Senior Software Development Engineer in Test

The Strategy, Policy, Digital & Technology Directorate plays a central role in delivering DVSA’s digital services that support road safety and compliance across the UK. The Test Engineering team sits within this directorate and is responsible for ensuring high-quality, reliable, and scalable digital products. Working closely with product, delivery, and engineering teams, the group embeds quality from the outset of development, balancing manual and automated testing to provide confidence in delivery. The team drives improvements in testing practices, builds reusable frameworks, and promotes a culture of collaboration, early engagement, and continuous improvement to meet both user needs and DVSA’s strategic goals., * Leading the design and development of test frameworks and tools.

• Building reliable automated checks across API, integration, contract and end-to-end levels.
• Improving CI/CD pipeline confidence through effective automated validation.
• Investigating complex failures across code, environments, data and pipelines.
• Supporting live service reliability by identifying risks and driving improvements.
• Working with developers, testers, analysts and DevOps engineers to embed quality early.
• Mentoring colleagues and promoting consistent quality engineering practices.
• Contributing to engineering standards, continuous improvement and cross-team collaboration.

Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills they need. We aim to empower line managers to create teams where people can flourish and deliver excellent outcomes for the public., The value of allowance awarded will be based on an assessment of your skills and experience as demonstrated through the selection process. Here are more details on the pay framework.

Working hours, office attendance and travel requirements

Full time roles consist of 37 hours per week. Whilst we welcome applications from those looking to work with us on a part time basis, there is a business requirement for the successful candidate to be able to work at least 30 hours per week.

Monthly travel to other offices would be encouraged, which may involve overnight stays.

This role is suitable for hybrid working, which is a non-contractual arrangement where a combination of workplace and home-based working can be accommodated subject to business requirements.

The expectation at present is a minimum of 60% of your working time a month will be spent at either your designated workplace (one of the locations cited in the advert) or, when required for business reasons, in another office/work location. There may be occasions where you are required to attend above the minimum expectation.

If you have a question about hybrid working, part time/job share hours, flexible working, travelling for work, or require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Vacancy Holder during the recruitment process to avoid possible disappointment later in the process should your working arrangements not be compatible with the requirements of the role (see below for contact details).

Visa Sponsorship Please note that we do not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker Licence sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship. Candidates must ensure they have the appropriate rights to work in the UK before application., * Writing code in one or more programming languages, for example Java, JavaScript and TypeScript, to build or maintain test frameworks, tools or checks.

• Designing or implementing automated checks across API, integration, contract or end-to-end test levels.
• Working with CI/CD pipelines and investigating complex automated test, environment, data or integration failures.
• Improving quality engineering practices, automation reliability, engineering standards or test maintainability within a team.

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead criteria: Writing code in one or more programming languages, for example Java, JavaScript and TypeScript, to build or maintain test frameworks, tools or checks.

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment

Sift will take place week commencing 29th June 2026.

Stage 2: Assessment

At assessment stage, you will be invited to complete a technical exercise. The assessment will take place online via Microsoft Teams. You will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

• Technical: Software Developer: Programming and Build (Practitioner)

The assessment stage will take place week commencing 13th July 2026.

Guidance will be provided if you are invited to the assessment.

Candidates who pass the assessment, will be progressed to interview stage.

Stage 3: Interview

At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

Behaviours –

Working Together and Making Effective Decisions., As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes., All external applicants and current employees of accredited non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) will be required to undergo a Social Media Check. A Social Media Check is a review of your publicly available online activity, typically across platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and others. The purpose is to identify any public posts or content that could raise concerns for employers, such as:

• Hate speech or discriminatory behaviour
• Threats or acts of violence
• Illegal activity or substance misuse
• Sexually explicit material
• Extremist views or affiliations

Importantly, this check does not involve hacking into your accounts or accessing private messages. It only considers content you have chosen to make public. Employers use this kind of screening to help ensure their workplace remains safe, inclusive, and aligned with company values. It’s not about judging your personality or lifestyle - it’s about checking for potential red flags that might affect the role or company culture. If you have questions or concerns about the social media check, we would be happy to explain in more detail what’s being looked at and how your data is handled securely and fairly.

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website.

Feedback 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

Do you have experience in TypeScript?, * Designing and developing test frameworks and tooling.

• Writing clean, reusable and maintainable code in a modern engineering environment.
• Testing across API, integration, contract and end-to-end levels.
• Working with CI/CD pipelines and automated quality checks.
• Investigating complex failures across systems, environments, data and pipelines.
• Working in Agile, multidisciplinary teams to deliver digital services.
• Applying quality engineering practices to improve reliability and scalability.
• Mentoring others and influencing consistent engineering and testing standards., This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills., * Do you have hands-on experience writing code in one or more programming languages, for example Java, JavaScript or TypeScript?
• Have you designed, developed or maintained test frameworks or test tooling across multiple test levels?
• Are you willing and able to complete a coding-based technical assessment as part of the recruitment process?

Pulled from the full job description

• Annual leave
• Employee discount
• Employee assistance programme
• Company pension, * Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the King’s birthday
• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Read more in the Benefits section below!

Find out more about what it’s like working at Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency - Department for Transport Careers, We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Working Together
• Making Effective Decisions, Alongside your salary of £44,241, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency contributes £12,816 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides .

Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits:

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave).
• 8 Bank Holidays plus an additional Privilege Day to mark the King’s birthday.
• Access to the staff discount portal.
• Excellent career development opportunities and the potential to undertake professional qualifications relevant to your role paid for by the department, such as CIPD, Prince2, apprenticeships, etc.
• 24-hour Employee Assistance Programme providing free confidential help and advice for staff.

Find out more about the benefits of working at DfT and its agencies .