Lead Quality Assurance Engineer in England

• Permanent role
• 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.

Responsibilities

• 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 lifecycles, 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.

Qualifications

• 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 lifecycles.
• Working knowledge of Azure Dev Ops or similar test management tools for test execution, traceability and reporting.
• Understanding of software development lifecycles, 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 volunteering hours
• Quarterly team lunch allowance
• Regular company social events
• Contribution towards home‑working equipment
• Weekly fresh fruit delivery to the office
• Equal Opportunities

We are committed to providing equal opportunities for all candidates and welcome applications from individuals regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marital status, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by law.

As an employment agency for permanent and contract hires, we are dedicated to promoting a diverse and inclusive workforce, and we encourage applications from under‑represented groups to drive innovation and equality within the workplace.

Should you require any reasonable adjustments please let us know so we can accommodate for any interactions with us at Biometric Talent, but also inform the client to ensure reasonable adjustments are made to allow for a fair and equitable process.

#J-18808-Ljbffr