Senior Test Engineer

Job summary

Defra is the UK government department responsible for safeguarding our natural environment, supporting our world-leading food and farming industry, and sustaining a thriving rural economy. Our broad remit means we play a major role in people's day-to-day life, from the food we eat, and the air we breathe, to the water we drink.

Digital, Data, Technology and Security (DDTS) is the trusted team for digital across the entire Defra Group.

We have around 1000 colleagues across DDTS and our ambition is to make it easier and faster than ever for people to interact with Defra. If you are ready to drive innovation and push boundaries, we want to hear from you. Join us and together we will create a great place for living, and a green and healthy future for all.

Find out more about DDTS:

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We are Government Digital and Data Candidate Information Pack V3 - 1

Job description

If you join us as a Senior Test Engineer, you will be part of the team who deliver transformative change across the Defra group. You'll have the opportunity to influence delivery at a strategic level on some of the most exciting IT transformations cross-government. We can offer you a position in our established test function with a supportive team, learning and career pathways and the opportunity to develop your skills.

You will be working on digital services in a challenging environment which continues to evolve as an exemplar in the Quality Assurance and Test (QA&T) profession.

Working in a supportive, diverse and user-focused culture our flexible working arrangements mean you can maintain a healthy work-life balance. You will play an important part in building a digital future for Defra and our customers.

Person specification

Responsibilities:

• A senior test engineer is responsible for driving engineering capability. They influence, coach and guide others in test engineering, sharing best practice and standards
• Working in a multidisciplinary agile team on a wide range of digital projects, you will use Government Digital Service Standards (GDS) and software testing tools
• Working with stakeholders, determine test scope for functional and non-functional testing following a risk-based testing approach
• Follow the Defra Test Strategy to create or contribute to test plans using a risk-based approach. You will be expected to contribute to development of reusable test artifacts
• Identify and plan test needs for things such as, but not limited to data, environment provision, access controls
• Use technical tooling and engineering approaches to design and execute tests
• Develop and maintain automated test suites
• Implement our standard defect management processes to report, communicate and resolve defects
• Clearly communicate risks and impact of defects to stakeholders
• Select, use and guide others in using the most appropriate technical tooling, engineering approaches, test types and techniques to identify and address risks early
• Extend, standardise and build reusable frameworks and tools that support testing
• Communicate and document chosen approaches, tools, techniques and outcomes to the team and appropriate stakeholders
• Contribute to and agree engineering standards
• Inform and influence stakeholders around the testing actions that need to be taken by the project
• Implement the release test plan and ensure the correct test types and acceptance criteria are applied to the right standard
• Contribute to the team community, coaching team members, promoting knowledge transfer and a culture of continuous improvement.

Skills and experience:

• Experience of testing public facing digital services and an awareness GDS Standards
• Experience of working within the Software Testing Life Cycle and the various test types required to build confidence in a system
• Experience of using JavaScript with open-source frameworks such as Playwright or WDIO
• Experience of building and/or maintaining automated UI test suites
• Experience using source control tools such as GitHub
• Experience building and/or maintaining automated API tests
• Experience of contributing to engineering practices/good coding standards
• Experience in a shift left testing and CI/CD environment
• Knowledge of non-functional testing types
• Excellent communication skills and a dedication to developing self and others.

Selection process

The Civil Service marks each element of the selection process on a merit basis. You can visit the gov.uk website for further information on the Civil Service rating scale.

Ensure you have tailored your CV and Personal Statement to the 'skills and experience' section of the job advert by providing examples on how you are suitable for the role using the STAR method.

Please ensure you demonstrate clearly, within your personal statement, how you meet these requirements, as the information you provide will form a key part when the panel is scoring your application.

For further information on STAR, you can check out our Hints and Tips document.

Application process

As part of the application process, you will be assessed on your experience. This will be evaluated by looking at your CV and personal statement, so please provide the following and ensure your experience is clearly demonstrated:

A CV
A 500 word Personal Statement: Referring to the 'skills and experience' sections of the job advert, please demonstrate how you are suitable for the role by providing relevant examples.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Sift

Sift will begin shortly after the advert closes.

Should there be a large number of applications, an initial sift will be conducted using your personal statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment or interview.

Interview

If successful at sift, you will be invited to an interview where you will be assessed on the Behaviours and Technical Skills listed below.

For further information on the Technical elements please see the framework.Sift and

Interview dates are to be confirmed.