Job summary
- Main area
- Administration
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 8a
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time
- Flexible working
- Job ref
- 990-TDD-TA-EC558-E
- Employer
- NHS England
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Any NHS England Office
- Town
- Nationally
- Salary
- £55,690 - £62,682 per annum (exclusive of London Weighting)
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 04/03/2026 23:59
Employer heading
Lead Technical Test Specialist
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Our Organisation
The NHS is building a culture that is positive, compassionate and inclusive – and we all have our part to play.
As employers we are committed to protecting and promoting the physical and mental health and wellbeing of all our colleagues. This underpins our values as set out in the NHS Constitution and supports us to be an Employer of Choice, while helping our colleagues to deliver high quality services for our patients and communities.
As a flexible employer, we want to support you to work in a way that is best for the NHS, our patients and you. Talk to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time, hybrid working or another flexible pattern. In addition, although the role advertised may have a ‘home’ office base indicated, we remain committed to supporting flexibility around workplace locations. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.
We are an accredited Living Wage Employer which means that every colleague working for our organisation and third-party contractors will earn a real Living Wage. We are one of over 15,000 organisations, who voluntarily chose to pay the real Living Wage.
Job overview
The Organisation Data Service (ODS) issues and manages unique identification codes (ODS codes) and accompanying reference data for organisations that interact with any area of the health and social care system.
ODS data is used in almost every IT system across the NHS to support key functionality such as messaging, referrals, financial transactions, access control, reporting and analytics.
The Organisation Data Service consists of 6 teams: Support Team (helpdesk); Business Support/Programme Office Team; Business Analysis; Data Management; Technical Team; Projects Team. We are an end-to-end service delivery team.
An understanding of, and interest in, how reference data is integral to the functioning of health and care systems is desirable for the role. In addition, experience of working for a team delivering or interacting with APIs would be advantageous.
Main duties of the job
As an ODS Lead Test Specialist, duties are varied in that tech team is required at specific steps of a project lifecycle and engagement and communication are key. This role will:
- Plan and manage test activities within the ODS management and tech team.
- Manage and test all new and updated ODS products (90+).
- Provide specialist software testing input for ODS development projects.
- Liaise with Platform and Infrastructure team where required.
- Create when required and maintain/support all test environments owned by ODS.
- Introduce and maintain test automation for new and existing products
- Plan and execute all departmental integration testing.
- Devise and maintain automated regression testing suite.
- Manage third party pen testing requirements where required
- Define test scenarios and acceptance criteria.
- Create test data.
- Manage user acceptance testing (UAT)
- Consult with stakeholders on new requirements.
- Report on testing activities documenting issues and risks.
Working for our organisation
Our staff bring expertise across clinical, operational, commissioning, technology, data science, cyber security, software engineering, education, and commercial specialisms — enabling us to design and deliver high-quality NHS services.
We lead the NHS in England by:
- Enabling local systems and providers to improve the health of their people and patients and reduce health inequalities
- Making the NHS a great place to work, where people can develop and make a difference
- Working collaboratively to ensure our healthcare workforce has the right knowledge, skills, values and behaviours to deliver accessible, compassionate care
- Optimising the use of digital technology, research, and innovation
- Delivering value for money
Earlier this year, the Government announced that NHS England will gradually merge with the Department of Health and Social Care, to create a smaller, more strategic centre that reduces duplication and waste.
If successful at interview, we will initiate an Inter Authority Transfer (IAT) via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). This retrieves key data from your current or previous NHS employer to support onboarding, including competency status, Continuous Service Dates (CSD), and annual leave entitlement. You may opt out at any stage of the process.
Colleagues with a contractual office base are expected to spend, on average, at least 40% of their time working in-person.
Staff recruited from outside the NHS will usually be appointed at the bottom of the pay band.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
You can find further details about the role, including key responsibilities and accountabilities, alongside the organisational structure and person specification in the attached Job Description and other supporting documents.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Educated to Masters Degree level, or equivalent higher education qualification or an equivalent level of experience
- ISEB/ISTQB Software Testing Foundation Certificate (Certified or Agile Tester) or equivalent recognised qualification and equivalent level of experience
- Evidence of continuous professional development
Desirable criteria
- BCS Intermediate Certificate in Software Testing, or equivalent recognised qualification and equivalent level of experience
- ISEB/ISTQB Software Testing Practitioners Certificate/Certified Tester Advanced Level, or equivalent recognised qualification and equivalent level of experience
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Working knowledge of testing within agile developments through the design and creation of complex test scenarios based on user stories and acceptance criteria, and the principles of continuous integration through automated test scripts for functional and integration, non-functional and/or data process testing.
- Proven knowledge of several complex health informatics operating systems, technical (Cloud/hardware) and data architectures, and how they interact in terms of technical and business requirements
- Proven knowledge of tools used for test automation, including bespoke, open source and commercial tools for functional and integration, non-functional and/or data process testing, including those that require coding skills in order to build a test framework
- Knowledge and understanding of the concepts of technical risk management for current and future technical solutions (such as machine learning and AI)
- Knowledge and understanding of data protection laws and technologies, their risks and the techniques employed to test them
- Knowledge of a specialist test area such as: Functional and integration testing including software and application interoperability; Non-functional testing including Volume and Performance, and Ready for Operations; Data process testing including data interface specifications, data management tools and anonymisation techniques
- Proven ability to use structured test data and test environment provision to improve and enable functional and integration, non-functional and/or data process testing · Specialist understanding of overall technological landscapes, evolving requirements, technology and trends
- Working knowledge of heath care informatics systems and the technology used
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of NHS England solutions such as (but not limited to) Spine, and its connected services.
- Knowledge of quality maturity models such as TMMI and quality standards such as the ISO9000 series and risk models to improve test capabilities
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience of breaking down and leading test activities on a number of projects, releases and deliveries whilst working in an agile environment
- Proven experience of testing in an agile development using test methodologies such as left-shift, continuous integration, right-shift and fix forward
- Strong experience in designing and developing comprehensive test automation frameworks covering API testing, UI automation, database validation, functional testing, and data processing verification.
- Extensive experience of designing, writing, execution and reporting functional and integration, non-functional and/or data processing tests for complex IT solutions and architectures
- Extensive functional and integration, non-functional and/or data processing test experience within an agile environment, building and owning customer focused acceptance criteria from user stories and risk analysis and interpreting complex results when tests are executed
Desirable criteria
- Experience of providing guidance to peers when gaining new experience in test and assurance methodologies and tools
Skills
Essential criteria
- Demonstrable ability to develop comprehensive test strategies, execute detailed test planning activities, and apply structured test and assurance techniques and processes for complex IT systems and solutions to prove successful interoperability and integration across diverse technology environments.
- Proven ability to manage risks and issues identified during test activities, including defining a course of action which shows consideration of the benefit and cost implications for delivery
- Ability to quickly onboard in high pressure situations and intervene where appropriate
- Proven ability to proactively develop collaborative relationships with suppliers, internal delivery teams and/or customers.
- Proven ability to maintain in depth knowledge of test tools and testing methodologies, providing detailed advice regarding their application and execution.
- Proven ability to clearly articulate a complex technical and/or data architecture and to recognise the risks associated with that solution ·
- Proven ability to generate test data to a required profile and specification, using either bespoke scripting, developing re-usable tools or COTS tools
- Ability to support the pace of delivery for NHS England and external supplier systems
Desirable criteria
- Ability to give feedback, participation in lessons learned exercises and take responsibility for actions in order to improve processes and ways of working moving forward
- Ability and willingness to work effectively in a large multi-disciplinary team
- Proven ability to identify and analyse test data requirements for multiple data domains for functional and integration, non-functional and/or data processing test and assurance activities, developing scripts for the purposes of test data production and manipulation
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Applicant requirements
This post will require a submission for Disclosure to be made to check for any unspent criminal convictions.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Lucille Vater
- Job title
- Business Operational Delivery Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 07732824340
List jobs with NHS England in Administrative Services or all sectors