Test Engineer (SFIA Level 4) - SC Cleared at Layer7, Remote/Manchester, £420 per day

Rate: £420.00 per day Inside IR35
Location: Hybrid with occasional onsite attendance in Newcastle or Manchester
Security Clearance: Active SC Clearance required

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced Test Engineer (SFIA Level 4) to support the delivery of high-quality digital services within a Public Sector/Government environment. The successful candidate will contribute to the design, development and execution of automated testing solutions, ensuring robust quality assurance throughout the software development lifecycle.

This role is suited to a hands-on test professional with strong automation experience and a passion for quality engineering and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop and maintain automated test frameworks and test suites.
• Create and execute functional, integration, regression and end-to-end automated tests.
• Work collaboratively within Agile delivery teams alongside Developers, Business Analysts and DevOps Engineers.
• Contribute to test strategy, planning and estimation activities.
• Analyse test results, identify defects and support defect management processes.
• Ensure quality standards are met throughout the development lifecycle.
• Promote shift-left testing and continuous testing practices.
• Support CI/CD pipeline integration for automated testing.
• Produce clear documentation and reporting on test activities and outcomes

Essential Skills and Experience

• Demonstrable experience as a Test Engineer operating at SFIA Level 4.
• Strong experience in test automation using modern automation frameworks.
• Strong programming experience, ideally using Java.
• Experience with automation tools such as:
• Selenium
• Rest Assured
• Cucumber
• JUnit/TestNG
• Playwright (desirable)
• Experience testing RESTful APIs and microservices.
• Experience working within Agile/Scrum delivery environments.
• Familiarity with CI/CD tools such as Jenkins, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps or similar.
• Strong defect management and troubleshooting skills.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills.

Nice to have

• Experience working within UK Government or wider Public Sector organisations.
• Knowledge of Government Digital Service (GDS) delivery practices.
• Performance or non-functional testing exposure.
• Experience with cloud-based platforms (AWS, Azure or GCP).
• Understanding of DevOps and quality engineering best practices