At a Glance
- Tasks: Ensure high-quality digital experiences for millions of readers through testing and collaboration.
- Company: Join the Financial Times, a leading global news organisation with a mission for quality journalism.
- Benefits: Enjoy generous leave, medical cover, gym memberships, and a hybrid working model.
- Other info: Diverse culture with opportunities for personal growth and career development.
- Why this job: Make an impact in journalism while growing your skills in a supportive, innovative environment.
- Qualifications: Experience in manual testing and a passion for quality assurance in agile teams.
The predicted salary is between 35000 - 45000 £ per year.
The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading news organisations, globally recognised for its authority, integrity and accuracy, with a mission to deliver quality information and services worldwide. At the FT, curiosity thrives and ambitious thinking is rewarded. Here, you’re given the chance to reach millions, create work that matters and deliver impartial journalism in a polarised world. In our warm, collaborative culture, you’ll connect with a diverse community of experts who support your growth, career aspirations and wellbeing. Your future at the FT will be filled with opportunities that challenge and inspire you. With no fixed path, you’ll discover new skills and forge a career that can take you anywhere.
Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
We believe in the power of unique perspectives and want all voices in our organisation to be heard, respected and valued. A supportive workplace is one where employees feel they can be themselves and operate to their full potential. We are committed to removing barriers for everyone, with a focus on addressing those faced by underrepresented groups.
The Role
We’re looking for a detail-oriented Quality Assurance (QA) Engineer who is passionate about delivering reliable, high-quality digital experiences to millions of FT readers worldwide. You’ll play a key role across two of our customer facing teams, ensuring our products are robust and performant. Helping us maintain the premium experience expected across our web, mobile, and backend platforms. Working across web, mobile, APIs, and backend services, this role is initially centred around hands-on manual and exploratory testing, while also offering the opportunity to help shape and grow our automation capabilities over time. We’re looking for someone who enjoys understanding how products work end-to-end, is proactive in identifying risks and edge cases, and is excited by the opportunity to evolve testing practices through tooling, automation, and continuous improvement. Improving collaboration between product, engineering, and design, and supporting a culture of shared ownership for quality across the teams.
What You’ll Do
- Own quality for features from refinement through to release, helping define testable acceptance criteria and appropriate test coverage.
- Perform manual, exploratory, smoke, and regression testing across web, mobile, API, and backend systems.
- Create and maintain clear test plans, test cases and defect reports.
- Support production issues and customer-reported bugs by working closely with your scrum teams.
- Identify opportunities to automate repetitive, high-value, or regression-heavy scenarios.
- Help evolve QA practices, tooling, and automation capabilities across the team.
- Identify opportunities to improve testing efficiency and release confidence through automation and smarter testing approaches.
- Contribute to automated test coverage using tools such as Playwright, Selenium, Appium, or similar frameworks.
- Communicate quality risks, test coverage, and release readiness clearly to stakeholders across engineering and product.
- Participate actively in agile ceremonies including refinement, planning, retrospectives, Scrum, and Kanban processes.
- Advocate for quality throughout the development lifecycle by helping shape clear acceptance criteria and testable user stories.
- Contribute to release readiness discussions by communicating risks, trade-offs, and test coverage clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
- Work collaboratively across engineering, product, and support teams to foster a strong culture of quality ownership.
What You’ll Bring
- Strong experience in manual, exploratory, smoke, regression, and functional testing within agile teams.
- A good understanding of QA methodologies, risk-based testing, and shift-left quality practices.
- Experience testing web, iOS, Android, APIs, and integrated systems.
- Hands-on experience with API testing tools such as Postman or equivalent.
- Ability to design pragmatic test strategies and comprehensive test cases across different scenarios.
- Strong analytical skills, with the ability to spot risks, gaps, and edge cases early.
- An interest in automation and a desire to grow skills in tools such as Playwright, Selenium, Appium, or similar.
- Good communication skills and confidence working across engineering, product, and support teams.
Nice to Have
- Experience contributing to test automation frameworks.
- Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and modern delivery practices.
- Ability to influence QA practices and promote a strong culture of quality ownership across the team.
What’s in it for you? Our benefits
Our benefits vary by location but we are committed to providing best-in-class perks across all our offices. These include generous annual leave, medical cover, inclusive parental leave packages, subsidised gym memberships and opportunities to give back to the community. Full details of our benefits are available here.
We currently operate a hybrid model which requires staff to work onsite 50% of the time, subject to role requirements & regular review. While flexible working requests will be considered, not all patterns are suitable for all roles. We believe this balanced approach supports flexibility and protects our culture, making collaboration and communication easier, building stronger relationships and team cohesion, and supporting peer learning. We reserve discretion on reasonable notice to change this approach either generally or for specific individuals or teams.
Accessibility
We are a disability confident employer and Valuable 500 signatory. Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments/personalisation as part of the application process or to enable you to attend an interview. If you would like to discuss your requirements or have any questions, email talent@ft.com and a member of our team will be happy to help.
Further information
At the FT, we embrace innovation and the use of technology and appreciate that individuals may leverage AI tools as part of their job application process. Whilst we are happy for you to use AI to assist with your application, it is essential that all information provided is authentic and accurately represents your skills, experience, and qualifications.
QA Engineer employer: Financial Times
The Financial Times is an exceptional employer that fosters a warm and collaborative culture, where curiosity and ambitious thinking are not just encouraged but rewarded. With a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, employees are supported in their growth and career aspirations, while enjoying generous benefits such as flexible working arrangements, medical cover, and opportunities for community engagement. Joining the FT means being part of a dynamic team dedicated to delivering high-quality journalism and innovative digital experiences, all while having the chance to develop new skills and forge a meaningful career path.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land QA Engineer
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to current or former employees at the Financial Times on LinkedIn. A friendly chat can give you insider info and maybe even a referral, which can really boost your chances.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for the interview by brushing up on your QA skills. Be ready to discuss your experience with manual and exploratory testing, and don’t forget to highlight any automation tools you’ve used. Show them you’re passionate about delivering quality!
✨Tip Number 3
Practice makes perfect! Try mock interviews with friends or use online platforms to get comfortable answering common QA questions. The more you practice, the more confident you'll feel when it’s your turn in the hot seat.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t just apply anywhere; focus on the Financial Times! Use our website to submit your application directly. Tailor your CV and cover letter to reflect how your skills align with their mission of delivering quality information and services.
We think you need these skills to ace QA Engineer
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV:Make sure your CV is tailored to the QA Engineer role. Highlight your experience with manual and exploratory testing, and don’t forget to mention any tools like Postman or Selenium that you’ve used. We want to see how your skills align with what we’re looking for!
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter:Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Share your passion for quality assurance and how you can contribute to our mission at the Financial Times. Be sure to mention specific experiences that demonstrate your analytical skills and proactive approach.
Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills:In your application, give examples of how you've identified risks and edge cases in past projects. We love candidates who can think critically and improve testing practices, so don’t hold back on sharing your successes!
Apply Through Our Website:We encourage you to apply directly through our website. It’s the best way to ensure your application gets into the right hands. Plus, it shows us you’re serious about joining our team at the FT!
How to prepare for a job interview at Financial Times
✨Know Your QA Fundamentals
Before heading into the interview, brush up on your QA methodologies and testing types. Be ready to discuss manual, exploratory, and regression testing, as well as how you approach risk-based testing. This will show that you understand the core principles of quality assurance and can apply them effectively.
✨Showcase Your Problem-Solving Skills
Prepare to share specific examples of how you've identified risks or edge cases in past projects. Think about a time when you spotted a potential issue before it became a problem. This demonstrates your proactive nature and analytical skills, which are crucial for a QA Engineer.
✨Familiarise Yourself with Automation Tools
Since the role involves evolving automation capabilities, make sure you’re familiar with tools like Playwright, Selenium, or Appium. Even if you haven't used them extensively, showing enthusiasm for learning and growing your skills in these areas can set you apart from other candidates.
✨Communicate Clearly and Confidently
During the interview, practice articulating your thoughts clearly, especially when discussing technical concepts. Be prepared to explain your testing strategies and how you communicate quality risks to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. Good communication is key in fostering collaboration across teams.
