Senior Test Engineer/Senior Data Engineer (QAT)

About

We are looking for Senior Test Engineers/Senior Data QAT Engineers to work on exciting backend data testing projects in our Data Services and Analytics (DSA) Team. You will work in one of the most advances data analytics centres in Government with technologies such as, Python, Kafka, Hadoop, Spark and Cloud (AWS).

We will provide a daily opportunity to work with teams across the Home Office's areas of responsibility from borders, visas and passports, to policing and national security, with some of the biggest / most multifaceted datasets and in support of critical national initiatives!

Closing date - Sunday 4th February @ 11:55pm

Quality Assurance and Testing (QAT) is an important part of the Home Office mission. Everyone is responsible for quality, and we have a team of skilled people who make sure quality is delivered in the most effective way. This means getting fast feedback, understanding how a service performs, and helping the development team to make more informed decisions. We value automating as much of the test effort as possible allowing our team of specialists and domain authorities to undertake better evaluations!

What you will do

• Maintain existing test frameworks or help develop new ones when required. You may also undertake code refactoring.
• Develop tests that are predictable, repeatable and implement automated verification of acceptance criteria to the greatest possible extent. Review test automation code and test utility code, and configure, monitor, and trigger tests to run on demand, as well as continuously evaluating the efficiency of this process.
• Determine tools and approaches for virtualisation, data mocking, contract testing, other automated integration testing techniques, automated test data management, test results aggregation and release management. Enable detailed, real-time reports of automation test runs.
• Manage test infrastructure usage and determine approach to running distributed, parallel tests. Use container & Cloud technology to orchestrate faster, scalable tests.
• Interpret data from code scan, code quality and observability tools. Agree quality thresholds and provide actionable feedback in aiding quality improvement.
• Participate in the QAT Test Engineering community to help grow it.

What you will bring

• Programming languages suited for data testing, such as Python, Java, or R. Write secure, reusable, and maintainable automated tests and test utilities for data validation and quality assurance. Be familiar with concepts like data processing, data transformation and generation.
• Scripting languages like Python for data manipulation and analysis such as Pandas, NumPy etc on cloud hosted environments.
• Tools like Apache JMeter, DBUnit for database testing, or similar for data-centric testing. Utilise data serialisation tools and understand the use of mock data frameworks for robust data testing.
• Data-specific unit test frameworks and assertion libraries tailored for data validation. Tools for data quality assurance, to ensure data integrity and accuracy.
• Applying relevant design patterns and SOLID code design principles while crafting automation testing frameworks. Implement coding guidelines and data standards.
• Modern CI/CD tools, with an emphasis on data testing within release pipelines and jobs. A good understanding of containerisation platforms like Docker, especially for setting up data-intensive test environments.
• Code quality tools like SonarQube, focusing on aspects relevant to data testing and quality. Ensure alignment to data quality standards in codebases.

💜 Some of the benefits our QAT community enjoy 💜

• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
• 25 days annual leave on appointment, plus 8 days public holidays and 1 day for the King’s Birthday, rising further with service.
• Flexible working options so you can achieve work life balance - including part-time, flexi time and job sharing.
• Training and development opportunities tailored to your role.
• An in-year bonus scheme.
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.

*For full job description, benefits and salary please follow the "Apply" link *

Please note for this role you will require an SC clearance. To meet national security vetting requirements, you will normally need to have been resident in the UK for at least 5 years.