Full Description

The ONS operates a flexible hybrid working model across the UK, with colleagues linked to one of our contractual locations working between office and remote throughout the week. The locations for this role are Newport, Titchfield (Fareham) and Manchester.

All colleagues are required to work from their contractually allocated site for at least 40% of their working time.

The induction process for the role will be conducted in person.

Job Summary

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.

At ONS, Digital Services Quality Assurance and Testing (DS-QAT) is an enabling function that works across multiple directorates, overseeing multiple work streams and multiple projects.

Job Description

The QAT Team will define test conditions, design test cases, and create test scripts which comprehensively test the functionality of a system to ensure the system/service meets the required quality standards.

The team will use their Analytical skills, domain, and business knowledge to identify defects within a System and manage defects throughout a project to ensure quality metrics are available which can inform stakeholders in their Go/No-Go decisions.

The QAT Team designs and executes test cases, as part of a broader risk-based test plan to ensure that systems, services, and end-to-end processes are integrated and operationally ready.

Working with development teams, third parties, operations teams, and business areas to plan, co-ordinate and manage/facilitate testing (included interdependencies) they ensure that the agreed test strategy is correctly implemented by means of the following activities.

Responsibilities

A senior quality assurance test analyst has similar responsibilities to a quality assurance test analyst but at times at a more complex level and on a greater scale.

At This Role Level, You Will

Take a business and an operational view to finding solutions to complex problems Provide test coverage support for test engineers and software developers Identify additional tests for both functional and non-functional requirements where appropriate Deliver at pace using the most appropriate delivery methodologies and adopting agile principles. Assist decision makers in gathering information to make informed decisions. Actively participate in the Testing community and broader communities to refine and develop standards, working practices, sharing of knowledge, and understanding. Where appropriate and in line with divisional organisation practice, Line management of QAT Analysts within the ONS community.

The QAT Team will define test conditions, design test cases, and create test scripts which comprehensively test the functionality of a system to ensure the system/service meets the required quality standards.

The team will use their Analytical skills, domain, and business knowledge to identify defects within a System and manage defects throughout a project to ensure quality metrics are available which can inform stakeholders in their Go/No-Go decisions.

The QAT Team designs and executes test cases, as part of a broader risk-based test plan to ensure that systems, services, and end-to-end processes are integrated and operationally ready.

Working with development teams, third parties, operations teams, and business areas to plan, co-ordinate and manage/facilitate testing (included interdependencies) they ensure that the agreed test strategy is correctly implemented by means of the following activities.

At This Role Level, You Will

Take a business and an operational view to finding solutions to complex problems Provide test coverage support for test engineers and software developers Identify additional tests for both functional and non-functional requirements where appropriate Deliver at pace using the most appropriate delivery methodologies and adopting agile principles. Assist decision makers in gathering information to make informed decisions. Actively participate in the Testing community and broader communities to refine and develop standards, working practices, sharing of knowledge, and understanding. Where appropriate and in line with divisional organisation practice, Line management of QAT Analysts within the ONS community.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

Communicating between technical and non-technical - Listen to and interpret the needs of technical and non-technical stakeholders and manage their expectations. Support or host difficult discussions within the team or with diverse senior stakeholders. Designing and executing test - Contribute to developing and implementing standards for designing and executing tests. Lead others in designing, building, maintaining and executing tests that verify the system meets user acceptance criteria or requirement. Managing, reporting and resolving defects - Contribute to developing standards for defect management processes. Manage and escalate dependencies, defects and risks across teams. Manage stakeholder expectations and communications during defect resolution. Test Analysis - Ensure test needs are implemented early. Use multiple techniques to analyse complex information to identify risks. Coach others in test analysis. Test and quality planning - Work with teams to develop and implement appropriate quality testing approaches, plans and strategies. Advocate for full team ownership of quality testing activities, encouraging early engagement.

Behaviours

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

Working Together Communicating and Influencing Managing a Quality Service Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

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

Understanding of Test Management Tools (JIRA, QC, TFS, Azure DevOps, any other) Knowledge of Reporting and planning of test activities. With Test tools or Excel An understanding of common functional test techniques and the ability to apply them accordingly

Alongside your salary of £41,364, Office for National Statistics contributes £11,983 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

The Office for National Statistics is part of the Civil Service, and as such we share a number of key benefits with other departments, whilst also having our own unique offerings to support our valued colleagues across the organisation.

Whether you are hearing about us for the first time or already know a bit about our organisation, we hope that our careers site will give you a great insight into the benefits and facilities available to our colleagues, and our fantastic working culture.

Inclusion & Accessibility

At ONS we are always looking to attract the very best people from the widest possible talent pool, and we are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunities employer. As a Disability Confident Leader we’re committed to ensuring that all candidates are treated fairly throughout the recruitment process.

As part of our application process, you will be prompted to provide details of any reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process that you need. If you would like to discuss any reasonable adjustments before applying, please contact the recruitment team in the first instance.

If you would like an accessible version of any of the attachments or recruitment documents below or linked to in this advert, please contact the recruitment team who will be happy to assist.

Selection process details

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

Security Clearance

For ONS the requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for 3 consecutive years immediately prior to applying and the department will consider eligibility by exception on a case-by-case basis. You will be asked to provide information regarding your UK residency during your application, and failure to provide this will result in your application being rejected.

If you are unsure that you meet the eligibility above, please read the information available on Gov.uk on this link or contact the recruitment email on the advert before applying to discuss, as failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected and any offer of employment being withdrawn.

At the point of SC application, you will need to provide or give access to the following evidence

Departmental or company records (personnel files, staff reports, sick leave reports and security records) UK criminal records covering both spent and unspent criminal records Your credit and financial history with a credit reference agency Security Services records

We may also reach out to you mid-campaign to confirm eligibility for this role.

Application Support

Artificial intelligence (AI) software such as ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot and Gemini are powerful tools that can create and review text in ways that mimic what people can do. These tools can help you enhance your application and prepare for the process, but it is essential you use them appropriately.

They must also not be used to provide misleading or false information at any stage of the application journey.

It is also important to understand that while AI can help you prepare for an interview, you must not use it to produce responses during an interview.

For full guidance in relation to the use of AI through the recruitment process, please click here.

Application Process

Number of Stages: 2 stage process

Stage 1: Application

Stage 2: Interview

Stage 1 – Application

The assessment process at the application stage will be based on your work history, skills, experience, CV, and personal statement. It is important that your application is tailored to highlight the skills, knowledge, and experience relevant to the role.

A personal statement is required at application stage, it will state the maximum word count allowed (1250 words), which should not be exceeded. Where it is a requirement to make a personal statement, you should provide evidence for each essential skill criterion listed in the person specification. As these criteria are scored, it is advisable to give clear examples for each one, including the impact of your actions, ideally utilising the STAR technique (Situation, Task, Action, Result).

Please note that Success Profiles Behaviour examples are not required at this stage of the application process.

In instances where a high number of applications are received, the sift pass mark may be adjusted, and candidates will be invited to interview based on merit order, i.e., those with the highest scores.

Stage 2 – Interview

If invited to interview, you will be assessed using techniques aligned with the Civil Service Success Profiles framework, covering all behaviours listed in the job advert and any required technical skills.

Interviews may be in person or via Microsoft Teams.

A reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made.

The Sift will be conducted from 13/11/2025

Interviews will be conducted from 27/11/2025

For the full terms and conditions of the post, please see attachment.

Please note that all campaigns may be subject to withdrawal at any stage if the internal resource position changes.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

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

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.

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.

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).

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: Government Digital and Data Recruitment

Email: Government-Digital-and-Data-Recruitment@ons.gov.uk

Recruitment team

Email: Government-Digital-and-Data-Recruitment@ons.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact recruitment.complaints@ons.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission