Systems Test Engineer

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 documenting their results in detail.
• Log defects and escalate these when necessary.
• Perform a mix of testing: functional, accessibility, cross-browser, regression, acceptance, verification.
• 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). Essential

• 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 performing a mix of testing: functional, accessibility, cross-browser, regression, acceptance, verification. (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)

Benefits 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! A list of benefits below:

• An outstanding defined benefit pension scheme.
• 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: Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) UKRI is an Equal Opportunity & Disability Confident Employer. Please apply online, if you experience any issue applying, please contact Recruitment@ukri.org. Please note, if you will require sponsorship to work in the UK, as part of your sponsorship application, you and any dependants travelling with you, will be required to pay costs directly to The Home Office for the application before you start your role with us. UKRI is normally able to reimburse some, or all of these fees after you have become an employee and this can be discussed with the Hiring Manager. For more information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/how-much-it-costs or contact Recruitment@ukri.org.