PortSwigger's Women in Tech opportunities

• University scholarship schemes.
• Summer internships.

Who are we?

Based in Knutsford in Cheshire, PortSwigger is a global leader in the cybersecurity sector. Our cutting-edge software is used by over 50,000 customers in 150 countries to help them secure their websites. Our educational and research output is used by millions of people globally to learn about web security.

Eligibility

The scholarship scheme and our internships are open to women at school who are:

• Currently studying for A-levels in year 13.

• Considering a career in technology.

• Aiming to study computer science or a related subject at a top university.

• Living within commuting distance of Knutsford.

• Expecting AAA grades or better at A-level.

Why should you consider this opportunity?

TechNation's 2021 report, stated that "UK tech pioneers are creating the future". At PortSwigger, our mission is "to enable the world to secure the web". By working with us you're laying the groundwork for a long and fulfilling career, in one of the most fast-paced and innovative industries of the 21st century.

According to current statistics:

• 72% of women in tech are regularly outnumbered by men in business meetings by at least a 2:1 ratio.

• Women were 22% more likely than men to experience impostor syndrome at work.

• 72% of women in tech firms want more mentorship opportunities.

^{Source: TrustRadius 2021 Women in Tech Report}

Work during studies

Teams and challenges

Whilst you're studying, the work you'll do with us will be as part of one of our software engineering teams - these are made up of six or seven people that you'll get to know very well. This is in part due to the way that work takes place at PortSwigger. Knowledge is shared, we work collaboratively, and you'll often have your thinking challenged.

If you're already aiming to study computer science (or a related subject) at university, it's likely that you're the kind of person who relishes a challenge. PortSwigger people all thrive on working together on incredibly complex problems - tackling them both logically and mathematically - to help work toward a shared consensus on how best to solve the problem.

Technology and development

Our engineers work with a wide range of technologies, including programming languages (Java and .NET), databases, and public cloud platforms. During your time with us you'll get to see how we use these technologies to build our own implementations, which we often then deliberately break to ensure continued delivery of first-rate software to our customers.

You'll get hands-on experience, your opinions will count, and your ideas will be taken into consideration with exactly the same gravitas as our existing PortSwigger team members. While you're with us we'll work with you to create a tailored personal development plan, helping you to learn and grow in the areas where you show the most aptitude or interest.

PortSwigger culture

Your time at university will teach you all sorts of skills, including plenty that we value very highly here at PortSwigger. Independent working, lateral thinking, and high degrees of trust and freedom, are all core pillars of the PortSwigger culture. We truly believe that our culture is our most important superpower, and our biggest differentiator as an organization.

As you'll come to see if you work with us during your studies, we minimize hierarchies and give our people a high degree of trust and freedom. We set ambitious goals, while supporting everyone in their personal development. Most of all, we think that work should be fun. If it stops being fun, then we're doing it wrong.

Learn more about the PortSwigger culture

Graduate opportunities

Our graduate program gives students fresh out of university the opportunity to kick-start their software development careers, by learning directly from the very best software developers in the industry. Those people who join us as graduates are given the opportunity to program in pairs from day one, working on real production code, in a friendly, supportive, and healthy working environment.

We are committed to continuous self-improvement and personal development. Our graduate joiners typically make very rapid progress through individual mentoring and coaching, in a way that doesn't happen on larger graduate schemes. We generally find that after two years with us, our graduates are performing at a level we would expect to see after 3-5 years of working elsewhere.

Meet some of our Swiggers who joined us as graduates

Whilst sitting my final year exams I began looking for jobs and came across the role here at PortSwigger. Things worked perfectly so that before officially graduating I started. I have now been here eleven months and still believe it is the perfect job and place to work for me.

^{Frankie HFinance Assistant} Read more

Working here combines a load of great benefits into one bundle: interesting work...feeling valued and being able to contribute to software that thousands of people use daily.

^{Josh SSoftware Developer} Read more

I've been here now for three years and in that time worked on Burp 2 beta, the Web Security Academy, and finally, Burp Scanner.

^{Tom LSoftware Developer} Read more

Reward

Scholarship scheme

We will pay a stipend of £10,000 that is split into 3 installments per year, for 3 years of full-time university study. In addition, you will receive a salary of £600 per week for all work carried out for us.

For a typical student who takes full advantage of work opportunities, total reward over the course of the scholarship would be in the region of £70,000.

Internships

Interns will be paid a salary of £600, per week, for every week of work carried out for PortSwigger.