At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead testing and automation for a cloud-based insurance platform, ensuring high quality and reliability.
- Company: Join CDL, a top employer with a focus on innovation and collaboration.
- Benefits: Earn up to £54,000, enjoy hybrid working, and access excellent training opportunities.
- Other info: Diverse and inclusive workplace with a commitment to employee growth.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in the insurance industry while advancing your career.
- Qualifications: Strong understanding of testing principles and experience with automated testing tools.
The predicted salary is between 45000 - 54000 £ per year.
Overview
Senior QA Engineer to join the Insurer team on CDL’s Insurer System (Policy Manager), a cloud-based platform used by insurers and MGAs to manage policies, risk data, and related financial processes.
Location: North West UK - Hybrid | Compensation: £45,000 - £54,000 per year
What You'll Do
- Lead and improve testing and automation practices within the Insurer team, helping deliver a high-quality platform for insurers and MGAs.
- Work with software engineers and product teams to ensure quality is considered from the earliest stages of design and development.
- Validate complex data flows, including policy data imports, updates, and reprocessing, ensuring accuracy and reliability.
- Support testing of integrations and APIs, connecting the platform to third-party systems used across the insurance ecosystem.
- Help maintain confidence in financial and accounting-related features, including premium data, reporting, and audit trails.
- Drive best practice across functional, performance, and security testing in a cloud-hosted environment.
- Improve test automation coverage and reliability, contributing to CI/CD pipelines and fast feedback for teams.
- Coach and mentor others, helping build strong quality and testing practices across the team.
- Continuously look for ways to improve tooling, processes, and how quality is approached day-to-day.
- Encourage pragmatic thinking, innovation, and high standards while keeping delivery focused and practical.
What You'll Bring
- A strong understanding of modern testing principles and how they apply across cross-functional delivery teams.
- The ability to define and apply effective test strategies for complex, data-driven systems, balancing automation, exploratory testing, and risk-based approaches.
- Experience promoting a shift-left approach to quality, embedding good testing and quality practices early in the development lifecycle.
- Confidence investigating issues across environments, using logs, metrics, and data to understand failures and support root-cause analysis.
- A mindset of continuous improvement, actively contributing to better testing practices, standards, and tooling through collaboration and knowledge sharing.
- A solid working knowledge of TDD and BDD, and when to apply them effectively.
- A collaborative, pragmatic approach, working closely with Product and Engineering to deliver shared outcomes.
- Broad testing knowledge with a strong specialism in test automation.
- Hands-on experience with modern automated testing tools such as Karate and Cypress, applied thoughtfully across the test pyramid.
- Familiarity with a range of testing and delivery tools across the SDLC, including API testing and documentation, exploratory testing, performance testing, and work tracking.
- Experience working with CI/CD pipelines, contributing to and maintaining automated quality checks within modern delivery workflows, such as GitLab.
- Comfort working within AWS-hosted, cloud-based systems, supporting effective testing and quality assurance across distributed services.
- A proven ability to take improvement ideas from concept through to delivery.
- Practical experience using AI-enabled tooling or techniques within the delivery lifecycle to improve testing efficiency, coverage, or insight.
- Curiosity and openness to emerging AI-assisted testing approaches, with a focus on real-world, practical application.
Desirable Extras
- Knowledge of accessibility standards and practices (e.g. WCAG), with the ability to consider accessibility as part of broader testing strategies.
- Experience designing and executing test approaches across both web and desktop applications, ensuring consistent quality and usability.
- Exposure to AI-powered testing tools.
- Confidence querying relational databases (e.g. Postgres) using SQL to support testing, debugging, and root-cause analysis.
- Experience with performance and security testing.
- Previous experience working in or alongside the insurance or financial services domain.
Benefits
- The salary for the role of Senior QA Engineer pays up to £54,000 per year, with progression through CDL’s career framework.
- Your growth and advancement within CDL are tied to ambition and effort.
- Hybrid Working (2 Days a Week in the office).
- Truly flexible working.
- 25 days holiday to start, increasing by 1 day per year of service up to 30 days.
- Top employer for 10th year running.
- Excellent training and development platform.
- Opportunities for career progression.
- Health and Wellbeing programme.
- Virtual activities, lunch and learns, and meetups.
- Life and health assurance.
- Electric Vehicle Scheme.
- Recognitions and awards program.
- Parental benefits.
- Diversity and Inclusion network.
- Pension scheme.
- Community projects and volunteer days.
- Refer a friend bonus.
Diversity and Inclusion
CDL recognises that building a diverse workforce is critical to the success of our business. We strongly encourage applications from a diverse talent pool and welcome the opportunity to discuss flexibility requirements and workplace adjustments with all applicants.
Senior QA Engineer in Manchester employer: CDL Software
CDL is an exceptional employer, offering a dynamic work culture that prioritises flexibility and employee growth. With a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion, CDL provides extensive training and development opportunities, alongside a competitive salary and benefits package, making it an ideal place for Senior QA Engineers to thrive in the North West UK.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior QA Engineer in Manchester
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to your connections in the industry, attend meetups, and engage with online communities. You never know who might have the inside scoop on job openings or can refer you directly.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for interviews by practising common QA scenarios and questions. We recommend doing mock interviews with friends or using online platforms to get comfortable discussing your experience and skills.
✨Tip Number 3
Showcase your skills through a portfolio or GitHub. Highlight your test automation projects and any innovative solutions you've implemented. This gives potential employers a tangible sense of what you can bring to their team.
✨Tip Number 4
Apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets seen. Plus, we love seeing candidates who are proactive about their job search and genuinely interested in joining our team.
We think you need these skills to ace Senior QA Engineer in Manchester
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV:Make sure your CV reflects the skills and experiences that match the Senior QA Engineer role. Highlight your testing principles, automation experience, and any relevant tools you've used. We want to see how you can contribute to our Insurer team!
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter:Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Use it to explain why you're passionate about quality assurance and how your background aligns with our goals at StudySmarter. Be sure to mention any specific projects or achievements that showcase your expertise.
Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills:In your application, don’t shy away from discussing challenges you've faced in previous roles and how you overcame them. We love candidates who can think critically and bring innovative solutions to the table, especially in a cloud-hosted environment.
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to apply directly through our website for the best chance of getting noticed. It’s super easy, and you’ll be able to keep track of your application status. Plus, we love seeing applications come through our own channels!
How to prepare for a job interview at CDL Software
✨Know Your Testing Principles
Make sure you brush up on modern testing principles, especially how they apply to cross-functional teams. Be ready to discuss your experience with test strategies for complex systems and how you've balanced automation with exploratory testing.
✨Showcase Your Automation Skills
Prepare to talk about your hands-on experience with automated testing tools like Karate and Cypress. Highlight specific examples where you've improved test automation coverage and contributed to CI/CD pipelines, as this will resonate well with the team.
✨Emphasise Collaboration
Since this role involves working closely with Product and Engineering teams, be ready to share examples of how you've collaborated in the past. Discuss how you’ve embedded quality practices early in the development lifecycle and promoted a shift-left approach.
✨Continuous Improvement Mindset
Demonstrate your commitment to continuous improvement by sharing instances where you've contributed to better testing practices or tooling. Mention any experience with AI-enabled testing tools and your curiosity about emerging approaches, as this shows you're forward-thinking.
