Test and Evaluation Technical Lead

In this role you will lead the Test and Evaluation work for armed policing and less lethal weapons, applying scientific expertise to ensure safe, effective and timely assurance of equipment. You will join a multi-disciplinary team within Home Office Science, collaborating with policy, suppliers and labs to deliver robust evidence for decisions. You’ll translate complex data into clear, policy-relevant advice that supports high-stakes policing outcomes. This is a delivery-focused opportunity to shape safety-critical capabilities and work on real-world, impactful technology deployments.

• Civil Service pension with employer contribution of 28.97%
• in-year reward scheme for exceptional achievements
• 25 days annual leave, rising to 30 with service
• 8 public holidays plus one privilege day
• flexible office/home-based working where possible
• potential annual RRA allowance (subject to conditions)

• Apply engineering or physics expertise to manage assurance work strands for armed policing and less lethal weapons, aligning with codes of practice and safety requirements.
• Analyse and interpret scientific data to produce expert, decision-informing outputs.
• Collaborate with external laboratories and suppliers to ensure testing outputs meet time, quality, and cost targets.
• Review and revise guidelines to ensure methodological robustness and operational relevance.
• Assess market maturity and impact on innovation for standardization.
• Engage with internal and external stakeholders to support delivery of assurance services.
• Identify and escalate risks or issues from testing activities and contribute to process improvements.
• Support investigations if equipment issues or failures arise.

• Relevant experience in an associated scientific or technical field
• Experience in weapons/defence engineering
• Delivery, oversight and management of technical services or R&D projects applying science to real-world problems
• Ability to plan, schedule workload and maintain technical delivery in fast-paced, complex environments
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including explaining technical information to non-specialists
• Strong stakeholder engagement skills and ability to build cross-team relationships
• Ability to design and support experimental or test activities and interpret results

• excellent written and verbal communication
• strong engagement with stakeholders
• ability to communicate technical information clearly to non-specialists
• engineering or physics background
• weapons/defence engineering
• data analysis and interpretation