Digital Delivery Senior Automation Tester - Newport in Slough

The IPO is a modern organisation which depends on its IT services to operate and innovate effectively. In order to provide up to date services to our customers both nationally and internationally, systems need to be developed, improved and maintained. You will have the opportunity to work on the latest cutting-edge cloud technologies, use modern delivery processes and work on innovative projects including the use of AI and ML.

Working alongside experts in their fields, you will have the opportunity to make valuable contributions without compromising on quality. You will need the appetite to learn new technologies and methodologies for delivering high quality IT services. In this role, you will work within a multi-disciplined squad using several technologies to build enterprise grade services. You will be expected to be proactive and take accountability for the squad assigned deliveries. The role will also require the investigation, diagnosis and fix of any system issues. A Senior Test Engineer is expected to contribute to the technical strategy for the department.

As a multi-skilled individual, you will have the opportunities to develop and mature skills in a core role but extend this to skills typically aligned to other role types. You will have a high level of input in defining which additional skills you can develop. We are recruiting for multiple roles, of which one role is slightly biased towards application testing post infrastructure changes.

Working Style

This role will be carried out in-line with IPO Hybrid working arrangements where staff are currently expected to spend at least 20% of their time working onsite from one of our offices. This role is based in our Newport Office. The requirement for attendance at an office location can vary by role so we would encourage candidates to discuss working arrangements with the recruiting manager to agree a reasonable balance between working from home and the office.

Main duties consist of but are not limited to:

• Responsible for writing, executing and maintaining functional/non-functional automated UI and API tests/suites aligned against acceptance criteria to support our continuous deployment environment.
• Be responsible for the design, coding, testing, maintenance, and documentation for robust, scalable and reusable solutions that deliver exceptional user experience using DevOps best practice.
• Proactively investigate problems and opportunities in existing processes, evaluating and communicating findings and recommendations to stakeholders.
• Work closely with software developers to reach a common understanding of the code base and test coverage at unit level.
• Work within a multi-disciplinary team to deliver highly user focused and successful digital services ensuring governance standards are adhered to.
• Identify and manage defects, incidents, risks and issues in line with IPO standards.
• Build automated test solutions from scratch in line with IPO Test Strategy and IPO Engineering Principles.
• Contribute to the design, coding, testing and documentation of small scale to large, complex or mission critical programs.
• Implement toolkits and APIs for purposes such as integration, performance optimisation, security and scalability.

Person specification

Essential Experience

• Has been a key player in delivering technical solutions as part of large projects.
• Experience of working with cloud technologies including Azure.
• Experience of using data models.
• Experience in test documentation, such as strategies and approaches.
• Experience in testing front-end and back-end web services.
• Experienced with Agile delivery model.

Essential Technical Experience

• Experience with Automation tools, including MS Visual Studio with C#, Selenium, BDD, SpecFlow, MSTest, RestSharp and JavaScript.
• Working knowledge of non-functional test tools including JMeter and Azure Load Test.
• Experience with Github.
• Has a deep understanding of architectural principles with design patterns.
• Experience of writing SQL statements.

How to Apply

Click the 'Apply now' button and complete the application form by providing your CV. Upload an anonymised copy of your current CV. Please remove all identifying markers such as name, title, education institution etc. Make sure it clearly shows how you meet the essential criteria listed in the Person Specification.

Behaviours

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

• Developing Self and Others
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process. At interview you will be assessed on technical criteria.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of 47,766, Intellectual Property Office contributes 13,837 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Unlimited Pluralsight video learning access, access to Microsoft's ESI training suite, hybrid working with no core hours, substantial support for career progression, 25 days annual leave moving to 30 days in annual increments, 8 days public leave and 1 day privilege leave.

Things you need to know

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, applications may be withdrawn.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills. Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check and if successful you must also hold, or be willing to obtain, a higher Security Clearance.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to UK nationals, nationals of the Republic of Ireland, nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK, and nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS).

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found.