Summary: The Lead Test Engineer role at DWP involves defining and implementing automation test strategies to ensure the quality of digital services. This position requires leadership and technical expertise to guide test engineering teams while aligning with the department's overarching strategy. The role is hybrid, requiring three days a week in one of several specified cities. The contract is for 12 months and classified as inside IR35.
Key Responsibilities:
- Set direction for service/capability and teams in line with overarching strategy.
- Ensure team work aligns to standards and focuses on delivering quality, assured, and secure services.
- Implement best practices within the team.
- Assess the impact of changes made by the team.
- Maintain an outward-facing viewpoint to understand team and product positioning.
Key Skills:
- Experience in designing and implementing test strategy for distributed microservices.
- Experience in contract testing and component testing (API, message-based asynchronous testing).
- Experience with non-relational databases (e.g., MongoDB).
- Strong technical automation skills (Java or TS/JS preferred).
- Experience in non-functional testing (performance testing, accessibility testing).
- Experience with CI/CD pipelines.
Salary (Rate): undetermined
City: undetermined
Country: United Kingdom
Working Arrangements: hybrid
IR35 Status: inside IR35
Seniority Level: undetermined
Industry: IT
On behalf of DWP we are looking for a Lead Test Engineer for a 12 month (Inside IR35) contract. Hybrid working with 3 days per week in either Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Sheffield or Blackpool. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for welfare, pensions, and child maintenance policy. As the UK’s biggest public service department, it administers the State Pension and a range of working age, disability and ill health benefits to around 20 million claimants and customers. As such, we operate on a scale that is almost unmatched anywhere in Europe and most people in Britain come into contact with us at some point in their lives. Working with DWP, you will be helping us to drive our priorities to: Help people to move into work and support those already in work to progress, with the aim of increasing overall workforce participation Help people to plan and save for later life, while providing a safety net for those who need it now Provide effective, efficient, and innovative services to the millions of claimants who rely on us every day, including the most vulnerable in society Improve experience of our services while maximising value for money for the taxpayer.
As a Lead Test Engineer you will define and implement the strategy for building automation test solutions that help to assure the quality of products that make up DWPs digital services providing leadership, guidance and technical expertise to the test engineering teams. As a Lead Test Engineer your main responsibilities will be to:
- Set direction for your service/capability and teams that is in line with overarching strategy (which you have the ability to influence).
- Ensure that your teams work aligns to standards.
- Have a clear focus on delivering quality, assured and secure services.
- Ensure that you team follow best practice.
- Be aware of and assess impact of any change that you are making.
- Have an outward facing viewpoint, understanding where your team and products fit into the bigger picture.
Essential: Have experience in designing and implementing test strategy for distributed microservices from Monolith service across multiple teams. Experience in contract testing and component testing such as API, message based asynchronous testing such as Kafka or similar technology. Experience in non-relational databases I.e. mongo db or similar. Strong technical automation skills with the ability to write well-structured reusable maintainable tests and test utilities (Java or TS/JS preferred). Have experience in non-functional experience such as performance testing, ( Gatling, K6) and accessibility testing. Have experience in CI/CD pipelines.
