Senior Software Development Engineer in Test

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA); Leeds; Hybrid; GBP 54,000 - 72,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

London Weighting allowance

Pension contributions 28.97%

Flexible working

Career development opportunities

Annual leave up to 30 days

Job summary

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is seeking a Test Engineer to design and develop test frameworks and tooling, writing clean, maintainable code and creating automated quality checks across API, integration, contract and end-to-end tests. You will work within a flexible, permanent role offering hybrid working and opportunities to mentor others while advancing reliability in DVSA digital services.

The position includes generous leave and pension provisions and a clear path for career

Qualifications

• 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.

Responsibilities

• 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.

Skills

Test automation

Test frameworks

CI/CD pipelines

API testing

Agile teamwork

Mentoring

Job description

Location: Bristol, Swansea, Leeds, Nottingham, Newcastle, Oldham (Chadderton), Birmingham (Garretts Green) or Uxbridge (Hybrid)

Employees based at Uxbridge will receive a London Weighting allowance of £4,000. Plus an additional Government Digital and Data Profession allowance (non-pensionable) up to £14,552.

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Contract Type: Permanent – Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time

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 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.

Key Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• 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.

Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary.

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 and a privilege day for the King’s birthday.

Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

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

• A generous annual leave entitlement
• Attractive pension options with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• Good career development opportunities
• A variety of career paths
• Inclusive working environments and much more to support a healthy work/life balance

About you

To be successful in this role you will need to have the following experience:

• 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.