Lead Test Engineer

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At HMRC, you'll be at the heart of one of the UK's most ambitious digital transformation programmes. As part of our Service Validation and Testing team (SV&T), you'll help shape the future of digital services across HMRC, ensuring they are robust and secure through the adoption of a shift-left, risk-based approach to quality

Do you have strong test and quality assurance experience and thrive in collaborative environments, building and maintaining positive relationships? We are looking for a strong leader who can focus on complex problem solving, provide technical understanding and support product and platform teams and influence the members of the Service Central organisation.

Within HMRC's Chief Digital & Information Office (CDIO), you will be part of the SV&T leadership team, playing a key role in shaping test governance and best practice across a complex technology landscape.

SV&T plays a pivotal role in driving consistent, high-quality testing practices across HMRC's diverse technology landscape. As we transition to a multi-supplier model and adopt AI-assisted tooling, this role will help embed a shift-left, risk-based approach to testing-ensuring quality is built in from the outset., You will work across multiple programmes and platforms, providing strategic test leadership, supporting delivery teams, and influencing senior stakeholders to embed best practice and continuous improvement Key Responsibilities As a Lead Test Engineer, you will play a strategic role in shaping and embedding consistent testing best practices across HMRC's complex digital ecosystem. Your responsibilities will include:

Leadership & Collaboration

• Lead, coach, and mentor test engineers across programmes, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and professional development.
• Collaborate with product, platform, and delivery teams to ensure testing is integrated early and effectively within agile workflows.
• Influence and engage with senior stakeholders across HMRC and supplier organisations to drive quality outcomes.

Test Strategy & Implementation

• Define and implement risk-based, shift-left testing strategies across diverse platforms (e.g., ServiceNow, SAP, Pega).
• Ensure testing approaches align with business priorities, technical architecture, and delivery timelines.
• Promote consistent standards and practices across internal teams and third party suppliers.

Technical Excellence & Problem Solving

• Apply advanced testing techniques to solve complex technical challenges and improve delivery confidence.
• Provide expert guidance on functional, non-functional, and automation testing, including performance, security, and accessibility.
• Identify and drive opportunities for innovation and efficiency in testing processes.

Tooling & Governance

• Evaluate, implement, and optimise test tooling, including AI-assisted solutions, to support continuous integration and delivery.
• Establish governance frameworks for supplier-led testing activities, ensuring alignment with HMRC standards and compliance requirements.
• Support tooling integration with platforms such as ServiceNow and CI/CD pipelines.

Quality Assurance & Risk Management

• Ensure quality is built in from the outset by validating requirements and test coverage across the lifecycle.
• Lead retrospectives and continuous improvement initiatives to enhance test effectiveness and reduce delivery risk.
• Produce clear, actionable test reports and insights to inform decision-making and assurance activities., We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions, We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate., HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations.

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.

Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application(s) will be withdrawn from the process.

Recording of interviews is prohibited unless explicit agreement is sought in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulations.

Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

New entrants will join on the minimum of the pay band.

Please note that, if you are applying for roles on a part-time basis, the salary agreed will be pro-rata, reflective of the working hours agreed within your contract.

If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

For more Information for people applying for, or thinking of applying for, roles at HM Revenue and Customs, please see link: Working for HMRC: information for applicants - GOV.UK. 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 .

See our vetting charter . People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks., * 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)
• 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, Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. You have the right to complain if you feel there has been a breach of the Recruitment Principles. In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly via ubsrecruitmentcomplaints@hmrc.gov.uk. Please note that we do not accept complaints or appeals regarding scoring of outcomes of campaigns, unless candidates can provide clear evidence that the campaign did not follow the Recruitment Principles. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their website.

Do you have experience in UNIX?, We're looking for a disciplined and dynamic test leader with proven experience in strategic test management. You'll bring strong analytical skills to guide testers and developers, shaping test direction that aligns with delivery goals. You must be confident engaging and reporting across all levels of stakeholders and third-party partners, with a clear ability to influence and drive quality outcomes.

You will:

• Advise, design, and execute functional test cases. You can assess and peer-review the work of others. You can coach and mentor others.
• You can design and execute non-functional test cases using standard testing techniques.
• Understand the hierarchy of test environments and the phases of testing as the product moves through levels of maturity to Production.
• You can demonstrate a good working knowledge of different tools and techniques and can train others. You can advise others on testing techniques and frameworks.
• You can analyse and review data to identify problems and opportunities and make informed recommendations in line with strategic business objectives.
• You can communicate test approaches and make recommendations to influence senior stakeholders.
• You will be comfortable operating in a fast-paced, agile environment and have the confidence to challenge constructively, influence decisions, and drive quality outcomes."
• You can solve complex problems, applying logical reasoning.
• Actively hold (or be willing to obtain) SC Clearance

Essential Criteria:

To be successful in this role, you will need to demonstrate practical experience and capability across the following areas, aligned to Civil Service Success Profiles:

Leadership - Proven experience leading test teams and initiatives across complex programmes and platforms. Ability to coach, mentor, and develop others, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and high performance. Confidence to challenge constructively and drive strategic quality outcomes across organisational boundaries.

Communicating and Influencing - Strong communication skills with the ability to tailor messages to technical and non-technical audiences. Experience influencing senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams to embed best practice and drive change. Ability to present test strategies, risks, and recommendations clearly and persuasively.

Delivering at Pace - Demonstrated ability to manage and prioritise multiple testing activities in fast-paced, agile environments. Experience coordinating test efforts across diverse teams, platforms, and suppliers to meet delivery milestones. Commitment to continuous improvement and efficiency in testing processes.

Making Effective Decisions - Skilled in applying risk-based approaches to testing, making informed decisions based on data, insight, and business priorities. Ability to assess complex problems, evaluate options, and recommend solutions that balance quality, risk, and delivery. Experience using test metrics and reporting to support decision-making and assurance.

Desirable Criteria:

Ideally you will also have experience and understanding of:

• Test tool automation.
• Experience working in a multi-supplier environment or contributing to test strategy across organisational boundaries is highly desirable."
• Multiple platforms e.g. Client/Server / Web / Unix / VME etc.
• A range of tools e.g. Zephyr, JIRA, SOAP UI, Selenium, Postman, JMeter, Cucumber.
• CI/CD and relevant tools i.e. Ansible, Puppet, Chef, Jenkins.
• Working within Agile/Scrum team.
• Working knowledge of ITIL 4., Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process.

Alongside your salary of £58,541, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £16,959 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

HMRC operates both Flexible and Hybrid Working policies, allowing you to balance your work and personal commitments. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, considering our operational and customer service needs.

We offer a generous leave allowance, starting at 25 days and increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days.

• Pension - We make contributions to our colleagues' Alpha pension equal to at least 28.97% of their salary.
• Family friendly policies.
• Personal support.
• Coaching and development.

To find out more about HMRC benefits and find out what it's really like to work for HMRC hear from our insiders or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service

HMRC is an office-based organisation, and colleagues are expected to spend 60% of their working time in the office. Our offices provide opportunity for interaction, collaboration which aids learning and development and a sense of community. Where the role allows it, and where the home environment is suitable, colleagues can work from home for up to 2 days a week, averaged over a calendar month (or a proportionate amount of time for colleagues who work less than full time).