Test Lead

Join to apply for the Test Lead role at Department for Business and Trade

London, Cardiff, Darlington, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham, Salford

£62,103 to £78,054 plus excellent Civil Service benefits and pension

With DBT’s AWS-based platform supporting digital services across government, this is your opportunity to lead the testing strategy for one of the UK’s most technically ambitious digital environments — ensuring the platform is robust, secure, and scalable.

You’ll embed automation and quality assurance into how DBT designs, delivers, and evolves its cloud platform, supporting services that help UK businesses grow, invest, and trade globally.

This role requires you to:

• Lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of automated test frameworks for platform components and services.
• Define and own platform-level test strategies including integration, performance, security, and end-to-end testing.
• Work closely with Platform Engineers, Architects, and Cyber specialists to embed testability and resilience in every layer of the platform.
• Drive improvements in deployment testing, enabling faster, more reliable releases.
• Support observability and Fin Ops initiatives through cost-impact and performance-focused testing.
• Mentor engineers and champion modern test automation and continuous delivery practices.

You’ll work with: AWS, Terraform, Docker/Kubernetes, Python/Java, CI/CD pipelines, Datadog, Grafana, JMeter, Locust, and related automation frameworks.

• Proven experience in test automation for infrastructure and platform engineering, including maturing PaaS/SaaS products.
• Strong coding skills (Python or Java), with experience building reusable test frameworks, utilities, and using BDD approaches (e.g. Gherkin/Cucumber) for collaborative testing.
• Hands‑on experience with CI/CD pipelines, containerisation (Docker/Kubernetes), cloud platforms (AWS preferred), and infrastructure‑as‑code (e.g. Terraform).
• Familiarity with observability and performance testing tools (Datadog, ELK, Grafana, Locust, JMeter), plus an understanding of cyber security testing principles and logging requirements.
• Ability to coach multidisciplinary teams, embed quality practices in agile delivery, and apply Fin Ops‑aware testing approaches (e.g. cost‑impact validation, resource optim‑isation).
• Knowledge of platform engineering patterns (e.g. sidecar architecture, secure base images, technical contracts).
• Familiarity with accessibility and security testing standards (e.g. OWASP, WCAG).

This role requires SC clearance. To be eligible, you must have been resident in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years.

• Civil Service pension with average employer contribution of 28.97%
• 25 days annual leave, rising to 30 with service
• Hybrid/flexible working (2–3 days in office per week)
• Three paid volunteering days per year
• Tailored learning and development opportunities
• Inclusive culture encouraging diversity and innovation

Submit a 2-page CV aligned to the essential criteria. Inspire People will review applications before progressing to DBT hiring managers. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview and complete a technical exercise.

If you are a Test Lead, Automation Engineer, or Dev Ops professional looking to lead testing across a high‑impact platform that drives UK digital transformation, apply today or contact Keesha Paulsen at Inspire People in confidence for more information.