Lead Quality Assurance Engineer

Permanent
Salary:
Up to £60,000

Location:

UK, Remote (Travel to Cheltenham office 4 times a year)
Industry: Education Services
About the Client
Our client is a well-established, employee-owned organisation that provides specialist services to government bodies, educational institutions, professional organisations and employers across the UK and internationally. With a reputation built on trust, quality and expertise, they operate in a highly regulated environment where technology plays a critical role in delivering secure, reliable services.
How you’ll spend your day
You'll take ownership of the quality assurance function, helping shape testing strategy and ensuring high-quality software is delivered across a range of business-critical digital platforms. Working closely with Development, Product and Business stakeholders, you'll champion quality throughout the software development lifecycle while mentoring others and driving continuous improvement.
You'll be responsible for:
 
* Leading the QA function, establishing testing standards, best practices and quality processes across multiple projects.
 
* Designing and executing comprehensive test strategies, plans and test cases covering functional, regression, integration and system testing.
 
* Managing defect life cycles, ensuring issues are prioritised, tracked and resolved efficiently.
 
* Working closely with Developers, Product Owners and Business stakeholders to ensure requirements are fully understood and testable.
 
* Supporting User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and helping ensure solutions meet business expectations before release.
 
* Identifying opportunities to introduce or expand test automation using tools such as Selenium, Cypress or Playwright.
 
* Using Azure Dev Ops (or similar tools) to manage test execution, traceability, reporting and defect management.
 
* Driving continuous improvement across QA processes, metrics and governance to improve software quality and delivery efficiency.
 
* Providing leadership, mentoring and guidance to QA team members while promoting a quality-first culture.
 
* Collaborating within Agile delivery teams to ensure quality is embedded throughout the software development lifecycle.
What you’ll bring to this role
We're looking for an experienced QA professional who enjoys improving software quality, building robust testing processes and working collaboratively across technical and business teams.
You'll ideally have:
 
* Proven experience leading software testing or quality assurance activities within Agile software delivery environments.
 
* Strong hands-on experience with manual testing including functional, regression, integration and system testing.
 
* Experience creating test plans, test cases, test scripts, test data and managing defect life cycles.
 
* Working knowledge of Azure Dev Ops or similar test management tools for test execution, traceability and reporting.
 
* Understanding of software development life cycles, release management and modern QA best practices.
 
* Knowledge of test automation frameworks such as Selenium, Cypress or Playwright, with the ability to identify where automation adds value.
 
* Excellent analytical, problem-solving and organisational skills with exceptional attention to detail.
 
* Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, able to clearly communicate testing progress, quality risks and release readiness.
 
* Experience mentoring colleagues and promoting quality-focused ways of working across delivery teams.
Desirable experience
 
* Experience building or evolving a QA function, introducing testing standards, governance and best practices.
 
* Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and integrating automated testing into build and release processes.
 
* Experience testing complex web applications, integrations and data-driven systems.
 
* ISTQB certification (or equivalent practical experience).
 
* Experience working within regulated or compliance-driven environments.
Perks & Benefits:
Time Off & Flexibility
25 days annual leave + bank holidays, with up to 5 days carry-over
Additional day off for your birthday
3 extra days off during the winter office closure
Christmas Eve half-day
Swappable bank holidays
Hybrid working as standard
Financial Wellbeing
Competitive pension scheme (5% employer contribution, matched up to 10%)
Life assurance (4x salary)
Group Income Protection (75% of salary for up to 5 years)
Employee referral scheme
Health & Wellbeing
Private BUPA healthcare (optional)
BUPA dental scheme (optional)
Employee Assistance Programme
Mental Health First Aiders and wellbeing support initiatives
Eye care contribution
Annual flu vaccination voucher
Family Support
Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay
Lifestyle & Perks
Cycle to Work scheme
Electric Vehicle salary sacrifice scheme
Employee discounts and savings platform
Subsidised tickets to local cultural events
Learning & Development
Dedicated learning budget for every employee
Access to company-wide learning and development programmes
Culture & Community
Paid…