Platform Test Lead

Job summary

If you would like to find out more about the role, the Platform Engineering team and what it’s like to work at DBT, we are holding a Hiring Manager Q&A session for this role where you can virtually 'meet the team' on Wednesday 25th February. Please click here to book your spot.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has a clear mission - to grow the economy. Our role is to help businesses invest, grow and export to create jobs and opportunities right across the country. We do this in three ways.

Firstly, we help to build a strong, competitive business environment, where consumers are protected and companies rewarded for treating their employees properly.

Secondly, we open international markets and ensure resilient supply chains. This can be through Free Trade Agreements, trade facilitation and multilateral agreements.

Finally, we work in partnership with businesses every day, providing advance, finance and deal-making support to those looking to start up, invest, export and grow.

The Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) directorate develops and operates tools and services to support us in this mission.

Job description

As Platform Test Lead, you will play a critical role in ensuring the DBT Platform is robust, secure, and scalable by embedding quality assurance into its design and delivery. You’ll lead the development of platform-wide test strategies, support automated testing across infrastructure and services, and collaborate with technical leaders to drive continuous improvement. This role supports DBT’s digital transformation goals and contributes to the strategic evolution of the platform.

This is a technical and strategically critical role within our Technology portfolio at DBT, overseeing a platform that supports internal and external services. You will lead the evolution of the DBT Platform’s testing strategy, ensuring it is robust, secure, scalable and efficient. You will work closely with platform engineers, technical architects, cyber security and service teams to embed quality assurance into the platform’s design and delivery.

You will play a key role in shaping how we test and assure platform capabilities, bringing your experience of test automation, infrastructure testing and DevOps practices. You’ll work across DDaT to understand future needs and help teams validate and deliver against them. You’ll also contribute to platform governance and technical decision-making, ensuring testing supports strategic goals.

This is a technical leadership role requiring experience with cloud-hosted platforms. The successful candidate will be well-versed in implementing and optimising automated testing, deployment pipelines, and performance metrics like DORA. You will have an understanding of emerging technologies, enabling you to guide innovation and resilience across the platform.

You must have a proven track record of leading test engineering for large-scale platform operations or infrastructure products, ensuring stability, scalability and strategic alignment with organisational goals.

Main responsibilities

You will:

• Lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of automated test frameworks for platform components and services.

• Define and own platform-level test strategies, including integration, performance, security, and end-to-end testing across multi-account environments.

• Collaborate with Platform Engineers, Technical Architects, and Cyber SMEs to ensure testing supports platform priorities.

• Drive improvements in deployment testing, enabling faster, more reliable releases with reduced support burden.

• Support FinOps and observability initiatives by ensuring test coverage includes cost-impacting behaviours and performance metrics.

• Champion testability in platform design, simplifying environment setup and enabling self-service testing for service teams.

• Coach and mentor engineers in test automation, quality assurance, and continuous delivery practices.

• Monitor test suite health, reduce technical debt, and ensure test infrastructure is scalable and cost-effective.

Person specification

It is essential that you have:

• Proven experience in test automation for infrastructure and platform engineering, including maturing PaaS/SaaS products.

• Strong coding skills (Python or Java), with experience building reusable test frameworks, utilities, and using BDD approaches (e.g. Gherkin/Cucumber) for collaborative testing.

• Hands-on experience with CI/CD pipelines, containerisation (Docker/Kubernetes), cloud platforms (AWS preferred), and infrastructure-as-code (e.g. Terraform).

• Familiarity with observability and performance testing tools (Datadog, ELK, Grafana, Locust, JMeter), plus an understanding of cyber security testing principles and logging requirements.

• Ability to coach multidisciplinary teams, embed quality practices in agile delivery, and apply FinOps-aware testing approaches (e.g. cost-impact validation, resource optimisation).

It is desirable that you have:

• Knowledge of platform engineering patterns (e.g. sidecar architecture, secure base images, technical contracts).

• Familiarity with accessibility and security testing standards (e.g. OWASP, WCAG).

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

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

How to apply

As part of the application process you will be asked to upload a 2-page CV which outlines your experience, skills and fit for the role, and go through a multi-stage screening process. If you’re longlisted, you’ll be asked to complete a short, pre-recorded video screening interview (alternately you can provide written answers to questions). Inspire People will assess your full application against the essential criteria listed above to compile a shortlist of applications, which will then be sifted by DBT hiring managers. If you are successful, you will be invited to interview.

It is likely that the sift will take place 1-2 weeks after the closing date and interviews 3-5 weeks after the closing date, though this is subject to change.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can be a useful tool to support your application, but all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate, and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism is identified (such as 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 for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

How we interview

At the interview stage for this role, you will be asked to demonstrate relevant Technical Skills and Behaviours from the Success Profiles framework. These are role specific and in line with the DDaT Capability Framework

Technical Skills

• Communicating between the technical and non-technical

• Designing and executing tests

• Test and quality planning

• Test engineering

Behaviours

• Leadership

• Communicating and Influencing

You will also be asked to deliver a presentation and will be informed on the topic following the sift.

How we offer

Offers may be made in merit order based on location preferences. If you pass the bar at interview but are not the highest scoring you will be held on a 12-month reserve list in case a role becomes available. If you are judged a near miss at interview, you may be offered a post at the grade below the one you applied for.

This role requires SC clearance. DBT’s requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years. Failure to meet this requirement will result in your application being rejected and your offer will be withdrawn.

Checks will also be made against:

• departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records)

• UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records

• your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency

• security services record

• location details

More about us

This role can only be worked from within the UK, not overseas. If you are based in London, you will receive London weighting. DBT employees are contracted to work in a hybrid pattern, spending 2-3 days a week (pro rata) in the office. Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DBT, but costs for travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.

You can find out more about our office locations, how we calculate salaries, our diversity statement and reasonable adjustments, the Recruitment Principles, the Civil Service code and our complaints procedure on our website.

Find out more about life at DBT, our benefits and meet the team by watching our video or reading our blog!

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 : DDaT Recruitment Team
• Email : ddat.recruitment@businessandtrade.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : ddat.recruitment@businessandtrade.gov.uk

Further information

Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment on the basis of fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact DBT by email at Resourcing@trade.gov.uk If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: Civil Service Commission Complaints

Attachments

DDaT Candidate Pack Aug 25 - Final (1) Opens in new window (pdf, 506kB)