Software Development Engineer in Test in Swansea

About Scrumconnect Consulting is a multi-award-winning digital consultancy whose work has positively influenced the lives of over 40 million UK citizens. We deliver impactful technology solutions across UK government departments, working at the forefront of user‑centred design, agile delivery, and scalable digital services that genuinely make a difference.

Location: Swansea (with a regular expectation of 60 % on‑site attendance).

Why This Opportunity Stands Out

• Work on a high‑impact UK public sector digital programme, delivering services used by millions.
• Opportunity to be based in Swansea, with relocation support of up to £5,000.
• Visa sponsorship available for eligible candidates.
• Strong focus on work‑life balance with a flexible hybrid model (3 days onsite).
• Be part of a collaborative, multidisciplinary agile environment alongside civil servants and industry experts.

Swansea is a coastal city offering a genuinely excellent quality of life: lower cost of living than London or Birmingham, shorter commutes, and the kind of work‑life balance that is hard to find elsewhere. The work is meaningful too, public sector digital delivery that directly impacts people's lives across the UK. We also offer relocation support of £3,000–£5,000 to make the move straightforward.

About the Role

We are seeking a technically deep, automation‑first Software Development Engineer in Test (SDET) to embed within a blended digital delivery squad of civil servants and supplier staff. In this role, you will design, build, maintain, and continuously improve the automated test frameworks and quality‑engineering practices that underpin high‑volume, citizen‑facing digital services handling billions of interactions annually. You will own the full testing life cycle from strategic planning through to continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipeline integration. Working alongside software engineers, architects, and product owners, you will ensure that quality is built‑in from the start, rather than bolted on at the end. You will be expected to code in the languages used across our modern tech stack and maintain a strong grasp of API, performance, security, and accessibility testing.

Key Responsibilities

• Framework Development: Design, build, and maintain automated test frameworks covering functional, regression, API, integration, performance, and security testing.
• Test Code Generation: Write high‑quality, maintainable test code in languages aligned to the strategic tech stack, such as Java, JavaScript (Node.js), and Ruby.
• Pipeline Integration: Embed automated tests within CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins or GitHub Actions) to ensure continuous quality feedback and facilitate fast build cycles.
• Strategy & Planning: Define and own the test strategy for assigned digital products, ensuring appropriate test coverage across unit, integration, system, performance, and accessibility layers.
• Specialised Testing: Lead API testing for REST/GraphQL services using tools like RestAssured, Postman, or Karate, and execute performance/load testing using Gatling, k6, or JMeter to validate services at a massive national scale.
• Accessibility & Security: Conduct rigorous accessibility testing aligned to WCAG 2.2 standards using automated tools (such as axe‑core or Pa11y) and manual screen‑reader testing, while embedding security testing practices (e.g., OWASP Top 10, DAST with OWASP ZAP or Burp Suite) within the delivery pipeline in support of secure‑by‑design principles.
• Shift‑Left Quality: Collaborate closely with software engineers, architects, and business analysts to define clear acceptance criteria, review code for testability, and champion shift‑left quality practices.
• Environment & Defect Management: Maintain test environments and test data strategies, manage the defect life cycle, and produce clear quality dashboards and reports for the team and portfolio management.
• Government Service Standards: Support formal government service assessments by providing concrete evidence of test coverage, quality metrics, and accessibility compliance.

Essential Skills & Experience

• Proven experience acting as an SDET or Senior Test Automation Engineer on large‑scale, cloud‑hosted digital or government services.
• Strong coding skills in at least two of the following languages: Java, JavaScript (Node.js), or Ruby, with clear evidence of building and maintaining automated test frameworks from scratch.
• Deep, hands‑on expertise with modern test automation frameworks such as Selenium, Playwright, Cypress, Cucumber/BDD, RestAssured, or Karate.
• Extensive experience integrating automated tests into CI/CD pipelines (e.g., Jenkins, GitHub Actions) and interpreting pipeline quality gates, alongside experience with AWS‑hosted environments and cloud‑based test execution.
• Demonstrable experience in API testing (REST/GraphQL) and executing performance testing at a high‑volume scale.
• Strong knowledge of WCAG 2.2 accessibility testing standards and relevant tooling (e.g., NVDA or JAWS), as well as familiarity with secure testing practices, vulnerability scanning, and DAST tools.

Desirable Skills & Experience

• Experience testing Java SpringBoot, Ruby on Rails, and AWS Lambda serverless patterns.
• Relevant professional qualifications such as the ISTQB Advanced Level Test Automation Engineer certification.
• Experience with contract testing (e.g., Pact) for microservices and API ecosystems, as well as familiarity with chaos engineering and site reliability testing principles.
• Advanced skills in test management tooling such as Jira, Xray, or Zephyr.
• Prior experience working in GDS‑assessed services and actively contributing to service assessment evidence packs within comparable high‑volume government digital environments.

Benefits

• Competitive salary with annual review.
• Company pension scheme.
• Generous annual leave entitlement.
• Critical illness cover.
• Relocation support of £3,000–£5,000.
• Visa sponsorship for eligible candidates.
• Access to learning and development resources.
• A supportive, inclusive working environment.

Equal Opportunities

Scrumconnect Consulting is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team and welcome applications from all backgrounds, regardless of age, disability, gender, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation.