Senior QA Tester

About the job

• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

Location

This role may be located in one of the following locations; Birmingham, Blackpool, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle Upon Tyne and Sheffield.

Please find further information on the Corporate hub locations here.

Please note that for candidates requesting to work in Newcastle, the role will initially be based at Benton Park View. It will then move to 1 Pilgrim Place in Newcastle city centre by the end of 2027.

For candidates requesting to work in Sheffield King’s Court, please note these roles will initially be based at King’s Court and then move to 1 West Bar by early 2028.

About the job

Job summary

We’re looking for an outstanding Senior QA Tester who wants to be involved in the modernisation of digital telephony services for the UK Government. Be part of changing the face of public services, with the potential to dramatically transform the future of millions of people.

This role represents a unique opportunity to join the Digital Channels Contact Centre (DC3) team at DWP Digital. We’re looking for a Senior QA Tester who is a driven and passionate Tester who would like to be part of a team delivering real value to people who need help during the difficult times of their lives.

The successful candidate will work within the CC-FED (Customer Contact, Fraud Error & Debt) directorate to support the delivery of telephony services to both citizens and DWP colleagues.

Job description

As a Senior QA Tester, you will:

• Provide technical leadership to a team of Testers, along with providing oversight to the products they test.
• Drive the overall Test Process within your project, along with setting the test strategy and approach.
• Ensure that the breadth and depth of testing are appropriate and proportionate and takes a risk-based approach.
• Drive the planning of system and/or acceptance tests, coordinating both functional and non-functional specifications and provide authoritative advice and guidance.
• Oversee all levels of functional system testing to enable and assure the successful implementation of releases.
• Be responsible for defining test requirements, specifications, and test conditions; be able to identify issues and risks associated with work whilst being able to analyse and report test activities and results to senior stakeholders.
• Implement a shift-left approach to define processes that reduce or eliminate defects as early in the process as possible.
• Produce and execute manual and automated test scripts and expected results, ensuring quality against agreed Acceptance Criteria.
• Provide detailed analysis of faults identified, liaising with internal development teams to ensure reasons for failure are properly communicated and remedial action is agreed.
• Provide estimates for new work on behalf of the wider test team.

Please note that this role is not part of an on-call rota. However, occasional flexibility may be required to support planned out-of-hours releases and testing activities in line with business needs.

Person specification

When completing your CV, please provide clear evidence of your extensive experience, strategic leadership and measurable achievements against the essential criteria listed below:

• Lead criterion - Proven experience of testing Contact Centre telephony platforms.
• Proven experience of the latest Telephony testing tools, techniques, and methodologies, with an understanding of where it would be beneficial to apply them.
• Experience of test automation in relation to a Contact Centre environment.
• Experience of maintaining full traceability of requirements, tests, and defects.
• Proven experience in planning, designing, and executing non-functional testing activities, e.g. performance, scalability, resilience, accessibility, and operational acceptance testing.
• Proven ability to set the Testing strategic direction for product teams, supporting and contributing to the wider Testing community.

If you would like to learn more about the role, please contact Oliver.Canham1@dwp.gov.uk

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £44,447, Department for Work and Pensions contributes

£12,876 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

We also have a broad benefits package built around your work-life balance which includes:

• Working patterns to support work/life balance such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
• Generous annual leave – at least 25 days on entry, increasing up to 30 days over time (pro–rata for part time employees), plus 9 days public and privilege leave.
• Support for financial wellbeing, including interest-free season ticket loans for travel, a cycle to work scheme and an employee discount scheme.
• Health and wellbeing support including our Employee Assistance Programme for specialist advice and counselling and the opportunity to join HASSRA a first-class programme of competitions, activities and benefits for its members (subscription payable monthly).
• Family friendly policies including enhanced maternity and shared parental leave pay after 1 year’s continuous service.
• Funded learning and development to support progress in your role and career. This includes industry recognised qualifications and accreditations, coaching, mentoring and talent development programmes.
• An inclusive and diverse environment with opportunities to join professional and interpersonal networks including Women’s Network, National Race Network, National Disability Network (THRIVE) and many more.

Hybrid Working

This role may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in their DWP office and part of the week from home. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work.

If a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for the role and for you, you will normally be required to spend a minimum of 60% of your contracted working hours from your DWP office.

If you have a disability, caring responsibilities, or other circumstances that may affect your ability to meet the minimum office attendance requirement, please discuss this with us using the contact details in this advert.

Salary Information

New entrants to the Civil Service will join on band minimum.

Existing Civil Servants who secure a new role on lateral transfer will maintain their current substantive salary.

Existing Civil Servants who gain promotion will move to the bottom of the grade pay scale or receive a 10% increase applied to their current substantive salary, whichever is greater.

Any temporary allowances that you are currently in receipt of will not form part of the calculation to determine your pay. Any allowances that are in payment will cease when you move into your new role.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Stage 1: Application

Your application will consist of two parts:

1. A Personal Details application form.

2. A curriculum vitae including education, professional qualifications and full employment history, giving details of key achievements in line with essential criteria listed in the Person Specification.

When uploading your CV, do not include personal information or links to any webpages or profiles that identifies you. This means we can recruit based on your knowledge and skills, and not background, gender or ethnicity. Take out references to your name/title, age, sex, email address, postal address, telephone number or nationality/immigration status.

When giving details of your redacted CV, you should therefore include details of the work and projects that you have been involved in, and your role therein.

An initial sift will be conducted using the lead criterion stated above. Candidates who pass the initial sift will progress to a full sift.

For Hints and Tips on completing your application visit Applying for jobs at DWP Digital.

Important information

• Please attach your redacted CV as a separate additional document in either PDF or word format.
• If your CV contains any personal details your application may be withdrawn.

Stage 2: Interview

If you’re successful at sift stage you will be invited to a video interview via Microsoft Teams. There, you will be assessed against the experiences listed in the essential criteria .

Interviews will take place from Late October 2026. Interview dates to be confirmed.

Other information:

If high application volumes are received, the benchmark for candidates to proceed to the next stage may be raised. In line with our commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS), we aim to advance all candidates applying under the DCS who meet the minimum standard. However, we may only progress those candidates who best meet the required standards.

All successful candidates and those placed on reserve will be posted in merit list order by location.

For these vacancies, we strongly recommend that applicants consult with an immigration specialist or qualified advisor to assess their eligibility for Visa Sponsorship before deciding to apply. Please note that while we consider sponsorship requests in accordance with current DWP guidance and Home Office policy, sponsorship cannot be guaranteed.

Further Information​

At the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce.

Find out more about working for DWP on the DWP Careers Hub .

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

If you are placed on a reserve list but we cannot immediately offer you a post, please note:

• If you are later offered the role you applied for, in a location you have expressed a preference for, and you decline the offer or are unable to take up the post within a reasonable timeframe you will be withdrawn from the campaign and removed from the reserve list, other than in exceptional circumstances (e.g. a contractual Part Time Working Pattern cannot be accommodated in the initial role offered or in cases of serious ill health).
• If DWP makes an offer of an alternative role or location to that which you originally applied for, and you decline that offer, you will be able to remain on the reserve list.

Disability Confident Scheme

If high application volumes are received, the benchmark for candidates to proceed to the next stage may be raised. In line with our commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS), we aim to advance all candidates applying under the DCS who meet the minimum standard. However, we may only progress those candidates who best meet the required standards.

Reasonable Adjustments

We consider visible and non-visible disabilities, neurodiversity or learning differences, chronic medical conditions, or mental ill health. Examples include dyslexia, epilepsy, autism, chronic fatigue, or schizophrenia.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should contact the Government Recruitment Service via DWPRecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

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