Penetration Tester | $25-$80/hr Remote
Overview
micro1 is looking for an experienced penetration tester to contribute your security expertise to the development of next-generation AI systems. You won't need an AI background — your hands-on knowledge of ethical hacking and vulnerability assessment is exactly what's needed to help train smarter models. This is a remote contract opportunity paying $25–$80 per hour.
What You'll Do7
- 1Execute thorough penetration tests and simulate real-world attacks across networks, apps, and systems to identify security weaknesses.
- 2Conduct detailed vulnerability assessments, analyze results, and rank risks based on potential impact and ease of exploitation.
- 3Work closely with stakeholders to define the scope of testing and ensure it aligns with business priorities.
- 4Produce clear, well-documented findings and deliver technical reports that are understandable to both technical teams and non-technical decision-makers.
- 5Create actionable remediation plans and advise teams on how to implement fixes effectively.
- 6Keep up with the latest threats, emerging attack methods, and evolving security best practices.
- 7Provide security insights to help improve internal processes and strengthen the overall security posture.
Requirements7
- 1Proven experience in ethical hacking, penetration testing, and vulnerability assessment — you know how to think like an attacker.
- 2Strong command of security frameworks, protocols, and common tools like Metasploit, Burp Suite, and Nmap.
- 3Excellent communication skills — you can break down complex technical issues into clear, actionable advice for any audience.
- 4Solid grasp of network, application, and cloud security fundamentals.
- 5Bonus: experience with social engineering or physical security assessments.
- 6Analytical mindset with a sharp eye for detail and a proactive attitude toward finding and fixing flaws.
- 7Certifications like OSCP, CEH, or GPEN are highly valued.
Who Should Apply
This role is ideal for an experienced security professional who enjoys breaking things to make them stronger and wants to see their skills applied in a unique way — shaping how AI understands security. You're comfortable working independently in a remote setting, and you're excited about the chance to contribute your domain expertise without needing to learn AI from scratch.
Salary Insight
$25–$80 per hour, depending on experience and scope.
Location
Required Skills
Application Tip
When applying, include a brief summary of one or two of your most challenging penetration tests — what you found, how you exploited it, and how you communicated the fix. This will show your hands-on thinking and communication style.
See NearSkill jobs more often in your search
How your application is processed
1Application received
Your resume and details are logged the moment you apply.
2ATS + eligibility screening
We check your profile against the role’s skills, seniority, and requirements.
3Employer sees qualified profiles only
Only candidates who clear screening move forward.
Similar open positions
Explore active roles that match your skills and interests.
Micro1
VerifiedCyber Security Analyst
This role lets you put your cybersecurity expertise to work in a unique way—helping train next-generation AI systems. You won't need any prior AI experience; your domain knowledge in security is what counts. As a part-time, remote contractor, you'll test and guide AI models through hands-on prompts and analysis.
Micro1
VerifiedRed Team Lead (Offensive Cybersecurity)
This remote contractor role with micro1 puts your offensive cybersecurity expertise to work in a unique way: you'll help train next-generation AI systems by designing evaluation frameworks and attack simulations. No prior AI experience is required—your hands-on knowledge of exploit chains, cloud/appsec, and social engineering is what makes you the ideal candidate. You'll shape how models learn about real-world threats while operating under strict ethical boundaries.
Mercor
VerifiedCybersecurity Research Expert – Offensive Security & Vulnerability Research
Mercor is hiring experienced Cybersecurity Research Experts to test how well frontier AI models handle advanced security reasoning, vulnerability analysis, and exploit development. In this remote, hourly contract role, you'll review AI-generated security assessments, validate root-cause findings, and help build benchmarks that push AI security capabilities forward. This is a fit for practitioners with a strong track record in offensive security and a public portfolio of technical contributions.
Micro1
VerifiedVulnerability Researcher and Staff Security Engineer
Remote role for a vulnerability researcher and staff-level security expert who operates as an internal adversary to uncover novel attack paths. You’ll study threats across AI agents, cloud infrastructure, developer platforms, and production systems, then collaborate with engineering to raise the stack’s resilience. Expect to build offensive tooling and publish internal research to shape security strategy. The position is full-time and focused on practical, hands-on security work in a remote setting. Bold Multi-Cloud, Red Teaming, AI security.
Micro1
VerifiedAI Jailbreak & Prompt-Injection Security Expert
micro1 is looking for a contractor to join a forward-thinking client project focused on hardening AI systems against exploitation. Your mission: design creative adversarial tests—think ethical jailbreaks, prompt injection, and tool-use abuse—to uncover weaknesses in modern LLMs. No deep AI background is required; your hands-on security expertise and adversarial mindset are what count.
Mercor
VerifiedCVE Vulnerability Expert
You will review vulnerability-reproduction and remediation assignments that feed the training and evaluation pipeline of a frontier AI lab. Each assignment asks you to judge whether CVE reproductions match the real-world flaw, whether the proposed fix actually eliminates the risk, and whether the verification logic can catch a regression. You will also inspect Docker Compose environments to confirm they recreate the exploitable condition described in the CVE. The output is a structured, rubric-based evaluation that shapes how the lab improves its model training data. The role is a remote, hourly engagement for security professionals based in the United States.