Test Engineer - DVSA - SEO

Manchester Digital; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 43,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading UK Digital Organization is seeking an experienced Test Engineer to enhance the quality of digital services. You will manage both manual and automated testing in a collaborative environment. The ideal candidate has deep experience in scalable testing frameworks and works well in Agile teams. This full-time role offers a competitive salary and flexible hybrid working options.

Benefits

Employer pension contribution

25 days annual leave plus bank holidays

Flexible working options

Qualifications

• Experience in testing both legacy and cloud-native environments.
• Ability to define acceptance criteria early in the lifecycle.
• Experience with performance, usability, and accessibility testing.

Responsibilities

• Lead planning, execution, and reporting of testing.
• Embed quality from the start by defining acceptance criteria.
• Drive consistency in testing approaches across delivery teams.

Skills

Testing across large-scale digital systems

Designing test automation frameworks

Frontend, API, and database testing

Analysing complex test results

Work in Agile teams

Using CI/CD pipelines

Mentoring and coaching colleagues

Communicating technical information

Tools

Docker

Test automation tools

Job description

£42,848 Plus an additional allowance of up to £14,552
Published on

Full-time (Permanent) £42,848 Plus an additional allowance of up to £14,552
Published on 25 September 2025 Deadline 8 October 2025

Location

Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Nottingham, Oldham, Swansea

About the job

Job summary

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.

Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensionshere
• 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!

Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:

• Leading the planning, execution, and reporting of both manual and automated testing activities.
• Designing, implementing, and maintaining scalable test automation frameworks and reusable tooling.
• Embedding quality from the start by defining acceptance criteria and promoting early test engagement.
• Collaborating with cross-functional teams to align testing priorities with user and business needs.
• Providing expert guidance on defect management, test analysis, and continuous improvement.
• Driving consistency in testing approaches, standards, and frameworks across delivery teams.
• Using data insights and defect trends to recommend changes that improve quality outcomes.
• Mentoring and coaching colleagues to uplift testing skills and confidence across the organisation.

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.

For further information on the role, please read the attached role profile. Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst 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.

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 25 September 2025 at 17:30. Sign up information is available separately.

Person specification

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

• Testing across large-scale digital systems, including both legacy and cloud-native environments.
• Designing, implementing, and maintaining test automation frameworks and reusable tools.
• Frontend, API, and database testing experience, including performance, usability, and accessibility.
• Analysing complex test results and automation outcomes to inform risk-based decisions.
• Working effectively within Agile teams and contributing to cross-team quality improvements.
• Using CI/CD pipelines, source control, and containerised environments (e.g., Docker).
• Defining acceptance criteria and embedding quality early in the development lifecycle.
• Mentoring and coaching colleagues to improve testing practices and confidence in results.
• Communicating complex technical information clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

The base pay is £42,848 In addition to this the role includes a Digital and Data allowance of up to £14,552.

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.

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 will be required, 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).

Behaviours

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Changing and Improving
• Working Together

Technical skills

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

• Communicating between the technical and non-technical
• Design and Executing tests
• Managing, reporting and resolving defects