A real-world guide to leading offensive security with judgement, trust and accountability.Red Team leadership begins where technical expertise alone is no longer enough.This is not a book about becoming the most technical or smartest operator in the room. It is about becoming the person trusted to lead Red Team operations safely, legally and effectively, managing the people, the work, the client, the risk and the outcome.It is about setting clear direction, building capable teams and making sound decisions when the pressure is high and the answers are rarely straightforward. It is also about knowing when to challenge a request, when to pause an operation and how to protect the trust placed in you.From the first client conversation to scoping, legal authority, ethics, governance, delivery, reporting and board communication, The Practical Red Team Manager explores what it really means to take responsibility for high-stakes offensive security work.

Drawing on lessons from real-world leadership and complex engagements, it examines how to balance offensive ambition with professional restraint, and how to turn technical activity into meaningful business value.This is the book I wish someone had given me before I became responsible for people, clients, legal exposure and high-risk offensive engagements.One book. One central question:How do you lead Red Team operations responsibly while delivering work that is safe, proportionate, valuable and trusted?Because a successful Red Team engagement is not defined only by what was compromised. It is defined by what was learned, how safely the work was delivered and whether the organisation is stronger because of it.

The Practical Red Team Manager

‘Great Red Team Managers are remembered not for the systems they compromised, but for the trust they built, the people they developed, and the organisations they helped become more resilient.’

About The AuthorShaun Peapell is a Chartered Cyber Security Professional (ChCSP) and a Cyber Scheme Red Team Manager (CSRTM), with more than three decades of experience across military, law enforcement and commercial cybersecurity.Throughout his career he has led complex penetration testing, intelligence-led Red Team engagements and offensive security programmes for organisations ranging from small businesses to critical national infrastructure and global enterprises.In addition to his current professional qualifications, Shaun has previously held a number of respected industry certifications, including CREST Certified Tester Infrastructure (CCT Inf), CREST Certified Simulated Attack Manager (CCSAM), Threat Intelligence Analyst and Intrusion Detection Analyst certifications. His work has always combined technical expertise with practical leadership, helping organisations understand not just how attacks happen, but how to manage offensive security safely, legally and effectively.Today, Shaun has a particular passion for the rapidly evolving field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), with a strong focus on both offensive and defensive AI security. His interests include AI-assisted Red Teaming, Large Language Model security, Agentic AI applications, AI governance and the practical application of AI to improve cyber defence. He believes AI represents one of the most significant shifts in cybersecurity in decades and is committed to helping organisations understand both its opportunities and its risks. This book reflects lessons learned, successes achieved and occasional mistakes made throughout his career.Rather than focusing solely on technical tradecraft, this book is intended for people responsible for managing Red Team engagements, those considering engaging a Red Team provider and decision-makers who want to understand what goes into an assessment while balancing offensive capability with ethics, legality, business objectives and professional judgement.

Who’s this book for?The Practical Red Team Manager is for anyone involved in delivering, managing, buying, selling, scoping or governing Red Team services.Red Teaming is not just about the operators conducting the assessment. It brings together technical delivery, leadership, risk, governance, commercial expectations and client outcomes. Whether you are running the engagement or trying to understand what good Red Teaming should look like, this book is intended to provide a practical, real-world
perspective.• Red Team leads and managers responsible for people, delivery, risk and client outcomes.• Senior penetration testers and consultants moving into leadership and taking on greater responsibility for engagements and teams.• Red Team operators and penetration testers who want to understand the wider management, governance and commercial context of their work.• Security managers, CISOs and Heads of Security commissioning Red Team assessments and wanting to understand what good delivery should look like.• Organisations looking to buy Red Team services and trying to determine what they actually need, what to ask for and what they should expect from a provider.• Sales, pre-sales, account managers and client partners who need to understand Red Teaming well enough to position, scope and discuss services credibly.• Consultants and solution architects involved in translating business objectives into realistic scenarios, scope and rules of engagement.• Risk, assurance and procurement professionals responsible for evaluating providers, governance and the value of offensive security testing.• Consultancies and security providers looking to build, mature or expand a Red Team capability.• Boards and senior stakeholders who want to understand how Red Teaming supports resilience, risk reduction and better security decision-making.You do not need to be a deeply technical Red Team operator to benefit from this book. The principles of scope, objectives, leadership, risk, communication, governance and business value apply to everyone involved in the Red Team lifecycle.