QA & Automation Test Lead

Salary: £38,000 - 78,000 per year

• Proven experience leading a QA team.
• Demonstrated success transitioning organisations from manual to automated testing.
• Strong experience designing and maintaining automated test frameworks.
• Experience defining QA strategies for complex software products.
• Strong understanding of Agile development methodologies.
• Experience with API, integration, regression and end-to-end testing.
• Knowledge of CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices.
• Excellent analytical, communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to balance quality, delivery timelines and commercial priorities.
• Experience within financial services, fintech or another regulated industry is desirable.
• Knowledge of trading systems, electronic markets or complex financial platforms is desirable.
• Experience with Playwright, Cypress, Selenium or similar automation tools is desirable.
• Exposure to AI-assisted software testing solutions is desirable.
• Performance, resilience or security testing experience is desirable.
• Previous experience within a scaling technology business is desirable.

• Lead and mentor our team of QA Engineers.
• Conduct regular one-to-ones, performance reviews and development planning.
• Allocate work, prioritise testing activities and ensure effective team delivery.
• Foster a collaborative, accountable and high-performing QA culture.
• Support recruitment, onboarding and capability development.
• Own and evolve our overall QA strategy.
• Define testing standards, release criteria and quality processes.
• Ensure appropriate test coverage across new features and regression testing.
• Review requirements early to identify quality risks and improve testability.
• Act as the key quality representative across Engineering and Product teams.
• Lead the design and implementation of automated testing frameworks.
• Define testing strategies covering functional, integration, API, end-to-end and non-functional testing.
• Improve regression coverage and maintainability of automation suites.
• Integrate automated testing into CI/CD pipelines.
• Support hands-on testing activities where required.
• Develop quality metrics and meaningful QA reporting.
• Monitor defect trends, release quality and testing effectiveness.
• Identify opportunities to improve tooling, processes and delivery practices.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives across the QA function.
• Explore practical applications of AI within software testing.
• Evaluate tools that improve automation, productivity and test coverage.
• Encourage experimentation with AI-assisted testing approaches.
• Stay up to date with emerging QA technologies and industry trends.
• Work closely with Product Managers, Software Engineers, Business Analysts and stakeholders.
• Promote a quality-first culture throughout the software development lifecycle.
• Communicate testing progress, quality risks and release readiness effectively.
• Support User Acceptance Testing where appropriate.

• AI
• API
• CI/CD
• Cypress
• DevOps
• Support
• Playwright
• Security
• Selenium

More:

Our client is a well-established business operating within the financial services sector, providing innovative technology solutions to support complex financial operations. They are committed to delivering high-quality software and continuously investing in automation, modern engineering practices and product innovation. This is a hands-on leadership role for an experienced QA & Automation Team Lead to guide our Quality Assurance function as we move from predominantly manual testing to an automation-first approach. You will lead a team of QA Engineers while staying technically involved, shaping testing frameworks, embedding quality into development workflows and driving continuous improvement across our engineering function. The role is based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, with a salary of 60,000 to 80,000 and is a permanent position within the Testing sector.

last updated 36 week of 2026