in offensive cyber security, penetration testing, and red team operations at a large international bank
• Proven experience leading penetration testing teams (in-house and outsourced)
• Deep hands-on expertise with:
• Application & infrastructure testing
• Network security, firewalls, and operating systems (Windows, Linux, Unix)
• Active Directory and identity attack paths
• Strong understanding of advanced exploitation techniques and emerging threats
• Programming/scripting experience (e.g. Python, C#, PHP, ASP or similar)
• Comfortable engaging at senior management level while remaining technically credible

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in IT or a related discipline (Master’s preferred)
• CISSP / CISM / CISA (mandatory)
• Additional offensive certifications (e.g. OSCP/OSCE) are advantageous

Why Join

• Senior, visible role with real influence on cyber defence strategy
• Opportunity to build and mature a Red Team within a complex environment
• Competitive executive compensation package
• Dubai-based role with exposure to enterprise-scale technology

Apply directly via LinkedIn or reach out for a confidential discussion.

Only candidates with deep penetration testing and red team leadership experience will be considered.