Head of Quality Engineering

Job summary

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.

They will advocate for early, sustainable quality practices and a proactive, quality-first, risk-aware engineering culture, ensuring quality is embedded throughout the software development lifecycle. The role holder will be instrumental in influencing quality metrics, governance, and the continuous optimisation of quality engineering strategies, test approaches, and delivery practices.

Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your base salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here

• 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 a privilege day for the King’s birthday

• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Read more in the Benefits section below!

Find out more about what it's like working at Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency - Department for Transport Careers

Job description

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.

For further information on the role, please read the attached role profile. Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.

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 Juneat 16:30-17:00. Sign up here

Person specification

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.

• Experience of working with senior stakeholders, delivery teams and cross-functional leaders, providing strategic advice and driving continuous improvement in quality practices.
  
  
• Strong communication, leadership and decision-making skills, with the ability to represent the organisation, provide expert advice and respond effectively to emerging risks, operational challenges and evolving technology landscapes.

Government Digital and Data Allowance

The role is part of the Government Digital and Data (or Government Security Profession Career Framework) profession and utilises an enhanced Capability–Based Pay Framework which provides access to a Digital and Data allowance.

The base pay is £69,501 In addition to this the role includes a Digital and Data allowance of up to £28,560.

The value of allowance awarded will be based on an assessment of your skills and experience as demonstrated through the selection process. Here are more details on the pay framework.

Qualifications

You may hold or be willing to work towards the following qualifications: Certified Software Tester and/or degree in Software Development or equivalent.

Additional Information

Working hours, office attendance and travel requirements

Full time roles consist of 37 hours per week.

Whilst we welcome applications from those looking to work with us on a part time basis, there is a business requirement for the successful candidate to be able to work at least 30 hours per week.

Frequent travel to other offices will be required, which may involve overnight stays.

This role is suitable for hybrid working, which is a non-contractual arrangement where a combination of workplace and home-based working can be accommodated subject to business requirements.

The expectation at present is a minimum of 60% of your working time a month will be spent at either your designated workplace (one of the locations cited in the advert) or, when required for business reasons, in another office/work location. There may be occasions where you are required to attend above the minimum expectation.

If you have a question about hybrid working, part time/job share hours, flexible working, travelling for work, or require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Vacancy Holder during the recruitment process to avoid possible disappointment later in the process should your working arrangements not be compatible with the requirements of the role (see below for contact details).

Please note that we do not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker Licence sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship. Candidates must ensure they have the appropriate rights to work in the UK before application.

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Managing a Quality Service

Technical skills

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

• Lead Test Engineer - Communicating between-the technical and non technical- Level: Expert- Interview
• Lead Test Engineer - Managing, Reporting, and Resolving Defects - Level: Expert- Interview
• Lead Test Engineer - Test Analysis - Level: Expert- Interview
• Lead Test Engineer - Test & Quality Planning - Level: Expert- Interview

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £69,501, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency contributes £20,134 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits:

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your base salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here

• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave).

• 8 Bank Holidays plus an additional Privilege Day to mark the King’s birthday.

• Access to the staff discount portal.

• Excellent career development opportunities and the potential to undertake professional qualifications relevant to your role paid for by the department, such as CIPD, Prince2, apprenticeships, etc.

• 24-hour Employee Assistance Programme providing free confidential help and advice for staff.

Find out more about the benefits of working at DfT and its agencies (opens in a new window).

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

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 (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

How to apply:

Our selection process ensures a comprehensive assessment of each applicant's qualifications, skills, and potential fit within our organisation.

The selection process for this role will be:

Stage 1: Sift of CV and personal statement

Stage 2: Interview & Presentation

You must be successful at each stage to progress to the next stage.

Stage 1: Sift

At sift, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

Experience – you will be asked to provide a CV (unlimited wordcount) and personal statement (1000-word count).

Please provide evidence of your Experience of the following:

• 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.

• Proven ability to lead, influence and develop professional capability across teams, fostering a collaborative and quality-focused culture.

• Strong communication, leadership and decision-making skills, with the ability to represent the organisation, provide expert advice and respond effectively to emerging risks, operational challenges and evolving technology landscapes.

The sift will take place week commencing 29th June 2026.

Stage 2: Interview & Presentation

At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements:

Behaviours:

• Leadership

• Managing a quality service

Technical –

• Communicating between the Technical and Non-Technical (Level: expert)

• Managing, Reporting, and Resolving Defects (Level: expert)

• Test Analysis (Level: expert)

• Test and Quality Planning (Level: expert)

You will also be required to create and deliver a presentation to assess the Leadership Behaviour and elements of the required experience. Guidance will be provided if you are invited to interview.

The interviews will take place week commencing Monday 13th July 2026.

This interview will be conducted online via Microsoft Teams or in person at our Bristol office (Berkeley House Croydon Street, Bristol BS5 0DA). Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.

You can find out more about our hiring process, how to apply, and application and interview guidance on our careers site (opens in a new window).

Please note that we will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change.

Further information on the selection process

Feedback on your application can only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

We will also hold a12 reserve list for this role, which may lead to potential opportunities beyond the role you applied for. You can read more about our reserve lists here.

Should we receive a large number of applications, we may invite a shortlist of the highest performing candidates to interview. This means that some applications that meet the required standard could be placed ‘on hold’ after the sift and invited to interview if the vacant position(s) remain unfilled. You will be notified if your application is being put ‘on hold’ once the sift has been completed.

Appointments for this position will be made in order of merit. If you are successful in the selection process but there are no further available posts for the advertised role, you may be contacted to discuss an offer for a lower graded role (with similar experience and responsibility requirements).

If you are unsuccessful in the selection process, your application may be considered for a lower graded position if your demonstrated skills and experience meet the requirements of the alternative position. Candidates will be considered in order of merit.

If your application is successful but you have been dismissed from the Civil Service, your application could be removed at the pre-employment checking stage depending on the nature of the dismissal.

Reasonable Adjustments

As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Document Accessibility

This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert or the information on our website, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Further Information

For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit theHow We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website.

Pre-employment Checking

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

All external applicants and current employees of accredited non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) will be required to undergo a Social Media Check. A Social Media Check is a review of your publicly available online activity, typically across platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and others. The purpose is to identify any public posts or content that could raise concerns for employers, such as:

• Hate speech or discriminatory behaviour
• Threats or acts of violence
• Illegal activity or substance misuse
• Sexually explicit material
• Extremist views or affiliations

Importantly, this check does not involve hacking into your accounts or accessing private messages. It only considers content you have chosen to make public. Employers use this kind of screening to help ensure their workplace remains safe, inclusive, and aligned with company values. It’s not about judging your personality or lifestyle - it’s about checking for potential red flags that might affect the role or company culture. If you have questions or concerns about the social media check, we would be happy to explain in more detail what’s being looked at and how your data is handled securely and fairly.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• 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) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : digital Recruitment Team
• Email : digitalrecruitment@dvsa.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website Here

Attachments

Head of Quality Engineering G6 - JD Opens in new window (docx, 779kB)