Lead Test Engineer

Government Recruitment Service; Oldham; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A government agency in the UK seeks a Lead Test Engineer to lead test engineering teams and implement quality practices across digital services. Candidates should have substantial experience in automation testing and be able to define risk-based strategies. Benefits include generous leave and pension contributions, with flexible working options available.

Benefits

Employer pension contribution of 28.97%

25 days annual leave

Flexible working options

Qualifications

• Experience leading test engineering teams.
• Strong knowledge of automation-first testing frameworks.
• Ability to define risk-based test strategies.

Responsibilities

• Lead multiple test engineering teams to embed quality across services.
• Design and scale automation testing frameworks.
• Coach and mentor test engineers to build capability.

Job description

Overview

The Lead Test Engineer role sits within DVSA’s Strategy, Policy, Digital & Technology Directorate, which is responsible for delivering high-quality, user-focused digital services that support road safety and compliance across the UK. The directorate brings together multi-disciplinary teams of developers, testers, analysts, product owners, architects, and operations specialists to design, build and run modern digital solutions.

Test Engineering is a core capability within these delivery teams, ensuring that DVSA’s systems are robust, secure, and resilient. The community of Test Engineers is focused on embedding automation-first quality practices, promoting collaboration across teams, and driving continuous improvement. As part of a wider cross-government Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) function, the team works closely with partners inside and outside DVSA, sharing knowledge and aligning with industry best practices.

Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:

• 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

Responsibilities

• Leading multiple test engineering teams to embed quality across DVSA digital services.
• Designing and scaling automation-first testing frameworks, tools, and pipelines.
• Defining and implementing risk-based test strategies across projects and platforms.
• Establishing and maintaining test engineering standards, practices, and metrics.
• Coaching and mentoring test engineers to build capability and modern testing skills.
• Collaborating with cross-functional teams to ensure quality is built in from the outset.
• Driving continuous improvement in test practices, defect management, and quality reporting.
• Representing DVSA in the wider testing community, sharing innovation and best practice.

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.

Open Sessions

Open Sessions: Would you like to find out more about the role, the team and what it’s like to work in our department? If so, we are organising an open session where you can virtually meet the team on 25th September 2025 at 17:30.

For more information, please read the attached role profile and note that the role profile is for information purposes only; while all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.