Location: Hybrid – 4 days per week on site at MOD Corsham

Rate: Up to £550/day

IR35 status: Inside IR35

Contract dates: 01/10/2026 to 31/03/2028

Closing date: 15th September 2026 at 10:00

Security clearance: Must hold UK Security Clearance (SC) and be prepared to undergo DV clearance if required

Overview

Our customer, a large defence organisation, is seeking an experienced Test Engineer to deliver hands-on engineering support to the OpNET FMN Spiral 6 Data Centric Interoperability (DCI) Pilot, developing and executing verification, validation, interoperability and compliance testing activities to support acceptance of the solution.

The role focuses on the creation, execution and reporting of test activities across infrastructure, security, identity, interoperability and information exchange components, supporting full lifecycle delivery from test design through to execution, validation, demonstration and reporting within secure and regulated defence environments.

Programme Context

The New Style of IT (Deployed) – NSoIT(D) – programme is delivering OpNET, a new C4 capability across the SECRET, Mission SECRET and OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE security domains.

The programme aims to deliver a highly secure, technologically advanced and evolutionary communications and information service that connects war-fighters and enables information advantage across the operational landscape.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, maintain and execute test scripts to support verification, validation and acceptance of the FMN Spiral 6 DCI capability.
• Support the development and execution of the Validation and Verification (V&V) plan.
• Develop functional, non-functional, integration, interoperability and regression test scenarios.
• Execute test activities across infrastructure, security, identity, policy enforcement and interoperability components.
• Conduct interoperability testing between OpNET, partner systems and FMN-aligned services.
• Support validation of coalition information sharing, policy-based information controls, auditability and traceability requirements.
• Support testing of Federated Identity and Access Management (FIAM), Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and trust services.
• Produce and maintain test documentation including test plans, test scripts, test procedures, evidence packs, defect reports and test reports.
• Capture, manage and report defects, supporting investigation, root cause analysis and resolution activities.
• Support installation, configuration and validation of test environments and demonstration environments.
• Collaborate with architects, engineers and security specialists to ensure successful integration and validation of the solution.
• Record and maintain test evidence to support assurance, compliance, acceptance and audit activities.
• Support FMN Spiral 6 compliance validation activities and Authority-witnessed demonstrations.
• Document test outcomes, lessons identified and recommendations arising from validation activities.
• Support continuous improvement of test processes, tooling and methodologies.
• Deliver testing activities in line with programme timelines, quality standards, configuration management processes and security requirements.
• Provide support for Live Ops as required.

Essential Skills, Qualifications and Experience

• Strong experience in test engineering, including test planning, test script development, test execution and reporting.
• Experience producing test documentation including test plans, test scripts, test procedures, defect reports, test reports and evidence packs.
• Experience performing functional, non-functional, integration and regression testing.
• Experience supporting validation and acceptance activities within complex enterprise or infrastructure environments.
• Understanding of systems integration testing and end-to-end service validation.
• Experience testing infrastructure, networking, security or identity management solutions.
• Knowledge of Identity and Access Management (IAM) concepts including authentication, authorisation and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC).
• Understanding of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), digital certificates and certificate-based trust mechanisms.
• Experience supporting testing within secure or regulated environments.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting and communication skills.
• Ability to manage changing priorities and work to project timelines.
• Experience working within Agile or structured delivery environments.
• Competency in MS Office Suite.

Desirable Skills, Qualifications and Experience

• Experience of interoperability testing within Defence, NATO or coalition environments.
• Knowledge of Federation Mission Networking (FMN) standards, particularly FMN Spiral 6.
• Experience validating Data Centric Interoperability (DCI) or information-sharing capabilities.
• Experience with Federated Identity and Access Management (FIAM) solutions.
• Knowledge of Data Centric Security concepts, policy enforcement technologies and metadata-based information handling controls.
• Experience supporting PKI implementations and certificate-based authentication services.
• Experience with virtualised environments, e.g. VMware, VDI and multi-tenancy.
• Exposure to military, Defence Digital, OpNET or NSoIT(D) information systems.
• Experience with test management and collaboration platforms, e.g. JIRA and Confluence.
• Experience supporting formal verification, validation, demonstration and acceptance activities.
• Relevant certifications, e.g. ISTQB Foundation/Practitioner, Security+, VMware VCP or equivalent.
• Familiarity with Agile (SAFe) and Waterfall delivery methodologies.

Additional Information

• Base working site is MOD Corsham.
• 4 days per week on site are required.
• Must hold UK Security Clearance (SC) and be prepared to undergo DV clearance if required.
• The assignment is expected to run from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2028.