Principal Red Team Operator / Leader - Hybrid

ABOUT US

We’re the world’s leading provider of secure financial messaging services, headquartered in Belgium. We are the way the world moves value – across borders, through cities and overseas. No other organisation can address the scale, precision, pace and trust that this demands, and we’re proud to support the global economy. 

We’re unique too. We were established to find a better way for the global financial community to move value – a reliable, safe and secure approach that the community can trust, completely. We’re always striving to be better and are constantly evolving in an ever-changing landscape, without undermining that trust. Five decades on, our vibrant community reflects the complexity and diversity of the financial ecosystem. We innovate diligently, test exhaustively, then implement fast. In a connected and exciting era, our mission has never been more relevant. Swift now has a presence in 200+ countries and legal territories to serve a community of more than 12,000 banks and financial institutions.   

Swift is seeking an experienced Red Team leader to research, plan, and conduct advanced adversary emulation campaigns across our enterprise environments and conduct purple teaming activities to evolve the detection capabilities of our internal SOC. This role combines deep hands-on technical knowledge of Red Team operations, tooling, infrastructure, and operator development. You will design and direct large-scale adversary simulations, coordinate multi-operator campaigns, and ensure Red Team tradecraft remains ahead of evolving organizational defenses. You will be responsible not only for executing complex offensive operations, but also for shaping Red Team capability, mentoring operators, and translating offensive outcomes into measurable defensive improvement.

In addition to the responsibilities described above, this role includes direct people management responsibilities to include leading, coaching, and developing team members, conducting performance management evaluations, and supporting hiring and work-force planning efforts.

What to Expect:

In this role you will: 

Red Team Operations & Campaign Leadership

• Architect, monitor and execute end-to-end adversary simulations across enterprise, cloud and hybrid infrastructures
• Lead and coordinate multi-operator exploitation teams, managing simultaneous kill chains and campaign logistics
• Direct complex Red Team engagements from reconnaissance and initial access through persistence, lateral movement and data exfiltration
• Design and execute network, application, wireless, physical and cloud penetration tests
• Build, operate, and maintain Red Team infrastructure, including command-and-control (C2) ecosystems, phishing platforms and operational security (OPSEC) tooling
• Develop and operationalize custom tooling, payloads, automation and exploitation chains
• Research and implement advanced evasion techniques against SIEM, EDR, and XDR platforms
• Ensure operational realism, safety, and compliance with internal policy, legal constraints, and regulatory requirements
• Align Red Team operations with the MITRE ATT&CK framework and threat-led industry testing standards

Leadership, Collaboration & Strategic Enablement

• Lead Purple Team exercises and translate offensive findings into prioritized defensive improvements
• Partner with SOC, Threat Intelligence, Risk Management, and Engineering teams to strengthen detection and response maturity
• Mentor and develop junior and mid-level operators, sharing techniques, lessons learned, and tooling improvements
• Foster an environment of internal information sharing
• Interpret technical exploitation in the context of business risk and control effectiveness
• Communicate technical risk clearly to security leadership and key stakeholders
• Produce high-quality After-Action Reports (AARs), executive summaries, and technical documentation
• Ensure that all Red Team related processes adhere to governance and regulatory requirements

What Success Looks Like in This Role

• Designs and Leads complex Red Team engagements independently and as part of a broader campaign strategy
• Delivers realistic adversary simulations that measurably improve detection and response maturity
• Builds and maintains resilient, covert Red Team infrastructure and tooling ecosystems
• Develops novel exploitation techniques that stress modern defensive controls
• Produces clear, actionable reports aligned to business risk and regulatory expectations
• Strengthens Red Team capability through mentors