QA and Test Automation Engineer

MERITUS are recruiting for a QA & Test Automation Engineer (SFIA
4) to join a leading Central Government defence organisation in Portsmouth, supporting the assurance, automation, and validation of complex, mission critical software systems.

QA & TEST AUTOMATION ENGINEER (SFIA
4) - PORTSMOUTH - PERMANENT - UP TO £80,000 - ACTIVE DV CLEARANCE REQUIRED - 3 DAYS ONSITE

This role sits within a highly regulated engineering environment where software quality is critical to operational confidence and system reliability. You will be responsible for designing and maintaining automated test frameworks, strengthening regression coverage, and ensuring that every release is supported by clear, repeatable and auditable validation evidence. The work is hands on and technical, requiring a strong understanding of both functional and non functional testing in complex software environments.

Key Responsibilities Own and maintain automated regression test suites across key system components Design and implement functional and non functional testing approaches including robustness and results verification Support user acceptance testing readiness aligned to agreed operational use cases Ensure defects are clearly reproducible, properly tracked, and verified through to closure Strengthen release confidence through structured test reporting and clear documentation Embed quality assurance practices across the software lifecycle including testing, verification and validation standards Ensure outputs meet customer acceptance criteria in regulated and security constrained environments Work closely with developers and engineers to identify issues early and improve overall system quality Contribute to continuous improvement of test processes, tooling and automation coverage

About You Experience in a QA or test automation role within complex software environments Strong understanding of automated testing frameworks and regression testing approaches Experience working with defect tracking, test reporting and structured QA processes Ability to design both functional and non functional test cases with a focus on reliability and robustness Comfortable working in secure or regulated environments, ideally defence or government Strong analytical mindset with attention to detail and a methodical approach to problem solving

Active DV clearance is essential for this role

This is a strong opportunity for a test engineer who wants to operate in a high trust environment, take ownership of automation strategy, and directly influence the quality and reliability of critical national systems.