Is this job worth applying to?

Pay

About typicalTops out at $80/hr. The typical top rate across 237 priced coding listings is $90/hr.

Getting in

Hard to get in~1–2 hours of assessments. Valid government photo ID.

Steady work

Work is patchyFeast-or-famine project volume.

Payout record

Some delaysSchedule: weekly, by Friday for the prior Monday–Sunday. Paid via Stripe or PayPal (depends on country).

Freshness

RecentPosted 2w ago. Still listed on Alignerr on Nov 6, 2026.

Where you live

Named countries onlyOpen in United States.

The job description

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

How do you apply to Alignerr?

Apply on Alignerr

The Apply button opens this post on Alignerr's own site. You apply with them, not with Rubric. Budget about 1–2 hours of assessments.

Get through screening

What Alignerr asks for after you apply:

Take the TestGorilla skills assessment (usually one attempt per role)
Verify your identity with Persona
Join the Alignerr Slack community
Set up payouts once you are assigned to a project

Start work and get paid

Pay schedule: weekly, by Friday for the prior Monday–Sunday. Paid via Stripe or PayPal (depends on country). You're paid for the work they hand out, not a fixed salary.

Alignerr also needs

Valid government photo ID
Degree or professional experience for expert roles
Webcam for proctored assessments on some roles

Red flags

Red flagLong gaps with no project after passing
Red flagWorker reports of delayed or withheld payments on Glassdoor

What is Alignerr like to work for?

Labelbox's contractor network, which hires generalists and domain experts to label data and write and grade AI training tasks.

Advertised pay	$15–150/hr
Getting in	Hard to get in
Application takes	~1–2 hours of assessments
How you get paid	Weekly, by Friday for the prior Monday–Sunday, via Stripe or PayPal (depends on country)
Payout record	Some delays
Countries	Accepts most countries but blocks signups from about two dozen; posts India-specific roles such as Hindi, Telugu and Indian-English language and cultural review work.

Generalist and bilingual work is around $15–20/hr, coding QA $30–40/hr, and senior software, advanced math, medical and law roles $70–150/hr; some projects pay per approved task.