Senior Cyber Platform Engineer

You’ll join the Cyber Resilience Centre, where you'll help develop, test and run security systems. These range from cloud native cyber data science labs to enterprise data platforms and integrated solutions that protect one of the UK Government’s most complex and diverse IT estates. You will be leading the way in building and managing scalable, cloud native applications, often setting direction and guiding others along the way., We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing
• Leadership, The sift panel will use the information relating to your employment history (your CV) and your personal statement of suitability to assess your experience, skills and knowledge.

When giving details of your employment history, you should include details of the work that you have been involved in, outcomes, and your role therein.

All applications will be assessed and sifted based on the personal specification in the advert, using the information you provide in your completed application form.

The written sift will be conducted using evidence from your application form, CV and Personal Statement and will be assessed against the chosen key criteria within the advert.

Candidates who pass the initial Sift will be progressed to a full Sift or direct to interview.

Interview

Successful candidates will be invited to a video interview where candidates will be assessed on Behaviours, Technical Skills & Experience.

We'll assess you against these Success Profiles at the interview stage:

Behaviours:

• Leadership
• Managing a Quality Service
• Communicating and Influencing

Technical Skills:

• Secure Development
• Technical Testing

Candidates will be asked to do a short (10-15 minutes) presentation on a specific topic. Further details will be provided to candidates invited to interview.

For these vacancies, we strongly recommend that applicants consult with an immigration specialist or qualified advisor to assess their eligibility for Visa Sponsorship before deciding to apply. Please note that while we consider sponsorship requests in accordance with current DWP guidance and Home Office policy, sponsorship cannot be guaranteed., Civil Servants applying on promotion will usually be appointed to the salary minimum or within 10% of existing salary.

Any move to DWP from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may, however, be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at the Childcare Choices Website. 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 developed vetting .

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

Do you have experience in Test-driven development?, We’re looking for a software engineer with a special interest in testing, quality engineering and continuous improvement. You’ll work across a variety of projects, helping to test and assure resilient digital services while staying ahead of emerging threats and evolving technology challenges.

A core part of the role will involve ensuring the solutions we develop are secure and fit for purpose. This includes designing and executing structured tests, implementing effective test strategies, identifying defects and vulnerabilities, and evaluating products against functional, non functional and security requirements.

We’re looking for someone who can apply a systematic approach to testing and assures quality, resilience and security throughout the software delivery lifecycle. You’ll define test coverage and ensure issues are identified early in the development process.

A curious mindset is essential. We want people who enjoy understanding products at a deep technical level, exploring edge cases and uncovering issues others may overlook. You’ll use a mixture of testing approaches to assess how systems behave under different conditions and user scenarios.

Run integration testing, security testing, performance testing, CI/CD pipelines and cloud deployments.

As part of the senior team, you’ll also share knowledge, mentor junior colleagues and contribute to the growth of our testing and quality engineering capability.

This is a great opportunity to develop your career in a supportive, forward thinking and mission driven environment.

If you’re passionate about technology, security, technical testing and building resilient digital services, and want to be part of the dream team, we’d love to hear from you., We’re looking for a motivated, adaptable team player with a strong technical background and a real interest in testing, quality engineering and secure software delivery.

You’ll be able to design, implement and improve test strategies that help assure secure, scalable and low maintenance solutions across complex environments.

You’ll bring a systematic and analytical approach to testing, with the curiosity to understand products deeply, explore edge cases, challenge assumptions and identify defects, vulnerabilities and failure scenarios early.

You’ll be comfortable designing and executing structured tests across functional, non functional, API, integration, security, performance and resilience testing.

You’ll role model by improving test coverage and helping ensure that quality is built in from the start rather than added at the end.

You’ll be skilled in troubleshooting and resolving complex issues across diverse technology stacks, using evidence, logs, metrics and root cause analysis to understand what has failed and why.

You’ll be confident evaluating products, platforms and technical controls against user needs, business goals, security requirements and operational standards.

You’ll be comfortable working closely with engineers, customers and operational teams, providing technical support and helping services remain reliable, secure and fit for purpose.

You’ll have deep experience in software development, including agile delivery, DevSecOps and modern engineering practices.

You’ll have a developing knowledge of enterprise IT, cybersecurity and how internet scale services work behind the scenes, with the curiosity and drive to keep building your expertise.

You’ll be interested in secure development practices and keen to explore tools and approaches that improve testing, automation, assurance and delivery confidence.

You’ll be ready to get hands on with Infrastructure as Code and Configuration as Code, helping to test and assure environments as well as applications.

You’ll have good familiarity with data platforms and databases, or a willingness to learn quickly, and be able to use data to support testing, investigation and decision making.

You’ll bring curiosity about data science and demonstrate an understanding of its concepts, particularly where it can help improve detection, analysis and quality.

Your tools of the trade include Mac, AWS, Big Data Platforms, GitLab, Terraform, Python, Docker and Claude Code and loads more!

You’ll be willing to occasionally work out of hours as part of a 24/7 critical service, with an additional allowance., This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

Pulled from the full job description

• Childcare
• Annual leave
• Employee discount
• Employee assistance programme
• Company pension
• Cycle to work scheme, Alongside your salary of £57,946, Department for Work and Pensions contributes £16,786 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

DWP have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:

DWP Employee Benefits: Discover what we offer

• Working patterns to support work/life balance such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
• Generous annual leave – at least 23 days on entry, increasing up to 30 days over time (pro–rata for part time employees), plus 9 days public and privilege leave.
• Support for financial wellbeing, including interest-free season ticket loans for travel, a cycle to work scheme and an employee discount scheme.
• Health and wellbeing support including our Employee Assistance Programme for specialist advice and counselling and the opportunity to join HASSRA a first-class programme of competitions, activities and benefits for its members (subscription payable monthly).
• Family friendly policies including enhanced maternity and shared parental leave pay after 1 year’s continuous service.
• Funded learning and development to support progress in your role and career. This includes industry recognised qualifications and accreditations, coaching, mentoring and talent development programmes.
• An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join professional and interpersonal networks including Women’s Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.

Please note that for candidates requesting to work in Newcastle, currently this role will be based at Benton Park View , and then at 1 Pilgrim Place in Newcastle city centre by the end of 2027. Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Blackpool, Birmingham, Sheffield and Glasgow, We’re excited to offer an opportunity to join a high performing team within the Cyber Resilience Centre, part of DWP Security and Data Protection. This role plays a key part in helping to protect the Department’s systems and services. You’ll be part of a team that builds, tests and supports tools and solutions that strengthen our cyber resilience and help keep DWP’s data and services secure.