Test Lead NDP (National Digital Platform)

Flexible Location: Based throughout Scotland, NES is a remote friendly employer supporting office and hybrid working. We're happy to talk about how you want to work.

Work Pattern: Fixed Term, Full Time, 37 hours per week

As from 1/4/26, the Agenda for Change full-time working week will be reducing from 37 to 36 hours per week. Part time hours will be reduced pro-rata. However, there will be a corresponding increase in the hourly rate so that pay will not be affected.

Fixed-term or Secondment until 31st March 2028

For NHS applicants, an NHS secondment will be offered in the first instance. For non-NHS applicants, a fixed-term or secondment would be considered.

You must have eligibility and entitlement to work in the UK which is required to be maintained throughout your period of employment.

Who We Are

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) is the national health board with statutory responsibilities to effect sustainable change through workforce development, education and training across the health and social care system in Scotland, while working at UK level with partner organisations.

The function of NES Technology Service is to develop and lead a programme of work and services that supports both the corporate functions that allow NES to work and deliver its strategic objective and to deliver against Scotland's Digital Health and Care Strategy.

The Opportunity

Test Lead NDP (National Digital Platform)

Do you have a passion for testing & quality?

Do you thrive on solving complex technical & business/ user challenges and take pride in delivering flawless, high-quality software?

Do you have a passion for digging deep into cloud infrastructure, getting hands-on with the latest technologies, and ensuring every deployment is seamless?

Do you love testing cutting-edge solutions, while being deeply involved in automation, performance testing, and cloud-based environments?

Do you take a proactive approach to improving QA processes and ensuring the entire development lifecycle is optimized for quality and speed?

Working within the National Digital Platform, you will play a pivotal role in leading the QA efforts across our cloud-based solutions, driving quality at every stage of the development lifecycle. You'll not only get hands-on with the latest tools and technologies but also collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to ensure testing strategies are aligned with our technical goals. Your expertise will be crucial in delivering scalable, high-performance applications that meet both internal standards and external customer requirements.

As a key member of the team, you may work directly with external providers and clients, acting as the bridge between their needs and our technical teams. You will lead testing initiatives that impact real-world use cases, ensuring seamless integration, compatibility, and performance across diverse environments. Your ability to collaborate, influence, and communicate complex technical details to non-technical stakeholders will be essential in delivering top-tier solutions that exceed expectations.

Does this sound like you?

What We Love to See

Test Leads offer a broad range of skills and experience, if you can offer some or all of these, we'd love you to apply:

• A passion for testing
• Knowledge of and hands on experience of cloud infrastructure
• Knowledge and experience of test tool selection and use
• Ability to break down technical solutions and develop a model of the different components and how they work to facilitate discussion and test ideas
• Broad understanding of the key roles within an agile team and experience of developing relationships to work efficiently together to deliver excellence
• Holistic thinker with experience in collaborating effectively across teams
• A proactive, engaged individual who brings enthusiasm to their work and enjoys supporting others to solve problems, as much as solving them themselves
• Someone who actively engages with the project and demonstrates genuine curiosity and commitment to continuous improvement
• An advocate for users, able to view the product through the lens of diverse user needs and contribute to solutions that work for everyone
• Demonstrate honesty, integrity, care and compassion when dealing with others, utilising tact and persuasion skills when necessary
• Ability to work on own initiative, to organise and prioritise own workloads, to meet strict deadlines

Benefits Which Matter

As a valued employee of NHS Scotland, you can enjoy an extensive range of benefits including:

• Life-work balance - with opportunities for flexible working and hybrid working
• Generous NHS pension scheme
• Annual incremental salary progression (up to the maximum of the salary band) plus annual NHS salary scale review
• Annual Leave - 27 Days increasing in line with service plus 8 days public holiday
• NHS discounts and more

Diversity and Inclusion

Developing a successful national service for Scotland is impossible without ensuring we consider the diverse needs, perspectives and backgrounds of everyone in Scotland in our work.

We are focused on hiring the very best talent available for NES, and actively encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds and aim to ensure everyone is treated fairly, with respect and has a positive recruitment experience - regardless of the outcome.

It's not essential to be in a Test Lead role right now, but you must have previous experience of being a Test Lead. You may be returning from a career break (e.g. maternity, paternity, caring for others) or returning after working in another field. Your experiences elsewhere can bring a fresh perspective to our work.

If you are considering applying and feel it would be helpful to discuss this initially, please contact

Next Steps

NHS candidates will be considered firstly on a secondment basis, and so are strongly encouraged to discuss this with their current NHS employer at the earliest opportunity, ideally prior to application.

Our recruitment process is currently 100% remote and if successful you would initially work remotely, working from our offices as operationally required.

All applicants who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by e-mail.

Online interviews (including a presentation) will take place on Thursday 26th February - Tuesday 3rd March 2026. The presentation topic will be sent to candidates selected for interview.

For further information please refer to the Job Information Pack below.

Unless otherwise stated the deadline for applications is 23:59 hours on the closing date. Please note, CVs will not be accepted.

1. Please be advised that if you are successful in being offered the role following the recruitment process, you will be expected to attend the office prior to your start date to complete face-to-face pre-employment checks. If you require any adjustments to support this, please let us know.
2. To work in the United Kingdom, there is a legal requirement for an individual to demonstrate that they have the relevant permission to work in the country. This permission is, without exception, granted by the UK Visa and Immigrations Service.

As part of the pre-employment checks for a preferred candidate, NHS Scotland Boards willcheck your entitlement to work in the UK. It can be evidenced through a number of routes including specific types of visa as well as EU settled and pre-settled status. To find out more about these routes of permission, please refer to the GOV.UK website here.

For specific types of post, if you do not have the necessary eligibility to work in the UK, it might be possible (though not guaranteed) to secure sponsorship via a UK Skilled Worker/Health & Care Worker Visa. However, this is only possible if the employer is a licenced Sponsor, and if the post does not fall below the current minimum salary threshold or 'going rate'. Further information on these criteria can be found here.

It is ESSENTIAL that you have checked that you either already have an appropriate right to work in the UK or that the post would be eligible to be sponsored BEFORE submitting your application form.

If you have any queries regarding the NHS Scotland National Recruitment Portal or the recruitment process, please don't hesitate to contact our recruitment partners, the East Region Recruitment Service, at: