ZipRecruiter

Log In

1

Offensive Security Engineer Jobs in Washington (NOW HIRING)

Humana

Senior Engineer, Offensive Security

Washington, DC · On-site

$129K - $177K/yr

As Senior Offensive Security Engineer, AI-Driven Red Team & Tooling, you'll build the AI and agentic tooling that makes our offensive operations faster and broader, then prove it where it counts, on ...

Humana

Senior Engineer, Offensive Security

Washington, DC · On-site

$129K - $177K/yr

As Senior Offensive Security Engineer, AI-Driven Red Team & Tooling, you'll build the AI and agentic tooling that makes our offensive operations faster and broader, then prove it where it counts, on ...

Humana

Senior Engineer, Offensive Security

Washington, DC · On-site

$129K - $177K/yr

As Senior Offensive Security Engineer, AI-Driven Red Team & Tooling, you'll build the AI and agentic tooling that makes our offensive operations faster and broader, then prove it where it counts, on ...

Humana

Lead, Offensive Security

Washington, DC · Remote

This requires a production software engineering mindset, not proof-of-concept scripting. Your first ... Offensive Security identifies weaknesses so the business can fix them before adversaries exploit ...

Humana

Lead, Offensive Security

Washington, DC · Remote

This requires a production software engineering mindset, not proof-of-concept scripting. Your first ... Offensive Security identifies weaknesses so the business can fix them before adversaries exploit ...

Humana

Lead, Offensive Security

Washington, DC · Remote

This requires a production software engineering mindset, not proof-of-concept scripting. Your first ... Offensive Security identifies weaknesses so the business can fix them before adversaries exploit ...

next page

Showing results 1-20

All JobsOffensive Security Engineer JobsOffensive Security Engineer Jobs in Washington

Offensive Security Engineer information

See Washington salary details

$69.7K

$173K

$232.7K

How much do offensive security engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Jul 26, 2026, the average yearly pay for offensive security engineer in Washington is $173,030.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $162,000.00 and $179,500.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What are some common challenges faced by Offensive Security Engineers on the job?

Offensive Security Engineers often encounter challenges such as keeping up with rapidly evolving threats, maintaining deep technical knowledge across various technologies, and identifying vulnerabilities in large or complex systems. They must balance rigorous testing with minimal disruption to live systems, which requires careful planning and coordination with other teams. Additionally, translating technical findings into actionable recommendations that are understandable to both technical and non-technical stakeholders is a key part of the role. These challenges make adaptability, continuous learning, and strong communication skills especially important in this field.

How much do offensive security engineers make?

Offensive security engineers typically earn between $80,000 and $150,000 annually, depending on experience, certifications, and location. Senior roles or those with specialized skills in penetration testing and exploit development can earn higher salaries, often exceeding $150,000.

What does an Offensive Security Engineer do?

An Offensive Security Engineer is responsible for identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities in systems, networks, and applications to assess an organization's security posture. They conduct penetration testing, simulate real-world cyber attacks, and provide recommendations to strengthen defenses. Their work helps organizations proactively detect and mitigate security risks before malicious hackers can exploit them. They often use tools like Metasploit, Burp Suite, and custom scripts to test security controls.

What does an offensive security engineer do?

An offensive security engineer conducts simulated cyberattacks to identify vulnerabilities in computer systems, networks, and applications. They use tools like penetration testing and vulnerability assessment techniques to improve security defenses and often hold certifications such as OSCP or CEH. Their work involves ethical hacking, reporting security flaws, and helping organizations strengthen their cybersecurity posture.

Can you make $500,000 a year in cyber security?

Offensive Security Engineers with advanced skills, certifications like OSCP, and extensive experience can potentially earn $500,000 annually, especially in high-demand industries or senior roles. Achieving this level typically requires expertise in penetration testing, security tools, and often leadership responsibilities or consulting work.

What engineers make $500,000?

Senior offensive security engineers with extensive experience, specialized skills in penetration testing, and relevant certifications such as OSCP or CISSP can reach or exceed a $500,000 annual salary, especially in high-demand industries or senior leadership roles. Compensation often includes base salary, bonuses, and stock options, reflecting their expertise in cybersecurity and offensive security techniques.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive in the Offensive Security Engineer position, and why are they important?

Offensive Security Engineers need expertise in penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, networking, programming, and a solid understanding of security best practices, typically supported by a computer science degree or equivalent experience. Familiarity with tools like Metasploit, Burp Suite, Kali Linux, and certifications such as OSCP or CEH is highly valued. Strong problem-solving ability, effective communication, and a collaborative mindset help professionals excel in this dynamic field. These skills ensure the engineer can identify and exploit security weaknesses while clearly conveying findings to both technical teams and stakeholders, ultimately strengthening organizational security.

What are the most commonly searched types of Offensive Security Engineer jobs in Washington? The most popular types of Offensive Security Engineer jobs in Washington are:
What are popular job titles related to Offensive Security Engineer jobs in Washington? For Offensive Security Engineer jobs in Washington, the most frequently searched job titles are:
What job categories do people searching Offensive Security Engineer jobs in Washington look for? The top searched job categories for Offensive Security Engineer jobs in Washington are:
What cities in Washington are hiring for Offensive Security Engineer jobs? Cities in Washington with the most Offensive Security Engineer job openings:
Offensive Security Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Offensive Security Engineer job openings in Washington as of July 2026, with employment types broken down into 100% Full Time. Highlights an 74% In-person, and 26% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $173,030 per year, or $83.2 per hour.
Offensive Security Engineer, Agent Products

Offensive Security Engineer, Agent Products

OpenAI

Washington, DC • On-site

Full-time

Posted 26 days ago

Job description

Job Summary:
OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company dedicated to ensuring that general-purpose artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity. They are seeking a Principal-level Offensive Security Engineer to conduct deep penetration testing of their agent-powered products and infrastructure, identify vulnerabilities, and collaborate with engineering teams to implement security improvements.
Responsibilities:
• Conduct deep penetration tests of OpenAI’s agent-powered products, including web applications, APIs, cloud services, identity and authorization flows, CI/CD systems, and model-integrated product surfaces.
• Continuously hunt for exploitable vulnerabilities in the interactions between the applications, infrastructure, tools, and models that power our agentic products.
• Perform code review, architecture review, and hands-on exploitation to validate risk and identify subtle or novel failure modes.
• Produce clear, actionable findings with reproduction steps, exploitability analysis, impact assessment, and practical remediation guidance.
• Partner directly with engineering teams to drive fixes, validate remediation, and improve secure design patterns across agentic products.
• Build tools, test harnesses, and automation to scale penetration testing across rapidly evolving product surfaces.
• Leverage advanced automation and OpenAI technologies to optimize your offensive security work.
• Share attacker-informed insights with security and engineering teams to improve threat models, mitigations, and defensive coverage.
Qualifications:
Required:
• 7+ years of hands-on penetration testing, product security assessment, application security, cloud security assessment, or equivalent offensive security experience.
• Deep expertise finding, exploiting, documenting, and helping remediate vulnerabilities in complex production systems.
• Experience performing offensive security assessments of modern technology products, including web applications, APIs, cloud infrastructure, identity systems, CI/CD pipelines, and distributed services.
• Experience designing, developing, or assessing the security of AI-powered systems.
• Experience finding, exploiting, and mitigating common vulnerabilities in AI systems, including prompt injection, confused deputies, unsafe tool use, and dynamically generated UI components.
• Exceptional skill in code review to identify novel and subtle vulnerabilities.
• Proven experience performing offensive security assessments in at least one hyperscaler cloud environment. Azure experience is preferred.
• Demonstrated mastery assessing complex technology stacks, including: Highly customized Kubernetes clusters, Container environments, CI/CD pipelines, GitHub security, macOS and Linux operating systems, Data science tooling and environments, Python-based web services, React-based frontend applications.
• Strong intuitive understanding of trust boundaries and risk assessment in dynamic contexts.
• Excellent coding skills, capable of writing robust tools and automation for offensive security testing.
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts effectively through clear reports, practical remediation guidance, and compelling technical storytelling.
• Proven track record of not just finding vulnerabilities, but actively contributing to solutions in complex codebases.
Preferred:
• Background or expertise in AI or data science.
• Prior experience working in tech startups or fast-paced technology environments.
• Experience in related disciplines such as Software Engineering, Product Security, Application Security, Detection Engineering, Site Reliability Engineering, Security Engineering, or IT Infrastructure.
Company:
OpenAI is an AI research and deployment company that develops advanced AI models, including ChatGPT. It is a sub-organization of OpenAI Foundation. Founded in 2015, the company is headquartered in San Francisco, USA, with a team of 1001-5000 employees. The company is currently Late Stage.

Apply