Manual QAT Tester at Office for National Statistics, Remote, 2 months, £Contract Rate

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is the UK's largest producer of official statistics, covering a range of key economic, social and demographic topics. These include measuring changes in the value of the UK economy, estimating the size, geographic distribution and characteristics of the population, and providing indicators of price inflation, employment, earnings, crime and migration.

As part of our transformation of consumer price statistics we are continuing to develop and deploy code, methods and systems. The QAT Analyst is a critical role for ensuring the quality of our transformation. Through collaborating with business analysts, developers, project management, product owners and end users, the test analyst will plan, execute and report test activity to verify that requirements are met, defects are identified early and provide assurance that our critical statistical outputs are fit for purpose.

SC Clearance is an essential requirement for this role, as a minimum you must be willing & eligible to undergo checks. Please note, due to the exceptional requirements of this position (short-term nature of this role and speed at which we require a postholder in situ) preference may be given to candidates who meet all of the essential criteria and hold active security clearance.

As a Manual QAT Tester, your main responsibilities will be:

• Review and analyse business requirements, user stories, and technical specifications to identify testable conditions.
• Lead planning sessions to provide test effort estimates and risk assessments.
• Design and document clear, comprehensive test cases, test scenarios, and test data.
• Perform exploratory testing where appropriate to uncover defects not covered by scripted tests.
• Identify, document, and track defects using the agreed defect management tool (Jira).
• Work closely with developers and business teams to reproduce issues and ensure timely resolution.
• Ensure testing activities adhere to quality standards and processes.
• Prepare test execution reports, defect reports, and test summary documentation.
• Use test management and defect tracking tools effectively.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of QA processes, templates, and standards.

Essential:

• Proven experience as a Test Analyst, QA Analyst, or equivalent role.
• Experience designing and executing test cases based on requirements.
• Hands-on experience with test management and defect tracking tools.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage multiple workstream simultaneously and deliver to challenging timeframes.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to liaise effectively across teams.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.

Disability Confident 

As a member of the Disability Confident Scheme, ONS guarantees to interview all candidates who have a disability and who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of candidates who have a disability who meet all the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group.

This scheme encourages candidates with a disability and/or neurodivergence to apply. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

Armed Forces Covenant 

ONS guarantees to interview veterans or spouses / partners of military personnel who meet all the essential criteria for the vacancy. In cases where we have a high volume of ex-military candidates / military spouses or partners, who meet all of the essential criteria, we will interview the best candidates from within that group. In exceptional circumstances, we may also need to apply the desirable criteria in our shortlisting process which may include holding active security clearance.

In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different.