Principal Test Automation Engineer

Job Title:

CO-OP - BIRMINGHAM - Principal Test Automation Engineer About the Job you are considering:

The Senior Test Automation Architect is responsible for defining driving and governing the end‑to‑end test automation strategy across enterprise programs and portfolios. The role focuses on architecting scalable reusable automation solutions enabling Dev Ops and CI/CD integration, mentoring automation teams, and ensuring measurable business value through high‑quality efficient test automation. This role works closely with Program Test Managers, Solution Architects, Dev Ops teams, product owners, and business stakeholders to align automation initiatives with business outcomes.

The places that you work from day to day will vary according to your role, your needs, and those of the business; it will be a blend of company offices, client sites, and your home, noting that you will be unable to work at home 100% of the time.

• Define and own the enterprise‑wide test automation strategy aligned with business, programme, and technology objectives.
• Design and maintain scalable, modular, and reusable automation frameworks for UI, API, integration, and backend testing.
• Evaluate and recommend automation tools, frameworks, and technologies based on application architecture and testing needs.
• Establish automation standards, guidelines, and architectural blueprints across all projects.
• Architect and implement automation frameworks using industry‑leading tools such as Selenium, Playwright, Cypress, REST Assured, and Appium.
• Ensure automation frameworks support cross‑browser, cross‑platform, and cross‑environment testing.
• Enable data‑driven, keyword‑driven, and behaviour‑driven test automation approaches where appropriate.
• Define reusable libraries, utilities, reporting structures, dashboards, and integration patterns.
• Integrate automation suites with CI/CD pipelines including Jenkins, Git Lab CI, and Azure Dev Ops.
• Drive shift‑left testing and continuous testing practices across delivery teams.
• Ensure seamless automation execution across on‑premises, cloud, and containerised environments.
• Collaborate with Dev Ops teams to optimise test execution speed, stability, and scalability.
• Define automation coverage strategies across functional, regression, API, integration, performance, and security testing.
• Drive automation coverage metrics and continually identify opportunities to improve coverage, efficiency, and ROI.
• Optimise test execution cycles to reduce duration and infrastructure costs through parallel execution and smart test selection.
• Define automation KPIs, metrics, and reporting models to assess effectiveness and quality.
• Monitor automation stability, defect leakage, maintenance effort, and enforce automation quality gates across releases.
• Provide insights and recommendations to programme leadership to improve quality outcomes.
• Drive adoption of advanced and emerging automation techniques such as AI/ML‑assisted test generation, self‑healing automation, model‑based testing, and service virtualisation.
• Research, pilot, and integrate emerging QA tools and technologies into the automation roadmap.
• Mentor and guide automation architects, leads, and engineers to enhance capability and maturity.
• Review automation designs, coding standards, and implementation quality.
• Identify skill gaps and recommend targeted training and upskilling plans for automation teams.
• Promote best practices in coding standards, version control, and framework design.
• Collaborate with Programme Test Managers, Solution Architects, and Product Owners to align automation roadmaps with business needs.
• Provide automation leadership during project initiation, planning, and solution‑design phases.
• Support critical delivery phases and manage automation‑related risks, issues, and escalations.
• Engage with vendors and partners for tool evaluation, procurement, and implementation support.

• Strong expertise in designing enterprise‑level automation strategies and frameworks.
• Deep hands‑on experience with leading automation tools such as Selenium, Playwright, Cypress, REST Assured, and Appium.
• Strong knowledge of CI/CD integration, Dev Ops pipelines,…