Manager, Functional Test Lead, Engineering, Defence and Security

Connect to your Industry

Do you want to be at the heart of some of the biggest and most ambitious programmes undertaken to keep our country safe? 

We are proud of the impact we have with our Defence & Security clients, the strength of our relationships, and the variety of our skills and expertise that we bring to help them achieve their mission.

As a Functional Test Lead, you’ll apply disciplined test management across SIT, UAT and automation, enabling delivery teams and business users to build confidence in their solution.

We’re growing rapidly across our Defence portfolio, with opportunities for candidates who hold Security Check (SC) clearance, as well as those who already hold Developed Vetting (DV) clearance, and want to lead testing that makes an impact across the nation, we’d love to meet you.

Connect to your career at Deloitte

Deloitte drives progress. Using our vast range of expertise, we help our clients' become leaders wherever they choose to compete. To do this, we invest in outstanding people. We build teams of future thinkers, with diverse talents and backgrounds, and empower them all to reach for and achieve more.  

What brings us all together at Deloitte? It’s how we approach the thousands of decisions we make every day. How we behave, our beliefs and our attitudes. In other words: our values. Whatever we do, wherever we are in the world, we lead the way, serve with integrity, take care of each other, foster inclusion, and collaborate for measurable impact. These five shared values lead every decision we make and action we take, guiding us to deliver impact how and where it matters most.

Connect to your opportunity

We’re looking for a Functional Test Lead who is ready to take the next step in their career and build their experience of coordinating test delivery across complex programmes. You’ll support the delivery of SIT, UAT and automation, working with our clients to deliver with confidence across some of the largest programmes in the country.

You’ll work shoulder-to-shoulder with test and delivery leads, business analysts, product owners, developers, technical teams and client stakeholders – leading teams to plan, coordinate and deliver business-focused testing across complex technology programmes.

You might find yourself:

• Supporting or leading functional and technical test workstreams with clear scope, entry and exit criteria, dependencies, milestones and governance.
• Contributing to and maintaining test plans, estimates, schedules, resource requirements, quality gates and reporting approaches.
• Working with business and technical stakeholders to establish risk-based coverage that is traceable to requirements, user journeys, interfaces and key business risks.
• Coordinating SIT across integrated systems, services, data flows and third parties, ensuring environments, test data and dependencies are ready.
• Planning and enabling UAT, including business-user engagement, scenario design, scheduling, guidance, evidence capture, defect triage and acceptance reporting.
• Implementing functional and automated testing approaches, ensuring activities are planned, coordinated and delivered in line with programme objectives.
• Coordinating the day-to-day work of test team members, setting priorities, allocating work, resolving blockers and supporting capability development.
• Producing clear test dashboards and completion reports, supporting defect governance and providing evidence-based assurance on quality, residual risk and release readiness.

Your work will have national impact – the systems we test are used by millions of people every day, often in mission-critical environments.

Connect to your skills and professional experience

You’re curious, collaborative, and hands-on.

You bring clarity to complex delivery environments, communicate confidently with business and technical audiences, and know how to balance coverage, pace and risk. You take initiative, challenge assumptions constructively and help teams make evidence-based decisions.

Essentials

• This role requires SC (Security Check) clearance eligibility – see Security Clearance section below for details.
• Proven experience co-ordinating functional testing on complex programmes, including responsibility for delivery, team leadership and stakeholder reporting.
• Strong practical experience of functional test phases such as SIT or UAT, covering integrated business processes, interfaces, data flows, external dependencies and end-to-end scenarios.
• Experience contributing to or developing risk-based test plans, coverage models, estimates, schedules, entry and exit criteria, and test completion reports.
• Experience with defect management and triage across business, delivery and technical teams.
• Experience managing test environments, test data, dependencies and readiness for formal test phases.
• Experience using test management and delivery tools such as Azure DevOps, Jira, Xray, Zephyr, QTest or equivalent
• Experience working in Agile, hybrid or iterative delivery environments and collaborating across multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience leading, managing and mentoring test resources.
• A collaborative mindset, strong client-facing skills and clear written and verbal communication.

Desirable

• Experience of working in the Defence & Security industry or in other Government services.
• Experience leading testing within large-scale digital, business or technology transformation programmes.
• Experience working on client-facing engagements, facilitating workshops, presenting test outcomes and quality risks to senior client stakeholders, and acting as a trusted adviser throughout programme delivery.
• Experience managing testing delivered by multiple teams or third-party suppliers.
• Knowledge of non-functional testing areas such as performance, security, accessibility, operational acceptance and resilience.
• ·       Practical knowledge of CI/CD pipelines and how automated tests support build, deployment and release processes
• Experience testing cloud-based, SaaS or data-enabled services.
• Experience testing SaaS platforms such as SAP, Oracle, Salesforce or ServiceNow.
• Knowledge of test data management and data integrity testing techniques.
• Understanding of software development lifecycle and software engineering fundamentals.

Security Clearance

Candidates must hold Security Check (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV) clearance to apply.

Connect to your business – Technology and Transformation

Distinctive thinking, deep expertise, innovation and collaborative working. That’s what connects us. That’s what makes us Deloitte. If you want to help solve some of the biggest tech and transformational challenges around, join us. Together, we’ll make an impact that matters.

Engineering, AI and Data

We lead transformation at the heart of our clients; re-engineering the core of our clients’ organisations, helping to unleash growth, and creating better futures for their customers, citizens and employees.

Personal independence

Regulation and controls are standard practice in our industry and Deloitte is no exception. These controls provide important legal protection for both you and the firm. We are subject to a number of audit regulations, one of which requires that certain colleagues abide by specific personal independence constraints (e.g., in relation to any financial interests and employment relationships). This can mean that you and your "Immediate Family Members" are not permitted to hold certain financial interests (shares, funds, bonds etc.) with audit clients of the firm, and also prohibitions on certain employment relationships (e.g., you are not permitted to hold a secondary employment role with SEC audit clients of the firm whilst being employed by the firm). The recruitment team will provide further detail as you progress through the recruitment process or you can contact the Independence team upon request.

Connect with your colleagues

“What attracted me to Deloitte were the endless opportunities and the collective experience of other like-minded individuals. Deloitte’s clients include many of the world’s largest organisations; I wanted to be part of a team that made a difference that I could be proud of.”

Dan, Technology and Transformation

Our hybrid working policy

You’ll be based in Bristol or Manchester with hybrid working.

At Deloitte we understand the importance of balancing your career alongside your home life. That’s why we’ll support you to work flexibly through our hybrid working policy. Depending on the requirements of your role, you’ll have the opportunity to work in your local office, virtual collaboration spaces, client sites and remotely. You’ll get the chance to meet face to face when needed, while you collaborate and learn from colleagues, share your experiences, and build the relationships that will fuel your career and prioritise your wellbeing. Please check with your recruiter for the specific working requirements that may apply for your role.

Our commitment to you

Making an impact is more than just what we do: it’s why we’re here. So we work hard to create an environment where you can experience a purpose you believe in, the freedom to be you, and the capacity to go further than ever before.

We want you. The true you. Your own strengths, perspective and personality. So we’re nurturing a culture where everyone belongs, feels supported and heard, and is empowered to make a valuable, personal contribution. You can be sure we’ll take your wellbeing seriously, too. Because it’s only when you’re comfortable and at your best that you can make the kind of impact you, and we, live for.

Your expertise is our capability, so we’ll make sure it never stops growing. Whether it’s from the complex work you do, or the people you collaborate with, you’ll learn every day. Through world-class development, you’ll gain invaluable technical and personal skills. Whatever your level, you’ll learn how to lead.

Connect to your next step

A career at Deloitte is an opportunity to develop in any direction you choose. Join us and you’ll experience a purpose you can believe in and an impact you can see. You’ll be free to bring your true self to work every day. And you’ll never stop growing, whatever your level.

Discover more reasons to connect with us, our people and purpose-driven culture at deloitte.co.uk/careers

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