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Starling Bank

Penetration Tester (Senior)

On site

London, United kingdom

Senior

Full Time

08-01-2026

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Skills

Communication Java Go Penetration Testing Cloud Security Kubernetes Security Testing Networking Research Architecture AWS Agile SDLC GCP Android

Job Specifications

Description

Starling is the UK's first and leading digital bank on a mission to fix banking! We built a new kind of bank because we knew technology had the power to help people save, spend and manage their money in a new and transformative way. Read more about Our Story here.

We're a fully licensed UK bank with the culture and spirit of a fast-moving, disruptive tech company. We're a bank, but better: fairer, easier to use and designed to demystify money for everyone. We employ more than 3,000 people across our London, Southampton, Cardiff and Manchester offices.

Our technologists are at the very heart of Starling and enjoy working in a fast-paced environment that is all about building things, creating new stuff, and disruptive technology that keeps us on the cutting edge of fintech. We operate a flat structure to empower you to make decisions regardless of what your primary responsibilities may be, innovation and collaboration will be at the core of everything you do. Help is never far away in our open culture, you will find support in your team and from across the business, we are in this together!

The way to thrive and shine within Starling is to be a self-driven individual and be able to take full ownership of everything around you: From building things, designing, discovering, to sharing knowledge with your colleagues and making sure all processes are efficient and productive to deliver the best possible results for our customers. Our purpose is underpinned by five Starling values: Listen, Keep It Simple, Do The Right Thing, Own It, and Aim For Greatness.

Hybrid Working

We have a Hybrid approach to working here at Starling - our preference is that you're located within a commutable distance of one of our offices so that we're able to interact and collaborate in person.

About the Role

As an experienced Penetration Tester you will be working with talented cyber security professionals to protect Starling customers, company assets and systems using the latest technologies and techniques.

The primary objective for this role is to collaborate with, support, and guide Starling's engineering and operation functions to ensure our services are designed, developed and operated securely. As an experienced member of our penetration testing team you will directly interact with multiple areas of the business to understand requirements, define the scope and approach to testing (including undertaking appropriate research), and produce reporting information aligned to our risk framework.

In addition, we understand the importance of knowledge and expertise remaining current and you shall support the continued advancement of our penetration testing through research, design and implementation of new solutions, including automation.

Responsibilities
Scoping and performing mobile, web application, cloud, and infrastructure penetration tests.
Automation of security testing, and development of internal tooling, to achieve continuous assurance.
Collaboration with engineering teams to facilitate secure development, including:
Review and analysis of proposed technical solutions to identify appropriate security controls.
Input and guidance to security related technical architecture and design decisions.
Code review of features and critical security components.
Practical security testing.
Advising on remediation of security issues and processes to address root causes.
Security assurance reviews of third-party solutions.
Identifying and implementing improvements to the team's internal processes and procedures.
Review, analysis and reporting of external threats relevant to Starling systems and solutions, in the context of Starling's desired security posture.Requirements

We're open-minded when it comes to hiring and we care more about aptitude and attitude than specific experience or qualifications.

Ideally, we would like:
5+ years technical information security experience.
Experience of mobile, web application, cloud and infrastructure penetration testing.
Strong technical knowledge in:
Mobile security (iOS and Android)
Web application security
Networking and associated protocols
Cloud security (AWS and GCP)
Containers and Kubernetes
A desire to learn, and ability to apply technical security knowledge to new and unfamiliar areas.
CREST, OSCP or similar industry penetration testing qualification
A good understanding of applied cryptographic techniques.
Reverse engineering and exploit development capabilities.
Experience of security testing in an agile SDLC.
Threat modelling experience.
Experience performing code reviews, particularly in Java and Go.
Experience of fulfilling a client facing security consulting role.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Experience in automation of security testing, with previous development experience desirable.Interview process

Interviewing is a two way process and we want you to have the time and opportunity to get to know us, as much as we are ge

About the Company

Hello, we’re Starling. Banking was broken – so we decided to fix it. The vision? Fast technology, fair service and honest values. All at the tap of a phone, all the time. We built Britain’s first digital bank. One hard-won banking licence later, we set about giving people a new way to spend, save and manage their money (and take better care of the planet, too). We’re changing banking for good. Back then, we were obsessed with unravelling the knotty world of finance and solving people’s problems rather than selling them ... Know more