Lead Test Engineer (Security) - Companies House - SEO

Location: Remote working (anywhere in the UK)

About the job

This is an exciting opportunity in the Digital Services team! You’ll be joining our team at a time of transformation, and you will be part of shaping the future of our department. We use Agile Methodologies and promote a culture of continuous improvement.

We are looking for an enthusiastic Lead Test Engineer (Security) with great technical skills able to coach and mentor other testers and lead the non-functional testing workstream focused on Security testing. You will be part of our lead tester group, working collaboratively with your team and overseeing the testing journey with management responsibilities. This provides an opportunity to make the test community thrive by exploring new and emerging tools and approaches and working out how you can help the organisation deliver better services. This is a rewarding role within the Test Team and provides an opportunity to contribute to the success of existing and future services provided by Companies House.

Companies House offers a flexible and welcoming culture that promotes a healthy work-life balance as well as a proactive approach to wellbeing that allows us to be our best at work. We recognise that people are the key to our success so offer a fantastic benefits package including flexible working with no core hours, 30 days annual leave, 8 bank holidays and 1 privilege day as well as enrolment into the Civil Service Pension scheme with a contribution rate averaging 28%. We’re able to consider both full-time and part-time working patterns for this opportunity. For part-time, this must be a minimum of 30 hours per week, over 4 or 5 days.

Please note: Companies House cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. Additionally, a Security Check (SC) is an essential requirement for this role (at least 3 out of the last 5 years in the UK).

Job description

As a Lead Test Engineer focusing on security, you will:

• Take ownership of security testing within the software development lifecycle. This will involve running vulnerability scans using tools such as Burp, coordinating with relevant teams, and testing security-related issues.
• As a manager, you will provide advice, coaching and mentoring to testers on non-functional testing subjects such as security testing.
• Attend meetings and provide stakeholders with updates.
• Design and execute manual and automated security test cases using standard testing techniques.
• Design and implement pipeline solutions to support automated security testing and reporting.

For more information on the Test Engineering profession and skills expected of a Lead, head over to the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework.

Person specification

We are looking for the following experience, which will be assessed at sift and at interview:

• Proven experience of coaching and mentoring direct reports.
• A relevant certification in ethical hacking or penetration testing, such as 7Safe CSTA or GIAC Penetration testing, or evidence that you are working towards this or have proven working experience.
• Experience of non-functional testing practices with a strong focus on Security Testing.
• Working knowledge of at least 5 of the following security tools and technologies:

• Burp Suite (including Burp Scanner)– for web application vulnerability scanning and manual security testing.
• OWASP ZAP– for DAST and automated security regression testing.
• Postman or SOAP UI– for API testing with a security focus (e.g. injection, authorisation, token misuse).
• OAuth2 / OpenID Connect– for testing secure authentication and access control scenarios.
• Jenkins or Concourse– for integrating security testing into CI/CD pipelines.
• Unix/Linux-based systems– for using command-line tools, scripting, and log analysis.
• AWS (or similar cloud provider)– with a focus on IAM, S3 access controls, and common misconfiguration risks.
• SQL / MongoDB / Oracle– for testing injection flaws, access controls, and data sanitisation.
• Karate DSL or Rest Assured– for automating security-focused API tests.
• Version control systems (e.g. Git)– for secure code handling and integration with secrets scanners.
• Static Application Security Testing (SAST) tools– e.g. SonarQube, Checkmarx, Semgrep.
• Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) tools– e.g. OWASP ZAP, Burp Suite Pro.
• Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) scanning tools– e.g. tfsec, Checkov.
• Secrets detection tools– e.g. GitLeaks, truffleHog, detect-secrets.
• Threat modelling methodologies– e.g. STRIDE, PASTA, or creating risk-based test charters.
• Familiarity with the OWASP Top 10– and how to test for each category.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service
• Working Together
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Leadership

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form: Leadership

Technical skills

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process: Penetration testing / ethical hacking