Systems Test Engineer

Salary: £37,841 per annum
Hours: Full time / Part time (0.8 FTE minimum)
Contract type: Open ended
Location: Research England, Westward House, Lime Kiln Close, Stoke Gifford, Bristol, BS34 8SR
Grade: UKRI D
Positions available: 1
Closing date: Sunday 8th March 2026
Proposed interview date: Week of the 23rd March 2026

About us

The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions, with the most recent exercise concluding in 2021. It is a peer review assessment process involving submissions from higher education institutions across the UK. Research England delivered REF 2021 on behalf of the four UK funding bodies and the results have driven the annual distribution of approximately £2 billion of research funding to UK universities.

Purpose

We require systems to be delivered to support:

• Administration of the exercise
• The submission of large volumes of research data from all participating HEIs
• The dissemination and assessment of all elements of the research data submitted.

Working within the REF systems team, you will be a key part of our test function, playing a crucial role in ensuring the quality, reliability, and user friendliness of our systems. This is an exciting opportunity to work within a full systems delivery team following user centred design and Agile methodologies.

Main outputs and activities

• Review user stories and design test cases for features.
• Maintain and improve regression test cases for our applications.
• Execute test cases and document their results in detail.
• Log defects and escalates them when necessary.
• Represent the test function in Agile ceremonies.
• Be interested in learning about test automation.
• Work closely with our in house user support function on live issues.

Personal Specification

The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I).

• Experience designing, reviewing and executing test cases for web applications. (S&I)
• Experience using software that supports defect logging/tracking e.g. Jira, Azure DevOps, etc. (S&I)
• Experience working as a tester in an Agile environment, ideally Agile SCRUM. (S&I)
• Experience testing web applications using the application's front end. (I)
• Experience testing web applications using the application's API e.g. cURL, Postman, etc. (I)
• Experience working with SQL databases during testing activity e.g. Setting up test data, investigating defects, writing simple queries, etc. (I)

We recognise and value our employees as individuals and aim to provide a favourable pay and rewards package. We are committed to supporting employees' development and promote a culture of continuous learning!

Benefits

• 30 days' annual leave in addition to 10.5 public and privilege days (full time equivalent).
• Employee discounts and offers on retail and leisure activities.
• Employee assistance programme, providing confidential help and advice.
• Flexible working options.
• Plus many more benefits and wellbeing initiatives that enable our employees to have a great work life balance!

For further information on our benefits please see: UKRI is an Equal Opportunity & Disability Confident Employer.

How to apply

Online applications only preferred for this role. Please submit a CV and covering letter which clearly outlines how you fulfil the criteria specified along with your motivation for UKRI and the role. Ensure that the job reference number is included in the filename description of each document uploaded. Note that failure to address the above criteria or submit an application without a covering letter may result in the application not being considered. Assessment will only be based upon the content of your submitted covering letter and CV and not the 'experience' section of the application.

UKRI seeks to ensure it creates and maintains a system of openness, fairness and inclusion - a collaborative, trusted environment, which is attractive to and accessible to everyone who is interested in developing their career with us.

The role holder will be required to have the appropriate level of security screening/vetting required for the role. UKRI reserves the right to run or re run security clearance as required during the course of employment.

About the Team

Research England is one of the nine Councils within UK Research and Innovation. As a key component of the research funding system, Research England will oversee UKRI's England only functions in relation to university research and knowledge exchange (KE). This includes providing grant funding to English universities for related activities; developing and implementing the Research Excellence Framework in partnership with the UK Higher Education funding bodies; supervising the sustainability of the Higher Education research base in England; guiding the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund; and coordinating the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF). Research England will build and sustain the conditions for a healthy and dynamic research and KE system in English universities. They also work closely with their counterparts in the Devolved Administrations.

For more information about Research England, click here.