About the job

Job summary

We’re looking for outstanding Senior Test Engineers to design, build and maintain our flagship service, Universal Credit and our Working Age Benefits.

Universal Credit is one of the highest profile digital transformation programmes in the world, praised for its fast and flexible response to the Covid-19 pandemic and now in use by over 5 million claimants and 30,000 staff.

As a Senior Test Engineer, you will be part of a multi-functional agile delivery team and be an integral part of shaping and delivering automated test solutions that enable Universal Credit Working Age Benefits to deliver quality services consistently that meet the needs of our agents and claimants. The successful candidate will be expected to lead engineers as well as collaborate with others, actively seek input from colleagues and value a multidisciplinary team over hierarchy. 

This role represents a unique opportunity to join the Universal Credit and Working Age team at DWP Digital, to be part of a team delivering real value to people that need help during the difficult times of their lives.  

Please note this role requires you to pass Security Check clearance.

For further information, please see 'Selection process details'.

Job description

As a Senior Test Engineer you will;

• Help define and implement the strategy for building automation test solutions that help to assure the quality of products that make up DWPs digital services.
• Lead Test Engineers across several teams, providing technical leadership and guidance.
• Drive collaboration across engineers of different roles both within your team and the wider teams to solve problems and enable consistent solutions and strategies.
• Build automation test solutions that help to assure the quality of our products, contribute towards their design, and look for way to improve the value automation adds.
• Ensure that usability, accessibility, security, stability, and capacity are embedded in the development of services.
• Drive teams to take a risk based, context driven approach to agile testing assessing and understanding the risks to drive decisions.
• Lead the adoptions of Continuous Integration/Delivery pipelines to run a full range of tests against our products and assure our builds.
• Lead the traceability of testing, risks, defects, and report progress to appropriate stakeholders across several teams.
• Be willing to challenge assumptions and current processes to help us improve. Reusing and evolving our strategies and tooling.
• Drive the identification of tooling and solutions to aid constant improvements, ensuring we build the right product in the right way.
• Proactively share knowledge, solutions and support our internal communities along with mentoring, coaching, and supporting your peers.
• Experience working in agile environment and tool like JIRA or similar.
• Experience Identifying and driving resolution of defects or issues. 
• Experience in Agile delivery methodology, practices and tools.
• Contribute to discussions around the latest technology trends, tools and best practices within Testing.

Person specification

When giving details in your CV you should highlight your experience in line with essential criteria below:

• Experience of working in a complex, multi-disciplinary environment, leading testing activities and engaging with multiple stakeholders. 
• Experience in modern programming language preferably JAVA or JavaScript and aptitude to learn.
• Experience in building and maintaining API automation testing preferably Rest Assured or similar tools.
• Experience in building and maintaining UI automation testing preferably Selenium / Cypress or similar tools.
• Experience using DevOps tool such as GitLab, Jenkins or similar tools.
• Experience of conducting and enabling non-functional testing such as Performance (preferably k6, gatling, JMeter or similar tools), Security, Compatibility and Accessibility.

If you would like to learn more about the role, please contact richard.hanley@dwp.gov.uk.

Benefits

• An employer pension contribution of up to 28.97% For further information please click here.
• Annual leave rising up to 30 days, (based on your working pattern).
• Family friendly flexible working arrangements, such as hybrid working, job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
• Learning and development tailored to your role this could include industry recognised qualifications, coaching and mentoring. 
• An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join staff networks including: Women’s Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.

Salary Information

National Pay for this role is from £52,412 to £63,517.

London Pay for this role is from £57,631 to £68,918.

Our offer to successful candidates will be based on an assessment of your skills and experience as demonstrated at interview.

Existing Civil Servants who secure a new role on lateral transfer should maintain their current salary.

Existing Civil Servants who gain promotion may move to the bottom of the next grade pay scale or 10% increase in salary whichever would be the greater.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

Stage 1: Application

Applications must include:

1. A completed Personal Details application form.

2. A curriculum vitae including education, professional qualifications and full employment history, giving details of key achievements  in line with essential criteria listed in the Person Specification. 

When uploading your CV, do not include personal information or links to any webpages or profiles that identifies you. This means we can recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity. Take out references to your name/title, age, sex, email address, postal address, telephone number or nationality/immigration status.

When giving details of your redacted CV, you should therefore include details of the work and projects that you have been involved in, and your role therein.

For Hints and Tips on completing your application visit Applying for jobs at DWP Digital.

Applications will be sifted at regular intervals from the date the posts are advertised. Please apply as soon as you can, do not wait until the end of the campaign. 

Important information

• Please attach your redacted CV as a separate additional document in either PDF or word format.
• If your CV contains any personal details your application may be withdrawn.

Stage 2: Interview

If you’re successful at sift stage you will be invited to a video interview via Microsoft Teams. There, you will be assessed against the Essential Criteria listed in the Person Specification.

Interview dates to be confirmed.

Further information:

Find out more about Working for DWP

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

All successful candidates and those placed on reserve will be posted in merit list order by location. 

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. Applications will be screened and if evidence of plagiarism or copying examples/answers from other sources is found, your application will be withdrawn. Internal DWP candidates may also face disciplinary action.

NSV

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting

Security Clearance Requirement

You must meet the security requirements before you can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check.

For meaningful checks to be carried out, you will need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time, to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. Whilst a lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance, and expectation of UK residency may range from 3 to 5 years. Failure to meet the residency requirements needed for the role may result in the withdrawal of provisional jobs offers. 

Reasonable Adjustment

At DWP we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce.

We consider visible and non-visible disabilities, neurodiversity or learning differences, chronic medical conditions, or mental ill health. Examples include dyslexia, epilepsy, autism, chronic fatigue, or schizophrenia.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: Contact Government Recruitment Service via DigitalRecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the “Reasonable Adjustments” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

For further information on reasonable adjustments, terms and conditions and how we recruit visit the How we recruit page. 

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.