Senior Test Engineer

Job Description:

Salary Range: £44,171 - £61,950

Leonardo UK operates a grade-based salary framework with broad bands. The salary range shown reflects the approved grade band for this role, or a narrower hiring range published within that band, and is benchmarked against the external market. Exceptions above the standard range are managed through governance controls to protect internal equity.

Your impact

Are you ready to take the next step in your testing career and lead the delivery of secure, high-quality test solutions? At Leonardo, our Senior Test Engineers combine deep technical knowledge with leadership, driving the design, execution, and assurance of tests that ensure our customers’ systems are robust and mission-ready.

Your work at Leonardo UK will see you take the lead in solving customer problems in an agile, innovative and team-centric manner. The role may involve a blended hybrid working model, with a mixture of working from home and working on site at one of our Leonardo offices to ensure close collaboration with the wider team and with our customers.

Leonardo UK is seeking a Senior Test Engineer to join the Cyber & Security Solutions Division team. This role will see you working on the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP). You’ll be working with a cross-functional team at Leonardo and with a wider multi-supplier delivery community to assure the successful delivery of the MC_linX Dispatcher capability for the Emergency Services Network (ESN).

As a Senior Test Engineer, you will play a key role in assuring a mission-critical national capability that will support the transition of UK emergency services from the Airwave network to ESN. Working within an agile delivery environment, you will lead and execute testing activities across system, integration, interoperability, acceptance and non-functional test phases, ensuring that the solution meets demanding operational, security, performance and resilience requirements.

You will be responsible for planning and coordinating test activities, developing and executing test cases, managing defects, and working collaboratively with customer representatives, partner organisations and development teams across the programme. The role requires a hands-on testing professional who is comfortable operating in complex stakeholder environments and who can confidently represent the test function during customer engagements, technical reviews and formal test events.

This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to a secure cloud-hosted platform that will provide emergency service control rooms with a consolidated operational view of ESN users, helping to deliver resilient, standards-compliant communications capabilities that support public safety across the United Kingdom.

What you will do as a Senior Test Engineer

• Lead the planning and execution of test work packages, including scope, effort estimates, and schedules.

• Represent the test function within a complex multi-supplier delivery environment, building effective relationships with customers, partners and engineering teams to achieve programme outcomes.

• Plan, coordinate and execute multi-party test activities involving the Home Office, customer representatives, partner organisations and third-party suppliers, ensuring successful end-to-end service integration.

• Support interoperability and interface testing across complex distributed systems, validating the exchange of data and services between multiple platforms and suppliers.

• Contribute to non-functional testing activities including security, performance, reliability, stability and usability testing to assure operational readiness of the service.

• Work closely with development and operational teams to support cloud-based software deliveries, test environments and service transition activities.

• Participate in customer-facing test events, workshops and formal assurance activities, providing clear communication of test progress, risks, defects and outcomes.

• Support service management and operational acceptance activities, ensuring testing evidence demonstrates that capacity, availability and service requirements can be achieved.

• Contribute to the development and adoption of automated testing approaches to improve quality, repeatability and delivery efficiency.

• Design, develop, and review test cases, scripts, and supporting documentation.

• Execute system, integration, and acceptance testing, ensuring alignment with customer requirements.

• Take ownership of defect management, collaborating with developers and stakeholders to ensure timely resolution.

• Mentor and guide Test Engineers and Technicians, supporting skills development and knowledge sharing.

• Conduct reviews of test deliverables to ensure accuracy, quality, and compliance with governance standards.

• Drive improvements in test practices, tools, and automation frameworks.

• Contribute to risk assessments, test strategies, and stakeholder reporting.

What you’ll bring

• Proven experience delivering functional, integration, system, acceptance and non-functional testing activities within complex software or systems integration programmes.

• Strong technical testing capability combined with the ability to lead test planning, execution and defect management activities across multiple workstreams.

• Experience working in customer-facing and multi-supplier environments, with the confidence to represent the test function during technical discussions, test events and stakeholder reviews.

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to build effective working relationships across engineering teams, customers and partner organisations.

• The ability to balance hands-on technical testing with leadership responsibilities, mentoring others and contributing to wider test strategy and governance activities.

• The ideal candidate will be a confident and collaborative test professional who enjoys working directly with customers and partners to solve complex integration challenges. You will be comfortable operating in a fast-paced agile environment, balancing hands-on testing with leadership responsibilities, and passionate about delivering high-quality, mission-critical services.

Core areas (must have):

• Experience creating, executing and maintaining structured test plans, test cases and test evidence.

• Proven experience delivering system, integration, regression and user acceptance testing within complex software or systems integration programmes.

• Experience working within multi-supplier delivery environments, coordinating testing across organisational boundaries.

• Proficiency with defect management and test management tools (e.g. Jira, Xray, TestRail or Zephyr).

• Familiarity with test automation concepts and tooling, with experience contributing to automated testing approaches.

• Knowledge of non-functional testing disciplines, including security, performance, reliability, stability and usability testing.

• Understanding of secure software delivery practices and cyber security considerations within testing activities.

• Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills, with the confidence to work directly with customers, suppliers and engineering teams

Desirable:

• Familiarity with cloud-native software delivery and containerised environments (AWS, Kubernetes)

• Experience testing IT Service Management (ITSM) solutions and workflows, including ServiceNow

• Experience of interoperability and interface testing across integrated systems.

• ISTQB Advanced Level certification or equivalent experience

• Familiarity with cloud‑based software delivery and containerisation (e.g. AWS, Kubernetes)

• Awareness of ITIL practices or value streams relevant to service management

• Experience working with government departments or in secure project environments

• Experience contributing to multi‑party testing sessions

• Knowledge of non‑functional testing areas such as reliability, usability, security or stability

• Experience with performance, load, or penetration testing tools (e.g. JMeter, LoadRunner, OWASP ZAP)

• Knowledge of CI/CD and DevOps pipelines with integrated testing

• Familiarity with Agile/SAFe delivery and test automation in agile contexts

• Experience mentoring junior engineers and contributing to technical governance

Security Clearance

This role is subject to pre-employment screening in line with the UK Government’s Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS). An additional range of Personnel Security Controls referred to as National Security Vetting (NSV) may apply, this could include meeting the eligibility requirements for The Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV). For more information and guidance please visit:

Location

This role is predominantly based at the customer site in Hursley, with hybrid working on option. Your nominated Leonardo office will be at Southampton.

Why join us

At Leonardo, our people are at the heart of everything we do. We offer a comprehensive, company-funded benefits package that supports your wellbeing, career development, and work–life balance. Whether you're looking to grow professionally, care for your health, or plan for the future, we’re here to help you thrive.

• Time to Recharge: Enjoy generous leave with the opportunity to accrue up to 12 additional flexi-days each year.

• Secure your Future: Benefit from our award-winning pension scheme with up to 15% employer contribution.

• Your Wellbeing Matters: Free access to mental health support, financial advice, and employee-led networks championing inclusion and diversity (Enable, Pride, Equalise, Armed Forces, Carers, Wellbeing and Ethnicity).

• Rewarding Performance: All employees at management level and below are eligible for our bonus scheme.

• Never Stop Learning: Free access to 4,000+ online courses via Coursera and LinkedIn Learning.

• Refer a friend: Receive a financial reward through our referral programme.

• Tailored Perks: Spend up to £500 annually on flexible benefits including private healthcare, dental, family cover, tech & lifestyle discounts, gym memberships and more.

• Flexible working: Flexible hours with hybrid working options. For part time opportunities, please talk to us about what might be possible for this role.

For a full list of our company benefits please visit our website.

Leonardo is a global leader in Aerospace, Defence, and Security. Headquartered in Italy, we employ over 53,000 people worldwide including 8,500 across 9 sites in the UK. Our employees are not just part of a team—they are key contributors to shaping innovation, advancing technology, and enhancing global safety.

At Leonardo we are committed to building an inclusive, accessible, and welcoming workplace. We believe that a diverse workforce sparks creativity, drives innovation, and leads to better outcomes for our people and our customers. If you have any accessibility requirements to support you during the recruitment process, just let us know.

Be part of something bigger - apply now!

Primary Location:

GB - Southampton

Contract Type:

Permanent

Hybrid Working:

Onsite