Here in Chief Data and Information Office (CDIO) we have a unique view of the information technology infrastructure across borders and trade services which makes us a key player in helping projects and programmes impact, assess and deliver improvements.

The Borders and Trade Delivery Group are responsible for the end-to-end service management and development of over 140 separate services from the generation of Trade Statistics to the administration of Customs and Excise duties.

This is a superb opportunity to join HMRC's IT function Chief Digital Information Office (CDIO) which sets the technology direction for HMRC and delivers the high-level design for all IT solutions across the Organisation. CDIO is responsible for building and running HMRC IT services along with providing IT change and operational support. As a Lead QAT Analyst in HMRC's CDIO Borders and Trade Delivery Group you can be part of our mission to transform the UK's Borders & Trade landscape.

You will play a vital role in ensuring the seamless functioning of our innovative customs systems, contributing to the efficient administration of trade statistics, customs duties, and excise duties.

A lead QAT analyst sets the strategy for test analysis, establishing standards and methods. They are accountable and responsible for activities at high risk.

At this role level, you will:

• take both a business and an operational view.
• have management responsibilities.
• coach and mentor staff.
• lead the delivery practice, focusing on complex problem solving and influencing senior team members.
• be a specialist in an area of testing.
• have expert technical understanding and provide advice to project teams.

Also, as a Lead QAT Analyst at HMRC, you'll define and lead on how the testing will work and advise on the organisation wide technical test approach.

You are responsible for selecting appropriate tools and techniques to evaluate user experience and for functional and non-functional testing of systems, products, services or devices. Checking operational systems, products, services, or devices for changes in usability and accessibility needs. You will validate that security, usability and accessibility requirements have been met.

You will interpret and present results of evaluations, prioritise issues and report on remedial actions.

Collate input for future user research.

You'll help other teams on an ad-hoc basis. In your role with us, you'll be part of a diverse and empowered team, and helped to continue your development as a respected member of the technology industry.

A CDIO B&T Lead QAT Analyst is responsible for test improvement and optimisation, manage test capabilities and resources, and work with internal Test Managers and Test Analysts and external test resources including contingent labour and supplier teams for Test delivery of Borders & Trade projects.

As part of Test Guild, you will provide comprehensive testing support for development of new and existing systems across multiple platforms and locations and live services, updates, improvements. Your role will involve managing comprehensive testing activities, collaborating with cross-functional teams, and leading the delivery practice, focusing on complex problem solving and influencing senior team members.

Person specification

Key Responsibilities: As Lead QAT Analyst, you will be expected to:

• Lead the delivery practice, focusing on complex problem solving and influencing senior team members.
• Are specialists in an area of testing.
• Have expert technical understanding and provide advice to project teams.
• Have management responsibilities - coaching and mentoring their staff.

A lead QAT analyst sets the strategy for test analysis, establishing standards and methods. QAT Lead Analysts are responsible for evaluating tools and techniques for functional and non-functional testing of systems, products, services or devices. Validating that security, usability and accessibility requirements have been met. They will need to interpret and present results of evaluations, prioritise issues and report on remedial actions.

Main Core Duties: At this role level, you will:

• Have management responsibilities and oversight of test analysis, planning, design and maintenance of test resources, documentation, artefacts for B&T projects.
• Coach and mentor staff.
• Lead the delivery practice, focusing on complex problem solving and influencing senior team members.
• Be a specialist in an area of testing.
• Have expert technical understanding and provide advice to project teams.
• Quality assurance of test delivery for B&T projects.
• Support and contribute to test governance activities within Test Guild.

Please note candidates will either have SC level security clearance or be willing to undertake such.

Essential Criteria:

The successful candidate will need to demonstrate practical knowledge and experience in the following:

• Experience in leading a technical team with clear delivery focus and defining / improving service processes and procedures.
• Experience of all aspects of Software Testing across the Software Development Lifecycle.
• Experience in managing teams and mentoring staff.
• Experience with automation testing and test tools and continuous integration.

Desirable Criteria:

Ideally, the successful candidate will also demonstrate knowledge and experience in the following:

• Experience of a range of tools (e.g. Zephyr, JIRA, Postman, Selenium, SOAP UI, Jmeter, Cucumber, Confluence) and experience with cloud-based systems.
• Experience of working in multi-disciplinary team, using Agile methodologies to deliver products.
• Experience with CI/CD and relevant tools i.e. Ansible, Jenkins etc.
• Experience with Release and Configuration Management processes and the use of version control systems such as subversion or git.
• A relevant software testing qualification e.g. ISEB/ISTQB (or equivalent).

Transitional Sites

For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations .

If your location preference is for one of the following sites, it's important to note that these are not long-term sites for HMRC and we will require you to move to a new building in the future, subject to our location strategy and the applicable employee policies at that time.

These sites are:

• Waterview Park, Washington - moving to Pilgrims Quarter, Newcastle
• Benton Park View, Newcastle - moving to Pilgrims Quarter, Newcastle
• Centenary Court, Bradford - moving to 7 and 8 Wellington Place, Leeds
• Lynx House, Portsmouth - moving to No.1 The Goodsyard, Portsmouth
• Telford Plaza, Telford - moving to Parkside Court, Telford
• Trinity Bridge House, Manchester - moving to an alternative office in Manchester/ Salford

You will be given more information about what this means at the job offer stage.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £56,344, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £16,322 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

HMRC operates both Flexible and Hybrid Working policies, allowing you to balance your work and personal commitments. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, considering our operational and customer service needs.

We offer a generous leave allowance, starting at 25 days and increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days.

• Pension - We make contributions to our colleagues' Alpha pension equal to at least 28.97% of their salary.
• Family friendly policies.
• Personal support.
• Coaching and development.

To find out more about HMRC benefits and find out what it's really like to work for HMRC hear from our insiders or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service

Things you need to know

Selection process details

How to Apply

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide the following:

• A name-blind CV including your job history.
• A 750-word personal statement. Your Personal Statement should be used to describe how your skills and experience would be suitable for the advertised role, making reference to the essential criteria and person specification outlined in the advert.

Please complete a separate statement (Max 250 words) for the Desirable Criteria where applicable. This is not essential for the role but may be considered by the vacancy-holder where candidates have the same scores at sift or interview.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

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 for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Sift

At sift your CV, and your Personal Statement, will be assessed, with the successful candidates being invited to interview.

We may also raise the score required at any stage of the process if we receive a high number of applications.

Interview

During the panel interview, your experience will be assessed.

Interviews will take place via video link. Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Eligibility

Please take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. We understand mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days(Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we will not be able to reopen your application for you. If you do make a mistake with your eligibility form, please contact us via: unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk - Use the subject line to insert appropriate wording for example - 'Please re-open my application - [insert vacancy ref] & vacancy closing date [insert date]'.

To check that you are eligible to apply for this role, please review the eligibility information before submitting your application .

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles - if this applies to you, we'll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.

Merit List

After interview, a single merit list will be created, and you will only be considered for posts in locations you have expressed a preference for. Appointments will be made in strict merit order in line with the set number of roles in each location.

Criminal Record Check

Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.

Reasonable Adjustments

We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact the UBS Recruitment team via unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

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

Additional Security Information

Please note: in addition to the standard pre-employment checks for appointment into the Civil Service, all candidates must also obtain National Security Vetting at Security Check (SC) clearance level for this vacancy. You will normally need to meet the minimum UK residency period as determined by the level of vetting being undertaken, which for SC is 5 years UK residency prior to your vetting application. If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the vacancy holder for this post.

Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers:

This role may be suitable for existing HMRC employees who are contractual homeworkers. Occasional attendance to the office will be required where there is a business need. Please consider the advertised office locations for this role when applying and only select locations from the 'location preferences' section that you can travel to.

Terms and Conditions

Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process.

HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations .

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.

Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application(s) will be withdrawn from the process.

Recording of interviews is prohibited unless explicit agreement is sought in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulations.

Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.

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.

New entrants will join on the minimum of the pay band.

Please note that, if you are applying for roles on a part-time basis, the salary agreed will be pro-rata, reflective of the working hours agreed within your contract.

If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

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 the Civil 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 : Libinu Stephen
• Email : libinu.stephen@hmrc.gov.uk
• Telephone : 03000580576

Recruitment team

• Email : unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk

Further information
Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. You have the right to complain if you feel there has been a breach of the Recruitment Principles.
In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly via ubsrecruitmentcomplaints@hmrc.gov.uk. Please note that we do not accept complaints or appeals regarding scoring of outcomes of campaigns, unless candidates can provide clear evidence that the campaign did not follow the Recruitment Principles.
If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their website.

Attachments
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