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Test Assurance Manager

Hybrid in London·Added today (last checked 23 Oct)

National Crime Agency (NCA)

7 open roles

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Our summary

Salary: £57,687 a year
About £3,670 a month after tax.
Work mode: Hybrid, London
Closing date: Apply by Thursday 5 November
Holiday: 26 days holiday
Pension: 28.97% employer pension
Commute: Cycle to work scheme

Skills

The role

Apply before 11:55 pm on Thursday 5th November 2026

Details

Reference number

487601

Salary

£57,687

Pay flexibility case seeking to modernise NCA pay frameworks was approved by the Government in July 2026. The NCA recognises and engages in collective bargaining with three trade unions: The National Crime Officers Association (NCOA), Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) and FDA. Therefore, our terms and conditions are currently undergoing a formal review, in consultation with these recognised trade unions. The outcome is expected to be known by early 2027.

Allowances are reviewed annually and may be increased, decreased or removed.
All salary offers will be made in line with Remuneration Policy.
Roles based in London will receive an additional London Weighting (Per Annum) of £4379

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

GBP

Job grade

Senior Executive Officer

NCA Grade 3/Inspector

Contract type

Permanent

Business area

NCA - DDaT

Type of role

Digital
Knowledge and Information Management
Policy
Project Delivery

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Homeworking, Job share, Part-time

Number of jobs available

Location

Belfast, Birmingham, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Normanton, Warrington

About the job

Job summary

Information about the Command

Digital, Data & Technology (DDaT), supports NCA operational commands with how we exploit data and to ensure the NCA uses the best technology platforms with the right tools and applications to further enable the NCA to protecting the public from serious and organised crime. We are responsible for defining and delivering our data and technology strategy, policy and architecture, and building and sustaining resilient services which are critical to our mission success.
The pace of change within the digital and tech world means we need to be agile and innovative in how we respond to threats while exploiting the opportunities this presents.

Information about the Business Area

Enterprise Services provides and manages the enterprise IT capabilities that support the NCA and its partners in delivering operational outcomes across the Serious and Organised Crime (SOC) system. Operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all year round, the team ensures services are reliable, resilient, and available when they are needed most.

Working in partnership with suppliers, Enterprise Services maintains a strong focus on delivering cost-effective, high-quality services that meet current organisational needs while supporting ongoing transformation. The team leads the introduction of new services into live operation, ensuring they are implemented smoothly and deliver tangible value across the estate.

Enterprise Services plays a critical role in managing and driving the supply chain, enabling the NCA to remain agile and responsive, while building and sustaining a future-ready technology environment.

Role Summary

The National Crime Agency require a strong test assurance function to ensure alignment of testing standards and practices across all deliveries within the NCA. The Test Assurance Manager will be leading the test assurance function, including refining the test assurance policy, providing testing frameworks for projects and working with various stakeholders to ensure buy-in, engagement, and correct alignment.

Job description

The Test Assurance Manager is responsible for defining, maintaining, and leading the agency's test assurance strategy, policies, and frameworks across all programmes and deliveries. This role provides senior-level oversight and direction for test assurance activities across both internal and supplier-led projects, ensuring that testing is planned, executed, and evidenced to a consistently high standard.

The role includes the line management of Test Assurance Analysts and requires strong stakeholder management to influence and collaborate with multiple delivery partners. The Test Assurance Manager must operate pragmatically, balancing governance and delivery needs across projects with varying levels of testing maturity, supplier capability, and assurance readiness.

The successful candidate will have demonstrable experience assuring or managing testing across multi-supplier and/or complex delivery environments, and experience in defining and implementing test strategies, policies and assurance frameworks.

This role aligns with Senior quality assurance test analyst within the Government digital and data (GDAD) capability framework.

Duties & Responsibilities - Overview

Test Strategy, Policy and Framework Ownership - Own, develop, and maintain the Agency's Test Policy, Test Assurance Framework, and associated guidance, templates and artefacts. Define and embed test assurance processes that integrate with existing governance and delivery functions.
Provide Assurance & Oversight - Provide independent assurance of supplier and internal testing across all projects and programmes. Review and approve test strategies, plans and reports to ensure adequacy and alignment. Identify and track risks, issues, and non-compliance.
Stakeholder Management - Engage and influence key stakeholders across the business, technical and delivery teams to ensure testing and assurance are effectively planned and executed. Build strong relationships with programme managers, delivery leads, suppliers and assurance boards.
Continuous Improvement - Champion test and quality maturity across the agency and supplier ecosystem. Capture lessons learned and drive improvements in test assurance capability, tools, and practices. Maintain awareness of emerging technologies and assurance methods.
Leadership & Line Management - Line manage, mentor, and develop Test Assurance Analysts. Plan and allocate resources to projects based on risk and priority. Foster a collaborative, supportive team culture focused on risk awareness, quality outcomes, and continuous improvement.
Test forecasting for needs and resourcing - Liaise with delivery streams, programmes, towers, and projects to understand upcoming testing needs, resource profiles, and capability requirements. Ensure that shared resources are effectively deployed, developed, and supported to deliver value across multiple initiatives. Create a clear governance model for engagement, prioritisation, and reporting of test resource deployment.

Person specification

Skills, Knowledge and Experience - Description

Test Assurance or Test Management experience - Experience in technical test management, test assurance, or quality governance across complex, multi-supplier delivery environments.
Knowledge of testing methodologies - Strong understanding of software testing methodologies (Agile, Waterfall, Hybrid) and quality management principles.
Developing or implementing test strategies or policies - Experience in defining and implementing test strategies, policies, and assurance frameworks. Strategic thinker with a strong grasp of risk, assurance, and delivery balance.
Stakeholder management and influence - Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and influencing skills, including the ability to challenge constructively.
Pragmatism - Pragmatic and flexible approach, able to adapt to differing levels of delivery maturity and assurance capability.
Leadership - Confident leader who inspires trust, collaboration, and accountability.

Essential Criteria

You must meet the essential criteria and evidence this within your application to be considered for the role.

Entry Requirements

- Experience assuring or managing technical testing across multi-supplier and/or complex delivery environments.

Any applications from candidates not meeting this eligibility criteria will not progress.

Desirable Criteria

Desirable criteria are only used for assessment in the event of a tie break.

- Professional testing certification (e.g., International Software Testing Qualifications Board (ISTQB) Advanced Test Manager or equivalent).

- Experience in government or regulated sectors.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £57,687, National Crime Agency contributes £16,711 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

Roles based in London will receive an additional London Weighting (Per Annum) of £4379

New entrants to the NCA receive 26 days annual leave, rising to 31 on completion of 5 years continuous service, plus 8 bank holidays.

If qualifying criteria is met new joiners from UK Police Forces or the UK Intelligence Community (UKIC) will have service with those employers taken into account for continuous service purposes for annual leave entitlement only, this will be up to a maximum of 31 days leave (including 1 privilege day).

Other benefits include

Flexible working, including flexi-time, compressed hours and job sharing (in line with business requirements)
Family friendly policies, notably above the statutory minimum
Learning and Development opportunities
Interest free loans and advances, including season tickets, childcare and rental deposits
Housing schemes - Key Worker status
Discounts and Savings with a wide variety of services including Cycle to Work, Smart Tech schemes, dental insurance, gym discounts and savings on everyday spending, available through the Reward Gateway, Edenred and Blue Light Card schemes.
Staff support groups/networks
Sports and social activities, including membership to the Civil Service Sports Council (CSSC)

Further information is available on the NCA Website.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

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 (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

How we will assess you

Your application will be assessed against the following:

Experience - This will be assessed:

Please include your full career history, training, qualifications, key responsibilities, and achievements. Explain any employment gaps in the last two years. Ensure all accreditation dates are accurate.

Details of what is expected within your CV are as follows: Clearly demonstrate how you meet the following experience criteria - experience assuring or managing technical testing across multi-suppliers or complex delivery environments and the Desirable Criteria.

CVs must be formatted in 11pt font and not exceed three pages. Please note that any content beyond the third page will not be considered as part of the assessment.

In the event of a high volume of applications, a longlisting exercise may be undertaken. Candidates must achieve the minimum pass mark at the CV assessment stage to progress to the full sift, where further experience and suitability for the role will be assessed.

Experience Criteria - will be assessed by 500 word examples on:

Experience of assuring testing

A panel will assess how well your application demonstrates the requirements outlined above.

You will receive an acknowledgement once your application is submitted.

We aim to have sift completed and scores released within 10 working days of the closing date of the advert. For high volume campaigns this timeframe may be extended.

Scores will be provided but further feedback will not be available at this stage.

For guidance on the application process, visit:
NCA Applying and Onboarding

Assessment 1

The format of this assessment will be Interview which will be tested on the criteria listed in the Success Profiles at Assessment section.

Success Profiles at Assessment

Behaviours

Working Together

Communicating and Influencing

Seeing the Big Picture

Experience

Experience in test management, test assurance, or quality governance across various delivery environments.

Experience in defining and implementing test strategies, policies, and assurance frameworks.

Assessment Outcome

Outcomes will be communicated via the NCA recruitment portal.
If successful but no role is immediately available, you may be placed on a reserve list for 12 months.
Reserve lists can be used to fill similar role types across the Agency where the assessment criteria is considered a match by the recruitment team and the business area.

In the event of a tie at the assessment stage, available roles will be offered in merit order using the following order:

Lead criteria (behaviours/technical/experience)
If still tied, desirable criteria will be assessed (if advertised)
If still tied, application sift scores will be used

Feedback is provided only to those who attend an assessment.

You will be subject to vetting and pre-employment checks before appointment.

Once the vacancy closes, the advert will no longer be accessible. Please save a copy for your records.

We encourage all candidates to visit the NCA Careers Page for more information.

Eligibility, Pre-Employment Check and Vetting

Please see the NCA T&Cs and Privacy Policy (pdf) for details on how your data is handled.

If you are an internal candidate who has passed interview but is undergoing an internal investigation or have a written warning in place preventing a post move you may not be able to be posted until this investigation is concluded or restriction lifted.

Security and Vetting

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is SC Enhanced. All security clearances will be managed by the NCA.

For more information on security vetting please visit: UK Security Vetting guidance for applicants and Demystifying Vetting and see our vetting charter at: The Vetting Charter.

Vetting requirements - SC Enhanced

Prior to commencing the role, you will need to successfully complete SC Enhanced clearance and then achieve DV Enhanced clearance within the first 12 months in post.

The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years.

The requirement for DV Enhanced clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 7 of the last 10 years.

Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected.

If the increased clearance cannot be obtained you will be moved to a role appropriate to your clearance level achieved on entry.

For further information on National Security Vetting checks please visit the following page Demystifying Vetting

Individuals will be required to undertake and pass a substance misuse test as part of pre-employment checks.

Occupational Health

Successful candidates will be expected to undertake an occupational health assessment. Depending on the role an in-person medical may be required in either London or Warrington. Unfortunately, travel costs will not be reimbursed.

Near Miss

If you meet the criteria for a lower grade, you may be offered that role if not appointable at the advertised grade.

Conversely, if found appointable at a higher grade but no posts are available, you may be offered a lower-grade role.

All offers are made based on merit.

Hybrid Working

The NCA supports hybrid working. The extent of remote working will depend on the role and can be discussed at the offer stage.

Reasonable Adjustments

We're proud to be a Disability Confident Leader and an inclusive, equal opportunities employer.

We're committed to creating a workplace where everyone can be their authentic self. If you're neurodiverse, have a disability, or live with a long-term health condition, we encourage you to let us know about any reasonable adjustments you may need during the recruitment process.

If you experience accessibility issues with the advert or require reasonable adjustments, please contact our Recruitment Team at central.recruitment@nca.gov.uk before the advert closing date.

Please ensure you complete the 'Equal opportunities' and 'Reasonable Adjustments' sections in the application form to inform us on what support you may need in the recruitment process.

For more on our Disability Confident commitment, visit Disability Confident Scheme, Civil Service Careers.

Visit NCA Benefits and Support for more details.

Working for the NCA

The National Crime Agency is a 24/7 organisation, and working patterns must support business requirements. Some roles may require you to respond at short notice or outside of core hours.

If preferable, alternative contract types may be available. Please review the green bar of this advert to view all available contract types for this role. Where Loan or Secondment options are available, these would be for existing Civil Servants (Loan) and applicants from accredited Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) or any other employer (Secondment). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.

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

Security

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 : central.recruitment@nca.gov.uk
Email : central.recruitment@nca.gov.uk

Recruitment team

Email : central.recruitment@nca.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 relation to any stage of the recruitment and selection process please email central.recruitment@nca.gov.uk. please ensure that you refer to the campaign reference number. If you remain dissatisfied following the outcome of your complaint you have the right to contact the Civil Service Commission to pursue it further.
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission.

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About National Crime Agency (NCA)

Industry: Government Administration
Website: gov.uk

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