Principal QA Engineer in Cardiff

Location: Cardiff – Flexible Hybrid Working

Salary: £55,000 per annum

In this role you will…

• Lead quality on client projects
• Take ownership of quality strategy from discovery through to delivery
• Collaborate in requirements analysis to shape testable acceptance criteria from the outset
• Define test approaches and coverage strategies appropriate to project risk, complexity, and timeline
• Be responsible for quality throughout the full development lifecycle, not just test execution
• Identify systemic quality gaps and champion initiatives to address them
• Analyse and share quality metrics to surface trends, measure improvement, and inform decisions
• Contribute to and help evolve Box UK’s QA standards, processes, and tooling
• Build and maintain robust test capability
• Design, write, and maintain high-quality manual and automated tests in line with Box UK’s guidelines
• Set up and scale automation frameworks (e.g. Playwright, Robot Framework) to support teams effectively
• Ensure test suites remain reliable, maintainable, and genuinely useful – not just present
• Support and mentor QA engineers, sharing knowledge and raising capability across the function
• Be an active team member
• Attend and contribute meaningfully to project, team, and client meetings
• Provide clear, timely feedback to project teams through regular and ad‑hoc reporting
• Work closely with developers, product managers, and designers to embed quality thinking early
• Provide timely estimates for QA effort in relation to existing projects and new opportunities.

For this role the following skills are essential…

• Communication and collaboration: You can articulate quality risk clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences, build trust quickly, collaborate effectively, and influence without authority. You don’t just flag problems; you diagnose root causes, propose solutions, and follow through on making things better. You bring genuine hands-on expertise in test design and automation, not just familiarity. You relish complex challenges and approach them with creativity and pragmatism.
• Self-directed: You manage your own workload effectively, prioritise well under pressure, and know when to elevate. You maintain high standards and composure even when timelines are tight or requirements shift.
• Meticulous: You catch what others miss and bring that same thoroughness to documentation, defect reports, and test coverage.

And you will also need…

• 5+ years of relevant QA experience, with demonstrable seniority in at least some of that time
• Proven experience leading QA on projects end-to-end within agile delivery teams
• Strong practical knowledge of test design techniques and when to apply them
• Hands‑on experience setting up, designing, and maintaining automation frameworks – Playwright preferred
• Solid experience testing RESTful APIs and diagnosing integration issues
• Experience testing across web and mobile applications
• Proficiency with Git/GitHub and standard version control workflows
• Experience with defect management processes and diagnostic/debugging tools
• ISEB Intermediate, Certified Agile Tester, or equivalent
• Familiarity with Jira, Confluence, and test management tooling

And in return…

You will enjoy a competitive salary and a comprehensive benefits package. We recognise that our success comes from the talent, passion and dedication of our team. Working collaboratively, we share the challenges and rewards that come from growing our company, reinforcing our culture of ownership. We understand the importance of personal growth and professional development and invest in the skills of our people to nurture their talent. Our working environment is fast paced, exciting and fun to work in.

We are an inclusive employer that welcomes diversity, challenges discrimination and promotes equality. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and do not discriminate on the basis of any protected characteristic.

Ready to Join Us? If you’re passionate about embedding quality into every stage of the software lifecycle, enjoy setting standards for complex, multi‑technology projects, and want to help drive a culture where excellence is the default, we’d love to hear from you.