Head of Quality Engineering – GOV.UK One Login

As a Head of Quality Engineering on GOV.UK One Login, you’ll:

• champion an approach to engineering that builds in quality from the beginning, prioritising testability and internal quality alongside functional requirements
• govern and oversee quality standards across all product delivery teams, using a Site Reliability Engineering approach based on SLOs and other empirical measures to focus engineering and quality assurance effort
• work with the wider One Login Senior Leadership Team to define goals, initiatives and long-term strategy for the programme
• define and maintain the test strategy and architecture for One Login, covering both functional and non-functional quality goals, and influencing the product roadmap at programme and team level to ensure that quality goals are met
• identify opportunities for process improvement and optimisation in quality practices, focused on modern automation practices and an overall "shift left" strategy
• foster an active community of practice around quality engineering that builds alignment amongst the engineering community including developers, architects, site reliability engineers and quality specialists 
• collaborate with cross-functional teams, including tech leads, developers and delivery managers
• manage the allocation of test/quality engineers across all product teams

Person specification

The skills we would expect a Head of Quality Engineering to have: 

• proven experience in leading and managing large scale test delivery with multiple 3rd party suppliers in a collaborative environment, with an understanding of the benefits of agile and multi-disciplinary approaches
• proven experience of all areas of the testing lifecycle with a strong knowledge of testing methodologies (Functional and Non-Functional), tools and best practices, including the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches
• strong experience with test automation, test tools and frameworks, including TypeScript, Jest, webdriver.io along with working in a continuous deployment environment
• a keen interest in researching and learning new testing techniques and sharing their skills with others
• experience solving complex issues, drawing upon a broad knowledge of web technologies and awareness of technologies used for cloud based web applications, such as databases, backups, CDNs, containerisation, and serverless computing
• familiarity with modern software development practices including TDD, pair programming, code review and continuous delivery

Benefits

The benefits of working at GDS

There are many benefits of working at GDS, including:

• flexible hybrid working with flexi-time and the option to work part-time or condensed hours
• a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
• 25 days of annual leave, increasing by a day each year up to a maximum of 30 days
• an extra day off for The King’s birthday
• an in-year bonus scheme to recognise high performance
• career progression and coaching, including a training budget for personal development
• paid volunteering leave
• a focus on wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme
• job satisfaction from making government services easier to use and more inclusive for people across the UK
• advances on pay, including for travel season tickets
• death in service benefits
• cycle to work scheme and facilities
• access to children's holiday play schemes across different locations in central London
• access to an employee discounts scheme
• 10 learning days per year
• volunteering opportunities (5 special leave days per year)
• access to a suite of learning activities through Civil Service learning

GDS offers hybrid working for all employees. This means that everyone does some working from home and also spends some time in their local office. You’ll agree to your hybrid working arrangement with your line manager in line with your preferences and business needs.

Any move to Government Digital Service from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

Things you need to know

Selection process details

The standard selection process for roles at GDS consists of:

• a simple application screening process - We only ask for a CV and cover letter of up to 750 words. Important tip - please ensure that your cover letter includes how you meet the skills and experience listed in the “person specification” section above
• A 20 minute telephone interview 
• a 75-minute face-to-face interview, including a presentation based on a scenario to be provided in advance

Depending on how many applications we get, there might also be an extra stage before the video interview, for example a phone interview or a technical exercise.

In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.

For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours:

• working together
• changing and improving
• managing a quality service
• delivering at pace

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Digital, Data and Technology Profession Capability Framework for the Development operations (DevOps) engineer.

Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade.

A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.