Senior Software Tester

Spektrum have a wide range of exciting opportunities in several global locations. We are always looking to add great new talent to our team and look forward to hearing from you. Spektrum supports apex purchasers (NATO, UN, EU, and National Government and Defence) and their Tier 1 supplier ecosystem with a wide range of specialist services. We provide our clients with professional services, specialised aerospace and defence sales, delivery, and operational subject matter expertise. We are looking for personnel to join our team and support key client projects. Who we are supporting The NATO Communication and Information Agency (NCIA) is responsible for providing secure and effective communications and information technology (IT) services to NATO's member countries and its partners. The agency was established in 2012 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The NCIA provides a wide range of services, including: Cyber Security: The NCIA provides advanced cybersecurity solutions to protect NATO's communication networks and information systems against cyber threats. Command and Control Systems: The NCIA develops and maintains the systems used by NATO's military commanders to plan and execute operations. Satellite Communications: The NCIA provides satellite communications services to enable secure and reliable communications between NATO forces. Electronic Warfare: The NCIA provides electronic warfare services to support NATO's mission to detect, deny, and defeat threats to its communication networks. Information Management: The NCIA manages NATO's information technology infrastructure, including its databases, applications, and servers. Overall, the NCIA plays a critical role in ensuring the security and effectiveness of NATO's communication and information technology capabilities. The program Assistance and Advisory Service (AAS) The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency) is NATO’s principal C3 capability deliverer and CIS service provider. It provides, maintains and defends the NATO enterprise-wide information technology infrastructure to enable Allies to consult together under Article IV, and, when required, stand together in the face of attack under Article V. To provide these critical services, in the modern evolving dynamic environment the NCI Agency needs to build and maintain high performance-engaged workforce. The NCI Agency workforce strategically consists of three major categorise's: NATO International Civilians (NIC)'s, Military (Mil), and Interim Workforce Consultants (IWC)'s. The IWCs are a critical part of the overall NCI Agency workforce and make up approximately 15 percent of the total workforce. Role ID – 2026-0086 Role Duties and Responsibilities Develop, update, and maintain NIRIS test cases, test scenarios, test scripts, and test data in accordance with agreed requirements, priorities, technical direction, release planning, and project objectives. Perform manual, automated, functional, regression, integration, and system testing to support the continued maintenance, validation, and evolution of the NIRIS software baseline. Support the full software testing lifecycle of NIRIS, including test analysis, test design, test implementation, test execution, defect reporting, retesting, regression testing, and test documentation. Develop, update, and maintain automated test scripts and test automation assets to improve test coverage, repeatability, maintainability, and regression testing capability. Support integration and verification activities to ensure that developed, updated, or maintained NIRIS software components operate correctly within the wider NIRIS system and in line with agreed interface, interoperability, and operational requirements. Analyse, investigate, document, and report software defects, test failures, anomalies, and quality issues identified during testing, integration, verification, release preparation, or operational support activities. Support the verification of defect fixes and software changes by performing retesting, regression testing, and validation against agreed acceptance criteria and requirements. Develop, update, and maintain test documentation, including test plans, test cases, test execution reports, defect reports, regression test evidence, automation documentation, and other project deliverables as required. Contribute to virtual and in-person meetings, reviews, planning sessions, sprint ceremonies, technical discussions, test coordination activities, and release readiness reviews with NCIA stakeholders and project team members. Ensure that all testing activities, test artefacts, automated scripts, defect reports, and associated deliverables comply with applicable NCIA testing standards, quality requirements, configuration management practices, and agreed project procedures. Update and expand the produced test assets, automated test scripts, test data, and documentation as necessary to accommodate new, revised, or emerging requirements throughout the duration of the engagement. Support the improvement of NIRIS software quality, reliability, maintainability, interoperability, and operational readiness by providing structured testing, clear test evidence, and timely feedback to the project team. Essential Skills, Experience and Certifications At least 5 years of professional experience in software testing and quality assurance, with a focus on complex software systems, networked applications, or distributed environments. Proven ability to communicate effectively in English, both orally and in writing, in a clear, structured, and professional manner. Demonstrated experience in working within Agile/Scrum environments, including participation in sprint planning, test planning, sprint execution, defect triage, sprint reviews, and release preparation activities. At least 3 years of professional experience in designing, writing, executing, and maintaining manual test cases, including functional, regression, integration, interface, and release-related test scenarios. At least 3 years of experience in defect identification, defect reporting, retesting, regression testing, and defect verification using issue tracking and test management tools. At least 2 years of experience testing RESTful services, APIs, messaging systems, or data exchange interfaces, including verification of request/response behaviour, data processing, data filtering, and error handling. At least 2 years of experience testing Web GUI, REST API, and command-line interfaces, preferably for networking products or interface-heavy software systems. At least 2 years of experience working with interoperability testing, including testing of data exchange, message handling, configuration, integration with external systems, or multi-system test environments. At least 2 years of professional experience working with test automation frameworks, such as Robot Framework, Gauge, Cucumber, Selenium, Playwright, Cypress, or similar. At least 1 year of professional experience with scripting or programming languages used to support test automation, test execution, troubleshooting, or environment configuration, such as Java, Python, Linux Bash, Ansible, or similar. At least 1 year of professional experience working with containerized or virtualized test environments, including Docker, or equivalent technologies. Demonstrated experience using development, testing, and configuration management tools such as Jira, Zephyr, GitLab, CI/CD pipelines, artifact repositories, or equivalent tools. Demonstrable experience in preparing and maintaining test documentation, including test plans, test cases, test execution reports, defect reports, verification evidence, regression reports, and release readiness inputs. Experience in defining test scenarios, acceptance criteria, validation approaches, or verification evidence for software deliverables. Demonstrable ability to troubleshoot and support issue analysis on Windows Server and Linux-based operating systems, including basic knowledge of IP addressing, routing, DNS, HTTP/HTTPS, Active Directory, certificate management, and service configuration. Demonstrable knowledge or experience in interoperability and data exchange standards, particularly within defence. Knowledge of Tactical Data Links, including Link 16, Link 22, OTH-Gold, JREAP, VMF, DIS, AIS, CESMO, or similar standards, is highly desirable. Experience working with distributed systems and multi-component architectures, including integration and testing across multiple data sources, services, interfaces, or external systems. Familiarity with secure testing practices, controlled test environments, information handling requirements, and working within regulated or accredited environments. Possession of relevant technical or testing certifications, including ISTQB, TMap, Microsoft, Red Hat, CompTIA, Cisco, or equivalent certifications, is desirable. Working Location Remote, with occasional on-site work at NCIA The Hague (NLD) Working Policy Offsite Travel Some travel to other NATO sites may be required Security Clearance Valid National or NATO Secret personal security clearance We never know what new opportunities might be just over the horizon. If this opportunity isn't for you, please feel free to send us your resume anyway and be the first to know if something suitable for your skills and experience comes up.