At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead quality engineering strategy and mentor teams to deliver high-quality digital services.
- Company: Join DVSA, a leader in digital service delivery with a focus on quality.
- Benefits: Generous pension contributions, flexible working, and up to 30 days annual leave.
- Other info: Engage in a supportive environment with opportunities for professional growth.
- Why this job: Shape the future of quality engineering and make a real impact in digital services.
- Qualifications: Strong leadership in software testing and modern quality practices required.
The Head of Quality Engineering will provide organisational leadership to foster a cohesive quality engineering strategy across the DVSA. They will build capability across the profession and delivery teams, ensuring teams are equipped to support the strategic direction and deliver high-quality digital services. This role will be responsible for leadership across a variety of quality and testing professionals within the organisation. The role holder will provide leadership, guidance, coaching and mentorship to teams to adopt and embed modern quality engineering practices that support the delivery of digital services that are critical to the DVSA.
Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:
- Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your base salary.
- 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays and a privilege day for the King’s birthday.
- Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.
The role requires a high level of strategic thinking, technical understanding, capability building, and the ability to influence organisational change, enabling teams to adopt scalable, modern approaches to quality across DVSA. Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:
- Demonstrate leadership by providing influence, direction, and guidance to staff to support the delivery of organisational objectives.
- Define and execute a long-term quality and testing strategy, ensuring alignment with business objectives, user needs and DVSA’s digital strategy.
- Guide and influence testing and quality engineering practices across product teams, promoting consistent and scalable approaches to quality.
- Drive the integration of quality engineering practices at every stage of the software development lifecycle, ensuring quality is embedded from design through to delivery and operation.
- Promote the adoption of automation and scalable quality frameworks that support efficient, reliable and repeatable delivery across product teams.
- Shape and refine testing and quality engineering design principles, governance, metrics, and reporting, ensuring clear visibility of quality across DVSA services.
- Establish a strong direction and a persuasive future vision for quality engineering and digital service assurance across DVSA.
- Manage and engage with honesty and integrity, acting as a role model and upholding the reputation of the Agency, Department and Civil Service.
Great line management is important to us as an organisation, and we will equip and support line managers to develop the skills they need. We aim to empower line managers to create teams where people can flourish and deliver excellent outcomes for the public.
Open Sessions: Would you like to find out more about the role, the team and what it’s like to work in our department? If so, we are organising an open session where you can virtually 'meet the team' on Thursday 25th June at 16:30-17:00.
Required experience: To be successful in this role you will need to have the following experience:
- Strong strategic leadership experience within software testing, quality engineering or digital delivery, with the ability to define and implement organisational quality strategies that support the delivery of reliable, secure and user-focused digital services.
- Demonstrable experience of modern quality engineering practices, including test automation, continuous testing, risk-based quality approaches and the integration of quality throughout the software development lifecycle.
- A strong technical understanding of software delivery practices, tooling and engineering approaches, combined with the ability to guide teams in adopting scalable and sustainable quality practices.
- Proven ability to lead, influence and develop professional capability across teams, fostering a collaborative and quality-focused culture.
If you feel you are a suitable candidate and would like to work for DVSA, please click apply to be redirected to our website to complete your application.
Head of Quality Engineering in Hayes employer: DVSA.GOV
The DVSA is an exceptional employer, offering a supportive work culture that prioritises employee well-being and professional growth. With generous benefits such as a substantial pension contribution, flexible working options, and increasing annual leave, employees are empowered to achieve a healthy work-life balance while contributing to the delivery of high-quality digital services. The DVSA fosters an environment of collaboration and innovation, making it an ideal place for those looking to make a meaningful impact in quality engineering.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Head of Quality Engineering in Hayes
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We think you need these skills to ace Head of Quality Engineering in Hayes
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at DVSA.GOV.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at DVSA.GOV and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at DVSA.GOV
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If DVSA.GOV uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
