Lead Test Engineer - HMRC - G7
Government Digital & Data -
Location
Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds, Newcastle Upon Tyne - Benton Park View, Telford - Plaza 1 and 2, Worthing - Teville Gate House, Stratford
Please note that due to workforce controls, Newcastle and Stratford are only available to existing HMRC staff in these locations. HMRC staff based in Reading can also apply to move to Stratford in line with Migration path. HMRC staff based in 100PS can also apply to move to Stratford.
About the job
Job summary
Discover a career in your hands at HMRC. Whether you're seeking purpose, growth, or a workplace that gives you a true sense of belonging, hear from some of our employees as they share their story about what it’s really like to work at HMRC.
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Shape the Future of HMRC’s Technology Platforms
About HMRC
Almost every individual and business in the UK is a direct customer of HMRC, as we collect the money that pays for the UK’s public services and gives people who need it vital financial support. Over recent and coming years, our work never has been, nor will be, more critical as we rebuild and secure our nation’s future. With these demands in mind, and as one of the largest and most digitally focussed organisations in the UK, sits the Chief Engineering and Platform Office.
About CEPO
The Chief Engineering and Platform Office (CEPO) is leading HMRC’s technology transformation - simplifying systems, modernising IT delivery, and creating a future-ready digital landscape. Our mission is to reduce complexity by consolidating applications and adopting scalable, service-based solutions from trusted commercial partners.
As the strategic authority for platform provision, CEPO ensures HMRC’s business groups, products, and services are supported by robust, secure, and innovative infrastructure. We set the direction, lead governance, and guarantee that every live service meets the highest standards - enabling efficient, reliable, and user-focused digital experiences for millions of customers.
Job description
In this role, you will work across multiple products and platforms, providing strategic test leadership, supporting delivery teams, and influencing senior stakeholders to embed best practice and continuous improvement.
As a Lead Test Engineer, you will play a strategic role in shaping and embedding consistent testing best practices across HMRC’s complex digital ecosystem.
Your responsibilities will include:
Leadership & Collaboration
- Lead, coach, and mentor test engineers across programmes, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and professional development.
- Collaborate with product, platform, and delivery teams to ensure testing is integrated early and effectively within agile workflows.
- Influence and engage with senior stakeholders across HMRC and supplier organisations to drive quality outcomes.
Test Strategy & Implementation
- Define and implement risk-based, shift-left testing strategies across diverse platforms and services.
- Ensure testing approaches align with business priorities, technical architecture, and delivery timelines.
- Promote consistent standards and practices across internal teams and third party suppliers.
Technical Excellence & Problem Solving
- Apply advanced testing techniques to solve complex technical challenges and improve delivery confidence.
- Provide expert guidance on functional, non-functional, and automation testing, including performance, security, and accessibility.
- Identify and drive opportunities for innovation and efficiency in testing processes.
Tooling & Governance
- Evaluate, implement, and optimise test tooling, including AI-assisted solutions, to support continuous integration and delivery.
- Establish governance frameworks for supplier-led testing activities, ensuring alignment with HMRC standards and compliance requirements.
- Support tooling integration with platforms and services.
Quality Assurance & Risk Management
- Ensure quality is built in from the outset by validating requirements and test coverage across the lifecycle.
- Lead retrospectives and continuous improvement initiatives to enhance test effectiveness and reduce delivery risk.
- Produce clear, actionable reports and insights to inform decision-making and assurance activities.
Person specification
We’re looking for a disciplined and technically strong test leader with deep experience in platform engineering and modern automation practices. You’ll bring hands‑on expertise across test automation, CI/CD and cloud‑based services, enabling you to shape testing approaches that support fast, reliable and secure delivery.
You’ll confidently guide teams and influence engineering decisions, ensuring testing is embedded early and aligned with DevOps and shift‑left principles. You must be comfortable engaging with stakeholders at all levels, translating complex technical issues into clear insights that drive quality outcomes across a multi‑team, multi‑supplier environment.
You’ll be passionate about good testing practice, proactive in identifying risks, and motivated to coach others in automation, tooling and continuous improvement. Your leadership will help shape the future direction of testing across our platform ecosystem by working closely with product and service owners.
Essential Criteria
- Shapes and influences strategic testing direction by proactively identifying issues, challenging assumptions and collaborating across organisational boundaries, communicating with clarity to guide teams and present recommendations persuasively.
- Leads complex, multi‑team testing initiatives across diverse platforms and suppliers, prioritising effectively within fast‑paced Agile environments.
- Applies strong analytical and risk‑based decision‑making, using data, metrics and structured problem‑solving to balance quality, risk and delivery.
- Demonstrates significant hands‑on technical expertise in automation, security and accessibility testing, CI/CD, cloud technologies and modern tooling (e.g. Python, Scala, Selenium, Playwright, Gatling, ZAP, AXE, Docker, Jenkins, AWS, Jira, Confluence).
- Champions DevOps and shift‑left principles, designing robust test strategies for complex platform ecosystems while coaching others and promoting continuous improvement.
