Quality Assurance Analyst

Job summary

The Digital, Data and Technology (DDAT) directorate has recently been established in UKEF, drawing together the expertise in digital currently within the organisation to provide representation of digital services, user centred design, analytics and technology at the highest levels. The areas with the directorate work closely with all areas of the business such as the Business Group, Operations and Strategy and Policy.

Job description

UKEF is committed to be a more customer-centric organisation, making it easier for customers to deal with us, offering improved response times, quicker decision-making and improved case-processing. To enable this, UKEF is committed to using digital as a primary means for managing relationships with a wider range of stakeholders. Focusing on developing end-to-end services that meet user need and enable business outcomes, this is an exciting new role showing the growth and drive of UKEFs digital ambition.

This role requires you to be involved in developing, maintaining and executing automated test scripts, identifying and reporting defects, creating and maintaining test documentation, conducting performance, end-to-end, API and regression testing, and continuously improving testing processes and methodologies.

Main Activities:

In this role, you will:

• Design, write, and execute complex SQL test cases to verify backend data quality, business rules, and reporting accuracy.
• Test and validate database objects including stored procedures, triggers, views, and functions.
• Perform large datasets validation for ETL transformations and data reconciliation across source-to-target mappings.
• Develop, maintain, and execute manual and automated test scripts for software applications.
• Identify and report defects in software applications.
• Create and maintain test documentation such as test plans, test cases, and test scripts.
• Participate in all phases of the software development life cycle, including requirements gathering and analysis, development, testing, and deployment.
• Collaborate with software development teams to understand software requirements and ensure that test cases cover all required functionality.
• Analyse test results and provide recommendations for improvements to software applications.
• Use test management tools to track test progress and report on test results.
• Continuously improve testing processes and methodologies.
• Participate in the identification and implementation of automation testing tools.
• Conduct regression testing to ensure that software changes do not introduce new defects.
• Participate in the preparation and execution of End-to-End and API testing.
• Participate in the evaluation of new software products and tools for automation testing.

This list is not exhaustive, and you may be required to carry out additional duties according to business need.

Person specification

Essential

Qualifications

• 5 GCSE passes (including Maths and English) at Grade 4 (C) or above; or relevant professional experience. (A)
• Evidence of continuing professional development. (A)

Knowledge

• Knowledge of QA Automation tools. (A, I)
• Knowledge writing API, E2E tests. (A, I)

Skills/Ability

Communicating between the technical and non-technical:

• You can listen to and interpret the needs of technical and non-technical stakeholders, and manage their expectations.
• You can manage active and reactive communication.
• You can support or host difficult discussions within the team or with diverse senior stakeholders.
  
  (Skill level: practitioner) (A, I)

Designing and executing tests:

• You can set up suitable environments.
• You can influence and guide the use of appropriate test types and techniques to mitigate risk early.
• You can lead others in designing, building, maintaining and executing tests that align to user needs and requirements.
• You can contribute to developing and implementing standards for designing and executing tests.
• You can improve test types and techniques through a structured process.
  
  (Skill level: practitioner) (A, I)

Managing, reporting and resolving defects:

• You can contribute to developing standards for defect management processes.
• You can manage and escalate dependencies, defects and risks across teams.
• You can contribute to mitigation and contingency plans across teams.
• You can use defect patterns and trends to make recommendations on testing and quality approaches, with support.
• You can manage stakeholder expectations and communications during defect resolution.
  
  (Skill level: practitioner) (A, I)

Test analysis:

• You can lead work with stakeholders across teams to determine which functional and non-functional quality characteristics add value.
• You can determine if an approach needs to change based on effort and risk.
• You can ensure test needs are implemented early.
• You can use multiple techniques to analyse complex information to identify risks.
• You can coach others in test analysis.
  
  (Skill level: practitioner) (A, I)

Test and quality planning:

• You can work with teams to develop and implement appropriate quality testing approaches, plans and strategies.
• You can contribute to organisational quality testing strategies.
• You can implement ways to capture data to drive continuous improvement of quality testing approaches, plans and strategies.
• You can advocate for full team ownership of quality testing activities, encouraging early engagement.
  
  (Skill level: practitioner) (A, I)

Test engineering:

• You can explain why testing processes, environments and tools are important.
• You can follow test engineering practices and standards, with support.
• You can support the maintenance of automated tests and tools required for testing.
  
  (Skill level: awareness) (A, I)

Experience

• Experience in the following disciplines (A, I):
  • Experience of preparing test design documents and evaluating test outcomes.
  • Hands-on experience in writing and executing SQL queries for data validation and data reconciliation.
  • Experience in performing data querying to validate specific records, transactions and system outputs.
  • Experience in backend integration testing by validating data flow between databases and validate stored procedures.
  • Experience of structured testing techniques, full test lifecycle and risk-based testing in context of testing complex line of business applications.
  • Experience writing automated API, End-To-End, Regression and Performance testing.
  • Experience of working in an Agile environment.
  • Experience using Postman and CI/CD tools (such as DevOps or Github).

Qualifications

5 GCSE passes (including Maths and English) at Grade 4 (C) or above; or relevant professional experience.
Evidence of continuing professional development.

Behaviours

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

• Working Together
• Developing Self and Others

Technical skills

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

• Technical Questions relevant to the role

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £43,890, UK Export Finance contributes £12,714 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).

• 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

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

Please ensure that you read through the Candidate Information Pack attached to this advert, before applying.

All applications will be sifted against our essential criteria outlined in the personal specification.

• Qualification - Graduate level education or relevant demonstrable professional experience.

- Evidence of continuing professional development.

• Statement of suitability - you should fully articulate in 750 words how you meet the essential criteria outlined in the person specification within the Information Pack.
• Technical Questions - 500 words maximum for each technical question below:

1. Describe an API testing project you have been involved in, including your testing approach, the tools used, and your key contributions to the project.

What type of APIs were being tested and what was the business purpose?
● What tools and frameworks did you use and why?
● How did you validate API responses, error handling, and backend data?
● What challenges did you face and how did you resolve them?

2. Describe a project where SQL played an important role in your testing activities.

How did you use SQL to validate application functionality and data integrity?
● What types of SQL queries and database validations did you perform?
● How did you investigate and troubleshoot data-related defects?
● What challenges did you encounter and what lessons did you learn

For the initial sift your application will be evaluated against:

• Experience - Application and Statement of Suitability
• Technical Questions - 500 words maximum for each technical question below:

1. Describe an API testing project you have been involved in, including your testing approach, the tools used, and your key contributions to the project.

What type of APIs were being tested and what was the business purpose?
● What tools and frameworks did you use and why?
● How did you validate API responses, error handling, and backend data?
● What challenges did you face and how did you resolve them?

2. Describe a project where SQL played an important role in your testing activities.

How did you use SQL to validate application functionality and data integrity?
● What types of SQL queries and database validations did you perform?
● How did you investigate and troubleshoot data-related defects?
● What challenges did you encounter and what lessons did you learn

In the event of a large number of applications there will be a pre-sift on the two technical questions above.

If you are successful following the sift stage, you will be invited to an initial interview, to be held onsite at 1 Horse Guards Road or via MS Teams; this will include the following assessment:

1. Behaviours//Experience- a formal panel interview where you will be interviewed across all two behaviours highlighted in Appendix 1.
2. Technical Questions relevant to the role

Details of interview panel members will be e-mailed to all successful candidates who are invited for interview.

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.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 : UKEF Recruitment Team
• Email : reruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Recruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk

Further information

Should you have a complaint or wish to raise any concerns regarding the recruitment process, please e-mail your complaint to the Head of Pay and Resourcing (UKEF) at Recruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk and include “Complaint” in the subject heading. Should you remain dissatisfied following UKEF’s investigation then you can refer your complaint to the Commission - http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/making-complaint.

Attachments

UKEF Information Pack - Quality Assurance Analyst (SEO) - Jun 26 (4) Opens in new window (pdf, 4602kB)