Lead Test Engineer

This is an exciting opportunity in the Digital Services team. You'll be joining our team at a time of transformation and you will be part of shaping the future of our department. We use Agile Methodologies and promote a culture of continuous improvement.

We are looking for an enthusiastic Lead Test Engineer with great technical skills able to coach and mentor other testers and lead the test automation, functional and non functional areas of software testing.

You will be part of our lead tester group, working collaboratively with your assigned squads overseeing the testing journey with management responsibilities. You will act as an advocate for quality and champion behaviour driven development.

This provides an opportunity to make the test community thrive by exploring new and emerging tools and approaches and working out how you can help the organisation deliver better services. This is a rewarding role within the Test Team and provides an opportunity to contribute to the success of existing and future services provided by Companies House.

Read more about the skills required of a Lead Test Engineer.

Companies House strategy 2020 to 2025

We are currently using a hybrid approach to the way we work. Remote contracts will only be offered to successful candidates who are not within a commutable distance to our Cardiff, Belfast or Edinburgh offices. If you are located in a reasonable distance to one our offices, you will receive a hybrid contract aligned to one of our offices.

Companies House offers a flexible and welcoming culture that promotes a healthy work life balance as well as a proactive approach to wellbeing that allows us to be our best at work. We recognise that people are the key to our success so offer a fantastic benefits package including flexible working with no core hours, 30 days annual leave, 8 bank holidays and 1 privilege day as well as enrolment into the Civil Service Pension scheme with a contribution rate averaging 28%.

Find out more about what a great place Companies House is to work

Job description

As a Lead Test Engineer you will;

• Take ownership of the squads automated pipeline. This also includes various functional, non functional and accessibility tools. Our tests run on a Selenium Grid hosted on AWS (Please note that we're currently migrating to using BrowserStack Automate).
• Identify new and implement existing test frameworks to improve confidence in testing (Please note that we're currently migrating from a bespoke Selenium/Java solution to use Playwright & Typescript).
• Be proficient in a range of coding languages (you may be an expert in only one)
• Lead the delivery practice, focusing on complex problem-solving and influencing senior team members
• Design and execute non-functional test cases using standard testing techniques
• Advise on up-to-date functional testing techniques. You know how to assess and peer-review the work of others.

Further information on the Test Engineering profession and skills expected of a Lead can be found Here.

Person specification

We are seeking candidates with the following experience, which will be assessed during the sift, technical stage, and interview. Please ensure your personal statement addresses the four bullet points in bold below.

• Professional certification: Hold a relevant certification (e.g., ISTQB, ISEB) or demonstrate equivalent practical experience in functional and non-functional testing.
• Automation testing expertise: Proven ability in test automation using modern technologies, with experience in frameworks such as Java, Selenium, or Cucumber. Experience in Playwright and TypeScript is particularly desirable.
• Coaching and mentoring: A strong track record of supporting and developing Test Engineers, particularly in building automation skills. Your expertise will help shape and advance the team's capabilities in automation.
• Agile experience: Certified Agile Tester qualification or substantial hands-on experience working within Agile methodologies.
• Experience of Non Functional testing practices including Security, Performance and Accessibility Testing.
• Has a working knowledge of a minimum of 5 of the following:

1. API
2. AWS
3. Burp ( security )
4. BrowserStack
5. Concourse / Jenkins
6. Docker
7. JMeter
8. Karate/Rest API
9. MongoDB
10. Kafka
11. Oracle
12. Playwright
13. Postman/SOAP UI
14. Selenium Grid
15. SQL
16. Typescript
17. Unix based systems
18. Git
19. XML

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Working Together
• Seeing the Big Picture

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Technical expertise of test automation

Benefits

We offer an excellent benefits package that includes:

• a generous 30 days annual leave plus 8 bank holidays and 1 privilege day
• enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme with a contribution rate of averaging 28%
• a range of recognition schemes including instant awards to thank and recognise each other's efforts and contributions
• strong ethos of equality, diversity and inclusion
• great work life balance with flexible and mobile working available for many roles
• a pro-active approach to employee wellbeing that allows our employees to flourish and be their best at work and has enabled us to become an Investors In People platinum accredited employer
• online financial support and advice
• seasonal flu jabs
• generous maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave allowances
• a focus on career development and progression
• a number of inclusive network groups to support our colleagues and a great sports and social society
• cycle to work scheme
• staff discount scheme
• holiday play scheme for children
• 3 days paid volunteering leave

In your application form we'd like you to:

1. Tell us about your employment history, including key responsibilities and achievements.
2. We'd like you to write a personal statement of 1250 words where you tell us about why you'd be great for this role. Your personal statement should demonstrate your skills and experience detailed in the bullet points below:

• Professional certification: Hold a relevant certification (e.g., ISTQB, ISEB) or demonstrate equivalent practical experience in functional and non-functional testing.
• Automation testing expertise: Proven ability in test automation using modern technologies, with experience in frameworks such as Java, Selenium, or Cucumber. Experience in Playwright and TypeScript is particularly desirable.
• Coaching and mentoring: A strong track record of supporting and developing Test Engineers, particularly in building automation skills. Your expertise will help shape and advance the team's capabilities in automation.
• Agile experience: Certified Agile Tester qualification or substantial hands-on experience working within Agile methodologies.

What will the process look like?

• We will sift applications and then invite successful candidates from the sift stage to attend a technical assessment stage.
• At sift candidates will be assessed against experience and are asked to supply work history/personal statement and reference any transferable skills using the job description for reference. The personal statement should address how you demonstrate the bullet points in bold listed in the person specification above.
• Candidates successful at sift will progress to the assessment stage, where you will asked to complete a technical activity to demonstrate the technical skills and experience listed in the job description. This will be assessing Technical Skill: Technical expertise of test automation.
• For candidates successful at technical assessment stage, the final stage is an interview (via Teams). At interview candidates will be assessed against the Behaviours and Technical Skills listed in the advert and we will use Success Profiles Behaviours, Technical Skills and Strengths. At the beginning of the interview, you will be provided with a work-based scenario. You'll then have 30 minutes to prepare your response before returning to the call to present your ideas (maximum of 10 minutes to present). This will be assessing Technical Skills: Technical expertise of test automation.
• Behaviour interview questions will be sent to candidates on the day before your interview.
• We plan to sift w/c 13 January, technical assessment w/c 20 January and interview w/c 27 January & 3 February. This might need to change - we will keep you informed as you move through the process.
• We may also raise the score required at any stage of the process if we receive a high number of applications.

Next Steps

Click 'Apply Now' to be taken to our main advert Civil Service Jobs where you can see more details regarding the role, the incredible benefits we have to offer and what it's like to work in Companies House.

If you have any questions about the role or process, please reach out to Click here to contact this recruiter .

This role closes on 12 January 2025.