Acas
Service Validation and Testing Manager
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Fleet or Nottingham Acas Office with an element of working from home. (Due to workforce restrictions, London will only be available to existing employees of Acas who are currently based in our London office. These employees should select 'Any' as a location preference and confirm they are London based as a further location preference).
Please be aware that this role can only be worked in Great Britain and not overseas. You will be asked to express a location preference during the application process. Informal hybrid arrangements are available and the balance between home and workplace working is to be agreed with the line manager to achieve the right balance between collaboration, in-person engagement and flexibility.
Job Summary
At Acas, we help make working life better for everyone.
We are looking for a Service Validation and Testing Manager to join our Digital, Data and Technology directorate at an exciting time, as we establish a new Service Validation and Testing Team.
This is a great opportunity to shape how testing is done across Acas, build a new team, and make a real difference to the quality and reliability of the digital services people rely on.
You will have the space to develop and improve our testing approach, support colleagues to build good practice, and help ensure our services are robust, accessible and ready for users.
You will be joining a friendly, collaborative and supportive working environment where people are encouraged to learn, share ideas and grow their careers. We value different perspectives and are committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive.
If you are passionate about quality, enjoy working with others, and are looking to develop your test leadership experience, we want to hear from you.
Job Description
The main accountabilities of this role are as follows –
Strategy and standards
- Define and maintain Acas's service validation and testing approach, standards, templates and reporting.
- Establish risk-based test planning across new and changed services, including appropriate functional, integration, regression, performance and user acceptance testing.
- Define quality metrics and use test evidence, defect trends and post-implementation findings to improve delivery practice.
Delivery and assurance
- Oversee test planning and execution for priority releases, projects and service changes.
- Ensure acceptance criteria, test coverage, test data, environments and release-readiness evidence are clear and proportionate.
- Identify, communicate and escalate quality risks, defects and unresolved issues in a timely way.
- Work with delivery, development, architecture, service transition and business teams to embed testing earlier in the lifecycle.
Leadership and capability
- Line manage and mentor two Grade 9 Service Validation and Testing Analysts.
- Coach colleagues in good testing practice and support consistent ways of working across DDaT.
- Champion pragmatic improvements in automation, CI/CD quality gates and performance testing.
Continuous improvement
- Support post-implementation reviews and translate lessons learned into improved testing standards.
- Keep the testing approach aligned with changing technologies, services and user needs.
- Identify opportunities to improve test tooling, reporting, automation and knowledge-sharing.
Who We Are
Acas exists to make working life better for everyone in Britain. We are the experts in workplace matters, we’re impartial, so we’re not on anyone’s side. That means we’re working for everyone to help prevent, manage and resolve workplace issues.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Acas helps employers and employees by providing information, advice, training, conciliation and other services that prevent, manage or resolve workplace problems.
Acas: Britain’s Workplace Experts
Acas has been recognised for its Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace from the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion awards; it is a Disability Confident Leader, a Pay Gap award winner, and an Overall winner for public sector organisations. Acas is committed to providing services and developing policies which embrace diversity, promote equality of opportunity and eliminate unlawful discrimination.
Person specification
Experience
Essential Criteria:
- Evidence of influencing technical and non-technical stakeholders, including explaining quality risks and release-readiness evidence in plain language (Lead criterion).
- Leadership and capability building: evidence of managing, mentoring or coaching testers, analysts or colleagues and improving team practice.
- Delivery and stakeholder management: evidence of successfully coordinating testing across several delivery teams, managing risks and communicating findings.
- Experience translating business requirements, acceptance criteria and user needs into proportionate test coverage.
Technical
Essential Criteria:
- Test strategy and risk-based assurance: evidence of defining and applying risk-based test strategies for digital or technology services, including deciding appropriate test depth, coverage, sequencing and release-readiness evidence (Lead criterion).
- Defect management: evidence of using test evidence, defect trends, quality metrics and reporting to inform delivery decisions, escalate risks and improve testing practice.
- Modern testing practice: evidence of using programming, scripting or low code automation to support testing and CI/CD quality gates.
Desirable Criteria - (the following will be assessed only in the event of tie-breaker scenarios)
Technical
- Experience with Microsoft Dynamics, CRM/case management platforms, cloud services, performance testing.
Qualifications/Memberships
- Membership or chartership of a relevant professional body (for example BCS) or a testing qualification (for example ISTQB Foundation or equivalent experience) is desirable, not essential.
Salary and Benefits
Alongside your salary of £46,750, Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service contributes £13,543 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).
We’re Big Believers In Rewarding People For The Amazing Work They Do, Take a Look At Some Of The Fantastic Benefits We Offer:
- Learning and Development
- Health and wellbeing
- Pension scheme
- Cycle to work scheme
- Interest free season ticket loans
- Volunteering opportunities
You’ll have access to a Lifestyle website, where you’ll be able to grab savings over a wide range of products from holidays to your weekly shop.
To find out more please check out - Working for Acas
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.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Selection process details
How To Apply
Please click on the 'Apply now' button.
As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete:
- An evidence-based Personal Statement and CV reflecting the essential Experience and Technical requirements as listed in the Person Specification section of this advert. Your Personal Statement should be no longer than 1,250 words. It should avoid generalised assertions, instead including specific examples of achievements, explaining the degree of challenge, what you did, how you did it and the outcomes.
- Your CV should be no more than the equivalent of two sides of A4.
- A separate 250-word Statement reflecting the desirable criteria. Desirable criteria will only be assessed in the event of a tie-breaker scenario at sift or interview.
Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the Lead Criteria:
- Evidence of influencing technical and non-technical stakeholders, including explaining quality risks and release-readiness evidence in plain language, and
- Test strategy and risk-based assurance: evidence of defining and applying risk-based test strategies for digital or technology services, including deciding appropriate test depth, coverage, sequencing and release-readiness evidence.
Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift of all the above requirements or progressed straight to assessment/interview.
If a large number of applications meet the minimum standard an interview wait list may be created for this position. This means that if you have met the minimum requirements at sift you may be placed at a ‘Hold’ status for up to 12 months and if we are able to invite you to an interview we will be in touch.
Interview Details
If you have successfully passed sift at the application stage, you will be invited to an interview which will take place via Microsoft Teams, and which is likely to take place from the week commencing 24 August 2026.
It will be a technical and experience-based interview, and it will also include a test on the lead technical criteria:
- Test strategy and risk-based assurance: evidence of defining and applying risk-based test strategies for digital or technology services, including deciding appropriate test depth, coverage, sequencing and release-readiness evidence.
The following Technical Essential criteria will also be assessed at interview -
- Defect management: evidence of using test evidence, defect trends, quality metrics and reporting to inform delivery decisions, escalate risks and improve testing practice.
- Modern testing practice: evidence of using programming, scripting or low code automation to support testing and CI/CD quality gates.
The following Essential Experience criteria will be assessed at Interview –
- Evidence of influencing technical and non-technical stakeholders, including explaining quality risks and release-readiness evidence in plain language.
- Leadership and capability building: evidence of managing, mentoring or coaching testers, analysts or colleagues and improving team practice.
- Delivery and stakeholder management: evidence of successfully coordinating testing across several delivery teams, managing risks and communicating findings.
- Experience translating business requirements, acceptance criteria and user needs into proportionate test coverage.
A reserve list will be created for this position; this means that if you have passed the interview, but we cannot immediately offer you this position, you will be placed on a reserve list for 1
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills