Principal Automation Test Specialist

Shape the Future with the National Wealth Fund. At the National Wealth Fund, our mission is to swiftly and effectively mobilise trusted sector insights and investment expertise to unlock billions in private finance for projects across the United Kingdom.

Location:

Hybrid working with a minimum of 3 days per week in the Leeds office. Salary:
Up to £55,000.

This is an exciting opportunity to help shape the recently formed Quality Assurance function at the National Wealth Fund. You will be joining a small team and will be instrumental in shaping automation across the application estate with a specific focus on our Dynamics 365 platform in this greenfield function. The Principal Automation Test Specialist will report into the QA Test Manager and will be solely responsible for building upon and maintaining our recently established Playwright automation framework, predominantly (though not restricted to) our Dynamics 365 application.

• Design, develop, and maintain automated test suites using Playwright with C#.
• Build automation for Dynamics 365 and Power Apps experiences (model‑driven and/or canvas), including navigation, form behaviours, validations, role‑based UI differences, and critical user workflows.
• Translate user stories, acceptance criteria, and process maps into low‑code automated test scenarios and reusable components aligned to our D365 and other business processes.
• Build and maintain regression packs and smoke test suites to support frequent releases and platform updates.
• Assess automation candidates for sprint testing to reduce manual overhead within sprints.
• Integrate and execute automated tests within Azure Dev Ops pipelines, ensuring quality gates and reliable reporting.
• Manage test execution results, analyse failures, and improve script resilience (e.g., handling dynamic UI, waits, test data stability).
• Identify, log, and manage defects using Azure Dev Ops, including clear reproduction steps and evidence such as screenshots, videos, and traces.
• Collaborate with developers to triage failures, distinguish defects from test issues, validate fixes and prevent regression issues.
• Improve test stability by implementing robust locator strategies, resilient waits, and controlled retries, reducing flaky tests over time.
• Ensure automation adheres to maintainable standards (page‑object patterns, fixtures, shared utilities, naming conventions).
• Support test data setup and environment readiness across DEV/TEST/UAT, including secure handling of credentials and configuration.
• Produce clear QA artefacts: execution reports, coverage summaries, defect trend insights, and release readiness updates suitable for a blended audience.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of test practices, tooling choices, and automation strategy.
• Ensure compliance with quality assurance processes and governance standards.
• Provide mentorship or guidance to other team members where required.
• Work closely with key stakeholders to set standards and influence organisational decisions on test techniques, tooling, design and execution.
• Manage stakeholder expectations, focusing on complex problem solving and influencing senior team members across Data, Information Security and Technology Act autonomously.
• Participate in and contribute to Agile ceremonies, being a key player in 3
  
  Amigos and other ceremonies, leading and guiding on improvements in ways of working.
• Support the QA Test Manager in introducing and embedding improvements and helping shape and continuously improve the QA function.

• Experience with in the Financial Services industry.
• Expert level understanding of all test phases across the SDLC and the application of them.
• ISTQB tester accredited, with significant testing experience in both manual and automation testing.
• Excellent working knowledge of Agile and Scrum methodologies.
• Expert level experience in leading automation testing activities, able to build upon, maintain and run an automation framework alone.
• Proficient using Playwright as a test automation tool.
• Strong C# fundamentals relevant to automation; async/await patterns, LINQ for data‑driven testing, clean code…