About the Lead Pen Test Professional
The PECB Lead Pen Test Professional programme takes you beyond the basics into the advanced, methodical practice of penetration testing. Delivered fully self-paced and online, it covers the complete engagement — from ethics, planning and scoping, through the technical foundation and hands-on techniques, to conducting the test and reporting results that lead to real remediation.
The focus is on running professional, repeatable engagements: managing time and resources, choosing the right tools and techniques, and communicating findings clearly to technical and business stakeholders. It suits experienced practitioners who want to formalise and deepen their penetration-testing skills.
Course Information
What You Will Learn
Course Curriculum
- Penetration-testing concepts and principles
- Ethics and legal considerations
- Engagement planning
- Defining and agreeing scope
- Core technical knowledge for testing
- Reconnaissance and enumeration
- Vulnerability identification
- Practical exercises across each area
- Working with testing tools and frameworks
- Exploitation techniques
- Reviewing the testing areas
- Maintaining control of the engagement
- Analysing and validating findings
- Writing the penetration-testing report
- Prioritising remediation
- Follow-up and retesting
- The seven competency domains
- Revision and exam technique
- Booking and sitting the PECB exam
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All You Need to Know
This programme suits experienced security practitioners, including:
- Penetration testers and ethical hackers
- Cybersecurity professionals and information security specialists
- IT and risk managers who need a deeper understanding of testing
- Auditors, incident handlers and business continuity professionals
A fundamental understanding of penetration testing and comprehensive knowledge of cybersecurity are recommended before enrolling.
The PECB Certified Lead Pen Test Professional exam assesses seven competency domains spanning the fundamentals of penetration testing through to reporting and follow-up. Completing the training earns 31 CPD credits.
What Our Learners Say
What stood out about this Lead Pen Test Professional training was how practical it was — real case studies, not just theory. I walked away confident about advanced penetration testing and ready to apply it immediately.
The pacing suited a busy schedule, and the focus on advanced penetration testing meant I could start applying what I learned before I'd even finished the course.
The Lead Pen Test Professional course gave me a clear, structured path to strengthen our information security posture. The instructors explained advanced penetration testing in a way that was easy to apply on the job, and I passed the exam on my first attempt.
This course sharpened skills I already had and filled in the gaps around advanced penetration testing. My manager noticed the difference within a month of me completing the Lead Pen Test Professional certification.
Solid, well-organized training. The path to strengthen our information security posture was clearly explained, and the practice materials before the exam made a real difference to my confidence.
Career Opportunities After This Training
A senior penetration tester leads complex engagements across networks, web apps and infrastructure, and mentors junior testers. The Lead Pen Test Professional course develops the advanced methodology this seniority demands.
Hiring Companies
Average Salary
A red team lead plans and directs adversary-simulation campaigns that test an organisation's detection and response. Advanced penetration-testing training builds the tradecraft and leadership this role needs.
Hiring Companies
Average Salary
An offensive security consultant advises clients on their real-world attack exposure through structured testing and remediation guidance. The Lead Pen Test Professional course covers the full engagement lifecycle behind this work.
Hiring Companies
Average Salary
Frequently Asked Questions
A PECB credential for advanced penetration testers, covering the full engagement lifecycle — scoping, network and web-app testing, exploitation, reporting and managing a professional pen-test programme.
Lead Ethical Hacker focuses on core hands-on hacking skills; Lead Pen Test Professional goes further into leading and managing structured penetration-testing engagements and complex, real-world testing scenarios.
A solid grounding in networking, operating systems and security fundamentals is recommended. There are no strict entry requirements to take the training and exam.
The exam is an essay-type, open-book paper of roughly 3 hours. You need the passing score set by PECB (generally around 70%). After passing you receive a 'Certificate of Exam Success', and the full certification is issued once you also meet PECB's professional-experience requirements.
Penetration Tester, Red Team specialist, Security Consultant and Pen Test Team Lead roles across cybersecurity consultancies and in-house security teams.